I £ r n A. THIRTY YEARS' VIEW; OR, A HISTORY OF THE WORKING OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT FOR THIRTY YEARS, FROM 1820 TO 1850. CHIEFLY TAKEN FROM THE CONGRESS DEBATES, THE PRIVATE PAPERS OF GENERAL JACKSON, AND THE SPEECHES OF EX-SENATOR BENTON, WITH HIS ACTUAL VIEW OF MEN AND AFFAIRS : WITH I I HISTORICAL NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS, AND SOME NOTICES OF EMINENT * DECEASED COTEMPORARIES. !• BT A SENATOR OF THIRTY YEARS. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. RSITY OF [ v NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 846 AND 848 BROADWAY. LONDON: 16 LITTLE BEIT A IN. 1856. Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1856, by D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. • • CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. HAP. PAGE I. Inauguration of Mr. Van Buren . 7 II. Financial and Monetary Crisis— General Sus pension of Specie Payments by the Banks 9 III. Preparation for tlie Distress and Suspen sion 11 IV Progress of the Distress, and Preliminaries for the Suspension 16 V. Actual Suspension of the Blanks— Propaga tion of the Alarm 20 VI. Transmigration of the Bank of the United States from a Federal to a State Institu- tion 23 VII. Effects of the Suspension— General Derange- ment of Business— Suppression and Eidi- cule of the Specie Currency — Submission of the People— Call of Congfess . . 26 VIII. Extra Session— Message, and Eecommenda- tions 28 Attacks on the Message— Treasury Notes 32 Eetention of the Fourth Deposit Instalment 36 Independent Treasury and Hard Money Pay- ments . 39 Attempted Eesumption of Specie Payments 42 Bankrupt Act against Banks .... 43 Bankrupt Act for Banks — Mr. Benton's Speech 45 Divorce of Bank and State— Mr. Benton's Speech 56 .First Eegular Session under Mr. Van Bu- ren's Administration — His Message . 65 Pennsylvania Bank of the United States- Its Use of the Defunct Notes of the ex- pired Institution 67 s XVIII. Florida Indian War— Its Origin and Con- duct 70 XIX. Florida Indian War— Historical Speech of Mr. Benton 72 XX. Eesumption of Specie Payments by the New York Banks 83 XXI. presumption of Specie Payments— -Historical Notices— Mr. Benton's Speech— Extracts 85 CHAP. PAGE XXII. Mr. Clay's Eesolution in Favor of Eesum- ing Banks, and Mr. Benton's Eemarks upon it 91 XXIII. Eesumption by the Pennsylvania United States Bank ; and others which followed her lead 94 ■/XXIV. Proposed Annexation of Texas — Mr. Pres- ton's Motion and Speech— Extracts . 94 XXV. Debate between Mr. Clay and Mr. Cal- houn, Personal and Political, and lead- ing to Expositions ' and Vindications of Public Conduct which belong to His tory 97 XXVI. Debate between Mr. Clay and Mr. Cal- houn— Mr. Clay's Speech— Extracts . 101 XXVII. Debate between Mr. Clay and Mr. Calhoun — Mr. Calhoun's Speech— Extracts . 103 XXVIII. Debate between Mr. Clay and Mr. Calhoun — Eejoinders by each .... 112 XXIX. Independent Treasury, or, Divorce of Bank and State— Passed in the Senate — Lost in the House of representa- tives . 124 XXX. Public Lands— Graduation of Price— Pre- emption System— Taxation when Sold . 125 XXXI. Specie Basis for Banks— One-third of the Amount of Liabilities the Lowest Safe Proportion — Speech of Mr. Benton on the Eecharter of the District Banks . 128 _ XXXII. The North and the South— Comparative Prosperity — Southern Discontent — Its True Cause 130 XXXIII. Progress of the Slavery Agitation— Mr. Cal- houn's Approval of the Missouri Compro- mise 134 XXXIV. Death of Commodore Eodgers, and Notice of his Life and Character .... 144 XXXV. Anti-duelling Act 148 XXXVI. Slavery Agitation in the House of Eepre- sentatives, and Eetiring of Southern Members from the Hall . 150 CONTENTS OF VOL. II. 4 CHAP. * PAGE * XXXVII. Abolitionists Classified by Mr. Clay*-Ul- tras Denounced — Slavery Agitators North and South Equally denounced as Dangerous to the Union . . . 154 XXXVIII. Bank of the United States— Resignation of Mr. Biddle — Final Suspension . 157 XXXIX. First Session Twenty-sixth Congress — Members — Organization — Political Map of the House 158 XL. First Session of the Twenty-sixth Con gress— President's Message . . 162 XLI. Divorce of Bank and State — Divorce de creed . 164 XLII. Florida Armed Occupation Bill— Mr. Benton's Speech — Extracts XLIII. Assumption of the State Debts XLIV Assumption of the State Debts— Mr. Ben' ton's Speech — Extracts XLV. Death of General Samuel Smith, of Mary land ; and Notice of his Life and Char acter XLVI. Salt— the Universality of its Supply- Mystery and Indispensability of its Use — Tyranny and Impiety of its Taxation — Speech of Mr. Beaton— Extracts . XLVII. Pairing off XL VIII. Tax on Bank Notes— Mr. Benton's Speech — Extracts XLIX. Liberation of Slaves belonging to Ameri- can Citizens in British Colonial Ports . L. Besignation of Senator Hugh Lawson White of Tennessee— His Death— Some Notice of his Life and Character LI. Death of Ex-Senator Hayne of South Car- olina — Notice of his Life and Character LII. Abolition of Specific Duties by the Com- promise Act of 1833 — Its Error, and Loss to the Eevenue, shown by Expe- rience 189 LIIL Refined Sugar and Rum Drawbacks — their Abuse under the Compromise Act of 1833— Mr. Benton's Speech . 190 LIV. Fishing Bounties and Allowances, and their Abuse — Mr. Benton's Speech — Extracts 194 LV. Expenditures of the Government . 198 LVI. Expenses of the Government, Compara- tive and Progressive, and Separated from Extraordinaries .... 200 LV1I. Death of Mr. Justice Barbour of the Su- preme Court, and Appointment of Pe- ter V. Daniel, Esq., in his place . 202 LVIII. Presidential Election .... 208 LIX. Conclusion of Mr. Van Buren's Adminis- tration k^.. 207 LX Inauguration of President Harrison — His Cabinet— Call of Congress— and Death 209 LXI. Accession of the Vice-President to the Presidency 211 LXIL Twenty-seventh Congress— First Session — List of Members, and Organization of the House 213 LXIII. First Message of Mr. Tyler to Congress, and Mr. Clay's Programme of Business 215 \ LXIV. Repeal of the Independent Treasury Act 219 LXV. Repeal of the Independent Treasury Act —Mr. Benton's Speech . . .220 LXVI. LXVII. \JLXVIII. LXIX LXX. LXXI. 171 LXXII. 172 LXXIII. LXXIV. LXXV. 176 178 LXXVI. 179 LXXVI1. 182 LXXV III. 184 LXXIX. 186 LXXX. LXXXI. LXXXII. LXXXI11 LXXX1V LXXXV. LXXXVI. LXXXVII. LXXXVIII. LXXXIX. XC. XCI. XCII. XCIII. XCIV. The Bankrupt Act— What it was— and how it was Passed . . . . Bankrupt Bill— Mr. Benton's Speech — Extracts Distribution of the Public Land Reve- nue, and Assumption of the State Debts . . . Institution of the Hour Rule in Debate in the House of Representatives — Its Attempt, and Repulse in the Senate Bill for the Relief of Mrs. Harrison, Widow of the late President of the United States Mrs. Harrison's Bill— Speech of Mr. Benton — Extracts .... Abuse of the Naval Pension System — Vain attempt to Correct it Home Squadron, and Aid to Private Steam Lines Recharter of the District Banks — Mr. Benton's Speech— Extracts Revolt in Canada — Border Sympathy — Firmness of Mr. Van Buren— Public Peace Endangered — and Preserved — Case of McLeod .... Destruction of the Caroline. — Arrest and Trial of McLeod — Mr. Benton's Speech — Extracts .... Refusal of the House to allow Recess Committees Reduction of the Expense of Foreign Missions by reducing the Number . Infringement of the Tariff Compromise Act of 1833— Correction of Abuses in Drawbacks . . . . National Bank— First Bill . Second Fiscal Agent — Bill Presented— Passed — Disapproved by the Presi- dent • . Secret History of the Second Bill for a Fiscal Agent, called Fiscal Corpora- tion — Its Origin with Mr. Tyler — Its Progress through Congress under his Lead — Its Rejection under his Veto The Veto Message hissed in the Senate Galleries Resignation of Mr. Tyler's Cabinet . Repudiation of Mr. Tyler by the Whig Party — their Manifesto — Counter Manifesto by Mr. Caleb Cushing The Danish Sound Dues . Last Notice of the Bank of the United States End and Results of the Extra Session First Annual Message of President Tyler Third Plan for a Fiscal Agent, called Exchequer Board — Mr. Benton's Speech against it — Extracts . The Third Fiscal Agent, entitled a Board of Exchequer . . . ' . Attempted Repeal of the Bankrupt Act Death of Lewis Williams, of North Carolina, and Notice of his Life and Character The Civil List Expenses— the Contin- gent Expenses of Congress— and the Revenue Collection Expense 240 247 257 265 271 273 291 304 307 817 331 342 358 357 372 373 376 CONTENTS OF VOL. IL chap. xcv. XCVI. XCVII. XCVIII. XCIX. c. CL CII. cm. CIV. cv. CVL OVII. CVIIL CIX. CX. CXI. X CXII. J: CXIII. CXIV. cxv. CXVL CXVII. CXVIII. CXIX. cxx. CXXI. CXXII. CXXIII. exxv. CXXYI. CXXVII. CXXVIII. CXXIX. exxx. CXXXI. CXXXII. CXXXIII. OXXXIV. , exxxv. CXXXYI. CXXXVII. >: Resignation and Valedictory of Mr. Clay . 898 Military Department— Progress of its Ex- pense 404 Paper Money Payments — Attempted by the Federal Government— Resisted— Mr. Benton's Speech 406 Case of the American Brig Creole with Slaves for New Orleans, carried by Mu- tiny into Nassau, and the Slaves Lib- erated 409 Distress of the Treasury— Three Tariff Bills, and Two Vetoes— End of the Compro- mise Act 413 Mr. Tyler and the Whig Party— Confirmed Separation 417 Lord Ashburton's Mission, and the British Treaty 420 British Treaty — The Pretermitted Sub- jects—Mr. Benton's Speech— Extracts 426 British Treaty — Northeastern Boundary Article — Mr. Benton's Speech — Ex- tracts 438 British Treaty— Northwestern Boundary- Mr. Benton's Speech— Extracts . . 441 British Treaty — Extradition Article — Mr. Benton's Speech^Extract . . . 444 British Treaty— African Squadron for the Suppression of the Slave Trade — Mr. CXXXVIII Benton's Speech — Extract . . . 449 Expense of "the Navy — Waste of Money- Necessity of a Naval Peace Establish- ment, and of a Naval Policy . . . 452 Expenses of the Navy — Mr. Benton's Speech —Extracts ..*... 456 Message of the President at the Opening of the Regular Session of 1842-8 . . 460 Repeal of the Bankrupt Act— Mr. Benton's Speech — Extracts 463 Military Academy and Army Expenses . 466 Emigration to the Columbia River, and Foundation of its Settlement by Ameri- can Citizens — Fremont's First Expedi- tion 468 Lieutenant Fr6mont's First Expedition — Speech, and Motion of Senator Linn . 478 Oregon Colonization Act — Mr. Benton's Speech 479 Navy Pay and Expenses— Proposed Reduc- tion—Speech of Mr. Meriwether, of Geor- gia—Extracts 482 Eulogy on Senator Linn — Speeches of Mr. Benton and Mr. Crittenden . . . 485 The Coast Survey — Attempt to diminish its Expense, and to expedite its Comple- tion by restoring the Work to Naval and Military Officers 487 Death of Commodore Porter, and Notice of his Life and Character . ... 491 Refunding of General Jackson's Fine . 409 Repeal of the Bankrupt Act — Attack of Mr. Cushing on Mr. Clay— Its Rebuke 503 Naval Expenditures and Administration — Attempts at Reform— Abortive . . 507 Chinese Mission — Mr. Cushing's Appoint- ment and Negotiation .... 510 The Alleged Mutiny, and the Executions (as they were called) on Board the United States man-of-war, Somers . . . 522 CHAP. CXXIV. PAGR CXXXIX. CXL. CXLI. CXLII. CXLIII. CXL1V. CXLV. CXLVI. CXLVII. ^ CXLVIII. CXLIX. CL. CLI. CLII. CLIII. CLIV. CLV. Retirement of Mr. Webster from Mr. Tyler's Cabinet Death of William II. Crawford . First Session of the Twenty-eighth Congress— List of Members— Organi- zation of the House of Representatives Mr. Tyler's Second Annual Message Explosion of the Great Gun on Board the Princeton man-of-war — the Killed and Wounded Reconstruction of Mr. Tyler's Cabinet . Death of Senator Porter, of Louisiana — Eulogium of Mr. Benton Naval Academy, and Naval Policy of the United States .... The Home Squadron— Its Inutility and Expense Professor Morse — His Electro-Magnetic Telegraph 578 Fremont's Second Expedition . . 579 Texas Annexation — Secret Origin — Bold Intrigue for the Presidency . Democratic Convention for the Nomi- nation of Presidential Candidates Presidential — Democratic National Con- vention — Mr. Calhoun's Refusal to Submit his Name to it — His Reasons Annexation of Texas— Secret Negotia- tion—Presidential Intrigue— Schemes of Speculation and Disunion . Texas Annexation Treaty — First Speech of Mr. Benton against it — Extracts . Texas or Disunion — Southern Conven- tion — Mr. Benton's Speech — Extracts Texas or Disunion — Violent Demon- strations in the South — Southern Con- vention proposed .... Rejection of the Annexation Treaty- Proposal of Mr. Benton's Plan . Oregon Territory — Conventions of 1818 and 1828 — Joint Occupation — At- tempted Notice to Terminate it . Presidential Election .... Amendment of the Constitution— Elec- tion of President and Vice-President —Mr. Benton's Plan The President and the Senate— Want of Concord— Numerous Rejections of Nominations Mr. Tyler's Last Message to Congress Legislative Admission of Texas into the Union as a State .... The War with Mexico — Its Cause — Charged on the Conduct of Mr. Cal- houn — Mr. Benton's Speech Mr. Polk's Inaugural Address — Cabinet Mr. Blair and the Globe superseded as the Administration Organ— Mr. T. Rit- chie and the Daily Union substituted Twenty-ninth Congress— List of Mem- bers—First Session— Organization of the House Mr. Polk's First Annual Message to Congress 657 Death of John Forsyth ... 659 Admission of Florida and Iowa . . 660 Negotiations com- 562 563 565 567 571 575 581 591 599 600 613 616 624 626 629 632 649 650 655 j CLVI./ Oregon Treaty V menced, and broken off \ CONTENTS OF VOL. II. CLXXXL Vclxxxii. * CLXXXIIL CLXXXIV. CLXXXV. CLXXXVL CLXXXVII. CHAP. PAGB CHAP. CLVIL Oregon Question— Notice to abrogate the CLXXVIIL Article in the Treaty for a Joint Occn- CLXXIX pation — The President denounced in CLXXX. the Senate for a supposed Leaning to the Line of Forty -nine .... 662 , CLVIII. Oregon Territorial Government — Boun- daries and History of. the Country — Frazer's River — Treaty of Utrecht — Mr. Benton's Speech— Extracts . . 667 ^ ( CLIX. jOregon Joint Occupation — Notice author- ized for terminating it— British Govern- ment offers the Line of 49— Quandary of the Administration — Device — Senate Consulted— Treaty made and Ratified 6T3 CLX. Meeting of the Second Session of the 29th Congress— President's Message— Vigo- rous Prosecution of the War Recom- mended — Lieutenant-general proposed ,• to be created 67T *S^CLXL War with Mexico— The War Declared, and an Intrigue for Peace commenced Xthe same Day 679 j CLXIL Bloodless Conquest of New Mexico — How it was Done — Subsequent Bloody In- / surrection, and its Cause . . . 682 /xCLXIII. Mexican War — Doniphan's Expedition — Mr. Benton's Salutatory Address, St. Louis, Missouri 684 JkLXXXVIII. „X CLXIV. Fremont's Third Expedition, and Acqui- JJ^CLXXXIX. sition of California .... 688 CLXV. Pause in the War — Sedentary Tactics — "Masterly Inactivity" ... 693 ^ CLXVL The Wilmot Proviso— Or, Prohibition of Slavery in the Territories — Its Inutility and Mischief ...... 694 ^— ^CCLXVIL Mr. Calhoun's Slavery Resolutions, and Denial of the Right of Congress to Pro- hibit Slavery in a Territory . . 696 — VCLXYIII. The Slavery Agitation— Disunion— Key to Mr. Calhoun's Policy— Forcing the Issue— Mode of Forcing it 698 CLXIX Death of Silas Wright, Ex-Senator and Ex-Governor of New York . . 700 CLXX. Thirtieth Congress— First Session— List of Members— President's Message . . 702 CLXXL Death of Senator Barrow — Mr. Benton's . Eulogium 706 CLXXII. Death of Mr. Adams 707 ^CLXXIIL Downfall of Santa Anna— New Govern- ment in Mexico — Peace Negotiations — Treaty of Peace 709 CLXXIV. Oregon Territorial Government — Anti- Slavery Ordinance of 1787 applied to Oregon Territory — Missouri Compro- mise Line of 1820, and the Texas An- nexation Renewal of it in 1845, affirmed 711 — iK CLXXV. Mr. Calhoun's New Dogma on Territorial » Slavery — Self-extension of the Slavery Part of the Constitution to Territories 713 CLXXVX Court-martial of Lieutenant-colonel Fre- mont 715 CLXXVIL Fremont's Fourth Expedition, and Great Disaster in the Snows at tho Head of the Rio Grande del Norte — Subsequent Discovery of the Pass he sought . . 719 CO. cxc. CXCI. j*/f CXCIL CXCIII. CXCIV. yi cxcv. CXCVI. CXCVIL CXCVIIL OXCIX. Presidential Election ... 722 ,• Last Message of Mr. Polk . . .724* Financial Working of the Government under the Hard Money System 726 Coast Survey — Belongs to the Navy — Converted into a Separate Depart- ment—Expense and Interminabili- ty— Should be done by the Navy, as in Great Britain — Mr. Benton's Speech— Extract .... 726 Proposed Extension of the Constitu- tion of the United States to the Ter- ritories, with a View to make it car- ry Slavery into California, Utah and New Mexico 729 Progress of the Slavery Agitation — Meeting of Members from the Slave States — Inflammatory Address to the Southern States . . . 733 Inauguration of President Taylor — His Cabinet . . . . .737 Death of Ex-President Polk . . 787 Thirty-first Congress— First Session- List of Members— Organization of the House 738 First and only Annual Message of President Taylor .... 740 Mr. Clay's Plan of Compromise . . 742 Extension of the Missouri Compro- / mise Line to the Pacific Ocean — -^ Mr. Davis, of Mississippi, and Mr. Clay— The Wilmot Proviso . 748 Mr. Calhoun's Last Speech— Dissolu- tion of the Union proclaimed un- less the Constitution was amended, and a Dual Executive appointed — * one President from the Slave States and one from the Free States . 744 Death of Mr. Calhoun — His Eulogium by Senator Butler . . . 747 Mr. Clay's Plan of Slavery Compro- mise — Mr. Benton's Speech Against it— Extracts ..... 749 Death of President Taylor . . 765 Inauguration and Cabinet of Mr. Fill- more 767 Rejection of Mr. Clay's Plan of Com- promis3 768 The Admission of the State of Cali- fornia—Protest of Southern Sena- tors—Remarks upon it by Mr. Een- ton 769 Fugitive Slaves ; Ordinance of 1787— The Constitution— Act of 179£— Act of 1850 ...... 773 Disunion Movements— Southern Press at Washington— Southern Conven- tion at Nashville— Southern Con- gress called for by South Carolina and Mississippi ..... 7S0 The Supreme Court — Its Judges, Clerk, Attorney-Generals, Report- ers and Marshals during the Period treated of in this Volume . . 787 Conclusion 787 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. ■ i- ADMINISTRATION OF MARTIN VAN BUREN CHAPTER I. INAUGURATION OF ME. VAN BUREN. March the 4th of this year, Mr. Van Buren was inaugurated President of the United States with the usual formalities, and conformed to the usage of his predecessors in delivering a public address on the occasion : a declaration of gen- eral principles, and an indication of the general course of the administration, were the tenor of his discourse: and the doctrines of the demo- cratic school, as understood at the original for- mation of parties, were those professed. Close observance of the federal constitution as written — no latitudinarian constructions permitted, or doubtful powers assumed — faithful adherence to all its compromises — economy in the adminis- tration of the government — peace, friendship and fair dealing with all foreign nations — en- tangling alliances with none: such was his political chart : and with the expression of his belief that a perseverance in this line of foreign policy, with an increased strength, tried valor of the people, and exhaustless resources of the country, would entitle us to the good will of nations, protect our national respectability, and secure us from designed aggression from foreign powers. His expressions and views on this head deserve to be commemorated, and to be con- sidered by all those into whose hands the man- agement of the public affairs may go ; and are, therefore, here given in his own words : " Our course of foreign policy has been so uni- form and intelligible, as to constitute a rule of executive conduct which leaves little to my dis- cretion, unless, indeed, I were willing to run coun- ter to the lights of experience, and the known opinions of my constituents. We sedulously cultivate the friendship of all nations, as the con- dition most compatible with our welfare, and the principles of our government. We decline alliances, as adverse to our peace. We desire commercial relations on equal terms, being ever willing to give a fair equivalent for advantages received. We endeavor to conduct our inter- course with openness and sincerity; promptly avowing our objects, and seeking to establish that mutual frankness which is as beneficial in the dealings of nations as of men. We have no disposition, and we disclaim all right, to meddle in disputes, whether internal or foreign, that may molest other countries ; regarding them, in their actual state, as social communities, and pre- serving a strict neutrality in all their contro- versies. Well knowing the tried valor of our people, and our exhaustless resources, we neither anticipate nor fear any designed aggres- sion ; and, in the consciousness of our own just conduct, we feel a security that we shall never be called upon to exert our determination, never to permit an invasion of our rights, without punishment or redress." These are sound and encouraging viewsj and in adherence to them, promise to the United States a career of peace and prosperity compar- atively, free from the succession of wars which have loaded so many nations with debt and taxes, filled them with so many pensioners and paupers, created so much necessity for perma- nent fleets and armies ; and placed one half the population in the predicament of living upon the labor of the other. The stand which the United States had acquired among nations by the vindi- I cation of her rights against the greatest powers 8 • • ■ . - * . • • • • . * * . ..- • * j . • .*. - . • . . • * \ T"HIRTY TEARS' VIEW. — and the manner in which all unredressed ag- gressions, and all previous outstanding injuries, even of the oldest date, had been settled up and compensated under the administration of Presi- dent Jackson — authorized this language from Mr. Van Buren ; and the subsequent conduct of nations has justified it. Designed aggression, within many years, has come from no great power ^casual disagreements and accidental in- juries admit of arrangement: weak neighbors can find no benefit to themselves in wanton ag- gression, or refusal of redress for accidental wrong : isolation (a continent, as it were, to our- selves) is security against attack j and our rail- ways would accumulate rapid destruction upon any invader. These advantages, and strict ad- herence to the rule, to ask only what is right, and submit to nothing wrong, will leave us (we have reason to believe) free from hostile col- lision with foreign powers, free from the neces- sity of keeping up war establishments of army and navy in time of peace, with our great re- sources left in the pockets of the people (always the safest and cheapest national treasuries), to come forth when public exigencies require them, and ourselves at liberty to pursue an unexampled career of national and individual prosperity. One single subject of recently revived occur- rence in our domestic concerns, and of portentous apparition, admitted a departure from the gene- ralities of an inaugural address, and exacted from the new President the notice of a special decla- ration : it was the subject of slavery — an alarm- ing subject of agitation near twenty years before — quieted by the Missouri compromise — re- suscitated in 1835, as shown in previous chap- ters of this View; and apparently taking its place as a permanent and most pestiferous ele- ment in our presidential elections and federal legislation. It had largely mixed with the pres- idential election of the preceding year : it was expected to mix with ensuing federal legislation : and its evil effect upon the harmony and stability of the Union justified the new President in mak- ing a special declaration in relation to it, and even in declaring beforehand the cases of slavery legislation in which he would apply the qualified negative with which the constitution invested him over the acts of Congress. Under this sense of duty and propriety the inaugural address presented this passage : "The last, perhaps the greatest, of the promi- nent sources of discord and disaster supposed to lurk in our political condition, was the institu- tion of domestic slavery. Our forefathers were deeply impressed with the delicacy of this sub- ject, and they treated it with a forbearance so evidently wise, that, in spite of every sinister foreboding, it never, until the present period, disturbed the tranquillity of our common coun- try. Such a result is sufficient evidence of the justice" and the patriotism of their course ; it is evidence not to be mistaken, that an adherence to it can prevent all embarrassment from this, as well as from every other anticipated cause of difficulty or danger. Have not recent events made it obvious to the slightest reflection, that the least deviation from this spirit of forbearance is injurious to every interest, that of humanity included ? Amidst the violence of excited pas- sions, this generous and fraternal feeling has been sometimes disregarded ; and, standing as I now do before my countrymen in this high place of honor and of trust, I cannot refrain from anxiously invoking my fellow-citizens never to be deaf to its dictates. Perceiving, before my election, the deep interest this subject was be- ginning to excite, I believed it a solemn duty fully to make known my sentiments in regard to it ; and now, when every motive for misrep- resentations have passed away, I trust that they will be candidly weighed and understood. At least, they will be my standard of conduct in the path before me. I then declared that, if the desire of those of my countrymen who were fa- vorable to my election was gratified, ' I must go into the presidental chair the inflexible and uncompromising opponent of every attempt, on the part of Congress, to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, against the wishes of the slaveholding States ; and also with a determina- tion equally decided to resist the slightest inter- ference with it in the States where it exists. 5 I submitted also to my fellow-citizens, with ful- ness and frankness, the reasons which led me to this determination. The result authorizes me to believe that they have been approved, and are confided in, by a majority of the people of the United States, including those whom they most immediately affect. It now only remains to add, that no bill conflicting with these views can ever receive my constitutional sanction. These opinions have been adopted in the firm belief that they are in accordance with the spirit that actuated the venerated fathers of the republic, and that succeeding experience has proved them to be humane, patriotic, expedient, honorable and just. If the agitation of this sub- ject was intended to reach the stability of our institutions, enough has occurred to show that it has signally failed ; and that in this, as in every other instance, the apprehensions of the timid and the hopes of the wicked for the de- struction of our government, are again destined to be disappointed." The determination here declared to yield the ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. presidential sanction to no bill which proposed to interfere with slavery in the States ; or to abolish it in the District of Columbia while it existed in the adjacent States, met the evil as it then presented itself — a fear on the part of some of the Southern States that their rights of prop- erty were to be endangered by federal legisla- tion : and against which danger the veto power was now pledged to be opposed. There was no other form at that time in which slavery agita- tion could manifest itself, or place on which it could find a point to operate — the ordinance of 1787, and the compromise of 1820, having closed up the Territories against it. Danger to slave property in the States, either by direct action, or indirectly through the District of Columbia, were the only points of expressed apprehension ; and at these there was not the slightest ground for fear. No one in Congress dreamed of inter- fering with slavery in the States, and the abor- tion of all the attempts made to abolish it in the District, showed the groundlessness of that fear. The pledged veto was not a necessity, but a pro- priety; — not necessary, but prudential; — not called for by anything in congress, but outside of it. In that point of view it was wise and prudent. It took from agitation its point of sup- port — its means of acting on the fears and sus- picions of the timid and credulous : and it gave to the country a season of repose and quiet from this disturbing question until a new point of agitation could be discovered and seized. The cabinet remained nearly as under the pre- vious administration : Mr. Forsyth, Secretary of State; Mr. Woodbury, Secretary of the Treas- ury; Mr. Poinsett, Secretary at War; Mr. Mahlon Dickerson, Secretary of the Navy ; Mr. Amos Kendall, Postmaster General ; and Ben- jamin F. Butler, Esq. Attorney General. Of all these Mr. Poinsett was the only new appoint- ment. On the bench of the Supreme Court, John Catron, Esq. of Tennessee, and John McKinley, Esq. of Alabama, were appointed Justices; William Smith, formerly senator in Congress from South Carolina, having declined the appointment which was filled by Mr. McKinley. Mr. Butler soon resigning his place of Attorney General, Henry D. Gilpin, Esq. of Pennsylvania (after a temporary appointment of Felix Grundy, Esq. of Tennessee), became the Attorney General during the remainder of the administration. nJLv ri^V)i( CHAPTER II. FINANCIAL AND MONETARY CRISIS: GENERAL SUSPENSION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS BY THE BANKS. The nascent administration of the dent was destined to be saluted by a rfl^Miock, and at the point most critical to governments as well as to individuals — that of deranged finances and broken-up treasury ; and against the dangers of which I had in vain endeavored to warn our friends. A general suspension of the banks, a depreciated currency, and the in- solvency of the federal treasury, were at hand. Visible signs, and some confidential information, portended to me this approaching calamity, and my speeches in the Senate were burthened with its vaticination. Two parties, inimical to the administration, were at work to accomplish it — politicians and banks ; and well able to -succeed, because the government money was in the hands of the banks, and the federal legislation in the hands of the politicians ; and both inter- ested in the overthrow of the party in power ; — and the overthrow of the finances the obvious means to the accomplishment of the object. The public moneys had been withdrawn from the custody of the Bank of the United States : the want of an independent, or national treas- ury, of necessity, placed them in the custody of the local banks : and the specie order of Presi- dent Jackson having been rescinded by the Act of Congress, the notes of all these banks, and of all others in the country, amounting to nearly a thousand, became receivable in pay- ment of public dues. The deposit banks be- came filled up with the notes of these multitu- dinous institutions, constituting that surplus, the distribution of which had become an en- grossing care with Congress, and ended with effecting the object under the guise of a de- posit with the States. Irecalled the recollec- tion of the times of 1818-19, when the treasury reports of one year showed a superfluity of revenue for which there was no want, and of the next a deficit which required to be relieved by a loan ; and argued that we must now have the same result from the bloat in the paper system which we then had. I demanded — " Are we not at this moment, and from the 10 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. same cause, realizing the first part — the illusive and treacherous part — of this picture ? and must not the other, the sad and real sequel, speedily follow ? The day of revulsion must come, and its efFects must be more or less disastrous ; but come it must. The present bloat in the paper systen^cannot continue: violent contraction must^Biow enormous expansion : a scene of distrel^Hpd suffering must ensue — to come of itself ouxof the present state of things, without being stimulated and helped on by our unwise legislation." Of the act which rescinded the specie order, and made the notes of the local banks receiva- ble in payment of all federal dues, I said : " This bill is to be an era in our legislation and in our political history. It is to be a point on which the view of the future age is to be thrown back, and from which future conse- quences will be traced. I separate myself from it : I wash my hands of it : I oppose it. I am one of those who promised gold — not paper. I promised the currency of the constitution, not the currency of corporations. I did not join in putting down the Bank of the United States to put up a wilderness of local banks. I did not join in putting down the paper currency of a national bank, to put up a national paper cur- rency of a thousand local banks. I did not strike Caesar to make Antony master of Rome." The condition of our deposit banks was des- perate — wholly inadequate to the slightest pres- sure on their vaults in the ordinary course of business, much less that of meeting the daily government drafts and the approaching deposit of near forty millions with the States. The necessity of keeping one-third of specie on hand for its immediate liabilities, was enforced from the example and rule of the Bank of England, while many of our deposit banks could show but the one-twentieth, the one-thirtieth, the one-fortieth, and even the one-fiftieth of specie in hand for immediate liabilities in circulation and deposits. The sworn evidence of a late Governor of the Bank of England (Mr. Horsely Palmer), before a parliamentary committee, was read, in which he testified that the average pro- portion of coin and bullion which the bank deems it prudent to keep on hand, was at the rate of the third of the total amount of all her liabilities — including deposits as well as issues. And this was the proportion which that bank deemed it prudent to keep — that bank which was the largest in the world, situated in the moneyed metropolis of Europe, with its list of debtors within the circuit of London, supported by the richest merchants in the world, and backed by the British government, which stood her security for fourteen millions sterling, and ready with her supply of exchequer bills (the interest to be raised to insure sales), at any moment of emergency. Tested by the rule of the Bank of England, and our deposit banks were in the jaws of destruction ; and this so evident to me, that I was amazed that others did not see it — those of our friends who voted with the opponents of the administration in re- scinding the specie order, and in making the deposit with the States. The latter had begun to take effect, at the rate of about ten millions to the quarter, on the first day of January pre- ceding Mr. Van Buren's inauguration : a second ten millions were to be called for on the first of April : and like sums on the first days of the two remaining quarters. It was utterly impos- sible for the banks to stand these drafts ; and, having failed in all attempts to wake up our friends, who were then in the majority, to a sense of the danger which was impending, and to arrest their ruinous voting with the oppo- sition members (which most of them did), I determined to address myself to the President elect, under the belief that, although he would not be able to avert the blow, he might do much to soften its force and avert its conse- quences, when it did come. It was in the month of February, while Mr. Van Buren was still President of the Senate, that I invited him into a committee room for that purpose, and stated to him my opinion that we were on the eve of an explosion of the paper system and of a general suspension of the banks — intending to follow up that expression of opinion with the exposition of my reasons for thinking so : but the interview came to a sudden and unexpected termination. Hardly had I expressed my be- lief of this impending catastrophe, than he spoke up, and said, " Your friends think you a little exalted in the head on that subject." I said no more. I was miffed. We left the room to- gether, talking on different matters, and I say- ing to myself, " You will soon feel the thunder- bolt: 1 But I have since felt that I was too hasty, and that I ought to have carried out my ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 11 intention of making a full exposition of the moneyed affairs of the country. His habitual courtesy, from which the expression quoted was a most rare departure, and his real regard for me, both personal and political (for at that time he was pressing me to become a member of his cabinet), would have insured me a full hearing, if I had shown a disposition to go on ; and his clear intellect would have seized and appreciated the strong facts and just inferences which would have been presented to him. But I stopped short, as if I had nothing more to say, from that feeling of self-respect which silences a man of some pride when he sees that what he says is not valued. I have regretted my hasti- ness ever since. It was of the utmost moment that the new President should have his eyes opened to the dangers of the treasury, and my services on the Committee of Finance had given me opportunities of knowledge which he did not possess. Forewarned is forearmed ; and never was there a case in which the maxim more impressively applied. He could not have prevented the suspension: the repeal of the specie circular and the deposit with the States (both measures carried by the help of votes from professing friends), had put that measure into the hands of those who would be sure to use it : but he could have provided against it, and prepared for it, and lessened the force of the blow when it did come. He might have quickened the vigilance of the Secretary of the Treasury — might have demanded additional se- curities from the deposit banks — and might have drawn from them the moneys called for by appropriation acts. There was a sum of about five millions which might have been saved with a stroke of the pen, being the aggregate of sums drawn from the treasury by the numerous dis- bursing officers, and left in the banks in their own names for daily current payments : an or- der to these officers would have saved these five millions, and prevented the disgrace and damage of a stoppage in the daily payments, and the spectacle of a government waking up in the morning without a dollar to pay the day-laborer with, while placing on its statute book a law for the distribution of forty millions of surplus. Measures like these, and others which a pru- dent vigilance would have suggested, might have enabled the government to continue its pay- ments without an extra session of Congress, and without the mortification of capitulating to the broken banks, by accepting and paying out their depreciated notes as the currency of the federal treasury. CHAPTER III. PKEPARATION FOE THE DISTRESS AND SUSPEN- SION. In the autumn of the preceding year, shortly before the meeting of Congress, Mr. Biddle, pre- sident of the Pennsylvania Bank of the United States (for that was the ridiculous title it as- sumed after its resurrection under a Pennsylvania charter), issued one of those characteristic letters which were habitually promulgated whenever a new lead was to be given out, and a new scent emitted for the followers of the bank to run upon. A new distress, as the pretext for a new catastrophe, was now the object. A picture of ruin was presented, alarm given out, every thing going to destruction; and the federal govern- ment the cause of the whole, and the national recharter of the defunct bank the sovereign remedy. The following is an extract from that letter. " The Bank of the United States has not ceased to exist more than seven months, and already the whole currency and exchanges are running into inextricable confusion, and the industry of the country is burdened with extravagant charges on all the commercial intercourse of the Union. And now, when these banks have been created by the Executive, and urged into these excesses, instead of gentle and gradual remedies, a fierce crusade is raised against them, the funds are harshly and suddenly taken from them, and they are forced to extraordinary means of de- fence against the very power which brought them into being. They received, and were ex- pected to receive, in payment for the govern- ment, the notes of each other and the notes of other banks, and the facility with which they did so was a ground of special commendation by the government; and now that government has let loose upon them a demand for specie to the whole amount of these notes. I go further. There is an outcry abroad, raised by faction, and echoed by folly, against the banks of the United States. Until it was disturbed by the government, the banking system of the United States was at least as good as that of any other commercial country. What was desired for its perfection was precisely what I have so long 12 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. striven to accomplish — to widen the metallic basis of the currency by a greater infusion of coin into the smaller channels of circulation. This was in a gradual and judicious train of ac- complishment. But this miserable foolery about an exclusively metallic currency, is quite as absurd as to discard the steamboats, and go back to poling up the Mississippi." The lead thus given out was sedulously fol- lowed during the winter, both in Congress and out of it, and at the end of the session had reached an immense demonstration in New York, in the preparations made to receive Mr. Webster, and to hear a speech from him, on his return from Washington. He arrived in New York on the 15th of March, and the papers of the city give this glowing account of his recep- tion: "In conformity with public announcement, yesterday, at about half past 3 o'clock, the Honor- able Daniel Webster arrived in this city in the steamboat Swan from Philadelphia. The intense desire on the part of the citizens to give a grate- ful reception to this great advocate of the consti- tution, set the whole city in motion towards the point of debarkation, for nearly an hour before the arrival of the distinguished visitor. At the moment when the steamboat reached the pier, the assemblage had attained that degree of density and anxiety to witness the landing, that it was feared serious consequences would result. At half past 3 o'clock Mr. Webster, accompanied by Philip Hone and David B. Ogden, landed from the boat amidst the deafening cheers and plaudits of the multitude, thrice repeated, and took his seat in an open barouche provided for the occasion. The procession, consisting of several hundred citizens upon horseback, a large train of carriages and citizens, formed upon State street, and after receiving their distinguished guest, proceeded with great order up Broadway to the apartments arranged for his reception at the American Hotel. The scene presented the most gratifying spectacle. Hundreds of citizens who had been opposed to Mr. Webster in poli- tics, now that he appeared as a private individ- ual, came forth to demonstrate their respect for his private worth and to express their approba- tion of his personal character; and thousands more who appreciated his principles and political integrity, crowded around to convince him of their personal attachment, and give evidence of their approval of his public acts. The wharves, the shipping, the housetops and windows, and the streets through which the procession passed, were thronged with citizens of every occupation and degree, and loud and continued cheers greeted the great statesman at every point. There was not a greater number at the recep- tion of General Jackson in this city, with the exception of the military, nor a greater degree of enthusiasm manifested upon that occasion, than the arrival upon our shores of Daniel Web- ster. At 6 o'clock in the evening, the anxious multitude began to move towards Niblo's saloon, where Mr. Webster was to be addressed by the committee of citizens delegated for that purpose, and to which it was expected he would reply. A large body of officers were upon the ground to keep the assemblage within bounds, and at a quarter past six the doors were opened, when the saloon, garden, and avenues leading thereto were instantly crowded to overflowing. The meeting was called to order by Alderman Clark, who proposed for president, David B. Ogden, which upon being put to vote was unani- mously adopted. The following gentlemen were then elected vice-presidents, viz : Robert C. Cor- nell, Jonathan Goodhue, Joseph Tucker, Na- thaniel Weed; and Joseph Hoxie and G. S. Robins, secretaries. Mr. W. began his remarks at a quarter before seven o'clock, p. m. and concluded them at a quarter past nine. When he entered the saloon, he was received with the most deafening cheers. The hall rang with the loud plaudits of the crowd, and every hat was waving. So great was the crowd in the galleries, and such was the apprehension that the apparently weak wooden columns which supported would give way, that Mr. W. was twice interrupted with the appalling cry "the galleries are falling," when only a window was broken, or a stove-pipe shaken. The length of the address (two and a half hours), none too long, however, for the audience would with pleasure have tarried two hours longer, compels us to give at present only the heads of a speech which we would otherwise now report in detail." Certainly Mr. Webster was worthy of all honors in the great city of New York ; but hav- ing been accustomed to pass through that city several times in every year during the preceding quarter of a century, and to make frequent so- journs there, and to speak thereafter, and in all the characters of politician, social guest, and member of the bar, — it is certain that neither his person nor his speaking could be such a novelty and rarity as to call out upon his arrival so large a meeting as is here described, invest it with so much form, fire it with so much enthusiasm, fill it with so much expectation, unless there had been some large object in view — some great effect to be produced — some consequence to re- sult : and of all which this imposing demonstra- tion was at once the sign and the initiative. No holiday occasion, no complimentary notice, no feeling of personal regard, could have called forth an assemblage so vast, and inspired it with such deep and anxious emotions. It. required a ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 13 public object, a general interest, a pervading concern, and a serious apprehension of some un- certain and fearful future, to call out and organize such a mass — not of the young, the ardent, the heedless — but of the age, the character, the talent, the fortune, the gravity of the most populous and opulent city of the Union. It was as if the population of a great city, in terror of some great impending unknown calamity, had come forth to get consolation and counsel from a wise man — to ask him what was to happen ? and what they were to do ? And so in fact it was, as fully disclosed in the address with which the orator was saluted, and in the speech of two hours and a half which he made in response to it. The address was a deprecation of calamities ; the speech was responsive to the address — ad- mitted every thing that could be feared — and charged the whole upon the mal-administration of the federal government. A picture of uni- versal distress was portrayed, and worse com- ing; and the remedy for the whole the same which had been presented in Mr. Biddle's letter — the recharter of the national bank. The speech was a manifesto against the Jackson administra- tion, and a protest against its continuation in the person of his successor, and an invocation to a general combination against it. All the banks were sought to be united, and made to stand together upon a sense of common danger — the administration their enemy, the national bank their protection. Every industrial pursuit was pictured as crippled and damaged by bad government. Material injury to private interests were still more vehemently charged than polit- ical injuries to the body politic. In the deplor- able picture which it presented of the condition of every industrial pursuit, and especially in the "war" upon the banks and the currency, it seemed to be a justificatory pleading in advance for tt general shutting up of their doors, and the shutting up of the federal treasury at the same time. In this sense, and on this point, the speech contained this ominous sentence, more candid than discreet, taken in connection with what was to happen : " Remember, gentlemen, in the midst of this deafening din against all banks, that if it shall create such a panic, or such alarm, as shall shut up the banks, it will shut up the treasury of the United States also." The whole tenor of the speech was calculated to produce discontent, create distress, and excite alarm — discontent and distress for present suf- ferings — alarm for the greater, which were to come. This is a sample : " Gentlemen, I would not willingly be a pro- phet of ill. I most devoutly wish to see a better state of things ; and I believe the repeal of the treasury order would tend very much to bring about that better state of things. And I am of opinion, gentlemen, that the order will be re- pealed. I think it must be repealed. I think the east, west, north and south, will demand its repeal. But, gentlemen, I feel it my duty to say, that if I should be disappointed in this expecta- tion, I see no immediate relief to the distresses of the community. I greatly fear, even, that the worst is not yet. I look for severer dis- tresses ; for extreme difficulties in exchange ; for far greater inconveniences in remittance, and for a sudden fall in prices. Our condition is one not to be tampered with, and the repeal of the treas- ury order being something which government can do, and which will do good, the public voice is right in demanding that repeal. It is true, if repealed now, the relief will come late. Never- theless its repeal or abrogation is a thing to be insisted on, and pursued till it shall be accom- plished." The speech concluded with an earnest ex- hortation to the citizens of New York to do something, without saying what, but which with my misgivings and presentiments, the whole tenor of the speech and the circumstances which attended it — delivered in the moneyed metropolis of the Union, at a time when there was no political canvass depending, and the ominous omission to name what was required to be done — appeared to me to be an invitation to the New York banks to close their doors ! which being done by them would be an example fol- lowed throughout the Union, and produce the consummation of a universal suspension. The following is that conclusion : " Whigs of New York ! Patriotic citizens of this great metropolis ! — Lovers of constitutional liberty, bound by interest and affection to the institutions of your country, Americans in heart and in principle ! You are ready, I am sure, to fulfil all the duties imposed upon you by your situation, and demanded of you by your coun- try. You have a central position ; your city is the point from which intelligence emanates, and spreads in all directions over the whole land. Every hour carries reports of your sentiments and opinions to the verge of the Union. You cannot escape the responsibility which circum- stances have thrown upon you. You must live and act on a broad and conspicuous theatre, either for good or for evil, to your country. You cannot shrink away from public duties; you 14 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. cannot obscure yourselves, nor bury your talent. In the common welfare, in the common pros- perity, in the common glory of Americans, you have a stake, of value not to be calculated. You have an interest in the preservation of the Union, of the constitution, and of the true principles of the government, which no man can estimate. You act for yourselves, and for the generations that are to come after you ; and those who, ages hence, shall bear your names, and partake your blood, will feel in their political and social con- dition, the consequences of the manner in which you discharge your political duties." The appeal for action in this paragraph is vehement. It takes every form of violent desire which is known to the art of entreaty. Suppli- cation, solicitation, remonstrance, importunity, prayer, menace ! until rising to the dignity of a debt due from a moneyed metropolis to an ex- pectant community, he demanded payment as matter of right ! and enforced the demand as an obligation of necessity, as well as of duty, and from which such a community could not escape, if it would. The nature of the action which was so vehemently desired, could not be mistaken. I hold it a fair interpretation of this appeal that it was an exhortation to the business population of the commercial metropolis of the Union to take the initiative in suspending specie payments, and a justificatory manifesto for doing so ; and that the speech itself was the first step in the grand performance : and so it seemed to be un- derstood. It was received with unbounded ap- plause, lauded to the skies, cheered to the echo, carefully and elaborately prepared for publica- tion, — published and republished in newspaper and pamphlet form ; and universally circulated. This was in the first month of Mr. Van Buren's presidency, and it will be seen what the second one brought forth. The specie circular— that treasury order of President Jackson, which saved the public lands from being converted into broken bank paper — was the subject of repeated denunciatory refer- ence — very erroneous, as the event has proved, in its estimate of the measure ; but quite cor- rect in its history, and amusing in its reference to some of the friends of the administration who undertook to act a part for and against the re- scission of the order at the same time. " Mr. Webster then came to the treasury cir- cular, and related the history of the late legisla- tion upon it. ' A member of Congress,' said he, ' prepared this very treasury order in 1836, but the only vote he got for it was his own — he stood 'solitary' and 'alone' (a laugh); and yet eleven days after Congress had adjourned— only six months after the President in his annual message had congratulated the people upon the prosperous sales of the public lands, — this order came out in known and direct opposi- tion to the wishes of nine-tenths of the members of Congress.' " This is good history from a close witness of what he relates. The member referred to as having prepared the treasury order, and offered it in the shape of a bill in the Senate, and get- ting no vote for it but his own, — who stood soli- tary and alone on that occasion, as well as on some others— was no other than the writer of this View; and he has lived to see about as much unanimity in favor of that measure since as there was against it then. Nine-tenths of the members of Congress were then against it, but from very different motives— some because they were deeply engaged in land speculations, and borrowed paper from the banks for the purpose ; some because they were in the interest of the banks, and wished to give their paper credit and circulation ; others because they were sincere believers in the pap'er system ; others because they were opposed to the President, and be- lieved him to be in favor of the measure ; others again from mere timidity of temperament, and constitutional inability to act strongly. And these various descriptions embraced friends as well as foes to the administration. Mr. Webster says the order was issued eleven days after that Congress adjourned which had so unanimously rejected it. That is true. We only waited for Congress to be gone to issue the order. Mr. Benton was in the room of the private secre- tary (Mr. Donelson), hard by the council cham- ber, while the cabinet sat in council upon this measure. They were mostly against it. Gen- eral Jackson ordered it, and directed the private Secretary to bring him a draft of the order to be issued. He came to Mr. Benton to draw it — who did so : and being altered a little, it was given to the Secretary of the Treasury to be pro- mulgated. Then Mr. Benton asked for his draft, that he might destroy it. The private secretary said no — that the time might come when it should be known who was at the bottom of that Treasury order: and that be would keep it. It was issued on the strong will and clear head of President Jackson, and saved many ten millions to the public treasury. Bales of bank notes were on the road to be converted into public lands ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 15 which this order overtook, and sent back, to depreciate in the vaults of the banks instead of the coffers of the treasury. To repeal the order by law was the effort as soon as Congress met, and direct legislation to that effect was proposed by Mr. Ewing, of Ohio, but superseded by a cir- cumlocutory bill from Mr. Walker and Mr. Rives, which the President treated as a nullity for want of intelligibility: and of which Mr. Webster gave this account : " If he himself had had power, he would have voted for Mr. Ewing's proposition to repeal the order, in terms which Mr. Butler and the late President could not have misunderstood; but power was so strong, and members of Congress had now become so delicate about giving offence to it, that it would not do, for the world, to repeal the obnoxious circular, plainly and forth- with ; but the ingenuity of the friends of the administration must dodge around it, and over it — and now Mr. Butler had the unkindness to tell them that their views neither he, lawyer as he is, nor the President, could possibly under- stand (a laugh), and that, as it could not be understood, the President had pocketed it — and left it upon the archives of state, no doubt to be studied there. Mr. W. would call attention to the remarkable fact, that though the Senate acted upon this currency bill in season, yet it was put off, and put off — so that, by no action upon it before the ten days allowed the Presi- dent by the constitution, the power over it was completely in his will, even though the whole nation and every member of Congress wished for its repeal. Mr. W., however, believed that such was the pressure of public opinion upon the new President, that it must soon be repealed." This amphibology of the bill, and delay in passing it, and this dodging around and over, was occasioned by what Mr. Webster calls the delicacy of some members who had the difficult part to play, of going with the enemies of the administration without going against the ad- ministration. A chapter in the first volume of this View gives the history of this work ; and the last sentence in the passage quoted from Mr. Webster's speech gives the key to the views in which the speech originated, and to the proceedings by which it was accompanied and followed. " It is believed that such is the pressure of public opinion upon the new Pres- ident that it must soon be repealed?'' In another part of his speech, Mr. Webster shows that the repealing bill was put by the whigs into the hands of certain friends of the administration, to be by them seasoned into a palatable dish ; and that they gained no favor with the " bold man " who despised flinching, and loved decision, even in a foe. Thus : " At the commencement of the last session, as you know, gentlemen, a resolution was brought forward in the Senate for annulling and abrogating this order, by Mr. Ewing, a gen- tleman of much intelligence, of sound principles, of vigorous and energetic character, whose loss from the service of the country, I regard as a public misfortune. The whig members all sup- ported this resolution, and all the members, I believe, with the exception of some five or six, were very anxious, in some way, to get rid of the treasury order. But Mr. Ewing's resolu- tion was too direct. It was deemed a pointed and ungracious attack on executive policy. Therefore, it must be softened, modified, quali- fied, made to sound less harsh to the ears of men in power, and to assume a plausible, pol- ished, inoffensive character. It was accordingly put into the plastic hands of the friends of the executive, to be moulded and fashioned, so that it might have the effect of ridding the country of the obnoxious order, and yet not appear to question executive infallibility. All this did not answer. The late President is not a man to be satisfied with soft words ; and he saw in the measure, even as it passed the two houses, a substantial repeal of the order. He is a man of boldness and decision ; and he respects bold- ness and decision in others. If you are his friend, he expects no flinching ; and if you are his adversary, he respects you none the less, for carrying your opposition to the full limits of honorable warfare." Mr. Webster must have been greatly dissat- isfied with his democratic allies, when he could thus, in a public speech, before such an audi- ence, and within one short month after they had been co-operating with him, hold them up as equally unmeritable in the eyes of both parties. History deems it essential to present this New York speech of Mr. Webster as part of a great movement, without a knowledge of which the view would be imperfect. It was the first formal public step which was to inaugurate the new distress, and organize the proceedings for shutting up the banks, and with them, the fed- eral treasury, with a view to coerce the govern- mentanto submission to the Bank of the United States and its confederate politicians. Mr. Van Buren was a man of great suavity and gentle- ness of deportment, and, to those who associated the idea of violence with firmness, might be supposed deficient in that quality. An experi- ment upon his nerves was resolved on — a pres- sure of public opinion, in the language of Mr 16 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Webster, under which his gentle temperament was expected to yield. CHAPTER IV. PEOGEESS OF THE DISTEESS, AND PEEL1M- INAEIES FOB THE SUSPENSION. The speech of Mr. Webster — his appeal for action — was soon followed by its appointed con- sequence — an immense meeting in the city of New York. The speech did not produce the- meeting, any more than the meeting produced the speech. Both were in the programme, and performed as prescribed, in their respective places — the speech first, the meeting afterwards ; and the latter justified by the former. It was an immense assemblage, composed of the elite of what was foremost in the city for property, talent, respectability ; and took for its business the consideration of the times : the distress of the times, and the nature of the remedy. The imposing form of a meeting, solemn as well as numerous and respectable, was gone through : speeches made, resolutions adopted : order and emphasis given to the proceedings. A presi- dent, ten vice-presidents, two secretaries, seven orators (Mr. Webster not among them : he had performed his part, and made his exit), officiated in the ceremonies ; and thousands of citizens constituted the accumulated mass. The spirit and proceedings of the meeting were concentrated in a series of resolves, each stronger than the other, and each more welcome than the former ; and all progressive, from facts and principles declared, to duties and performances recommended. The first resolve declared the existence of the distress, and made the picture gloomy enough. It was in these words : " Whereas, the great commercial interests of our city have nearly reached a point of general ruin — our merchants driven from a state of prosperity to that of unprecedented difficulty and bankruptcy — the business, activity and energy, which have heretofore made us the polar star of the new world, is daily sinking, and taking from us the fruits of years of indus- try — reducing the aged among us, who but yes- terday were sufficiently in affluence, to a state of comparative want ; and blighting the pros- pects, and blasting the hopes of the young throughout our once prosperous land : we deem it our duty to express to the country our situa- tion and desires, while yet there is time to re- trace error, and secure those rights and perpet- uate those principles which were bequeathed us by our fathers, and which we are bound to make every honorable effort to maintain." After the fact of the distress, thus established by a resolve, came the cause ; and this was the condensation of Mr. Webster's speech, collect- ing into a point what had been oratorically dif- fused over a wide surface. What was itself a condensation cannot be further abridged, and must be given in its own words : "That the wide-spread disaster which has overtaken the commercial interests of the coun- try, and which threatens to produce general bankruptcy, may be in a great measure ascribed to the interference of the general government with the commercial and business operations of the country ; its intermeddling with the cur- rency ; its destruction of the national bank; its attempt to substitute a metallic for a credit currency; and, finally, to the issuing by the President of the United States of the treasury order, known as the " specie circular." The next resolve foreshadowed the conse- quences which follow from governmental perse- verance in such calamitous measures — general bankruptcy to the dealing classes, starvation to the laboring classes, public convulsions, and danger to our political institutions ; with an ad- monition to the new President of what might happen to himself, if he persevered in the " ex- periments" of a predecessor whose tyranny and oppression had made him the scourge of his country. But let the resolve speak for itself: "That while we would do nothing which might for a moment compromit our respect for the laws, we feel it incumbent upon us to re- mind the executive of the nation, that the gov- ernment of the country, as of late administered, has become the oppressor of the people, instead of affording them protection — that his persever- ance in the experiment of his predecessor (after the public voice, in every way in which that voice could be expressed, has clearly denounced it as ruinous to the best interests of the coun- try) has already caused the ruin of thousands of merchants, thrown tens of thousands of me- chanics and laborers out of employment, depre- ciated the value of our great staple millions of dollars, destroyed the internal exchanges, and prostrated the energies and blighted the pros- pects of the industrious and enterprising por- tion of our people ; and must, if persevered in, not only produce starvation among the labor- ing classes, but inevitably lead to disturbances which may endanger the stability of our insti- tutions themselves." This word " experiment " had become a sta- ple phrase in all the distress oratory and litera- * ANNO 183Y. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 17 ture of the day, sometimes heightened by the prefix of " quack" and was applied to all the efforts of the administration to return the fed- eral government to the hard money currency, which was the currency of the constitution and the currency of all countries ; and which efforts were now treated as novelties and dangerous innovations. Universal was the use of the phrase by one of the political parties some twenty years ago : dead silent are their tongues upon it now! Twenty years of successful working of the government under the hard money system has put an end to the repetition of a phrase which has suffered the fate of all catch-words of party, and became more dis- tasteful to its old employers than it ever was to their adversaries. It has not been heard since the federal government got divorced from bank and paper money ! since gold and silver has become the sole currency of the federal gov- ernment! since, in fact, the memorable epoch when the Bank of the United States (former sovereign" remedy for all the ills the body poli- tic was heir to) has become a defunct authority, and an " obsolete idea." The next resolve proposed a $rect movement upon the President — nothing less than a com- mittee of fifty to wait upon him, and " remon- strate" with him upon what was called the ruinous measures of the government. " That a committee of not less than fifty be appointed to repair to Washington, and remon- strate with the Executive against the continu- ance of " the specie circular;" and in behalf of this meeting and in the name of the merchants of New York, and the people of the United States, urge its immediate repeal." This formidable committee, limited to a min- imum of fifty, open to a maximum of any amount, besides this "remonstrance" against the specie circular, were also instructed to pe- tition the President to forbear the collection of merchants' bonds by suit ; and also to call an extra session of Congress. The first of these measures was to stop the collection of the ac- cruing revenues: the second, to obtain from Congress that submission to the bank power which could not be obtained from the Presi- dent. Formidable as were the arrangements for acting on the President, provision was dis- creetly made for a possible failure, and for the prosecution of other measures. With this view, Vol. II.— 2 the committee of fifty, after their return from Washington, were directed to call another gen- eral meeting of the citizens of New York, and to report to them the results of their mission. A concluding resolution invited the co-opera- tion of the other great cities in these proceed- ings, and seemed to look to an imposing demon- stration of physical force, and strong determina- tion, as a means of acting on the mind, or will of the President ; and thus controlling the free action of the constitutional authorities. This resolve was specially addressed to the merchants of Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore, and gen- erally addressed to all other commercial cities, and earnestly prayed their assistance in saving the whole country from ruin. "That merchants of Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, and the commercial cities of the Union, be respectfully requested to unite with us in our remonstrance and petition, and to use their exertions, in connection with us, to induce the Executive of the nation to listen to the voice of the people, and to recede from a measure under the evils of which we are now laboring, and which threatens to involve the whole country in ruin." The language and import of all these resolves and proceedings were sufficiently strong, and indicated a feeling but little short of violence towards the government ; but, according to the newspapers of the city, they were subdued and moderate — tame and spiritless, in comparison to the feeling which animated the great meet- ing. A leading paper thus characterized that feeling : " The meeting was a remarkable one for the vast numbers assembled — the entire decorum of the proceedings — and especially for the deep, though subdued and restrained, excitement which evidently pervaded the mighty mass. It was a spectacle that could not be looked upon without emotion, — that of many thousand men trembling, as it were, on the brink of ruin, owing to the measures, as they verily be- lieve, of their own government, which should be their friend, instead of their oppressor— and yet meeting with deliberation and calmness, lis- tening to a narrative of their wrongs, and the causes thereof, adopting such resolutions as were deemed judicious j and then quietly sepa- rating, to abide the result of their firm but re- spectful remonstrances. But it is proper and fit to say that this moderation must not be mis- taken for pusillanimity, nor be trifled with, as though it could not by any aggravation of wrong be moved from its propriety. No man 18 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. accustomed, from the expression of the counte- nance, to translate the emotions of the heart, could have looked upon the faces and the bear- ing of the multitude assembled last evening, and not have felt that there were fires smouldering there, which a single spark might cause to burst into flame." Smouldering fires which a single spark might light into a flame ! Possibly that spark might have been the opposing voice of some citizen, who thought the meeting mistaken, both in the fact of the ruin of the country and the attribu- tion of that ruin to the specie circular. No such voice was lifted — no such spark applied, and the proposition to march 10,000 men to Washington to demand a redress of grievances was not sanctioned. The committee of fifty was deemed sufficient, as they certainly were, for every purpose of peaceful communication. They were eminently respectable citizens, any two, or any one of which, or even a mail trans- mission of their petition, would have com- manded for it a most respectful attention. The grand committee arrived at Washington — asked an audience of the President — received it ; but with the precaution (to avoid mistakes) that written communications should alone be used. The committee therefore presented their demands in writing, and a paragraph from it will show the degree to which the feeling of the city had allowed itself to be worked up. " We do not tell a fictitious tale of woe ; we have no selfish or partisan views to sustain, when we assure you that the noble city which we represent, lies prostrate in despair, its credit blighted, its industry paralyzed, and without a hope beaming through the darkness of the future, unless the government of our country can be induced to relinquish the measures to which we attribute our distress. We fully appreciate the respect which is due to our chief magistrate, and disclaim every intention incon- sistent with that feeling ; but we speak in be- half of a community which trembles upon the brink of ruin, which deems itself an adequate judge of all questions connected with the trade and currency of the country, and believes that the policy adopted by the recent administra- tion, and sustained by the present, is founded in error, and threatens the destruction of every department of industry. Under a deep impres- sion of the propriety of confining our declara- tions within moderate limits, we affirm that the value of our real estate has, within the last six months, depreciated more than forty millions : that within the last two months, there have been more than two hundred and fifty failures of houses engaged in extensive business : that within the same period, a decline of twenty millions of dollars has occurred in our local stocks, including those railroad and canal in- corporations, which, though chartered in other States, depend chiefly upon New York for their sale : that the immense amount of merchandise in our warehouses has within the same period fallen in value at least thirty per cent. ; that within a few weeks, not less than twenty thou- sand individuals, depending on their daily labor for their daily bread, have been discharged by their employers, because the means of retaining them were exhausted — and that a complete blight has fallen upon a community heretofore so * active, enterprising and prosperous. The error of our rulers has produced a wider deso- lation than the pestilence which depopulated our streets, or the conflagration, which laid them in ashes. We believe that it is unjust to attribute these evils to any excessive develop- ment of mercantile enterprise, and that they really flow from that unwise system which aimed at the substitution of a metallic for a paper currency — the system which gave the first shock to the fabric of our commercial prosperity by removing the public deposits from the United States bank, which weakened every part of the edifice by the destruction of that useful and efficient institution, and now threatens to crumble it into a mass of ruins under the operations of the specie circular, which withdrew the gold and silver of the country from the channels in which it could be profitably employed. We assert that the ex- periment has had a fair — a liberal trial, and that disappointment and mischief are visible in all its results — that the promise of a regulated currency and equalized exchanges has been broken, the currency totally disordered, and in- ternal exchanges almost entirely discontinued. We, therefore, make our earnest appeal to the Executive, and ask whether it is not time to in- terpose the paternal authority of the govern- ment, and abandon the policy which is beggar- I ing the people." The address was read to the President. He heard it with entire composure — made no sort of remark upon it — treated the gentlemen with exquisite politeness — and promised them a written answer the next day. This was the third of May : on the fourth the answer was delivered. It was an answer worthy of a Pres- ident — a calm, quiet, decent, peremptory refusal to comply with a single one of their demands ! with a brief reason, avoiding all controversy, and foreclosing all further application, by a clean re- fusal in each case. The committee had nothing to do but to return, and report : and they did so. There had been a mistake committed in ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 19 the estimate of the man. Mr. Van Buren vin- dicated equally the rights of the chief magis- trate, and his own personal decorum ; and left the committee without any thing to complain of, although unsuccessful in all their objects. He also had another opportunity of vindicating his personal and official decorum in another visit which he received about the same time. Mr. Biddle called to see the President — apparently a call of respect on the chief magistrate — about the same time, but evidently with the design to be consulted, and to appear as the great restorer of the currency. Mr. Van Buren received the visit according to its apparent intent, with en- tire civility, and without a word on public affairs. Believing Mr. Biddle to be at the bottom of the suspension, he could not treat him with the confidence and respect which a consultation would imply. He (Mr. Biddle) felt the slight, and caused this notice to be put in the papers : " Being on other business at Washington, Mr. Biddle took occasion to call on the President of the United States, to pay his respects to him in that character, and especially, to afford the President an opportunity, if he chose to em- brace it, to speak of the present state of things, and to confer, if he saw fit, witft the head of the largest banking institution in the country — and that the institution in which such general ap- plication has been made for relief. During the interview, however, the President remained pro- foundly silent upon the great and interesting topics of the day ; and as Mr. Biddle did not think it his business to introduce them, not a word in relation to them was said." Returning to New York, the committee con- voked another general meeting of the citizens, as required to do at the time of their appoint- ment ; and made their report to it, recommend- ing further forbearance, and further reliance on the ballot box, although (as they said) history recorded many popular insurrections where the provocation was less. A passage from this report will show its spirit, and to what excess a commu- nity may be excited about nothing, by the mu- tual inflammation of each other's passions and complaints, combined with a power to act upon the business and interests of the people. " From this correspondence it is obvious, fel- low-citizens, that we must abandon all hope that either the justice of our claims or the se- verity of our sufferings will induce the Execu- tive to abandon or relax the policy which has produced such desolating effects — and it remains for us to consider what more is to be done in this awful crisis of our affairs. Our first duty under losses and distresses which we have en- dured, is to cherish with religious care the blessings which we yet enjoy, and which can be protected only by a strict observance of the laws upon which society depends for security and happiness. We do not disguise our opinion that the pages of history record, and the opin- ions of mankind justify, numerous instances of popular insurrection, the provocation to which was less severe than the evils of which we com- plain. But in these cases, the outraged and oppressed had no other means of redress. Our case is different. If we can succeed in an effort to bring public opinion into sympathy with the views which we entertain, the Executive will abandon the policy which oppresses, instead of protecting the people. Do not despair because the time at which the ballot box can exercise its healing influence appears so remote — the sa- gacity of the practical politician will perceive the change in public sentiment before you are aware of its approach. But the effort to pro- duce this change must be vigorous and untir- ing." The meeting adopted corresponding resolu- tions. Despairing of acting on the President, the move was to act upon the people — to rouse and combine them against an administration which was destroying their industry, and to re- move from power (at the elections) those who were destroying the industry of the country. Thus: " Resolved, That the interests of the capital- ists, merchants, manufacturers, mechanics and in- dustrious classes, are dependent upon each other, and any measures of the government which prostrate the active business men of the com- munity, will also deprive honest industry of its reward ; and we call upon all our fellow-citizens to unite with us in removing from power those who persist in a system that is destroying the prosperity of our country." Another resolve summed up the list of griev- ances of which they complained, and enumerat- ed the causes of the pervading ruin which had been brought upon the country. Thus : " Resolved, That the chief causes of the ex- isting distress are the defeat of Mr. Clay's land bill, the removal of the public deposits, the re- fusal to re-charter the Bank of the United States, and the issuing of the specie circular. The land bill was passed by the people's repre- sentatives, and vetoed by the President — the bill rechartering the bank was passed by the peo- ple's representatives, and vetoed by the Presi- dent. The people's representatives declared by a solemn resolution, that the public deposits 20 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. were safe in the United States Bank ; within a few weeks thereafter, the President removed the public deposits. The people's representatives passed a bill rescinding the specie circular : the President destroyed it by omitting to return it within the limited period ; and in the answer to our addresses, President Van Buren declares that the specie circular was issued by his pre- decessor, omitting all notice of the Secretary of the Treasury, who is amenable directly to Con- gress, and charged by the act creating his de- partment with the superintendence of the finan- ces, and who signed the order." These two resolves deserve to be noted. They were not empty or impotent menace. They were for action, and became what they were in- tended for. The moneyed corporations, united with a political party, were in the field as a po- litical power, to govern the elections, and to govern them, by the only means known to a moneyed power — by operating on the interests of men, seducing some, alarming and distressing the masses. They are the key to the manner of conducting the presidential election, and which will be spoken of in the proper place The union of Church and State has been generally condemned : the union of Bank and State is far more condemnable. Here the union was not with the State, but with a political party, nearly as strong as the party in possession of the government, and exemplified the evils of the meretricious connection between money and politics ; and nothing but this union could have produced the state of things which so long afflicted the country, and from which it has been relieved, not by the cessation of their im- puted causes, but by their perpetuation. It is now near twenty years since this great meeting was held in New York. The ruinous measures complained of have not been revoked, but be- come permanent. They have been in full force, and made stronger, for near twenty years. The universal and black destruction which was to en- sue their briefest continuance, has been substi- tuted by the most solid, brilliant, pervading, and abiding prosperity that any people ever beheld. Thanks to the divorce of Bank and State. But the consummation was not yet. Strong in her name, and old recollections, and in her political connections — dominant over other banks — brib- ing with one hand, scourging with the other — a long retinue of debtors and retainers — desperate in her condition — impotent for good, powerful for evil— confederated with restless politicians, and wickedly, corruptly, and revengefully ruled: the Great Red Harlot, profaning the name of a National Bank, was still to continue a while longer its career of abominations — maintaining dubious contest with the government which created it, upon whose name and revenues it had gained the wealth and power of which it was still the shade, and whose destruction it plotted because it could not rule it. Posterity should know these things, that by avoiding bank connections, their governments may avoid the evils that we have suffered ; and, by seeing the excitements of 1837, they may save themselves from ever becoming the victims of such delusion. CHAPTER V. ACTUAL SUSPENSION OF THE BANKS : PROPAGA- TION OF THE ALAEM. None of the public meetings, and there were many following the leading one in New York, recommended in terms a suspension of specie payments by the banks. All avoided, by con- cert or instinct, the naming of that high measure ; but it was in the list, and at the head of the list, of the measures to be adopted ; and every thing said or done was with a view to that crowning event ; and to prepare the way for it before it came ; and to plead its subsequent justi- fication by showing its previous necessity. It was in the programme, and bound to come in its appointed time ; and did — and that within a few days after the last great meeting in New York. It took place quietly and generally, on the morn- ing of the 10th of May, altogether, and with a concert and punctuality of action, and with a military and police preparation, which an- nounced arrangement and determination; such as attend revolts and insurrections in other countries. The preceding night all the banks of the city, three excepted, met by their officers, and adopted resolutions to close their doors in the morning : and gave out notice to that effect. At the same time three regiments of volunteers, and a squadron of horse, were placed on duty in the principal parts of the city ; and the entire police force, largely reinforced with special con- stables, was on foot. This was to suppress the discontent of those who might be too much ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 21 dissatisfied at being repulsed when they came to ask for the amount of a deposit, or the contents of a bank note. It was a humiliating spectacle, but an effectual precaution. The people remained quiet. At twelve o'clock a large mercantile meet- ing took place. Resolutions were adopted by it to sustain the suspension, and the newspaper press was profuse and energetic in its support. The measure was consummated : the suspension was complete : it was triumphant in that city whose example, in such a case, was law to the rest of the Union. But, let due discrimination be made. Though all the banks joined in the act, all were not equally culpable; and some, in fact, not culpable at all, but victims of the criminality, or misfortunes of others. It was the effect of ne- cessity with the deposit banks, exhausted by vain efforts to meet the quarterly deliveries of the forty millions to be deposited with the States; and pressed on all sides because they were government banks, and because the pro- gramme required them to stop first. It was an act of self-defence in others which were too weak to stand alone, and which followed with reluc- tance an example which they could not resist. With others it was an act o£ policy, and of criminal contrivance, as the means of carrying a real distress into the ranks of the people, and exciting them against the political party to whose acts the distress was attributed. But the prime mover, and master manager of the sus- pension, was the Bank of the United States, then rotten to the core and tottering to its fall, but strong enough to carry others with it, and seeking to hide its own downfall in the crash of a general catastrophe. Having contrived the suspension, it wished to appear as opposing it, and as having been dragged down by others ; and. accordingly took the attitude of a victim. But the impudence and emptiness of that pretension was soon exposed by the difficulty which other banks had in forcing her to resume ; and by the facility with which she fell back, " solitary and alone," into the state of permanent insolvency from which the other banks had momentarily galvanized her. But the occasion was too good to be lost for one of those complacent epistles, models of quiet impudence and cool mendacity, with which Mr. Biddle was accustomed to regale the public in seasons of moneyed distress. It was impossible to forego such an opportunity ; and, accordingly, three days after the New York sus- pension, and two days after his own, he held forth in a strain of which the following is a sample : " All the deposit banks of the government of the United States in the city of New York sus- pended specie payments this week — the deposit banks elsewhere have followed their example; which was of course adopted by the State banks not connected with the government. I say of course, because it is certain that when the gov- ernment banks cease to pay specie, all the other banks must cease, and for this clear reason. The great creditor in the United States is the govern- ment. It receives for duties the notes of the various banks, which are placed for collection in certain government banks, and are paid to those government banks in specie if requested. From the moment that the deposit banks of New York, failed to comply with their engagements, it was manifest that all the other deposit banks must do the same, that there must be a universal suspension throughout the country, and that the treasury itself in the midst of its nominal abun- dance must be practically bankrupt." This was all true. The stoppage of the de- posit banks was the stoppage of the Treasur} r . Non-payment by the government, was an excuse for non-payment by others. Bankruptcy was the legal condition of non-payment; and that condition was the fate of the government as well as of others ; and all this was perfectly known before by those who contrived, and those who resisted the deposit with the States and the use of paper money by the federal government. These two measures made the suspension and the bankruptcy ; and all this was so obvious to the writer of this View that he proclaimed it incessantly in his speeches, and was amazed at the conduct of those professing friends of the administration who voted with the opposition on these measures, and by their votes insured the bankruptcy of the government which they pro- fessed to support. Mr. Biddle was right. The deposit banks were gone ; the federal treasury was bankrupt ; and those two events were two steps on the road which was to lead to the re- establishment of the Bank of the United States ! and Mr. Biddle stood ready with his bank to travel that road. The next paragraph displayed this readiness. '*' In the midst of these disorders the Bank of the United States occupies a peculiar posi- tion, and has special duties. Had it consulted merely its own strength it would have contin- ued its payments without reserve. But in 22 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. such a state of things the first considera- tion is how to escape from it — how to provide at the earliest practicable moment to change a condition which should not be tolerated beyond the necessity which commanded it. The old associations, the extensive connections, the established credit, the large capital of the Bank of the United States, rendered it the natural rallying point of the country for the resumption of specie payments. It seemed wiser, therefore, not to waste its strength in a struggle which might be doubtful while the Exe- cutive persevered in its present policy, but to husband all its resources so as to profit by the first favorable moment to take the lead in the early resumption of specie payments. Accord- ingly the Bank of the United States assumes that position. From this moment its efforts will be to keep itself strong, and to make itself stronger; always prepared and always anxious to assist in recalling the currency and the ex- changes of the country to the point from which they have fallen. It will co-operate cordially and zealously with the government, with the government banks, with all the other banks, and with any other influences which can aid in that object." This was a bold face for an eviscerated insti- tution to assume — one which was then nothing but the empty skin of an immolated victim — the contriver of the suspension to cover its own rottenness, and the architect of distress and ruin that out of the public calamity it might get again into existence and replenish its coffers out of the revenues and credit of the federal govern- ment. " Would have continued specie payments, if it had only consulted its own strength " — "only suspended from a sense of duty and patriotism " — " will take the lead in resuming " — " assumes the position of restorer of the cur- rency " — " presents itself as the rallying point of the country in the resumption of specie pay- ments " — " even promises to co-operate with the government : " such were the impudent profes- sions at the very moment that this restorer of currency, and rallying point of resumption, was plotting a continuance of the distress and sus- pension until it could get hold of the federal moneys to recover upon ; and without which it never could recover. Indissolubly connected with this bank suspen- sion, and throwing a broad light upon its history, (if further light were wanted,) was Mr. Web- ster's tour to the West, and the speeches which he made in the course of it. The tour extended to the Valley of the Mississippi, and the speeches took for their burden the distress and the sus- pension, excusing and justifying the banks, throwing all blame upon the government, and looking to the Bank of the United States for the sole remedy. It was at AVheeling that he opened the series of speeches which he delivered in his tour, it being at that place that he was over- taken by the news of the suspension, and which furnished him with the text for his discourse. " Recent evils have not at all surprised me, ex- cept that they have come sooner and faster than I had anticipated. But, though not surprised, I am afflicted ; I feel any thing but pleasure in this early fulfilment of my own predictions. Much injury is done which the wisest future counsels can never repair, and much more that can never be remedied but by such counsels and by the lapse of time. From 1832 to the present moment I have foreseen this result. I may safely say I have foreseen it, because I have presented and proclaimed its approach in every important discussion and debate, in the public body of which I am a member. We learn to-day that most of the eastern banks have stopped payment ; deposit banks as well as others. The experiment has exploded. That bubble, which so many of us have all along regarded as the offspring of conceit, pre- sumption and political quaekery, has burst. A general suspension of payment must be the re- sult ; a result which has come, even sooner than was predicted. Where is now that better cur- rency that was promised 1 Where is that spe- cie circulation '? Where are those rupees of gold and silver, which were to fill the treasury of the government as well as the pockets of the peo- ple ? Has the government a single hard dollar? Has the treasury any thing in the world but credit and deposits in banks that have already suspended payment ? How are public creditors now to be paid in specie ? How are the depo- sits, which the law requires to be made with the states on the 1st of July, now to be made." This was the first speech that Mr. Webster delivered after the great one before the suspen- sion in New York, and may be considered the epilogue after the performance as the former was the prologue before it. It is a speech of exultation, with bitter taunts to the government. In one respect his information was different from mine. He said the suspension came sooner than was expected : my information was that it came later, a month later ; and that he himself was the cause of the delay. My information was that it was to take place in the first month of Mr. Van Buren's administration, and that the speech which was to precede it was to be delivered early in March, immediately after the adjourn- ANNO 1887. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 23 ment of Congress : but it was not delivered till the middle of that month, nor got ready for pamphlet publication until the middle of April ; which delay occasioned a corresponding post- ponement in all the subsequent proceedings. The complete shutting up of the treasury — the loss of its moneys — the substitution of broken bank paper for hard money — the impossibility of paying a dollar to a creditor : these were the points of his complacent declamation : and hav- ing made these points strong enough and clear enough, he came to the remedy, and fell upon the same one, in almost the same words, that Mr. Biddle was using at the same time, four hundred miles distant, in Philadelphia: and that without the aid of the electric telegraph, not then in use. The recourse to the Bank of the United States was that remedy ! that bank strong enough to hold out, (unhappily the news of its suspending arrived while he was speak- ing :) patriotic enough to do so ! but under no obligation to do better than the doposit banks ! and justifiable in following their example. Hear him: " The United States Bank, now a mere state institution, with no public deposits, no aid from government, but, on the contrary, long an object of bitter persecution by it, was at our latest advices still firm. But can we expect of that Bank to make sacrifices to continue specie pay- ment ? If it continue to do so, now the depo- sit banks have stopped, the government will draw from it its last dollar, if it can do so, in order to keep up a pretence of making its own payments in specie. I shall be glad if this in- stitution find it prudent and proper to hold out ; but as it owes no more duty to the government than any other bank, and, of course, much less than the deposit banks, I cannot see any ground for demanding from it efforts and sacrifices to favor the government, which those holding the public money, and owing duty to the govern- ment, are unwilling or unable to make ; nor do I see how the New England banks can stand alone in the general crush." The suspension was now complete ; and it was evident, and as good as admitted by those who had made it, that it was the effect of contrivance on the part of politicians, and the so-called Bank of the United States, for the purpose of restoring themselves to power. The whole process was now clear to the vision of those who could see nothing while it was going on. Even those of the democratic party whose votes had helped to do the mischief, could now see that the attempt to deposit forty millions with the States was destruction to the deposit banks ; — that the repeal of the specie circular was to fill the treasury with paper money, to be found useless when wanted ; — that distress was pur- posely created in order to throw the blame of it upon the party in power ; — that the promptitude with which the Bank of the United States had been brought forward as a remedy for the distress, showed that it had been held in reserve for that purpose ; — and the delight with which the whig party saluted the general calamity, showed that they considered it their own passport to power. All this became visible, after the mischief was over, to those who could see nothing of it before it was done. CHAPTER VI. TRANSMIGRATION OF THE BANK OF THE UNI- TED STATES FEOM A FEDERAL TO A STATE IN- STITUTION. This institution having again appeared on the public theatre, politically and financially, and with power to influence national legislation, and to control moneyed corporations, and with art and skill enough to deceive astute merchants and trained politicians, — (for it is not to be supposed that such men would have committed themselves in her favor if they had known her condition,) — it becomes necessary to trace her history since the expiration of her charter, and learn by what means she continued an exist- ence, apparently without change, after having undergone the process which, in law and in reason, is the death of a corporation. It is a marvellous history, opening a new chapter in the necrology of corporations, very curious to study, and involving in its solution, besides the biological mystery, the exposure of a legal fraud and juggle, a legislative smuggle, and a corrupt enactment. The charter of the corpo- ration had expired upon its own limitation in the year 1836 : it was entitled to two years to wind up its affairs, engaging in no new busi- ness : but was seen to go on after the expira- tion, as if still in full life, and without the change of an attribute or feature. The expla- nation is this : On the 19th day of January, in the year 24 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. 1836, a bill was reported in the House of Rep- resentatives of the General Assembly of Penn- sylvania, entitled, " An act to repeal the State tax, and to continue the improvement of the State by railroads and canals ; and for other purposes." It came from the standing com- mittee on '''■Inland navigation and internal improvement /" and was, in fact, a bill to re- peal a tax and make roads and canals, but which, under the vague and usually unimpor- tant generality of " other purposes" contained the entire draught of a charter for the Bank of the United States — adopting it as a Pennsylvania State bank. The introduction of the bill, with this addendum, colossal tail to it, was a surprise upon the House. No petition had asked for such a bank : no motion had been made in relation to it : no inquiry had been sent to any committee : no notice of any kind had heralded its approach : no resolve authorized its report : the unimpor- tant clause of " other purposes" hung on at the end of the title, could excite no suspicion of the enormous measures which lurked under its un- pretentious phraseology. Its advent was an apparition : its entrance an intrusion. Some members looked at each other in amazement. But it was soon evident that it was the minor- ity only that was mystified — that a majority of the elected members in the House, and a cluster of exotics in the lobbies, perfectly un- derstood the intrusive movement : — in brief, it had been smuggled into the House, and a power was present to protect it there. This was the first intimation that had reached the General Assembly, the. people of Pennsylvania, or the people of the United States, that the Bank of the United States was transmigrating ! chang- ing itself from a national to a local institution — from a federal to a State charter — from an im- perial to a provincial institution — retaining all the while its body and essence, its nature and attributes, its name and local habitation. It was a new species of metempsychosis, hereto- fore confined to souls separated from bodies, but now appearing in a body that never had a soul : for that, according to Sir Edward Coke, is the psychological condition of a corporation — and, above all, of a moneyed corporation. The mystified members demanded explana- tions ; and it was a case in which explanations could not be denied. Mr. Biddle, in a public letter to an eminent citizen, on whose name he had been accustomed to hang such productions, (Mr. John Quincy Adams,) attributed the pro- cedure, so far as he had moved in it, to a " formal application on the part of the legis- lature to know from him on what terms the expiring bank would receive a charter from it ; " and gave up the names of two members who had conveyed the application. The legis- lature had no knowledge of the proceeding. The two members whose names had been vouched disavowed the legislative application, but admitted that, in compliance with sugges- tions, they had written a letter to Mr. Biddle in their own names, making the inquiry ; but with- out the sanction of the legislature, or the knowl- edge of the committees of which they were members. They did not explain the reason which induced them to take the initiative in so important business ; and the belief took root that their good nature had yielded to an impor- tunity from an invisible source, and that they had consented to give a private and bungling commencement to what must have a beginning, and which could not find it in any open or par- liamentary form. It was truly a case in which the first step cost the difficulty. How to begin was the puzzle, and so to begin as to conceal the beginning, was the desideratum. The finger of the bank must not be seen in it, yet, without the touch of that finger, the movement could not begin. Without something from the Bank — without some request or application from it, it would have been gratuitous and impertinent, and might have been insulting and offensive, to have offered it a State charter. To apply openly for a charter was to incur a publicity which would be the defeat of the whole move- ment. The answer of Mr. Biddle to the two members, dexterously treating their private let- ter, obtained by solicitation, as a formal legis- lative application, surmounted the difficulty! and got the Bank before the legislature, where there were friends enough secretly prepared for the purpose to pass it through. The terms had been arranged with Mr. Biddle beforehand, so that there was nothing to be done but to vote. The principal item in these terms was the stip- ulation to pay the State the sum of $1,300,000, to be expended in works of internal improve- ments ; and it was upon this slender connection with the subject that the whole charter referred itself to the committee of " Inland navigation ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 25 and internal improvement ;" — to take its place as a proviso to a bill entitled, " To repeal the State tax, and to continue the improvements of the State by rail) oads and canals ;" — and to be no further indicated in the title to that act than what could be found under the adden- dum of that vague and flexible generality, " other purposes .;" usually added to point atten- tion to something not worth a specification. Having mastered the first step — the one of greatest difficulty, if there is truth in the prov- erb, — the remainder of the proceeding was easy and rapid, the bill, with its proviso, being re- ported, read a first, second, and third time, passed the House — sent to the Senate ; read a first, second, and third time there, and passed — sent to the Governor and approved, and made a law of the land : and all in as little time as it usually requires to make an act for changing the name of a man or a county. To add to its titles to infamy, the repeal of the State tax which it assumed to make, took the air of a bamboozle, the tax being a temporary imposi- tion, and to expire within a few days upon its own limitation. The distribution of the bonus took the aspect of a bribe to the" people, being piddled out in driblets to the inhabitants of the counties : and, to stain the bill with the last suspicion, a strong lobby force from Philadel- phia hung over its progress, and cheered it along with the affection and solicitude of parents for their offspring. Every circumstance of its enactment announced corruption — bribery in the members who passed the act, and an at- tempt to bribe the people by distributing the bonus among them : and the outburst of indig- nation throughout the State was vehement and universal. People met in masses to condemn the act, demand its repeal, to denounce the members who voted for it, and to call for inves- tigation into the manner in which it passed. Of course, the legislature which passed it was in no haste to respond to these demands ; but their successors were different. An election intervened; great changes of members took place ; two-thirds of the new legislature de- manded investigation, and resolved to have it. A committee was appointed, with the usual ample powers, and sat the usual length of time, and worked with the usual indefatigability, and made the usual voluminous report ; and with the usual " lame and impotent conclusion." A mass of pregnant circumstances were collected, covering the whole case with black suspicion : but direct bribery was proved upon no one. Probably, the case of the Yazoo fraud is to be the last, as it was the first, in which a succeed- ing general assembly has fully and unqualifiedly condemned its predecessor for corruption. The charter thus obtained was accepted : and, without the change of form or substance in any particular, the old bank moved on as if nothing had happened — as if the Congress char- ter was still in force — as if a corporate institu- tion and all its affairs could be shifted by stat- ute from one foundation to another ; — as if a transmigration of corporate existence could be operated by legislative enactment, and the debt- ors, creditors, depositors, and stockholders in one bank changed, transformed, and constituted into debtors, creditors, depositors and stock- holders in another. The illegality of the whole proceeding was as flagrant as it was corrupt — as scandalous as it was notorious — and could only find its motive in the consciousness of a condition in which detection adds infamy to ruin ; and in which no infamy, to be incurred, can exceed that from which escape is sought. And yet it was this broken and rotten institu- tion — this criminal committing crimes to escape from the detection of crimes — this " counter- feit presentment" of a defunct corporation — this addendum to a Pennsylvania railroad — this whited sepulchre filled with dead men's bones, thus bribed and smuggled through a local legis- lature — that was still able to set up for a power and a benefactor ! still able to influence federal legislation — control other banks — deceive mer- chants and statesmen — excite a popular current in its favor — assume a guardianship over the public affairs, and actually dominate for months longer in the legislation and the business of the country. It is for the part she acted — the dominating part — in contriving the financial distress and the general suspension of the banks in 1837 — the last one which has afflicted our country, — that renders necessary and pro- per this notice of her corrupt transit through the General Assembly of the State of Pennsyl- 26 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. CHAPTEE VII. EFFECTS OF THE SUSPENSION: GENERAL DE- RANGEMENT OF BUSINESS: SUPPRESSION AND RIDICULE OF THE SPECIE CURRENCY: SUB- MISSION OF THE PEOPLE: CALL OF CONGRESS. A great disturbance of course took place in the business of the country, from the stoppage of the banks. Their agreement to receive each others' notes made these notes the sole currency of the country. It was a miserable substitute for gold and silver, falling far below these metals when measured against them, and very unequal to each other in different parts of the country. Those of the interior, and of the west, being unfit for payments in the great commercial Atlantic cities, were far below the standard of the notes of those cities, and suf- fered a heavy loss from difference of exchange, as it was called (although it was only the differ- ence of depreciation,) in all remittances to those cities : — to which points the great payments tended. All this difference was considered a loss, and charged upon the mismanagement of the public affairs by the administration, although the clear effect of geographical position. Specie disappeared as a currency, being systematically suppressed. It became an article of merchan- dise, bought and sold like any other marketable commodity ; and especially bought in quantities for exportation. Even metallic change disap- peared, down to the lowest subdivision of the dollar. Its place was supplied by every con- ceivable variety of individual and corporation tickets — issued by some from a feeling of neces- sity ; by others, as a means of small gains ; by many, politically, as a means of exciting odium against the administration for having destroyed [ the currency. Fictitious and burlesque notes were issued with caricatures and grotesque pic- tures and devices, and reproachful sentences, entitled the " better currency : " and exhibited every where to excite contempt. They were sent in derision to all the friends of the specie circular, especially to him who had the credit (not untruly) of having been its prime mover — most of them plentifully sprinkled over with taunting expressions to give them a personal application : such as — " This is what you have brought the country to :" " the end of the ex- periment : " " the gold humbug exploded :" " is this what was promised us ? " " behold the ef- fects of tampering with the currency." The presidential mansion was infested, and almost polluted with these missives, usually made the cover of some vulgar taunt. Even gold and silver could not escape the attempted degrada- tion — copper, brass, tin, iron pieces being struck in imitation of gold and silver coins — made ridi- culous by figures and devices, usually the whole hog, and inscribed with taunting and reproach- ful expressions. Immense sums were expended in these derisory manufactures, extensively carried on, and universally distributed 5 and re- duced to a system as a branch of party warfare, and intended to act on the thoughtless and ignorant through appeals to their eyes and passions. Nor were such means alone resorted to to inflame the multitude against the adminis- tration. The opposition press teemed with in- flammatory publications. The President and his friends were held up as great state criminals, ruthlessly destroying the property of the peo- ple, and meriting punishment — even death. Nor did these publications appear in thought- less or obscure papers only, but in some of the most weighty and iufluential of the bank party. Take, for example, this paragraph from a lead- ing paper in the city of New York : " We would put it directly to each and all of our readers, whether it becomes this great peo- ple, quietly and tamely to submit to any and every degree of lawless oppression which their rulers may inflict, merely because resistance may involve us in trouble and expose those who resist, to censure ? We are very certain their reply will be, ' No, but at what point is "resist- ance to commence ?" — is not the evil of resist- ance greater " than the evil of submission ?" ' We answer promptly, that resistance on the part of a free people, if they would preserve their freedom, should always commence when- ever it is made plain and palpable that there has been a deliberate violation of their rights ; and whatever temporary evils may result from such resistance, it can never be so great or so dangerous to our institutions, as a blind sub- mission to a most manifest act of oppression and tyranny. And now, we would ask of all — what shadow of right, what plea of expe- diency, what constitutional or legal justification can Martin Van Buren offer to the people of the United States, for having brought upon them all their present difficulties by a continuance of the specie circular, after two-thirds of their representatives had declared their solemn con- victions that it was injurious to the country ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 27 and should be repealed ? Most assuredly, none, and we unhesitatingly say, that it is a more high-handed measure of tyranny than that which cost Charles the 1st his crown and his head — more illegal and unconstitutional than the act of the British ministry which caused the patriots of the revolution to destroy the tea in the harbor of Boston — and one which calls more loudly for resistance than any act of Great Britain which led to the Declaration of Inde- pendence." Taken by surprise in the deprivation of its revenues, — specie denied it by the banks which held its gold and silver, — the federal government could only do as others did, and pay out de- preciated paper. Had the event been foreseen by the government, it might have been provided against, and much specie saved. It was now too late to enter into a contest with the banks, they in possession of the money, and the suspension organized and established. They would only ren- der their own notes : the government could only pay in that which it received. Depreciated paper was their only medium of payment ; and every such payment (only received from a feeling of duresse) brought resentment, reproach, indigna- tion, loss of popularity to the administration ; and loud calls for the re-establishment of the National Bank, whose notes had always been equal to specie, and were then contrived to be kept far above the level of those of other sus- pended banks. Thus the administration found itself, in the second month of its existence, struggling with that most critical of all govern- ment embarrassments — deranged finances, and depreciated currency ; and its funds dropping off every day. Defections were incessant, and by masses, and sometimes by whole States : and all on account of these vile payments in de- preciated paper. Take a single example. The State of Tennessee had sent numerous volunteers to the Florida Indian war. There were several thousands of them, and came from thirty differ- ent counties, requiring payments to be made through a large part of the State, and to some member of almost every family in it. The pay- master, Col. Adam Duncan Steuart, had treas- ury drafts on the Nashville deposit banks for the money to make the payments. They de- livered their own notes, and these far below par — even twenty per cent, below those of the so- called Bank of the United States, which the policy of the suspension required to be kept in strong contrast with those of the government de- posit banks. The loss on each payment was great — one dollar in every five. Even patriotism could not stand it. The deposit banks and their notes were execrated : the Bank of the United States and its notes were called for. It was the children of Israel wailing for the fleshpots of Eg} r pt. Discontent, from individual became general, extending from persons to masses. The State took the infection. From being one of the firmest and foremost of the democratic States, Tennessee fell off from her party, and went into opposition. At the next election she showed a majority of 20,000 against her old friends ; and that in the lifetime of General Jackson ; and contrary to what it would have been if his foresight had been seconded. He foresaw the consequences of paying out this depreciated paper. The paymaster had fore- seen them, and before drawing a dollar from the banks he went to General Jackson for his advice. This energetic man, then aged, and dying, and retired to his beloved hermitage, — but all head and nerve to the last, and scorning to see the government capitulate to insurgent banks, — acted up to his character. He advised the pay- master to proceed to Washington and ask for solid money — for the gold and silver which was then lying in the western land offices. He went ; but being a military subordinate, he only ap- plied according to the rules of subordina- tion, through the channels of official inter- course : and was denied the hard money, wanted for payments on debenture bonds and officers of the government. He did not go to Mr. Van Buren, as General Jackson intended he should do. He did not feel himself authorized to go beyond official routine. It was in the recess of Congress, and I was not in Washington to go to the President in his place (as I shculd instantly have done) ; and, returning without the desired orders, the payments were made, through a storm of imprecations, in this loathsome trash : and Tennessee was lost. And so it was, in more or less degree, throughout the Union. The first object of the suspension had been accomplished — a political revolt against the administration. Miserable as was the currency which the government was obliged to use, it was yet in the still more miserable condition of not having enough of it ! The deposits with the States had absorbed two sums of near ten millions each : 28 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. two more sums of equal amount were demand- able in the course of the year. Financial em- barrassment, and general stagnation of business, diminished the current receipts from lands and customs : an absolute deficit — that horror, and shame, and mortal test of governments — showed itself ahead. An extraordinary session of Con- gress became a necessity, inexorable to any con- trivance of the administration: and, on the 15th day of May — just five days after the suspension in the principal cities — the proclamation was issued for its assembling: to take place on the first Monday of the ensuing September. It was a mortifying concession to imperative circum- stances ; and the more so as it had just been re- fused to the grand committee of Fifty — demand- ing it in the imposing name of that great meet- ing in the city of New York. CHAPTER VIII. EXTEA SESSION: MES3AGE, AND KECOMMENDA- TIONS. The first session of the twenty-fifth Congress, convened upon the proclamation of the Presi- dent, to meet an extraordinary occasion, met on the first Monday in September, and consisted of the following members : SENATE. New Hampshire — Henry Hubbard and Franklin Pierce. Maine — John Ruggles and Ruel Williams. Vermont — Samuel Prentiss and Benjamin Swift. Massachusetts — Daniel Webster and John Davis. Rhode Island — Nehemiah R. Knight and Asher Robbins. Connecticut — John M. Niles and Perry Smith. New York — Silas Wright and Nathaniel P. Tallmadge. New Jersey — Garret D. Wall and Samuel L. Southard. Delaware — Richard H. Bayard and Thomas Clayton. Pennsylvania — James Buchanan and Sam- uel McKean. Maryland — Joseph Kent and John S. Spence. Virginia — William C. Rives and William H. Roane. North Carolina — Bedford Brown and Rob- ert Strange. South Carolina — John C. Calhoun and Wm. Campbell Preston. Georgia — John P. King and Alfred Cuth- bert. Alabama — Wm. Rufus King and Clement C. Clay. Mississippi — John Black and Robert J. Walker. Louisiana — Robert C. Nicholas and Alexan- der Mouton. Tennessee — Hugh L. White and Felix Grundy. Kentucky — Henry Clay and John Critten- den. Arkansas — Ambrose H. Sevier and William S. Fulton. Missouri — Thomas H. Benton and Lewis F. Linn. Illinois — Richard M. Young and John M. Robinson. Indiana — Oliver H. Smith and John Tipton. Ohio — William Allen and Thomas Morris. Michigan — Lucius Lyon and John Norvell. HOUSE OF EEPEESENTATIVES. Maine — George Evans, John Fairfield, Tim- othy J. Carter, F. 0. J. Smith, Thomas Davee, Jonathan Cilley, Joseph C. Noyes, Hugh J. Anderson. New Hampshire — Samuel Cushman, James Farrington, Charles G. Atherton, Joseph Weeks, Jared W. Williams. Massachusetts — Richard Fletcher, Stephen C. Phillips, Caleb Cushing, Wm. Parmenter, Levi Lincoln, George Grinnell, jr., George N. Briggs, Wm. B. Calhoun, Nathaniel B. Borden, John Q. Adams, John Reed, Abbott Lawrence, Wm. S. Hastings. Rhode Island — Robert B. Cranston, Joseph L. Tillinghast. Connecticut — Isaac Toucey, Samuel Ing- ham, Elisha Haley, Thomas T. Whittlesey, Launcelot Phelps, Orrin Holt. Vermont — Hiland Hall, William Slade, He- man Allen, Isaac Fletcher, Horace Everett. New York — Thomas B. Jackson, Abraham Vanderveer, C. C. Cambreleng, Ely JVIoore, Edward Curtis, Ogden Hofi'man, Gouverneur Kemble, Obadiah Titus, Nathaniel Jones, John C. Broadhead, Zadoc Pratt, Robert McClel- land, Henry Vail, Albert Gallup, John I. DeGraff, David Russell, John Palmer, James B. Spencer, John Edwards, Arphaxad Loomis, Henry A. Foster, Abraham P. Grant, Isaac H. Bronson, John H. Prentiss, Amasa J. Parker, John C. Clark, Andrew D. W. Bruyn, Hiram Gray, William Taylor, Bennett Bicknell, Wil- liam H. Noble, Samuel Birdsall, Mark H. Sib- ley, John T. Andrews, Timothy Childs, Wil- liam Patterson, Luther C. Peck, Richard P. Marvin, Millard Fillmore, Charles F. Mitchell. New Jersey — John B. Aycrigg, John P. B. ajs i\u i»3<. maktjun VAiS BUREN, PRESIDENT. 29 Maxwell, William Halstead, Jos. F. Randolph, Charles G. Stratton, Thomas Jones Yorke. Pennsylvania — Lemuel Paynter, John Ser- geant, George W. Toland, Charles Naylor, Ed- ward Davies, David Potts, Edward Darlington, Jacob Fry, jr., Matthias Morris, David D. Wag- ener, Edward B. Hubley, Henry A. Muhlen- berg, Luther Reilly, Henry Logan, Daniel Sheffer, Chas. McClure, Win. W. Potter, David Petriken, Robert H. Hammond, Samuel W. Morris, Charles Ogle, John Klingensmith, An- drew Buchanan, T. M. T. McKennan, Richard Biddle, William Beatty, Thomas Henry, Arnold Plumer. Delaware — John J. Milligan. Maryland — John Dennis, James A. Pearce, J. T. H. Worthington, Benjamin C. Howard, Isaac McKim, William Cost Johnson, Francis Thomas, Daniel Jenifer. Virginia — Henry A. Wise, Francis Mallory, John Robertson, Charles F. Mercer, John Talia- ferro, R. T. M. Hunter, James Garland, Francis E. Rives, Walter Coles, George C. Dromgoole, James W. Bouldin, John M. Patton, James M. Mason, Isaac S. Pennybacker, Andrew Beirne, Archibald Stuart, John W. Jones, Robert Craig, Geo. W. Hopkins, Joseph Johnson, Wm. S. Morgan. North Carolina — Jesse A. Bynum, Edward D. Stanley, Charles Shepard, Micajah T. Haw- kins, James McKay, Edmund Djeberry, Abra- ham Rencher, William Montgomery, Augustine H. Shepherd, James Graham, Henry Connor, Lewis Williams, Samuel T. Sawyer. South Carolina — H. S. Legare, Waddy Thompson, Francis W. Pickens, W. K. Clowney, F. H. Elmore, John K. Griffin, R. B. Smith. John Campbell, John P. Richardson. Georgia — Thomas Glascock, S. F. Cleveland, Seaton Grantland, Charles E. Haynes, Hopkins Holsey, Jabez Jackson, Geo. W. Owens, Geo. W. B. Townes, W. C. Dawson. Tennessee — Wm. B. Carter, A. A. McClel- land, Joseph Williams, (one vacancy,) H. L. Turney, Wm. B. Campbell, John Bell, Abraham P. Maury, James K. Polk, Ebenezer J. Shields, Richard Cheatham, John W. Crockett, Christo- pher H. Williams. Kentucky — John L. Murray, Edward Rum- sey, Sherrod Williams, Joseph R. Underwood, James Harlan, John Calhoun, John Pope, Wm. J. Graves, John White, Richard Hawes, Rich- ard II. Menifee, John Chambers, Wm. W. Southgate. Ohio — Alexander Duncan, Taylor Webster, Patrick G. Goode, Thomas Corwin, Thomas L. Hamer, Calvary Morris, Wm. K. Bond, J. Ridgeway, John Chaney, Samson Mason > J. Alexander, jr., Alexander Harper, D. P. Lead- better, Wm. H. Hunter, John W. Allen, Elisha Whittlesey, A. W. Loomis, Matthias Shepler, Daniel Kilgore. Alabama — Francis S. Lycn, Dixon H. Lewi3, Joab Lawler, Reuben Chapman, J. L. Martin. Indiana — Ratliff Boon, John Ewing, William Graham, George H. Dunn, James Rariden, Wil- liam Herrod, Albert S. White. Illinois — A. W. Snyder, Zadoc Casey, Wm. L. May. Louisiana — Henry Johnson, Eleazer W. Rip- ley, Rice Garland. Mississippi — John F. H. Claiborne, S. H. Gholson. Arkansas — Archibald Yell. Missouri — Albert G. Harrison, John Miller. Michigan — Isaac E. Crary. Florida — Charles Downing. Wisconsin — George W. Jones. In these ample lists, both of the Senate and of the House, will be discovered a succession of eminent names — many which had then achieved eminence, others to achieve it : — and, besides those which captivate regard by splendid abil- ity, a still larger number of those less brilliant, equally respectable, and often more useful members, whose business talent performs the work of the body, and who in England are well called, the working members. Of these numer- ous members, as well the brilliant as the useful, it would be invidious to particularize part with- out enumerating the whole ; and that would require a reproduction of the greater part of the list of each House. Four only can be named, and they entitled to that distinction from the station attained, or to be attained by them: — Mr. John Quincy Adams, who had been pres- ident; Messrs. James K. Polk, Millard Fill- more and Franklin Pierce, who became presi- dents. In my long service I have not seen a more able Congress ; and it is only necessary to read over the names, and to possess some knowledge of our public men, to be struck with the number of names which would come under the description of useful or brilliant members. The election of speaker was the first business of the House; and Mr. James K. Polk and Mr. John Bell, both of Tennessee, being put in nomination, Mr. Polk received 116 votes; and was elected — Mr. Bell receiving 103. Mr. Wal- ter S. Franklin was elected clerk. The message was delivered upon receiving notice of the organization of the two Houses ; and, with temperance and firmness, it met all the exigencies of the occasion. That specie order which had been the subject of so much denun- ciation, — the imputed cause of the suspension, and the revocation of which was demanded with so much pertinacity and such imposing demon- 30 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. stration. — far from being given up was com- mended for the good effects it had produced; and the determination expressed not to inter- fere with its operation. In relation to that decried measure the message said : " Of my own duties under the existing laws, when the banks suspended specie payments, I could not doubt. Directions were immediately given to prevent the reception into the Treasury of any thing but gold and silver, or its equivalent; and every practicable arrangement was made to preserve the public faith, by similar or equivalent payments to the public creditors. The revenue from lands had been for some time substantially so collected, under the order issued by the direc- tions of my predecessor. The effects of that order had been so salutary, and its forecast in regard to the increasing insecurity of bank paper had become so apparent, that, even before the catastrophe, I had resolved not to interfere with its operation. Congress is now to decide whether the revenue shall continue to be so collected, or not." This was explicit, and showed that all at- tempts to operate upon the President at that point, and to coerce the revocation of a meas- ure which he deemed salutary, had totally failed. The next great object of the party which had contrived the suspension and organized the dis- tress, was to extort the re-establishment of the Bank of the United States ; and here again was an equal failure to operate upon the firmness of the President. He reiterated his former objec- tions to such an institution — not merely to the particular one which had been tried — but to any one in any form, and declared his former con- victions to be strengthened by recent events. Thus: " We have seen for nearly half a century, that those who advocate a national bank, by what- ever motive they may be influenced, constitute a portion of our community too numerous to allow us to hope for an early abandonment of their favorite plan. On the other hand, they must indeed form an erroneous estimate of the intelligence and temper of the American people, who suppose that they have continued, on slight or insufficient grounds, their persevering opposi- tion to such an institution ; or that they can be induced by pecuniary pressure, or by any other combination of circumstances, to surrender prin- ciples they have so long and so inflexibly maintain- ed. My own views of the subject are unchanged. They have been repeatedly and unreservedly an- nounced to my fellow-citizens, who, with full knowledge of them, conferred upon me the two highest offices of the government. On the last of these occasions. I felt it due to the people to apprise them distinctly, that, in the event of my election, I would not be able to co-operate in the re-establishment of a national bank. To these sentiments, I have now only to add the expression of an increased conviction, that the re-establishment of such a bank, in any form, whilst it would not accomplish the beneficial purpose promised by its advocates, would impair the rightful supremacy of the popular will ; injure the character and diminish the in- fluence of our political system ; and bring once more into existence a concentrated moneyed power, hostile to the spirit, and threatening the permanency, of our republican institutions." Having noticed these two great points of pres- sure upon him, and thrown them off with equal strength and decorum, he went forward to a new point — the connection of the federal govern- ment with any bank of issue in any form, either as a depository of its moneys, or in the use of its notes ; — and recommended a total and per- petual dissolution of the connection. This was a new point of policy, long meditated by some, but now first brought forward for legislative action, and cogently recommended to Congress for its adoption. The message, referring/ to the recent failure of the banks, took advantage of it to say : " Unforeseen in the organization of the govern- ment, and forced on the Treasury by early ne- cessities, the practice of employing banks, was, in truth, from the beginning, more a measure of emergency than of sound policy. When we started into existence as a nation, in addition to the burdens of the new government, we assumed all the large, but honorable load, of debt which was the price of our liberty ; but we hesitated to weigh down the infant industry of the coun- try by resorting to adequate taxation for the necessary revenue. The facilities of banks, in return for the privileges they acquired, were promptly offered, and perhaps too readily re- ceived, by an embarrassed treasury. During the long continuance of a national debt, and the intervening difficulties of a foreign war, the con- nection was continued from m otives of conveni- ence ; but these causes have long since passed away. We have no emergencies that make banks necessary to aid the wants of the Treasury ; we have no load of national debt to provide for, and we have on actual deposit a large surplus. No public interest, therefore, now requires the renewal of a connection that circumstances have dissolved. The complete organization of our government, the abundance of our resources, the general harmony which prevails between the different States, and with foreign powers, all en- able us now to select the system most consistent ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 31 with the constitution, and most conducive to the « public welfare." This wise recommendation laid the founda- tion for the Independent Treasury — a measure opposed with unwonted violence at the time, but vindicated as well by experience as recom- mended by wisdom ; and now universally concur- red in — constituting an era in our financial his- tory, and reflecting distinctive credit on Mr. Van Buren's administration. But he did not stop at proposing a dissolution of governmental con- nection with these institutions ; he went further, and proposed to make them safer for the com- munity, and more amenable to the laws of the land. These institutions exercised the privilege of stopping payment, qualified by the gentle name of suspension, when they judged a condi- tion of the country existed making it expedient to do so. Three of these general suspensions had taken place in the last quarter of a century, presenting an evil entirely too large for the remedy of individual suits against the delinquent banks ; and requiring the strong arm of a gen- eral and authoritative proceeding. This could only be found in subjecting them to the process of bankruptcy ; and this the message boldly re- commended. It was the first recommendation of the kind, and deserves to be commemorated for its novelty and boldness, and its undoubted efficiency, if adopted. This is the recommenda- tion: " In the mean time, it is our duty to provide all the remedies against a depreciated paper currency which the constitution enables us to afford. The Treasury Department, on several former occasions, has suggested the propriety and importance of a uniform law concerning bankruptcies of corporations, and other bankers. Through the instrumentality of such a law, a salutary check may doubtless be imposed on the issues of paper money, and an effectual remedy given to the citizen, in a way at once equal in all parts of the Union, and fully autho- rized by the constitution." A bankrupt law for banks! That was the remedy. Besides its efficacy in preventing fu- ture suspensions, it would be a remedy for the actual one. The day fixed for the act to take effect would be the day for resuming payments, or going into liquidation. It would be the day of honesty or death to these corporations ; and between these two alternatives even the most refractory bank would choose the former, if able to do so. The banks of the District of Columbia, and their currency, being under the jurisdiction of Congress, admitted a direct remedy in its own legislation, both for the fact of their suspension and the evil of the small notes which they issued. The forfeiture of the charter, where the resumption did not take place in a limited time, and penalties on the issue of the small notes, were the appropriate remedies ; — and, as such, were recommended to Congress. There the President not only met and con- fronted the evils of Jthe actual suspension as they stood, but west further, and provided against the recurrence of such evils thereafter, in four cardinal recommendations : 1, never to have another national bank ; 2, never to receive bank notes again in payment of federal dues ; 3, never to use the banks again for depositories of the public moneys ; 4, to apply the process of bankruptcy to all future defaulting banks. These were strong recommendations, all founded in a sense of justice to the public, and called for by the supremacy of the government, if it meant to maintain its supremacy ; but recom- mendations running deep into the pride and in- terests of a powerful class, and well calculated to inflame still higher the formidable combina- tion already arrayed against the President, and to extend it to all that should support him. The immediate cause for convoking the extra- ordinary session — the approaching deficit in the revenue — was frankly stated, and the remedy as frankly proposed. Six millions of dollars was the estimated amount; and to provide it neither loans nor taxes were proposed, but the retention of the fourth instalment of the deposit to be made with the States, and a temporary issue of treasury notes to supply the deficiency until the incoming revenue should replenish the treasury. The following was that recommenda- tion: " It is not proposed to procure the required amount by loans or increased taxation. There are now in the treasury nine millions three hundred and sixty-seven thousand two hundred and fourteen dollars, directed by the Act of the 23d of June, 1836, to be deposited with the States in October next. This sum, if so depos- ited, will be subject^ under the law, to be re- called, if needed, to defray existing appropria- tions ; and, as it is now evident that the whole,. 32 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. or the principal part of it, will be wanted for that purpose, it appears most proper that the deposits should be withheld. Until the amount can be collected from the banks, treasury notes may be temporarily issued, to be gradually re- deemed as it is received." Six millions of treasury notes only were re- quired, and from this small amount required, it is easy to see how readily an adequate amount could have been secured from the deposit banks, if the administration had foreseen a month or two beforehand that the suspension was to take place. An issue of treasury notes, being an imitation of the exchequer bill issues of the British government, which had been the facile and noiseless way of swamping that gov- ernment in bottomless debt, was repugnant to the policy of this writer, and opposed by him : but of this hereafter. The third instalment of the deposit, as it was called, had been received by the States— received in depreciated paper, and the fourth demanded in the same. A de- posit demanded ! and claimed as a debt ! — that is to say : the word " deposit" used in the act admitted to be both by Congress and the States a fraud and a trick, and distribution the thing intended and done. Seldom has it hap- pened that so gross a fraud, and one, too, in- tended to cheat the constitution, has been so promptly acknowledged by the high parties perpetrating it. But of this also hereafter. The decorum and reserve of a State paper would not allow the President to expatiate upon the enormity of the suspension which had been contrived, nor to discriminate between the honest and solvent banks which had been taken by surprise and swept off in a current which they could not resist, and the insolvent or crim- inal class, which contrived the catastrophe and exulted in its success. He could only hint at the discrimination, and, while recommending the bankrupt process for one class, to express his belief that with all the honest and solvent institutions the suspension would be temporary, and that they would seize the earliest moment which the conduct of others would permit, to vindicate their integrity and ability by return- ing to specie payments. CHAPTER IX. ATTACKS ON THE MESSAGE : TREASURY NOTES. Under the first two of our Presidents, "Washington, and the first Mr. Adams, the course of the British Parliament was followed in answering the address of the President, as the course of the sovereign was followed in deliver- ing it. The Sovereign delivered his address in person to the two assembled Houses, and each answered it : our two first Presidents did the same, and the Houses answered. The purport of the answer was always to express a concur- rence, or non-concurrence with the general policy of the government as thus authentically exposed; and the privilege of answering the address laid open the policy o^the government to the fullest discussion. The effect of the practice was to lay open the state of the country, and the public policy, to the fullest dis- cussion ; and, in the character of the answer, to decide the question of accord or disaccord — of support or opposition — between the repre- sentative and the executive branches of the government. .The change from the address delivered in person, with its answer, to the message sent by the private secretary, and no answer, was introduced by Mr. Jefferson, and considered a reform ; but it was questioned at the time, whether any good would come of it, and whether that would not be done irregularly, in the course of the debates, which otherwise would have been done regularly in the discussion of the address. The administration policy would be sure to be attacked, and irregularly, in the course of business, if the spirit of opposition should not be allowed full indulgence in a general and regular discussion. The attacks would come, and many of Mr. Jefferson's friends thought it better they should come at once, and occupy the first week or two of the ses- sion, than to be scattered through the whole ses- sion and mixed up with all its business. But the change was made, and has stood, and now any bill or motion is laid hold of, to hang a speech upon, against the measures or policy of an administration. This was signally the case at this extra session, in relation to Mr. Yan Buren's policy. He had staked himself too ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 33 decisively against too large a combination of interests to expect moderation or justice from his opponents ; and he received none. Seldom has any President been visited with more violent and general assaults than he received, almost every opposition speaker assailing some part of the message. One of the number, Mr. Caleb Cushing, of Massachusetts, made it a business to reply to the whole document, for- mally and elaborately, under two and thirty distinct heads — the number of points in the mariner's compass : each head bearing a caption to indicate its point : and in that speech any one that chooses, can find in a condensed form, and convenient for reading, all the points of ac- cusation against the democratic policy from the beginning of the government down to that day. Mr. Clay and Mr. Webster assailed it for what it contained, and for what it did not — for its specific recommendations, and for its omission to recommend measures which they deemed necessary. The specie payments — the discon- nection with banks — the retention of the fourth instalment — the bankrupt act against banks — the brief issue of treasury notes ; all were con- demned as measures improper in themselves and inadequate to the relief of the country : while, on the other hand, a national bank ap- peared to them to be the proper and adequate remedy for the public evils. With them acted many able men : — in the Senate, Bayard, of Del- aware, Crittenden, of Kentucky, John Davis, of Massachusetts, Preston, of South Carolina, Southard, of New Jersey, Rives, of Virginia : — in the House of Representatives, Mr. John Quincy Adams, Bell, of Tennessee, Richard Biddle, of Pennsylvania, Cushing, of Massachu- setts, Fillmore, of New York, Henry Johnson, of Louisiana, Hunter and Mercer, of Virginia, John Pope, of Kentucky, John Sargeant, Un- derwood of Kentucky, Lewis Williams, Wise. All these were speaking members, and in their diversity of talent displayed all the varieties of effective speaking— close reasoning, sharp invec- tive, impassioned declamation, rhetoric, logic. On the other hand was an equal array, both in number and speaking talent, on the other side, defending and supporting the recommenda- tions of the President :— in the Senate, Silas Wright, Grundy, John M. Niles, King, of Alabama, Strange, of North Carolina, Buchan- an, Calhoun, Linn, of Missouri, Benton, Bed- YOL. II.— 3 ford Brown, of North Carolina, William Allen, of Ohio, John P. King, of Georgia, Walker, of Mississippi : — in the House of Representatives, Cambreleng, of New York, Hamer, of Ohio, Howard and Francis Thomas, of Maryland, McKay, of North Carolina, John M. Patton, Francis Pickens. The treasury note bill was one of the first measures on which the struggle took place. It was not a favorite with the whole body of the democracy, but the majority preferred a small issue of that paper, intended to operate, not as a currency, but as a ready means of borrowing money, and especially from small capitalists ; and, therefore, preferable to a direct loan. It was opposed as a paper money bill in disguise, as germinating a new national debt, and as the easy mode of raising money, so ready to run into abuse from its very facility of use. The President had recommended the issue in gen- eral terms : the Secretary of the Treasury had descended into detail, and proposed notes as low as twenty dollars, and without interest. The Senate's committee rejected that proposi- tion, and reported a bill only for large notes— none less than 100 dollars, and bearing interest; so as to be used for investment, not circulation. Mr. Webster assailed the Secretary's plan, say- ing— " He proposes, sir, to issue treasury notes of small denominations, down even as low as twenty dollars, not bearing interest, and re- deemable at no fixed period ; they are to be re- ceived in debts due to government, but are not otherwise to be paid until at some indefinite time there shall be a certain surplus in the treasury beyond what the Secretary may think its wants require. Now, sir, this is plain, au- thentic, statutable paper money ; it is exactly a new emission of old continental. If the genius of the old confederation were now to rise up in the midst of us, he could not furnish us, from the abundant stores of his recollection, with a more perfect model of paper money. It carries no interest ; it has no fixed time of payment ; it is to circulate as currency, and it is to circu- late on the credit of government alone, with no fixed period of redemption! If this be not paper money, pray, sir, what is it? And, sir, who expected this ? Who expected that in the fifth year of the experiment for reforming the currency, and bringing it to an absolute gold and silver circulation, the Treasury Department would be found recommending to us a regular emission of paper money? This, sir, is quite new in the history of this government ; it be- longs to that of the confederation which has 34 THIRTY TEARS' VIEW. passed away. Since 1789, although we have issued treasury notes on sundry occasions, we have issued none like these ; that is to say, we have issued none not bearing interest, intended for circulation, and with no fixed mode of re- demption. I am glad, however, Mr. President, that the committee have not adopted the Secre- tary's recommendation, and that they have re- commended the issue of treasury notes of a de- scription more conformable to the practice of the government." Mr. Benton, though opposed to the policy of issuing these notes, and preferring himself a direct loan in this case, yet defended the partic- ular bill which had been brought in from the character and effects ascribed to it, and said : " He should not have risen in this debate, had it not been for the misapprehensions which seemed to pervade the minds of some senators as to the character of the bill. It is called by some a paper-money bill, and by others a bill to germinate a new national debt. These are serious imputations, and require to be answered, not by declamation and recrimination, but by facts and reasons, addressed to the candor and to the intelligence of an enlightened and patri- otic community. " I dissent from the imputations on the char- acter of the bill. I maintain that it is neither a paper-money bill, nor a bill to lay the founda- tion for a new national debt ; and will briefly give my reasons for believing as I do on both points. " There are certainly two classes of treasury notes — one for investment, and one for circula- tion ; and both classes are known to our laws, and possess distinctive features, which define their respective characters, and confine them to their respective uses. "The notes for investment bear ah interest sufficient to induce capitalists to exchange gold and silver for them, and to lay them by as a productive fund. This is their distinctive fea- ture, but not the only one ; they possess other subsidiary qualities, such as transferability only by indorsement — payable at a fixed time — not re-issuable — nor of small denomination — and to be cancelled when paid. Notes of this class are, in fact, loan notes — notes to raise loans on, by selling them for hard money — either immedi- ately by the Secretary of the Treasury, or, secondarily, by the creditor of the government to whom they have been paid. In a word, they possess all the qualities which invite invest- ment and forbid and impede circulation. " The treasury notes for currency are distin- guished by features and qualities the reverse of those which have been mentioned. They bear little or no interest. They are payable to bearer — transferable by delivery — re-issuable — of low denominations — and frequently reimbursable at the pleasure of the government. They are, in fact, paper money, and possess all the qualities which forbid investment, and invite to circula- tion. The treasury notes of 1815 were of that character, except for the optional clause to ena- ble the holder to fund them at the interest which commanded loans — at seven per cent. " These are the distinctive features of the two classes of notes. Now try the committee's bill by the test of these qualities. It will be found that the notes which it authorizes belong to the first-named class ; that they are to bear an in- terest, which may be six per cent. ; that they are transferable only by indorsement; that they are not re-issuable ; that they are to be paid at a day certain — to wit. within one year ; that they are not to be issued of less denomina- tion than one hundred dollars ; are to be can- celled when taken up ; and that the Secretary of the Treasury is expressly authorized to raise money upon them by loaning them. " These are the features and qualities of the notes to be issued, and they define and fix their character as notes to raise loans, and to be laid by as investments, and not as notes for cur- rency, to be pushed into circulation by the power of the government ; and to add to the curse of the day by increasing the quantity of unconvertible paper money." Though yielding to an issue of these notes in this particular form, limited in size of the notes to one hundred dollars, yet Mr. Benton deemed it due to himself and the subject to enter a pro- test against the policy of such issues, and to expose their dangerous tendency, both to slide into a paper currency, and to steal by a noise- less march into the creation of public debt, and thus expressed himself: " I trust I have vindicated the bill from the stigma of being a paper currency bill, and from the imputation of being the first step towards the creation of a new national debt. I hope it is fully cleared from the odium of both these imputations. I will now say a few words on the policy of issuing treasury notes in time of peace, or even in time of war, until the ordinary resources of loans and taxes had been tried and exhausted. I am no friend to the issue of treasury notes of any kind. As loans, they are a disguised mode of borrowing, and easy to slide into a currency : as a currency, it is the most seductive, the most dangerous, and the most liable to abuse of all the descriptions of paper money. 'The stamping of paper (by government) is an operation so much easier than the laying of taxes, or of borrowing money, that a government in the habit of paper emissions would rarely fail, in any emergency, to indulge itself too far in the employment of that resource, to avoid as much as possible one less auspicious to present popularity.' So said General Hamilton; and Jefferson, Madison ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 35 Macon. Randolph, and all the fathers of the republican church, concurred with him. These sagacious statesmen were shy of this facile and seductive resource, ' so liable to abuse, and so certain of being abused.' They held it inadmis- sible to recur to it in time of peace, and that it could only be thought of amidst the exigencies and perils of war, and that after exhausting the direct and responsible alternative of loans and taxes. Bred in the school of these great men, [ .came here at this session to oppose, at all risks, an issue of treasury notes. I preferred a direct loan, and that for many and cogent rea- sons. There is clear authority to borrow in the constitution; but, to find authority to issue these notes, we must enter the field of con- structive powers. To borrow, is to do a re- sponsible act ; it is to incur certain accounta- bility to the constituent, and heavy censure if it cannot be justified ; to issue these notes, is to do an act which few consider of, which takes but little hold of the public mind, which few condemn and some encourage, because it in- creases the quantum of what is vainly called money. Loans are limited by the capacity, at least, of one side to borrow, and of the other to lend : the issue of these notes has no limit but the will of the makers, and the supply of lamp- black and rags. The continental bills of the Revolution, and the assignats of France, should furnish some instructive lessons on this head. Direct loans are always voluntary on the part of the lender ; treasury note loans may be a forced borrowing from the government creditor — as much so as if the bayonet were put to his breast ; for necessity has no law, and the neces- sitous claimant must take what is tendered, whether with or without interest — whether ten or fifty per cent, below par. I distrust, dislike, aDf' svould fain eschew, this treasury note re- vurce. I prefer the direct loans of 1820-'21. 1 could only bring myself to acquiesce in this measure when it was urged that there was not time to carry a loan through its forms; nor even then could I consent to it, until every fea- ture of a currency character had been eradicated from the face of the bill." The bill passed the Senate by a general vote, only Messrs. Clay, Crittenden, Preston, South- ard, and Spence of Maryland, voting against it. In the House of Representatives it encountered a more strenuous resistance, and was subjected to some trials which showed the dangerous pro- clivity of these notes to slide from the founda- tion of investment into the slippery path of cur- rency. Several motions were made to reduce their size — to make them as low as $25 ; and that failing, to reduce them to $50 ; which suc- ceeded. The interest was struck at in a motion to reduce it to a nominal amount ; and this mo- tion, like that for reducing the minimum size to $25, received a large support — some ninety votes. The motion to reduce to $50 was carried by a majority of forty. Returning to the Senate with this amendment, Mr. Benton moved to restore the $100 limit, and intimated his inten- tion, if it was not done, of withholding his sup- port from the bill — declaring that nothing but the immediate wants of the Treasury, and the lack of time to raise the money by a direct loan as declared by the Secretary of the Treasury, could have brought him to vote for treasury notes in any shape. Mr. Clay opposed the whole scheme as a government bank in disguise, but supported Mr. Benton's motion as being adverse to that design. He said : " He had been all along opposed to this mea- sure, and he saw nothing now to change that opinion. Mr. C. would have been glad to aid the wants of the Treasury, but thought it might have been done better by suspending the action of many appropriations not so indispensably necessarjr, rather than by resorting to a loan. Reduction, economy, retrenchment, had been re- commended by the President, and why not then pursued? Mr. C.'s chief objection, however, was, that these notes were mere post notes, only differing from bank notes of that kind in giving the Secretary a power of fixing the interest as he pleases. It is, said Mr. C, a government bank, issuing government bank notes ; an experiment to set up a government bank. It is, in point of fact, an incipient bank. Now, if government has the power to issue bank notes, and so to form in- directly and covertly a bank, how is it that it has not the power to establish a national bank '\ What difference is there between a great govern- ment bank, with Mr. Woodbury as the great cashier, and a bank composed of a corporation of private citizens ? What difference is there, except that the latter is better and safer, and more stable, and more free from political influ- ences, and more rational and more republican ? An attack is made at Washington upon all the banks of the country, when we have at least one hundred millions of bank paper in circulation. At such a time, a time too of peace, instead of aid, we denounce them, decry them, seek to ruin them, and begin to issue paper in opposition to them ! You resort to paper, which you profess to put down ; you resort to a bank, which you pretend to decry and to denounce ; you resort to a government paper currency, after having exclaimed against every currency except that of gold and silver ! Mr. C. said he should vote for Mr. Benton's amendment, as far as it went to prevent the creation of a government bank and a government currency." Mr. Webster also supported the motion of Mr. Benton, saying : 36 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. " He would not be unwilling to give his sup- port to the bill, as a loan, and that only a tem- porary loan. He was, however, utterly opposed to every modification of the measure which went to stamp npon it the character of a government currency. All past experience showed that such a currency would depreciate; that it will and must depreciate. He should vote for the amend- ment, inasmuch as $100 bills were less likely to get into common circulation than $50 bills. His objection was against the old continental money in any shape or in any disguise, and he would therefore vote for the amendment." The motion was lost by a vote of 16 to 25, the yeas and nays being : Yeas — Messrs. Allen, Benton, Clay, of Ken- tucky, Clayton, Kent, King, of Georgia, KcKean, Pierce, Rives, Robbins, Smith, of Connecticut, Southard, Spence, Tipton, Webster, White — 16. Nays — Messrs. Buchanan, Clay, of Alabama, Crittenden, Fulton, Grundy, Hubbard, King, of Alabama, Knight, Linn, Lyon, Morris, Nicholas, Niles, Norvell, Roane, Robinson, Smith, of Indi- ana, Strange, Swift, Talmadge, Walker, Wil- liams, Wall, Wright, Young— 25. CHAPTER X. RETENTION OF THE FOURTH DEPOSIT INSTAL- MENT. The deposit with the States had only reached its second instalment when the deposit banks, unable to stand a continued quarterly drain of near ten millions to the quarter, gave np the effort and closed their doors. The first instal- ment had been delivered the first of January, in specie, or its equivalent ; the second in April, also in valid money ; the third one demandable on the first of June, was accepted by the States in depreciated paper : and they were very willing to receive the fourth instalment in the same way. It had cost the States nothing, — was not likely to be called back by the federal govern- ment, and was all clear gains to those who took it as a deposit and held it as a donation. But the Federal Treasury needed it also ; and like- wise needed ten millions more of that amount which had already been " deposited " with the States ; and which " deposit " was made and ac- cepted under a statute which required it to be paid back whenever the wants of the Treasury required it. That want had now come, and the event showed the delusion and the cheat of the bill under which a distribution had been made in the name of a deposit. The idea of restitu- tion entered no one's head! neither of the government to demand it, nor of the States to render back. What had been delivered, was ( gone ! that was a clear case; and reclamation, iOr rendition, even of the smallest part, or at the most remote period, was not dreamed of. R.ut there was a portion behind— another instalment of ten millions — deliverable out of the " sur- plus " on the first day of October : but there was no surplus : on the contrary a deficit : and the retention of this sum would seem to be a matter of course with the government, only re- quiring the form of an act to release the obliga- tion for the delivery. It was recommended by the President, counted upon in the treasury estimates, and its retention the condition on which the amount of treasury notes was limited to ten millions of dollars. A bill was reported for the purpose, in the mildest form, not to repeal but to postpone the clause ; and the reception which it met, though finally successful, should be an eternal admonition to the federal government never to have any money transaction with its members — a transaction in which the members become the masters, and the devourers of the head. The finance committee of the Senate had brought in a bill to repeal the obligation to de- posit this fourth instalment ; and from the be- ginning it encountered a serious resistance. Mr. Webster led the way, saying : " We are to consider that this money, accord- ing to the provisions of the existing law, is to go equally among all the States, and among all the people ; and the wants of the Treasury must be supplied, if supplies be necessary, equally by all the people. It is not a question, therefore, whether some shall have money, and others shall make good the deficiency. All partake in the distribution, and all will contri- bute to the supply. So that it is a mere ques- tion of convenience, and, in my opinion, it is decidedly most convenient, on all accounts, that this instalment should follow its present desti- ! nation, and the necessities of the Treasury be 'provided for by other means." Mr. Preston opposed the repealing bill, prin- cipally on the ground that many of the States had already appropriated this money; that is to say, had undertaken public works on the strength of it ; and would suffer more injury from not receiving it than the Federal Treasury ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 37 would suffer from otherwise supplying its place. Mr. Crittenden opposed the bill on the same ground. Kentucky, he said, had made provision for the expenditure of the money, and relied upon it, and could not expect the law to be lightly rescinded, or broken, on the faith of which she had anticipated its use. Other senators treated the deposit act as a contract, which the United States was bound to comply with by delivering all the instalments. In the progress of the bill Mr. Buchanan proposed an amendment, the effect of which would be to change the essential character of the so called, deposit act, and convert it into a real distribution measure. By the terms of the act, it was the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to call upon the States for a return of the deposit when needed by the Federal Treasury: Mr. Buchanan proposed to release the Secretary from this duty, and devolve it upon Congress, by enacting that the three in- stalments already delivered, should remain on deposit with the States until called for by Con- gress. Mr. Niles saw the evil of the proposition, and thus opposed it : " He must ask for the yeas and nays on the amendment, and was sorry it had been offered. If it was to be fully considered, it would renew the debate on the deposit act, as it went to change the essential principles and terms of that act. A majority of those who voted for that act, about which there had been so much said, and so much misrepresentation, had professed to regard it — and he could not doubt that at the time they did so regard it — as simply a deposit law ; as merely changing the place of deposit from the banks to the States, so far as related to the surplus. The money was still to be in the Treasury, and liable to be drawn out, with certain limitations and restrictions, by the ordi- nary appropriation laws, without the direct ac- tion of Congress. The amendment, if adopted, will change the principles of the deposit act, and the condition of the money deposited with the States under it. It will no longer be a de- posit ; it will not be in the Treasury, even in point of legal effect or form : the deposit will be changed to a loan, or, perhaps more properly, a grant to the States. The rights of the United States will be changed to a mere claim, like that against the late Bank of the United States; and a claim without any means to enforce it. We were charged, at the time, of making a distribu- tion of the public revenue to the States, in the disguise and form of a deposit ; and this amend- ment, it appeared to him, would be a very bold step towards confirming the truth of that charge. He deemed the amendment an important one, and highly objectionable ; but he saw that the Senate were prepared to adopt it, and he would not pursue the discussion, but content himself with repeating his request for the ayes and noes on the question." Mr. Buchanan expressed his belief that the substitution of Congress for the Secretary of the Treasury, would make no difference in the nature of the fund: and that remark of his, if understood as sarcasm, was undoubtedly true ; for the deposit was intended as a distribution by its authors from the beginning, and this proposed substitu- tion was only taking a step, and an effectual one, to make it so : for it was not to be expected that a Congress would ever be found to call for this money from the States, which they were so eager to give to the States. The proposition of Mr. Buchanan was carried by a large majority — 33 to 12 — all the opponents of the adminis- tration, and a division of its friends, voting for it. Thus, the whole principle, and the whole argument on which the deposit act had been passed, was reversed. It was passed to make the State treasuries the Treasury pro tanto of the United States — to substitute the States for the banks, for the keeping of this surplus until it was wanted — and it was placed within the call of a federal executive officer that it might be had for the public service when needed. All this was reversed. The recall of the money was taken from the federal executive, and referred to the federal legislative department — to the Congress, composed of members representing the States — that is to say, from the payee to the payor, and was a virtual relinquishment of the payment. And thus the deposit was made a mockery and a cheat ; and that by those who passed it. In the House of Representatives the disposi- tion to treat the deposit as a contract, and to compel the government to deliver the money (although it would be compelled to raise by extraordinary means what was denominated a surplus), was still stronger than in the Senate, and gave rise to a protracted struggle, long and doubtful in its issue. Mr. Cushing laid down the doctrine of contract, and thus argued it : " The clauses of the deposit act, which apper- tain to the present question, seem to me to pos- sess all the features of a contract. It provides that the whole surplus revenue of the United States, beyond a certain sum, which may be in the Treasury on a certain day, shall be deposited 38 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. with the several States ; which deposit the States are to keep safely, and to pay back to the United States, whenever the same shall be called for by the Secretary of the Treasury in a prescribed time and mode, and on the happening of a given contingency. Here, it seems to me, is a contract in honor ; and, so far as there can be a contract between the United States and the several States, a contract in law; there being reciprocal engagements, for a valuable consideration, on both sides. It is, at any rate. a quasi-contract. They who impugn this view of the question argue on the supposition that the act, performed or to be performed by the United States, is an inchoate gift of money to the States. Not so. It is a contract of deposit ; and that contract is consummated, and made perfect, on the formal reception of any in- stalment of the deposit by the States. Now, entertaining this view of the transaction, I am asked by the administration to come forward and break this contract. True, a contract made by the government of the United States cannot be enforced in law. Does that make it either honest or honorable for the United States to take advantage of its power and violate its pledged faith ? I refuse to participate in any such breach of faith. But further. The admin- istration solicits Congress to step in between the United States and the States as a volunteer, and to violate a contract, as the meaus of help- ing the administration out of difficulties, into which its own madness and folly have wilfully sunk it, and which press equally upon the gov- ernment and the people. The object of the measure is to relieve the Secretary of the Trea- sury from the responsibility of acting in this matter as he has the power to do. Let him act. I will not go out of my way to interpose in this between the Executive and the several States, until the administration appeals to me in the right spirit. This it has not done. The Executive comes to us with a new doctrine, which is echoed by his friends in this House, namely, that the American government is not to exert itself for the relief of the American people. Very well. If this be your policy, I, as representing the people, will not exert myself for the relief of your administration." Such was the chicanery, unworthy of a pie- poudre court — with which a statute of the federal Congress, stamped with every word, in- vested with every form, hung with every attri- bute, to define it a deposit — not even a loan — was to be pettifogged into a gift ! and a contract for a gift t and the federal Treasury required to stand and deliver ! and all that, not in a low law court, where attorneys congregate, but in the high national legislature, where candor and firmness alone should appear. History would be faithless to her mission if she did not mark such conduct for reprobation, and in- voke a public judgment upon it. After a prolonged contest the vote was taken, and the bill carried, but by the smallest majority — 119 to 117 ; — a difference of two votes, which was only a difference of one member. But even that was a delusive victory. It was im- mediately seen that more than one had voted with the majority, not for the purpose of pass- ing the bill, but to gain the privilege of a major- ity member to move for a reconsideration. Mr. Pickens, of South Carolina, immediately made that motion, and it was carried by a majority of 70! Mr. Pickens then proposed an amend- ment, which was to substitute definite for in- definite postponement — to postpone to a day certain instead of the pleasure of Congress : and the first day of January, 1839, was the day proposed ; and that without reference to the condition of the Treasury (which might not then have any surplus), for the transfer of this fourth instalment of a deposit to the States. The vote being taken on this proposed amendment, it was carried by a majority of 40 : and that amend- ment being concurred in by the Senate, the bill in that form became a law, and a virtual legali- zation of the deposit into a donation of forty millions to the States. And this was done by the votes of members who had voted for a de- posit with the States; because a donation to the States was unconstitutional. The three in- stalments already delivered were not to be re- called until Congress should so order; and it was quite certain that it never would so order. At the same time the nominal discretion of Congress over the deposit of the remainder was denied, and the duty of the Secretary made pe- remptory to deliver it in the brief space of one year and a quarter from that time. But events frustrated that order. The Treasury was in no condition on the first day of January, 1839, to deliver that amount of money. It was penniless itself. The compromise act of 1833, making periodical reductions in the tariff, until the whole duty was reduced to an ad valorem of twenty per cent., had nearly run its course, and left the Treasury in the condition of a borrower, instead of that of a donor or lender of money. This fourth instalment could not be delivered at the time appointed, nor subsequently ; — and was finally relinquished, the States retaining the amount they had received : which was so much ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 39 clear gain through the legislative fraud of making a distribution under the name of a de- posit. This was the end of one of the distribution schemes which had so long afflicted and dis- turbed Congress and the country. Those schemes began now to be known by their con- sequences — evil to those they were intended to benefit, and of no service to those whose popu- larity they were to augment. To the States the deposit proved to be an evil, in the contentions and combinations to which their disposition gave rise in the general assemblies — in the objects to which they were applied — and the futility of the help which they afforded. Popularity hunting, on a national scale, gave birth to the schemes in Congress: the same spirit, on a smaller and local scale, took them up in the States. All sorts of plans were proposed for the employ- ment of the money, and combinations more or less interested, or designing, generally carried the point in the universal scramble. In some States a pro rata division of the money, per capite, was made ; and the distributive share of each indi- vidual being but a few shillings, was received with contempt by some, and rejected with scorn by others. In other States it was divided among the counties, and gave rise to disjointed under- takings of no general benefit. Others, again, were stimulated by the unexpected acquisition of a large sum, to engage in large and premature works of internal improvement, embarrassing the State with debt, and commencing works which could not be finished. Other States again, looking upon the deposit act as a legis- lative fraud to cover an unconstitutional and demoralizing distribution of public money to the people, refused for a long time to receive their proffered dividend, and passed resolutions of censure upon the authors of the act. And thus the whole policy worked out differently from what had been expected. The States and the people were not grateful for the favor: the authors of the act gained no presidential elec- tion by it : and the gratifying fact became evi- dent that the American people were not the de- generate Romans, or the volatile Greeks, to be seduced with their own money — to give their votes to men who lavished the public moneys on their wants or their pleasures — in grain to feed them, or in shows and games to delight and amuse them. CHAPTER XI. INDEPENDENT TKEASURY AND HAED MONET PAYMENTS. These were the crowning measures of the ses- sion, and of Mr. Van Buren's administration, — not entirely consummated at that t^me, but partly, and the rest assured ; — and constitute in fact an era in our financial history. They were the most strenuously contested measures of the ses- sion, and made the issue completely between the hard money and the paper money systems. They triumphed — have maintained their su- premacy ever since — and vindicated their excel- lence on trial. Vehemently opposed at the time, and the greatest evil predicted, opposition has died away, and given place to support ; and the predicted evils have been seen only in blessings. No attempt has been made to disturb these great measures since their final adoption, and it would seem that none need now be apprehended ; but the history of their adoption presents one of the most instructive lessons in our financial legisla- tion, and must have its interest with future ages as well as with the present generation. The bills which were brought in for the purpose were clear in principle — simple in detail : the govern- ment to receive nothing but gold and silver for its revenues, and its own officers to keep it — the Treasury being at the seat of government, with branches, or sub-treasuries at the principal points of collection and disbursement. And these treasuries to be real, not constructive — strong buildings to hold the public moneys, and special officers to keep the keys. The capacious, strong-walled and well-guarded custom houses and mints, furnished in the great cities the rooms that were wanted : the Treasury building at Washington was ready, and in the right place. This proposed total separation of the federal government from all banks — called at the time in the popular language of the day, the divorce of Bank and State — naturally arrayed the whole ^ bank power against it, from a feeling of interest; and all (or nearly so) acted in conjunction with the once dominant, and still potent, Bank of the United States. In the Senate, Mr. Webster headed one interest— Mr. Rives, of Virginia, the 40 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. other; and Mr. Calhoun, who had long acted with the opposition, now came back to the sup- port of the democracy, and gave the aid without which these great measures of the session could not have been carried. His temperament re- quired him to have a lead ; and it was readily yielded to him in the debate in all cases where he went with the recommendations of the mes- sage ; and hence he appeared, in the debate on these measures, as the principal antagonist of Mr. Webster and Mr. Rives. The present attitude of Mr. Calhoun gave rise to some taunts in relation to his former support of a national bank, and on his present political associations, which gave him the oppor- tunity to set himself right in relation to that institution and his support of it in 1816 and 1834. In this vein Mr. Rives said : " It does seem to me, Mr. President, that this perpetual and gratuitous introduction of the Bank of the United States into this debate, with which it has no connection, as if to alarm the imaginations of grave senators, is but a poor evidence of the intrinsic strength of the gentle- man's cause. Much has been said of argument ad captandum in the course of this discussion. I have heard none that can compare with this solemn stalking of the ghost of the Bank of the United States through this hall, to 'frighten senators from their propriety.' I am as much opposed to that institution as the gentleman or any one else is, or can be. I think I may say I have given some proofs of it. The gentleman him- self acquits me of any design to favor the interest of that institution, while he says such is the necessary consequence of my proposition. The suggestion is advanced for effect, and then re- tracted in form. Whatever be the new-born zeal of the senator from South Carolina against the Bank of the United States, I flatter myself that I stand in a position that places me, at least, as much above suspicion of an undue lean- ing in favor of that institution as the honorable gentleman. If I mistake not, it was the senator from South Carolina who introduced and sup- ported the bill for the charter of the United States Bank in 1816; it was he, also, who brought in a bill in 1834, to extend the charter of that institution for a term of twelve years ; and none were more conspicuous than he in the well-remembered scenes of that day, in urging the restoration of the government deposits to this same institution." The reply of Mr. Calhoun to those taunts, which impeached his consistency — a point at which he was always sensitive — was quiet and ready, and the same that he had often been heard to express in common conversation. He said: " In supporting the bank of 1816, 1 openly declared that, as a question de novo, I would be decidedly against the bank, and would be the last to give it my support. I also stated that, in supporting the bank then, I yielded to the necessity of the case, growing out of the then ex- isting and long-established connection between the government and the banking system. I took the ground, even at that early period, that so long as the connection existed, so long as the government received and paid away bank notes as money, they were bound to regulate their value, and had no alternative but the establish- ment of a national bank. I found the connec- tion in existence and established before my time, and over which I could have no control. I yielded to the necessity, in order to correct the disordered state of the currency, which had fallen exclusively under the control of the States. I yielded to what I could not reverse, just as any member of the Senate now would, who might believe that Louisiana was unconsti- tutionally admitted into the Union, but who would, nevertheless, feel compelled to vote to extend the laws to that State, as one of its members, on the ground that its admission was an act, whether constitutional or unconstitu- tional, which he could not reverse. In 1834, I acted in conformity to the same principle, in proposing the renewal of the bank charter for a short period. My object, as expressly avowed, was to use the bank to break the connection be- tween the government and the banking system gradually, in order to avert the catastrophe which has now befallen us. and which I then clearly perceived. But the connection, which I believed to be irreversible in 1816, has now been broken by operation of law. It is now an open question. I feel myself free, for the first time, to choose my course on this important subject ; and, in opposing a bank, I act in conformity to principles which I have entertained ever since I have fully investigated the subject." Going on with his lead in support of the President's recommendations, Mr. Calhoun brought forward the proposition to discontinue the use of bank paper in the receipts and dis- bursements of the federal government, and sup- ported his motion as a measure as necessary to the welfare of the banks themselves as to the safety of the government. In this sense he said: " We have reached a new era with regard to these institutions. He who would judge of the future by the past, in reference to them, will be wholly mistaken. The year 1833 marks the commencement of this era. That extraordinary man, who had the power of imprinting his own ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 41 feelings on the community, then commenced his hostile attacks, which have left such effects behind, that the war then commenced against the banks, I clearly see, will not terminate, un- less there be a separation between them and the government, — until one or the other tri- umphs — till the government becomes the bank, or the bank the government. In resisting their union, I act as the friend of both. I have, as I have said, no unkind feeling toward the banks. I am neither a bank man, nor an anti-bank man. I have had little connection with them. Many of my best friends, for whom I have the high- est esteem, have a deep interest in their pros- perity, and, as far as friendship or personal at- tachment extends, my inclination would be strongly in their favor. But I stand up here as the representative of no particular interest. I look to the whole, and to the future, as well as the present ; and I shall steadily pursue that course which, under the most enlarged view, I believe to be my duty. In 1834 I saw the present crisis. I in vain raised a warning voice, and endeavored to avert it. I now see, with equal certainty, one far more portentous. If this struggle is to go on — if the banks will in- sist upon a reunion with the government, against the sense of a large and influential portion of the community — and, above all, if they should (succeed in effecting it — a reflux flood will inev- itably sweep away the whole system. A deep popular excitement is never without some rea- son, and ought ever to be treated with respect ; and it is the part of wisdom to look timely into the cause, and correct it before the excitement shall become so great as to demolish the object, with all its good and evil, against which it is directed." Mr. Rives treated the divorce of bank and State as the divorce of the government from the people, and said : "Much reliance, Mr. President, has been placed on the popular catch-word of divorcing the government from all connection with banks. Nothing is more delusive and treacherous than catch-words. How often has the revered name of liberty been invoked, in every quarter of the globe, and every age of the world, to disguise and sanctify the most heartless despotisms. Let us beware that, in attempting to divorce the government from all connection with banks, we do not end with divorcing the government from the people. As long as the people shall be satisfied in their transactions with each other, with a sound convertible paper medium, with a due proportion of the precious metals forming the basis of that medium, and mingled in the current of circulation, why should the government reject altogether this currency of the people, in the operations of the public Treasury? If this currency be good enough for the masters, it ought to be so for the ser- vants. If the government sternly reject, for its uses, the general medium of exchange adopted by the community, is it not thereby isolated from the general wants and business of the country, in relation to this great concern of the currency? Do you not give it a separate, if not hostile, interest, and thus, in effect, produce a divorce between government and people ? — a result, of all others, to be most deprecated in a republican system." Mr. Webster's main argument in favor of the re-establishment of the National Bank (which was the consummation he kept steadily in his eye) was, as a regulator of currency, and of the domestic exchanges. The answer to this was, that these arguments, now relied on as the main ones for the continuance of the institution, were not even thought of at its commencement — that no such reasons were hinted at by Gen- eral Hamilton and the advocates of the first bank — that they were new-fangled, and had not been brought forward by others until after the paper system had deranged both currency and exchanges ; — and that it was contradictory to look for the cure of the evil in the source of the evil. It was denied that the regulation of ex- changes was a government concern, or that the federal government was created for any such purpose. The buying and selling of bills of exchange was a business pursuit — a commercial business, open to any citizen or bank ; and the loss or profit was an individual, and not a gov- ernment concern. It was denied that there was any derangement of currency in the only currency which the constitution recognized — that of gold and silver. Whoever had this cur- rency to be exchanged — that is, given in ex- change at one place for the same in another place — now had the exchange effected on fair terms, and on the just commercial principle — that of paying a difference equal to the freight and insurance of the money : and, on that prin- ciple, gold was the best regulator of exchanges ; for its small bulk and little weight in propor- tion to its value, made it easy and cheap of transportation ; and brought down the exchange to the minimum cost of such transportation (even when necessary to be made), and to the uniformity of a permanent business. That was the principle of exchange ; but, ordinarily, there was no transportation in the case : the exchange dealer in one city had his correspondent in another : a letter often did the business. The 42 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. regulation of the currency required an under- standing of the meaning of the term. As used by the friends of a National Bank, and referred to its action, the paper currency alone was in- tended. The phrase had got into vogue since the paper currency had become predominant, and that is a currency not recognized by the constitution, but repudiated by it ; and one of its main objects was to prevent the future existence of that currency — the evils of which its framers had seen and felt. Gold and silver was the only currency recognized by that in- strument, and its regulation specially and exclu- sively given to Congress, which had lately dis- charged its duty in that particular, in regula- ting the relative value of the two metals. The gold act of 1834 had made that regulation, cor- recting the error of previous legislation, and had revived the circulation of gold, as an ordi- nary currency, after a total disappearance of it under an erroneous valuation, for an entire gen- eration. It was in full circulation when the combined stoppage of the banks again sup- pressed it. That was the currency — gold and silver, with the regulation of which Congress was not only intrusted, but charged : and this regulation included preservation. It must be saved before it can be regulated ; and to save it, it must be brought into the country — and kept in it. The demand of the federal treasury could alone accomplish these objects. The quantity of specie required for the use of that treasury — its large daily receipts and disburse- ments — all inexorably confined to hard money — would create the demand for the precious metals which would command their presence, and that in sufficient quantity for the wants of the people as well as of the government. For the government does not consume what it collects — does not melt up or hoard its revenue, or export it to foreign countries, but pays it out to the people ; and thus becomes the distributor of gold and silver among them. It is the great- est paymaster in the country ; and, while it pays in hard money, the people will be sure of a supply. We are taunted with the demand : " Where is the better currency f " We an- swer : " Suppressed by the conspiracy of the banks ! " And this is the third time in the last twenty years in which paper money has suppressed specie, and now suppresses it: for this is a game — (the war between gold and paper) — in which the meanest and weakest is always the conqueror. The baser currency always displaces the better. Hard money needs support against paper, and that support can be given by us, by excluding paper money from all federal receipts and payments ; and con- fining paper money to its own local and inferior orbit : and its regulation can be well accom- plished by subjecting delinquent banks to the process of bankruptcy, and their small notes to suppression under a federal stamp duty. The distress of the country figured largely in the speeches of several members, but without finding much sympathy. That engine of opera- ting upon the government and "the people had been over-worked in the panic session of 1833-'34, and was now a stale resource, and a crippled ma- chine. The suspension appeared to the country to have been purposely contrived, and wantonly con- tinued. There was now more gold and silver in the country than had ever been seen in it before — four times as much as in 1832, when the Bank of the United States was in its palmy state, and was vaunted to have done so much for the cur- rency. Twenty millions of silver was then its own estimate of the amount of that metal in the United States, and not a particle of gold in- cluded in the estimate. Now the estimate of gold and silver was eighty millions ; and with this supply of the precious metals, and the de- termination of all the sound banks to resume as soon as the Bank of the United States could be forced into resumption, or forced into open in- solvency, so as to lose control over others, the suspension and embarrassment were obliged to be of brief continuance. Such were the argu- ments of the friends of hard money. The divorce bill, as amended, passed the Senate, and though not acted upon in the House during this called session, yet received the im- petus which soon carried it through, and gives it a right to be placed among the measures of that session. CHAPTER XII. ATTEMPTED RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS. The suspension of the banks commenced at New York, and took place on the morning of the 10th ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 43 of May : those of Philadelphia, headed by the Bank of the United States, closed their doors two days after, and merely in consequence, as they alleged, of the New York suspension ; and the Bank of the United States especially declared its wish and ability to have continued specie payments with- out reserve, but felt it proper to follow the ex- ample which had been set. All this was known to be a fiction at the time ; and the events were soon to come, to prove it to be so. As early as the 15th of August ensuing— in less than one hundred days after the suspension — the banks of New York took the initiatory steps towards resuming. A general meeting of the officers of the banks of the city took place, and appointed a committee to correspond with other banks to procure the appointment of delegates to agree upon a time of general resumption. In this meeting it was unanimously resolved : " That the banks of the several States be respectfully invited to appoint delegates to meet on the 21th day of November next, in the city of New York, for the purpose of conferring on the time when specie payments may be resumed with safety ; and on the measures necessary to effect that purpose" Three citizens, eminently respectable in themselves, and presidents of the leading institutions — Messrs. Albert Gallatin, George Newbold, and Cornelius W. Lawrence — were appointed a committee to correspond with other banks on the subject of the resolution. They did so ; and, leaving to each bank the privilege of sending as many delegates as it pleased, they warmly urged the importance of the occasion, and that the banks from each State should be represented in the proposed convention. There was a general concurrence in the invitation ; but the convention did not take place. One powerful interest, strong enough to paralyze the movement, refused to come into it. That interest was the Philadel- phia banks, headed by the Bank of the United States ! So soon were fallacious pretensions exploded when put to the test. And-tfre test in this case was not resumption itself, but only a meeting to confer upon a time when it would suit the general interest to resume. Even to unite in that conference was refused by this ar- rogant interest, affecting such a superiority over all other banks ; and pretending to have been only dragged into their condition by their ex- ample. But a reason had to be given for this refusal, and it was — and was worthy of the party; namely, that it was not proper to do any thing in the business until after the ad- journment of the extra session of Congress. That answer was a key to the movements in Congress to thwart the government plans, and to coerce a renewal of the United States Bank charter. After the termination of the session it will be seen that another reason for refusal was found. CHAPTER XIII. BANKRUPT ACT AGAINST BANKS. This was the stringent measure recommended by the President to cure the evil of bank sus- pensions. Scattered through all the States of the Union, and only existing as local institu- tions, the federal government could exercise no direct power over them ; and the impossibility of bringing the State legislatures to act in con- cert, left the institutions to do as they pleased ; or rather, left even the insolvent ones to do as they pleased; for these, dominating over the others, and governed by their own necessities, or designs, compelled the solvent banks, through panic or self-defence, to follow their example. Three of these general suspensions had occurred p in the last twenty years. The notes of these banks constituting the mass of the circulating medium, put the actual currency into the4iands of these institutions ; leaving ffteycommunity helpless ; for it was not in £He power of indi- viduals to contend with associated corporations It was a reproach to the federal government to be unable to correct this -state of things — to see the currency of the '{constitution driven out of circulation, and out of the country ; and substi- tuted by depreciated paper ; and the very evil produced which it was a main object of the con- stitution to prevent. The framers of that instru- ment were hard-money men. They had seen the evils of paper money, and intended to guard their posterity against what they themselves had suffered. They had done so, as they believed, in the prohibition upon the States to issue bills of credit ; and in the prohibition upon the States to make any thing but gold and silver a tender in discharge of debts. The invention of banks, 44 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. and their power over the community, had nulli- fied this just and wise intention of the constitu- tion ; and certainly it would be a reproach to that instrument if it was incapable of protecting itself against such enemies, at such an important point. Thus far it had been found so incapable j but it was a question whether the fault was in the instrument, or in its administrators. There were many who believed it entirely to be the fault of the latter — who believed that the con- stitution had ample means of protection, within itself, against insolvent, or delinquent banks — and that, all that was wanted was a will in the federal legislature to apply the remedy which the evil required. This remedy was the process of bankruptcy, under which a delinquent bank might be instantly stopped in its operations — its circulation called in and paid off. as far as its assets would go — itself closed up, and all power of further mischief immediately terminated. This remedy it was now proposed to apply. President Van Buren recommended it : he was the first President who had had the merit of doing so ; and all that was now wanted was a Congress to back him: and that was a great want ! one hard to supply. A powerful array, strongly combined, was on the other side, both moneyed and political. All the local banks were against it ; and they counted a thousand — their stockholders myriads ; — and many of their owners and debtors were in Congress: the (still so-called) Bank of the United States was against it: and its power and influence were still great : the whole political party op- posed to the administration were against it, as well because opposition is always a necessity of the party out of power, as a means of getting in, as because in the actual circumstances of the present state of things opposition was essential to the success of the outside party. Mr. Webster was the first to oppose the measure, and did so, seeming to question the right of Congress to apply the remedy rather than to question the expediency of it. He said " We have seen the declaration of the President, in which he says that he refrains from suggesting any specific plan for the regulation of the exchan- ges of the country, and for relieving mercantile em- barrassments, or for interfering with the ordinary operation of foreign or domestic commerce ; and that he does this from a conviction that such measures are not within the constitutional pro- vince of the general government j and yet he has made a recommendation to Congress which appears to me to be very remarkable, and it is of a measure which he thinks may prove a salutary remedy against a depreciated paper currency. This measure is neither more nor less than a bankrupt law against corporations and other bankers. " Now, Mr. President, it is certainly true that the constitution authorizes Congress to establish uniform rules on the subject of bankruptcies ; but it is equally true, and abundantly manifest, that this power was not granted with any refer- ence to currency questions. It is a general power — a power to make uniform rules on the subject. How is it possible that such a power can be fairly exercised by seizing on corpora- tions and bankers, but excluding all the other usual subjects of bankrupt laws ! Besides, do such laws ordinarily extend to corporations at all 1 But suppose they might be so extended, by a bankrupt law enacted for the usual pur- poses contemplated by such laws ; how can a law be defended, which embraces them and bankers alone ? I should like to hear what the learned gentleman at the head of the Judiciary Committee, to whom the subject is referred, has to say upon it. How does the President's sug- gestion conform to his notions of the constitu- tion? The object of bankrupt laws, sir, has no relation to currency. It is simply to distribute the effects of insolvent debtors among their creditors : and I must say, it strikes me that it would be a great perversion of the power con- ferred on Congress to exercise it upon corpora- tions and bankers, with the leading and primary object of remedying a depreciated paper cur- rency. "And this appears the more extraordinary, inasmuch as the President is of opinion that the general subject of the currency is not within our province. Bankruptcy, in its common and just meaning, is within our province. Currency, says the message, is not. But we have a bank- ruptcy power in the constitution, and we will use this power, not for bankruptcy, indeed, but for currency. This, I confess, sir, appears to me to be the short statement of the matter. I would not do the message, or its author, any intentional injustice, nor create any apparent, where there was not a real inconsistency ; but I declare, in i all sincerity, that I cannot reconcile the proposed | use of the bankrupt power with those opinions i of the message which respect the authority of Congress over the currency of the country." The right to use this remedy against bank- rupt corporations was of course well considered I by the President before he recommended it, and | also by the Secretary of the Treasury (Mr. i Woodbury), bred to the bar, and since a justice i of the Supreme Court of the United States, by i whom it had been several times recommended. ! Doubtless the remedy was sanctioned by the ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 45 whole cabinet before it became a subject of exe- cutive recommendation. But the objections of Mr. Webster, though rather suggested than urged, and confined to the right without im- peaching the expediency of the remedy, led to a full examination into the nature and objects of the laws of bankruptcy, in which the right to use tHem as proposed seemed to be fully vindi- cated. But the measure was not then pressed to a vote 3 and the occasion for the remedy hav- ing soon passed away, and not recurring since, the question has not been revived. But the im- portance of the remedy, and the possibility that it may be wanted at some future time, and the high purpose of showing that the constitution is not impotent at a point so vital, renders it pro- per to present, in this View of the working of the government, the line of argument which was then satisfactory to its advocates : and this is done in the ensuing chapter. CHAPTER XIV. BANKRUPT ACT FOR BANKS : MR. BENTON'S SPEECH. The power of Congress to pass bankrupt laws is expressly given in our constitution, and given without limitation or qualification. It is the fourth in the number of the enumerated powers, and runs thus : " Congress shall have power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States." This is a full and clear grant of power. Upon its face it admits of no question, and leaves Congress at full liberty to pass any kind of bankrupt laws they please, limited only by the condition, that what- ever laws are passed, they are to be uniform in their operation throughout the United States. Upon the face of our own constitution there is no question of our right to pass a bankrupt law, limited to banks and bankers ; but the senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Webster] and others who have spoken on the same side with him, must carry us to England, and conduct us through the labyrinth of English statute law, and through the chaos of English judicial de- cisions, to learn what this word bankruptcies, in our constitution, is intended to signify. In this he, and they, are true to the habits of the legal profession — those habits which, both in Great Britain and our America, have become a proverbial disqualification for the proper ex- ercise of legislative duties. I know, Mr. Pres- ident, that it is the fate of our lawyers and judges to have to run to British law books to find out the meaning of the phrases contained in our constitution ; but it is the business of the legislator, and of the statesman, to take a larger view — to consider the difference between the political institutions of the two countries — to ascend to first principles — to know the causes of events — and to judge how far what was suit- able and beneficial to one might be prejudicial and inapplicable to the other. We stand here as legislators and statesmen, not as lawyers and judges ; we have a grant of power to execute, not a statute to interpret ; and our first duty is to look to that grant, and see what it is ; and our next duty is to look over our country, and see whether there is any thing in it which re- quires the exercise of that grant of power. This is what our President has done, and what we ought to do. He has looked into the constitu- tion, and seen there an unlimited grant of power to pass uniform laws on the subject of bank- ruptcies; and he has looked over the United States, and seen what he believes to be fit sub- jects for the exercise of that power, namely, about a thousand banks in a state of bankruptcy, and no State possessed of authority to act be- yond its own limits in remedying the evils of a mischief so vast and so frightful. Seeing these two things — a power to act, and a subject matter requiring action — the President has recom- mended the action which the constitution per- mits, and which the subject requires ; but the senator from Massachusetts has risen in his place, and called upon us to shift our view ; to transfer our contemplation — from the constitu- tion of the United States to the British statute book — from actual bankruptcy among ourselves to historical bankruptcy in England ; and to confine our legislation to the characteristics of the English model. As a general proposition, I lay it down that Congress is not confined, like jurists and judges, to the English statutory definitions, or the Nisi Prius or King's Bench construction of the phrases known to English legislation, and used in our constitution. Such a limitation would not only narrow us down to a mere lawyer's 46 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. view of a subject, but would limit us, in point of time, to English precedents, as they stood at the adoption of our constitution, in the year 1789. I protest against this absurdity, and con- tend that we are to use our granted powers ac- cording to the circumstances of our own coun- try, and according to the genius of our republican institutions, and according to the progress of events and the expansion of light and knowledge among ourselves. If not, and if we are to be confined to the " usual objects," and the u usual subjects," and the " usual purposes," of British legislation at the time of the adoption of our constitution, how could Congress ever make a law in relation to steamboats, or to railroad cars, both of which were unknown to British legislation in 1789 ; and therefore, according to the idea that would send us to England to find out the meaning of our constitution, would not fall within the limits of our legislative authority. Upon their face, the words of the constitution are sufficient to justify the President's recom- mendation, even as understood by those who impugn that recommendation. The bankrupt clause is very peculiar in its phraseology, and the more strikingly so from its contrast with the phraseology of the naturalization clause, which is coupled with it. Mark this difference : there is to be a uniform rule of naturalization : there are to be uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies. One is in the singular, the other in the plural ; one is to be a rule, the other are to be laws ; one acts on individuals, the other on the subject ; and it is bankruptcies that are, and not bankruptcy that is, to be the objects of these uniform laws. As a proposition, now limited to this particu- lar case, I lay it down that we are not confined to the modern English acceptation of this term bankrupt ; for it is a term, not of English, but of Roman origin. It is a term of the civil law, and borrowed by the English from that code. They borrowed from Italy both the name and the purpose of the law ; and also the first objects to which the law was applicable. The English were borrowers of every thing connected with this code ; and it is absurd in us to borrow from a borrower — to copy from a copyist — when we have the original lender and the original text before us. Bancus and ruptus signifies a broken bench ; and the word broken is not metaphorical but literal, and. is descriptive of the ancient method of cashiering an insolvent or fraudulent banker, by turning him out of the exchange or market place, and breaking the table bench to pieces on which he kept his money and transacted his business. The term bank- rupt, then, in the civil law from which the Eng- lish borrowed it, not only applied to bankers, but was confined to them ; and it is preposterous in us to limit ourselves to an English definition of a civil law term. Upon this exposition of our own constitution, and of the civil law derivation of this term bankrupt, I submit that the Congress of the United States is not limited to the English judicial or statutory acceptation of the term ; and so I finish the first point which I took in the argument. The next point is more comprehensive, and makes a direct issue with the proposition of the senator from Massa- chusetts, [Mr. Webster.] His proposition is, that we must confine our bankrupt legislation to the usual objects, the usual subjects, and the usual purposes of bankrupt laws in England ; and that currency (meaning paper money and shin-plasters of course), and banks, and bank- ing, are not within the scope of that legislation. I take issue, sir. upon all these points, and am ready to go with the senator to England, and to contest them, one by one, on the evidences of English history, of English statute law, and of English judicial decision. I say English ; for, although the senator did not mention England, yet he could mean nothing else, in his reference to the usual objects, usual subjects, and usual purposes of bankrupt laws. He could mean nothing else. He must mean the English exam- ples and the English practice, or nothing ; and he is not a person to speak, and mean nothing. Protesting against this voyage across the high seas, I nevertheless will make it, and will ask the senator on what act, out of the scores which Parliament has passed upon this subject, or on what period, out of the five hundred years that she has been legislating upon it, will he fix for his example ? Or, whether he will choose to view the whole together ; and out of the vast chaotic and heterogeneous mass, extract a general power which Parliament possesses, and which he proposes for our exemplar ? For my- self, I am agreed to consider the question under the whole or under either of these aspects, and, relying on the goodness of the cause, expect a ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 47 safe deliverance from the contest, take it in any way. And first, as to the acts passed upon this subject ; great is their number, and most dis- similar their provisions. For the first two hundred years, these acts applied to none but aliens, and a single class of aliens, and only for a single act, that of flying the realm to avoid their creditors. Then they were made to apply to all debtors, whether natives or foreigners, engaged in trade or not, and took effect for three acts : 1st, flying the realm ; 2d, keeping the house to avoid creditors ; 3d, taking sanc- tuary in a church to avoid arrest. For upwards of two hundred years — to be precise, for two hundred and twenty years — bankruptcy was only treated criminally, and directed against those who would not face their creditors, or abide the laws of the land ; and the remedies against them were not civil, but criminal ■• *+ was not a distribution of the effects, bm „ur- poral punishment, to wit: imprisonment and outlawry.* The statute of Elizabeth was the first that confined the law to merchants and traders, took in the unfortunate as well as the criminal, extended the acts of bankruptcy to in- ability as well as to disinclination to pay, dis- criminated between innocent and fraudulent bankruptcy; and gave to creditors the remedial right to a distribution of effects. This statute opened the door to judicial construction, and the judges went to work to define by decisions, who were traders, and what acts constituted the fact, or showed an intent to delay or to defraud creditors. In making these decisions, the judges reached high enough to get hold of royal com- panies, and low enough to get hold of shoe- makers ; the latter upon the ground that they bought the leather out of which they made the shoes ; and they even had a most learned con- sultation to decide whether a man who was a landlord for dogs, and bought dead horses for his four-legged boarders, and then sold the skins and bones of the horse carcases he had bought, Preamble to the act of 34$ of Henry viii. " Whereas divers and sundry persons craftily obtained into their hands great substance of other men's goods, do suddenly flee to parts unknown, or keep their houses, not minding to pay or restore to any of their creditors, their debts and duties, but at their own wills and own pleasures consume the sub- stance obtained by credit of other men for their own pleasures and delicate living, against all reason, equity, and good con- science. _ was not a trader within the meaning of the act; and so subject to the statute of bankrupts. These decisions of the judges set the Parliament to work again to preclude judicial constructions by the precision, negatively and affirmatively, of legislative enactment. But, worse and worse ! Out of the frying-pan into the fire. The more legislation the more construction ; the more statutes Parliament made, the more numerous and the more various the judicial decisions ; until, besides merchants and traders, near forty other descriptions of persons were included ; and the catalogue of bankruptcy acts, innocent or fraudulent, is swelled to a length which requires whole pages to contain it. Among those who are now included by statutory enactment in England, leaving out the great classes compre- hended under the names of merchants and traders, are bankers, brokers, factors, and scri- veners ; insurers against perils by sea and land ; warehousemen, wharfingers, packers, builders, carpenters, shipwrights and victuallers ; keepers of inns, hotels, taverns and coffee-houses ; dyers, printers, bleachers, fullers, calendrers, sellers of cattle or sheep ; commission merchants and consignees ; and the agents of all these classes. These are the affirmative definitions of the classes liable to bankruptcy in England ; then come the negative; and among these are far- mers, graziers, and common laborers for hire ; the receivers general of the king's taxes, and members or subscribers to any incorporated companies established by charter of act of Par- liament. And among these negative and affirm- ative exclusions and inclusions, there are many classes which have repeatedly changed position, and found themselves successively in and out of the bankrupt code. Now, in all this mass of variant and contradictory legislation, what part of it will the senator from Massachusetts select for his model ? The improved, and approved parts, to be sure ! But here a barrier presents itself — an impassable wall interposes— a veto power intervenes. For it so happens that the improvements in the British bankrupt code, those parts of it which are considered best, and most worthy of our imitation, are of modern origin — the creations of the last fifty years — actually made since the date of our constitution; and, therefore, not within the pale of its purview and meaning. Yes, sir, made since the estab- lishment of our constitution, and, therefore, not 48 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. to be included within its contemplation ; unless this doctrine of searching into British statutes for the meaning of our constitution, is to make us search forwards to the end of the British em- pire, as well as search backwards to its begin- ning. Fact is, that the actual bankrupt code of Great Britain — the one that preserves all that is valuable, that consolidates all that is pre- served, and improves all that is improvable, is an act of most recent date — of the reign of George IV., and not yet a dozen years old. Here, then, in going back to England for a model, we are cut off from her improvements in the bankrupt code, and confined to take it as it stood under the reign of the Plantagenets, the Tudors, the Stuarts, and the earlier reigns of the Brunswick sovereigns. This should be a consideration, and sufficiently weighty to turn the scale in favor of looking to our own constitution alone for the extent and circumscription of our powers. But let us continue this discussion upon prin- ciples of British example and British legislation. "We must go to England for one of two things ; either for a case in point, to be found in some statute, or a general authority, to be extracted from a general practice. Take it either way, or both ways, and I am ready and able to vindicate, upon British precedents, our perfect right to en- act a bankrupt law, limited in its application to banks and bankers. And first, for a case in point, that is to say, an English statute of bank- ruptcy, limited to these lords of the purse- strings : we have it at once, in the first act ever passed on the subject — the act of the 30th year of the reign of Edward III., against the Lombard Jews. Every body knows that these Jews were bankers, usually formed into compa- nies, who, issuing from Venice, Milan, and other parts of Italy, spread over the south and west of Europe, during the middle ages ; and estab- lished themselves in every country and city in which the dawn of reviving civilization, and the germ of returning industry, gave employment to money, and laid the foundation of credit. They came to London as early as the thirteenth century, and gave their name to a street which still retains it, as well as it still retains the par- ticular occupation, and the peculiar reputation, which the Lombard Jews established for it. The first law against bankrupts ever passed in England, was against the banking company com- posed of these Jews, and confined exclusively to them. It remained in force two hundred years, without any alteration whatever, and was noth- ing but the application of the law of their own country to these bankers in the country of their sojournment — the Italian law, founded upon the civil law, and called in Italy banco rotto, bro- ken bank. It is in direct reference to these Jews, and this application of the exotic bank- rupt law to them, that Sir Edward Coke, in his institutes, takes occasion to say that both the name and the wickedness of bankruptcy were of foreign origin, and had been brought into England from foreign parts. It was enacted under the reign of one of the most glorious of the English princes — a reign as much distin- guished for the beneficence of its civil adminis- tration as for the splendor of its military achieve- ments. This act of itself is a full answer to the whole objection taken by the senator from Mas- sachusetts. It shows that, even in England, a bankrupt law has been confined to a single class of persons, and that class a banking company. And here I would be willing to close my speech upon a compromise — a compromise founded in reason and reciprocity, and invested with the equitable mantle of a mutual concession. It is this : if we must follow English precedents, let us follow them chronologically and orderly. Let us begin at the beginning, and take them as they rise. Give me a bankrupt law for two hundred years against banks and bankers ; and, after that, make another for merchants and traders. The senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Web- ster] has emphatically demanded, how the bankrupt power could be fairly exercised by seizing on corporations and bankers, and ex- cluding all the other usual subjects of bankrupt laws 1 I answer, by following the example of that England to which he has conducted us ; by copying the act of the 30th of Edward III. j by going back to that reign of heroism, patriotism, and wisdom ; that reign in which the monarch acquired as much glory from his do- mestic policy as from his foreign conquests ; that reign in which the acquisition of dyers and weavers from Flanders, the observance of law and justice, and the encouragement given to ag- riculture and manufactures, conferred more bene- fit upon the kingdom, and more glory upon the king, than the splendid victories of Poictiers, Agincourt, and Cressy. ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 49 But the senator may not be willing to yield to this example, this case in point, drawn from his own fountain, and precisely up to the exi- gency of the occasion. He may want something more ; and he shall have it. I will now take the question upon its broadest bottom and fullest merits. I will go to the question of general power — the point of general authority — exem- plified by the general practice of the British Par- liament, for five hundred years, over the whole subject of bankruptcy. I will try the question upon this basis ; and here I lay down the pro- position, that this five hundred years of parlia- mentary legislation on bankruptcy establishes the point of full authority in the British Parlia- ment to act as it pleased on the entire subject of bankruptcies. This is my proposition ; and, when it is proved, I shall claim from those who carry me to England for authority, the same amount of power over the subject which the British Parliament has been in the habit of ex- ercising. Now, what is the extent of that power ? Happily for me, I, who have to speak, without any inclination for the task ; still more happily for those who have to hear me, perad- venture without profit or pleasure ; happily for both parties, my proposition is already proved, partly by what I have previously advanced, and fully by what every senator knows. I have al- ready shown the practice of Parliament upon this subject, that it has altered and changed, contracted and enlarged, put in and left out, abolished and created, precisely as it pleased. I have already shown, in my rapid view of Eng- lish legislation on this subject, that the Parlia- ment exercised plenary power and unlimited authority over every branch of the bankrupt question; that it confined the action of the bankrupt laws to a single class of persons, or extended it to many classes ; that it was some- times confined to foreigners, then applied to na- tives, and that now it comprehends natives, aliens, denizens, and women ; that at one time all debtors were subject to it ; then none but merchants and traders ; and now, besides mer- chants and traders, a long list of persons who have nothing to do with trade ; that at one time bankruptcy was treated criminally, and its ob- ject punished corporeally, while now it is a re- medial measure for the benefit of the creditors, and the relief of unfortunate debtors ; and that the acts of the debtor which may constitute him Vol. II.— 4 a bankrupt, have been enlarged from three or four glaring misdeeds, to so long a catalogue of actions, divided into the heads of innocent and fraudulent ; constructive and positive ; inten- tional and unintentional ; voluntary and forced ; that none but an attorney, with book in hand, can pretend to enumerate them. All this has been shown ; and, from all this, it is incontest- able that Parliament can do just what it pleases on the subject ; and, therefore, our Congress, if referred to England for its powers, can do just what it pleases also. And thus, whether we go by the words of our own constitution, or by a particular example in England, or deduce a gen- eral authority from the general practice of that country, the result is still the same : we have authority to limit, if we please, our bankrupt law to the single class of banks and bankers. The senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Web- ster] demands whether bankrupt laws ordina- rily extend to corporations, meaning moneyed corporations. I am free to answer that, in point of fact, they do not. But why ? because they ought not ? or because these corporations have yet been powerful enough, or fortunate enough, to keep their necks out of that noose ? Cer- tainly the latter. It is the power of these mo- neyed corporations in England, and their good fortune in our America, which, enabling them to grasp all advantages on one hand, and to repulse all penalties on the other, has enabled them to obtain express statutory exemption from bank- rupt liabilities in England ; and to escape, thus far, from similar liabilities in the United States. This, sir, is history, and not invective; it is fact, and not assertion ; and I will speedily re- fresh the senator's memory, and bring him to recollect why it is, in point of fact, that bank- rupt laws do not usually extend to these corpo- rations. And, first, let us look to England, that great exemplar, whose evil examples we are so prompt, whose good ones we are so slow, to imitate. How stands this question of corpo- ration unliability there ? By the judicial con- struction of the statute of Elizabeth, the part- ners in all incorporated companies were held subject to the bankrupt law ; and, under this construction, a commission of bankrupt was issued against Sir John Wolstenholme, a gen- tleman of large fortune, who had advanced a sum of money on an adventure in the East India Company's trade. The issue of this commission 50 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. was affirmed by the Court of King's Bench 9 but this happened to take place in the reign of Charles IL — that reign during which so little is found worthy of imitation in the gov- ernment of Great Britain — and immediately two acts of Parliament were passed, one to annul the judgment of the Court of King's Bench in the case of Sir John Wolstenholme, and the other to prevent any such judgments from being given in future. Here are copies of the two acts: FIRST ACT, TO ANNUL THE JUDGMENT. " Whereas a verdict and judgment was had in the Easter term of the King's Bench, whereby Sir John Wolstenholme, knight, and adventurer in the East India Company, was found liable to a commission of bankrupt only for, and by rea- son of, a share which he had in the joint stock of said company : Now, &c, Be it enacted, That the said judgment be reversed, annulled, vacated, and for naught held," &c SECOND ACT, TO PREVENT SUCH JUDGMENTS IN FUTURE. " That whereas divers noblemen and gentle- men, and persons of quality, no ways bred up to trade, do often put in great stocks of money into the East India and Guinea Company : Be it enacted, That no persons adventurers for put- ting in money or merchandise into the said com- panies, or for venturing or managing the fishing trade, called the royal fishing trade, shall be re- puted or taken to be a merchant or trader within any statutes for bankrupts." Thus, and for these reasons, were chartered companies and their members exempted from the bankrupt penalties, under the dissolute reign of Charles II. It was not the power of the corporations at that time — for the Bank of England was not then chartered, and the East India Company had not then conquered India — which occasioned this exemption ; but it was to favor the dignified characters who en- gaged in the trade — noblemen, gentlemen, and persons of quality. But, afterwards, when the Bank of England had become almost the gov- ernment of England, and when the East India Company had acquired the dominions of the Great Mogul, an act of Parliament expressly declared that no member of any incorporated company, chartered by act of Parliament, should be liable to become bankrupt. This act was passed in the reign of George IV., when the Wellington ministry was in power, and when liberal principles and human rights were at the last gasp. So much for these corpora- tion exemptions in England ; and if the senator from Massachusetts finds any thing in such in- stances worthy of imitation, let him stand forth and proclaim it. But, sir, I am not yet done with my answer to this question ; do such laws ordinarily extend to corporations at all 1 I answer, most decided- ly, that they do ! that they apply in England to all the corporations, except those specially ex- cepted by the act of George IV.; and these are few in number, though great in power — powerful, but few — nothing but units to my- riads, compared to those which are not excepted. The words of that act are : " Members of, or subscribers to, any incorporated commercial or trading companies, established by charter act of Parliament." These words cut off at once the many ten thousand corporations in the British empire existing by prescription, or in- corporated by letters patent from the king ; and then they cut off all those even chartered by act of Parliament which are not commercial or trading in their nature. This saves but a few out of the hundreds of thousands of corpo- rations which abound in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. It saves, or rather con- firms, the exemption of the Bank of England, which is a trader in money; and it confirms, also, the exemption of the East India Company, which is, in contemplation of law at least, a commercial company ; and it saves or exempts a few others deriving charters of incorporation from Parliament; but it leaves subject to the law the whole wilderness of corporations, of which there are thousands in London alone, which derive from prescription or letters patent ; and it also leaves subject to the same laws all the corporations created by charter act of Par- liament, which are not commercial or trading, The words of the act are very peculiar — " char- ter act of Parliament;" so that corporations by a general law, without a special charter act, are not included in the exemption. This an- swer, added to what has been previously said, must be a sufficient reply to the senator's ques- tion, whether bankrupt laws ordinarily extend to corporations ? Sir, out of the myriad of cor- porations in Great Britain, the bankrupt law extends to the whole, except some half dozen or dozen. So much for the exemption of these corpora- ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 51 tions in England j now for our America. We never had but one bankrupt law in the United States, and that for the short period of three or four years. It was passed under the adminis- tration of the elder Mr. Adams, and repealed under Mr. Jefferson. It copied the English acts including among the subjects of bankruptcy, bankers, brokers, and factors. Corporations were not included ; and it is probable that no question was raised about them, as, up to that time, their number was few, and their conduct generally good. But, at a later date, the enact- ment of a bankrupt law was again attempted in our Congress ; and, at that period, the multipli- cation and the misconduct of banks presented them to the minds of many as proper subjects for the application of the law ; I speak of the bill of 1827, brought into the Senate, and lost. That bill, like all previous laws since the time of George II., was made applicable to bankers, brokers, and factors. A senator from North Carolina [Mr. Branch] moved to include bank- ing corporations. The motion was lost, there being but twelve votes for it ; but in this twelve there were some whose names must carry weight to any cause to which they are attached. The twelve were, Messrs. Barton, Benton, Branch, Cobb, Dickerson, Hendricks, Macon, Noble, Ran- dolph, Reed, Smith of South Carolina, and White. The whole of the friends of the bill, twenty-one in number, voted against the proposition, (the present Chief Magistrate in the number,) and for the obvious reason, with some, of not encum- bering the measure they were so anxious to carry, by putting into it a new and untried pro- vision. And thus stands our own legislation on this subject. In point of fact, then, chartered corporations have thus far escaped bankrupt penalties, both in England, and in our America ; but ought they to continue to escape ? This is the question — this the true and important in- quiry, which is now to occupy the public mind. The senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Web- ster] says the object of bankrupt laws has no relation to currency ; that their object is sim- ply to distribute the effects of insolvent debtors among their creditors. So says the senator, but what says history ? What says the practice of Great Britain 1 I will show you what it says, and for that purpose will read a passage from McCulloch's notes on Smith's Wealth of Nations. He says : "In 1814-'15, and '16, no fewer than 240 country banks stopped payment, and ninety-two commissions of bankruptcy were issued against these establishments, being at the rate of one commission against every seven and a half of the total number of country banks existing: in 1813." Two hundred and forty stopped payment at one dash, and ninety-two subjected to commis- sions of bankruptcy. They were not indeed chartered banks, for there are none such in Eng- land, except the Bank of England ; but they were legalized establishments, existing under the first joint-stock bank act of 1708 ; and they were banks of issue. Yet they were subjected to the bankrupt laws, ninety-two of them in a single season of bank catalepsy ; their broken " prom- ises to pay " were taken out of circulation; their doors closed ; their directors and officers turned out ; their whole effects, real and personal, their money, debts, books, paper, and every thing, put into the hands of assignees ; and to these as- signees, the holders of their notes forwarded their demands, and were paid, every one in equal proportion — as the debts of the bank were collected, and its effects converted into money ; and this without expense or trouble to any one of them. Ninety-two banks in England shared this fate in a single season of bank mortality ; five hundred more could be enumerated in other seasons, many of them superior in real capital, credit, and circulation, to our famous chartered banks, most of which are banks of moonshine, built upon each other's paper ; and the whole ready to fly sky-high the moment any one of the concern becomes sufficiently inflated to burst. The immediate effect of this application of the bankrupt laws to banks in England, is two-fold: first, to save the general currency from depreciation, by stopping the issue and circulation of irredeemable notes ; secondly, to do equal justice to all creditors, high and low, rich and poor, present and absent, the widow and the orphan, as well as the cunning and the powerful, by distributing their effects in propor- tionate amounts to all who hold demands. This is the operation of bankrupt laws upon banks in England, and all over the British empire ; and it happens to be the precise check upon the issue of broken bank paper, and the precise remedy for the injured holders of their dishonored paper which the President recommends. Here is his recommendation, listen to it; 52 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. " In the mean time, it is our duty to provide all the remedies against a depreciated paper cur- rency which the constitution enables us to af- ford. The Treasury Department, on several former occasions, has suggested the propriety and importance of a uniform law concerning bankruptcies of corporations and other bankers. Through the instrumentality of such a law, a salutary check may doubtless be imposed on the issues of paper money, and an effectual remedy given to the citizen, in a way at once equal in all parts of the Union, and fully authorized by the constitution." The senator from Massachusetts says he would not, intentionally, do injustice to the mes- sage or its author ; and doubtless he is not con- scious of violating that benevolent determina- tion ; but here is injustice, both to the message and to its author ; injustice in not quoting the message as it is, and showing that it proposes a remedy to the citizen, as well as a check upon insolvent issues ; injustice to the author in de- nying that the object of bankrupt laws has any relation to currency, when history shows that these laws are the actual instrument for regula- ting and purifying the whole local paper curren- cy of the entire British empire, and saving that country from the frauds, losses, impositions, and demoralization of an irredeemable paper money. The senator from Massachusetts says the ob- ject of bankrupt laws has no relation to curren- cy. If he means hard-money currency, I agree with him ; but if he means bank notes, as I am sure he does, then I point him to the British bankrupt code, which applies to every bank of issue in the British empire, except the Bank of England itself, and the few others, four or five in number, which are incorporated by charter acts. All the joint-stock banks, all the private banks, all the bankers of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, are subject to the law of bankruptcy. Many of these establishments are of great capital and credit ; some having hun- dreds, or even thousands of partners ; and many of them having ten, or twenty, or thirty, and some even forty branches. They are almost the exclusive furnishers of the local and common bank note currency ; the Bank of England notes being chiefly used in the great cities for large mercantile and Government payments. These joint-stock banks, private companies, and indi- vidual bankers are, practically, in the British empire what the local banks are in the United States. They perform the same functions, and differ in name only; not in substance nor in conduct. They have no charters, but they have a legalized existence ; they are not corporations, but they are allowed by law to act in a body ; they furnish the actual paper currency of the great body of the people of the British empire, as much so as our local banks furnish the mass of paper currency to the people of the United States. They have had twenty-four millions sterling (one hundred and twenty millions of dollars) in circulation at one time ; a sum near- ly equal to the greatest issue ever known in the United States ; and more than equal to the whole bank-note circulation of the present day. They are all subject to the law of bankruptcy, and their twenty-four millions sterling of currency along with them ; and five hundred of them have been shut up and wound up under com- missions of bankruptcy in the last forty years 5 and yet the senator from Massachusetts informs us that the object of bankrupt laws has no rela- tion to currency ! But it is not necessary to go all the way to England to find bankrupt laws having relation to currency. The act passed in our own coun- try, about forty years ago, applied to bankers : the bill brought into the House of Representa- tives, about fifteen years ago, by a gentleman then, and now, a representative from the city of Philadelphia, [Mr. Sergeant,} also applied to bankers ; and the bill brought into this Sen- ate, ten years ago, by a senator from South Carolina, not now a member of this body, [General Hayne,] still applied to bankers. These bankers, of whom there were many in the United States, and of whom Girard, in the East, and Yeatman and Woods, in the West, were the most considerable — these bankers all issued paper money ; they all issued currency. The act, then, of 1798, if it had continued in force, or the two bills just referred to, if they had become law, would have operated upon these bankers and their banks — would have stopped their issues, and put their establish- ments into the hands of assignees, and distrib- uted their effects among their creditors. This, certainly, would have been having some rela- tion to currency: so that, even with our limited essays towards a bankrupt system, we have scaled the outworks of the banking empire ; we have laid hold of bankers, but not of banks ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 53 we have reached the bank of Girard, but not the Girard Bank ; we have applied our law to the bank of Yeatman and Woods, but not to the rabble of petty corporations which have not the tithe of their capital and credit. We have gone as far as bankers, but not as far as banks ; and now give me a reason for the difference. Give me a reason why the act of 1798, the bill of Mr. Sergeant, in 1821, and the bill of Gen- eral Hayne, in 1827, should not include banks as well as bankers. They both perform the same function — that of issuing paper currency. They both involve the same mischief when they stop payment — that of afflicting the coun- try with a circulation of irredeemable and de- preciated paper money. They are both culpa- ble in the same mode, and in the same degree ; for they are both violators of their " promises to pay." They both exact a general credit from the community, and they both abuse that credit. They both have creditors, and they both have effects ; and these creditors have as much right to a pro rata distribution of the effects in one case as in the other. Why, then, a distinction in favor of the bank ? Is it be- cause corporate bodies are superior to natural bodies? because artificial beings are superior to natural beings ? or, rather, is it not because corporations are assemblages of men ; and as- semblages are more powerful than single men ; and, therefore, these corporations, in addition to all their vast privileges, are also to have the privilege of being bankrupt, and afflicting the country with the evils of bankruptcy, without themselves being subjected to the laws of bank- ruptcy ? Be this as it may — be the cause what it will — the decree has gone forth for the deci- sion of the question — for the trial of the issue — for the verdict and judgment upon the claim of the banks. They have many privileges and exemptions now, and they have the benefit of all laws against the community. They pay no taxes ; the property of the stockholders is not liable for their debts ; they sue their debtors, sell their property, and put their bodies in jail. They have the privilege of stamping paper money ; the privilege of taking interest upon double, treble, and quadruple their actual money. They put up and put down the price of property, labor, and produce, as they please. They have the monopoly of making the actual currency. They are strong enough to suppress the constitutional money, and to force their own paper upon the community, and then to redeem it or not, as they please. And is it to be tolerated, that, in addition to all these priv- ileges, and all these powers, they are to be exempted from the law of bankruptcy? the only law of which they are afraid, and the only one which can protect the country against their insolvent issues, and give a fair chance for payment to the numerous holders of their vio- lated " promises to pay ! " I have discussed, Mr. President, the right of Congress to apply a bankrupt law to banking corporations ; I have discussed it on the words of our own constitution, on the practice of England, and on the general authority of Par- liament; and on each and every ground, as I fully believe, vindicated our right to pass the law. The right is clear ; the expediency is mani- fest and glaring. Of all the objects upon the earth, banks of circulation are the fittest sub- jects of bankrupt laws. They act in secret, and they exact a general credit. Nobody knows their means, yet every body must trust them. They send their " promises to pay " far and near. They push them into every body's hands ; they make them small to go into small hands — into the hands of the laborer, the widow, the helpless, the ignorant. Suddenly the bank stops payment ; all these helpless holders of their notes are without pay, and without remedy. A few on the spot get a lit- tle ; those at a distance get nothing. For each to sue, is a vexatious and a losing business. The only adequate remedy — the only one that promises any justice to the body of the com- munity, and the helpless holders of small notes — is the bankrupt remedy of assignees to dis- tribute the effects. This makes the real effects available. When a bank stops, it has little or no specie ; but it has, or ought to have, a good mass of solvent debts. At present, all these debts are unavailable to the community — they go to a few large and favored creditors ; and those who are most in need get nothing. But a stronger view remains to be taken of these debts : the mass of them are due from the own- ers and managers of the banks — from the pres- idents, directors, cashiers, stockholders, attor- neys ; and these people do not make them- selves pay. They do not sue themselves, nor protest themselves. They sue and protest 54 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. others, and sell out their property, and put their bodies in jail ; but, as for themselves, who are the main debtors, it is another affair ! They take their time, and usually wait till the notes are heavily depreciated, and then square off with a few cents in the dollar ! A commis- sion of bankruptcy is the remedy for this evil ; assignees of the effects of the bank are the per- sons to make these owners, and managers, and chief debtors to the institutionSj pay up. Un- der the bankrupt law, every holder of a note, no matter how small in amount, nor how dis- tant the holder may reside, on forwarding the note to the assignees, will receive his ratable proportion of the bank's effects, without ex* pense, and without trouble to himself. It is a most potent, a most proper, and most constitu- tional remedy against delinquent banks. It is an equitable and a brave remedy. It does honor to the President who recommended it, and is worthy of the successor of Jackson. Senators upon this floor have ventured the expression of an opinion that there can be no resumption of specie payments in this country until a national bank shall be established, mean- ing, all the while, until the present miscalled Bank of the United States shall be rechartered. Such an opinion is humiliating to this govern- ment, and a reproach upon the memory of its founders. It is tantamount to a declaration that the government, framed by the heroes and sages of the Revolution, is incapable of self- preservation ; that it is a miserable image of imbecility, and must take refuge in the embraces of a moneyed corporation, to enable it to sur- vive its infirmities. The humiliation of such a thought should expel it from the imagination of every patriotic mind. Nothing but a dire necessity — a last, a sole, an only alternative — should bring this government to the thought of leaning upon any extraneous aid. But here is no necessity, no reason, no pretext, no excuse, no apology, for resorting to collateral aid ; and, above all, to the aid of a master in the shape of a national bank. The granted powers of the government are adequate to the coercion of all the banks. As banks, the federal government has no direct authority over them ; but as bank- rupts, it has them in its own hands. It can pass bankrupt laws for these delinquent insti- tutions. It can pass such laws either with or without including merchants and traders j and the day for such law to take effect, will be the day for the resumption of specie payments by every solvent bank, and the day for the extinc- tion of the abused privileges of every insolvent one. So far from requiring the impotent aid of the miscalled Bank of the United States to effect a resumption, that institution will be un- able to prevent a resumption. Its veto power over other banks will cease ; and it will itself be compelled to resume specie payment, or die ! Besides these great objects to be attained by the application of a bankrupt law to banking corporations, there are other great purposes to be accomplished, and some most sacred duties to be fulfilled, by the same means. Our con- stitution contains three most vital prohibitions, of which the federal government is the guardian and the guarantee, and which are now publicly trodden under foot. No State shall emit bills of credit ; no State shall make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; no State shall pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts. No State shall do these things. So says the constitution under which we live, and which it is the duty of every citizen to protect, preserve, and defend. But a new power has sprung up among us, and has annulled the whole of these prohibitions. That new power is the oligarchy of banks. It has filled the whole land with bills of credit ; for it is admitted on all hands that bank notes, not convertible into specie, are bills of credit. It has suppressed the constitutional currency, and made depreciated paper money a forced tender in payment of every debt. It has vio- lated all its own contracts, and compelled all individuals, and the federal government and State governments, to violate theirs ; and has obtained from sovereign States an express sanc- tion, or a silent acquiescence, in this double violation of sacred obligations, and in this triple annulment of constitutional prohibitions. It is our duty to bring, or to try to bring, this new power under subordination to the laws and the government. It is our duty to go to the succor of the constitution — to rescue, if pos- sible, these prohibitions from daily, and public, and permanent infraction. The application of the bankrupt law to this new power, is the way to effect this rescue— the way to cause these vital prohibitions to be respected and observed, and to do it in a way to prevent collisions between ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 55 the States and the federal government. The prohibitions are upon the States ; it is they who are not to do these things, and, of course, are not to authorize others to do what they cannot do themselves. The banks are their delegates in this three-fold violation of the constitution ; and, in proceeding against these delegates, we avoid collision with the States. Mr. President, every form of government has something in it to excite the pride, and to rouse the devotion, of its citizens. In monar- chies, it is the authority of the king 5 in repub- lics, it is the sanctity of the laws. The loyal subject makes it the point of honor to obey the king ; the patriot republican makes it his glory to obey the laws. We are a republic. We have had illustrious citizens, conquering generals, and victorious armies ; but no citizen, no general, no army, has undertaken to dethrone the laws and to reign in their stead. This parricidal work has been reserved for an oligarchy of banks ! Three times, in thrice seven years, this oligarchy has dethroned the law, and reigned in its place. Since May last, it has held the sovereign sway, and has not yet vouchsafed to indicate the day of its voluntary abdication. The Roman mili- tary dictators usually fixed a term to their dictatorships. I speak of the usurpers, not of the constitutional dictators for ten days. These usurpers usually indicated a time at which usurpation should cease, and law and order again prevail. Not so with this new power which now lords it over our America. They fix no day ; they limit no time ; they indicate no period for their voluntary descent from power, and for their voluntary return to submission to the laws. They could agree in the twinkling of an eye — at the drop of a hat — at the crook of a finger — to usurp the sovereign power; they cannot agree, in four months, to relinquish it. They profess to be willing, but cannot agree upon the time. Let us perform that service for them. Let us name a day. Let us fix it in a bankrupt law. Let us pass that law, and fix a day for it to take effect ; and that day will be the day for the resumption of specie payments, or for the trial of the question of permanent supremacy between the oligarchy of banks, and the consti- tutional government of the people. We are called upon to have mercy upon the banks ; the prayer should rather be to them, to have mercy upon the government and the peo- ple. Since May last the ex-deposit banks alone have forced twenty-five millions of depreciated paper through the federal government upon its debtors and the States, at a loss of at least two and a half millions to the receivers, and a gain of an equal amount to the payers. The thou- sand banks have the country and the govern- ment under their feet at this moment, owing to the community upwards of an hundred millions of dollars, of which they will pay nothing, not even ninepences, picayunes, and coppers. Meta- phorically, if not literally, they give their credi- tors more kicks than coppers. It is for them to have mercy on us. But what is the conduct of government towards these banks ? Even at this session, with all their past conduct unatoned for, we have passed a relief bill for their benefit — a bill to defer the collection of the large balance which they still owe the government. But there is mercy due in another quarter — upon the people, suffering from the use of irredeemable and depreciated paper — upon the government, reduced to bankruptcy — upon the character of the country, suffering in the eyes of Europe — upon the character of republican government, brought into question by the successful usurpa- tion of these institutions. This last point is the sorest. Gentlemen speak of the failure of ex- periments — the failure of the specie experiment, as it is called by those who believe that paper is the ancient and universal money of the world ; and that the use of a little specie for the first time is not to be attempted. They dwell upon the supposed failure of " the experiment ; " while all the monarchists of Europe are rejoicing in the failure of the experiment of republican govern- ment, at seeing this government, the last hope of the liberal world, struck and paralyzed by an oligarchy of banks — seized by the throat, throt- tled and held as a tiger would hold a babe — stripped of its revenues, bankrupted, and sub- jected to the degradation of becoming their en- gine to force their depreciated paper upon help- less creditors. Here is the place for mercy — upon the people — upon the government — upon the character of the country — upon the charac- ter of republican government. The apostle of republicanism, Mr. Jefferson, has left it as a political legacy to the people of the United States, never to suffer their govern- ment to fall under the control of any unauthor- ized, irresponsible, or self-created institutions or 56 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. bodies whatsoever. His allusion was to the Bank of the United States, and its notorious machinations to govern the elections, and get command of the government ; but his admoni- tion applies with equal force to all other similar or affiliated institutions ; and, since May last, it applies to the whole league of banks which then " shut up the Treasury," and reduced the gov- ernment to helpless dependence. It is said that bankruptcy is a severe remedy to apply to banks. It may be answered that it is not more severe here than in England, where it applies to all banks of issue, except the Bank of England, and a few others ; and it is not more severe to them than it is to merchants and tra- ders, and to bankers and brokers, and all unin- corporated banks. Personally, I was disposed to make large allowances for the conduct of the banks. Our own improvidence tempted them into an expansion of near forty millions, in 1835 and 1836, by giving them the national domain to bank upon ; a temptation which they had not the fortitude to resist, and which expanded them to near the bursting point. Then they were driven almost to a choice of bankruptcy between themselves and their debtors, by the act which required near forty millions to be distributed in masses, and at brief intervals, among the States. Some failures were inevitable under these circumstances, and I was disposed to make lib- eral allowances for them ; but there are three things for which the banks have no excuse, and which should forever weigh against their claims to favor and confidence. These things are, first, the political aspect which the general suspen- sion of payment was permitted to assume, and which it still wears ; secondly, the issue and use of shinplasters, and refusal to pay silver change, when there are eighty millions of specie in the country; thirdly, the refusal, by the deposit banks to pay out the sums which had been severed from the Treasury, and stood in the names of disbursing officers, and was actually due to those who were performing work and labor, and rendering daily services to the gov- ernment. For these three things there is no excuse ; and, while memory retains their recol- lection, there can be no confidence in those who have done them. CHAPTER XV. DIYOKCE OF BANK AND STATE: ME. BENTON'S SPEECH. The bill is to divorce the government from the banks, or rather is to declare the divorce, for the separation has already taken place by the operation of law and by the delinquency of the banks. The bill is to declare the divorce ; the amendment is to exclude their notes from reve- nue payments, not all at once, but gradually, and to be accomplished by the 1st day of Janu- ary, 1841. Until then the notes of specie-pay- ing banks may be received, diminishing one- fourth annually; and after that day, all pay- ments to and from the federal government are to be made in hard money. Until that day, pay- ments from the United States will be governed by existing laws. The amendment does not affect the Post Office department until January, 1841 ; until then, the fiscal operations of that Department remain under the present laws; after that day they fall under the principle of the bill, and all payments to and from that de- partment will be made in hard money. The effect of the whole amendment will be to restore the currency of the constitution to the federal government — to re-establish the great acts of 1789 and of 1800 — declaring that the revenues should be collected in gold and silver coin only ; those early statutes which were enacted by the hard money men who made the constitution, who had seen and felt the evils of that paper mo- ney, and intended to guard against these evils in future by creating, not a paper, but a hard- money government. I am for this restoration. I am for restoring to the federal treasury the currency of the con- stitution. I am for carrying back this govern- ment to the solidity projected by its founders. This is a great object in itself— a reform of the first magnitude — a reformation with healing on its wings, bringing safety to the government and blessings to the people. The currency is a thing which reaches every individual, and every insti- tution. From the government to the washer- woman, all are reached by it, and all concerned in it ; and, what seems parodoxical, all are con- cerned to the same degree; for all are con- ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 57 cerned to the whole extent of their property and dealings ; and all is all, whether it be much or little. The government with its many ten mil- lions of revenue, suffers no more in proportion than the humble and meritorious laborer who works from sun to sun for the shillings which give food and raiment to his family. The fede- ral government has deteriorated the currency, and carried mischief to the whole community, and lost its own revenues, and subjected itself to be trampled upon by corporations, by depart- ing from the constitution, and converting this government from a hard-money to a paper mo- ney government. The object of the amendment and the bill is to reform these abuses, and it is a reform worthy to be called a reformation — worthy to engage the labor of patriots — worthy to unite the exertions of different parties — wor- thy to fix the attention of the age — worthy to excite the hopes of the people, and to invoke upon its success the blessings of heaven. Great are the evils, — political, pecuniary, and moral, — which have flowed from this departure from our constitution. Through the federal government alone — through it, not by it — two millions and a half of money have been lost in the last four months. Thirty-two millions of public money was the amount in the deposit banks when they stopped payment ; of this sum twenty-five millions have been paid over to gov- ernment creditors, or transferred to the States. But how paid, and how transferred ? In what ? In real money, or its equivalent ? Not at all ! But in the notes of suspended banks — in notes depreciated, on an average, ten per cent. Here then were two and a half millions lost. Who bore the loss ? The public creditors and the States. Who gained it ? for where there is a loss to one, there must be a gain to another. Who gained the two and a half millions, thus sunk upon the hands of the creditors and the States ? The banks were the gainers ; they gained it ; the public creditors and the States lost it ; and to the creditors it was a forced loss. It is in vain to say that they consented to take it. They had no alternative. It was that or nothing. The banks forced it upon the govern- ment ; the government forced it upon the credi- tor. Consent was out of the question. Power ruled, and that power was in the banks ; and they gained the two and a half millions which the States and the public creditors lost. I do not pretend to estimate the moneyed losses, direct and indirect, to the government alone, from the use of local bank notes in the last twenty-five years, including the war, and covering three general suspensions;. Leaving the people out of view, as a field of losses be- yond calculation, I confine myself to the federal government, and say, its losses have been enor- mous, prodigious, and incalculable. We have had three general stoppages of the local banks in the short space of twenty-two years. It is at the average rate of one in seven years ; and who is to guaranty us from another, and from the consequent losses, if we continue to receive their bills in payment of public dues ? Another stoppage must come, and that, reasoning from all analogies, in less than seven years after the resumption. Many must perish in the attempt to resume, and would do better to wind up at once, without attempting to go on, without ade- quate means, and against appalling obstacles. Another revulsion must come. Thus it was after the last resumption. The banks recom- menced payments in 1817 — in two years, the failures were more disastrous than ever. Thus it was in England after the long suspension of twenty-six years. Payments recommenced in 1823 — in 1825 the most desolating crash of banks took place which had ever been known in the kingdom, although the Bank of England had imported, in less than four years, twenty millions sterling in gold, — about one hundred millions of dollars, to recommence upon. Its effects reached this country, crushed the cotton houses in New Orleans, depressed the money market, and injured all business. The senators from New York and Virginia (Messrs. Tallmadge and Rives) push this point of confidence a little further ; they address a question to me, and ask if I would lose confi- dence in all steamboats, and have them all dis- carded, if one or two blew up in the Mississippi ? I answer the question in all frankness, and say, that I should not. But if, instead of one or two in the Mississippi, all the steamboats in the Union should blow up at once — in every creek, river and bay— while all the passengers were sleeping in confidence, and the pilots crying out all is well ; if the whole should blow up from one end of the Union to the other just as fast as they could hear each other's explosions ; then, indeed, I should lose confidence in them, and 58 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. never again trust wife, or child, or my own foot, or any thing not intended for destruction, on board such sympathetic and contagious engines of death. I answer further, and tell the gentle- men, that if only one or two banks had stopped last May in New York, I should not have lost all confidence in the remaining nine hundred and ninety-nine ; but when the whole thou- sand stopped at once ; tumbled down together — fell in a lump — lie there— and when ONE of their number, by a sign with the little finger, can make the whole lie still, then, indeed, confi- dence is gone ! And this is the case with the banks. They have not only stopped altogether, but in a season of profound peace, with eighty millions of specie in the country, and just after the annual examinations by commissioners and legislative committees, and when all was re- ported well. "With eighty millions in the coun- try, they stop even for change ! It did not take a national calamity — a war — to stop them ! They fell in time of peace and prosperity ! We read of people in the West Indies, and in South America, who rebuild their cities on the same spot where earthquakes had overthrown them ; we are astonished at their fatuity ; we wonder that they will build again on the same perilous foundations. But these people have a reason for their conduct ; it is, that their cities are only destroyed by earthquakes ; it takes an earth- quake to destroy them ; and when there is no earthquake, they are safe. But suppose their cities fell down without any commotion in the earth, or the air — fell in a season of perfect calm and serenity — and after that the survivors should go to building again in the same place ; would not all the world say that they were de- mented, and were doomed to destruction ? So of the government of the United States by these banks. If it continues to use them, and to re- ceive their notes for revenue, after what has happened, and in the face of what now exists, it argues fatuity, and a doom to destruction. Resume when they will, or when they shall, and the longer it is delayed the worse for them- selves, the epoch of resumption is to be a peril- ous crisis to many. This stopping and resuming by banks, is the realization of the poetical de- scription of the descent into hell, and the return from it. Facilis descensus Averni — sed revo- care gradum — hie opus, hie labor est. Easy is the descent into the regions below, but to re- turn ! this is work, this is labor indeed ! Our banks have made the descent ; they have gone down with ease ; but to return — to ascend the rugged steps, and behold again the light above, how many will falter, and fall back into the gloomy regions below. Banks of circulation are banks of hazard and of failure. It is an incident of their nature. Those without circulation rarely fail. That of Venice has stood seven hundred years ; those of Hamburgh, Amsterdam, and others, have stood for centuries. The Bank of England, the great mother of banks of circulation, besides an actual stoppage of a quarter of a century, has had her crisis and convulsion in average periods of seven or eight years, for the last half century — in 1783, '93, '97, 1814, '19, '25, '36— and has only been saved from repeated failure by the power- ful support of the British government, and pro- fuse supplies of exchequer bills. Her numerous progeny of private and joint stock banks of cir- culation have had the same convulsions ; and not being supported by the government, have sunk by hundreds at a time. All the banks of the United States are banks of circulation ; they are all subject to the inherent dangers of that class of banks, and are, besides, subject to new dangers peeuliar to themselves. From the quantity of their stock held by foreigners, the quantity of other stocks in their hands, and the current foreign balance against the United States, our paper system has become an ap- pendage to that of England. As such, it suffers from sympathy when the English system suffers. In addition to this, a new doctrine is now broached — that our first duty is to foreigners ! and, upon this principle, when the banks of the two countries are in peril, ours are to be sacri- ficed to save those of England ! The power of a few banks over the whole, presents a new feature of danger in our system. It consolidates the banks of the whole Union into one mass, and subjects them to one fate, and that fate to be decided by a few, without even the knowledge of the rest. An unknown divan of bankers sends forth an edict which sweeps over the empire, crosses the lines of States with the facility of a Turkish firman, prostrating all State institutions, breaking up all engagements, and levelling all law before it. This is consolidation of a kind which the genius of Patrick Henry had not even conceived. But ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 59 while this firman is thus potent and irresistible for prostration, it is impotent aDd powerless for resurrection. It goes out in vain, bidding the prostrate banks to rise. A veto power intervenes. One voice is sufficient to keep all down ; and thus we have seen one word from Philadelphia an- nihilate the New York proposition for resump- tion, and condemn the many solvent banks to the continuation of a condition as mortifying to their feelings as it is injurious to their future interests. Again, from the mode of doing business among our banks — using each other's paper to bank upon, instead of holding each other to weekly settlements, and liquidation of balances in specie, and from the fatal practice of issuing notes at one place, payable at another — our banks have all become links of one chain, the strength of the whole being dependent on the strength of each. A few govern all. Whether it is to fail, or to resume, the few govern ; and not only the few, but the weak. A few weak banks fail ; a panic ensues, and the rest shut up ; many strong ones are ready to resume ; the weak are not ready, and the strong must wait. Thus the principles of safety, and the rules of government, are re- versed. The weak govern the strong ; the bad govern the good ; and the insolvent govern the solvent. This is our system, if system it can be called, which has no feature of consistency, no principle of safety, and which is nothing but the floating appendage of a foreign and overpower- ing system. The federal government and its creditors have suffered great pecuniary losses from the use of these banks and their paper; they must con- tinue to sustain such losses if they continue to use such depositories and to receive such paper. The pecuniary losses have been, now are, and must be hereafter great ; but, great as they have been, now are, and may be hereafter, all that loss is nothing compared to the political dangers which flow from the same source. These dan- gers affect the life of the government. They go to its existence. They involve anarchy, con- fusion, violence, dissolution! They go to deprive the government of support — of the means of living ; they strip it in an instant of every shilling of revenue, and leave it penniless, helpless, lifeless. The late stoppage might have broken up the government, had it not been for the fidelity and affection of the people to their in- stitutions and the eighty millions of specie which General Jackson had accumulated in the coun- try. That stoppage presented a peculiar feature of peril which has not been brought to the notice of the public ; it was the stoppage of the sums standing in the names of disbursing officers, and wanted for daily payments in all the branches of the public service. These sums amounted to about five millions of dollars. They had been drawn from the Treasury, they were no longer standing to the credit of the United States ; they had gone into the hands of innumerable officers and agents, in all parts of the Union, and were temporarily, and for mere safe-keeping from day to day, lodged with these deposit banks, to be incessantly paid out to those who were doing work and labor, perform- ing contracts, or rendering service, civil or mili- tary, to the country. These five millions were stopped with the rest ! In an instant, as if by enchantment, every disbursing officer, in every part of the Union, was stripped of the money which he was going to pay out ! All officers of the government, high and low, the whole army and navy, all the laborers and contractors, post offices and all, were suddenly, instantaneously, left without pay; and consequently without sub- sistence. It was tantamount to a disbandment of the entire government. It was like a decree for the dissolution of the body politic. It was celebrated as a victory — as a conquest — as a triumph, over the government. The least that was expected was an immediate civil revolution — the overthrow of the democratic party, the change of administration, the reascension of the federal party to power, and the re-establishment of the condemned Bank of the United States. These consequences were counted upon ; and that they did not happen was solely owing to the eighty millions of hard money which kept up a standard of value in the country, and pre- vented the dishonored bank notes from sinking too low to be used by the community. But it is not merely stoppage of the banks that we have to fear : collisions with the States may ensue. State legislatures may sanction the stoppage, withhold the poor right of suing, and thus in- terpose their authority between the federal government and its revenues. This has already happened, not in hostility to the government, but in protection of themselves ; and the conse- quence was the same as if the intention had been hostile. It was interposition between the federal government and its depositories ; it was 60 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. deprivation of revenue ; it was an act the recur- rence of which should be carefully guarded against in future. This is what we have seen ; this is a danger which we have just escaped ; and if these banks shall be continued as depositories of public money, or, which is just the same thing, if the government shall continue to receive their " paper promises to pay," the same danger may be seen again, and under far more critical cir- cumstances. A similar stoppage of the banks may take place again — will inevitably take place again — and it may be when there is little specie in the country, or when war prevails. All history is full of examples of armies and navies revolting for want of pay j all history is full of examples of military and naval operations mis- carried for want of money ; all history is full of in- stances of governments overturned from deficits of revenue and derangements of finances. And are we to expose ourselves recklessly, and with our eyes open, to such dangers ? And are we to stake the life and death of this government upon the hazards and contingencies of banking — and of such banking as exists in these United States ? Are we to subject the existence of this govern- ment to the stoppages of the banks, whether those stoppages result from misfortune, impro- vidence, or bad faith? Are we to subject this great and glorious political fabric, the work of so many wise and patriotic heads, to be de- molished in an instant, and by an unseen hand? Are we to suffer the machinery and the work- ing of our boasted constitution to be arrested by a spring-catch, applied in the dark ? Are men, with pens sticking behind their ears, to be allowed to put an end to this republic ? No, sir ! never. If we are to perish prematurely, let us at least have a death worthy of a great nation ; let us at least have a field covered with the bodies of heroes and of patriots, and conse- crated forever to the memory of a subverted empire. "Rome had her Pharsalia — Greece her Chseronea — and many barbarian kingdoms have given immortality to the spot on which they expired ; and shall this great republic be sub- jected to extinction on the contingencies of trade and banking ? But what excuse, what apology, what justi- fication have we for surrendering, abandoning, and losing the precise advantage for which the present constitution was formed? What was that advantage — what the leading and govern- ing object, which led to the abandonment of the old confederation, and induced the adoption of the present form of government ? It was reve- nue! independent revenue! a revenue under the absolute control of this government, and free from the action of the States. Tliis was the motive — the leading and the governing mo- tive — which led to the formation of this govern- ment. The reason was, that the old confedera- tion, being dependent upon the States, was often left without money. This state of being was incompatible with its existence ; it deprived it of all power ; its imbecility was a proverb. To extricate it from that condition was the de- sign — and the cardinal design — of the new con- stitution. An independent revenue was given to it — independent, even, of the States. Is it not suicidal to surrender that independence, and to surrender it, not to States, but to money corporations? What does history record of the penury and moneyed destitution of the old con- federation, comparable to the annihilation of the revenues of this government in May last ? when the banks shut down, in one night, upon a rev- enue, in hand, of thirty-two millions; even upon that which was in the names of disbursing officers, and refuse a nine-pence, or a picaillon in money, from that day to this? What is there in the history of the old confederation comparable to this? The old confederation was often reduced low — often near empty- handed — but never saw itself stripped in an instant, as if by enchantment, of tens of mil- lions, and heard the shout of triumph thun- dered over its head, and the notes of exultation sung over its supposed destruction ! Yet, this is what we have seen — what we now see— from having surrendered to corporations our moneyed independence, and unwisely abandoned the pre- cise advantage which led to the formation of this federal government. I do not go into the moral view of this ques- tion. It is too obvious, too impressive, too grave, to escape the observation of any one. Demoralization follows in the train of an un- convertible paper money. The whole com- munity becomes exposed to a moral pestilence. Every individual becomes the victim of some imposition ; and, in self-defence, imposes upon some one else. The weak, the ignorant, the uninformed, the necessitous, are the sufferers ; ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 61 the crafty and the opulent are the gainers. The evil augments until the moral sense of the community, revolting at the frightful accumu- lation of fraud and misery, applies the radical remedy of total reform. Thus, pecuniary, political, and moral con- siderations require the government to retrace its steps, to return to first principles, and to restore its fiscal action to the safe and solid path of the constitution. Reform is demanded. It is called for by every public and by every private consideration. Now is the time to make it. The connection between Bank and State is actually dissolved. It is dissolved by operation of law, and by the delinquency of these institutions. They have forfeited the right to the deposits, and lost the privilege of paying the revenue in their notes, by ceasing to pay specie. The government is now going on without them, and all that is wanting is the appropriate legislation to perpetuate the divorce which, in point of fact, has already taken place. Now is the time to act; this the moment to restore the constitutional currency to the fed- eral government ; to restore the custody of the public moneys to national keepers ; and to avoid, in time to come, the calamitous revulsions and perilous catastrophes of 1814, 1819, and 1837. And what is the obstacle to the adoption of this course, so imperiously demanded by the safety of the republic and the welfare of the people, and so earnestly recommended to us by the chief magistrate ? What is the obstacle — what the power that countervails the Executive recommendation, paralyzes the action of Con- gress, and stays the march of reform? The banks — the banks — the banks, are this obsta- cle, and this power. They set up the preten- sion to force their paper into the federal Treas- ury, and to force themselves to be constituted that Treasury. Though now bankrupt, their paper dishonored, their doors closed against creditors, every public and every private obli- gation violated, still they arrogate a supremacy over this federal government ; they demand the guardianship of the public moneys, and the privilege of furnishing a federal currency ; and, though too weak to pay their debts, they are strong enough to throttle this government, and to hold in doubtful suspense the issue of their vast pretensions. The President, in his message, recommends four things : first, to discontinue the reception of local bank paper in payment of federal dues ; secondly, to discontinue the same banks as depositories of the public moneys ; thirdly, to make the future collection and disbursement of the public moneys in gold and silver ; fourthly, to take the keeping of the public moneys into the hands of our own officers. What is there in this but a return to the words and meaning of the constitution, and a conformity to the practice of the government in the first years of President Washington's ad- ministration ? When this federal government was first formed, there was no Bank of the United States, and no local banks, except three north of the Potomac. By the act of 1789, the revenues were directed to be collected in gold and silver coin only ; and it was usually drawn out of the hands of collectors by drafts drawn upon them, payable at sight. It was a most effectual way of drawing money out of their hands ; far more so than an order to deposit in banks ; for the drafts must be paid, or pro- tested, at sight, while the order to deposit may be eluded under various pretexts. The right and the obligation of the govern- ment to keep its own moneys in its own hands, results from first principles, and from the great law of self-preservation. Every thing else that belongs to her, she keeps herself; and why not keep that also, without which every thing else is nothing? Arms and ships — provisions, muni- tions, and supplies of every kind — are kept in the hands of government officers ; money is the sinew of war, and why leave this sinew exposed to be cut by any careless or faithless hand ? Money is the support and existence of the gov- ernment — the breath of its nostrils, and why leave this support— this breath — to the custody of those over whom we have no control ? How absurd to place our ships, our arms, our mili- tary and naval supplies in the hands of those who could refuse to deliver them when re- quested, and put the government to a suit at law to recover their possession ! Every body sees the absurdity of this; but to place our money in the same condition, and, moreover, to subject it to the vicissitudes of trade and the perils of banking, is still more absurd ; for it is the life blood, without which the government cannot live — the oil, without which no part of its machinery can move. 62 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. England, with all her banks, trusts none of them with the collection, keeping, and disburse- ment of her public moneys. The Bank of England is paid a specific sum to manage the public debt ; but the revenue is collected and disbursed through subordinate collectors and receivers general ; and these receivers general are not subject to the bankrupt laws, because the government will not suffer its revenue to be operated upon by any law except its own will. In France, subordinate collectors and receivers general collect, keep, and disburse the public moneys. If they deposit any thing in banks, it is at their own risk. It is the same thing in England. A bank deposit by an offi- cer is at the risk of himself and his securities. Too much of the perils and vicissitudes of banking is known in these countries to permit the government ever to jeopard its revenues in their keeping. All this is shown, fully and at large, in a public document now on our tables. And who does not recognize in these collectors and receivers general of France and England, the ancient Roman officers of quaestors and pro- quaestors ? These fiscal officers of France and England are derivations from the Roman insti- tutions ; and the same are found in all the modern kingdoms of Europe which were for- merly, like France and Britain, provinces of the Roman empire. The measure before the Sen- ate is to enable us to provide for our future safety, by complying with our own constitution, and conforming to the practice of all nations, great or small, ancient or modern. Coming nearer home, and looking into our own early history, what were the " continental treasurers " of the confederation, and the " pro- vincial treasurers and collectors," provided for as early as July, 1775, but an imitation of the French and English systems, and very near the plan which we propose now to re-establish ! These continental treasurers, and there were two of them at first, though afterwards reduced to one, were the receivers general ; the provin- cial treasurers and collectors were their subor- dinates. By these officers the public moneys were collected, kept, and disbursed; for there were no banks then ! and all government drafts were drawn directly upon these officers. This simple plan worked well during the Revolution, and afterwards, until the new government was formed; and continued to work, with a mere change of names and forms, during the first years of Washington's administration, and until General Hamilton's bank machinery got into play. This bill only proposes to re-establish, in substance, the system of the Revolution, of the Congress of the confederation, and of the first years of Washington's administration. The bill reported by the chairman of the Com- mittee on Finance [Mr. Wright of New York] presents the details of the plan for accomplish- ing this great result. That bill has been printed and read. Its simplicity, economy, and efficien- cy strike the sense of all who hear it, and anni- hilate without argument, the most formidable arguments of expense and patronage, which had been conceived against it. The present officers, the present mints, and one or two more mints in the South, in the West, and in the North, complete the plan. There will be no necessity to carry masses of hard money from one quar- ter of the Union to another. Government drafts will make the transfer without moving a dollar. A government draft upon a national mint, will be the highest order of bills of exchange. Mo- ney wanted by the government in one place, will be exchanged, through merchants, for mo- ney in another place. Thus it has been for thousands of years, and will for ever be. We read in Cicero's letters that, when he was Gov- ernor of Cilicia, in Asia Minor, he directed his qucestor to deposit the tribute of the province in Antioch, and exchange it for money in Rome with merchants engaged in the Oriental trade, of which Antioch was one of the emporiums. This is the natural course of things, and is too obvious to require explanation, or to admit of comment. We are taunted with these treasury notes ; it seems to be matter of triumph that the govern- ment is reduced to the necessity of issuing them ; but with what justice ? And how soon can any government that wishes it, emerge from the wretchedness of depreciated paper, and stand erect on the solid foundations of gold and sil- ver? How long will it take any respectable government, that so wills it, to accomplish this great change 1 Our own history, at the close of the Revolution, answers the question ; and more recently, and more strikingly, the history of France answers it also. I speak of the French finances from 1800 to 1807 ; from the commencement of the consulate to the peace of ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 63 Tilsit. This wonderful period is replete with instruction on the subject of finance and curren- cy. The whole period is full of instruction ; but I can only seize two views — the beginning and the end — and, for the sake of precision, will read what I propose to present. I read from Bignon, author of the civil and diplomatic his- tory of France during the consulate and the first years of the empire ; written at the testamen- tary request of the Emperor himself. After stating that the expenditures of the re- public were six hundred millions of francs — about one hundred and ten millions of dollars — when Bonaparte became First Consul, the histo- rian proceeds : "At his arrival at power, a sum of 160,000 francs in money [about $32,000] was all that the public chests contained. In the impossibili- ty of meeting the current service by the ordina- ry receipts, the Directorial Government had re- sorted to ruinous expedients, and had thrown into circulation bills of various values, and which sunk upon the spot fifty to eighty per cent. A part of the arrearages had been dis- charged in bills two-thirds on credit, payable to the bearer, but which, in fact, the treasury was not able to pay when due. The remaining third had been inscribed in the great boolc, un- der the name of consolidated third. For the payment of the forced requisitions to which they had been obliged to have recourse, there had been issued bills receivable in payment of the revenues. Finally, the government, in order to satisfy the most imperious wants, gave orders upon the receivers general, delivered in advance to contractors, which they negotiated before they began to furnish the supplies for which they were the payment" This, resumed Mr. B., was the condition of the French finances when Bonaparte became First Consul at the close of the year 1799. The currency was in the same condition — no spe- cie — a degraded currency of assignats, ruinous- ly depreciated, and issued as low as ten sous. That great man immediately began to restore order to the finances, and solidity to the curren- cy. Happily a peace of three years enabled him to complete the great work, before he was called to celebrate the immortal campaigns ending at Austerlitz, Jena, and Friedland. At the end of three years — before the rupture of the peace of Amiens — the finances and the currency were restored to order and to solidity j and, at the end of six years, when the vast establishments, and the internal ameliorations of the imperial government, had carried the annual expenses to eight hundred millions of francs, about one hun- dred and sixty millions of dollars ; the same historian copying the words of the Minister of Finance, thus speaks of the treasury, and the currency : " The resources of the State hate increased beyond its wants; the public chests are full ; all payments are made at the day named ; the orders upon the public treasury have become the most approved bills of exchange. The finances are in the most happy condition ; France alone, among all the States of Europe, has no paper money." What a picture ! how simply, how powerful- ly drawn ! and what a change in six years ! Public chests full — payments made to the day — orders on the treasury the best bills of exchange — France alone, of all Europe, having no paper money ; meaning no government paper money, for there were bank notes of five hundred francs, and one thousand francs. A government reve- nue of one hundred and sixty millions of dollars was paid in gold and silver ; a hard money cur- rency, of five hundred and fifty millions of dol- lars, saturated all parts of France with specie, and made gold and silver the every day curren- cy of every man, woman and child, in the em- pire. These great results were the work of six years, and were accomplished by the simple pro- cess of gradually requiring hard money pay- ments — gradually calling in the assignats — in- creasing the branch mints to fourteen, and lim- iting the Bank of France to an issue of large notes — five hundred francs and upwards. This simple process produced these results, and thus stands the French currency at this day ; for the nation has had the wisdom to leave untouched the financial system of Bonaparte. I have repeatedly given it as my opinion — many of my speeches declare it — that the French currency is the best in the world. It has hard money for the government ; hard mo- ney for the common dealings of the people j and large notes for large transactions. This curren- cy has enabled France to stand two invasions, the ravaging of 300,000 men, two changes of dy- nasty, and the payment of a milliard of contri- butions j and all without any commotion or re- vulsion in trade. It has saved her from the revulsions which have afflicted England and our America for so many years. It has saved her 64 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW from expansions, contractions, and ruinous fluc- tuations of price. It has saved her, for near forty years, from a debate on currency. It has saved her even from the knowledge of our sweet- scented phrases: "sound currency — unsound currency ; plethoric, dropsical, inflated, bloated ; the money market tight to-day — a little easier this morning ; " and all such verbiage, which the haberdashers' boys repeat. It has saved France from even a discussion on currency; while in England, and with us, it is banks ! banks! banks! — morning, noon, and night; breakfast, dinner, and supper ; levant, and cou- chant ; sitting, or standing ; at home, or abroad ; steamboat, or railroad car ; in Congress, or out of Congress, it is all the same thing : banks — banks — banks ; currency — currency — curren- cy; meaning, all the while, paper money and shin-plasters ; until our very brains seem as if they would be converted into lampblack and rags. The bill before the Senate dispenses with the further use of banks as depositories of the pub- lic moneys. In that it has my hearty concur- rence. Four times heretofore, and on four dif- ferent occasions, I have made propositions to accomplish a part of the same purpose. First, in proposing an amendment to the deposit bill of 1836, by which the mint, and the branch mints, were to be included in the list of deposi- tories ; secondly, in proposing that the public moneys here, at the seat of Government, should be kept and paid out by the Treasurer ; thirdly, by proposing that a preference, in receiving the deposits, should be given to such banks as should cease to be banks of circulation ; fourthly, in op- posing the establishment of a bank agency in Missouri, and proposing that the moneys there should be drawn direct from the hands of the receivers. Three of these propositions are now included in the bill before the Senate ; and the whole object at which they partially aimed is fully embraced. I am for the measure — fully, cordially, earnestly for it. Congress has a sacred duty to perform in re- forming the finances, and the currency ; for the ruin of both has resulted from federal legisla- tion, and federal administration. The States at the formation of the constitution, delivered a solid currency — I will not say sound, for that word implies subject to unsoundness, to rotten- ness, and to death — but they delivered a solid currency, one not liable to disease, to this fede- ral government. They started the new govern- ment fair upon gold and silver. The first act of Congress attested this great fact ; for it made the revenues payable in gold and silver coin only. Thus the States delivered a solid cur- rency to this government, and they reserved the same currency for themselves ; and they provided constitutional sanctions to guard both. The thing to be saved, and the power to save it, was given to this government by the States ; and in the hands of this government it became deteriorated. The first great error was General Hamilton's construction of the act of 1789, by which he nullified that act, and overturned the statute and the constitution together. The next great error was the establishment of a na- tional bank of circulation, with authority to pay all the public dues in its own paper. This con- firmed the overthrow of the constitution, and of the statute of 1789 ; and it set the fatal ex- ample to the States to make banks, and to re- ceive their paper for public dues, as the United States had done. This was the origin of the evil — this the origin of the overthrow of the solid currency which the States had delivered to the federal government. It was the Hamilto- nian policy that did the mischief; and the state of things in 1837, is the natural fruit of that policy. It is time for us to quit it — to return to the constitution and the statute of 1789, and to confine the federal Treasury to the hard mo- ney which was intended for it. I repeat, this is a measure of reform, wor- thy to be called a reformation. It goes back to a fundamental abuse, nearly coeval with the foundation of the government. Two epochs have occurred for the reformation of this abuse ; one was lost, the other is now in jeopardy. Mr. Madison's administration committed a great error at the expiration of the charter of the first Bank of the United States, in not reviving the currency of the constitution for the federal Treasury, and especially the gold currency. That error threw the Treasury back upon the local bank paper. This paper quickly failed, and out of that failure grew the second United States Bank. Those who put down the second United States Bank, warned by the calamity, determined to avoid the error of Mr. Madison's administration : they determined to increase the stock of specie, and to revive the gold cir- ANNO 1837. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 65 dilation, which had been dead for thirty years. The accumulation of eighty millions in the brief space of five years, fifteen millions of it in gold, attest the sincerity of their design, and the fa- cility of its execution. The country was going on at the rate of an average increase of twelve millions of specie per annum, when the general stoppages of the banks in May last, the expor- tation of specie, and the imposition of irredeem- able paper upon the government and the peo- ple, seemed to announce the total failure of the plan. But it was a seeming only. The impe- tus given to the specie policy still prevails, and five millions are added to the stock during the present fiscal year. So far, then, as the coun- teraction of the government policy, and the suppression of the constitutional currency, might have been expected to result from that stop- page, the calculation seems to be in a fair way to be disappointed. The spirit of the people, and our hundred millions of exportable produce, are giving the victory to the glorious policy of our late illustrious President. The other great consequences expected to result from that stop- page, namely, the recharter of the Bank of the United States, the change of administration, the overthrow of the republican party, and the restoration of the federal dynasty, all seem to be in the same fair way to total miscarriage ; but the objects are too dazzling to be abandoned by the party interested, and the destruction of the finances and the currency, is still the cher- ished road to success. The miscalled Bank of the United States, the soul of the federal dynas- ty, and the anchor of its hopes — believed by many to have been at the bottom of the stop- pages in May, and known by all to be at the head of non-resumption — now displays her pol- icy on this floor ; it is to compel the repetition of the error of Mr. Madison's administration ! Knowing that from the repetition of this error must come the repetition of the catastrophes of 1814, 1819, and 1837 ; and out of these catas- trophes to extract a new clamor for the revivi- fication of herself. This is her line of conduct j and to this line, the conduct of all her friends conforms. With one heart, one mind, one voice, they labor to cut off gold and silver from the federal government, and to impose paper upon it ! they labor to deprive it of the keeping of its own revenues, and to place them again where they have been so often lost ! This is Vol. II.— 5 the conduct of that bank and its friends. Let us imitate their zeal, their unanimity, and their perseverance. THe amendment and the bill, now before the Senate, embodies our policy. Let us carry them, and the republic is safe. The extra session had been called to relieve the distress of the federal treasury, and had done so by authorizing an issue of treasury notes. That object being accomplished, and the great measures for the divorce of Bank and State, and for the sole use of gold and silver in federal payments, having been recommended, and commenced, the session adjourned. CHAPTER XVI. FIRST REGULAR SESSION UNDER MR. VAN BU- REN'S ADMINISTRATION: HIS MESSAGE. A brief interval of two months only inter- vened between the adjournment of the called ses- sion and the meeting of the regular one ; and the general state of the public affairs, both at home and abroad, being essentially the same at both periods, left no new or extraordinary measures for the President to recommend. With foreign powers we were on good terms, the settlement of all our long-standing complaints under Gen- eral Jackson's administration having left us free from the foreign controversies which gave trouble ; and on that head the message had lit- tle but what was agreeable to communicate. Its topics were principally confined to home affairs, and that part of these affairs which were connected with the banks. That of the United States, as it still called itself, gave a new spe- cies of disregard of moral and legal obligation, and presented a new mode of depraving the currency and endangering property and con- tracts, by continuing to issue and to use the notes of the expired institution. Its currency was still that of the defunct bank. It used the dead notes of that institution, for which, of course, neither bank was liable. They were called resurrection notes ; and their use, besides the injury to the currency and danger to prop- erty, was a high contempt and defiance of the authority which had created it ; and called for the attention of the federal government. The 66 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. President, therefore, thus formally brought the procedure to the notice of Congress : " It was my hope that nothing would occur to make necessary, on this occasion, any allusion to the late national bank. There are circum- stances, however, connected with the present state of its affairs that bear so directly on the character of the government and the welfare of the citizen, that I should not feel myself excused in neglecting to notice them. The charter which terminated its banking privileges on the 4th of March. 1836, continued its corporate powers two years more, for the sole purpose of closing its affairs, with authority ' to use the corporate name, style, and capacity, for the purpose of suits for a final settlement and liquidation of the affairs and acts of the corporation, and for the sale and disposition of their estate, real, per- sonal and mixed, but for no other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever.' Just before the banking privileges ceased, its effects were transferred by the bank to a new State institu- tion then recently incorporated, in trust, for the discharge of its debts and the settlement of its affairs. With this trustee, by authority of Con- gress, an adjustment was subsequently made of the large interest which the government had in the stock of the institution. The manner in which a trust unexpectedly created upon the act granting the charter, and involving such great public interests, has been executed, would, under any circumstances, be a fit subject of in- quiry ; but much more does it deserve your at- tention, when it embraces the redemption of obligations to which the authority and credit of the United States have given value. The two years allowed are now nearly at an end. It is well understood that the trustee has not re- deemed and cancelled the outstanding notes of the bank, but has reissued, and is actually re- issuing, since the 3d of March, 1836, the notes which have been received by it to a vast amount. According to its own official statement, so late as the 1st of October last, nineteen months after the banking privileges given by the charter had expired, it had under its control uncancelled notes of the late Bank of the United States to the amount of twenty-seven millions five hun- dred and sixty-one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six dollars, of which six millions one hundred and seventy-five thousand eight hun- dred and sixty-one dollars were in actual circu- lation, one million four hundred and sixty-eight thousand six hundred and twenty-seven dollars at State bank agencies, and three millions two thousand three hundred and ninety dollars in transitu; thus showing that upwards of ten millions and a half of the notes of the old bank were then still kept outstanding. The impro- priety of this procedure is obvious : it being the duty of the trustee to cancel and not to put forth the notes of an institution, whose concerns it had undertaken to wind up. If the trustee has a right to reissue these notes now, I can see no reason why it may not continue to do so after the expiration of the two years. As no one could have anticipated a course so extraordinary, the prohibitory clause of the charter above quoted was not accompanied by any penalty or other special provision for enforcing it; nor have we any general law for the prevention of similar acts in future. " But it is not in this view of the subject alone that your interposition is required. The United States, in settling with the trustee for their stock, have withdrawn their funds from their former direct ability to the creditors of the old bank, yet notes of the institution continue to be sent forth in its name, and apparently upon the authority of the United States. The transac- tions connected with the employment of the bills of the old bank are of vast extent ; and should they result unfortunately, the interests of individuals may be deeply compromised. Without undertaking to decide how far, or in what form, if any, the trustee could be made liable for notes which contain no obligation on its part ; or the old bank, for such as are put in circulation after the expiration of its char- ter, and without its authority ; or the govern- ment for indemnity, in case of loss, the question still presses itself upon your consideration, whether it is consistent with duty and good faith on the part of the government, to witness this proceeding without a single effort to arrest it." On the subject of the public lands, and the most judicious mode of disposing of them — a question of so much interest to the new States — the message took the view of those who looked to the domain less as a source of revenue than as a means of settling and improving the country. He recommended graduated prices according to the value of the different classes of lands in order to facilitate their sale; and a prospective permanent pre-emption act to give encouragement to settlers. On the first of these points he said : " Hitherto, after being offered at public sale, lands have been disposed of at one uniform price, whatever difference there might be in their intrinsic value. The leading considera- tions urged in favor of the measure referred to, are, that in almost all the land districts, and par- ticularly in those in which the lands have been long surveyed and exposed to sale, there are still remaining numerous and large tracts of every gradation of value, from the government price downwards ; that these lands will not be purchased at the government price, so long as better can be conveniently obtained for the same amount ; that there are large tracts which even the improvements of the adjacent lands will ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 67 never raise to that price ; and that the present uniform price, combined with their irregular value, operates to prevent a desirable compact- ness of settlement in the new States, and to re- tard the full development of that wise policy on which our land system is founded, to the injury not only of the several States where the lands lie, but of the United States as a whole. " The remedy proposed has been a reduction of prices according to the length of time the lands have been in market, without reference to any other circumstances. The certainty that the efflux of time would not always in such cases, and perhaps not even generally, furnish a true oriterion of value ; and the probability that per- sons residing in the vicinity, as the period for the reduction of prices approached, would post- pone purchases they would otherwise make, for the purpose of availing themselves of the lower price, with other considerations of a similar character, have hitherto been successfully urged to defeat the graduation upon time. May not all reasonable desires upon this subject be satis- fied without encountering any of these objec- tions ? All will concede the abstract principle, that the price of the public lands should be pro- portioned to their relative value, so far as that can be accomplished without departing from the rule, heretofore observed, requiring fixed prices in cases of private entries. The difficulty of the subject seems to lie in the mode of ascertaining what that value is. Would not the safest plan be that which has been adopted by many of the States as the basis of taxation ; an actual valua- tion of lands, and classification of them into dif- ferent rates ? Would it not be practicable and expedient to cause the relative value of the pub- lic lands in the old districts, which have been for a certain length of time in market, to be ap- praised, and classed into two or more rates be- low the present minimum price, by the officers now employed in this branch of the public ser- vice, or in any other mode deemed preferable, and to make those prices permanent, if upon the coming in of the report they shall prove satis- factory to Congress? Cannot all the objects of graduation be accomplished in this way, and the objections which have hitherto been urged against it avoided ? It would seem to me that such a step, with a restriction of the sales to limited quantities, and for actual improvement, would be free from all just exception." A permanent prospective pre-emption law was cogently recommended as a measure just in it- self to the settlers, and not injurious to the pub- lic Treasury, as experience had shown that the auction system — that of selling to the highest bidder above the prescribed minimum price — had produced in its aggregate but a few cents on the acre above the minimum price. On this point he said : " A large portion of our citizens have seated themselves on the public lands, without authori- ty, since the passage of the last pre-emption law, and now ask the enactment of another, to ena- ble them to retain the lands occupied, upon pay- ment of the minimum government price. They ask that which has been repeatedly granted be- fore. If the future may be judged of by the past, little harm can be done to the interests of the Treasury by yielding to their request. Upon a critical examination, it is found that the lands sold at the public sales since the introduction of cash payments in 1820, have produced, on an average, the net revenue of only six cents an acre more than the minimum government price. There is no reason to suppose that future sales will be more productive. The government, therefore, has no adequate pecuniary interest to induce it to drive these people from the lands they occupy, for the purpose of selling them to others." This wise recommendation has since been carried into effect, and pre-emptive rights are now admitted in all cases where settlements are made upon lands to which the Indian title shall have been extinguished ; and the graduation of the price of the public lands, though a measure long delayed, yet prevailed in the end, and was made as originally proposed, by reductions ac- cording to the length of time the land had been offered at sale. Beginning at the minimum price of $1 25 per acre, the reduction of price went down through a descending scale, according to time, as low as 12£ cents per acre. But this was long after. CHAPTER XVII. PENNSYLVANIA BANK OF THE UNITED STATES . ITS USE OF THE DEFUNCT NOTES OF THE EX- PIRED INSTITUTION. History gives many instances of armies re- fusing to be disbanded, and remaining in arms in defiance of the authority which created them ; but the example of this bank presents, probably, the first instance in which a great moneyed cor- poration refused to be dissolved— refused to cease its operations after its legal existence had expired ; — and continued its corporate transac- tions as if in full life. It has already been shown that its proviso charter, at the end of a local railroad act, made no difference in its condition — 68 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. that it went on exactly as before. Its use of the defunct notes of the expired institution was a further instance of this conduct, transcending any thing conceived of, and presenting a case of danger to the public, and defiance of government, which the President had deemed it his duty to bring to the attention of Congress, and ask a remedy for a proceeding so criminal. Congress acted on the recommendation, and a bill was brought in to make the repetition of the of- fence a high misdemeanor, and the officers and managers of the institution personally and in- dividually liable for its commission. In sup- port of this bill, Mr. Buchanan gave the fullest and clearest account of this almost incredible misconduct. He said : " The charter of the late Bank of the United States expired, by its own limitation, on the 3d of March, 1836. After that day, it could issue no notes, discount no new paper, and exercise none of the usual functions of a bank. For two years thereafter, until the 3d of March, 1838, it was merely permitted to use its corpo- rate name and capacity 'for the purpose of suits for the final settlement and liquidation of the affairs and accounts of the corporation, and for the sale and disposition of their estate, real, personal, and mixed ; but not for any other gurpose, or in any other manner, whatsoever.' ongress had granted the bank no power to make a voluntary assignment of its property to any corporation or any individual. On the contrary, the plain meaning of the charter was, that all the affairs of the institution should be wound up by its own president and directors. It received no authority to delegate this impor- tant trust to others, and yet what has it done ? On the second day of March, 1836, one day be- fore the charter had expired, this very president and these directors assigned all the property and effects of the old corporation to the Penn- sylvania Bank of the United States. On the same day, this latter bank accepted the assign- ment, and agreed to 'pay, satisfy, and discharge all debts, contracts, and engagements, owing, entered into, or made by this [the old] bank, as the same shall become due and payable, and fulfil and execute all trusts and obligations whatsoever arising from its transactions, or from any of them, so that every creditor or rightful claimant shall be fully satisfied.' By its own agreement, it has thus expressly cre- ated itself a trustee of the old bank. But this was not necessary to confer upon it that char- acter. By the bare act of accepting the assign- ment, it became responsible, under the laws of the land, for the performance of all the duties and trusts required by the old charter. Under the circumstances, it cannot make the slightest pretence of any want of notice. "Having assumed this responsibility, the duty of the new bank was so plain that it could not have been mistaken. It had a double character to sustain. Under the charter from Pennsylvania, it became a new banking corpo- ration ; whilst, under the assignment from the old bank, it became a trustee to wind up the concerns of that institution under the Act of Congress. These two characters were in their nature separate and distinct, and never ought to have been blended. For each of these pur- poses it ought to have kept a separate set of books. Above all, as the privilege of circulating bank notes, and thus creating a paper currency, is that function of a bank which most deeply and vitally affects the community, the new bank ought to have cancelled or destroyed all the notes of the old bank which it found in its pos- session on the 4th of March, 1836, and ought to have redeemed the remainder at its counter, as they were demanded by the holders, and then destroyed them. This obligation no sen- ator has attempted to doubt, or to deny. But what was the course of the bank? It has grossly violated both the old and the new char- ter* It at once declared independence of both, and appropriated to itself all the notes of the old bank, — not only those which were then still in circulation, but those which had been redeemed before it accepted the assignment, and were then lying dead in its vaults. I have now before me the first monthly statement which was ever made by the Bank to the Au- ditor-general of Pennsylvania. It is dated on the 2d of April, 1836, and signed J. Cowper- thwaite, acting cashier. In this statement, the Bank charges itself with 'notes issued,' .$36,620,420 16; whilst, in its cash account, along with its specie and the notes of State banks, it credits itself with ' notes of the Bank of the United States and offices,' on hand, $16,794,713 71. It thus seized these dead notes to the amount of $16,794,713 71, and transformed them into cash ; whilst the differ- ence between those on hand and those issued, equal to $19,825,706 45, was the circulation which the new bank boasted it had inherited from the old. It thus, in an instant, appropri- ated to itself, and adopted as its own circula- tion, all the notes and all the illegal branch drafts of the old bank which were then in exist- ence. Its boldness was equal to its utter dis- regard of law. In this first return, it not only proclaimed to the Legislature and people of Pennsylvania that it had disregarded its trust as assignee of the old Bank, by seizing upon the whole of the old circulation and converting it to its own use, but that it had violated one of the fundamental provisions of its new char- ter." Mr. Calhoun spoke chiefly to the question of the right of Congress to pass a bill of the tenor proposed. Several senators denied that right : ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 69 others supported it — among them Mr. Wright, Mr. Grundy, Mr. "William H. Roane, Mr. John M. Niles, Mr. Clay, of Alabama, and Mr. Cal- houn. Some passages from the speech of the latter are here given. " He [Mr. Calhoun] held that the right pro- posed to be exercised in this case rested on the general power of legislation conferred on Con- gress, which embraces not only the power of making, but that of repealing laws. It was, in fact, a portion of the repealing power. No one could doubt the existence of the right to do either, and that the right of repealing extends as well to unconstitutional as constitutional laws. The case as to the former was, in fact, stronger than the latter ; for, whether a consti- tutional law should be repealed or not, was a question of expediency, which left us free to act according to our discretion ; while, in the case of an unconstitutional law, it was a matter of obligation and duty, leaving no option ; and the more unconstitutional, the more imperious the obligation and duty. Thus far, there could be no doubt nor diversity of opinion. But there are many laws, the effects of which do not cease with their repeal or expiration, and which re- quire some additional act on our part to arrest or undo them. Such, for instance, is the one in question. The charter of the late bank expired some time agp, but its notes are still in exist- ence, freely circulating from hand to hand, and reissued and banked on by a bank chartered by the State of Pennsylvania, into whose posses- sion the notes of the old bank have passed. In a word, our name and authority are used almost as freely for banking purposes as they were before the expiration of the charter of the late bank. Now, he held that the right of arresting or undoing these after-effects rested on the same principle as the right of repealing a law, and, like that, embraces unconstitutional as well as constitutional acts, superadding, in the case of the former, obligation and duty to right. We have an illustration of the truth of this principle in the case of the alien and sedition acts, which are now conceded on all sides to have been unconstitutional. Like the act incor- porating the late bank, they expired by their own limitation ; and, like it, also, their effects continued after the period of their expiration. Individuals had been tried, convicted, fined, and imprisoned under them ; but, so far was their unconstitutionality from being regarded as an impediment to the right of arresting or undoing these effects, that Mr. Jefferson felt himself compelled on that very account to pardon those who had been fined and convicted under their provisions, and we have at this session passed, on the same ground, an act to refund the money paid by one of the sufferers under them. The bill is limited to those only who are the trus- tees, or agents for winding up the concerns of the late bank, and it is those, and those only, who are subject to the penalties of the bill for reissuing its notes. They are, pro tanto, our officers, and, to that extent, subject to our juris- diction, and liable to have their acts controlled, as far as they relate to the trust or agency con- fided to them ; just as much so as receivers or collectors of the revenue would be. No one can doubt that we could prohibit them from passing off any description of paper currency that might come into their hands in their offi- cial character. Nor is the right less clear in reference to the persons who may be compre- hended in this bill. Whether Mr. Biddle or others connected with this bank are, in fact, trustees, or agents, within the meaning of the bill, is not a question for us to decide. They are not named, nor referred to by description. The bill is very properly drawn up in general terms, so as to comprehend all cases of the kind, and would include the banks of the Dis- trict, should Congress refuse to re-charter them. It is left to the court and jury, to whom it properly belongs, to decide, when a case comes up, whether the party is, or is not, a trustee, or agent; and, of course, whether he is, or is not, included in the provisions of the bill. If he is, he will be subject to its penal- ties, but not otherwise ; and it cannot possibly affect the question of the constitutionality of the bill, whether Mr. Biddle, and others con- nected with him, are, or are not, comprehended in its provisions, and subject to its penalties." The bill was severe in its enactments, pre- scribing both fine and imprisonment for the re- petition of the offence — the fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars—the imprisonment not to be less than one nor more than five years. It also gave a preventive remedy in authorizing in- junctions from the federal courts to prevent the circulation of such defunct notes, and proceed- ings in chancery to compel their surrender for cancellation. And to this "complexion" had the arrogant institution come which so lately held itself to be a power, and a great one, in the government — now borne on the statute book as criminally liable for a high misdemeanor, and giving its name to a new species of offence in the criminal catalogue — exhumer and resurrec- tionist of defunct notes. And thus ended the last question between the federal government and this, once so powerful moneyed corpora- tion ; and certainly any one who reads the his- tory of that bank as faithfully shown in our parliamentary history, and briefly exhibited in this historic View, can ever wish to see another national bank established in our country, or any future connection of any kind between the government and the banks. The last struggle 70 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. between it and the government was now over — just seven years since that struggle began: but its further conduct will extort a further notice from history. CHAPTER XVIII. FLOEIDA INDIAN WAR : ITS ORIGIN AND CON- DUCT. This was one of the most troublesome, expen- sive and unmanageable Indian wars in which the United States had been engaged ; and from the length of time which it continued, the amount of money it cost, and the difficulty of obtaining results, it became a convenient handle of attack upon the administration ; and in which party spirit, in pursuit of its object, went the length of injuring both individual and national character. It contiuued about seven years — as long as the revolutionary war — cost some thirty millions of money — and baffled the exertions of several generals ; recommenced when supposed to be finished ; and was only finally terminated by changing military campaigns into an armed occupation by settlers. All the opposition presses and orators took hold of it, and made its misfortunes the common theme of invective and declamation. Its origin was charged to the oppressive conduct of the administration — its protracted length to their imbecility — its cost to their extravagance — its defeats to the want of foresight and care. The Indians stood for an innocent and persecuted people. Heroes and patriots were made of their chiefs. Our gene- rals and troops were decried; applause was lavished upon a handful of savages who could thus defend their country; and corresponding censure upon successive armies which could not conquer them. All this going incessantly into the Congress debates and the party newspapers, was injuring the administration at home, and the country abroad ; and, by dint of iteration and reiteration, stood a good chance to become history, and to be handed down to posterity. At the same time the war was one of flagrant and cruel aggression on the part of these Indians. Their removal to the west of the Mississippi was part of the plan for the general removal of all the Indians, and every preparation was com- plete for their departure by their own agree- ment, when it was interrupted by a horrible act. It was the 28th day of December, 1835, that the United States agent in Florida, and several others, were suddenly massacred by a party under Osceola, who had just been at the hospitable table with them : at the same time the sutler and others were attacked as they sat at table : same day two expresses were killed : and to crown these bloody deeds, the same day witnessed the destruction of Major Dade's com- mand of 112 men, on its march from Tampa Bay to Withlacootchee. All these massacres were surprises, the result of concert, and exe- cuted as such upon unsuspecting victims. The agent (Mr. Thompson), and some friends were shot from the bushes while taking a walk near his house : the sutler and his guests were shot at the dinner table: the express riders were waylaid, and shot in the road: Major Dade's command was attacked on the march, by an un- seen foe, overpowered, and killed nearly to the last man. All these deadly attacks took place on the same day, and at points wide apart — showing that the plot was as extensive as it was secret, and cruel as it was treacherous ; for not a soul was spared in either of the four relentless attacks. It was two days after the event that an in- fantry soldier of Major Dade's command, ap- peared at Fort King, on Tampa Bay, from which it had marched six days before, and gave infor- mation of what had happened. The command was on the march, in open pine woods, tall grass all around, and a swamp on the left flank. The grass concealed a treacherous ambuscade. The advanced guard had passed, and was cut off. Both the advance and the main body were at- tacked at the same moment, but divided from each other. A circle of fire enclosed each — fire from an invisible foe. To stand, was to be shot down : to advance was to charge upon concealed rifles. But it was the only course — was brave- ly adopted — and many savages thus sprung from their coverts, were killed. The officers, coura- geously exposing themselves, were rapidly shot — Major Dade early in the action. At the end of an hour successive charges had roused the savages from the grass, (which seemed to be alive with their naked and painted bodies, yell- ing and leaping,) and driven beyond the range of shot. But the command was too much weak- ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 71 ened for a further operation. The wounded were too numerous to be carried along : too precious to be left behind to be massacred. The battle ground was maintained, and a small band had conquered respite from attack : but to ad- vance or retreat was equally impossible. The only resource was to build a small pen of pine logs, cut from the forest, collect the wounded and the survivors into it, as into a little fort, and repulse the assailants as long as possible. This was done till near sunset — the action hav- ing began at ten in the morning. By that time every officer was dead but one, and he despe- rately wounded, and helpless on the ground. Only two men remained without wounds, and they red with the blood of others, spirted upon them, or stained in helping the helpless. The little pen was filled with the dead and the dying. The firing ceased. The expiring lieutenant told the survivors he could do no more for them, and gave them leave to save themselves as they could. They asked his advice. He gave it to them ; and to that advice we are indebted for the only report of that bloody day's work. He advised them all to lay down among the dead — to remain still — and take their chance of being considered dead. This advice was followed. All became still, prostrate and motionless ; and the savages, slowly and cautiously approaching, were a long time before they would venture within the ghastly pen, where danger might still lurk under apparent death. A squad of about forty negroes — fugitives from the South- ern States, more savage than the savage — were the first to enter. They came in with knives and hatchets, cutting throats and splitting skulls wherever they saw a sign of life. To make sure of skipping no one alive, all were pulled and handled, punched and kicked ; and a groan or movement, an opening of the eye, or even the involuntary contraction of a muscle, was an in- vitation to the knife and the tomahawk. Only four of the living were able to subdue sensa- tions, bodily and mental, and remain without sign of feeling under this dreadful ordeal ; and two of these received stabs, or blows — as many of the dead did. Lying still until the search was over, and darkness had come on, and the butchers were gone, these four crept from among their dead comrades and undertook to make their way back to Tampa Bay — separating into two parties for greater safety. The one that came in first had a narrow escape. Pursuing a path the next day, an Indian on horseback, and with a rifle across the saddle bow, met them full in the way. To separate, and take the chance of a divided pursuit, was the only hope for either : and they struck off into opposite direc- tions. The one to the right was pursued ; and very soon the sharp crack of a rifle made known his fate to the one that had gone to the left. To him it was a warning, that his comrade be- ing despatched, his own turn came next. It was open pine woods, and a running, or stand- ing man, visible at a distance. The Indian on horseback was already in view. Escape by flight was impossible. Concealment in the grass, or among the palmettos, was the only hope : and this was tried. The man laid close : the Indian rode near him. He made circles around, eyeing the ground far and near. Rising in his stirrups to get a wider view, and seeing nothing, he turned the head of his horse and galloped off — the poor soldier having been almost under the horse's feet. This man, thus marvellously escaping, was the first to bring in the sad re- port of the Dade defeat — followed soon after by two others with its melancholy confirmation. And these were the only reports ever received of that completest of defeats. No officer sur- vived to report a word. All were killed in their places — men and officers, each in his place, no one breaking ranks or giving back : and when afterwards the ground was examined, and events verified by signs, the skeletons in their places, and the bullet holes in trees and logs, and the little pen with its heaps of bones, showed that the carnage had taken place exactly as described by the men. And this was the slaughter of Major Dade and his command — of 108 out of 112 : as treacherous, as barbarous, as perse- veringly cruel as ever was known. One single feature is some relief to the sadness of the pic- ture, and discriminates this defeat from most others suffered at the hands of Indians. There were no prisoners put to death ; for no man surrendered. There were no fugitives slain in vain attempts at flight ; for no one fled. All stood, and fought, and fell in their places, re- turning blow for blow while life lasted. It was the death of soldiers, showing that steadiness in defeat which is above courage in victory. And this was the origin of the Florida Indian war: and a more treacherous, ferocious, and 72 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. cold-blooded origin was never given to any In- dian war. Yet such is the perversity of party spirit that its author — the savage Osceola — has been exalted into a hero-patriot ; our officers, disparaged and ridiculed ; the administration loaded with obloquy. And all this by our pub- lic men in Congress, as well as by writers in the daily and periodical publications. The future historian who should take these speeches and publications for their guide, (and they are too numerous and emphatic to be overlooked,) would write a history discreditable to our arms, and reproachful to our justice. It would be a narrative of wickedness and imbecility on our part — of patriotism and heroism on the part of the Indians : those Indians whose very name (Seminole — wild,) define them as the fugitives from all tribes, and made still worse than fugi- tive Indians by a mixture with fugitive negroes, some of whom became their chiefs. It was to obviate the danger of such a history as that would be, that the author of this View delivered at the time, and in the presence of all concerned, an historical speech on the Florida Indian war, fortified by facts, and intended to stand for true ; and which has remained unimpeached. Extracts from that speech will constitute the next chapter, to which this brief sketch will serve as a preface and introduction. CHAPTER XIX. FLOEIDA INDIAN WAE : HISTORICAL SPEECH OF ME. BENTON. A senator from New Jersey [Mr. Southard] has brought forward an accusation which must affect the character of the late and present ad- ministrations at home, and the character of the country abroad ; and which, justice to these administrations, and to the country, requires to be met and answered upon the spot. That senator has expressly charged that a fraud was committed upon the Florida Indians in the treaty negotiated with them for their removal to the West ; that the war which has ensued was the consequence of this fraud; and that our government was responsible to the moral sense of the community, and of the world, for all the blood that has been shed, and for all the money that has been expended, in the prosecu- tion of this war. This is a heavy accusation. At home, it attaches to the party in power, and is calculated to make them odious ; abroad, it attaches to the country, and is calculated to blacken the national character. It is an accu- sation, without the shadow of a foundation! and, both, as one of the party in power, and as an American citizen, I feel myself impelled by an imperious sense of duty to my friends, and to my country, to expose its incorrectness at once, and to vindicate the government, and the coun- try, from an imputation as unfounded as it is odious. The senator from New Jersey first located this imputed fraud in the Payne's Landing treaty, negotiated by General Gadsden, in Flor- ida, in the year 1832 ; and, after being tendered an issue on the fairness and generosity of that treaty by the senator from Alabama [Mr. Clay], he transferred the charge to the Fort Gibson treaty, made in Arkansas, in the year 1833, by Messrs. Stokes, Ellsworth and Scher- merhorn. This was a considerable change of locality, but no change in the accusation itself; the two treaties being but one, and the last be- ing a literal performance of a stipulation con- tained in the first. These are the facts ; and, after stating the case, I will prove it as stated. This is the statement : The Seminole Indians in Florida being an emigrant band of the Creeks, and finding game exhausted, subsistence diffi- cult, and white settlements approaching, con- cluded to follow the mother tribe, the Creeks, to the west of the Mississippi, and to reunite with them. This was conditional^ agreed to be done at the Payne's Landing treaty ; and in that treaty it was stipulated that a deputation of Seminole chiefs, under the sanction of the government of the United States, should pro- ceed to the Creek country beyond the Missis- sippi — there to ascertain first whether a suita- ble country could be obtained for them there ; and, secondly, whether the Creeks would re- ceive them back as a part of their confederacy : and if the deputation should be satisfied on these two points, then the conditional obliga- tion to remove, contained in the Payne's Land- ing treaty, to become binding and obligatory upon the Seminole tribe. The deputation went ; the two points were solved in the affirmative ; ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 73 the obligation to remove became absolute on the part of the Indians; and the government of the United States commenced preparations for effecting their easy, gradual, and comfortable removal. The entire emigration was to be completed in three years, one-third going annually, com- mencing in the year 1833, and to be finished in the years 1834, and 1835. The deputation sent to the west of the Mississippi, completed their agreement with the Creeks on the 28th of March, 1833 ; they returned home immediately, and one-third of the tribe was to remove that year. Every thing was got ready on the part of the United States, both to transport the In- dians to their new homes, and to subsist them for a year after their arrival there. But, in- stead of removing, the Indians began to invent excuses, and to interpose delays, and to pass off the time without commencing the emigra- tion. The year 1833, in which one-third of the tribe were to remove, passed off without any removal ; the year 1834, in which another third was to go, was passed off in the same manner ; the year 1835, in which the emigration was to have been completed, passed away, and the emi- gration was not begun. On the contrary, on the last days of the last month of that year, while the United States was still peaceably urg- ing the removal, an accumulation of treacherous and horrible assassinations and massacres were committed. The United States agent, General Thompson, Lieutenant Smith, of the artillery, and five others, were assassinated in sight of Fort King ; two expresses were murdered ; and Major Dade's command was massacred. In their excuses and pretexts for not remov- ing, the Indians never thought of the reasons which have been supplied to them on this floor. They never thought of alleging fraud. Their pretexts were frivolous ; as that it was a long distance, and that bad Indians lived in that country, and that the old treaty of Fort Moul- trie allowed them twenty years to live in Flor- ida. Their real motive was the desire of blood and pillage on the part of many Indians, and still more on the part of the five hundred run- away negroes mixed up among them ; and who believed that they could carry on their system of robbery and murder with impunity, and that the swamps of the country would for ever pro- tect them against the pursuit of the whites. This, Mr. President, is the plain and brief narrative of the causes which led to the Semi- nole war ; it is the brief historical view of the case ; and if I was speaking under ordinary cir- cumstances, and in reply to incidental remarks, I should content myself with this narrative, and let the question go to the country upon the strength and credit of this statement. But I do not speak under ordinary circumstances ; I am not replying to incidental and casual re- marks. I speak in answer to a formal accusa- tion, preferred on this floor ; I speak to defend the late and present administrations from an odious charge ; and, in defending them, to vin- dicate the character of our country from the accusation of the senator from New Jersey [Mr. Southard], and to show that fraud has not been committed upon these Indians, and that the guilt of a war, founded in fraud, is not justly imputable to them. The Seminoles had stipulated that the agent, Major Phagan, and their own interpreter, the negro Abraham, should accompany them ; and this was done. It so happened, also, that an ex- traordinary commission of three members sent out by the United States to adjust Indian diffi- culties generally, was then beyond the Missis- sippi; and these commissioners were directed to join in the negotiations on the part of the United States, and to give the sanction of our guarantee to the agreements made between the Seminoles and the Creeks for the reunion of the former to the parent tribe. This was done. Our commissioners, Messrs. Stokes, Ellsworth, and Schermerhorn, became party to a treaty with the Creek Indians for the reunion of the Seminoles, made at Fort Gibson, the 14th of February, 1833. The treaty contained this article : " Article IV. It is understood and agreed that the Seminole Indians of Florida, whose re- moval to this country is provided for by their treaty with the United States, dated May 9, 1832, shall also have a permanent and comfort- able home on the lands hereby set apart as the country of the Creek nation; and they, the Seminoles, will hereafter be considered as a con- stituent part of the said nation, but are to be located on some part of the Creek country by themselves, which location shall be selected for them by the commissioners who have seen these articles of agreement." This agreement with the Creeks settled one of the conditions on which the removal of the 74 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Seminoles was to depend. We will now see how the other condition was disposed of. In a treaty made at the same Fort Gibson, on the 28 th of March, 1833, between the same three commissioners on the part of the United States, and the seven delegated Seminole chiefs, after reciting the two conditions precedent con- tained in the Payne's Landing treaty, and re- citing, also, the convention with the Creeks on the 14th of February preceding, it is thus stipu- lated : " Now, therefore, the commissioners aforesaid, by virtue of the power and authority vested in them by the treaty made with the Creek Indians on the 14th of February, 1833, as above stated, hereby designate and assign to the Seminole tribe of Indians, for their separate future resi- dence for ever, a tract of country lying between the Canadian River and the south fork thereof, and extending west to where a line running north and south between the main Canadian and north branch will strike the forks of Little River j provided said west line does not extend more than twenty-five miles west from the mouth of said Little River. And the under- signed Seminole chiefs, delegated as aforesaid, on behalf of the nation, hereby declare them- selves well satisfied with the location provided for them by the commissioners, and agree that their nation shall commence the removal to their new home as soon as the government will make the arrangements for their emigration satisfac- tory to the Seminole nation." This treaty is signed by the delegation, and by the commissioners of the United States, and witnessed, among others, by the same Major Phagan, agent, and Abraham, interpreter, whose presence was stipulated for at Payne's Landing. Thus the two conditions on which the re- moval depended, were complied with; they were both established in the affirmative. The Creeks, under the solemn sanction and guarantee of the United States, agree to receive back the Seminoles as a part of their confederacy, and agree that they shall live adjoining them on lands designated for their residence. The dele- gation declare themselves well satisfied with the country assigned them, and agree that the re- moval should commence as soon as the United States could make the necessary arrangements for the removal of the people. This brings down the proof to the conclusion of all questions beyond the Mississippi; it brings it down to the conclusion of the treaty at Fort Gibson — that treaty in which the sena- tor from New Jersey [Mr. Southard] has located the charge of fraud, after withdrawing the same charge from the Payne's Landing treaty. It brings us to the end of the negotia- tions at the point selected for the charge ; and now how stands the accusation ? How stands the charge of fraud? Is there a shadow, an atom, a speck, of foundation on which to rest it? No, sir: Nothing — nothing — nothing! Every thing was done that was stipulated for ; done by the persons who were to do it ; and done in the exact manner agreed upon. In fact, the nature of the things to be done west of the Mississippi was such as not to admit of fraud. Two things were to be done, one to be seen with the eyes, and the other to be heard with the ears. The deputation was to see th«ir new country, and say whether they liked it. This was a question to their own senses — to their own eyes — and was not susceptible of fraud. They were to hear whether the Creeks would receive them back as a part of their confederacy ; this was a question to their own ears, and was also unsusceptible of fraud. Their own eyes could not deceive them in looking at land ; their own ears could not deceive them in listening to their own language from the Creeks. No, sir : there was no physical capacity, or moral means, for the perpetration of fraud ; and none has ever been pretended by the Indians from that day to this. The Indians themselves have never thought of such a thing. There is no assump- tion of a deceived party among them. It is not a deceived party that is at war — a party de- ceived by the delegation which went to the West — but that very delegation itself, with the ex- ception of Charley Emarthla, are the hostile leaders at home ! This is reducing the accusa- tion to an absurdity. It is making the delega- tion the dupes of their own eyes and of their own ears, and then going to war with the United States, because their own eyes deceived them in looking at land on the Canadian River, and their own ears deceived them in listening to their own language from the Creeks ; and then charging these frauds upon the United States. All this is absurd ; and it is due to these absent savages to say that they never committed any such absurdity — that they never placed their objection to remove upon any plea of deception practised upon them beyond the Mississippi, but on frivolous pretexts invented long after ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 75 the return of the delegation; which pretexts covered the real grounds growing out of the influence of runaway slaves, and some evilly disposed chiefs, and that thirst for blood and plunder, in which they expected a long course of enjoyment and impunity in their swamps, believed to be impenetrable to the whites. . Thus, sir, it is clearly and fully proved that there was no fraud practised upon these Indi- ans ; that they themselves never pretended such a thing ; and that the accusation is wholly a charge of recent origin sprung up among our- selves. Having shown that there was no fraud, this might be sufficient for the occasion, but having been forced into the inquiry, it may be as well to complete it by showing what were the causes of this war. To understand these causes, it is necessary to recur to dates, to see the extreme moderation with which the United States acted, the long time which they tolerated the delays of the Indians, and the treachery and murder with which their indulgence and for- bearance was requited. The emigration was to commence in 1833, and be completed in the years 1834 and 1835. The last days of the last month of this last year had arrived, and the emi- gration had not yet commenced. Wholly in- tent on their peaceable removal, the administra- tion had despatched a disbursing agent, Lieu- tenant Harris of the army, to take charge of the expenditures for the subsistence of these people. He arrived at Fort King on the afternoon of the 28th of December, 1835 ; and as he entered the fort, he became almost an eye-witness of a horrid scene which was the subject of his first despatch to his government. He describes it in these words: " I regret that it becomes my first duty after my arrival here to be the narrator of a story, which it will be, I am sure, as painful for you to hear, as it is for me, who was almost an eye witness to the bloody deed, to relate to you. Our excellent superintendent, General Wiley Thompson, has been most cruelly murdered by a party of the hostile Indians, and with him Lieutenant Constant Smith, of the 2d regiment of artillery, Erastus Rogers, the suttler to the post, with his two clerks, a Mr. Kitzler, and a boy called Robert. This occurred on the after- noon of the 28th instant (December), between three and four o'clock. On the day of the mas- sacre, Lieutenant Smith had dined with the General, and after dinner invited him to take a short stroll with him. They had not proceeded more than three hundred yards beyond the agency office, when they were fired upon by a party of Indians, who rose from ambush in the hammock, within sight of the fort, and on which the suttler's house borders. The reports of the rifles fired, the war-whoop twice repeated, and after a brief space, several other volleys more remote, and in the quarter of Mr. Rogers's house, were heard, and the smoke of the firing seen from the fort. Mr. Rogers and his clerks were surprised at dinner. Three escaped : the rest murdered. The bodies of General Thompson, Lieutenant Smith, and Mr. Kitzler, were soon found and brought in. Those of the others were not found until this morning. That of General Thompson was perforated with fourteen bullets. Mr. Rogers had received seventeen. All were scalped, except the boy. The coward- ly murderers are supposed to be a party of Mi- casookees, 40 or 50 strong, under the traitor Powell (Osceola), whose shrill, peculiar war- whoop, was recognized by our interpreters, and the one or two friendly Indians we have in the fort, and who knew it well. Two expresses (soldiers) were despatched upon fresh horses on the evening of this horrid tragedy, with tidings of it to General Clinch; but not hearing from him or them, we conclude they were cut off. We are also exceedingly anxious for the fate of the two companies (under Major Dade) which had been ordered up from Fort Brooke, and of whom we learn nothing." Sir, this is the first letter of the disbursing agent, specially detached to furnish the supplies to the emigrating Indians. He arrives in the midst of treachery and murder; and his first letter is to announce to the government the as- sassination of their agent, an officer of artillery, and five citizens ; the assassination of two ex- presses, for they were both waylaid and mur- dered ; and the massacre of one hundred and twelve men and officers under Major Dade. All this took place at once ; and this was the be- ginning of the war. Up to that moment the government of the United States were wholly employed in preparing the Indians for removal, recommending them to go, and using no force or violence upon them. This is the way the war was brought on ; this is the way it began ; and was there ever a case in which a -government was so loudly called upon to avenge the dead, to protect the living, and to cause itself to be respected by punishing the contemners of its power ? The murder of the agent was a double offence, a peculiar outrage to the government whose representative he was, and a violation even of the national law of savages. Agents are seldom murdered even by savages ; and bound 76 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. as every government is to protect all its citizens, it is doubly bound to protect its agents and re- presentatives abroad. Here, then, is a govern- ment agent, and a military officer, five citizens, two expresses, and a detachment of one hundred and twelve men, in all one hundred and twenty- one persons, treacherously and inhumanly mas- sacred in one day ! and because General Jack- son's administration did not submit to this hor- rid outrage, he is charged with the guilt of a war founded in fraud upon innocent and unof- fending Indians ! Such is the spirit of opposi- tion to our own government ! such the love of Indians and contempt of whites ! and such the mawkish sentimentality of the day in which we live — a sentimentality which goes moping and sorrowing about in behalf of imaginary wrongs to Indians and negroes, while the whites them- selves are the subject of murder, robbery and defamation. The prime mover in all this mischief, and the leading agent in the most atrocious scene of it, was a half-blooded Indian of little note before this time, and of no consequence in the councils of his tribe ; for his name is not to be seen in the treaty either of Payne's Landing or Fort Gibson. We call him Powell ; by his tribe he was called Osceola. He led the attack in the massacre of the agent, and of those who were killed with him, in the afternoon of the 28th of December. The disbursing agent, whose letter has been read, in his account of that massacre, applies the epithet traitor to the name of this Powell. Well might he apply that epithet to that assassin ; for he had just been fed and caressed by the very person whom he waylaid and murdered. He had come into the agency shortly before that time with seventy of his followers, professed his satisfaction with the treaty, his readiness to re- move, and received subsistence and supplies for himself and all his party. The most friendly relations seemed to be established; and the doomed and deceived agent, in giving his ac- count of it to the government, says : " The re- sult was that we closed with the utmost good feeling ; and I have never seen Powell and the other chiefs so cheerful and in so fine a humor, at the close of a discussion upon the subject of removal." This is Powell (Osceola), for whom all our sympathies are so pathetically invoked ! a treacherous assassin, not only of our people, but of his own — for he it was who waylaid, and shot in the back, in the most cowardly manner, the brave chief Charley Emarthla, whom he dared not face, and whom he thus assassinated because he refused to join him and his runaway negroes in murdering the white people. The collector of Indian curiosities and portraits, Mr. Catlin, may be permitted to manufacture a hero out of this assassin, and to make a poetical scene of his imprisonment on Sullivan's island ; but it will not do for an American senator to take the same liberties with historical truth and our na- tional character. Powell ought to have been hung for the assassination of General Thomp- son ; and the only fault of our officers is, that they did not hang him the moment they caught him. The fate of Arbuthnot and Ambrister was due to him a thousand times over. I have now answered the accusation of the senator from New Jersey [Mr. Southard]. I have shown the origin of this war. I have shown that it originated in no fraud, no injustice, no violence, on the part of this government, but in the thirst for blood and rapine on the part of these Indians, and in their confident belief that their swamps would be their protection against the pursuit of the whites ; and that, emerging from these fastnesses to commit robbery and murder, and retiring to them to enjoy the fruits of their marauding expeditions, they had before them a long perspective of impunity in the en- joyment of their favorite occupation. This I have shown to be the cause of the war ; and having vindicated the administration and the country from the injustice of the imputation cast upon them, I proceed to answer some things said by a senator from South Carolina [Mr. Preston], which tended to disparage the troops generally which have been employed in Florida ; to disparage a particular general offi- cer, and also to accuse that general officer of a particular and specified offence. That senator has decried our troops in Florida for the gene- ral inefficiency of their operations j he has de- cried General Jesup for the general imbecility of his operations, and he has charged this Gen- eral with the violation of a flag, and the com- mission of a perfidious act, in detaining and im- prisoning the Indian Powell, who came into his camp. I think there is great error and great injus- tice in all these imputations, and that it is right ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 77 for some senator on this floor to answer them. My position, as chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, would seem to assign that duty to me, and it may be the reason why others who have spoken have omitted all reply on these points. Be that as it may, I feel im- pelled to say something in behalf of those who are absent, and cannot speak for themselves — those who must always feel the wound of un- merited censure, and must feel it more keenly when the blow that inflicts the wound falls from the elevated floor of the American Senate. So far as the army, generally, is concerned in this censure, I might leave them where they have been placed by the senator from South Carolina [Mr. Preston], and others on that side of the House, if I could limit myself to acting a political part here. The army, as a body, is no friend of the political party to which I belong. Individuals among them are friendly to the ad- ministration; but, as a body, they go for the opposition, and would terminate our political existence, if they could, and put our opponents in our place, at the first general election that intervenes. As a politician, then, I might aban- don them to the care of their political friends ; but, as an American, as a senator, and as hav- ing had some connection with the military pro- fession, I feel myself called upon to dissent from the opinion which has been expressed, and to give my reasons for believing that the army has not suffered, and ought not to suffer, in charac- ter, by the events in Florida. True, our offi- cers and soldiers have not performed the same feats there which they performed in Canada, and elsewhere. But why ? Certainly because they have not got the same, or an equivalent, theatre to act upon, nor an enemy to cope with over whom brilliant victories can be obtained. The peninsula of Florida, where this war rages, is sprinkled all over with swamps, hammocks, and lagoons, believed for three hundred years to be impervious to the white man's tread. The theatre of war is of great extent, stretching over six parallels of latitude ; all of it in the sultry region below thirty-one degrees of north latitude. The extremity of this peninsula ap- proaches the tropic of Capricorn ; and at this moment, while we speak here, the soldier under arms at mid-day there will cast no shadow : a vertical sun darts its fiery rays direct upon the crown of his head. Suffocating heat oppresses the frame; annoying insects sting the body; burning sands, a spongy morass, and the sharp cutting saw grass, receive the feet and legs; disease follows the summer's exertion ; and a dense foliage covers the foe. Eight months in the year military exertions are impossible; during four months only can any thing be done. The Indians well understand this ; and, during these four months, either give or receive an attack, as they please, or endeavor to con- sume the season in wily parleys. The possi- bility of splendid military exploits does not exist in such a country, and against such a foe : but there is room there, and ample room there, for the exhibition of the highest qualities of the soldier. There is room there for patience, and for fortitude, under every variety of suffering, and under every form of privation. There is room there for courage and discipline to exhibit itself against perils and trials which subject courage and discipline to the severest tests. And has there been any failure of patience, for- titude, courage, discipline, and subordination in all this war ? Where is the instance in which the men have revolted against their officers, or in which the officer has deserted his men ? Where is the instance of a flight in battle? Where the instance of orders disobeyed, ranks broken, or confusion of corps? On the con- trary, we have constantly seen the steadiness, and the discipline, of the parade maintained under every danger, and in the presence of massacre itself. Officers and men have fought it out where they were told to fight ; they have been killed in the tracks in which they were told to stand. None of those pitiable scenes of which all our Indian wars have shown some — those harrowing scenes in which the helpless prisoner, or the hapless fugitive, is massacred without pity, and without resist- ance : none of these have been seen. Many have perished ; but it was the death of the combatant in arms, and not of the captive or the fugitive. In no one of our savage wars have our troops so stood together, and con- quered together, and died together, as they have done in this one; and this standing to- gether is the test of the soldier's character. Steadiness, subordination, courage, discipline, — these are the test of the soldier ; and in no in- stance have our troops, or any troops, ever evinced the possession of these qualities in a higher degree than during the campaigns in Florida. While, then, brilliant victories may 78 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. not have been seen, and, in fact, were impossi- ble, yet the highest qualities of good soldier- ship have been eminently displayed throughout this war. Courage and discipline have shown themselves, throughout all its stages, in their noblest forms. From the general imputation of inefficiency in our operations in Florida, the senator from South Carolina [Mr. Preston] comes to a par- ticular commander, and charges inefficiency specifically upon him. This commander is General Jesup. The senator from South Caro- lina has been lavish, and even profuse, in his denunciation of that general, and has gone so far as to talk about military courts of inquiry. Leaving the general open to all such inquiry, and thoroughly convinced that the senator from South Carolina has no idea of moving such inquiry, and intends to rest the effect of his denunciation upon its delivery here, I shall proceed to answer him here — giving speech for speech on this floor, and leaving the general himself to reply when it comes to that threat- ened inquiry, which I undertake to affirm will never be moved. General Jesup is charged with imbecility and inefficiency ; the continuance of the war is imputed to his incapacity ; and he is held up here, on the floor of the Senate, to public repre- hension for these imputed delinquencies. This is the accusation ; and now let us see with how much truth and justice it is made. Happily for General Jesup, this happens to be a case in which we have data to go upon, and in which there are authentic materials for comparing the operations of himself with those of other gen- erals — his predecessors in the same field — with whose success the senator from South Carolina is entirely satisfied. Dates and figures furnish this data and these materials; and, after re- freshing the memory of the Senate with a few dates, I will proceed to the answers which the facts of the case supply. The first date is, as to the time of the commencement of this war ; the second, as to the time that General Jesup assumed the command; the third, as to the time when he was relieved from the command. On the first point, it will be recollected that the war broke out upon the assassination of General Thompson, the agent, Lieutenant Smith, who was with him ; the sutler and his clerks ; the murder of the two expresses ; and the massacre of Major Dade's command; — events which came together in point of time, and compelled an immediate resort to war by the United States. These assassinations, these murders, and this massacre, took place on the 28th day of December, 1835. The commence- ment of the war, then, dates from that day. The next point is, the time of General Jesup's appointment to the command. This occurred in December, 1836. The third point is, the date of General Jesup's relief from the com- mand, and this took place in May, of the pres- ent year, 1838. The war has then continued — counting to the present time — two years and a half; and of that period, General Jesup has had command something less than one year and a half. Other generals had command for a year before he was appointed in that quarter. Now, how much had those other generals done ? All put together, how much had they done ? And I ask this question not to disparage their meri- torious exertions, but to obtain data for the vindication of the officer now assailed. The senator from South Carolina [Mr. Preston] is satisfied with the operations of the previous commanders ; now let him see how the opera- tions of the officer whom he assails will com- pare with the operations of those who are hon- ored with his approbation. The comparison is brief and mathematical. It is a problem in the exact sciences. General Jesup reduced the hostiles in the one year and a half of his com- mand, 2,200 souls : all his predecessors together had reduced them 150 in one year. Where does censure rest now ? Sir, I disparage nobody. I make no exhibit of comparative results to undervalue the opera- tions of the previous commanders in Florida. I know the difficulty of military operations there, and the ease of criticism here. I never assailed those previous commanders; on the contrary, often pointed out the nature of the theatre on which they operated as a cause for the miscar- riage of expeditions, and for the want of brilliant and decisive results. Now for the first time I refer to the point, and, not to disparage others, but to vindicate the officer assailed. His vindi- cation is found in the comparison of results be- tween himself and his predecessors, and in the approbation of the senator from South Carolina of the results under the predecessors of. General Jesup. Satisfied with them, he must be satis- fied with him ; for the difference is as fifteen to one in favor of the decried general. ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 79 Besides the general denunciation for ineffi- ciency, which the senator from South Carolina has lavished upon General Jesup, and which de- nunciation has so completely received its answer in this comparative statement; besides this general denunciation, the senator from South Carolina brought forward a specific accusation against the honor of the same officer — an accusa- tion of perfidy, and of a violation of flag of truce, in the seizure and detention of the Indian Osceola, who had come into his camp. On the part of General Jesup, I repel this accusation, and declare his whole conduct in relation to this Indian, to have been justifiable, under the laws of civilized or savage warfare ; that it was ex- pedient in point of policy ; and that if any blame could attach to the general, it would be for the contrary of that with which he is blamed ; it would be for an excess of forbear- ance and indulgence. The justification of the general for the seizure and detention of this half-breed Indian, is the first point ; and that rests upon several and distinct grounds, either of which fully justifies the act. 1. This Osceola had broken his parole; and, therefore, was liable to be seized and detained. The facts were these : In the month of May, 1837, this chief, with his followers, went into Fort Mellon, under the cover of a white flag, and there surrendered to Lieutenant Colonel Har- ney. He declared himcelf done with the war, and ready to emigrate to the west of the Missis- sippi, and solicited subsistence and transporta- tion for himself and his people for that purpose. Lieutenant Colonel Harney received him, sup- plied him with provisions, and, relying upon his word and apparent sincerity, instead of sending him under guard, took his parole to go to Tampa Bay, the place at which he preferred to embark, to take shipping there for the West. Supplied with every thing, Osceola and his people left Fort Mellon, under the pledge to go to Tampa Bay. He never went there ! but returned to the hostiles; and it was afterwards ascertained that he never had any idea of going West, but merely wished to live well for a while at the expense of the whites, examine their strength and posi- tion, and return to his work of blood and pillage. After this, he had the audacity to approach General Jesup's camp in October of the same year, with another piece of white cloth over his head, thinking, after his successful treacheries to the agent, General Thompson, and Lieut. Colone Harney, that there was no end to his tricks upon white people. General Jesup ordered him to be seized and carried a prisoner to Sullivan's Island, where he was treated with the greatest humanity, and allowed ever}' possible indulgence and gratification. This is one of the reasons in justification of General Jesup's conduct to that Indian, and it is sufficient of itself ; but there are others, and they shall be stated. 2. Osceola had violated an order in coming in, with a view to return to the hostiles ; and, therefore, was liable to be detained. The facts were these : Many Indians, at dif- ferent times, had come in under the pretext of a determination to emigrate ; and after receiv- ing supplies, and viewing the strength and po- sition of the troops, returned again to the hos- tiles, and carried on the war with renewed vigor. This had been done repeatedly. It was making a mockery of the white flag, and subjecting our officers to ridicule as well as to danger. Gen- eral Jesup resolved to put an end to these treacherous and dangerous visits, by which spies and enemies obtained access to the bosom of his camp. He made known to the chief, Coi Hadjo, his determination to that effect. In August, 1837, he declared peremptorily to this chief, for the information of all the Indians, that none were to come in, except to remain, and to emi- grate ; that no one coming into his camp again should be allowed to go out of it, but should be considered as having surrendered with a view to emigrate under the treaty, and should be de- tained for that purpose. In October, Osceola came in, in violation of that order, and was de- tained in compliance with it. This is a second reason for the justification of General Jesup, and is of itself sufficient to justify him ; but there is more justification yet, and I will state it. 3. Osceola had broken a truce, and, there- fore, was liable to be detained whenever he could be taken. The facts were these : The hostile chiefs en- tered into an agreement for a truce at Fort King, in August, 1837, and agreed : 1. Not to commit any act of hostility upon the whites ; 2. Not to go east of the St. John's river, or north of Fort Mellon. This truce was broken by the Indians in both points. A citizen was killed by them, and they passed both to the east of the St. John's and far north of Fort Mel- lon. As violators of this truce, General Jesup had a right to detain any of the hostiles which 80 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. came into his hands, and Osceola was one of these. Here, sir, are three grounds of justification, either of them sufficient to justify the conduct of General Jesup towards Powell, as the gen- tlemen call him. The first of the three reasons applies personally and exclusively to that half- breed ; the other two apply to all the hostile Indians, and justify the seizure and detention of others, who have been sent to the West. So much for justification ; now for the expe- diency of having detained this Indian Powell. I hold it was expedient to exercise the right of detaining him, and prove this expediency by reasons both a priori and a posteriori. His previous treachery and crimes, and his well known disposition for further treachery and crimes, made it right for the officers of the Uni- ted States to avail themselves of the first justi- fiable occasion to put an end to his depredations by confining his person until the war was over. This is a reason a priori. The reason a pos- teriori is, that it has turned out right ; it has operated well upon the mass of the Indians, be- tween eighteen and nineteen hundred of which, negroes inclusive, have since surrendered to Gen. Jesup. This, sir, is a fact which contains an argument which overturns all that can be said on this floor against the detention of Osce- ola. The Indians themselves do not view that act as perfidious or dishonorable, or the viola- tion of a flag, or even the act of an enemy. They do not condemn General Jesup on account of it, but no doubt respect him the more for refusing to be made the dupe of a treacherous artifice. A bit of white linen, stripped, perhaps from the body of a murdered child, or its murdered mo- ther, was no longer to cover the insidious visits of spies and enemies. A firm and manly course was taken, and the effect was good upon the minds of the Indians. The number since sur- rendered is proof of its effect upon their minds ; and this proof should put to blush the lamenta- tions which are here set up for Powell, and the censure thrown upon General Jesup. No, sir, no. General Jesup has been guilty of no perfidy, no fraud, no violation of flags. He has done nothing to stain his own charac- ter, or to dishonor the flag of the United States. If he has erred, it has been on the side of hu- manity, generosity, and forbearance to the In- dians. If he has erred, as some suppose, in los- ing time to parley with the Indians, that error has been on the side of humanity, and of confi- dence in them. But has he erred ? Has his policy been erroneous ? Has the country been a loser by his policy '? To all these questions, let results give the answer. Let the twenty- two hundred Indians, abstracted from the hos- tile ranks by his measures, be put in contrast with the two hundred, or less, killed and taken by his predecessors. Let these results be com- pared ; and let this comparison answer the question whether, in point of fact, there has been any error, even a mistake of judgment, in his mode of conducting the war. The senator from South Carolina [Mr. Pres- ton] complains of the length of time which General Jesup has consumed without bringing the war to a close. Here, again, the chapter of comparisons must be resorted to in order to obtain the answer which justice requires. How long, I pray you, was General Jesup in com- mand ? from December, 1836, to May, 1838 ; nominally he was near a year and a half in command ; in reality not one year, for the sum- mer months admit of no military operations in that peninsula. His predecessors commanded from December, 1835, to December, 1836; a term wanting but a few months of as long a pe- riod as the command of General Jesup lasted. Sir, there is nothing in the length of time which this general commanded, to furnish matter for disadvantageous comparisons to him ; but the contrary. He reduced the hostiles about one- half in a year and a half; they reduced them about the one-twentieth in a year. The whole number was about 5,000 ; General Jesup di- minished their number, during his command, 2,200 ; the other generals had reduced them about 150. At the rate he proceeded, the work would be finished in about three years ; at the rate they proceeded, in about twenty years. Yet he is to be censured here for the length of time consumed without bringing the war to a close. He, and he alone, is selected for cen- sure. Sir, I dislike these comparisons ; it is a disagreeable task for me to make them ; but I am driven to it, and mean no disparagement to others. The violence with which General Jesup is assailed here — the comparisons to which he has been subjected in order to degrade him — leave me no alternative but to abandon a meri- torious officer to unmerited censure, or to de- fend him in the same manner in which he has been assailed. ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 81 The essential policy of General Jesup has been to induce the Indians to come in — to sur- render — and to emigrate under the treaty. This has been his main, but not his exclusive, policy ; military operations have been combined with it; many skirmishes and actions have been fought since he had command ; and it is remarkable that this general, who has been so much assailed on this floor, is the only com- mander-in-chief in Florida who has been wound- ed in battle at the head of his command. His person marked with the scars of wounds re- ceived in Canada during the late war with Great Britain, has also been struck by a bullet, in the face, in the peninsula of Florida ; yet these wounds — the services in the late war with Great Britain — the removal of upwards of 16,000 Creek Indians from Alabama and Georgia to the "West, during the summer of 1836 — and more than twenty -five years of hon- orable employment in the public service — all these combined, and an unsullied private char- acter into the bargain, have not been able to protect the feelings of this officer from lacera- tion on this floor. Have not been sufficient to protect his feelings ! for, as to his character, that is untouched. The base accusation — the vague denunciation — the offensive epithets em- ployed here, may lacerate feelings, but they do not reach character ; and as to the military in- quiry, which the senator from South Carolina speaks of, I undertake to say that no such in- quiry will ever take place. Congress, or either branch of Congress, can order an inquiry if it pleases ; but before it orders an inquiry, a probable cause has to be shown for it ; and that probable cause never has been, and never will be, shown in General Jesup's case. The senator from South Carolina speaks of the large force which was committed to Gene- ral Jesup, and the little that was effected with that force. Is the senator aware of the extent of the country over which his operations ex- tended ? that it extended from 31 to 25 degrees of north latitude ? that it began in the Okefe- nokee swamp in Georgia, and stretched to the Everglades in Florida ? that it was near five hundred miles in length in a straight line, and the whole sprinkled over with swamps, one of which alone was equal in length to the distance between Washington City and Philadelphia? But it was not extent of country alone, with its Vol. II.— 6 fastnesses, its climate, and its wily foe, that had to be contended with ; a new element of oppo- sition was encountered by General Jesup, in the poisonous information which was conveyed to the Indians' minds, which encouraged them to hold out, and of which he had not even knowledge for a long time. This was the quantity of false information which was con- veyed to the Indians, to stimulate and encour- age their resistance. General Jesup took com- mand just after the presidential election of 1836. The Indians were informed of this change of presidents, and were taught to believe that the white people had broke General Jackson — that was the phrase — had broke General Jackson for making war upon them. They were also informed that General Jesup was carrying on the war without the leave of Congress ; that Congress would give no more money to raise soldiers to fight them ; and that he dared not come home to Congress. Yes, he dared not come home to Congress ! These poor Indians seem to have been informed of intended move- ments against the general in Congress, and to have relied upon them both to stop supplies and to punish the general. Moreover, they were told, that, if they surrendered to emigrate, they would receive the worst treatment on the way j that, if a child cried, it would be thrown overboard ; if a chief gave offence, he would be put in irons. Who the immediate informants of all these fine stories were, cannot be exactly ascertained. They doubtless originated with that mass of fanatics, devoured by a morbid sensibility for negroes and Indians, which are now Don Quixoting over the land, and filling the public ear with so many sympathetic tales of their own fabrication. General Jesup has been censured for writing a letter disparaging to his predecessor in com- mand. If he did so, and I do not deny it, though I have not seen the letter, nobly has he made the amends. Publicly and officially has he made amends for a private and unofficial wrong. In an official report to the war de- partment, piiblished by that department, he said : " As an act of justice to all my predecessors in command, I consider it my duty to say that the difficulties attending military operations in this country, can be properly appreciated only by those acquainted with them. I have advan- 82 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. tages which neither of them possessed, in bet- ter preparations and more abundant supplies ; and I found it impossible to operate with any prospect of success, until I had established a line of depots across the country. If I have at any time said aught in disparagement of the operations of others in Florida, either verbally or in writing, officially or unofficially, know- ing the country as I now know it, I consider myself bound as a man of honor solemnly to retract it." Such are the amends which General Jesup makes — frank and voluntary — full and kindly — worthy of a soldier towards brother soldiers ; and far more honorable to his predecessors in command than the disparaging comparisons which have been instituted here to do them honor at his expense. The expenses of this war is another head of attack pressed into this debate, and directed more against the administration than against the commanding general. It is said to have cost twenty millions of dollars ; but that is an error — an error of near one-half. An actual return of all expenses up to February last, amounts to nine and a half millions ; the rest of the twenty millions go to the suppression of hostilities in other places, and with other In- dians, principally in Georgia and Alabama, and with the Cherokees and Creeks. Sir, this charge of expense seems to be a standing head with the opposition at present. Every speech gives us a dish of it ; and the expenditures un- der General Jackson and Mr. Van Buren are constantly put in contrast with those of pre- vious administrations. Granted that these ex- penditures are larger — that they are greatly in- creased ; yet what are they increased for ? Are they increased for the personal expenses of the officers of the government, or for great na- tional objects ? The increase is for great ob- jects ; such as the extinction of Indian titles in the States east of the Mississippi — the removal of whole nations of Indians to the west of the Mississippi — their subsistence for a year after they arrive there — actual wars with some tribes — the fear of it with others, and the consequent continual calls for militia and volunteers to preserve peace — large expenditures for the per- manent defences of the country, both by land and water, with a pension list for ever increas- ing ; and other heads of expenditure which are for future national benefit, and not for present individual enjoyment. Stripped of all these heads of expenditure, and the expenses of the present administration have nothing to fear from a comparison with other periods. Stated in the gross, as is usually done, and many igno- rant people are deceived and imposed upon, and believe that there has been a great waste of public money ; pursued into the detail, and these expenditures will be found to have been made for great national objects — objects which no man would have undone, to get back the money, even if it was possible to get back the money by undoing the objects. No one, for example, would be willing to bring back the Creeks, the Cherokees, the Choctaws, and Chickasaws into Alabama, Mississippi, Geor- gia, Tennessee and North Carolina, even if the tens of millions which it has cost to remove them could be got back by that means ; and so of the other expenditures: yet these eternal croakers about expense are blaming the gov- ernment for these expenditures. Sir, I have gone over the answers, which I proposed to make to the accusations of the sen- ators from New Jersey and South Carolina. I have shown them to be totally mistaken in all 'their assumptions and imputations. I have shown that there was no fraud upon the In- dians in the treaty at Fort Gibson — that the identical chiefs who made that treaty have since been the hostile chiefs — that the assassi- nation and massacre of an agent, two govern- ment expresses, an artillery officer, five citizens, and one hundred and twelve men of Major Dade's command, caused the war — that our troops are not subject to censure for inefficien- cy — that General Jesup has been wrongfully denounced upon this floor — and that even the expense of the Florida war, resting as it does in figures and in documents, has been vastly over- stated to produce efFect upon the public mind. All these things I have shown j and I conclude with saying that cost, and time, and loss of men, are all out of the question ; that, for out- rages so wanton and so horrible as those which occasioned this war, the national honor requires the most ample amends ; and the national safety requires a future guarantee in prosecuting this war to a successful close, and completely clear- ing the peninsula of Florida of all the Indians that are upon it. ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 83 CHAPTER XX. RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS BY THE NEW YORK BANKS. The suspension commenced on the 10th of May in New York, and was followed throughout the country. In August the New York banks pro- posed to all others to meet in convention, and agree upon a time to commence a general re- sumption. That movement was frustrated by the opposition of the Philadelphia banks, for the reason, as given, that it was better to await the action of the extra session of Congress, then convoked, and to meet in September. The extra session adjourned early in October, and the New York banks, faithful to the prom- ised resumption of specie payments, immediate- ly issued another invitation for the general con- vention of the banks in that city on the 27 th of November ensuing, to carry into effect the object of the meeting which had been invited in the month of August. The 27th of Novem- ber arrived; a large proportion of the delin- quent banks had accepted the invitation to send delegates to the convention : but its meeting was again frustrated — and from the same quar- ter — the Bank of the United States, and the in- stitutions under its influence. They then re- solved to send a committee to Philadelphia to ascertain from the banks when they would be ready, and to invite them to name a day when they would be able to resume ; and if no day was definitely fixed, to inform them that the New York banks would commence specie pay- ments without waiting for their co-operation. The Philadelphia banks would not co-operate. They would not agree to any definite time to take even initiatory steps towards resumption. This was a disappointment to the public mind —that large part of it which still had faith in the Bank of the United States ; and the con- tradiction which it presented to all the previous professions of that institution, required explan- ations, and, if possible, reconciliation with past declarations. The occasion called for the pen of Mr. Biddle, always ready, always confident, always presenting an easy remedy, and a sure one, for all the diseases tc which banks, cur- rency, and finance were heir. It called for another letter to Mr. John Quincy Adams, that is to say, to the public, through the distinction of that gentleman's name. It came — the most elaborate and ingenious of its species ; its bur- den, to prove the entire ability of the bank over which he presided to pay in full, and without reserve, but its intention not to do so, on account of its duty to others not able to fol- low its example, and which might be entirely ruined by a premature effort to do so. And he concluded with condensing his opinion into a sentence of characteristic and sententious brevity : " On the whole, the course which in my judgment the banks ought to pursue, is simply this : The banks should remain exact- ly as they are — prepared to resume, but not yet resuming." But he did not stop there, but in another publication went the length of a direct threat of destruction against the New York banks if they should, in conformity to their promise, venture to resume, saying : " Let the banks of the Empire State come up from their Elba, and enjoy their hundred days of re- sumption ! a Waterloo awaits them, and a Saint Helena is prepared for them." The banks of New York were now thrown upon the necessity of acting without the con- currence of those of Pennsylvania, and in fact under apprehension of opposition and counter- action from that quarter. They were publicly pledged to act without her, and besides were under a legal obligation to do so. The legisla- ture of the State, at the time of the suspension, only legalized it for one year. The indulgence would be out on the 15 th of May, and for- feiture of charter was the penalty to be incurred throughout the State for continuing it beyond that time. The city banks had the control of the movement, and they invited a convention of delegates from all the banks in the Union to meet in New York on the 15th of April. One hundred and forty-three delegates, from the principal banks in a majority of the States, at- tended. Only delegates from fifteen States voted — Pennsylvania, Maryland and South Car- olina among the absent; which, as including the three principal commercial cities on the Atlan- tic board south of New York, was a heavy de- falcation from the weight of the convention. Of the fifteen States, thirteen voted for resuming on the 1st day of January, 1839— a delay of near nine months j two voted against that day 84 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. — New York and Mississippi ; and (as it often happens in concurring votes) for reasons di- rectly opposite to each other. The New York banks so voted because the day was too distant — those of Mississippi because it was too near. The New York delegates wished the 15th of May, to avoid the penalty of the State law : those of Mississippi wished the 1st of January, 1840, to allow them to get in two more cotton crops before the great pay-day came. The re- sult of the voting showed the still great power of the Bank of the United States. The dele- gates of the banks of ten States, including those with which she had most business, either re- fused to attend the convention, or to vote after having attended. The rest chiefly voted the late day, " to favor the views of Philadelphia and Baltimore rather than those of New York." So said the delegates, "frankly avow- ing that their interests and sympathies were with the former two rather than with the lat- ter." The banks of the State of New York were then left to act alone — and did so. Sim- ultaneously with the issue of the convention recommendation to resume on the first day of January, 1839, they issued another, recommend- ing all the banks of the State of New York to resume on the 10th day of May, 1838 ; that is to say, within twenty-five days of that time. Those of the city declared their determination to begin on that day, or earlier, expressing their belief that they had nothing to fear but from the opposition and "deliberate animosity of others" — meaning the Bank of the United States. The New York banks all resumed at the day named. Their example was immedi- ately followed by others, even by the institu- tions in those States whose delegates had voted for the long day; so that within sixty days thereafter the resumption was almost general, leaving the Bank of the United States uncover- ed, naked, and prominent at the head of all the delinquent banks in the Union. But her power was still great. Her stock stood at one hun- dred and twelve dollars to the share, being a premium of twelve dollars on the hundred. In Congress, which was still in session, not a tittle was abated of her pretensions and her assurance — her demands for a recharter — for the repeal of the specie circular — and for the condemnation of the administration, as the author of the mis- fortunes of the country ; of which evils there were none except the bank, suspensions, of which she had been the secret prime contriver, and was now the detected promoter. Briefly before the New York resumption, Mr. Webster, the great advocate of the Bank of the United States, and the truest exponent of her wishes, harangued the Senate in a set speech in her fa- vor, of which some extracts will show the de- sign and spirit : " And now, sir, we see the upshot of the ex- periment. We see around us bankrupt corpo- rations and broken promises ; but we see no promises more really and emphatically broken than all those promises of the administration which gave us assurance of a better currency. These promises, now broken, notoriously and openly broken, if they cannot be performed, ought, at least, to be acknowledged. The gov- ernment ought not, in common fairness and common honesty, to deny its own responsibili- ty, seek to escape from the demands of the peo- ple, and to hide itself, out of the way and be- yond the reach of the process of public opinion, by retreating into this sub-treasury system. Let it, at least, come forth ; let it bear a port of honesty and candor ; let it confess its promises, if it cannot perform them ; and, above all. now, even now, at this late hour, let it renounce schemes and projects, the inventions of pre- sumption, and the resorts of desperation, and let it address itself, in all good faith, to the great work of restoring the currency by approved and constitutional means. " What say these millions of souls to the sub- treasury ? In the first place, what says tfee city of New York, that great commercial emporium, worthy the gentleman's [Mr. Wright] commen- dation in 1834, and worthy of his commendation and my commendation, and all commendation, at all times ? What sentiments, what opinions, what feelings, are proclaimed by the thousands of merchants, traders, manufacturers, and la- borers ? What is the united shout of all the voices of all her classes ? What is it but that you will put down this new-fangled sub-treasu- ry system, alike alien to their interests and their feelings, at once, and for ever ? What is it, but that in mercy to the mercantile interest, the trading interest, the shipping interest, the manufacturing interest, the laboring class, and all classes, you will give up useless and perni- cious political schemes and projects, and return to the plain, straight course of wise and whole- some legislation ? The sentiments of the city cannot be misunderstood. A thousand pens and ten thousand tongues, and a spirited press, make them all known. If we have not already heard enough, we shall hear more. Embar- rassed, vexed, pressed and distressed, as are her citizens at this moment, yet their resolution is not shaken, their spirit is not broken ; and, de- pend upon it, they will not see their commerce, ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 85 their business, their prosperity and their hap- piness, all sacrificed to preposterous schemes and political empiricism, without another, and a yet more vigorous struggle. " Sir, I think there is a revolution in public opinion now going on, whatever may be the opinion of the member from New York, or others. I think the fall elections prove this, and that other more recent events confirm it. I think it is a revolt against the absolute dicta- tion of party, a revolt against coercion on the public judgment ; and, especially, against the adoption of new mischievous expedients on questions of deep public interest ; a revolt against the rash and unbridled spirit of change ; a revolution, in short, against further revolu- tion. I hope, most sincerely, that this revolu- tion may go on ; not, sir, for the sake of men, but for the sake of measures, and for the sake of the country. I wish it to proceed, till the whole country, with an imperative unity of voice, shall call back Congress to the true policy of the government. " I verily believe a majority of the people of the United States are now of the opinion that a national bank, properly constituted, limited, and guarded, is both constitutional and expe- dient, and ought now to be established. So far as I can learn, three-fourths of the western peo- ple are for it. Their representatives here can form a better judgment ; but such is my opinion upon the best information which I can obtain. The South may be more divided, or may be against a national institution ; but, looking again to the centre, the North and the East, and comprehending the whole in one view, I believe the prevalent sentiment is such as I have stated. " At the last session great pains were taken to obtain a vote of this and the other House against a bank, for the obvious purpose of pla- cing such an institution out of the list of reme- dies, and so reconciling the people to the sub- treasury scheme. Well, sir, and did those votes produce any effect 1 None at all. The people did not, and do not, care a rush for them. I never have seen, or heard, a single man, who paid the slightest respect to those votes of ours. The honorable member, to-day, opposed as he is to a bank, has not even alluded to them. So entirely vain is it, sir, in this country, to at- tempt to forestall, commit, or coerce the public judgment. All those resolutions fell perfectly dead on the tables of the two Houses. We may resolve what we please, and resolve it when we please ; but if the people do not like it, at their own good pleasure they will rescind it ; and they are not likely to continue their approbation long to any system of measures, however plausible, which terminates in deep disappointment of all their hopes, for their own prosperity." All the friends of the Bank of the United States came to her assistance in this last trial. The two halls of Congress resounded with her eulogium, and with condemnation of the mea- sures of the administration. It was a last effort to save her, and to force her upon the federal government. Multitudes of speakers on one side brought out numbers on the other — among those on the side of the sub-treasury and hard money, and against the whole paper system, of which he considered a national bank the cita- del, was the writer of this View, who under- took to collect into a speech, from history and experience, the facts and reasons which would bear upon the contest, and act upon the judg- ment of candid men, and show the country to be independent of banks, if it would only will it. Some extracts from that speech make the next chapter. CHAPTER XXI. KESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS: HISTORI- CAL NOTICES: MR. BENTON'S SPEECH: EX- TRACTS. There are two of those periods, each marking the termination of a national bank charter, and each presenting us with the actual results of the operations of those institutions upon the gene- ral currency, and each replete with lessons of instruction applicable to the present day, and to the present state of things. The first of these periods is the year 1811, when the first national bank had run its career of twenty years, and was permitted by Congress to expire upon its own limitation. I take for my guide the estimate of Mr. Lloyd, then a senator in Congress from the State of Massachusetts, whose dignity of character and amenity of man- ners is so pleasingly remembered by those who served with him here, and whose intelligence and accuracy entitle his statements to the high- est degree of credit. That eminent senator es- timated the total currency of the country, at the expiration of the charter of the first na- tional bank, at sixty millions of dollars, to wit : ten millions of specie, and fifty millions in bank notes. Now compare the two quantities, and mark the results. Our population has precisely doubled itself since 1811. The increase of our currency should, therefore, upon the same prin- ciple of increase, be the double of what it then 86 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. was ; yet it is three times as great as it then was ! The next period which challenges our attention is the veto session of 1832, when the second Bank of the United States, according to the opinion of its eulogists, had carried the cur- rency to the ultimate point of perfection. What was the amount then? According to the estimate of a senator from Massachusetts, then and now a member of this body [Mr. Webster], then a member of the Finance Com- mittee, and with every access to the best infor- mation, the whole amount of currency was then estimated at about one hundred millions ; to wit : twenty millions in specie, and seventy-five to eighty millions in bank notes. The increase of our population since that time is estimated at twenty per cent. ; so that the increase of our currency, upon the basis of increased popula- tion, should also be twenty per cent. This would give an increase of twenty millions of dollars, making, in the whole, one hundred and twenty millions. Thus, our currency in actual existence, is nearly one-third more than either the ratio of 1811 or of 1832 would give. Thus, we have actually about fifty millions more, in this season of ruin and destitution, than we should have, if supplied only in the ratio of what we possessed at the two periods of what is celebrated as the best condition of the cur- rency, and most prosperous condition of the country. So much for quantity ; now for the solidity of the currency at these respective pe- riods. How stands the question of solidity ? Sir, it stands thus : in 1811, five paper dollars to one of silver ; in 1822, four to one ; in 1838, one to one, as near as can be ! Thus, the com- parative solidity of the currency is infinitely preferable to what it ever was before ; for the increase, under the sagacious policy of General Jackson, has taken place precisely where it was needed — at the bottom, and not at the top ; at the foundation, and not in the roof; at the base, and not at the apex. Our paper currency has increased but little ; we may say nothing, upon the bases of 1811 and 1832 ; our specie has in- creased immeasurably ; no less than eight-fold, since 1811, and four-f&M since 1832. The whole increase is specie ; and of that we have seventy millions more than in 1811, and sixty millions more than in 1832. Such are the fruits of General Jackson's policy ! a policy which we only have to persevere in for a few years, to have our country as amply supplied with gold and silver as France and Holland are; that France and Holland in which gold is bor- rowed at three per cent, per annum, while w& often borrow paper money at three per cent, a month. But there is no specie. Not a ninepence to be got for a servant ; not a picayune for a beg- gar; not a ten cent piece for the post-office. Such is the assertion ; but how far is it true ? Go to the banks, and present their notes at their counter, and it is all too true. No gold, no silver, no copper to be had there in redemp- tion of their solemn promises to pay. Meta- phorically, if not literally speaking, a demand for specie at the counter of a bank might bring to the unfortunate applicant more kicks than coppers. But change the direction of the de- mand ; go to the brokers ; present the bank note there ; no sooner said than done ; gold and silver spring forth in any quantity; the notes are cashed; you are thanked for your custom, invited to return again ; and thus, the counter of the broker, and not the counter of the bank, becomes the place for the redemption of the notes of the bank. The only part of the transaction that remains to be told, is the per centum which is shaved off! And, whoever will submit to that shaving, can have all the bank notes cashed which he can carry to them. Yes, Mr. President, the brokers, and not the bankers, now redeem the bank notes. There is no dearth of specie for that purpose. They have enough to cash all the notes of the banks, and all the treasury notes of the government into the bargain. Look at their placards I not a village, not a city, not a town in the Union, in which the sign-boards do not salute the eye of the passenger, inviting him to come in and exchange his bank notes, and treasury notes, for gold and silver. And why cannot the banks redeem, as well as the brokers? Why can they not redeem their own notes ? Because a veto has issued from the city of Philadelphia, and because a political revolution is to be effect- ed by injuring the country, and then charging the injury upon the folly and wickedness of the republican administrations. This is the reason, and the sole reason. The Bank of the United States, its affiliated institutions, and its politi- cal confederates, are the sole obstacles to the resumption of specie payments. They alone prevent the resumption. It is they who are now in terror lest the resumption shall begin, ANNO 1888. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 87 and to prevent it, we hear the real shout, and feel the real application of the rallying cry, so pathetically uttered on this floor by the sena- tor from Massachusetts [Mr. Webster]— once more to the breach, dear friends, once more ! Yes, Mr. President, the cause of the non-re- sumption of specie payments is now plain and undeniable. It is as plain as the sun at high noon, in a clear sky. No two opinions can dif- fer about it, how much tongues may differ. The cause of not resuming is known, and the cause of suspension will soon be known like- wise. Gentlemen of the opposition charge the suspension upon the folly, the wickedness, the insanity, the misrule, and misgovernment of the outlandish administration, as they classi- cally call it ; expressions which apply to the people who created the administration which have been so much vilified, and who have sanc- tioned their policy by repeated elections. The opposition charge the suspension to them — to their policy — to their acts — to the veto of 1832 — the removal of the deposits of 1833 — the Treasury order of 1836 — and the demand for specie for the federal Treasury. This is the charge of the politicians, and of all who follow the lead, and obey the impulsion of the dena- tionalized Bank of the United States. But what say others whose voice should be poten- tial, and even omnipotent, on this question? What say the New York city banks, where the suspension began, and whose example was al- leged for the sole cause of suspension by all the rest? What say these banks, whose position is at the fountain-head of knowledge, and whose answer for themselves is an answer for all. What say they ? Listen, and you shall hear ! for I hold in my hand a report of a committee of these banks, made under an official injunc- tion, by their highest officers, and deliberately approved by all the city institutions. It is signed by Messrs. Albert Gallatin, George New- bold, C. C. Lawrence, C. Heyer, J. J. Palmer, Preserved Fish, and G. A. Worth, — seven gen- tlemen of known and established character; and not more than one out of the seven politically friendly to the late and present administrations of the federal government. This is their re- port : " The immediate causes which thus compelled the banks of the city of New York to suspend specie payments on the 10th of May last, are well known. The simultaneous withdrawing of the large public deposits, and of excessive foreign credits, combined with the great and unexpected fall in the price of the principal ar- ticle of our exports, with an import of corn and bread stuffs, such as had never before occurred, and with the consequent inability of the coun- try, particularly in the south-western States, to make the usual and expected remittances, did, at one and the same time, fall principally and necessarily, on the greatest commercial empo- rium of the Union. After a long and most ar- duous struggle, during which the banks, though not altogether unsuccessfully, resisting the im- perative foreign demand for the precious metals, were gradually deprived of a great portion of their specie; some unfortunate incidents of a local nature, operating in concert with other previous exciting causes, produced distrust and panic, and finally one of those general runs, which, if continued, no banks that issue paper money, payable on demand, can ever resist ; and which soon put it out of the power of those of this city to sustain specie payments. The ex- ample was followed by the banks throughout the whole country, with as much rapidity as the news of the suspension in New York reach- ed them, without waiting for an actual run ; and principally, if not exclusively, on the al- leged grounds of the effects to be apprehended from that suspension. Thus, whilst the New York city banks were almost drained of their specie, those in other places preserved the amount which they held before the final catas- trophe." These are the reasons ! and what becomes now of the Philadelphia cry, re-echoed by poli- ticians and subaltern banks, against the ruinous measures of the administration ? Not a mea- sure of the administration mentioned ! not one alluded to ! Not a word about the Treasury order ; not a word about the veto of the Na- tional Bank charter ; not a word about the re- moval of the deposits from the Bank of the United States; not a word about the specie policy of the administration ! Not one word about any act of the government, except that distribution act, disguised as a deposit law, which was a measure of Congress, and not of the administration, and the work of the oppo- nents, and not the friends of the administration, and which encountered its only opposition in the ranks of those friends. I opposed it, with some half dozen others; and among my grounds of opposition, one was, that it would endanger the deposit banks, especially the New York city deposit banks, — that it would reduce them to the alternative of choosing between breaking 88 THIETY YEAES' VIEW. their customers, and being broken themselves. This was the origin of that act — the work of the opposition on this floor ; and now we find that very act to be the cause which is put at the head of all the causes which led to the sus- pension of specie payments. Thus, the admin- istration is absolved. Truth has performed its office. A false accusation is rebuked and silenced. Censure falls where it is due; and the authors of the mischief stand exposed in the double malefaction of having done the mischief, and then charged it upon the heads of the inno- cent. But, gentlemen of the opposition say, there can be no resumption until Congress "acts upon the currency." Until Congress acts upon the currency ! that is the phrase ! and it comes from Philadelphia ; and the translation of it is, that there shall be no resumption until Con- gress submits to Mr. Biddle's bank, and re- charters that institution. This is the language from Philadelphia, and the meaning of the lan- guage ; but, happily, a different voice issues from the city of New York! The authentic notification is issued from the banks of that city, pledging themselves to resume by the 10th day of May. They declare their ability to re- sume, and to continue specie payments ; and declare they have nothing to fear, except from " deliberate hostility " — an hostility for which they allege there can be no motive — but of which they delicately intimate there is danger. Philadelphia is distinctly unveiled as the seat of this danger. The resuming banks fear hos- tility — deliberate acts of hostility — from that quarter. They fear nothing from the hostility, or folly, or wickedness of this administration. They fear nothing from the Sub-Treasury bill. They fear Mr. Biddle's bank, and nothing else but his bank, with its confederates and subal- terns. They mean to resume, and Mr. Biddle means that they shall not. Henceforth two flags will be seen, hoisted from two great cities. The New York flag will have the word resump- tion inscribed upon it; the Philadelphia flag will bear the inscription of non-resumption, and destruction to all resuming banks. I have carefully observed the conduct of the leading banks in the United States. The New York banks, and the principal deposit banks, had a cause for stopping which no others can plead, or did plead. I announced that cause, not once, but many times, on this floor ; not only during the passage of the distribution law, but during the discussion of those famous land bills, which passed this chamber ; and one of which ordered a peremptory distribution of sixty-four millions, by not only taking what was in the Treasury, but by reaching back, and taking all the proceeds of the land sales for years preceding. I then declared in my place, and that repeatedly, that the banks, having lent this money under our instigation, if called upon to reimburse it in this manner, must be reduced to the alternative of breaking their customers, or of being broken themselves. When the New York banks stopped, I made great allowances for them ; but I could not jus- tify others for the rapidity with which they followed their example ; and still less can I jus- tify them for their tardiness in following the example of the same banks in resuming. Now that the New York banks have come forward to redeem their obligations, and have shown that sensibility to their own honor, and that regard for the punctual performance of their promises, which once formed the pride and glory of the merchant's and the banker's char- acter, I feel the deepest anxiety for their suc- cess in the great contest which is to ensue. Their enemy is a cunning and a powerful one, and as wicked and unscrupulous as it is cunning and strong. Twelve years ago, the president of that bank which now forbids other banks to re- sume, declared in an official communication to the Finance Committee of this body, " that there were but few State banks which the Bank of the United States could not DESTROY by an exertion of its POWER." Since that time it has become more powerful ; and, besides its political strength, and its allied institutions, and its exhaustless mine of resurrection notes, it is computed by its friends to wield a power of one hundred and fifty millions of dollars ! all at the beck and nod of one single man ! for his automaton directors are not even thought of! The wielding of this immense power, and its fatal direction to the destruction of the resum- ing banks, presents the prospect of a fearful conflict ahead. Many of the local banks will doubtless perish in it; many individuals will be ruined ; much mischief will be done to the commerce and to the business of different places ; and all the destruction that is accom- ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 89 plished will be charged upon some act of the administration — no matter what — for whatever is given out from the Philadelphia head is incon- tinently repeated by all the obsequious follow- ers, until the signal is given to open upon some new cry. Sir, the honest commercial banks have re- sumed, or mean to resume. They have re- sumed, not upon the fictitious and delusive credit of legislative enactments, but upon the solid basis of gold and silver. The hundred millions of specie which we have accumulated in the country has done the business. To that hundred millions the country is indebted for this early, easy, proud and glorious resumption ! — and here let us do justice to the men of this day — to the policy of General Jackson — and to the success of the experiments — to which we are indebted for these one hundred millions. Let us contrast the events and effects of the stoppages in 1814, and in 1819, with the events and effects of the stoppage in 1837. and let us see the difference between them, and the causes of that difference. The stoppage of 1814 compelled the government to use depreciated bank notes during the remainder of the war, and up to the year 1817. Treasury notes, even bearing a large interest, were depreciated ten, twenty, thirty per cent. Bank notes were at an equal depreciation. The losses to the gov- ernment from depreciated paper in loans alone, during the war, were computed by a committee of the House of Representatives at eighty mil- lions of dollars. Individuals suffered in the same proportion ; and every transaction of life bore the impress of the general calamity. Specie was not to be had. There was, nation- ally speaking, none in the country. The specie standard was gone ; the measure of values was lost ; a fluctuating paper money, ruinously de- preciated, was the medium of all exchanges. To extricate itself from this deplorable condition, the expedient of a National Bank was resorted to — that measure of so much humiliation, and of so much misfortune to the republican party. For the moment it seemed to give relief, and to restore national prosperity; but treacherous and delusive was the seeming boon. The banks resumed — relapsed — and every evil of the pre- vious suspension returned upon the country with increased and aggravated force. Politicians alone have taken up this matter, and have proposed, for the first time since the foundation of the government — for the first time in 48 years — to compel the government to receive paper money for its dues. The pretext is, to aid the banks in resuming ! This, indeed, is a marvellous pretty conception ! Aid the banks to resume ! Why, sir, we cannot pre- vent them from resuming. Every solvent, commercial bank in the United States either has resumed, or has declared its determination to do so in the course of the year. The insol- vent, and the political banks, which did not mean to resume, will have to follow the New York example, or die ! Mr. Biddle's bank must follow the New York lead, or die ! The good banks are with the country : the rest we defy. The political banks may resume or not, as they please, or as they dare. If they do not, they die ! Public opinion, and the laws of the land, will exterminate them. If the president of the miscalled Bank of the United States has made a mistake in recommending indefinite non- resumption, and in proposing to establish a con- federation of broken banks, and has found out his mistake, and wants a pretext for retreating, let him invent one. There is no difficulty in the case. Any thing that the government does, or does not — any thing that has happened, will happen, or can happen — will answer the purpose. Let the president of the Bank of the United States give out a tune : incontinently it will be sung by every bank man in the United States ; and no matter how ridiculous the ditty may be, it will be celebrated as superhuman music. But an enemy lies in wait for them ! one that foretells their destruction, is able to de- stroy them, and which looks for its own suc- cess in their ruin. The report of the commit- tee of the New York banks expressly refers to " acts of deliberate hostility " from a neigh- boring institution as a danger which the resum- ing banks might have to dread. The reference was plain to the miscalled Bank of the United States as the source of this danger. Since that time an insolent and daring threat has issued from Philadelphia, bearing the marks of its bank paternity, openly threatening the resum- ing banks of New York with destruction. This is the threat : " Let the banks of the Empire State come up from their Elba, and enjoy their hundred days of resumption ; a Water- 90 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. loo awaits them, and a St. Helena is prepared for them." Here is a direct menace, and com- ing from a source which is able to make good what it threatens. Without hostile attacks, the resuming banks have a perilous process to go through. The business of resumption is al- ways critical. It is a case of impaired credit, and a slight circumstance may excite a panic which may be fatal to the whole. The public having seen them stop payment, can readily be- lieve in the mortality of their nature, and that another stoppage is as easy as the former. On the slightest alarm — on the stoppage of a few inconsiderable banks, or on the noise of a groundless rumor — a general panic may break out. Sauve qui pent save himself who can — becomes the cry with the public ; and al- most every bank may be run down. So it was in England after the long suspension there from 1797 to 1823 ; so it was in the United States after the suspension from 1814 to 1817 ; in each country a second stoppage ensued in two years after resumption; and these second stoppages are like relapses to an individual after a spell of sickness : the relapse is more easily brought on than the original disease, and is far more dangerous. The banks in England suspended in 1797 — they broke in 1825 ; in the United States it was a suspension during the war, and a break- ing in 1819-20. So it may be again with us. There is imminent danger to the resuming banks, without the pressure of premeditated hostility ; but, with that hostility, their pros- tration is almost certain. The Bank of the United States can crush hundreds on any day that it pleases. It can send out its agents into every State of the Union, with sealed orders to be opened on a given day, like captains sent in- to different seas ; and can break hundreds of local banks within the same hour, and over an extent of thousands of miles. It can do this with perfect ease — the more easily with resur- rection notes — and thus excite a universal panic, crush the resuming banks, and then charge the whole upon the government. This is what it can do; this is what it has threatened; and stupid is the bank, and doomed to destruction, that does not look out for the danger, and forti- fy against it. In addition to all these dangers, the senator from Kentucky, the author of the resolution himself, tells you that these banks must fail again ! he tells you they will fail ! and in the very same moment he presses the com- pulsory reception of all the notes on all these banks upon the federal treasury ! What is this but a proposition to ruin the finances — to bank- rupt the Treasury — to disgrace the adminis- tration — to demonstrate the incapacity of the State banks to serve as the fiscal agents of the government, and to gain a new argument for the creation of a national bank, and the ele- vation of the bank party to power ? This is the clear inference from the proposition; and viewing it in this light, I feel it to be my duty to expose, and to repel it, as a proposition to inflict mischief and disgrace upon the country. But to return to the point, the contrast be- tween the effects and events of former bank stoppages, and the effects and events of the present one. The effects of the former were to sink the price of labor and of property to the lowest point, to fill the States with stop laws, relief laws, property laws, and tender laws ; to ruin nearly all debtors', and to make property change hands at fatal rates ; to compel the fed- eral government to witness the heavy deprecia- tion of its treasury notes, to receive its reve- nues in depreciated paper ; and, finally, to sub- mit to the establishment of a national bank as the means of getting it out of its deplorable condition — that bank, the establishment of which was followed by the seven years of the greatest calamity which ever afHicted the coun- try ; and from which calamity we then had to seek relief from the tariff, and not from more banks. How different the events of the present time ! The banks stopped in May, 1837 ; they resume in May, 1838. Their paper depreciated but little ; property, except in a few, places, was but slightly affected ; the price of produce con- tinued good ; people paid their debts without sacrifices ; treasury notes, in defiance of politi- cal and moneyed combinations to depress them, kept at or near par ; in many places above it ; the government was never brought to receive its revenues in depreciated paper ; and finally all good banks are resuming in the brief space of a year ; and no national bank has been cre- ated. Such is the contrast between the two periods ; and now, sir, what is all this owing to ? what is the cause of this great difference in two similar periods of bank stoppages ? It is owing to our gold bill of 1834, by which we ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 91 corrected the erroneous standard of gold, and which is now giving us an avalanche of that metal ; it is owing to our silver bill of the same year, by which we repealed the disastrous act of 1819, against the circulation of foreign silver, and which is now spreading the Mexican dol- lars all over the country ; it is owing to our movements against small notes under twenty dollars ; to our branch .mints, and the increased activity of the mother mint ; to our determina- tion to revive the currency of the constitution, and to our determination not to fall back upon the local paper currencies of the States for a national currency. It was owinac to these measures that we have passed through this bank stoppage in a style so different from what has been done heretofore. It is owing to our "experiments" on the currency — to our " humbug " of a gold and silver currency — to our " tampering " with the monetary system — it is owing to these that we have had this signal success in this last stoppage, and are now victorious over all the prophets of woe, and over all the architects of mischief. These experi- ments, this humbugging, and this tampering, has increased our specie in six years from twen- ty millions to one hundred millions ; and it is these one hundred millions of gold and silver which have sustained the country and the gov- ernment under the shock of the stoppage — has enabled the honest solvent banks to resume, and will leave the insolvent and political banks without excuse or justification for not resum- ing. Our experiments — I love the word, and am sorry that gentlemen of the opposition have ceased to repeat it — have brought an avalanche of gold and silver into the country ; it is satu- rating us with the precious metals, it has re- lieved and sustained the country; and now when these experiments have been successful — have triumphed over all opposition — gentlemen cease their ridicule, and go to work with their paper-money resolutions to force the govern- ment to use paper, and thereby to drive off the gold and silver which our policy has brought into the country, destroy the specie basis of the banks, give us an exclusive paper currency again, and produce a new expansion and a new explosion. Justice to the men of this day requires these things to be stated. They have avoided the errors of 1811. They have avoided the pit into which they saw their predecessors fall. Those who prevented the renewal of the bank charter in 1811, did nothing else but prevent its re- newal ; they provided no substitute for the notes of the bank ; did nothing to restore the currency of the constitution ; nothing to revive the gold currency ; nothing to increase the spe- cie of the country. They fell back upon the exclusive use of local bank notes, without even doing any thing to strengthen the local banks, by discarding their paper under twenty dollars. They fell back upon the local banks ; and the consequence was, the total prostration, the ut- ter helplessness, the deplorable inability of the government to take care of itself, or to relieve and restore the country, when the banks failed. Those who prevented the recharter of the second Bank of the United States had seen all this ; and they determined to avoid such error and calamity. They set out to revive the na- tional gold currency, to increase the silver cur- rency, and to reform and strengthen the bank- ing system. They set out to do these things ; and they have done them. Against a powerful combined political and moneyed confederation, they have succeeded ; and the one hundred mil- lions of gold and silver now in the country at- tests the greatness of their victory, and insures the prosperity of the country against the ma- chinations of the wicked and the factious. CHAPTER XXII. MR. CLAY'S RESOLUTION IN FAVOR OF RESUM- ING BANKS, AND MR. BENTON'S REMARKS UPON IT. After the New York banks had resolved to recommence specie payments, and before the day arrived for doing so, Mr. Clay submitted a resolution in the Senate to promote resumption by making the notes of the resuming banks re- ceivable in payment of all dues to the federal government. It was clearly a movement in be- half of the delinquent banks, as those of New York, and others, had resolved to return to specie payments without requiring any such condition. Nevertheless he placed the banks of the State of New York in the front rank for the benefits to be received under his proposed 92 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. measure. They had undertaken to recommence payments, he said, not from any ability to do so, but from compulsion under a law of the State. The receivability of their notes in pay- ment of all federal dues would give them a credit and circulation which would prevent their too rapid return for redemption. So of others. It would be a help to all in getting through the critical process of resumption ; and in helping them would benefit the business and prosperity of the country. He thought it wise to give that assistance ; but reiterated his opin- ion that, nothing but the establishment of a national bank would effectually remedy the evils of a disordered currency, and permanently cure the wounds under which the country was now suffering. Mr. Benton replied to Mr. Clay, and said : This resolution of the senator from Kentucky [Mr. Clay], is to aid the banks to resume — to aid, encourage, and enable them to resume. This is its object, as declared by its mover; and it is offered here after the leading banks have resumed, and when no power can even prevent the remaining solvent banks from re- suming. Doubtless, immortal glory will be acquired by this resolution ! It can be heralded to all corners of the country, and celebrated in all manner of speeches and editorials, as the miraculous cause of an event which had already occurred ! Yes, sir — already occurred ! for the solvent banks have resumed, are resuming, and will resume. Every solvent bank in the United States will have resumed in a few months, and no efforts of the insolvents and their political confederates can prevent it. In New York the resumption is general ; in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, and New Jersey, it is partial; and every where the solvent banks are prepar- ing to redeem the pledge which they gave when they stopped — that of resuming whenever New York did. The insolvent and political banks will not resume at all, or, except for a few weeks, to fail again, make a panic and a new run upon the resuming banks — stop them, if possi- ble, then charge it upon the administration, and recommence their lugubrious cry for a National Bank. The resumption will take place. The masses of gold and silver pouring into the country under the beneficent effects of General Jackson's hard-money policy, will enable every solvent bank to resume ; a moral sense, and a fear of consequences, will compel them to do it. The importations of specie are now enormous, and equalling every demand, if it was not sup- pressed. There can be no doubt but that the quantity of specie in the country is equal to the amount, of bank notes in circulation — that they are dollar for dollar — that the country is better off for money at this day than it ever was be- fore, though shamefully deprived of the use of gold and silver by the political and insolvent part of the banks and their confederate poli- ticians. The solvent banks will resume, and Congress cannot prevent them if it tried. They have received the aid which they need in the $100,000,000 of gold and silver which now re- lieves the country, and distresses the politicians who predicted no relief, until a national bank was created. Of the nine hundred banks in the country, there are many which never can re- sume, and which should not attempt it, except to wind up their affairs. Many of these are rotten to the core, and will fall to pieces the instant they are put to the' specie test. Some of them even fail now for rags ; several have so failed in Massachusetts and Ohio, to say nothing of those called wild cats — the progeny of a gen- eral banking law in Michigan. We want a re- sumption to discriminate between banks, and to save the community from impositions. "We wanted specie, and we have got it. Five years ago — at the veto session of 1832 — there were but twenty millions in the country. So said the senator from Massachusetts who has just resumed his seat [Mr. Webster]. We have now, or will have in a few weeks, one hundred millions. This is the salvation of the country. It compels resumption, and has de- feated all the attempts to scourge the country into a submission to a national bank. While that one hundred millions remains, the country can place at defiance the machinations of the Bank of the United States, and its confederate politicians, to perpetuate the suspension, and to continue the reign of rags and shin-plasters. Their first object is to get rid of these hundred millions, and all schemes yet tried have failed to counteract the Jacksonian policy. Ridicule was tried first ; deportation of specie was tried next ; a forced suspension has been continued for a year ; the State governments and the peo- ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 93 pie were vanquished ; still the specie came in, because the federal government created a de- mand for it. This firm demand has frustrated all the schemes to drive off specie, and to deliver up the country to the dominion of the paper- money party. This demand has been the stumbling block of that party ; and this resolu- tion now comes to remove that stumbling block. It is the most revolting proposition ever made in this Congress ! It is a flagrant viola- tion of the constitution, by making paper money a tender both to and from the government. It is fraught with ruin and destruction to the pub- lic property, the public Treasury, and the pub- lic creditors. The notes of nine hundred banks are to be received into the Treasury, and dis- bursed from the Treasury. They are to be paid out as*well as paid in. The ridiculous proviso of willingness to receive them on the part of the public creditor is an insult to him ; for there is no choice — it is that or nothing. The disbursing officer does not offer hard money with one hand, and paper with the other, and tell the creditor to take his choice. No! he offers paper or nothing ! To talk of willing- ness, when there is no choice, is insult, mockery and outrage. Great is the loss of popularity which this administration has sustained from paying out depreciated paper ; great the decep- tion which has been practised upon the gov- ernment in representing this paper as being willingly received. Necessity, and not good will, ruled the creditor; indignation, resent- ment, and execrations on the administration, were the thanks with which he received it. This has disgraced and injured the administra- tion more than all other causes put together ; it has lost it tens of thousands of true friends. It is now getting into a condition to pay hard money; and this resolution comes to prevent such payment, and to continue and to perpetu- ate the ruinous paper-money payments. Defeat the resolution, and the government will quickly pay all demands upon it in gold and silver, and Will recover its popularity ; pass it, and paper money will continue to be paid out, and the ad- ministration will continue to lose ground. The resolution proposes to make the notes of 900 banks the currency of the general govern- ment, and the mover of the resolution tells you, at the same time, that all these banks will fail ! that they cannot continue specie payments if they begin ! that nothing but a national bank can hold them up to specie payments, and that we have no such bank. This is the language of the mover ; it is the language, also, of all his party; more than that — it is the language of Mr. Biddle's letter — that letter which is the true exposition of the principles and policy of the opposition party. Here, then, is a proposi- tion to compel the administration, by law, to give up the public lands for the paper of banks which are to fail — to fill the Treasury with the paper of such banks — and to pay out such paper to the public creditors. This is the prop- osition, and it is nothing but another form of accomplishing what was attempted in this chamber a few weeks ago, namely, a direct re- ceipt of irredeemable paper money ! That prop- osition was too naked and glaring ; it was too rank and startling ; it was rebuked and repulsed. A circuitous operation is now to accomplish what was then too rashly attempted by a direct movement. Receive the notes of 900 banks for the lands and duties ; these 900 banks will all fail again ; — so says the mover, because there is no king bank to regulate them. We have then lost our lands and revenues, and filled our Treasury with irredeemable paper. This is just the point aimed at by the original propo- sition to receive irredeemable paper in the first instance : it ends in the reception of such paper. If the resolution passes, there will be another explosion : for the receivability of these notes for the public dues, and especially for the public lands, will run out another vast expan- sion of the paper system — to be followed, of course, by another general explosion. The only way to save the banks is to hold them down to specie payments. To do otherwise, and espe- cially to do what this resolution proposes, is to make the administration the instrument of its own disgrace and degradation — to make it join in the ruin of the finances and the currency — in the surrender of the national domain for broken bank paper — and in producing a new cry for a national bank, as the only remedy for the evils it has produced. [The measure proposed by Mr. Clay was de- feated, and the experiment of a specie currency for the government was continued.] 94 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. CHAPTER XXIII. RESUMPTION BY THE PENNSYLVANIA UNITED STATES BANK ; AND OTHERS WHICH FOLLOW- ED HER LEAD. The resumption by the New York banks had its effect. Their example was potent, either to suspend or resume. All the banks in the Union had followed their example in stopping specie payments : more than half of them followed them in recommencing payments. Those which did not recommence became obnoxious to pub- lic censure, and to the suspicion of either dis- honesty or insolvency. At the head of this de- linquent class stood the Bank of the United States, justly held accountable by the public voice for the delinquency of all the rest. Her position became untenable. She was compelled to descend from it ; and, making a merit of ne- cessity, she affected to put herself at the head of a general resumption ; and in pursuance of that idea invited, in the month of July, through a meeting of the Philadelphia banks, a general meeting in that city on the 25 th of that month, to consult and fix a time for resumption. A few banks sent delegates; others sent letters, agreeing to whatever might be done. In all there were one hundred and forty delegates, or letters, from banks in nine States ; and these delegates and letters forming themselves into a general convention of banks, passed a resolution for a general resumption on the 13th of August ensuing. And thus ended this struggle to act upon the government through the distresses of the country, and coerce it into a repeal of the specie circular — into a recharter of the United States Bank — the restoration of the deposits — and the adoption of the notes of this bank for a national currency. The game had been over- played. The public saw through it, and derived a lesson from it which put bank and state per- manently apart, and led to the exclusive use of gold and silver by the federal government ; and the exclusive keeping of its own moneys by its own treasurers. All right-minded people re- joiced at the issue of the struggle ; but there were some that well knew that the resumption on the part of the Bank of the United States was hollow and deceptive — that she had no foundations, and would stop again, and for ever. I said this to Mr. Yan Buren at the time, and he gave the opinion I expressed a better accept- ance than he had accorded to the previous one in February, 1837. Parting from him at the end of the session, 1838-39, 1 said to him, this bank would stop before we meet again ; that is to say, before I should return to Congress. It did so, and for ever. At meeting him the ensu- ing November, he was the first to remark upon the truth of these predictions. CHAPTER XXIV. PROPOSED ANNEXATION OF TEXAS: MR. PRES- TON'S MOTION AND SPEECH : EXTRACTS. The republic of Texas had now applied for ad- mission into the federal Union, as one of its States. Its minister at "Washington, Memucan Hunt, Esq., had made the formal application to our executive government. That was one ob- stacle in the way of annexation removed. It was no longer an insult to her to propose to annex her; and she having consented, it referred the question to the decision of the United States. But there was still another objection, and which was insuperable : Texas was still at war with Mexico ; and to annex her was to an- nex the war — a consequence which morality and policy equally rejected. Mr. Preston, of South Carolina, brought in a resolution on the subject — not for annexation, but for a legisla- tive expression in favor of the measure, as a basis for a tripartite treaty between the United States, Mexico and Texas ; so as to effect the annexation by the consent of all parties, to avoid all cause of offence ; and unite our own legislative with the executive authority in ac- complishing the measure. In support of this motion, he delivered a speech which, as showing the state of the question at the time, and pre- senting sound views, and as constituting a link in the history of the Texas annexation, is here introduced — some extracts to exhibit its lead- ing ideas. " The proposition which I now submit in re- gard to this prosperous and self-dependent State would be indecorous and presumptuous, had not ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 95 the lead been given by Texas herself. It ap- pears by the correspondence of the envoy extra- ordinary of that republic with our own govern- ment, that the question of annexation on certain terras and conditions has been submitted to the people of the republic, and decided in the affirm- ative by a very large majority ; whereupon, and in pursuance of instructions from his govern- ment, he proposes to open a negotiation for the accomplishment of that object. The correspond- ence has been communicated upon a call from the House of Representatives, and thus the proposition becomes a fit subject for the delibe- ration of Congress. Nor is it proposed by my resolution, Mr. President, to do any thing which could be justly construed into cause of offence by Mexico. The terms of the resolution guard our relations with that republic ; and the spirit in which it is conceived is entirely averse to any compromise of our national faith and honor, for any object, of whatever magnitude. More especially would I have our intercourse with Mexico characterized by fair dealing and mode- ration, on account of her unfortunate condition, resulting from a long-continued series of intes- tine dissensions, which all who have not been born to liberty must inevitably encounter in seeking for it. As long, therefore, as the pre- tensions of Mexico are attempted to be asserted by actual force, or as long as there is any rea- sonable prospect that she has the power and the will to resubjugate Texas, I do not propose to interfere. My own deliberate conviction, to be sure, is, that that period has already passed ; and I beg leave to say that, in my judgment, there is more danger of an invasion and con- quest of Mexico by Texas, than that this last will ever be reannexed to Mexico. "I disavow, Mr. President, all hostile pur- poses, or even ill temper, towards Mexico ; and I trust that I impugn neither the policy nor principles of the administration. I therefore feel myself at liberty to proceed to the discus- sion of the points made in the resolution, en- tirely disembarrassed of any preliminary ob- stacle, unless, indeed, the mode by which so important an act is to be effected may be con- sidered as interposing a difficulty. If the ob- ject itself be within the competency of this gov- ernment, as I shall hereafter endeavor to show, and both parties consent, every means mutually agreed upon would establish a joint obligation. The acquisition of new territory has heretofore been effected by treaty, and this mode of pro- ceeding in regard to Texas has been proposed by her minister ; but I believe it would com- port more with the importance of the measure, that both branches of the government should concur, the legislature expressing a previous opinion; and, this being done, all difficulties, of all kinds whatsoever, real or imaginary, might be avoided by a treaty tripartite between Mexico, Texas, and the United States, in which the assent and confirmation of Mexico (for a pecuniary consideration, if you choose) might be had, without infringing the acknowledged independence and free agency of Texas. " The treaty, Mr. President, of 1819, was a great oversight on the part of the Southern States. We went into it blindly, I must say. The great importance of Florida, to which the public mind was strongly awakened at that time by peculiar circumstances, led us precip- itately into a measure by which we threw a gem away that would have bought ten Flori- das. Under any circumstances, Florida would have been ours in a short time ; but our impa- tience induced us to purchase it by a territory ten times as large — a hundred times as fertile, and to give five millions of dollars into the bar- gain. Sir, I resign myself to what is done ; I acquiesce in the inexorable past ; I propose no wild and chimerical revolution in the established order of things, for the purpose of remedying what I conceive to have been wrong originally. But this I do propose : that we should seize the fair and just occasion now presented to remedy the mistake which was made in 1819 ; that we should repair as far as we can the evil effect of a breach of the constitution; that we should re-establish the integrity of our dismembered territory, and get back into our Union, by the just and honorable means providentially offered to us, that fair and fertile province which, in an evil hour, we severed from the confederacy. " But the boundary line established by the treaty of 1819 not only deprives us of this ex- tensive and fertile territory, but winds with " a deep indent " upon the valley of the Mississippi itself, running upon the Red River and the Ar- kansas. It places a foreign nation in the rear of our Mississippi settlements, and brings it within a stone's throw of that great outlet which discharges the commerce of half the Union. The mouth of the Sabine and the mouth of the Mississippi are of a dangerous vicinity. The great object of the purchase of Louisiana was to remove all possible interfer- ence of foreign States in the vast commerce of the outlet of so many States. By the cession of Texas, this policy was, to a certain extent, compromised. " The committee, it appears to me, has been led to erroneous conclusions on this subject by a fundamental mistake as to the nature and character of our government ; a mistake which has pervaded and perverted all its reasoning, and has for a long time been the abundant source of much practical mischief in the action of this government, and of very dangerous spec- ulation. The mistake lies in considering this, as to its nature and powers, a consolidated gov- ernment of one people, instead of a confederated government of many States. There is no one single act performed by the people of the United States, under the constitution, as one people. Even in the popular branch of Congress this distinction is maintained. A certain number 96 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. of delegates is assigned to each State, and the people of each State elect for their own State. When the functionaries of the government as- semble here, they have no source of power but the constitution, which prescribes, defines, and limits their action, and constitutes them, in their aggregate capacity, a trust or agency, for the performance of certain duties confided to them by various States or communities. This government is, therefore, a confederacy of sov- ereign States, associating themselves together for mutual advantages. They originally came together as sovereign States, having no authori- ty and pretending to no power of reciprocal control. North Carolina and Rhode Island stood off for a time, refusing to join the con- federacy, and at length came into it by the ex- ercise of a sovereign discretion. So too of Mis- souri, who was a State fully organized and per- fect, and self-governed, before she was a State of this Union ; and, in the very nature of things, this has been the case with all the States here- tofore admitted, and must always continue to be so. Where, then, is the difficulty of admit- ting another State into this confederacy 1 The power to admit new States is expressly given. " New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union." By the very terms of the grant, they must be States before they are ad- mitted ; when admitted, they become States of the Union. The terms, restrictions, and prin- ciples upon which new States are to be received, are matters to be regulated by Congress, under the constitution. " Heretofore, in the acquisition of Louisiana and Florida, France and Spain both stipulated that the inhabitants of the ceded territories should be incorporated in the Union of the United States as soon as may be consistent with the principles of the federal constitution, and admitted to all the privileges, rights, and immunities of the citizens of the United States. In compliance with this stipulation, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri have been admitted into the Union, and at no distant day Florida will be. Now, if we contract with France and Spain for the admission of States, why shall we not with Texas ? If France can sell to us her sub- jects and her territory, why cannot the people of Texas give themselves and their territory to us 7 Is it more consistent with our republican notions that men and territory can be trans- ferred by the arbitrary will of a monarch, for a price, than that a free people may be associated with us by mutual consent ? " It is supposed that there is a sort of politi- cal impossibility, resulting from the nature of things, to effect the proposed union. The com- mittee says that " the measure is in fact the un- ion of two independent governments." Cer- tainly the union of twenty-seven " independent governments;" but the committee adds, that it should rather be termed the dissolution of both, and the formation of a new one, which, whether founded on the same or another writ- ten constitution, is, as to its identity, different from either. This can only be effected by the summum jus, &c. " A full answer to this objection, even if many others were not at hand, as far as Texas is con- cerned, is contained in the fact that the sum- mum jus has been exercised. " Her citizens, by a unanimous vote, have de- cided in favor of annexation ; and, according to the admission of the committee, this is suffi- ciently potent to dissolve their government, and to surrender themselves to be absorbed by ours. To receive this augmentation of our territory and population, manifestly does not dissolve this government, or even remodel it. Its identity is not disturbed. There is no appeal necessary to the summum jus populi for such a political ar- rangement on our part, even if the summum jus populi could be predicated of this govern- ment, which it cannot. Now, it is very ob- vious that two free States may associate for common purposes, and that these common pur- poses may be multiplied in number or increased in importance at the discretion of the parties. They may establish a common agency for the transaction of their business ; and this may in- clude a portion or all of their political func- tions. The new creation may be an agency if created by States, or a government if created by the people ; for the people have a right to abolish and create governments. Does any one doubt whether Texas could rejoin the republic of Mexico 1 Why not, then, rejoin this repub- lic? " No one doubts that the States now compos- ing this Union might have joined Great Britain after the declaration of independence. The learned committee would not contend that there was a political impossibility in the union of Scotland and England, or of Ireland and Brit- ain ; or that, in the nature of things, it would be impossible for Louisiana, if she were a sov- ereign State out of this Union, to join with the sovereign State of Texas in forming a new gov- ernment. " There is no point of view in which the prop- osition for annexation can be considered, that any serious obstacle in point of form presents itself. If this government be a confederation of States, then it is proposed to add another State to the confederacy. If this government be a consolidation, then it is proposed to add to it additional territory and population. That we can annex, and afterwards admit, the cases of Florida and Louisiana prove. We can, there- fore, deal with the people of Texas for the ter- ritory of Texas, and the people can be secured in the rights and privileges of the constitution, as were the subjects of Spain and France. "The Massachusetts legislature experience much difficulty in ascertaining the mode of ac- tion by which the proposed annexation can be effected, and demand " in what form would be ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 97 the practical exercise of the supposed power ? In what department does it lie ? " The pro- gress of events already, in a great measure, an- swers this objection. Texas has taken the ini- tiative. Her minister has introduced the sub- ject to that department which is alone capable of receiving communications from foreign gov- ernments, and the executive has submitted the correspondence to Congress. The resolutions before you propose an expression of opinion by Congress, which, if made, the executive will doubtless address itself earnestly, in conjunc- tion with the authorities of Texas, to the con- summation of the joint wishes of the parties, which can be accomplished by treaty, emanat- ing from one department of this government, to be carried into effect by the passage of all need- ful laws by the legislative department, and by the exercise of the express power of Congress to admit new States." The proposition of Mr. Preston did not pre- vail ; the period for the annexation of Texas had not yet arrived. War still existing between Mexico and Texas — the status of the two coun- tries being that of war, although hostilities hardly existed — a majority of the Senate deem- ed it unadvisable even to take the preliminary steps towards annexation which his resolution proposed. A motion to lay the proposition on the table prevailed, by a vote of 24 to 14. CHAPTER XXV. DEBATE BETWEEN MR. CLAY AND ME. CAL- HOUN, PERSONAL AND POLITICAL, AND LEAD- ING TO EXPOSITIONS AND VINDICATIONS OF PUBLIC CONDUCT WHICH BELONG TO HISTO- RY. For seven years past Mr. Calhoun, while dis- claiming connection with any party, had acted on leading measures with the opposition, head- ed by Messrs. Clay and Webster. Still dis- claiming any such connection, he was found at the extra session co-operating with the admin- istration. His co-operation with the opposition had given it the victory in many eventful con~ tests in that long period ; his co-operation with the Van Buren administration might turn the tide of victory. The loss or gain of a chief who, in a nearly balanced state of parties, could carry victory to the side which he espoused, was an event not to be viewed without vexation Vol. II.— 7 by the party which ho left. Resentment was as natural on one side as gratification was on the other. The democratic party had made no reproaches — (I speak of the debates in Con- gress) — when Mr. Calhoun left them ; they de- bated questions with him as if there had been no cause for personal complaint. Not so with the opposition now when the course of his tran- sit was reversed, and the same event occurred to themselves. They took deeply to heart this withdrawal of one of their leaders, and his ap- pearance on the other side. It created a feel- ing of personal resentment against Mr. Calhoun which had manifested itself in several small side-blows at the extra session ; and it broke out into systematic attack at the regular one. Some sharp passages took place between himself and Mr. Webster, but not of a kind to lead to any thing historical. He (Mr. Webster) was but slightly inclined towards that kind of speaking which mingles personality with argument, and lessens the weight of the adversary argument by reducing the weight of the speaker's char- acter. Mr. Clay had a turn that way ; and, cer- tainly, a great ability for it. Invective, mingled with sarcasm, was one of the phases of his ora- tory. He was supreme at a philippic (taken in the sense of Demosthenes and Cicero), where the political attack on a public man's measure was to be enforced and heightened by a personal attack on his conduct. He owed much of his fascinating power over his hearers to the exer- cise of this talent — always so captivating in a popular assembly, and in the galleries of the Senate ; not so much so in the Senate itself ; and to him it naturally fell to become the organ of the feelings of his party towards Mr. Cal- houn. And very cordially, and carefully, and amply, did he make preparation for it. The storm had been gathering since Septem- ber : it burst in February. It had been evi- dently waiting for an occasion : and found it in the first speech of Mr. Calhoun, of that session, in favor of Mr. Van Buren's recommendation for an independent treasury and a federal hard- money currency. This speech was delivered the 15th of February, and was strictly argumenta- tive and parliamentary, and wholly confined to its subject. Four days thereafter Mr. Clay an- swered it ; and although ready at an extempo- raneous speech, he had the merit, when time per- mitted, of considering well both the matter and 98 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. the words of what he intended to deliver. On this occasion he had had ample time ; for the speech of Mr. Calhoun could not be essentially different from the one he delivered on the same subject at the extra session ; and the personal act which excited his resentment was of the same date. There had been six months for pre- paration ; and fully had preparation been made. The whole speech bore the impress of careful elaboration, and especially the last part ; for it consisted of two distinct parts — the first, argu- mentative, and addressed to the measure before the Senate : and was in fact, as well as in name, a reply. The second part was an attack, under the name of a reply, and was addressed to the personal conduct of Mr. Calhoun, reproaching him with his desertion (as it was called), and taunting him with the company he had got into — taking care to remind him of his own former sad account of that company : and then, launching into a wider field, he threw up to him all the imputed political delinquencies of his life for near twenty years — skipping none from 1816 down to the extra session ; — al- though he himself had been in close political friendship with this alleged delinquent during the greater part of that long time. Mr. Calhoun saw at once the advantage which this general and sweeping assault put into his hands. Had the attack been confined to the mere circum- stance of quitting one side and joining the other, it might have been treated as a mere personali- ty ; and, either left unnoticed, or the account settled at once with some ready words of retort and justification. But in going beyond the act which gave the offence — beyond the cause of re- sentment, which was recent, and arraigning a member on the events of almost a quarter of a century of public fife, he went beyond the lim- its of the occasion, and gave Mr. Calhoun the opportunity of explaining, or justifying, or ex- cusing all that had ever been objected to him ; and that with the sympathy in the audience with which attack for ever invests the rights of defence. He saw his advantage, and availed himself of it. Though prompt at a reply, he chose to make none in a hurry. A pause en- sued Mr. Clay's conclusion, every one deferring to Mr. Calhoun's right of reply. He took the floor, but it was only to say that he would re- ply at his leisure to the senator from Ken- tucky. He did reply, and at his own good time, which was at the end of twenty days ; and in a way to show that he had " smelt the lamp." not of Demades, but of Demosthenes, during that time. It was profoundly meditated and elaborately composed : the matter solid and condensed ; the style chaste, terse and vigorous : the narra- tive clear ; the logic close ; the sarcasm cutting : and every word bearing upon the object in view. It was a masterly oration, and like Mr. Clay's speech, divided into two parts ; but the second part only seemed to occupy his feelings, and bring forth words from the heart as well as from the head. And well it might ! He was speak- ing, not for life, but for character ! and defend- ing public character, in the conduct which makes it, and on high points of policy, which belonged to history — defending it before posterity and the present age, impersonated in the American Sen- ate, before which he stood, and to whom he ap- pealed as judges while invoking as witnesses. He had a high occasion, and he felt it ; a high tribunal to plead before, and he rejoiced in it ; a high accuser, and he defied him ; a high stake to contend for, his own reputation : and manful- ly, earnestly, and powerfully did he defend it. He had a high example both in oratory, and in the analogies of the occasion, before him ; and well had he looked into that example. I hap- pened to know that in this time he refreshed his reading of the Oration on the Crown ; and, as the delivery of his speech showed, not with- out profit. Besides its general cast, which was a good imitation, there were passages of a vigor and terseness — of a power and simplicity — which would recall the recollection of that mas- terpiece of the oratory of the world. There were points of analogy in the cases as well as in the speeches, each case being that of one emi- nent statesman accusing another, and before a national tribunal, and upon the events of a pub- lic life. More happy than the Athenian orator, the American statesman had no foul imputations to repel. Different from iEschines and Demos- thenes, both himself and Mr. Clay stood above the imputation of corrupt action or motive. If they had faults, and what public man is without them ? they were the faults of lofty natures — not of sordid souls; and they looked to the honors of their country — not its plunder — for their fair reward. When Mr. Calhoun finished, Mr. Clay in- ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 99 stantly arose, and rejoined — his rejoinder almost entirely directed to the personal part of the dis- cussion, which from its beginning had been the absorbing part. Much stung by Mr. Calhoun's reply, who used the sword as well as the buck- ler, and with a keen edge upon it, he was more animated and sarcastic in the rejoinder than in the first attack. Mr. Calhoun also rejoined in- stantly. A succession of brief and rapid re- joinders took place between them (chiefly omit- ted in this work), which seemed running to in- finity, when Mr. Calhoun, satisfied with what he had done, pleasantly put an and to it by say- ing, he saw the senator from Kentucky was de- termined to have the last word ; and he would yield it to him. Mr. Clay, in the same spirit, disclaimed that desire ; and said no more. And thus the exciting debate terminated with more courtesy than that with which it had been con- ducted. In all contests of this kind there is a feeling of violated decorum which makes each party solicitous to appear on the defensive, and for that purpose to throw the blame of commencing on the opposite side. Even the one that pal- pably throws the first stone is yet anxious to show that it was a defensive throw ; or at least provoked by previous wrong. Mr. Clay had this feeling upon him, and knew that the onus of making out a defensive case fell upon him ; and he lost no time in endeavoring to establish it. He placed his defence in the forepart of the attack. At the very outset of the personal part of his speech he attended to this essential pre- liminary, and found the justification, as he be- lieved, in some expressions of Mr. Calhoun in his sub-treasury speech; and in a couple of passages in a letter he had written on a public occasion, after his return from the extra session — commonly called the Edgefield letter. In the speech he believed he found a reproach upon the patriotism of himself and friends in not fol- lowing his (Mr. Calhoun's) " lead " in support of the administration financial and currency measures ; and in the letter, an impeachment of the integrity and patriotism of himself and friends if they got into power; and also an avowal that his change of sides was for selfish considerations. The first reproach, that of lack of patriotism in not following Mr. Calhoun's lead, he found it hard to locate in any definite part of the speech; and had to rest it upon gene- ral expressions. The others, those founded upon passages in the letter, were definitely quoted; and were in these terms: "/ could not back and, sustain those in such opposition in whose wisdom, firmness and patriotism I had no reason to confide.''' 1 — " It was clear, with our joint forces (whigs and nullifiers), we could utterly overthrow and demolish them; but it was not less clear that the vic- tory would enure, not to us, but exclusively to the benefit of our allies, and their cause." These passages were much commented upon, especially in the rejoinders ; and the whole let- ter produced by Mr. Calhoun, and the meaning claimed for them fully stated by him. In the speeches for and against the crown we see Demosthenes answering what has not been found in the speech of Eschines: the same anomaly took place in this earnest debate, as reported between Mr. Clay and Mr. Calhoun. The latter answers much which is not found in the published speech to which he is replying. It gave rise to some remark between the speakers during the rejoinders. Mr. Calhoun said he was replying to the speech as spoken. Mr. Clay said it was printed under his super- vision — as much as to say he sanctioned the omissions. The fact is, that with a commend- able feeling, he had softened some parts, and omitted others ; for that which is severe enough in speaking, becomes more so in writing ; and its omission or softening is a tacit retraction, and honorable to the cool reflection which con- demns what passion, or heat, had prompted. But Mr. Calhoun did not accept the favor: and, neither party desiring quarter, the one answer- ed what had been dropt, and the other re-pro- duced it, with interest. In his rejoinders, Mr. Clay supplied all that had been omitted — and made additions to it. This contest between two eminent men, on a theatre so elevated, in which the stake to each was so great, and in which each did his best, conscious that the eye of the age and of posterity was upon him, was an event in itself, and in their lives. It abounded with exemplifications of all the different sorts of oratory of which each was master: on one side — declamation, impassioned eloquence, vehement invective, taunting sarcasm : on the other — close reason- ing, chaste narrative, clear statement, keen re- tort. Two accessories of such contests (disrup- 100 THIRTY TEARS' YIEW. tions of friendships), were missing, and well — the pathetic and the virulent. There was no crying, or blackguarding in it — nothing like the weeping scene between Fox and Burke, when the heart overflowed with tenderness at the re- collection of former love, now gone forever ; nor like the virulent one when the gall, overflowing with bitterness, warned an ancient friend never to return as a spy to the camp which he had left as a deserter. There were in the speeches of each some re- markable passages, such only as actors in the scenes could furnish, and which history will claim. Thus : Mr. Clay gave some inside views of the concoction of the famous compromise act of 1833 ; which, so far as they go, correspond with the secret history of the same concoction as given in one of the chapters on that subject in the first volume of this work. Mr. Clay's speech is also remarkable for the declaration that the protective system, which he so long advocated, was never intended to be permanent : that its only design was to give temporary en- couragement to infant manufactures : and that it had fulfilled its mission. Mr. Calhoun's speech was also remarkable for admitting the power, and the expediency of incidental protection, as it was called; and on this ground he justified his support of the tariff of 1816 — so much ob- jected against him. He also gave his history of the compromise of 1833, attributing it to the effi- cacy of nullification and of the military attitude of South Carolina : which brought upon him the relentless sarcasm of Mr. Clay; and occasioned his explanation of his support of a national bank in 1816. He was chairman of the com- mittee which reported the charter for that bank, and gave it the support which carried it through; with which he was reproached after he became opposed to the bank. He explained the cir- cumstances under which he gave that support — such as I had often heard him state in con- versation ; and which always appeared to me to be sufficient to exempt him from reproach. At the same time (and what is but little known), he had the merit of opposing, and probably of defeating, a far more dangerous bank — one of fifty millions (equivalent to one hundred and twenty millions now), and founded almost wholly upon United States stocks — imposingly recommended to Congress by the then secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Alexander J. Dallas. The analytical mind of Mr. Calhoun, then one of the youngest members, immediately solved this monster proposition into its constituent ele- ments; and his power of generalization and condensation, enabled him to express its char- acter in two words — lending our credit to the bank for nothing, and borrowing it back at six per cent, interest. As an alternative, and not as a choice, he supported the national bank that was chartered, after twice defeating the monster bank of fifty millions founded on paper ; for that monster was twice presented to Con- gress, and twice repulsed. The last time it came as a currency measure — as a bank to create a national currency ; and as such was re- ferred to a select committee on national cur- rency, of which Mr. Calhoun was chairman. He opposed it, and fell into the support of the bank which was chartered. Strange that in this search for a national bank, the currency of the constitution seemed to enter no one's head. The revival of the gold currency was never sug- gested; and in that oblivion of gold, and still hunting a substitute in paper, the men who put down the first national bank did their work much less effectually that those who put down the second one. The speech of each of these senators, so far as they constitute the personal part of the debate, will be given in a chapter of its own : the re- joinders being brief, prompt, and responsive each to the other, will be put together in another chapter. The speeches of each, having been carefully prepared and elaborated, may be considered as fair specimens of their speaking powers — the style of each different, but each a first class speaker in the branch of oratory to which he belonged. They may be read with profit by those who would wish to form an idea of the style and power of these eminent orators. Manner, and all that is comprehended under the head of delivery, is a different attribute ; and there Mr. Clay had an advantage, which is lost in transferring the speech to paper. Some of Mr. Calhoun's characteristics of manner may be seen in these speeches. He eschewed the stud- ied exordiums and perorations, once so much in vogue, and which the rhetorician's rules teach how to make. A few simple words to an- nounce the beginning, and the same to show the ending of his speech, was about as much as he did in that way ; and in that departure from ANNO 1888. MARTIN VAN BUEEN, PRESIDENT. 101 custom he conformed to what was becoming in a business speech, as his generally were ; and also to what was suitable to his own intellectual style of speaking. He also eschewed the trite, familiar, and unparliamentary mode (which of late has got into vogue) of referring to a sena- tor as, " my friend," or, " the distinguished," or, " the eloquent," or, " the honorable," &c. He followed the written rule of parliamentary law ; which is also the clear rule of propriety, and referred to the member by his sitting-place in the Senate, and the State from which he came. Thus : " the senator from Kentucky who sits farthest from me ; " which was a sufficient desig- nation to those present, while for the absent, and for posterity the name (Mr. Clay) would be put in brackets. He also addressed the body by the simple collective phrase, " senators ; " and this was, not accident, or fancy, but system, resulting from convictions of propriety ; and he would allow no reporter to alter it. Mr. Calhoun laid great stress upon his speech in this debate, as being the vindica- tion of his public life; and declared, in one of his replies to Mr. Clay, that he rested his public character upon it, and desired it to be read by those who would do him justice. In justice to him, and as being a vindication of several meas- ures of his mentioned in this work, not approv- ingly, a place is here given to it. This discussion between two eminent men, growing out of support and opposition to the leading measures of Mr. Van Buren's adminis- tration, indissolubly connects itself with the passage of those measures ; and gives additional emphasis and distinction to the era of the crowning policy which separated bank and state— made the government the keeper of its own money — repulsed paper money from the federal treasury — filled the treasury to bursting with solid gold ; and did more for the prosperi- ty of the country than any set of measures from the foundation of the government. CHAPTER XXVI. DEBATE BETWEEN MR. CLAY AND MR. CAL. HOUN : MR. CLAY'S SPEECH : EXTRACTS. " Who, Mr. President, are the most conspicu- ous of those who perseveringly pressed this bill upon Congress and the American people ? Its drawer is the distinguished gentleman in the white house not far off (Mr. Van Buren) ; its indorser is the distinguished senator from South Carolina, here present. What the draw- er thinks of the indorser, his cautious reserve and stifled enmity prevent us from knowing. But the frankness of the indorser has not left us in the same ignorance with respect to his opinion of the drawer. He has often expressed it upon the floor of the Senate. On an occasion not very distant, denying him any of the noble qualities of the royal beast of the forest, he at- tributed to him those which belong to the most crafty, most skulking, and the meanest of the quadruped tribe. Mr. President, it is due to myself to say, that I do not altogether share with the senator from South Carolina in this opinion of the President of the United States. I have always found him, in his manners and deportment, civil, courteous, and gentlemanly ; and he dispenses, in the noble mansion which he now occupies, one worthy the. residence of the chief magistrate of a great people, a gener- ous and liberal hospitality. An acquaintance with him of more than twenty years' duration has inspired me with a respect for the man, although, I regret to be compelled to say, I de- test the magistrate. " The eloquent senator from South Carolina has intimated that the course of my friends and myself, in opposing this bill, was unpatriotic, and that we ought to have followed in his lead ; and, in a late letter of his, he has spoken of his alliance with us, and of his motives for quitting it. I cannot admit the justice of his reproach. We united, if, indeed, there were any alliance in the case, to restrain the enormous expansion of executive power ; to arrest the progress of cor- ruption; to rebuke usurpation; and to drive the Goths and Vandals from the capital ; to ex- pel Brennus and his horde from Rome, who, when he threw his sword into the scale, to aug- ment the ransom demanded from the mistress of the world, showed his preference for gold ; that he was a hard-money chieftain. It was by the much more valuable metal of iron that he was driven from her gates. And how often have we witnessed the senator from South Carolina, with woful countenance, and in dole- ful strains, pouring forth touching and mourn- ful eloquence on the degeneracy of the times, and the downward tendency of the republic 7 Day after day, in the Senate, have we seen the 102 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. displays of his lofty and impassioned eloquence. Although I shared largely with the senator in his apprehension for the purity of our institu- tions, and the permanency of our civil liberty, disposed always to look at the brighter side of human affairs, I was sometimes inclined to hope that the vivid imagination of the senator had depicted the dangers by which we were encom- passed in somewhat stronger colors than they justified. " The arduous contest in which we were so long engaged was about to terminate in a glori- ous victory. The very object for which the alliance was formed was about to be accom- plished. At this critical moment the senator left us ; he left us for the very purpose of pre- venting the success of the common cause. He took up his musket, knapsack, and shot-pouch, and joined the other party. He went, horse, foot, and dragoon ; and he himself composed the whole corps. He went, as his present most distinguished ally commenced with his expung- ing resolution, solitary and alone. The earliest instance recorded in history, within my recol- lection, of an ally drawing off his forces from the combined army, was that of Achilles at the siege of Troy. He withdrew, with all his troops, and remained in the neighborhood, in sullen and dignified inactivity. But he did not join the Trojan forces ; and when, during the progress of the siege, his faithful friend fell in battle, he raised his avenging arm, drove the Trojans back into the gates of Troy, and sati- ated his vengeance by slaying Priam's noblest and dearest son, the finest hero in the immortal Iliad. But Achilles had been wronged, or imagined himself wronged, in the person of the fair and beautiful Briseis. We did no wrong to the distinguished senator from South Caro- lina. On the contrary, we respected him, con- fided in his great and acknowledged ability, his uncommon genius, his extensive experience, his supposed patriotism ; above all, we confided in his stern and inflexible fidelity. Nevertheless, he left us, and joined our common opponents, distrusting and distrusted. He left us, as he tells us in the Edgefield letter, because the vic- tory which our common arms were about to achieve, was not to enure to him and his party, but exclusively to the benefit of his allies and their cause. I thought that, actuated by patri- otism (that noblest of human virtues), we had been contending together for our common coun- try, for her violated rights, her threatened liber- ties, her prostrate constitution. Never did I suppose that personal or party considerations entered into our views. Whether, if victory shall ever again be about to perch upon the standard of the spoils party (the denomination which the senator from South Carolina has so often given to his present allies), he will not feel himself constrained, by the principles on which he has acted, to leave them, because it may not enure to the benefit of himself and his party, I leave to be adjusted between them- selves. " The speech of the senator from South Caro- lina was plausible, ingenious, abstract, meta- physical, and generalizing. It did not appear to me to be adapted to the bosoms and business of human life. It was aerial, and not very high up in the air, Mr. President, either — not quite as high as Mr. Clayton was in his last ascension in his balloon. The senator announced that there was a single alternative, and no escape from one or the other branch of it. He stated that we must take the bill under consideration, or the substitute proposed by the senator from Virginia. I do not concur in that statement of the case. There is another course embraced in neither branch of the senator's alternative ; and that course is to do nothing, — always the wisest when you are not certain what you ought to do. Let us suppose that neither branch of the alternative is accepted, and that nothing is done. What, then, would be the consequence ? There would be a restoration of the law of 1789, with all its cautious provisions and securities, provided by the wisdom of our ancestors, which has been so trampled upon by the late and present administrations. By that law, estab- lishing the Treasury department, the treasure of the United States is to be received, kept, and disbursed by the treasurer, under a bond with ample security, under a large penalty fixed by law, and not left, as this bill leaves it, to the uncertain discretion of a Secretary of the Treas- ury. If, therefore, we were to do nothing, that law would be revived; the treasurer would have the custody, as he ought to have, of the public money, and doubtless he would make special deposits of it in all instances with safe and sound State banks; as in some cases the Secretary of the Treasury is now obliged to do. Thus, we should have in operation that very special deposit system, so much desired by some gentlemen, by which the public money would remain separate and unmixed with the money of banks. " There is yet another course, unembraced by either branch of the alternative presented by the senator from South Carolina ; and that is, to establish a bank of the United States, consti- tuted according to the old and approved method of forming such an institution, tested and sanc- tioned by experience; a bank of the United States which should Mend public and private interests, and be subject to public and private control ; united together in such manner as to present safe and salutary checks against all abuses. The senator mistakes his own aban- donment of that institution as ours. I know that the party in power has barricaded itself against the establishment of such a bank. It adopted, at the last extra session, the extraor- dinary and unprecedented resolution, that the people of the United States should not have such a bank, although it might be manifest that ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 103 there was a clear majority of them demanding it. But the day may come, and I trust is not distant, when the will of the people must pre- vail in the councils of her own government; and when it does arrive, a bank will be estab- lished. " The senator from South Carolina reminds us that we denounced the pet bank system ; and so we did, and so we do. But does it therefore follow that, bad as that system was, we must be driven into the acceptance of a sys- tem infinitely worse ? He tells us that the bill under consideration takes the public funds out of the hands of the Executive, and places them in the hands of the law. It does no such thing. They are now without law, it is true, in the custody of the Executive ; and the bill pro- poses by law to confirm them in that custody, and to convey new and enormous powers of control to the Executive over them. Every custodary of the public funds provided by the bill is a creature of the Executive, dependent upon his breath, and subject to the same breath for removal, whenever the Executive — from caprice, from tyranny, or from party motives — shall choose to order it. What safety is there for the public money, if there were a hundred subordinate executive officers charged with its care, whilst the doctrine of the absolute unity of the whole executive power, promulgated by the last administration, and persisted in by this, remains unrevoked and unrebuked ? " Whilst the senator from South Carolina professes to be the friend of State banks, he has attacked the whole banking system of the United States. He is their friend ; he only thinks they are all unconstitutional ! Why ? Because the coining power is possessed by the general government ; and that coining power, he argues, was intended to supply a currency of the precious metals j but the State banks absorb the precious metals, and withdraw them from circulation, and, therefore, are in conflict with the coining power. That power, accord- ing to my view of it, is nothing but a naked authority to stamp certain pieces of the precious metals, in fixed proportions of alloy and pure metal prescribed by law; so that their exact value be known. When that office is performed, the power is functus officio ; the money passes out of the mint, and becomes the lawful prop- erty of those who legally acquire it. They may do with it as they please, — throw it into the ocean, bury it in the earth, or melt it in a crucible, without violating any law. When it has once left the vaults of the mint, the law maker has nothing to do with it, but to protect it against those who attempt to debase or coun- terfeit, and, subsequently, to pass it as lawful money. In the sense in which the senator supposes banks to conflict with the coining power, foreign commerce, and especially our commerce with China, conflicts with it much more extensively. " The distinguished senator is no enemy to the banks ; he merely thinks them injurious to the morals and industry of the country. He likes them very well, but he nevertheless believes that they levy a tax of twenty-five millions an- nually on the industry of the country ! The senator from South Carolina would do the banks no harm ; but they are deemed by him highly injurious to the planting interest ! According to him, they inflate prices, and the poor planter sells his productions for hard mone}^, and has to purchase his supplies at the swollen prices produced by a paper medium. The senator tells us that it has been only within a few days that he has discovered that it is illegal to receive bank notes in payment of public dues. Does he think that the usage of the government under all its administrations, and with every party in power, which has prevailed for nigh fifty years, ought to be set aside by a novel theory of his, just dreamed into existence, even if it possess the merit of ingenuity ? The bill under considera- tion, which has been eulogized by the senator as perfect in its structure and details, contains a provision that bank notes shall be received in diminished proportions, during a term of six years. He himself introduced the identical principle. It is the only part of the bill that is emphatically his. How, then, can he contend that it is unconstitutional to receive bank notes in payment of public dues ? I appeal from him- self to himself." " The doctrine of the senator in 1816 was, as he now states it, that bank notes being in fact received by the executive, although contrary to law, it was constitutional to create a Bank of the United States. And in 1834, finding that bank which was constitutional in its inception, but had become unconstitutional in its progress, yet in existence, it was quite constitutional to pro- pose, as the senator did, to continue it twelve years longer." " The senator and I began our public career nearly together ; we remained together through- out the war. We agreed as to a Bank of the United States — as to a protective tariff — as to internal improvements ; and lately as to those arbitrary and violent measures which character- ized the administration of General Jackson. No two men ever agreed better together in re- spect to important measures of public policy. We concur in nothing now." CHAPTEE XXVII. DEBATE BETWEEN MR. CLAY AND MR. CAL- HOUN: MR. CALHOUNS SPEECH; EXTRACTS. "I rise to fulfil a promise I made some time since, to notice at my leisure the reply of the senator from Kentucky farthest from me [Mr. 04 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Clay], to my remarks, when I first addressed the Senate on the subject now under discus- sion. " On comparing with care the reply with the remarks, I am at a loss to determine whether it is the most remarkable for its omissions or mis- statements. Instead of leaving not a hair in the head of my arguments, as the senator threaten- ed (to use his not very dignified expression), he has not even attempted to answer a large, and not the least weighty, portion; and of that which he has, there is not one fairly stated, or fairly answered. I speak literally, and without exaggeration ; nor would it be difficult to estab- lish to the letter what I assert, if I could recon- cile it to myself to consume the time of the Senate in establishing a long series of negative propositions, in which they could take but little interest, however important they may be re- garded by the senator and myself. To avoid so idle a consumption of the time, I propose to present a few instances of his misstatements, from which the rest may be inferred ; and, that I may not be suspected of having selected them, I shall take them in the order in which they stand in his reply. [The argumentative part omitted.] " But the senator did not restrict himself to a reply to my arguments. He introduced per- sonal remarks, which neither self-respect, nor a regard to the cause I support, will permit mc to pass without notice, as adverse as I am to all personal controversies. Not only my education and disposition, but, above all, my conception of the duties belonging to the station I occupy, in- disposes me to such controversies. We are sent here, not to wrangle, or indulge in personal abuse, but to deliberate and decide on the com- mon interests of the States of this Union, as far as they have been subjected by the constitution to our jurisdiction. Thus thinking and feeling, and having perfect confidence in the cause I sup- port, I addressed myself, when I was last up, directly and exclusively to the understanding, carefully avoiding every remark which had the least personal or party bearing. In proof of this, I appeal to you, senators, my wit- nesses and judges on this occasion. But it seems that no caution on my part could prevent what I was so anxious to avoid. The senator, having no pretext to give a personal direction to the discussion, made a premeditated and gratuitous attack on me. I say having no pre- text ; for there is not a shadow of foundation for the assertion that I called on him and his party to follow my lead, at which he seemed to take offence, as I have already shown. I made no such call, or any thing that could be construed into it. It would have been impertinent, in the relation between myself and his party, at any stage of this question ; and absurd at that late period, when every senator had made up his mind. As there was, then, neither provocation nor pretext, what could be the motive of the senator in making the attack ? It could not be to indulge in the pleasure of personal abuse — the lowest and basest of all our passions : and which is so far beneath the dignity of the senator's character and station. Nor could it be with the view to intimidation. The senator knows me too long, and too well, to make such an attempt. I am sent here by constituents as respectable as those he represents, in order to watch over their peculiar interests, and take care of the general concern ; and if I were capable of being deterred by any one, or any consequence, in discharging my duty, from denouncing what I regarded as dangerous or corrupt, or giving a decided and zealous support to what I thought right and expedient, I would, in shame and con- fusion, return my commission to the patriotic and gallant State I represent, to be placed in more resolute and trustworthy hands. " If, then, neither the one nor the other of these be the motive, what, I repeat, can it be ? In casting my eyes over the whole surface I can see but one, which is, that the senator, despairing of the sufficiency of his reply to overthrow my arguments, had resorted to personalities, in the hope, with their aid, to effect what he could not accomplish by main strength. He well knows that the force of an argument on moral or politi- cal subjects depends greatly on the character of him who advanced it ; and that to cast suspicion on his sincerity or motive, or to shake confi- dence in his understanding, is often the most ef- fectual mode to destroy its force. Thus viewed, his personalities may be fairly regarded as con- stituting a part of his reply to my argument; and we, accordingly, find the senator throwing them in front, like a skilful general, in order to weaken my arguments before he brought on his main attack. In repelling, then, his personal attacks, I also defend the cause which I advo- cate. It is against that his blows are aimed, and he strikes at it through me, because he be- lieves his blows will be the more effectual. u Having given this direction to his reply, he has imposed on me a double duty to repel his attacks : duty to myself, and to the cause I sup- port. I shall not decline its performance ; and when it is discharged, I trust 1 shall have placed my character as far beyond the darts which he has hurled at it, as my arguments have proved to be above his abilities to reply to them. In doing this, I shall be compelled to speak of myself. No one can be more sensible than I am how odious it is to speak of one's self. I shall endeavor to confine myself within the limits of the strictest propriety ; but if any thing should escape me that may wound the most delicate ear, the odium ought in justice to fall not on me, but the senator, who, by his un- provoked and wanton attack, has imposed on me the painful necessity of speaking of myself. " The leading charge of the senator— that on which all the others depend, and which, being overthrown, they fall to the ground— is that I ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 105 have gone over ; have left his side, and joined the other. By this vague and indefinite ex- pression, I presume he meant to imply that I had either changed my opinion, or abandoned my principle, or deserted my party. If he did not mean one, or all ; if I have changed neither opinions, principles, nor party, then the charge meant nothing deserving notice. But if he in- tended to imply, what I have presumed he did, I take issue on the fact — I meet and repel the charge. It happened, fortunately for me, fortu- nately for the cause of truth and justice, that it was not the first time that I had offered my sentiments on the question now under consid- eration. There is scarcely a single point in the present issue on which I did not explicitly ex- press my opinion, four years ago, in my place here, when the removal of the deposits and the questions connected with it were under dis- cussion — so explicitly as to repel effectually the charge of any change on my part ; and to make it impossible for me to pursue any other course than I have without involving myself in gross inconsistency. I intend not to leave so impor- tant a point to rest on my bare assertion. What I assert stands on record, which I now hold in my possession, and intend, at the prop- er time, to introduce and read. But, before I do that, it will be proper I should state the questions now at issue, and my course in rela- tion to them ; so that, having a clear and dis- tinct perception of them, you may, senators, readily and satisfactorily compare and deter- mine whether my course on the present occa- sion coincides with the opinions I then ex- pressed. u There are three questions, as is agreed by ail, involved in the present issue : Shall we sep- arate the government from the banks, or shall we revive the league of State banks, or create a national bank ? My opinion and course in reference to each are well known. I prefer the separation to either of the others ; and, as be- tween the other two, I regard a national bank as a more efficient, and a less corrupting fiscal agent than a league of State banks. It is also well known that I have expressed myself on the present occasion hostile to the banking sys- tem, as it exists j and against the constitutional power of making a bank, unless on the assump- tion that we have the right to receive and treat bank-notes as cash in our fiscal operations, which I, for the first time, have denied on the present occasion. Now, I entertained and ex- pressed all these opinions, on a different occa- sion, four years ago, except the right of receiv- ing bank-notes, in regard to which I then re- served my opinion ; and if all this should be fully and clearly established by the record, from speeches delivered and published at the time, the charge of the senator must, in the opinion of all, however prejudiced, sink to the ground. I am now prepared to introduce, and have the, record read. I delivered two speeches in the session of 1833-'34, one on the removal of the deposits, and the other on the question of the renewal of the charter of the late bank. 1 ask the secretary to turn to the volume lying be- fore him, and read the three paragraphs marked in my speech on the deposits. I will thank him to raise his voice, and read slowly, so that he may be distinctly heard ; and I must ask you, senators, to give your attentive hearing ; for on the coincidence between my opinions then and my course now, my vindication against this un- provoked and groundless charge rests. u [The secretary of the Senate read as request- ed.] li Such were my sentiments, delivered four years since, on the question of the removal of the deposits, and now standing on record ; and I now call your attention senators, while they are fresh in your minds, and before other ex- tracts are read, to the opinions I then enter- tained and expressed, in order that you may compare them with those that I have express- ed, and the course I have pursued on the pres- ent occasion. In the first piice, I then ex- pressed myself explicitly and decidedly against the banking system, and intimated, in language too strong to be mistaken, that, if the question was then bank or no bank, as it now is, as far as government is concerned, I would not be found on the side of the bank. Now. I ask, I appeal to the candor of all, even the most prej- udiced, is there any thing in all this contradic- tory to my present opinions or course ? On the contrary, having entertained and expressed these opinions, could I, at this time, when the issue 1 then supposed is actually presented, have gone against the separation without gross inconsistency ? Again, I then declared myself to be utterly opposed to a combination or league of State banks, as being the most efficient and corrupting fiscal agent the government could select, and more objectionable than a bank of the United States. I again appeal, is there a sentiment or a word in all this contradictory to what I have said, or done, on the present occa- sion ? So far otherwise, is there not a perfect harmony and coincidence throughout, which, considering the distance of time and the differ- ence of the occasion, is truly remarkable ; and this extending to all the great and governing questions now at issue ? " To prove all this I again refer to the record. If it shall appear from it that my object was to disconnect the government gradually and cau- tiously from the banking system, and with that view, and that only, I proposed to use the Bank of the United States for a short time, and that I explicitly expressed the same opinions then as I now have on almost every point connected with the system ; I shall not only have vindi- cated my character from the charge of the sen- ator from Kentucky, but shall do more, much more to show that I did all an individual, standing alone, as I did, could do to avert the 106 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. present calamities : and, of course, I am free from all responsibility for what has since hap- pened. I have shortened the extracts, as far as was possible to do justice to myself, and have left out much that ought, of right, to be read in my defence, rather than to weary the Senate. I know how difficult it is to command attention to reading of documents ; but I trust that this, where justice to a member of the body, whose character has been assailed, without the least provocation, will form an exception. The ex- tracts are numbered, and I will thank the sec- retary to pause at the end of each, unless other- wise desired. " [The secretary read as requested.] " But the removal of the deposits was not the only question discussed at that remarkable and important session. The charter of the United States Bank was then about to expire. The senator from Massachusetts nearest to me [Mr. Webster], then at the head of the committee on finance, suggested, in his place, that he intended to introduce a bill to renew the charter. I clearly perceived that the movement, if made, would fail; and that there was no prospect of doing any thing to arrest the dan- ger approaching, unless the subject was taken up on the broad question of the currency ; and that if any connection of the government with the banks could be justified at all, it must be in that relation. I am not among those who be- lieve that the currency was in a sound condition when the deposits were removed in 1834. I then believed, and experience has proved I was correct, that it was deeply and dangerously dis- eased ; and that the most efficient measures were necessary to prevent the catastrophe which has since fallen on the circulation of the country. There was then not more than one dollar in specie, on an average, in the banks, including the United States Bank and all, for six of bank notes in circulation; and not more than one in eleven compared to liabilities of the banks ; and this while the United States Bank was in full and active operation ; which proves con- clusively that its charter ought not to be re- newed, if renewed at all, without great modifica- tions. I saw also that the expansion of the cir- culation, great as it then was, must still farther increase ; that the disease lay deep in the sys- tem ; that the terms on which the charter of the Bank of England was renewed would give a western direction to specie, which, instead of correcting the disorder, by substituting specie for bank notes in our circulation, would become the basis of new banking operations that would greatly increase the swelling tide. Such were my conceptions then, and I honestly and ear- nestly endeavored to carry them into effect, in order to prevent the approaching catastrophe. " The political and personal relations between myself and the senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Webster], were then not the kindest. We stood in opposition at the preceding session on the great question growing out of the conflict between the State I represented and the general government, which could not pass away with- out leaving unfriendly feelings on both sides ; but where duty is involved, I am not in the habit of permitting my personal relations to in- terfere. In my solicitude to avoid coming dan- gers, I sought an interview, through a common friend, in order to compare opinions as to the proper course to be pursued. We met, and con- versed freely and fully, but parted without agreeing. I expressed to him my deep regret at our disagreement, and informed him that, al- though I could not agree with him, I would throw no embarrassment in his way ; but should feel it to be my duty, when he made his motion to introduce a bill to renew the charter of the bank, to express my opinion at large on the state of the currency and the proper course to be pursued ; which I accordingly did. On that memorable occasion I stood almost alone. One party supported the league of State banks, and the other the United States Bank, the charter of which the senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Webster,] proposed to renew for six years. Nothing was left me but to place myself dis- tinctly before the country on the ground I occu- pied, which I did fully and explicitly in the speech I delivered on the occasion. In justice to myself, I ought to have every word of it read on the present occasion. It would of itself be a full vindication of my course. I stated and en- larged on all the points to which I have already referred ; objected to the recharter as proposed by the mover ; and foretold that what has since happened would follow, unless something effec- tual was done to prevent it. As a remedy, I proposed to use the Bank of the United States as a temporary expedient, fortified with strong guards, in order to resist and turn back the swelling tide of circulation. "After having so expressed myself, which clear- ly shows that my object was to use the bank for a time in such a manner as to break the connection with the system, without a shock to the coustry or currency, I then proceed and ex- amine the question, whether this could be best accomplished by the renewal of the charter of the United States Bank, or through a league of State banks. After concluding what I had to say on the subject, in my deep solicitude I ad- dressed the three parties in the Senate sepa- rately, urging such motives as I thought best calculated to act on them ; and pressing them to join me in the measure suggested, in order to avert approaching danger. I began with my friends of the State rights party, and with the administration. I have taken copious ex- tracts from the address to the first, which will clearly prove how exactly my opinions then and now coincide on all questions connected with the banks. I now ask the secretary to read the •extract numbered two. " [The secretary read accordingly.] ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 107 " I regret to trespass on the patience of the Senate, but I wish, in justice to myself, to ask their attention to one more, which, though not immediately relating to the question under con- sideration, is not irrelevant to my vindication. I not only expressed my opinions freely in rela- tion to the currency and the bank, in the speech from which such copious extracts have been read, but had the precaution to define my political position distinctly in reference to the political parties of the day, and the course I would pursue in relation to each. I then, as now, belonged to the party to which it is my glory ever to have been attached exclusively ; and avowed, explicitly, that I belonged to nei- ther of the two parties, opposition or adminis- tration, then contending for superiority ; which of itself ought to go far to repel the charge of the senator from Kentucky, that I have gone over from one party to the other. The secre- tary will read the last extract. "[The secretary read.] " Such, senators, are my recorded sentiments in 1834. They are full and explicit on all the questions involved in the present issue, and prove, beyond the possibility of doubt, that I have changed no opinion, abandoned no princi- ple, nor deserted any party. I stand now on the ground I stood then, and, of course, if my relations to the two opposing parties are changed — if I now act with those I then op- posed, and oppose those with whom I then acted, the change is not in me. I, at least, have stood still. In saying this, I accuse none of changing. I leave others to explain their posi- tion, now and then, if they deem explanation necessary. But, if I may be permitted to state my opinion, I would say that the change is rather in the questions and the circumstances, than in the opinions or principles of either of the parties. The opposition were then, and are now, national bank men, and the administra- tion, in like manner, were anti-national bank, and in favor of a league of State banks ; while I preferred then, as now, the former to the latter, and a divorce from banks to either. When the experiment of the league failed, the administra- tion were reduced to the option between a national bank and a divorce. They chose the latter, and such, I have no reason to doubt, would have been their choice, had the option been the same four years ago. Nor have I any doubt, had the option been then between a league of banks and divorce, the opposition then, as now, would have been in favor of the league. In all this there is more apparent than real change. As to myself, there has been neither. If I acted with the opposition and opposed the administration then, it was because I was openly opposed to the removal of the deposits and the league of banks, as I now am ; and if I now act with the latter and oppose the former, it is because I am now, as then, in favor of a divorce, and opposed to either a league of State banks or a national bank, except, indeed, as the means of effecting a divorce gradually and safely. What, then, is my offence ? What but refusing to abandon my first choice, the divorce from the banks, because the administra- tion has selected it, and of going with the oppo- sition for a national bank, to which I have been and am still opposed ? That is all ; and for this I am charged with going over — leaving one party and joining the other. " Yet, in the face of all this, the senator has not only made the charge, but has said, in his place, that he heard, for the first time in his life, at the extra session, that I was opposed to a national bank ! I could place the senator in a dilemma from which there is no possibility of escape. I might say to him, you have either forgot, or not, what I said in 1834. If you have not, how can you justify yourself in making the charge you have ? But if you have — if you have forgot what is so recent, and what, from the magnitude of the question and the import- ance of the occasion, was so well calculated to impress itself on your memory, what possible value can be attached to your recollection or opinions, as to my course on more remote and less memorable occasions, on which you have undertaken to impeach my conduct 1 He may take his choice. " Having now established by the record that I have changed no opinion, abandoned no prin- ciple, nor deserted any party, the charge of the senator, with all the aspersions with which he accompanied it, falls prostrate to the earth. Here I might leave the subject, and close my vindication. But I choose not. I shall follow the senator up, step by step, in his unprovoked, and I may now add, groundless attack, with blows not less decisive and victorious. " The senator next proceeded to state, that in a certain document (if he named it, I did not hear him) I assigned as the reason why I Could not join in the attack on the administra- tion, that the benefit of the victory would not enure to myself, or my party ; or, as he ex- plained himself, because it would not place myself and them in power. I presume he re- ferred to a letter, in answer to an invitation to a public dinner, offered me by my old and faith- ful friends and constituents of Edgefield, in ap- probation of my course at the extra session. "[Mr. Clay. I do.] "The pressure of domestic engagements would not permit me to accept their invitation ; and, in declining it, I deemed it due to them and myself to explain my course, in its political and party bearing, more fully than I had done in debate. They had a right to know my rea- sons, and I expressed myself with the frankness due to the long and uninterrupted confidence that had ever existed between us. " Having made these explanatory remarks, 'I now proceed to meet the assertion of the sen- ator. I again take issue on the fact. I assigned 108 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. no such reason as the senator attributes to me. I never dreamed nor thought of such a one ; nor can any force of construction extort such from what I said. No ; my object was not power or place, either for myself or party. I was far more humble and honest. It was to save our- selves and our principles from being absorbed and lost in a party, more numerous and power- ful ; but differing from us on almost every prin- ciple and question of policy. "When the suspension of specie payments took place in May last (not unexpected to me), I immediately turned my attention to the event earnestly, considering it as an event pregnant with great and lasting consequences. Review- ing the whole ground, I saw nothing to change in the opinions and principles I had avowed in 1834 ; and I determined to carry them out, as far as circumstances and my ability would ena- ble me. But I saw that my course must be influenced by the position which the two great contending parties might take in reference to the question. I did not doubt that the opposi- tion would rally either on a national bank, or a combination of State banks, with Mr. Biddle's at the head ; but I was wholly uncertain what course the administration would adopt, and re- mained so until the message of the President was received and read by the secretary at his table. When I saw he went for a divorce, I never hesitated a moment. Not only my opin- ions and principles long entertained, and, as I have shown, fully expressed years ago, but the highest political motives, left me no alternative. I perceived at once that the object, to accom- plish which we had acted in concert with the opposition, had ceased : Executive usurpations had come to an end for the present : and that the struggle with the administration was no longer for power, but to save themselves. I also clearly saw, that if we should unite with the opposition in their attack on the adminis- tration, the victory over them, in the position they occupied, would be a victory over us and our principles. It required no sagacity to see that such would be the result. It was as plain as day. The administration had taken position, as I have shown, on the very ground I occupied in 1834; and which the whole State rights party had taken at the same time in the other House, as its journals will prove. The opposi- tion, under the banner of the bank, were moving against them for the very reason that they had taken the ground they did. " Now, I ask, what would have been the re- sult if we had joined in the attack? No one can now doubt that the victory over those in power would have been certain and decisive, nor would the consequences have been the least doubtful. The first fruit would have been a national bank. The principles of the opposi- tion, and the very object of the attack, would have necessarily led to that. We would have been not only too feeble to resist, but would have been committed by joining in the attack with its avowed object to go for one, while those who support the administration would have been scattered in the winds. We should then have had a bank — that is clear ; nor is it less certain, that in its train there would have followed all the consequences, which have and ever will follow, when tried — high duties, over- flowing revenue, extravagant expenditures, large surpluses ; in a word, all those disastrous con- sequences which have well near overthrown our institutions, and involved the country in its present difficulties. The influence of the institution, the known principles and policy of the opposition, and the utter prostration of the administration party, and the absorption of ours, would have led to these results as cer- tainly as we exist. " I now appeal, senators, to your candor and justice, and ask, could I, having all these conse- quences before me, with my known opinions and that of the party to which I belong, and to which only I owe fidelity, have acted differently from what I did ? Would not any other course have justly exposed me to the charge of having aban- doned my principles and party, with which I am now accused so unjustly ? Nay, would it not have been worse than folly — been madness in me, to have taken any other ? And yet, the grounds which I have assumed in this exposi- tion are the very reasons assigned in my letter, and which the senator has perverted most un- fairly and unjustly into the pitiful, personal, and selfish reason, which he has attributed to me. Confirmative of what I say, I again appeal to the record. The secretary will read the para- graph marked in my Edgefield letter, to which, I presume, the senator alluded. " [The secretary of the Senate reads :] " ' As soon as I saw this state of things, I clearly perceived that a very important question was presented for our determination, which we were compelled to decide forthwith — shall we con- tinue our joint attack with the Nationals on those in power, in the new position which they have been compelled to occupy ? It was clear, with our joint forces, we could utterly over- throw and demolish them j but it was not less clear that the victory would enure, not to us, but exclusively to the benefit of our allies and their cause. They were the most numerous and powerful, and the point of assault on the posi- tion which the party to be assaulted had taken in relation to the banks, would have greatly strengthened the settled principles and policy of the National party, and weakened, in the same degree, ours. They are, and ever have been, the decided advocates of a national bank ; and are now in favor of one with a capital so ample as to be sufficient to control the State in- stitutions, and to regulate the currency and ex- changes of the country. To join them with their avowed object in the attack to overthrow those in power, on the ground they occupied ANNO 1888. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 109 against a bank, would, of course, not only have placed the government and country in their hands without opposition, but would have com- mitted us, beyond the possibility of extrication, for a bank ; and absorbed our party in the ranks of the National Republicans. The first fruits of the victory would have been an overshadow- ing National Bank, with an immense capital, not less than from fifty to a hundred millions ; which would have centralized the currency and exchanges, and with them the commerce and capital of the country, in whatever section the head of the institution might be placed. The next would be the indissoluble union of the political opponents, whose principles and policy are so opposite to ours, and so dangerous to our institutions, as well as oppressive to us.' " I now ask, is there any thing in this extract which will warrant the construction that the senator has attempted to force on it ? Is it not manifest that the expression on which he fixes, that the victory would enure, not to us, but exclusively to the benefit of the opposition, alludes not to power or place, but to principle and policy ? Can words be more plain ? What then becomes of all the aspersions of the sena- tor, his reflections about selfishness and the want of patriotism, and his allusions and illus- trations to give them force and effect ? They fall to the ground without deserving a notice, with his groundless accusation. " But, in so premeditated and indiscriminate an attack, it could not be expected that my mo- tives would entirely escape ; and we accordingly find the senator very charitably leaving it to time to disclose my motive for going over. Leave it to time to disclose my motive for going over ! I who have changed no opinion, aban- doned no principle, and deserted no party : I, who have stood still, and maintained my ground against every difficulty, to be told that it is left to time to disclose my motive ! The imputation sinks to the earth with the groundless charge on which it rests. I stamp it with scorn in the dust. I pick up the dart, which fell harmless at my feet. I hurl it back. What the senator charges on me unjustly, he has actually done. He went over on a memorable occasion, and did not leave it to time to disclose his motive. " The senator next tells us that I bore a char- acter for stern fidelity j which he accompanied with remarks implying that I had forfeited it by my course on the present occasion. If he means by stern fidelity a devoted attachment to duty and principle, which nothing can overcome, the character is, indeed, a high one ; and I trust, not entirely unmerited. I have, at least, the authority of the senator himself for saying that it belonged to me before the present occasion, and it is, of course, incumbent on him to show that I have since forfeited it. He will find the task a Herculean one. It would be by far more easy to show the opposite ; that, instead of for- feiting, I have strengthened my title to the char- acter ; instead of abandoning any principles, I have firmly adhered to them ; and that too, under the most appalling difficulties. If I were to select an instance in the whole course of my life on which, above all others, to rest my claim to the character which the senator attributed to me, it would be this very one, which he has selected to prove that I have forfeited it. " I acted with the full knowledge of the diffi- culties I had to encounter, and the responsibil- ity I must incur. I saw a great and powerful party, probably the most powerful in the coun- try, eagerly seizing on the catastrophe which had befallen the currency, and the consequent embarrassments that followed, to displace those in power, against whom they had been long contending. I saw that, to stand between them and their object, I must necessarily incur their deep and lasting displeasure. I also saw that, to maintain the administration in the position they had taken — to separate the government from the banks, I would draw down on me, with the exception of some of the southern banks, the whole weight of that extensive, con- centrated, and powerful interest — the most pow- erful by far of any in the whole community ; and thus I would unite against me a combina- tion of political and moneyed influence almost irresistible. Nor was this all. I could not but see that, however pure and disinterested my motives, and however consistent my course with all I had ever said or done, I would be ex- posed to the very charges and aspersions which I am now repelling. The ease with which they could be made, and the temptation to make them, I saw were too great to be resisted by the party morality of the day — as groundless as I have demonstrated them. But there was another consequence that I could not but fore- see, far more painful to me than all others. I but too clearly saw that, in so sudden and com- plex a juncture, called on as I was to decide on my course instantly, as it were, on the field of battle, without consultation, or explaining my reasons, I would estrange for a time many of my political friends, who had passed through with me so many trials and difficulties, and for whom I feel a brother's love. But I saw before me the path of duty, and, though rugged, and hedged on all sides with these and many other difficulties, I did not hesitate a moment to take it. After I had made up my mind as to my course, in a conversation with a friend about the responsibility I would assume, he remarked that my own State might desert me. I replied that it was not impossible ; but the result has proved that I under-estimated the intelligence and patriotism of my virtuous and noble State. I ask her pardon for the distrust implied in my answer; but I ask with assurance it will be granted, on the grounds I shall put it — that, in being prepared to sacrifice her confidence, as dear to me as light and life, rather than disobey on this great question, the dictates of my judg- 110 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. ment and conscience, I proved myself worthy of being her representative. " But if the senator, in attributing to me stern fidelity, meant, not devotion to principle, but to party, and especially the party of which he is so prominent a member, my answer is, that I never belonged to his party, nor owed it any fidelity; and, of course, could forfeit, in reference to it, no character for fidelity. It is true, we acted in concert against what we be- lieved to be the usurpations of the Executive ; and it is true that, during the time, I saw much to esteem in those with whom I acted, and con- tracted friendly relations with many ; which I shall not be the first to forget. It is also true that a common party designation was applied to the opposition in the aggregate — not, how- ever, with my approbation ; but it is no less true that it was universally known that it con- sisted of two distinct parties, dissimilar in prin- ciple and policy, except in relation to the object for which they had united : the national repub- lican party, and the portion of the State rights party which had separated from the administra- tion, on the ground that it had departed from the true principles of the original party. That I belonged exclusively to that detached portion, and to neither the opposition nor administration party, I prove by my explicit declaration, con- tained in one of the extracts read from my speech on the currency in 1834. That the party generally, and the State which I repre- sent in part, stood aloof from both of the par- ties, may be established from the fact that they refused to mingle in the party and political con- tests of the day. My State withheld her elec- toral vote in two successive presidential elections ; and, rather than to bestow it on either the sen- ator from Kentucky, or the distinguished citizen whom he opposed, in the first of those elec- tions, she threw her vote on a patriotic citizen of Virginia, since deceased, of her own politics ; but who was not a candidate ; and, in the last, she refused to give it to the worthy senator from Tennessee near me (Judge White), though his principles and views of policy approach so much nearer to hers than that of the party to which the senator from Kentucky belongs. " And here, Mr. President, I avail myself of the opportunity to declare my present political position, so that there may be no mistake here- after. I belong to the old Republican State Rights party of '98. To that, and that alone, I owe fidelity, and by that I shall stand through every change, and in spite of every difficulty. Its creed is to be found in the Kentucky reso- lutions, and Virginia resolutions and report ; and its policy is to confine the action of this government within the narrowest limits com- patible with the peace and security of these States, and the objects for which the Union was expressly formed. I, as one of that party, shall support all who support its principles and policy, and oppose all who oppose them. I have given, and shall continue to give, the ad- ministration a hearty and sincere support on the great question now under discussion, be- cause I regard it as in strict conformity to our creed and policy ; and shall do every thing in my power to sustain them under the great re- sponsibility which they have assumed. But let me tell those who are more interested in sustaining them than myself, that the danger which threatens them lies not here, but in another quarter. This measure will tend to uphold them, if they stand fast, and adhere to it with fidelity. But, if they wish to know where the danger is, let them look to the fiscal department of the government. I said, years ago, that we were committing an error the re- verse of the great and dangerous one that was committed in 1828, and to which we owe our present difficulties, and all we have since expe- rienced. Then we raised the revenue greatly, when the expenditures were about to be re- duced by the discharge of the public debt ; and now we have doubled the disbursements, when the revenue is rapidly decreasing; an error, which, although probably not so fatal to the country, will prove, if immediate and vigorous measures be not adopted, far more so to those in power. " But the senator did not confine his attack to my conduct and motives in reference to the present question. In his eagerness to weaken the cause I support, by destroying confidence in me, he made an indiscriminate attack on my in- tellectual faculties, which he characterized as metaphysical, eccentric, too much of genius, and too little common sense ; and of course wanting a sound and practical judgment. "Mr. President, according to my opinion, there is nothing of which those who are en- dowed with superior mental faculties ought to be more cautious, than to reproach those with their deficiency to whom Providence has been less liberal. The faculties of our mind are the immediate gift of our Creator, for which we are no farther responsible than for their proper cul- tivation, according to our opportunities, and their proper application to control and regulate our actions. Thus thinking, I trust I shall be the last to assume superiority on my part, or reproach any one with inferiority on his ; but those who do not regard the rule, when ap- plied to others, cannot expect it to be observed when applied to themselves. The critic must expect to be criticised ; and he who points out the faults of others, to have his own pointed out. " I cannot retort on the senator the charge of being metaphysical. I cannot accuse him of possessing the powers of analysis and generali- zation, those higher faculties of the mind (called metaphysical by those who do not possess them), which decompose and resolve into their elements the complex masses of ideas that exist in the world of mind — as chemistry does the ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. Ill bodies that surround us in the material world ; and without which those deep and hidden causes which are in constant action, and pro- ducing such mighty changes in the condition of society, would operate unseen and undetect- ed. The absence of these higher qualities of the mind is conspicuous throughout the whole course of the senator's public life. To this it may be traced that he prefers the specious to the solid, and the plausible to the true. To the same cause, combined with an ardent tem- perament, it is owing that we ever find him mounted on some popular and favorite measure, which he whips along, cheered by the shouts of the multitude, and never dismounts till he has rode it down. Thus, at one time, we find him mounted on the protective system, which he rode down; at another, on internal improve- ment ; and now he is mounted on a bank, which will surely share the same fate, unless those who are immediately interested shall stop him in his headlong career. It is the fault of his mind to seize on a few prominent and striking advantages, and to pursue them eagerly with- out looking to consequences. Thus, in the case of the protective system, he was struck with the advantages of manufactures ; and, believing that high duties was the proper mode of pro- tecting them, he pushed forward the system, without seeing that he was enriching one por- tion of the country at the expense of the other ; corrupting the one and alienating the other ; and, finally, dividing the community into two great hostile interests, which terminated in the overthrow of the system itself. So, now, he looks only to a uniform currency, and a bank as the means of securing it, without once re- flecting how far the banking system has pro- gressed, and the difficulties that impede its far- ther progress ; that banking and politics are running together to their mutual destruction ; and that the only possible mode of saving his favorite system is to separate it from the gov- ernment. " To the defects of understanding, which the senator attributes to me, I make no reply. It is for others, and not me, to determine the por- tion of understanding which it has pleased the Author of my being to bestow on me. It is, however, fortunate for me, that the standard by which I shall be judged is not the false, preju- diced, and, as I have shown, unfounded opinion which the senator has expressed ; but my acts. They furnish materials, neither few nor scant, to form a just estimate of my mental facul- ties. I have now been more than twenty-six years continuously in the service of this gov- ernment, in various stations, and have taken part in almost all the great questions which have agitated this country during this long and important period. Throughout the whole I have never followed events, but have taken my stand in advance, openly and freely avowing my opinions on all questions, and leaving it to time and experience to condemn or approve my course. Thus acting, I have often, and on great questions, separated from those with whom I usually acted, and if I am really so defective in sound and practical judgment as the senator represents, the proof, if to be found any where, must be found in such instances, or where I have acted on my sole responsibility. Now, I ask, in which of the many instances of the kind is such proof to be found ? It is not my inten- tion to call to the recollection of the Senate all such ; but that you, senators, may judge for yourselves, it is due in justice to myself, that I should suggest a few of the most prominent, which at the time were regarded as the senator now considers the present ; and then, as now. because where duty is involved, I would not submit to party trammels. " I go back to the commencement of my pub- lic life, the war session, as it was usually called, of 1812, when I first took my seat in the other House, a young man, without experience to guide me, and I shall select, as the first instance, the Navy. At that time the administration and the party to which I was strongly attached were decidedly opposed to this important arm of ser- vice. It was considered anti-republican to sup- port it ; but acting with my then distinguished colleague, Mr. Cheves, who led the way, I did not hesitate to give it my hearty support, re- gardless of party ties. Does this instance sus- tain the charge of the senator ? " The next I shall select is the restrictive system of that day, the embargo, the non-im- portation and non-intercourse acts. This, too, was a party measure which had been long and warmly contested, and of course the lines of party well drawn. Young and inexperienced as I was, I saw its defects, and resolutely opposed it, almost alone of my party. The second or third speech I made, after I took my seat, was in open denunciation of the sj^stem ; and I may refer to the grounds I then assumed, the truth of which have been confirmed by time and ex- perience, with pride and confidence. This will scarcely be selected by the senator to make good his charge. '• I pass over other instances, and come to Mr. Dallas's bank of 1814-15. That, too, was a party measure. Banking was then compar- atively but little understood, and it may seem astonishing, at this time, that such a project should ever have received any countenance or support. It proposed to create a bank of $50,000,000, to consist almost entirely of what was called then the war stocks ; that is, the pub- lic debt created in carrying on the then war. It was provided that the bank should not pay specie during the war, and for three years after its termination, for carrying on which it was to lend the government the funds. In plain lan- guage, the government was to borrow back its own credit from the bank, and pay to the insti- tution six per cent, for its use. I had scarcely 112 THIETY YEARS' VIEW. ever before seriously thought of banks or bank- ing, but I clearly saw through the operation, and the danger to the government and country ; and, regardless of party ties or denunciations, I opposed and defeated it in the manner I ex- plained at the extra session. I then subjected myself to the very charge which the senator now makes ; but time has done me justice, as it will in the present instance. "Passing the intervening instances, I come down to my administration of the War Depart- ment, where I acted on my own judgment and responsibility. It is known to all, that the de- partment, at that time, was perfectly disorgan- ized, with not much less than $50,000,000 of outstanding and unsettled accounts ; and the greatest confusion in every branch of service. Though without experience, I prepared, shortly after I went in, the bill for its organization, and on its passage I drew up the body of rules for carrying the act into execution ; both of which re- main substantially unchanged to this day. After reducing the outstanding accounts to a few mil- lions, and introducing order and accountability in every branch of service, and bringing down the expenditure of the army from four to two and a half millions annually, without subtracting a single comfort from either officer or soldier, I left the department in a condition that might well be compared to the best in any country. If I am deficient in the qualities which the sena- tor attributes to me, here in this mass of details and business it ought to be discovered. Will he look to this to make good his charge ? " From the war department I was transferred to the Chair which you now occupy. How I acquitted myself in the discharge of its duties, I leave it to the body to decide, without adding a word. The station, from its leisure, gave me a good opportunity to study the genius of the prominent measure of the day, called then the American system ; of which I profited. I soon perceived where its errors lay, and how it would operate. I clearly saw its desolating effects in one section, and corrupting influence in the other ; and when I saw that it could not be ar- rested here, I fell back on my own State, and a blow was given to a system destined to destroy our institutions, if not overthrown, which brought it to the ground. This brings me down to the present times, and where passions and prejudices are yet too strong to make an appeal, with any prospect of a fair and impartial verdict. I then transfer this, and all my subse- quent acts, including the present, to the tribunal of posterity; with a perfect confidence that nothing will be found, in what I have said or done, to impeach my integrity or understand- ing. " I have now, senators, repelled the attacks on me. I have settled the account and cancel- led the debt between me and my accuser. I have not sought this controversy, nor have I shunned it when forced on me. I have acted on the defensive, and if it is to continue, which rests with the senator, I shall throughout con- tinue so to act. I know too well the advantage of my position to surrender it. The senator commenced the controversy, and it is but right that he should be responsible for the direction it shall hereafter take. Be his determination what it may, I stand prepared to meet him." CHAPTER XXVIII. DEBATE BETWEEN ME. CLAY AND ME. CALHOUN: EEJOINDEES BY EACH. Mr. Clay: — "As to the personal part of the speech of the senator from South Carolina, I must take the occasion to say that no man is more sincerely anxious to avoid all personal con- troversy than myself. And I may confidently appeal to the whole course of my life for the confirmation of that disposition. No man cher- ishes less than I do feelings of resentment; none forgets or forgives an injury sooner than I do. The duty which I had to perform in animadverting upon the public conduct and course of the senator from South Carolina was painful in the extreme ; but it was, nevertheless, a public duty ; and I shrink from the performance of no duty required at my hands by my country. It was painful, because I had long served in the public councils with the senator from South Carolina, admired his genius, and for a great while had been upon terms of intimacy with him. Throughout my whole acquaintance with him, I have constantly struggled to think well of him, and to ascribe to him public virtues. Even after his famous summerset at the extra session, on more than one occasion I defended his motives when he was assailed ; and insisted that it was uncharitable to attribute to him others than those which he himself avowed. This I continued to do, until I read this most extraordinary and exceptionable letter : [Here Mr. Clay held up and exhibited to the Senate the Edgefield letter, dated at Fort Hill, Novem- ber 3, 1837 :] a letter of which I cannot speak in merited term's, without a departure from the respect which I owe to the Senate and to myself. When I read that letter, sir, its unblushing avowals, and its unjust reproaches cast upon my friends and myself, I was most reluctantly com- pelled to change my opinion of the honorable senator from South Carolina. One so distin- guished as he is, cannot expect to be indulged with speaking as he pleases of others, without a reciprocal privilege. He cannot suppose that he may set to the right or the left, cut in and out, and chasse, among principles and parties as often as he pleases, without animadversion. I did, indeed, understand the senator to say, in ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 113 his former speech, that we, the whigs, were un- wise and unpatriotic in not uniting with him in supporting the bill under consideration. But in that Edgefield letter, among the motives which he assigns for leaving us, I understand him to declare that he could not ' back and sus- tain those in such opposition, in whose wisdom, firmness, and patriotism, I have no reason to confide.' " After having written and published to the world such a letter as that, and after what has fallen from the senator, in the progress of this debate, towards my political friends, does he imagine that he can persuade himself and the country that he really occupies, on this occa- sion, a defensive attitude? In that letter he says : " ' I clearly saw that our bold and vigorous attacks had made a deep and successful impression. State interposition had overthrown the protective tariff, and with it the American system, and put a stop to the congressional usurpation ; and the joint attacks of our party, and that of our old opponents, the national republicans, had effectually brought down the power of the Executive, and arrested its encroachments for the present. It was for that purpose we had united. True to our principle of opposition to the encroachment of power, from whatever quarter it might come, we did not hesitate, after overthrowing the protective system, and arresting legis- lative usurpation, to join the authors of that system, in order to arrest the encroachments of the Executive, although we differed as widely as the poles on almost every other question, and regarded the usurpation of the Executive but as a neces- cary consequence of the principles and policy of our new allies.' " State interposition ! — that is as I understand the senator from South Carolina ; nullification, he asserts, overthrew the protective tariff and the American system. And can that senator, knowing what he knows, and what I know, deliberately make such an assertion here? I had heard similar boasts before, but did not regard them, until I saw them coupled in this letter with the imputation of a purpose on the part of my friends to disregard the compromise, and revive the high tariff. Nullification, Mr. President, overthrew the protective policy ! No, sir. The compromise was not extorted by the terror of nullification. Among other more important motives that influenced its passage, it was a compassionate concession to the impru- dence and impotency of nullification ! The dan- ger from nullification itself excited no more ap- prehension than would be felt by seeing a regi- ment of a thousand boys, of five or six years of age, decorated in brilliant uniforms, with their gaudy plumes and tiny muskets, marching up to assault a corps of 50,000 grenadiers, six feet high. At the commencement of the session of 1832. the senator from South Carolina was in any condition other than that of dictating terms. Those of us who were then here must recollect well his haggard looks and his anxious and de- pressed countenance. A highly estimable friend of mine, Mr. J. M. Clayton, of Delaware, allud- ing to the possibility of a rupture with South Carolina, and declarations of President Jackson with respect to certain distinguished individuals Vol. II.— 8 whom he had denounced and proscribed, said to me, on more than one occasion, referring to the senator from South Carolina and some of his colleagues, " They are clever fellows, and it will never do to let old Jackson hang them." Sir, this disclosure is extorted from me by the senator. " So far from nullification having overthrown the protective policy, in assenting to the com- promise, it expressly sanctioned the constitu- tional power which it had so strongly contro- verted, and perpetuated it. There is protection from one end to the other in the compromise act ; modified and limited it is true, but protec- tion nevertheless. There is protection, adequate and abundant protection, until the year 1842 ; and protection indefinitely beyond it. Until that year, the biennial reduction of duties is slow and moderate, such as was perfectly satis- factory to the manufacturers. Now, if the sys- tem were altogether unconstitutional, as had been contended, how could the senator vote for a bill which continued it for nine years ? Then, beyond that period, there is the provision for cash duties, home valuations, a long and liberal list of free articles, carefully made out by my friend from Rhode Island (Mr. Knight), ex- pressly for the benefit of the manufacturers ; and the power of discrimination, reserved also for their benefit ; within the maximum rate of duty fixed in the act. In the consultations between the senator and myself in respect to the com- promise act, on every point upon which I in- sisted he gave way. He was for a shorter term than nine years, and more rapid reduction. I insisted, and he yielded. He was for fifteen in- stead of twenty per cent, as the maximum duty ; but yielded. He was against any discrimination within the limited range of duties for the benefit of the manufacturers ; but consented. To the last he protested against home valuation, but finally gave way. Such is the compromise act ; and the Senate will see with what propriety the senator can assert that nullification had over- thrown the protective tariff and the American system. Nullification ! which asserted the ex- traordinary principle that one of twenty-four members of a confederacy, by its separate action, could subvert and set aside the expressed will of the whole ! Nullification ! a strange, imprac- ticable, incomprehensible doctrine, that partakes of the character of the metaphysical school of German philosophy, or would be worthy of the puzzling theological controversies of the middle ages. " No one, Mr. President, in the commence- ment of the protective policy, ever supposed that it was to be perpetual. We hoped and be- lieved that temporary protection extended to our infant manufactures, would bring them up. and enable them to withstand competition with those of Europe. We thought, as the wise French minister did, who, when urged by a British minister to consent to the equal intro- 114 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. duction into the two countries of their respective productions, replied that free trade might be very well for a country whose manufactures had reached perfection, but was not entirely adapted to a country which wished to build up its manufactures. If the protective policy were entirely to cease in 1842, it would have existed twenty-six years from 1816, or 18 from 1824 ; quite as long as, at either of those periods, its friends supposed might be necessary. But it does not cease then, and I sincerely hope that the provisions contained in the compromise act for its benefit beyond that period, will be found sufficient for the preservation of all our interest- ing manufactures. For one, I am willing to ad- here to, and abide by the compromise in all its provisions, present and prospective, if its fair operation is undisturbed. The Senate well knows that I have been constantly in favor of a strict and faithful adherence to the compromise act. I have watched and defended it on all occasions. I desire to see it faithfully and in- violably maintained. The senator, too, from South Carolina, alleging that the South were the weaker party, has hitherto united with me in sustaining it. Nevertheless, he has left us, as he tells us in his Edgefield letter, because he apprehended that our principles would lead us to the revival of a high tariff. " The senator from South Carolina proceeds, in his Edgefield letter, to say : " ' I clearly perceived that a very important, question was presented for our determination, which we were compelled to decide forthwith : shall we continue our joint attack with the nationals on those in power, in the new position which they have been compelled to occupy ? It was clear that, with our joint forces, we could utterly overthrow and demolish them. But it was not less clear that the victory would enure not to us, but exclusively to the benefit of our allies and their cause.' " Thus it appears that in a common struggle for the benefit of our whole country, the sena- tor was calculating upon the party advantages which would result from success. He quit us because he apprehended that he and his party would be' absorbed by us. Well, what is to be their fate in his new alliance? Is there no absorption there? Is there no danger that the senator and his party will be absorbed by the administration party ? Or does he hope to ab- sorb that ? Another motive avowed in the letter, for his desertion of us, is, that ' it would also give us the chance of effecting what is still more important to us, the union of the entire South.' What sort of an union of the South does the senator wish? Is not the South already united as a part of the common con- federacy ? Does he want any other union of it ? I wish he would explicitly state. I should be glad, also, if he would define what he means by the South. He sometimes talks of the planta- tion or staple States. Maryland is partly a staple State. Virginia and North Carolina more so. And Kentucky and Tennessee have also staple productions. Are all these States parts of his South ? I fear, Mr. President, that the political geography of the senator compre- hends a much larger South than that South which is the object of his particular solicitude ; and that, to find the latter, we should have to go to South Carolina; and, upon our arrival there, trace him to Fort Hill. This is the dis- interested senator from South Carolina ! " But he has left no party, and joined no party ! No ! None. With the daily evidences before us of his frequent association, counselling and acting with the other party, he would tax our credulity too much to require us to believe that he has formed no connection with it. He may stand upon his reserved rights ; but they must be mentally reserved, for they are not ob- vious to the senses. Abandoned no party? Why this letter proclaims his having quitted us, and assigns his reasons for doing it; one of which is, that we are in favor of that national bank which the senator himself has sustained about twenty-four years of the twenty-seven that he has been in public life. Whatever im- pression the senator may endeavor to make without the Senate upon the country at large, no man within the Senate, who has eyes to see, or ears to hear, can mistake his present position and party connection. If, in the speech which I addressed to the Senate on a former day, there had been a single fact stated which was not perfectly true, or an inference drawn which was not fully warranted, or any description of his situation which was incorrect, no man would enjoy greater pleasure than I should do in recti- fying the error. If, in the picture which I por- trayed of the senator and his course, there be any thing which can justly give him dissatisfac- tion, he must look to the original and not to the painter. The conduct of an eminent public man is a fair subject for exposure and animadversion. When I addressed the Senate before, I had just perused this letter. I recollected all its re- proaches and imputations against us, and those which were made or implied in the speech of the honorable senator were also fresh in my memory. Does he expect to be allowed to cast such imputations, and make such reproaches against others without retaliation? Holding myself amenable for my public conduct, I choose to animadvert upon his, and upon that of others, whenever circumstances, in my judgment, ren- der it necessary ; and I do it under all just re- sponsibility which belongs to the exercise of such a privilege. " The senator has thought proper to exercise a corresponding privilege towards myself; and, without being very specific, has taken upon himself to impute to me the charge of going over upon some occasion, and that in a manner which left my motive no matter of conjecture. If the senator mean to allude to the stale and refuted calumny of George Kremer, I assure him I can hear it without the slightest emo- tion ; and if he can find any fragment of that ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT 115 rent banner to cover his own aberrations, he is perfectly at liberty to enjoy all the shelter which it affords. In my case there was no going over about it ; I was a member of the House of Representatives, and had to give a vote for one of three candidates for the presidency. Mr. Crawford's unfortunate physical condition placed him out of the question. The choice was, therefore, limited to the venerable gentleman from Massachusetts, or to the distinguished in- habitant of the hermitage. I could give but one vote ; and, accordingly, as I stated on a former occasion, t gave the vote which, before I left Kentucky, I communicated to my colleague [Mr. Crittenden], it was my intention to give in the contingency which happened. I have never for one moment regretted the vote I then gave. It is true, that the legislature of Ken- tucky had requested the representatives from that State to vote for General Jackson ; but my own immediate constituents, I knew well, were opposed to his election, and it was their will, and not that of the legislature, according to every principle applicable to the doctrine of in- structions, which I was to deposit in the ballot- box. It is their glory and my own never to have concurred in the elevation of General Jackson. They ratified and confirmed my vote, and every representative that they have sent to Congress since, including my friend, the present member, has concurred with me in opposition to the election and administration of General Jackson. " If my information be not entirely incorrect, and there was any going over in the presiden- tial election which terminated in February, 1825, the senator from South Carolina — and not I — went over. I have understood that the senator, when he ceased to be in favor of him- self, — that is, after the memorable movement made in Philadelphia by the present minister to Russia (Mr. Dallas), withdrawing his name from the canvass, was the known supporter of the elec- tion of Mr. Adams. What motives induced him afterwards to unite in the election of General Jackson, I know not. It is not my habit to impute to others uncharitable motives, and I leave the senator to settle that account with his own conscience and his country. No, sir, I have no reproaches to make myself, and feel perfectly invulnerable to any attack from others, on account of any part which I took in the elec- tion of 1825. And I look back with entire and conscious satisfaction upon the whole course of the arduous administration which ensued. " The senator from South Carolina thinks it to be my misfortune to be always riding some hobby, and that I stick to it till I ride it down. I think it is his never to stick to one long enough. He is like a courier who, riding from post to post, with relays of fresh horses, when he changes his steed, seems to forget altogether the last which he had mounted. Now, it is a part of my pride and pleasure to say, that I never in my life changed my deliberate opinion upon any great question of national policy but once, and that was twenty-two years ago, on the question of the power to establish a bank of the United States. The change was wrought by the sad and disastrous experience of the want of such an institution, growing out of the calamities of war. It was a change which I made in common with Mr. Madison, two gov- ernors of Virginia, and the great body of the republican party, to which I have ever be- longed. " The distinguished senator sticks long to no hobby. He was once gayly mounted on that of internal improvements. We rode that double — the senator before, and I behind him. He quietly slipped off, leaving me to hold the bridle. He introduced and carried through Congress in 1816, the bill setting apart the large bonus of the Bank of the United States for internal im- provements. His speech, delivered on that oc- casion, does not intimate the smallest question as to the constitutional power of the govern- ment, but proceeds upon the assumption of its being incontestable. When he was subse- quently in the department of war, he made to Congress a brilliant report, sketching as splen- did and magnificent a scheme of internal im- provements for the entire nation, as ever was presented to the admiration and wonder of mankind. " No, sir, the senator from South Carolina is free from all reproach of sticking to hobbies. He was for a bank of the United States in 1816. He proposed, supported, and with his accus- tomed ability, carried through the charter. He sustained it upon its admitted grounds of con- stitutionality, of which he never once breathed the expression of a doubt. During the twenty years of its Continuance no scruple ever escaped from him as to the power to create it. And in 1834, when it was about to expire, he delibe- rately advocated the renewal of its term for twelve years more. How profound he may suppose the power of analysis to be, and what- ever opinion he may entertain of his own meta- physical faculty, — can he imagine that any plain, practical, common sense man can ever comprehend how it is constitutional to prolong an unconstitutional bank for twelve years ? He may have all the speeches he has ever delivered read to us in an audible voice by the secretary, and call upon the Senate attentively to hear them, beginning with his speech in favor of a bank of the United States in 1816, down to his speech against a bank of the United States, delivered the other day, and he will have made no progress in his task. I do not speak this in any unkind spirit, but I will tell the honorable senator when he will be consistent. He will be so, when he resolves henceforward, during the residue of his life, never to pronounce the word again. We began our public career nearly together ; we remained together through- 116 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. out the war and down to the peace. We agreed as to a bank of the United States — as to a pro- tective tariff — as to internal improvements — and lately, as to those arbitrary and violent measures which characterized the administra- tion of General Jackson. No two prominent public men ever agreed better together in re- spect to important measures of national policy. We concur now in nothing. We separate for ever." Mr. Calhoun. " The senator from Kentucky says that the sentiments contained in my Edge- field letter then met his view for the first time, and that he read that document with equal pain and amazement. Now it happens that I ex- pressed these self-same sentiments just as strongly in 1834, in a speech which was received with unbounded applause by that gentleman's own party; and of which a vast number of copies were published and circulated through- out the United States. " But the senator tells us that he is among the most constant men in this world. I am not in the habit of charging others with incon- sistency ; but one thing I will say, that if the gentleman has not changed his principles, he has most certainly changed his company ; for, though he boasts of setting out in public life a republican of the school of '98, he is now sur- rounded by some of the most distinguished members of the old federal party. I do not de- sire to disparage that party. I always respected them as men, though I believed their political principles to be wrong. Now, either the gen- tleman's associates have changed, or he has ; for they are now together, though belonging formerly to different and opposing parties — par- ties, as every one knows, directly opposed to each other in policy and principles. (: He says I was in favor of the tariff of 1816, and took the lead in its support. He is cer- tainly mistaken again. It was in charge of my colleague and friend, Mr. Lowndes, chairman then of the committee of Ways and Means, as a revenue measure only. I took no other part whatever but to deliver an off-hand speech, at the request of a friend. The question of pro- tection, as a constitutional question, was not touched at all. It was not made, if my memo- ry serves me, for some years after. As to pro- tection, I believe little of it, except what all ad- mit was incidental to revenue, was contained in the act of 1816. As to my views in regard to protection at that early period, I refer to my remarks in 1813, when I opposed a renewal of the non-importation act, expressly on the ground of its giving too much protection to the manufacturers. But while I declared, in my place, that I was opposed to it on that ground, I at the same time stated that I would go as far as I could with propriety, when peace return- ed, to protect the capital which the war and the extreme policy of the government had turned into that channel. The senator refers to my report on internal improvement, when I was secretary of war ; but, as usual with him, for- gets to tell that I made it in obedience to a res- olution of the House, to which I was bound to answer, and that I expressly stated I did not involve the constitutional question ; of which the senator may now satisfy himself, if he will read the latter part of the report. As to the bonus bill, it grew out of the recommendation of Mr. Madison in his last message; and al- though I proposed that the bonus should be set apart for the purpose of internal improve- ment, leaving it to be determined thereafter, whether we had the power, or the constitution should be amended, in conformity to Mr. Madi- son's recommendation. I did not touch the question to what extent Congress might pos- sess the power ; and when requested to insert a direct recognition of the power by some of the leading members, I refused, expressly on the ground that, though I believed it existed, I had not made up my mind how far it extended. As to the bill, it was perfectly constitutional in my opinion then, and which still remains unchanged, to set aside the fund proposed, and with the object intended, but which could not be used without specific appropriations there- after. " In my opening remarks to-day, I said the senator's speech was remarkable, both for its omissions and mistakes ; and the senator infers, with his usual inaccuracy, that I alluded to a difference between his spoken and printed speech, and that I was answering the latter. In this he was mistaken ; I hardly ever read a speech, but reply to what is said here in de- bate. I know no other but the speech deliver- ed here. "As to the arguments of each of us, I am willing to leave them to the judgment of the country : his speech and arguments, and mine, will be read with the closer attention and deeper interest in consequence of this day's occurrence. It is all I ask." Mr. Clay. " It is very true that the senator had on other occasions, besides his Edgefield letter, claimed that the influence arising from the interference of his own State had effected the tariff compromise. Mr. C. had so stated the fact when up before. But in the Edge- field letter the senator took new ground, he de- nounced those with whom he had been acting, as persons in whom he could have no confi- dence, and imputed to them the design of re- newing a high tariff and patronizing extrava- gant expenditures, as the natural consequences of the establishment of a bank of the United States, and had presented this as a reason for his recent course. When, said Mr. C, I saw a charge like this, together with an imputation of unworthy motives, and all this deliberately written and published, I could not but feel very differently from what I should have done under a mere casual remark. ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 117 " But the senator says, that if I have not changed principles, I have at least got into strange company. Why really, Mr. President, the gentleman has so recently changed his rela- tions that he seems to have forgotten into what company he has fallen himself. He says that some of my friends once belonged to the federal party. Sir, I am ready to go into an examination with the honorable senator at any time, and then we shall see if there are not more members of that same old federal party amongst those whom the senator has so re- cently joined, than on our side of the house. The plain truth is, that it is the old federal par- ty with whom he is now acting. For all the former grounds of difference which distin- guished that party, and were the great subjects of contention between them and the republi- cans, have ceased from lapse of time and change of circumstances, with the exception of one, and that is the maintenance and increase of execu- tive power. This was a leading policy of the federal party. A strong, powerful, and ener- getic executive was its favorite tenet. The leading members of that party had come out of the national convention with an impression that under the new constitution the executive arm was too weak. The danger they apprehended was, that the executive would be absorbed by the legislative department of the government ; and accordingly the old federal doctrine was that the Executive must be upheld, that its in- fluence must be extended and strengthened ; and as a means to this, that its patronage must be multiplied. And what, I pray, is at this hour the leading object of that party, which the senator has joined, but this very thing ? It was maintained in the convention by Mr. Madi- son, that to remove a public officer without valid cause, would rightfully subject a president of the United States to impeachment. But now not only is no reason required, but the principle is maintained that no reason can be asked. A is removed and B is put in his place, because such is the pleasure of the president. " The senator is fond of the record. I should not myself have gone to it but for the infinite gravity and self-complacency with which he appeals to it in vindication of his own consis- tency. Let me then read a little from one of the very speeches in 1834, from which he has so liberally qitoted, and called upon the secre- tary to read so loud, and the Senate to listen so attentively : " But there is in my opinion a strong, if not an insuperable objection against resorting to this measure, resulting from the fact that an exclusive receipt of specie in the treasury would, to give it efficacy, and to prevent extensive speculation and fraud, require an entire disconnection on the part of the gov- ernment, with the banking system, in all its forms, and a re- sort to the 6trong box, as the means of preserving and guard- ing its funds— a means, if practicable at all in the present state of things, liable to the objection of being far less safe, econo- mical, and efficient, than the present." " Here is a strong denunciation of that very system he is now eulogising to the skies. Here he deprecates a disconnection with all banks as a most disastrous measure ; and, as the strongest argument against it, says that it will necessarily lead to the antiquated policy of the strong box. Yet, now the senator thinks the strong box system the wisest thing on earth. As to the acquiescence of the honorable senator in mea- sures deemed by him unconstitutional, I only regret that he suddenly stopped short in his acquiescence. He was, in 1816, at the head of the finance committee, in the other House, having been put there by myself, acquiescing all the while in the doctrines of a bank, as perfectly sound, and reporting to that effect. He acqui- esced for nearly twenty years, not a doubt es- caping from him during the whole time. The year 1834 comes : the deposits are seized, the currency turned up side down, and the senator comes forward and proposes as a remedy a con- tinuation of the Bank of the United States for twelve years — here acquiescing once more ; and as he tells us, in order to save the country. But if the salvation of the country would justify his acquiescence in 181G and in 1834, 1 can only regret that he did not find it in his heart to acquiesce once more in what would have reme- died all our evils. " In regard to the tariff of 1816, has the senator forgotten the dispute at that time about the protection of the cotton manufacture ? The very point of that dispute was, whether we had a right to give protection or not. He admits the truth of what I said, that the constitutional question as to the power of the government to protect our own industry was never raised be- fore 1820 or 1822. It was but first hinted, then controverted, and soon after expanded into nul- lification, although the senator had supported the tariff of 1816 on the very ground that we had power. I do not now recollect distinctly his whole course in the legislature, but he cer- tainly introduced the bonus bill in 1816, and sustained it by a speech on the subject of in- ternal improvements, which neither expresses nor implies a doubt of the constitutional power. But why set apart a bonus, if the government had no power to make internal improvements ? If he wished internal improvements, but con- scientiously believed them unconstitutional, why did he not introduce a resolution proposing to amend the constitution 7 Yet he offered no such thing. When he produced his splendid report from the war department, what did he mean? Why did he tantalize us with that bright and gorgeous picture of canals and roads, and piers and harbors, if it was unconstitutional for us to touch the plan with one of our fingers ? The senator says in reply, that this report did not broach the constitutional question. True. But why ? Is there any other conclusion than that he did not entertain himself any doubt about it? What a most extraordinary thing would it be, should the head of a department, in his official capacity, present a report to both 118 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. houses of Congress, proposing a most elaborate plan for the internal improvement of the whole union, accompanied by estimates and statistical tables, when he believed there was no power in either house to adopt any part of it. The sena- tor dwells upon his consistency : I can tell him when he will be consistent — and that is when he shall never pronounce that word again." Mr. Calhoun. " As to the tariff of 1816, 1 never denied that Congress have the power to impose a protective tariff for the purpose of revenue ; and beyond that the tariff of 1816 did not go one inch. The question of the con- stitutionality of the protective tariff was never raised till some time afterwards. " As to what the senator says of executive power, I, as much as he, am opposed to its aug- mentation, and I will go as far in preventing it as any man in this House. I maintain that the executive and judicial authorities should have no discretionary power, and as soon as they begin to exercise such power, the matter should be taken up by Congress. These opinions are well grounded in my mind, and I will go as far as any in bringing the Executive to this point. But, I believe, the Executive is now outstripped by the congressional power. He is for restrict- ing the one. I war upon both. " The senator says I assigned as a reason of my course at the extra session that I suspected that he and the gentleman with whom he acted would revive the tariff. I spoke not of the tariff, but a national bank. I believe that banks natu- rally and assuredly ally themselves to taxes on the community. The higher the taxes the greater their profits ; and so it is with regard to a sur- plus and the government disbursements. If the banking power is on the side of a national bank, I see in that what may lead to all the conse- quences which I have described ; and I oppose institutions that are likely to lead to such re- sults. When the bank should receive the money of the government, it would ally itself to taxa- tion, and it ought to be resisted on that ground. I am very glad that the question is now fairly met. The fate of the country depends on the point of separation ; if there be a separation be- tween the government and banks, the banks will be on the republican side in opposition to taxes ; if they unite, they will be in favor of the exercise of the taxing power. " The senator says I acquiesced in the use of the banks because the banks existed. I did so because the connection existed. The banks were already used as depositories of the government, and it was impossible at once to reverse that state of things. I went on the ground that the banks were a necessary evil. The State banks exist ; and would not he be a madman that would annihilate them because their respective bills are uncurrent in distant parts of the coun- try ? The work of creating them is done, and cannot be reversed ; when once done, it is done for ever. " I was formerly decided in favor of separating the banks and the government, but it was im- possible then to make it, and it would have been followed by nothing but disaster. The senator says the separation already exists ; but it is only contingent ; whenever the banks resume, the connection will be legally restored. In 1834 I objected to the sub-treasury project, and I thought it not as safe as the system now before us. But it turns out that it was more safe, as appears from the argument of the senator from Delaware, (Mr. Bayard.) I was then under the impression that the banks were more safe but it proves otherwise." Mr. Clay. " If the senator would review his speech again, he would see there a plain and explicit denunciation of a sub-treasury system. " The distinguished senator from South Caro- lina (I had almost said my friend from South Carolina, so lately and so abruptly has he bursted all amicable relations between us, independent of his habit of change, I think, when he finds into what federal doctrines and federal company he has gotten, he will be disposed soon to feel regret and to return to us,) has not, I am per- suaded, weighed sufficiently the import of the unkind imputations contained in his Edgefield letter towards his former allies — imputations that their principles are dangerous to our insti- tutions, and of their want of firmness and pa- triotism. I have read that singular letter again and again, with inexpressible surprise and re- gret ; more, however, if he will allow me to say so, on his own than on our account. " Mr. President, I am done ; and I sincerely hope that the adjustment of the account between the senator and myself, just made, may be as satisfactory to him as I assure him and the Senate it is perfectly so to me." Mr. Calhoun. " I have more to say, but will forbear, as the senator appears desirous of hav- ing the last word." Mr. Clay. "Not at all." The personal debate between Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Clay terminated for the day, and with apparent good feeling ; but only to break out speedily on a new point, and to lead to further political revelations important to history Mr. Calhoun, after a long alienation, personal as well as political, from Mr. Van Buren, and bitter warfare upon him, had become reconciled to him in both capacities, and had made a complimen- tary call upon him, and had expressed to him an approbation of his leading measures. All this was natural and proper after he had be- come a public supporter of these measures ; but a manifestation of respect and confidence so de- cided, after a seven years' perseverance in a war- fare so bitter, could not be expected to pass ANNO 1888. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 119 without the imputation of sinister motives; and, accordingly, a design upon the presidency as successor to Mr. Van Buren was attributed to him. The opposition newspapers abounded with this imputation; and an early occasion was taken in the Senate to make it the subject of a public debate. Mr. Calhoun had brought into the Senate a bill to cede to the several States the public lands within their limits, after a sale of the saleable parts at graduated prices, for the benefit of both parties — the new States and the United States. It was the same bill Avhich he had brought in two years before ; but Mr. Clay, taking it up as a new measure, inquired if it was an administra- tion measure? whether he had brought it in with the concurrence of the President ? If no- thing more had been said Mr. Calhoun could have answered, that it was the same bill which he had brought in two years before, when he was in opposition to the administration ; and that his reasons for bringing it in were the same now as then ; but Mr. Clay went on to taunt him with his new relations with the chief magistrate, and to connect the bill with the visit to Mr. Van Buren and approval of his measures. Mr. Cal- houn saw that the inquiry was only a vehicle for the taunt, and took it up accordingly in that sense : and this led to an exposition of the rea- sons which induced him to join Mr. Van Buren, and to explanations on other points, which be- long to history. Mr. Clay began the debate thus : " "Whilst up, Mr. Clay would be glad to learn whether the administration is in favor of or against this measure, or stands neutral and un- committed. This inquiry he should not make, if the recent relations between the senator who introduced this bill and the head of that admin- istration, continued to exist; but rumors, of which the city, the circles, and the press are full, assert that those relations are entirely changed, and have, within a few days, been substituted by others of an intimate, friendly, and confidential nature. And shortly after the time when this new state of things is alleged to have taken place, the senator gave notice of his in- tention to move to introduce this bill. Whether this motion has or has not any connection with that adjustment of former differences, the public would, he had no doubt, be glad to know. At all events, it is important to know in what re- lation of support, opposition, or neutrality, the administration actually stands to this momen- tous measure ; and he [Mr. C] supposed that the senator from South Carolina, or some other senator, could communicate the desired informa- tion." Mr. Calhoun, besides vindicating himself, re- buked the indecorum of making his personal conduct a subject of public remark in the Sen- ate ; and threw back the taunt by reminding Mr. Clay of his own change in favor of Mr. Adams. " He said the senator from Kentucky had in- troduced other, and extraneous personal matter ; and asked whether the bill had the sanction of the Executive ; assigning as a reason for his in- quiry, that, if rumor was to be credited, a change of personal relation had taken place between the President and myself within the last few days. He [Mr. C] would appeal to the Senate whether it was decorous or proper that his per- sonal relations should be drawn in question here. Whether he should establish or suspend personal relations with the President, or any other person, is a private and personal concern, which belongs to himself individually to deter- mine on the propriety, without consulting any one, much less the senator. It was none of his concern, and he has no right to question me in relation to it. " But the senator assumes that a change in my personal relations involves a change of poli- tical position ; and it is on that he founds his right to make the inquiry. He judges, doubt- less, by his own experience ; but I would have him to understand, said Mr. C, that what may be true in his own case on a memorable occa- sion, is not true in mine. His political course may be governed by personal considerations ; but mine, I trust, is governed strictly by my principles, and is not at all under the control of my attachments or enmities. Whether the President is personally my friend or enemy, has no influence over me in the discharge of my duties, as, I trust, my course has abundantly proved. Mr. C. concluded by saying, that he felt that these were improper topics to intro- duce here, and that he had passed over them as briefly as possible." This retort gave new scope and animation to the debate, and led to further expositions of the famous compromise of 1833, which was a matter of concord between them at the time, and of discord ever since ; and which, being much con- demned in the first volume of this work, the authors of it are entitled to their own vindica- tions when they choose to make them : and this they found frequent occasion to do. The debate proceeded : " Mr. Clay contended that his question, as to whether this was an administration measure or 120 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. not, was a proper one, as it was important for the public information. He again referred to the rumors of Mr. Calhoun's new relations with the President, and supposed from the declara- tions of the senator, that these rumors were true ; and that his support, if not pledged, was at least promised conditionally to the adminis- tration. Was it of no importance to the public to learn that these pledges and compromises had been entered into ? — that the distinguished sena- tor had made his bow in court, kissed the hand of the monarch, was taken into favor, and agreed henceforth to support his edicts ? " This allusion to rumored pledges and condi- tions on which Mr. Calhoun had joined Mr. Van Buren, provoked a retaliatory notice of what the same rumor had bruited at the time that Mr. Clay became the supporter of Mr. Adams ; and Mr. Calhoun said : " The senator from Kentucky had spoken much of pledges, understandings, and political compromises, and sudden change of personal re- lations. He [said Mr. C] is much more expe- rienced in such things than I am. If my mem- ory serves me, and if rumors are to be trusted, the senator had a great deal to do with such things, in connection with a distinguished citi- zen, now of the other House ; and it is not at all surprising, from his experience then, in his own case, that he should not be indisposed to believe similar rumors of another now. But whether his sudden change of personal relations then, from bitter enmity to the most confiden- tial friendship with that citizen, was preceded by pledges, understandings, and political com- promises on the part of one or both, it is not for me to say. The country has long since passed on that." All this taunt on both sides was mere irrita- tion, having no foundation in fact. It so hap- pened that the writer of this View, on each of these occasions (of sudden conjunctions with former adversaries), stood in a relation to know what took place. In one case he was confiden- tial with Mr. Clay ; in the other with Mr. Van Buren. In a former chapter he has given his testimony in favor of Mr. Clay, and against the imputed bargain with Mr. Adams : he can here give it in favor of Mr. Calhoun. He is entirely certain — as much so as it is possible to be in sup- porting a negative — that no promise, pledge, or condition of any kind, took place between Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Van Buren, in coming together as they did at this juncture. How far Mr. Cal- houn might have looked to his own chance of succeeding Mr. Van Buren, is another question, and a fair one. The succession was certainly open in the democratic line. Those who stood nearest the head of the party had no desire for the presidency, but the contrary; and only wished a suitable chief magistrate at the head of the government — giving him a cordial sup- port in all patriotic measures; and preserving their independence by refusing his favors. This allusion refers especially to Mr. Silas Wright ; and if it had not been for a calamitous confla- gration, there might be proof that it would ap- ply to another. Both Mr. Wright and Mr. Benton refused cabinet appointments from Mr. Van Buren; and repressed every movement in their favor towards the presidency. Under such circumstances, Mr. Calhoun might have indulged in a vision of the democratic succes- sion, after the second term of Mr. Van Buren, without the slippery and ignominious contriv- ance of attempting to contract for it before- hand. There was certainly a talk about it, and a sounding of public men. Two different friends of Mr. Calhoun, at two different times and places, — one in Missouri (Thomas Hudson, Esq.), and the other in Washington (Gov. Wil- liam Smith, of Virginia), — inquired of this writer whether he had said that he could not support Mr. Calhoun for the presidency, if nominated by a democratic convention? and were answered that he had, and because Mr. Calhoun was the author of nullification, and of measures tending to the dissolution of the Union. The answer went into the newspapers, without the agency of him who gave it, and without the reasons which he gave : and his opposition was set down to causes equally gratuitous and unfounded — one, personal ill-will to Mr. Calhoun ; the other, a hankering after the place himself. But to return to Messrs. Clay and Calhoun. These reciprocal taunts having been indulged in, the debate took a more elevated turn, and entered the region of history. Mr. Calhoun continued : "I will assure the senator, if there were pledges in his case, there were none in mine. I have terminated my long-suspended personal intercourse with the President, without the slightest pledge, understanding, or compromise, on either side. I would be the last to receive or exact such. The transition from their for- mer to their present personal relation was easy and natural, requiring nothing of the kind. It gives me pleasure to say, thus openly, that I have approved of all the leading measures of the President, since he took the Executive ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 121 chair, simply because they accord with the prin- ciples and policy on which I have long acted, and often openly avowed. The change, then, in our personal relations, had simply followed that of our political. Nor was it made suddenly, as the senator charges. So far from it, more than two years have elapsed since I gave a decided support to the leading measure of the Execu- tive, and on which almost all others since have turned. This long interval was permitted to pass, in order that his acts might give assurance whether there was a coincidence between our political views as to the principles on which the government should be administered, before our personal relations should be changed. I deemed it due to both thus long to delay the change, among other reasons to discountenance such idle rumors as the senator alludes to. That his political course might be judged (said Mr. Cal- houn) by the object he had in view, and not the suspicion and jealousy of his political opponents, he would repeat what he had said, at the last session, was his object. It is, said he, to oblit- erate all those measures which had originated in the national consolidation school of politics, and especially the senator's famous American system, which he believed to be hostile to the constitution and the genius of our political sys- tem, and the real source of all the disorders and dangers to which the country was, or had been, subject. This done, he was for giving the gov- ernment a fresh departure, in the direction in which Jefferson and his associates would give, were they now alive and at the helm. He stood where he had always stood, on the old State rights ground. His change of personal relation, which gave so much concern to the senator, so far from involving any change in his principles or doctrines, grew out of them." The latter part of this reply of Mr. Calhoun is worthy of universal acceptance, and perpetual remembrance. The real source of all the disor- ders to which the country was, or had been subject, was in the system of legislation which encouraged the industry of one part of the Union at the expense of the other — which gave rise to extravagant expenditures, to be expended unequally in the two sections of the Union — and which left the Southern section to pay the expenses of a system which exhausted her. This remarkable declaration of Mr. Calhoun was made in 1839 — being four years after the slavery agitation had superseded the tariff agitation, — and which went back to that system of meas- ures, of which protective tariff was the main- spring, to find, and truly find, the real source of all the dangers and disorders of the country — past and present. Mr. Clay replied : " He had understood the senator as felicitat- ing himself on the opportunity which had been now afforded him by Mr. C. of defining once more his political position; and Mr. C. must say that he had now defined it very clearly, and had apparently given it a new definition. The senator now declared that all the leading measures of the present administration had met his approbation, and should receive his support. It turned out, then, that the rumor to which Mr. C. had alluded was true, and that the sen- ator from South Carolina might be hereafter regarded as a supporter of this administration, since he had declared that all its leading meas- ures were approved by him, and should have his support. As to the allusion which the sen- ator from South Carolina had made in regard to Mr. C.'s support of the head of another ad- ministration [Mr. Adams], it occasioned Mr. C. no pain whatever. It was an old story, which had long been sunk in oblivion, except when the senator and a few others thought proper to bring it up. But what were the facts of that case ? Mr. C. was then a member of the House of Representatives, to whom three persons had been returned, from whom it was the duty of the House to make a selection for the presiden- c}^. As to one of those three candidates, he was known to be in an unfortunate condition, in which no one sympathized with him more than did Mr. C. Certainly the senator from South Carolina did not. That gentleman was there- fore out of the question as a candidate for the chief magistracy ; and Mr. C. had consequently the only alternative of the illustrious individual at the Hermitage, or of the man who was now distinguished in the House of Representatives, and who had held so many public places with honor to himself, and benefit to the country. And if there was any truth in history, the choice which Mr. C. then made was precisely the choice which the senator from South Caro- lina had urged upon his friends. The senator himself had declared his preference of Adams to Jackson. Mr. C. made the same choice ; and his constituents had approved it from that day to this, and would to eternity. History would ratify and approve it. Let the senator from South Carolina make any thing out of that part of Mr. C.'s public career if he could. Mr. C. defied him. The senator had alluded to Mr. C. as the advocate of compromise. Certainly he was. This government itself, to a great ex- tent, was founded and rested on compromise ; and to the particular compromise to which al- lusion had been made, Mr. C. thought no man ought to be more grateful for it than the sena- tor from South Carolina. But for that com- promise, Mr. C. was not at all confident that he would have now had the honor to meet that senator face to face in this national capitol." The allusion in the latter part of this reply was to the President's declared determination to execute the laws upon Mr. Calhoun if an 122 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. overt act of treason should be committed under the nullification ordinance of South Carolina ; and the preparations for which (overt act) were too far advanced to admit of another step, either backwards or forwards ; and from which most critical condition the compromise relieved those who were too deeply committed, to retreat with- out ruin, or to advance without personal peril. Mr. Calhoun's reply was chiefly directed to this pregnant allusion. " The senator from Kentucky has said, Mr. President, that I, of all men, ought to be grate- ful to him for the compromise act. [Mr. Clay. k I did not say ' to me.' "] " The senator claims to be the author of that measure, and, of course, if there be any gratitude due, it must be to him. I, said Mr. Calhoun, made no allusion to that act ; but as the senator has thought proper to refer to it, and claim my gratitude, I, in turn, now tell him I feel not the least gratitude towards him for it. The meas- ure was necessary to save the senator politi- cally : and as he has alluded to the subject, both on this and on a former occasion, I feel bound to explain what might otherwise have been left in oblivion. The senator was then compelled to compromise to save himself. Events had placed him flat on his back, and he had no way to re- cover himself but by the compromise. This is no after thought. I wrote more than half a dozen of letters home at the time to that effect. I shall now explain. The proclamation and message of General Jackson necessarily rallied around him all the steadfast friends of the sena- tor's system. They withdrew their allegiance at once from him, and transferred it to General Jackson. The senator was thus left in the most hopeless condition, with no more weight with his former partisans than this sheet of paper (raising a sheet from his desk). This is not all. The position which General Jackson had assumed, necessarily attracted towards him a distinguish- ed senator from Massachusetts, not now here [Mr. Webster], who, it is clear, would have reaped all the political honors and advantages of the system, had the contest come to blows. These causes made the political condition of the senator truly forlorn at the time. On him rested all the responsibility, as the author of the system; while all the power and influence it gave, had passed into the hands of others. Com- promise was the only means of extrication. He was thus forced by the action of the State, which I in part represent, against his system, by my counsel to compromise, in order to save him- self. I had the mastery over him on the occa- sion." This is historical, and is an inside view of his- tory. Mr. Webster, in that great contest of nullification, was on the side of President Jack- son, and the supreme defender of his great measure — the Proclamation of 1833 ; and the first and most powerful opponent of the measure out of which it grew. It was a splen- did era in his life— both for his intellect, and his patriotism. No longer the advocate of classes, or interests, he appeared the great de- fender of the Union — of the constitution — of the country — and of the administration, to which he was opposed. Released from the bonds of party, and from the narrow confines of class and corporation advocacy, his colossal intellect expanded to its full proportions in the field of patriotism, luminous with the fires of genius ; and commanding the homage, not of party, but of country. His magnificent ha- rangues touched Jackson in his deepest-seated and ruling feeling — love of country ! and brought forth the response which always came from him when the country was in peril, and a defender presented himself. He threw out the right hand of fellowship — treated Mr. Webster with marked distinction — commended him with public praise — and placed him on the roll of pa- triots. And the public mind took the belief, that they were to act together in future ; and that a cabinet appointment, or a high mission, would be the reward of his patriotic service. (It was the report of such expected preferment that excited Mr. Randolph (then in no condi- tion to bear excitement) against General Jack- son.) It was a crisis in the political life of Mr. Webster. He stood in public opposition to Mr. Clay and Mr. Calhoun. With Mr. Clay he had a public outbreak in the Senate. He was cor- dial with Jackson. The mass of his party stood by him on the proclamation. He was at a point from which a new departure might be taken : — one at which he could not stand still : from which there must be advance, or recoil. It was a case in which will, more than intellect, was to rule. He was above Mr. Clay and Mr. Calhoun in intellect — below them in will. And he was soon seen co-operating with them (Mr. Clay in the lead), in the great measure con- demning President Jackson. And so passed away the fruits of the golden era of 1833. It was to the perils of this conjunction (of Jack- son and Webster) that Mr. Calhoun referred, as the forlorn condition from which the com- promise relieved Mr. Clay: and, allowing to each the benefit of his assertion, history avails ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 123 herself of the declarations of each in giving an inside view of personal motives for a momen- tous public act. And, without deciding a ques- tion of mastery in the disputed victory, History performs her task in recording the fact that, in a brief space, both Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Web- ster were seen following the lead of Mr. Clay in his great attack upon President Jackson in the session of 1834-'35. "Mr. Clay, rejoining, said he had made no allusion to the compromise bill till it was done by the senator from South Carolina himself; he made no reference to the events of 1825 until the senator had himself set him the example ; and he had not in the slightest and the most distant manner alluded to nullification until after the senator himself had called it up. The senator ought not to have introduced that sub- ject, especially when he had gone over to the authors of the force bill and the proclamation. The senator from South Carolina said that he [Mr. C] was flat on his back, and that he was my master. Sir, I would not own him as my slave. He my master ! and I compelled by him ! And, as if it were impossible to go far enough in one paragraph, he refers to certain letters of his own to prove that I was flat on my back ! and, that I was not only on my back, but an- other senator and the President had robbed me ! I was flat on my back, and unable to do any thing but what the senator from South Carolina permitted me to do ! " Why, sir, [said Mr. C] I gloried in my strength, and was compelled to introduce the compromise bill ; and compelled, too, by the senator, not in consequence of the weakness, but of the strength, of my position. If it was possible for the senator from South Carolina to introduce one paragraph without showing the egotism of his character, he would not now ac- knowledge that he wrote letters home to show that he (Mr. C.) was flat on his back, while he was indebted to him for that measure which re- lieved him from the difficulties in which he was involved. Now, what was the history of the case ? Flat as he was on his back, Mr. C. said he was able to produce that compromise, and to carry it through the Senate, in opposition to the most strenuous exertions of the gentleman who, the senator from South Carolina said, had sup- planted him, and in spite of his determined and unceasing opposition. There was (said Mr. C.) a sort of necessity operating on me to compel me to introduce that measure. No necessity of a personal character influenced him; but considerations involving the interests, the peace and harmony of the whole country, as well as of the State of South Carolina, directed him in the course he pursued. He saw the condition of the senator from South Carolina and that of his friends ; he saw the condition to which he had reduced the gallant little State of South Carolina by his unwise and dangerous measures; he saw, too, that we were on the eve of a civil war; and he wished to save the effusion of blood — the blood of our own fellow-citizens. That was one reason why he introduced the compromise bill. There was another reason that powerfully operated on him. The very in- terest that the tariff laws were enacted to pro- tect — so great was the power of the then chief magistrate, and so rapidly was that power in- creasing — was in danger of being sacrificed. He saw that the protective system was in danger of being swept away entirely, and probably at the next session of Congress, by the tremendous power of the individual who then filled the Exe- cutive chair ; and he felt that the greatest service that he could render it, would be to obtain for it ' a lease for a term of years,' to use an expres- sion that had been heretofore applied to the com- promise bill. He saw the necessity that existed to save the protective system from the danger which threatened it. He saw the necessity to advance the great interests of the nation, to avert civil war, and to restore peace and har- mony to a distracted and divided country ; and it was therefore that he had brought forward this measure. The senator from South Carolina, to betray still further and more strikingly the characteristics which belonged to him, said, that in consequence of his (Mr. C.'s) remarks this very day, all obligations towards him on the part of himself (Mr. Calhoun), of the State of South Carolina, and the whole South, were can- celled. And what right had the senator to get up and assume to speak of the whole South, or even of South Carolina herself? If he was not mistaken in his judgment of the political signs of the times, and if the information which came to him was to be relied on, a day would come, and that not very distant neither, when the senator would not dare to rise in his place and presume to speak as he had this day done, as the organ of the gallant people of the State he represented." The concluding remark of Mr. Clay was founded on the belief, countenanced by many signs, that the State of South Carolina would not go with Mr. Calhoun in support of Mr. Van Buren ; but he was mistaken. The State stood by her distinguished senator, and even gave her presidential vote for Mr. Van Buren at the en- suing election — being the first time she had voted in a presidential election since 1829. Mr. Grundy, and some other senators, put an end to this episodical and personal debate by turning the Senate to a vote on the bill before it. 124 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW CHAPTER XXIX. INDEPENDENT TEEASUEY, or, DIVOECE OE BANK AND STATE: PASSED IN THE SENATE: LOST IN THE HOUSE OF EEPEESENTATIVES. This great measure consisted of two distinct parts : 1. The keeping of the public moneys : 2. The hard money currency in which they were to be paid. The two measures together completed the system of financial reform recom- mended by the President. The adoption of either of them singly would be a step — and a step going half the distance — towards establish- ing the whole system : and as it was well sup- posed that some of the democratic party would balk at the hard money payments, it was de- termined to propose the measures singly. With this view the committee reported a bill for the Independent Treasury — that is to say, for the keeping of the government moneys by its own officers — without designating the currency to be paid to them. But there was to be a loss either way ; for unless the hard money pay- ments were made a part of the act in the first instance, Mr. Calhoun and some of his friends could not vote for it. He therefore moved an amendment to that effect ; and the hard money friends of the administration supporting his motion, although preferring that it had not been made, and some others voting for it as making the bill obnoxious to some other friends of the administration, it was carried; and became a part of the bill. At the last moment, and when the bill had been perfected as far as possible by its friends, and the final vote on its passage was ready to be taken, a motion was made to strike out that section — and carried — by the helping vote of some of the friends of the administration — as was well remarked by Mr. Calhoun. The vote was, for striking out — Messrs. Bayard, Bu- chanan, Clay of Kentucky, Clayton (Jno. M.), Crittenden, Cuthbert, Davis of Mississippi, Ful- ton, Grundy, Knight, M'Kean, Merrick, Morris, Nicholas, Prentiss, Preston, Rives, Robbins, Robinson, Ruggles, Sevier, Smith, of Indiana. Southard, Spence, Swift, Talmadge, Tipton, Wall, White, Webster, Williams— 31. On the other hand only twenty-one senators voted for retaining the clause. They were — Messrs. Allen, of Ohio, Benton, Brown of North Carolina, Cal- houn, Clay of Alabama, Hubbard of New Hampshire, King of Alabama, Linn of Mis- souri, Lumpkin of Georgia, Lyon of Michigan. Mouton of Louisiana, Niles, Norveli, Franklin Pierce, Roane of Virginia, Smith of Connecti- cut, Strange of North Carolina, Trotter of Mis- sissippi, Robert J. Walker, Silas Wright, Young of Illinois— 21. This section being struck from the bill, Mr. Calhoun could no longer vote for it; and gave his reasons, which justice to him requires to be preserved in his own words : " On the motion of the senator from Georgia (Mr. Cuthbert), the 23d section, which pro- vides for the collection of the dues of the gov- ernment in specie, was struck out, with the aid of a few on this side, and the entire opposition to the divorce on the other. That section pro- vided for the repeal of the joint resolution of 1816, which authorizes the receipt of bank notes as cash in the dues of the public. The effects of this will be, should the bill pass in its present shape, that the government will collect its revenue and make its disbursements ex- clusively in bank notes ; as it did before the suspension took place in May last. Things will stand precisely as they did then, with but a single exception, that the public deposits will be made with the officers of the government instead of the banks, under the provision of the deposit act of 1836. Thus far is certain. All agree that such is the fact ; and such the effect of the passage of this bill as it stands. Now, he intended to show conclusively, that the dif- ference between depositing the public money with the public officers, or with the banks themselves, was merely nominal, as far as the operation and profits of the banks were con- cerned; that they would not make one cent less profit, or issue a single dollar less, if the deposits be kept by the officers of the govern- ment instead of themselves ; and, of course, that the system would be equally subject to expan- sions and contractions, and equally exposed to catastrophes like the present, in the one, as the other, mode of keeping. " But he had other and insuperable objections. In giving the bill originally his support, he was governed by a deep conviction that the total separation of the government and the banks was indispensable. He firmly believed that we had reached a point where the separation was absolutely necessary to save both government and banks. He was under a strong impression that the banking system had reached a point of decrepitude — that great and important changes were necessary to save it and prevent convul- sions ; and that the first step was a perpetual separation between them and the government. But there could be, in his opinion, no separation ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 125 — no divorce — without collecting the public dues in the legal and constitutional currency of the country. Without that, all would prove a perfect delusion ; as this bill would prove should it pass. We had no constitutional right to treat the notes of mere private corporations as cash ; and if we did, nothing would be done. " These views, and many others similar, he had openly expressed, in which the great body of the gentlemen around him had concurred. We stand openly pledged to them before the country and the world. We had fought the battle manfully and successfully. The cause was good, and having stood the first shock, no- thing was necessary, but firmness ; standing fast on our position to ensure victory — a great and glorious victory in a noble cause, which was calculated to effect a more important re- formation in the condition of society than any in our time — he, for one, could not agree to terminate all those mighty efforts, at this and the extra session, by returning to a complete and perfect reunion with the banks in the worst and most dangerous form. He would not belie all that he had said and done, by voting for the bill as it now stood amended ; and to terminate that which was so gloriously begun, in so miser- able a farce. He could not but feel deeply dis- appointed in what he had reason to apprehend would be the result — to have all our efforts and labor thrown away, and the hopes of the coun- try disappointed. All would be lost ! No ; he expressed himself too strongly. Be the vote what it may, the discussion would stand. Light had gone abroad. The public mind had been aroused, for the first time, and directed to this great subject. The intelligence of the country is every where busy in exploring its depths and intricacies, and would not cease to investigate till all its labyrinths were traced. The seed that has been sown will sprout and grow to maturity ; the revolution that has been begun will go through, be our course what it may." The vote was then taken on the passage of the bill, and it was carried — by the lean major- ity of two votes, which was only the difference of one voter. The affirmative vote was : Messrs. Allen, Benton, Brown, Clay of Alabama, Cuth- bert, Fulton, Hubbard, King, Linn, Lumpkin, Lyon, Morris, Mouton, Niles, Norvell, Pierce, Roane, Robinson, Sevier, Smith of Connecti- cut, Strange, Trotter, Walker, Wall, Williams, Wright, Young — 27. The negatives were : Messrs. Bayard, Buchanan, Calhoun, Clay of Kentucky, Clayton, Crittenden, Davies, Grun- dy, Knight, McKean, Merrick, Nicholas, Pren- tiss, Preston, Rives, Bobbins, Ruggles, Smith of Indiana, Southard, Spencc, Swift Talmadge, Tipton, Webster, Hugh L. White— 25. The act having passed the Senate by this slender majority was sent to the House of Rep- resentatives ; where it was lost by a majority of 14. This was a close vote in a house of 236 present ; and the bill was only lost by several friends of the administration voting with the entire opposition. But a great point was gained. Full discussion had been had upon the subject, and the public mind was waked up to it. CHAPTER XXX. PUBLIC LANDS: GRADUATION OF PEICE : PRE- EMPTION SYSTEM : TAXATION WHEN SOLD. For all the new States composed territory be- longing, or chiefly so to the federal government, the Congress of the United States became the local legislature, that is to say, in the place of a local legislature in all the legislation that re- lates to the primary disposition of the soil. In the old States this legislation belonged to the State legislatures, and might have belonged to the new States in virtue of their State sove- reignty except by the "compacts" with the federal government at the time of their admis- sion into the Union, in which they bound them- selves, in consideration of land and money grants deemed equivalent to the value of the surrendered rights, not to interfere with the primary disposition of the public lands, nor to tax them while remaining unsold, nor for five years thereafter. These grants, though accept- ed as equivalents in the infancy of the States, were soon found to be very far from it, even in a mere moneyed point of view, independent of the evils resulting from the administration of domestic local questions by a distant national legislature. The taxes alone for a few years on the public lands would have been equivalent to ali the benefits derived from the grants in the compacts. Composed of citizens from the old States where a local legislature administered the public lands according to the local interests — selling lands of different qualities for different prices, according to its quality — granting pre- emptions and donations to first settlers — and subjecting all to taxation as soon as it became public property; it was a national feeling to desire the same advantages ; and for this pur- pose, incessant, and usually vain efforts were 126 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. made to obtain them from Congress. At this session (1837-38) a better progress was made, and bills passed for all the purposes through the Senate. 1. The graduation bill. This measure had been proposed for twelve years, and the full system embraced a plan for the speedy and final extinction of the federal title to all the lands within the new States. Periodical reduc- tions of price at the rate of 25 cents per acre until reduced to 25 cents : a preference in the purchase to actual settlers, constituting a pre- emption right : donations to destitute settlers : and the cession of the refuse to States in which they lay : — these were the provisions which constituted the system and which were all con- tained in the first bills. But finding it impos- sible to carry all the provisions of the system in any one bill, it became necessary to secure what could be obtained. The graduation-bill was reduced to one feature — reduction of price ; and that limited to two reductions, bringing down the price at the first reduction to one dollar per acre : at the next 75 cents per acre. In support of this bill Mr. Benton made a brief speech, from which the following are some passages : •' The bill comes to us now under more favor- able auspices than it has ever done before. The President recommends it, and the Treasury needs the money which it will produce. A gentleman of the opposition [Mr. Clay], re- proaches the President for inconsistency in making this recommendation ; he says that he voted against it as senator heretofore, and re- commends it as President now. But the gen- tleman forgets so tell us that Mr. Van Buren, when a member of the Senate, spoke in favor of the general object of the bill from the first day it was presented, and that he voted in favor of one degree of reduction — a reduction of the price of the public lands to one dollar per acre — the last session that he served here. Far from being inconsistent, the President, in this recommendation, has only carried out to their legitimate conclusions the principles which he formerly expressed, and the vote which he for- merly gave. " The bill, as modified on the motions of the senators from Tennessee and New Hampshire [Messrs. Grundy and Hubbard] stands shorn of half its original provisions. Originally it embraced four degrees of reduction ; it now con- tains but two of those degrees. The two last — the fifty cent, and the twenty-five cent reduc- tions, have been cut off. I made no objection to the motions of those gentlemen. I knew them to be made in a friendly spirit ; I knew also that the success of their motions was neces- sary to the success of any part of the bill. Cer- tainly I would have preferred the whole — would have preferred the four degrees of reduction. But this is a case in which the homely maxim applies, that half a loaf is better than no bread. By giving up half the bill, we may gain the other half; and sure I am that our constituents will vastly prefer half to nothing. The lands may now be reduced to one dollar for those which have been five years in market, and to seventy- five cents for those which have been ten years in market. The rest of the bill is relinquished for the present, not abandoned for ever. The remaining degrees of reduction will be brought forward hereafter, and with a better prospect of success, after the lands have been picked and culled over under the prices of the present bill. Even if the clauses had remained which have been struck out, on the motions of the gentle- men from Tennessee and New Hampshire, it would have been two years from December next, before any purchases could have been made under them. They were not to take effect until December, 1840. Before that time Congress will twice sit again ; and if the present bill passes, and is found to work well, the enactment of the present rejected clauses will be a matter of course. " This is a measure emphatically for the bene- fit of the agricultural interest — that great inter- est, which he declared to be the foundation of all national prosperity, and the backbone, and substratum of every other interest — which was, in the body politic, front rank for service, and rear rank for reward — which bore nearly all the burthens of government while carrying the go- vernment on its back — which was the fountain of good production, while it was the pack-horse of burthens, and the broad shoulders which re- ceived nearly all losses — especially from broken banks. This bill was for them ; and, in voting for it, he had but one regret, and that was, that it did not go far enough — that it was not equal to their merits." The bill passed by a good majority — 27 to ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 127 16 ; but failed to be acted upon in the House of Representatives, though favorably reported upon by its committee on the public lands. 2. The pre-emptive system. The provisions of the bill were simple, being merely to secure the privilege of first purchase to the settler on any lands to which the Indian title had been extinguished; to be paid for at the minimum price of the public lands at the time. A senator from Maryland, Mr. Merrick, moved to amend the bill by confining its benefits to citizens of the United States — excluding unnaturalized foreigners. Mr. Benton opposed this motion, in a brief speech. ' ; He was entirely opposed to the amendment of the senator from Maryland (Mr. Merrick). It proposed something new in our legislation. It proposed to make a distinction between aliens and citizens in the acquisition of property. Pre- emption rights had been granted since the formation of the government; and no distinc- tion, until now, had been proposed, between the persons, or classes of persons, to whom they were granted. No law had yet excluded aliens from the acquisition of a pre-emption right, and he was entirely opposed to commencing a sys- tem of legislation which was to affect the pro- perty rights of the aliens who came to our country to make it their home. Political rights rested on a different basis. They involved the management of the government, and it was right that foreigners should undergo the process of naturalization before they acquired the right of sharing in the government. But the acquisition of property was another affair. It was a private and personal affair. It involved no question but that of the subsistence, the support, and the comfortable living of the alien and his family. Mr. B. would be against the principle of the proposed amendment in any case, but he was particularly opposed to this case. Who were the aliens whom it proposed to affect? Not those who are described as paupers and crimi- nals, infesting the purlieus of the cities, but those who had gone to the remote new States, and to the remote parts of those States, and into the depths of the wilderness, and there commenced the cultivation of the earth. These were the description of aliens to be affected; and if the amendment was adopted, they would be excluded from a pre-emption right in the soil they were cultivating, and made to wait until they were naturalized. The senator from Maryland (Mr. Merrick), treats this as a case of bounty. He treats the pre-emption right as a bounty from the government, and says that aliens have no right to this bounty. But, is this correct ? Is the pre-emption a bounty ? Far from it. In point of money, the pre-emptioner pays about as much as any other purchaser. He pays the government price, one dollar and twenty-five cents ; and the table of land sales proves that nobody pays any more, or so little more that it is nothing in a national point of view. One dollar twenty-seven and a half cents per acre is the average of all the sales for fifteen years. The twenty millions of acres sold to speculators in the year 1836, all went at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. The pre-emption then is not a bounty, but a sale, and a sale for full price, and, what is more, for solid money ; for pre-emptioners pay with gold and silver, and not with bank credits. Numerous were the emigrants from Germany, France, Ire- land, and other countries, now in the West, and especially in Missouri, and he (Mr. B.) had no idea of imposing any legal disability upon them in the acquisition of property. He wished them all well. If any of them had settled upon the public lands, so much the better. It was an evidence of their intention to become citizens, and their labor upon the soil would add to its product and to the national wealth." The motion of Mr. Merrick was rejected by a majority of 13. The yeas were : Messrs. Bayard, Clay of Kentucky, Clayton, Crittenden, Davis, Knight, Merrick, Prentiss, Preston, Rives, Robbins, Smith, of Indiana, Southard, Spence, Tallmadge, Tepton, 15. The nays were : Messrs. Allen, Benton, Brown, Buchanan, Calhoun, Clay, of Alabama, Cuthbert, Fulton, Grundy, Hub- bard, King, Linn, Lumpkin, Lyon, Mauton, Nicholas, Niles, Nowell, Pierce, Roane, Robin- son, Sevier, Walker, Webster, White, Williams, Wright, Young, of Illinois, (28.) The bill being then put to the vote, was passed by a majority of 14. 3. Taxation of public lands when sold. When the United States first instituted their land system, the sales were upon v credit, at a minimum price of two dollars, payable in four equal annual payments, with a liability to revert if there should be any failure in the payments. During that time it was considered as public 128 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. land, nor was the title passed until the patent issued — which might be a year longer. Five years, therefore, was the period fixed, during which the land so sold should be exempt from taxation by the State in which it lay. This continued to be the mode of sale, until the year 1821, when the credit was changed for the cash system, and the minimum price reduced to one dollar twenty-five cents per acre. The reason for the five years exemption from state taxation had then ceased, but the compacts remaining unaltered, the exemption continued. Repeated applications were made to Congress to consent to the modification of the compacts in that arti- cle ; but always in vain. At this session the application was renewed on the part of the new States ; and with success in the Senate, where the bill for that purpose passed nearly unani- mously, the negatives being but four, to wit : Messrs. Brown, Clay, of Kentucky, Clayton, Southard. Being sent to the H. B. it remained there without action till the end of the session. CHAPTER XXXI. SPECIE BASIS FOR BANKS : ONE THIRD OF THE AMOUNT OF LIABILITIES THE LOWEST SAFE PROPORTION : SPEECH OF MR. BENTON ON THE RECHARTER OF THE DISTRICT BANKS. This is a point of great moment — one on which the public mind has not been sufficiently awakened in this country, though well under- stood and duly valued in England. The char- ters of banks in the United States are usually drawn on this principle, that a certain propor- tion of the capital, and sometimes the whole of it, shall be paid up in gold or silver before the charter shall take effect. This is the usual pro- vision, without any obligation on the bank to retain any part of this specie after it gets into operation; and this provision has' too often proved to be illusory and deceptive. In many cases, the banks have borrowed the requisite amount for a day, and then returned it; in many other cases, the proportion of specie, though paid up in good faith, is immediately lent out, or parted with. The result to the public is about the same in both cases; the bank has little or no specie, and its place is supplied by the notes of other banks. The great vice of the banking system in the United States is in banking upon paper — upon the paper of each other — and treating this paper as cash. This nay be safe among the banks them- selves ; it may enable them to settle with one another, and to liquidate reciprocal balances; but to the public it is nothing. In the event of a run upon a bank, or a general run upon all banks, it is specie, and not paper, that is wanted. It is specie, and not paper, which the public want, and must have. The motion of the senator from Pennsylvania [Mr. Buchanan] is intended to remedy this vice in these District banks ; it is intended to impose an obligation on these banks to keep in their vaults a quantum of specie bearing a cer- tain proportion to the amount of their imme- diate liabilities in circulation and deposits. The gentleman's motion is well intended, but it is defective in two particulars : first, in requiring the proportion to be the one-fourth, instead of the one-third, and next, in making it apply to the private deposits only. The true propor- tion is one-third, and this to apply to all the circulation and deposits, except those which are special. This proportion has been fixed for a hundred years at the Bank of England; and just so often as that bank has fallen below this proportion, mischief has occurred. This is the sworn opinion of the present Governor of the Bank of England, and of the directors of that institution. Before Lord Althorpe's committee in 1832, Mr. Horsley Palmer, the Governor of the Bank, testified in these words : " ' The average proportion, as already ob- served, of coin and bullion which the bank thinks it prudent to keep on hand, is at the rate of a third of the total amount of all her liabilities, including deposits as well as issues.' Mr. George "Ward Norman, a director of the bank, states the same thing in a different form of words. He says : ' For a full state of the circulation and the deposits, say twenty-one millions of notes and six millions of deposits, making in the whole twenty-seven millions of liabilities, the proper sum in coin and bullion for the bank to retain is nine millions.' Thus, the average proportion of one-third between the specie on hand and the circulation and deposits, must be considered as an established principle at that bank, which is quite the largest, and amongst the oldest — probably, the very oldest bank of circulation in the world." The Bank of England is not merely required ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 129 to keep on hand, in bullion, the one-third of its immediate liabilities ; it is bound also to let the country see that it has, or has not, that propor- tion on hand. By an act of the third year of William IV., it is required to make quarterly publications of the average of the weekly liabil- ities of the bank, that the public may see when- ever it descends below the point of safety. Here is the last of these publications, which is a full exemplification of the rule and the policy which now governs that bank : Quarterly average of the weekly liabilities and assets of the Bank of England, from the 12th December, 1837, to the 6th of March, 1838, both inclusive, published pursuant to the act 3 and William IV., cap. 98: Liabilities. Circulation. £18,600,000 Securities, £22,792,900 Deposits, 11,535,000 Bullion, 10,015,000 £30,135,000 London, March 12. £30,807,000 According to this statement, the Bank of England is now safe ; and, accordingly, we see that she is acting upon the principle of having bullion enough, for she is shipping gold to the United States. The proportion in England is one-third. The bank relies upon its debts and other resources for the other two-thirds, in the event of a run upon it. This is the rule in that bank which has more resources than any other bank in the world; which is situated in the moneyed me- tropolis of the world — the richest merchants its debtors, friends and customers — and the Gov- ernment of England its debtor and backer, and always ready to sustain it with exchequer bills, and with every exertion of its credit and means. Such a bank, so situated and so aided, still deems it necessary to its safety to keep in hand always the one-third in bullion of the amount of its immediate liabilities. Now, if the propor- tion of one-third is necessary to the safety of such a bank, with such resources, how is it pos- sible for our banks, with their meagre resources and small array of friends, to be safe with a less proportion ? This is the rule at the Bank of England, and just as often as it has been departed from, the danger of that departure has been proved. It was departed from in 1797, when the proportion sunk to the one-seventh ; and what was the re- sul t ? The stoppage of the banks, and of all the Vol. II.— 9 banks in England, and a suspension of specie payments for six-and-twenty years! It was departed from again about a year ago, when the proportion sunk to one-eighth nearly ; and what was the result ? A death struggle between the paper systems of England and the United States, in which our system was sacrificed to save hers. Her system was saved from explosion ! but at what cost? — at what cost to us, and to herself? — to us a general stoppage of all the banks for twelve months ; to the English, a general stag- nation of business, decline of manufactures, and of commerce, much individual distress, and a loss of two millions sterling of revenue to the Crown. The proportion of one-third may then be assumed as the point of safety in the Bank of England ; less than that proportion cannot be safe in the United States. Yet the senator from Pennsylvania proposes less — he proposes the one-fourth ; and proposes it, not because he feels it to be the right proportion, but from some feeling of indulgence or forbearance to this poor District. Now, I think that this is a case in which kind feelings can have no place, and that the point in question is one upon which there can be no compromise. A bank is a bank, whether made in a district or a State; and a bank ought to be safe, whether the stockholders be rich or poor. Safety is the point aimed at, and nothing unsafe should be tolerated. There should be no giving and taking below the point of safety. Experienced men fix upon the one- third as the safe proportion; we should not, therefore, take a less proportion. Would the gentleman ask to let the water in the boiler of a steamboat sink one inch lower, when the ex- perienced captain informed him that it had already sunk as low as it was safe to go ? Cer- tainly not. So of these banks. One-third is the point of safety; let us not tamper with danger by descending to the one-fourth. When a bank stops payment, the first thing we see is an exposition of its means, and a de- claration of ultimate ability to pay all its debts. This is nothing to the holders of its notes. Im- mediate ability is the only ability that is of any avail to them. The fright of some, and the ne- cessity of others, compel them to part with their notes. Cool, sagacious capitalists can look to ultimate ability, and buy up the notes from the necessitous and the alarmed. To them ultimate ability is sufficient ; to the community 130 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. it is nothing. It is, therefore, for the benefit of the community that the banks should be re- quired to keep always on hand the one-third of their circulation and deposits; they are then trusted for two-thirds, and this is carrying credit far enough. If pressed by a run, it is as much as a bank can do to make up the other two-thirds out of the debts due to her. Three to one is credit enough, and it is profit enough. If a bank draws interest upon three dollars when it has but one, this is eighteen per cent., and ought to content her. A citizen cannot lend his money for more than six per cent., and cannot the banks be contented with eighteen ? Must they insist upon issuing four dollars, or even five, upon one, so as to draw twenty-four or thirty per cent. ; and thus, after paying their officers vast salaries, and accommodating friends with loans on easy terms, still make enough out of the business community to cover all ex- penses and all losses : and then to divide larger profits than can be made at any other business ? The issuing of currency is the prerogative of sovereignty. The real sovereign in this coun- try — the government — can only issue a cur- rency of the actual dollar : can only issue gold and silver — and each piece worth its face. The banks which have the privilege of issuing curren- cy issue paper ; and not content with two more dollars out for one that is, they go to five, ten, twenty — failing of course on the first run ; and the loss falling upon the holders of its notes — and especially the holders of the small notes. We now touch a point, said Mr. B., vital to the safety of banking, and I hope it will neither be passed over without decision, nor decided in an erroneous manner. We had up the same question two years ago, in the discussion of the bill to regulate the keeping of the public moneys by the local deposit banks. A senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Webster) moved the question; he (Mr. B.) cordially concurred in it ; and the proportion of one-fourth was then inserted. He (Mr. B.) had not seen at that time the testimony of the governor and direc- tors of the Bank of England, fixing on the one- third as the proper proportion, and he presum- ed that the senator from Massachusetts (Mr. W.) had not then seen it, as on another occasion he quoted it with approbation, and stated it to be the proportion observed at the Bank of the United States. The proportion of one-fourth was then inserted in the deposit bill ; it was an erroneous proportion, but even that proportion was not allowed to stand. After having been inserted in the bill, it was struck out ; and it was left to the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury to fix the proportion. To this I then objected, and gave my reasons for it. I was for fixing the proportion, because I held it vital to the safety of the deposit banks ; I was against leaving it to the secretary, because it was a case in which the inflexible rule of law, and not the variable dictate of individual discretion should be exercised ; and because I was certain that no secretary could be relied upon to compel the banks to toe the mark, when Congress itself had flinched from the task of making them do it. My objections were unavailing. The proportion was struck out of the bill ; the discretion of the secretary to fix it was substituted ; and that discretion it was impossible to exercise with any effect over the banks. They were, that is to say, many of them were, far beyond the mark then ; and at the time of the issuing of the Treasury order in July, 1836, there were deposit banks, whose proportion of specie in hand to their immediate liabilities was as one to twenty, one to thirty, one to forty, and even one to fifty ! The explosion of all such banks was inevitable. The issuing of the Treasury order improved them a little : they began to in- crease their specie, and to diminish their lia- bilities ; but the gap was too wide — the chasm was too vast to be filled : and at the touch of pressure, all these banks fell like nine-pins! They tumbled down in a heap, and lay^ there, without the, power of motion, or scarcely of breathing. Such was the consequence of our error in omitting to fix the proper proportion of specie in hand to the liabilities of our deposit banks : let us avoid that error in the bill now before us. CHAPTER XXXII. THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH : COMPAEATIVE PROSPERITY: SOUTHERN DISCONTENT: ITS TRUE CAUSE. To show the working of the federal government is the design of this View— show how things are done under it and their effects ; that the ANNO 1888. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 131 good may be approved and pursued, the evil condemned and avoided, and the machine of government be made to work equally for the benefit of the whole Union, according to the wise and beneficent intent of its founders. It thus becomes necessary to show its working in the two great Atlantic sections, originally sole parties to the Union — the North and the South — complained of for many years on one part as unequal and oppressive, and made so by a course of federal legislation at variance with the objects of the confederation and contrary to the intent or the words of the constitution. The writer of this View sympathized with that complaint ; believed it to be, to much ex- tent, well founded ; saw with concern the cor- roding effect it had on the feelings of patriotic men of the South ; and often had to lament that a sense of duty to his own constituents required him to give votes which his judgment disapprov- ed and his feelings condemned. This complaint existed when he came into the Senate ; it had, in fact, commenced in the first years of the fede- ral government, at the time of the assumption of the State debts, the incorporation of the first national bank, and the adoption of the funding system ; all of which drew capital from the South to the North. It continued to increase ; and, at the period to which this chapter relates, it had reached the stage of an organized sec- tional expression in a voluntary convention of the Southern States. It had often been ex- pressed in Congress, and in the State legis- latures, and habitually in the discussions of the people ; but now it took the more serious form of joint action, and exhibited the spectacle of a part of the States assembling sectionally to complain formally of the unequal, and to them, injurious operation of the common government, established by common consent for the common good, and now frustrating its object by depart- ing from the purposes of its creation. The con- vention was called commercial, and properly, as the grievance complained of was in its root commercial, and a commercial remedy was pro- posed. It met at Augusta, Georgia, and afterwards at Charleston, South Carolina; and the evil complained of and the remedy proposed were strongly set forth in the proceedings of the body, and in addresses to the people of the Southern and Southwestern States. The chang- ed relative condition of the two sections of the country, before and since the Union, was shown in their general relative depression or prosperity since that event, and especially in the reversed condition of their respective foreign import trade. In the colonial condition the compari- son was wholly in favor of the South; under the Union whollj r against it. Thus, in the year 1760 — only sixteen years before the Declaration of Independence — the foreign imports into Vir- ginia were £850,000 sterling, and into South Carolina £555,000 ; while into New York they were only £189,000, into Pennsylvania £490,000 ; and into all the New England Colo- nies collectively only £561,000. These figures exhibit an immense superiority of commercial prosperity on the side of the South in its colonial state, sadly contrasting with another set of figures exhibited by the convention to show its relative condition with- in a few years after the Union. Thus, in the year 1821, the imports into New York had risen to $23,000,000 — being about seventy times its colonial import at about an equal period be- fore the adoption of the constitution ; and those of South Carolina stood at $3,000,000— which, for all practical purposes, may be considered the same that they were in 1760. Such was the difference — the reversed condi- tions — of the two sections, worked between them in the brief space of two generations— within the actual lifetime of some who had seen their colonial conditions. The proceedings of the convention did not stop there, but brought down the comparison (under this commercial aspect) to near the period of its own sitting — to the actual period of the highest manifestation of Southern discontent, in 1832 — when it pro- duced the enactment of the South Carolina nul- lifying ordinance. At that time all the dispro- portions between the foreign commerce of the two sections had inordinately increased. The New York imports (since 1821) had more than doubled ; the Virginia had fallen off one-half; South Carolina two-thirds. The actual figures stood : New York fifty-seven millions of dol- lars, Virginia half a million, South Carolina one million and a quarter. This was a disheartening view, and rendered more grievous by the certainty of its continua- tion, the prospect of its aggravation, and the conviction that the South (in its great staples) 132 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. furnished the basis for these imports ; of which it received so small a share. To this loss of its import trade, and its transfer to the North, the convention attributed, as a primary cause, the reversed conditions of the two sections — the great advance of one in wealth and improve- ments — the slow progress and even comparative decline of the other ; and, with some allowance for the operation of natural or inherent causes, referred the effect to a course of federal legisla- tion unwarranted by the grants of the consti- tution and the objects of the Union, which sub- tracted capital from one section and accumu- lated it in the other : — protective tariff, internal improvements, pensions, national debt, two na- tional banks, the funding system and the paper system ; the multiplication of offices, profuse and extravagant expenditure, the conversion of a limited into an almost unlimited government ; and the substitution of power and splendor for what was intended to be a simple and economi- cal administration of that part of their affairs which required a general head. These were the points of complaint — abuses — which had led to the collection of an enormous revenue, chiefly levied on the products of one section of the Union and mainly disbursed in another. So far as northern advantages were the result of fair legislation for the accomplish- ment of the objects of the Union, all discontent or complaint was disclaimed. All knew that the superior advantages of the North for navi- gation would give it the advantage in foreign commerce ; but it was not expected that these facilities would operate a monopoly on one side and an extinction on the other ; nor was that consequence allowed to be the effect of these advantages alone, but was charged to a course of legislation not warranted by the objects of the Union, or the terms of the constitution, which created it. To this course of legislation was attributed the accumulation of capital in the North, which had enabled that section to monopolize the foreign commerce which was founded upon southern exports ; to cover one part with wealth while the other was impover- ished ; and to make the South tributary to the North, and suppliant to it for a small part of the fruits of their own labor. Unhappily there was some foundation for this view of the case ; and in this lies the root of the discontent of the South and its dissatis- faction with the Union, although it may break out upon another point. It is in this belief of an incompatibility of interest, from the pervert- ed working of the federal government, that lies the root of southern discontent, and which constitutes the danger to the Union, and which statesmen should confront and grapple with; and not in any danger to slave property, which has continued to aggrandize in value during the whole period of the cry of danger, and is now of greater price than ever was known before ; and such as our ancestors would have deemed fabulous. The sagacious Mr. Madison knew this — knew where the danger to the Union lay, when, in the 86th year of his age, and the last of his life, and under the anguish of painful mis- givings, he wrote (what is more fully set out in the previous volume of this work) these por- tentous words : " The visible susceptibility to the contagion of nullification in the Souther?! States, the sympathy arising- from known causes, and the inculcated impression of a permanent in- compatibility of interest between the North and the South, may put it in the power of popular leaders, aspiring to the highest sta- tions, to unite the /South, on some critical oc- casion, in some course of action of which nul- lification may be the first step, secession the second, and a farewell separation the last." So viewed the evil, and in his last days, the great surviving founder of the Union — seeing, as he did, in this inculcated impression of a per- manent incompatibility of interest between the two sections, the fulcrum or point of support, on which disunion could rest its lever, and par- ricidal hands build its schemes. What has been published in the South and adverted to in this View goes to show that an incompatibility of interest between the two sections, though not inherent, has been produced by the work- ing of the government — not its fair and le- gitimate, but its perverted and unequal work- ing. This is the evil which statesmen should see and provide against. Separation is no remedy ; exclusion of Northern vessels from Southern ports is no remedy; but is disunion itself— and upon the very point which caused the Union to be formed, Regulation of commerce between the States, and with foreign nations, was the cause of the formation of the Union. Break that regulation, and the Union is broken ; ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 133 and the broken parts converted into antagonist nations, with causes enough of dissension to engender perpetual wars, and inflame incessant animosities. The remedy lies in the right working of the constitution; in the cessation of unequal legislation ; in the reduction of the inordinate expenses of the government ; in its return to the simple, limited, and economical machine it was intended to be ; and in the revi- val of fraternal feelings, and respect for each other's rights and just complaints ; which would return of themselves when the real cause of dis- content was removed. The conventions of Augusta and Charleston proposed their remedy for the Southern depres- sion, and the comparative decay of which they complained. It was a fair and patriotic reme- dy — that of becoming their own exporters, and opening a direct trade in their own staples be- tween Southern and foreign ports. It was re- commended — attempted — failed. Superior ad- vantages for navigation in the North — greater aptitude of its people for commerce — established course of business — accumulated capital — con- tinued unequal legislation in Congress ; and in- creasing expenditures of the government, chief- ly disbursed in the North, and defect of seamen in the South (for mariners cannot be made of slaves), all combined to retain the foreign trade in the channel which had absorbed it ; and to increase it there with the increasing wealth and population of the country, and the still faster increasing extravagance and profusion of the government. And now, at this period (1855), the foreign imports at New York are §195,000,000 ; at Boston $58,000,000 ; in Vir- ginia $1,250,000 ; in South Carolina $1,750,000. This is what the dry and naked figures show. To the memory and imagination it is worse ; for it is a tradition of the Colonies that the South had been the seat of wealth and happi- ness, of power and opulence ; that a rich popu- lation covered the land, dispensing a baronial hospitality, and diffusing the felicity which themselves enjoyed ; that all was life, and joy, and affluence then. And this tradition was not without similitude to the reality, as this writer can testify ; for he was old enough to have seen (after the Revolution) the still surviving state of Southern cojlaial manners, when no travel- ler was allowed to go to a tavern, but was handed over from family to family through en- tire States ; when holidays were days of festivi- ty and expectation, long prepared for, and cele- brated by master and slave with music and feasting, and great concourse of friends and rela- tives ; when gold was kept in desks or chests (after the downfall of continental paper) and weighed in scales, and lent to neighbors for short terms without note, interest, witness, or security; and on bond and land security for long years and lawful usance : and when petty litigation was at so low an ebb that it required a fine of forty pounds of tobacco to make a man serve as constable. The reverse of all this was now seen and felt, — not to the whole extent which fancy or policy painted — but to extent enough to constitute a reverse, and to make a contrast, and to excite the regrets which the memory of past joys never fails to awaken. A real change had come, and this change, the effect of many causes, was wholly attributed to one — the unequal working of the Federal Government — which gave all the bene- fits of the Union to the North, and all its bur- dens to the South. And that was the point on which Southern discontent broke out — on which it openly rested until 1835 ; when it was shifted to the danger of slave property. Separation is no remedy for these evils, but the parent of far greater than either just discon- tent or restless ambition would fly from. To the South the Union is a political blessing ; to the North it is both a political and a pecuniary blessing ; to both it should be a social blessing. Both sections should cherish it, and the North most. The story of the boy that killed the goose that laid the golden egg every day, that he might get all the eggs at once, was a fable ; but the Northern man who could promote sepa- ration by any course of wrong to the South would convert that fable into history — his own history — and commit a folly, in a mere profit and loss point of view, of which there is no pre- cedent except in fable. 134 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. CHAPTER XXXIII. PEOGEESS OF THE SLAVEEY AGITATION: ME. CALHOUN'S APPEOVAL OF THE MISSOUEl COM- PEOMISE. This portentous agitation, destined to act so seriously on the harmony, and possibly on the stability of the Union, requires to be noted in its different stages, that responsibility may fol- low culpability, and the judgment of history fall where it is due, if a deplorable calamity is made to come out of it. In this point of view the movements for and against slavery in the session of 1837-'38 deserve to be noted, as of disturbing effect at the time ; and as having acquired new importance from subsequent events. Early in the session a memorial was presented in the Senate from the General Assembly of Vermont, remonstrating against the annexation of Texas to the United States, and praying for the aboli- tion of slavery in the District of Columbia — followed by many petitions from citizens and societies in the Northern States to the same effect ; and, further, for the abolition of slavery in the Territories — for the abolition of the slave trade between the States — and for the exclusion of future slave States from the Union. There was but little in the state of the coun- try at that time to excite an anti-slavery feel- ing, or to excuse these disturbing applications to Congress. There was no slave territory at that time but that of Florida; and to ask to abolish slavery there, where it had existed from the discovery of the continent, or to make its continuance a cause for the rejection of the State when ready for admission into the Union, and thus form a free State in the rear of all the great slave States, was equivalent to praying for a dis- solution of the Union. Texas, if annexed, would be south of 36° 30', and its character, in relation to slavery, would be fixed by the Missouri com- promise line of 1820. The slave trade between the States was an affair of the States, with which Congress had nothing to do ; and the continu- ance of slavery in the District of Columbia, so long as it existed in the adjacent States of Vir- ginia and Maryland, was a point of policy in which every Congress, and every administra- tion, had concurred from the formation of the Union ; and in which there was never a more decided concurrence than at present. The petitioners did not live in any Territory, State, or district subject to slavery. They felt none of the evils of which they complained — were answerable for none of the supposed sin which they denounced — were living under a general government which acknowledged prop- erty in slaves — and had no right to disturb the rights of the owner : and they committed a cruelty upon the slave by the additional rigors which their pernicious interference brought upon him. The subject of the petitions was disagreeable in itself; the language in which they were couched was offensive ; and the wantonness of their presentation aggravated a proceeding suffi- ciently provoking in the civilest form in which it could be conducted. Many petitions were in the same words, bearing internal evidence of concert among their signers ; many were signed by women, whose proper sphere was far from the field of legislation ; all united in a common purpose, which bespoke community of origin, and the superintendence of a general direction. Every presentation gave rise to a question and debate, in which sentiments and feelings were expressed and consequences predicted, which it was painful to hear. While almost every sena- tor condemned these petitions, and the spirit in which they originated, and the language in which they were couched, and considered them as tending to no practical object, and only calcu- lated to make dissension and irritation, there were others who took them in a graver sense, and considered them as leading to the inevitable separation of the States. In this sense Mr. Calhoun said : "He had foreseen what this subject would come to. He knew its origin, and that it lay deeper than was supposed. It grew out of a spirit of fanaticism which was daily increasing, and, if not met in limine, would by and by dis- solve this Union. It was particularly 'our duty to keep the matter out of the Senate — out of the halls of the National Legislature. These fanatics were interfering with what they had no right. Grant the reception of these petitions, and you will next be asked to act on them. He was for no conciliatory course, no temporizing ; instead of yielding one inch, he would rise in opposition ; and he hoped every man from the South would stand by him to put down this growing evil. There was but one question that would ever destroy this Union, and that was involved in ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 135 this principle. Yes; this was potent enough for it, and must be early arrested if the Union was to be preserved. A man must see little into what is going on if he did not perceive that this spirit was growing, and that the rising generation was becoming more strongly imbued with it. It was not to be stopped by reports on paper, but by action, and very decided ac- tion." The question which occupied the Senate was as to the most judicious mode of treating these memorials, with a view to prevent their evil effects: and that was entirely a question of policy, on which senators disagreed who con- curred in the main object. Some deemed it most advisable to receive and consider the pe- titions — to refer them to a committee — and subject them to the adverse report which they would be sure to receive ; as had been done with the Quakers' petitions at the be- ginning of the government. Others deemed it preferable to refuse to receive them. The objection urged to this latter course was, that it would mix up a new question with the slavery agitation which would enlist the sym- pathies of many who did not co-operate with the Abolitionists — the question of the right of petition ; and that this new question, mixing with the other, might swell the number of pe- titioners, keep up the applications to Congress, and perpetuate an agitation which would other- wise soon die out. Mr. Clay, and many others were of this opinion ; Mr. Calhoun and his friends thought otherwise ; and the result was, so far as it concerned the petitions of individuals and societies, what it had previously been — a half-way measure between reception and rejec- tion — a motion to lay the question of reception on the table. This motion, precluding all dis- cussion, got rid of the petitions quietly, and kept debate out of the Senate. In the case of the memorial from the State of Vermont, the proceeding was slightly different in form, but the same in substance. As the act of a State, tn% memorial was received; but after reception was laid on the table. Thus all the memorials and petitions were disposed of by the Senate in a way to accomplish the two-fold object, first, of avoiding discussion ; and, next, condemning the object of the petitioners. It was accomplishing all that the South asked; and if the subject had rested at that point, there would have been nothing in the history of this session, on the slavery agitation, to distinguish it from other sessions about that period : but the subject was revived ; and in a way to force discussion, and to constitute a point for the re- trospect of history. Every memorial and petition had been dis- posed of according to the wishes of the senators from the slaveholding States ; but Mr. Calhoun deemed it due to those States to go further, and to obtain from the Senate declarations which should cover all the questions of federal power over the institution of slavery : although he had just said that paper reports would do no good. For that purpose, he submitted a series of resolves — six in number — which de- rive their importance from their comparison, or rather contrast, with others on the same subject presented by him in the Senate ten years later; and which have given birth to doctrines and proceedings which have greatly disturbed the harmony of the Union, and pal- pably endangered its stability. The six reso- lutions of this period ('37— '38) undertook to define the whole extent of the power dele- gated by the States to the federal government on the subject of slavery ; to specify the acts which would exceed that power ; and to show the consequences of doing any thing not author- ized to be done — always ending in a dissolution of the Union. The first four of these related to the States ; about which, there being no dis- pute, there was no debate. The sixth, without naming Texas, was prospective, and looked for- ward to a case which might include her annexa- tion ; and was laid upon the table to make way for an express resolution from Mr. Preston on the same subject. The fifth related to the ter- ritories, and to the District of Columbia, and was the only one which excited attention, or has left a surviving interest. It was in these words: "Resolved, That the intermeddling of any State, or States, or their citizens, to abolish slavery in this District, or any of the territo- ries, on the ground or under the pretext that it is immoral or sinful, or the passage of any act or measure of Congress with that view, would be a direct and dangerous attack on the institu- tions of all the slaveholding States." The dogma of "no power in Congress to legislate upon the existence of slavery in terri- tories" had not been invented at that time; and, of course, was not asserted in this resolve, 136 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. intended by its author to define the extent of the federal legislative power on the subject. The resolve went upon the existence of the power, and deprecated its abuse. It put the District of Columbia and the territories into the same category, both for the exercise of the power and the consequences to result from the intermeddling of States or citizens, or the pas- sage of any act of Congress to abolish slavery in either ; and this was admitting the power in the territory, as in the District ; where it is an express grant in the grant of all legislative power. The intermeddling and the legislation were deprecated in both solely on the ground of inexpediency. Mr. Clay believed this inexpe- diency to rest upon different grounds in the Dis- trict and in the territory of Florida — the only territory in which slavery then existed, and to which Mr. Calhoun's resolution could apply. He was as much opposed as any one to the abolition of slavery in either of these places, but believed that a different reason should be given for each, founded in their respective circumstances ; and, therefore, submitted an amendment, consisting of two resolutions— one applicable to the Dis- trict, the other to the territory. In stating the reasons why slavery should not be abol- ished in Florida, he quoted the Missouri com- promise line of 1820. This was objected to by other senators, on the ground that that line did not apply to Florida, and that her case was com- plete without it. Of that opinion was the Sen- ate, and the clause was struck out. This gave Mr. Calhoun occasion to speak of that com- promise, and of his own course in relation to it ; in the course of which he declared himself to have been favorable to that memorable measure at the time it was adopted, but opposed to it now, from having experienced its ill effects in encouraging the spirit of abolitionism : " He was glad that the portion of the amend- ment which referred to the Missouri compromise had been struck out. He was not a member of Congress when that compromise was made, but it is due to candor to state that his impressions were in its favor ; but it is equally due to it to say that, with his present experience and knowl- edge of the spirit which then, for the first time, began to disclose itself, he had entirely changed his opinion. He now believed that it was a dangerous measure, and that it has done much to rouse into action the present spirit. Had it then been met with uncompromising opposition, such as a then distinguished and sagacious member from Virginia [Mr. Randolph], now no more, opposed to it, abolition might have been crushed for ever in its birth. He then thought of Mr. Randolph as, he doubts not, many think of him now who have not fully looked into this subject, that he was too un- yielding — too uncompromising — too impractica- ble ; but he had been taught his error, and took pleasure in acknowledging it." This declaration is explicit. It is made in a spirit of candor, and as due to justice. It is a declaration spontaneously made, not an admis- sion obtained on interrogatories. It shows that Mr. Calhoun was in favor of the compro- mise at the time it was adopted, and had since changed his opinions — " entirely changed " them, to use his own words — not on constitutional, but expedient grounds. He had changed upon experience, and upon seeing the dangerous effects of the measure. He had been taught his error, and took pleasure in acknowledging it. He blamed Mr. Randolph then for having been too uncompromising; but now thought him saga- cious; and believed that if the measure had met with uncompromising opposition at the time, it would have crushed for ever the spirit of abolitionism. All these are reasons of expe- diency, derived from after-experience, and ex- cludes the idea of any constitutional objection. The establishment of the Missouri compromise line was the highest possible exercise of legis- lative authority over the subject of slavery in a territory. It abolished it where it legally ex- isted. It for ever forbid it where it had legally existed for one hundred years. Mr. Randolph was the great opponent of the compromise. He gave its friends all their trouble. It was then he applied the phrase, so annoying and destruc- tive to its northern supporters — " dough face, 5 * — a phrase which did them more harm than the best-reasoned speech. All the friends of the compromise blamed his impracticable op- position ; and Mr. Calhoun, in joining in that blame, placed himself in the ranks o£ the cor- dial friends of the measure. This abolition and prohibition extended over an area large enough to make a dozen States ; and of all this Mr. Calhoun had been in favor ; and now had nothing but reasons of expediency, and they ex post facto, against it. His expressed belief now was, that the measure was dangerous — he does not say unconstitutional, but danger- ous — and this corresponds with the terms of his ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 137 resolution then submitted; which makes the intermeddling to abolish slavery in the District or territories, or any act or measure of Congress to that effect, a "dangerous" attack on the in- stitutions of the slaveholding States. Certainly the idea of the unconstitutionality of such legis- lation had not then entered his head. The sub- stitute resolve of Mr. Clay differed from that of Mr. Calhoun, in changing the word " inter- meddling" to that of " interference ; " and con- fining that word to the conduct of citizens, and making the abolition or attempted abolition of slavery in the District an injury to its own in- habitants as well as to the States ; and placing its protection under the faith implied in accept- ing its cession from Maryland and Virginia. It was in these words : " That the interference by the citizens of any of the States, with the view to the abolition of slavery in this District, is endangering the rights and security of the people of the District; and that any act or measure of Congress, designed to abolish slavery in this District, would be a violation of the faith implied in the cessions by the States of Virginia and Maryland — a just cause of alarm to the people of the slaveholding States — and have a direct and inevitable ten- dency to disturb and endanger the Union." The vote on the final adoption of the resolu- tion was : "Yeas — Messrs. Allen, Bayard, Benton, Black, Brown, Buchanan, Calhoun, Clay, of Alabama, Clay, of Kentucky, Thomas Clayton, Crittenden, Cuthbert, Fulton, Grundy, Hub- bard, King, Lumpkin, Lyon, Nicholas, Niles, Noryell, Franklin Pierce, Preston, Rives, Roane, Robinson, Sevier, Smith, of Connecticut, Strange, Tallmadge, Tipton, Walker, White, Williams, Wright, Young. " Nays — Messrs. Davis, Knight, McKean, Morris, Prentiss, Smith, of Indiana, Swift, Web- ster." The second resolution of Mr. Clay applied to slavery in a territory where it existed, and de- precated any attempt to abolish it in such ter- ritory, as alarming to the slave States, and as violation of faith towards its inhabitants, unless they asked it ; and in derogation of its right to decide the question of slavery for itself when erected into a State. This resolution was in- tended to cover the case of Florida, and ran thus: " Resolved, That any attempt of Congress to abolish slavery in any territory of the United States in which it exists would create serious alarm and just apprehension in the States sus- taining that domestic institution, and would be a violation of good faith towards the inhabitants of any such territory who have been permitted to settle with, and hold, slaves therein ; because the people of any such territory have not asked for the abolition of slavery therein ; and because, when any such territory shall be admitted into the Union as a State, the people thereof shall be entitled to decide that question exclusively for themselves." And the vote upon it was — "Yeas — Messrs. Allen, Bayard, Benton, Black, Brown, Buchanan, Calhoun, Clay, of Alabama, Clay, of Kentucky, Crittenden, Cuth- bert, Fulton, Grundjr, Hubbard, King, Lump- kin, Lyon, Merrick, Nicholas, Niles, Norvell, Franklin Pierce, Preston, Rives, Roane, Robin- son, Sevier, Smith, of Connecticut, Strange, Tipton, Walker, "VS hite, Williams, Wright, and Young. "Nays — Messrs. Thomas Clayton, Davis, Knight, McKean, Prentiss, Robbins, Smith, o£ Indiana, Swift, and Webster." The few senators who voted against both resolutions chiefly did so for reasons wholly un- connected with their merits; some because opposed to any declarations on th£ subject, as abstract and inoperative; others because they dissented from the reasons expressed, and pre- ferred others : and the senators from Delaware (a slave State) because they had a nullification odor about them, as first introduced. Mr. Calhoun voted for both, not in preference to his own, but as agreeing to them after they had been preferred by the Senate ; and so gave his recorded assent to the doctrines they contain- ed. Both admit the constitutional power of Congress over the existence of slavery both in the district and the territories, but deprecate its abolition where it existed for reasons of high ex- pediency : and in this view it is believed nearly the entire Senate concurred ; and quite the en- tire Senate on the constitutional point — there being no reference to that point in any part of the debates. Mr. Webster probably spoke the sentiments of most of those voting with him, as well as his own, when he said : " If the resolutions set forth that all domestic institutions, except so far as the constitution might interfere, and any intermeddling there- with by a State or individual, was contrary to the spirit of the confederacy, and was thereby illegal and unjust, he would give them his hearty and cheerful support ; and would do so still if 138 THIRTY TEARS' VIEW. the senator from South Carolina would consent to such an amendment ; but in their present form he must give his vote against them." The general feeling of the Senate was that of entire repugnance to the whole movement — that of the petitions and memorials on the one hand, and Mr. Calhoun's resolutions on the other. The former were quietly got rid of, and in a way to rebuke, as well as to condemn their presenta- tion ; that is to say, by motions (sustained by the body) to lay them on the table. The resolutions could not so easily be disposed of, especially as their mover earnestly demanded discussion, spoke at large, and often, himself; " and desired to make the question, on their rejection or adop- tion, a test question." They were abstract, lead- ing to no result, made discussion where silence was desirable, frustrated the design of the Sen- ate in refusing to discuss the abolition petitions, gave them an importance to which they were not entitled, promoted agitation, embarrassed friendly senators from the North, placed some in false positions ; and brought animadversions from many. Thus, Mr. Buchanan : " I cannot believe that the senator from South Carolina has taken the best course to attain these results (quieting agitation). This is the great centre of agitation; from this capital it spreads over the whole Union. I therefore de- precate a protracted discussion of the question here. It can do no good, but may do much harm, both in the North and in the South. The senators from Delaware, although representing a slaveholding State, have voted against these resolutions because, in their opinion, they can detect in them the poison of nullification. Now, I can see no such thing in them, and am ready to avow in the main they contain nothing but correct political principles, to which I am de- voted. But what then? These senators are placed in a false position, and are compelled to vote against resolutions the object of which they heartily approve. Again, my friend, the senator from New Jersey (Mr. Wall), votes against them because they are political abstractions of which he thinks the Senate ought not to take cognizance, although he is as much opposed to abolition, and as willing to maintain the consti- tutional rights of the South as any senator upon this floor. Other senators believe the right of petition has been endangered; and until that has been established they will not vote for any resolutions on the subject. Thus we stand: and those of us in the North who must sustain the brunt of the battle are forced into false posi- tions. Abolition thus acquires force by bring- ing to its aid the right of petition, and the hostility which exists at the North against the doctrines of nullification. It is in vain to say that these principles are not really involved in the question. This may be, and in my opinion is, true ; but why, by our conduct here, should we afford the abolitionists such plausible pre- texts ? The fact is, and it cannot be disguised, that those of us in the Northern States who have determined to sustain the rights of the slave States at every hazard are placed in a most em- barrassing situation. We are almost literally between two fires. Whilst in front we are assailed by the abolitionists, our own friends in the South are constantly driving us into posi- tions where their enemies and our enemies may gain important advantages." And thus Mr. Crittenden : " If the object of these resolutions was to pro- duce peace, and allay excitement, it appeared to him that they were not very likely to accom- plish such a purpose. More vague and general abstractions could hardly have been brought forward, and they were more calculated to pro- duce agitation and stir up discontent and bad blood than to do any good whatever. Such he knew was the general opinion of Southern men, few of whom, however they assented to the ab- stractions, approved of this method of agitating the subject. The mover of these resolutions relies mainly on two points to carry the Senate with him : first, he reiterates the cry of danger to the Union ; and, next, that if he is not fol- lowed in this movement he urges the inevitable consequence of the destruction of the Union. It is possible the gentleman may be mistaken. It possibly might not be exactly true that, to save the Union, it was necessary to follow him. On the contrary, some were of opinion, and he for one was much inclined to be of the same view, that to follow the distinguished mover of these resolutions — to pursue the course of irritation, agitation, and intimidation which he chalked out — would be the very best and surest method that could be chalked out to destroy this great and happy Union." And thus Mr. Clay : " The series of resolutions under consideration has been introduced by the senator from South Carolina, after he and other senators from the South had deprecated discussion on the delicate subject to which they relate. They have occa- sioned much discussion, in which hitherto I have not participated. I hope that the tenden- cy of the resolutions may be to allay the ex- citement which unhappily prevails in respect to the abolition of slavery; but I confess that, taken altogether, and in connection with other circumstances, and especially considering the manner in which their author has pressed them on the Senate, I fear that they will have the opposite effect ; and particularly at the North , that they may increase and exasperate instead ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 139 of diminishing and assuaging the existing tion." And thus Mr. Preston, of South Carolina : "His objections to the introduction of the resolutions were that they allowed ground for discussion ; and that the subject ought never to be allowed to enter the halls of the legislative assembly, was always to be taken for granted by the South ; and what would abstract propo- sitions of this nature effect ? " And thus Mr. Strange, of North Carolina : " What did they set forth but abstract prin- ciples, to which the South had again and again certified ? What bulwark of defence was need- ed stronger than the constitution itself? Every movement on the part of the South only gave additional strength to her opponents. The wisest, nay, the only safe, course was to remain quiet, though prepared at the same time to re- sist all aggression. Questions like this only tended to excite angry feelings. The senator from South Carolina (Mr. Calhoun) charged him with ' preaching'' to one side. Perhaps he had sermonized too long for the patience of the Senate ; but then he had preached to all sides. It was the agitation of the question in any form, or shape, that rendered it dangerous. Agitating this question in any shape was ruinous to the South." And thus Mr. Richard H. Bayard, of Dela- ware: " Though he denounced the spirit of abolition as dangerous and wicked in the extreme, yet he did not feel himself authorized to vote for the resolutions. If the doctrines contained in them were correct, then nullification was correct ; and if passed might hereafter be appealed to as a precedent in favor of that doctrine ; though he acquitted the senator [Mr. Calhoun] of having the most remote intention of smuggling in any thing in relation to that doctrine under cover of these resolutions." Mr. Calhoun, annoyed by so much condem- nation of his course, and especially from those as determined as himself to protect the slave institution where it legally existed, spoke often and warmly ; and justified his course from the greatness of the danger, and the fatal conse- quences to the Union if it was not arrested. "I fear (said Mr. C.) that the Senate has not elevated its view sufficiently to comprehend the extent and magnitude of the existing danger. It was perhaps his misfortune to look too much to the future, and to move against dangers at too great a distance, which had involved him in many difficulties and exposed him often to the imputation of unworthy motives. Thus he had agita- long foreseen the immense surplus revenue which a false system of legislation must pour into the Treasury, and the fatal consequences to the morals and institutions of the country which must follow When nothing else could arrest it he threw himself, with his State, into the breach, to arrest dangers which could not otherwise be arrested ; whether wisely or not he left posterity to judge. He now saw with equal clearness — as clear as the noonday sun — the fatal consequences which must follow if the present disease be not timely arrested. He would repeat again what he had so often said on this floor. This was the only ques- tion of sufficient magnitude and potency to divide this Union; and divide it it would, or drench' the country in blood, if not arrested. He knew how much the sentiment he had ut- tered would be misconstrued and misrepre- sented. There were those who saw no dan- ger to the Union in the violation of all its fundamental principles, but who were full of apprehension when danger was foretold or re- sisted, and who held not the authors of the danger, but those who forewarned or opposed it, responsible for consequences." "But the cry of disunion by the weak or designing had no terror for him. If his attach- ment to the Union was less, he might tamper with the deep disease which now afflicts the body politic, and keep silent till the patient was ready to sink under its mortal blows. It is a cheap, and he must say but too certain a mode of acquiring the character of devoted attachment to the Union. But, seeing the danger as he did, he would be a traitor to the Union and those he represented to keep silence. The as- saults daily made on the institutions of nearly one half of the States of this Union by the other — institutions interwoven from the begin- ning with their political and social existence, and which cannot be other than that without their inevitable destruction — will and must, if continued, make two people of one by destroy- ing every sympathy between the two great sec- tions — obliterating from their hearts the recol- lection of their common danger and glory — and implanting in their place a mutual hatred, more deadly than ever existed between two neighbor- ing people since the commencement of the hu- man race. He feared not the circulation of the thousands of incendiary and slanderous publi- cations which were daily issued from an organ- ized and powerful press among those intended to be vilified. They cannot penetrate our sec- tion ; that was not the danger ; it lay in a dif- ferent direction. Their circulation in the non- slaveholding States was what was to be dread- ed. It was infusing a deadly poison into the minds of the rising generation, implanting in them feelings of hatred, the most deadly ha- tred, instead of affection and love, for one half of this Union, to be returned, on their part, with equal detestation. The fatal, the imniu- 140 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. table consequences, if not arrested, and that without delay, were such as he had presented. The first and desirable object is to arrest it in the non-slaveholding States ; to meet the disease where it originated and where it exists ; and the first step to this is to find some com- mon constitutional ground on which a rally, with that object, can be made. These resolu- tions present the ground, and the only one, on which it can be made. The only remedy is in the State rights doctrines ; and if those who profess them in slaveholding States do not rally on them as their political creed, and organize as a party against the fanatics in order to put them down, the South and West will be compelled to take the remedy into their own hands. They will then stand justified in the sight of God and man; and what in that event will follow no mortal can anticipate. Mr. President (said Mr. C), we are reposing on a volcano. The Senate seems entirely ignorant of the state of feeling in the South. The mail has just brought us in- telligence of a most important step taken by one of the Southern States in connection with this subject, which will give some conception of the tone of feeling which begins to prevail in that quarter." It was such speaking as this that induced some votes against the resolutions. All the senators were dissatisfied at the constant exhi- bition of the same remedy (disunion), for all the diseases of the body politic ; but the greater part deemed it right, if they voted at all, to vote their real sentiments. Many were disposed to lay the resolutions on the table, as the disturb- ing petitions had been ; but it was concluded that policy made it preferable to vote upon them. Mr. Benton did not speak in this debate. He believed, as others did, that discussion was injurious ; that it was the way to keep up and extend agitation, and the thing above all others which the abolitionists desired. Discussion upon the floor of the American Senate was to them the concession of an immense advantage — the concession of an elevated and commanding theatre for the display and dissemination of their doctrines. It gave them the point to stand upon from which they could reach every part of the Union ; and it gave them the Reg- ister of the Debates, instead of their local pa- pers, for their organ of communication. Mr. Calhoun was a fortunate customer for them. The Senate, in laying all their petitions and the memorial of Vermont on the table with- out debate, signified its desire to yield them no such advantage. The introduction of Mr. Cal- houn's resolution frustrated that desire, and in- duced many to do what they condemned. Mb. Benton took his own sense of the proper course, in abstaining from debate, and confining the ex- pression of his opinions to the delivery of votes : and in that he conformed to the sense of the Senate, and the action of the House of Represen- tatives. Many hundreds of these petitions were presented in the House, and quietly laid upon the table (after a stormy scene, and the adoption of a new rule), under motions to that effect ; and this would have been the case in the Senate, had it not been for the resolutions, the introduction of which was so generally deprecated. The part of this debate which excited no at- tention at the time, but has since acquired a momentous importance, is that part in which Mr. Calhoun declared his favorable disposition to the Missouri compromise, and his condemna- tion of Mr. Randolph (its chief opponent), for opposing it ; and his change of opinion since, not for unconstitutionality, but because he be- lieved it to have become dangerous in encour- aging the spirit of abolitionism. This compro- mise was the highest, the most solemn, the most momentous, the most emphatic assertion of Congressional power over slavery in a territory which had ever been made, or could be con- ceived. It not only abolished slavery where it legally existed ; but for ever prohibited it where it had long existed, and that over an extent of territory larger than the area of all the Atlan- tic slave States put together : and thus yielding to the free States the absolute predominance in the Union. Mr. Calhoun was for that resolution in 1820, — blamed those who opposed it ; and could see no objection to it in 1838 but the encourage- ment it gave to the spirit of abolitionism. Nine years afterwards (session of 1846-'47) he sub- mitted other resolutions (five in number) on the same power of Congress over slavery legis- lation in the territories ; in which he denied the power, and asserted that any such legislation to the prejudice of the slaveholding emigrants from the States, in preventing them from re- moving, with their slave property, to such ter- ritory, " would be a violation of the constitu- tion and the rights of the States from which such citizens emigrated, and a derogation of that perfect equality which belongs to them as ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 141 members of this Union ; and would tend di- rectly to subvert the Union itself." These resolutions, so new and startling in their doctrines — so contrary to their anteces- sors, and to the whole course of the government — were denounced by the writer of this View the instant they were read in the Senate ; and, being much discountenanced by other senators, they were never pressed to a vote in that body ; but were afterwards adopted by some of the slave State legislatures. One year afterwards, in a debate on the Oregon territorial bill, and an the section which proposed to declare the anti-slavery clause of the ordinance of 1787 to be in force in that territory. Mr. Calhoun de- nied the power of Congress to make any such declaration, or in any way to legislate upon slavery in a territory. He delivered a most elaborate and thoroughly considered speech on the subject, in the course of which he laid down three propositions : 1. That Congress had no power to legislate upon slavery in a territory, so as to prevent the citizens of slaveholding States from remov- ing into it with their slave property. 2. That Congress had no power to delegate such au- thority to a territory. 3. That the territory had no such power in itself (thus leaving the subject of slavery in a territory without any legislative power over it at all). He deduced these dogmas from a new insight into the con- stitution, which, according to this fresh intro- spection, recognized slavery as a national insti- tution, and carried that part of itself (by its own vigor) into all the territories ; and pro- tected slavery there : ergo, neither Congress, nor its deputed territorial legislature, nor the people of the territory during their territorial condition, could any way touch the subject — either to affirm, or disaffirm the institution. He endeavored to obtain from Congress a crutch to aid these lame doctrines in limping into the territories by getting the constitution voted into them, as part of their organic law ; and, failing in that attempt (repeatedly made), he took position on the ground that the consti- tution went into these possessions of itself, so far as slavery was concerned, it being a na- tional institution. These three propositions being in flagrant con- flict with the power exercised by Congress in the establishment of the Missouri compromise line (which had become a tradition as a Southern measure, supported by Southern members of Congress, and sanctioned by the cabinet of Mr. Monroe, of which Mr. Calhoun was a member), the fact of that compromise and his concur- rence in it was immediately used against him by Senator Dix, of New York, to invalidate his present opinions. Unfortunately he had forgotten this cabinet consultation, and his own concurrence in its decision — believing fully that no such thing had occurred, and adhering firmly to the new dogma of total denial of all constitutional power in Congress to legislate upon slavery in a terri- tory. This brought up recollections to sustain the tradition which told of the consultation — to show that it took place — that its voice was unanimous in favor of the compromise ; and, consequently, that Mr. Calhoun himself was in favor of it. Old writings were produced : First, a fac simile copy of an original paper in Mr. Monroe's handwriting, found among his manuscripts, dated March 4, 1820 (two days before the approval of the Missouri compromise act), and indorsed : " Interrogatories — Missouri — to the Heads of Departments and the Attor- ney-General ; " and containing within two ques- tions : "1. Has Congress a right, under the powers vested in it by the constitution, to make a regulation prohibiting slavery in a ter- ritory ? 2. Is the 8 th section of the act which passed both Houses of Congress on the 3d in- stant for the admission of Missouri into the Union, consistent with the constitution ? " Secondly, the draft of an original letter in Mr. Monroe's handwriting, but without signa- ture, date, or address, but believed to have been addressed to General Jackson, in which he says : " The question which lately agitated Con- gress and the public has been settled, as you have seen, by the passage of an act for the ad- mission of Missouri as a State, unrestricted - ; and Arkansas, also, when it reaches maturity ; and the establishment of the parallel of 36 degrees 30 minutes as a line north of which slavery is prohibited, and permitted south of it. I took the opinion, in writing, of the adminis- tration as to the constitutionality of restraining territories, which was explicit in favor of it; and, as it was, that the 8th section of the act was applicable to territories only, and not to States when they should be admitted into the 142 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW Union." Thirdly \ an extract from the diary of Mr. John Quincy Adams, under date of the 3d of March, 1820, stating that the President on that day assembled his cabinet to ask their opinions an the two questions mentioned — which the whole cabinet immediately answered unani- mously, and affirmatively ; that on the 5 th he sent the questions in writing to the members of his cabinet, to receive their written answers, to be filed in the department of State ; and that on the 6th he took his own answer to the Pres- ident, to be filed with the rest — all agreeing in the affirmative, and only differing some in as- signing, others not assigning reasons for his opinion. The diary states that the President signed his approval of the Missouri act on the 6th (which the act shows he did), and request- ed Mr. Adams to have all the opinions filed in the department of State. Upon this evidence it would have rested without question that Mr. Monroe's cabinet had been consulted on the constitutionality of the Missouri compromise line, and that all con- curred in it, had it not been for the denial of Mr. Calhoun in the debate on the Oregon ter- ritorial bill. His denial brought out this evi- dence ; and, notwithstanding its production and conclusiveness, he adhered tenaciously to his disbelief of the whole occurrence ; and especial- ly the whole of his own imputed share in it. Two circumstances, specious in themselves, fa- vored this denial : first, that no such papers as those described by Mr. Adams were to be found in the department of State ; secondly ', that in the original draft of Mr. Monroe's letter it had first been written that the affirmative answers of his cabinet to his two interrogatories were " unanimous," which word had been crossed out and " explicit " substituted. With some these two circumstances weighed nothing against the testimony of two witnesses, and the current corroborating incidents of tradi- tion. In the lapse of twenty-seven years, and in the changes to which our cabinet officers and the clerks of departments are subjected, it was easy to believe that the papers had been mislaid or lost — far easier than to believe that Mr. Adams could have been mistaken in the entry made in his diary at the time. And as to the substitution of "explicit" for "unanimous," that was known to be necessary in order to avoid the violation of the rule which forbid the disclosure of individual opinions in the cabinet consultations. "With others, and especially with the political friends of Mr. Calhoun, they were received as full confirmation of his denial, and left them at liberty to accept his present opin- ions as those of his whole life, uninvalidated by previous personal discrepancy, and uncounter- acted by the weight of a cabinet decision under Mr. Monroe: and accordingly the new-born dogma of no power in Congress to legislate upon the existence of slavery in the territories became an article of political faith, incorporated in the creed, and that for action, of a large poli- tical party. What is now brought to light of the proceedings in the Senate in '37-38 shows this to have been a mistake — that Mr. Calhoun admitted the power in 1820, when he favored the compromise and blamed Mr. Randolph for opposing it ; that he admitted it again in 1838, when he submitted his own resolutions, and voted for those of Mr. Clay. It so happened that no one recollected these proceedings of '37-'3S at the time of the Oregon debate of '47-'48< The writer of this View, though possessing a me- mory credited as tenacious, did not recollect them, nor remember them at all, until found among the materials collected for this his- tory — a circumstance which he attributes to his repugnance to the whole debate, and tak- ing no part in the proceedings except to vote. The cabinet consultation of 1820 was not mentioned by Mr. Calhoun in his avowal of 1838, nor is it necessary to the object of this View to pursue his connection with that private executive counselling. The only material in- quiry is as to his approval of the Missouri com- promise at the time it was adopted ; and that is fully established by himself. It would be a labor unworthy of history to look up the conduct of any public man, and trace him through shifting scenes, with a mere view to personal effect — with a mere view to personal disparagement, by showing him contra- dictory and inconsistent at some period of his course. Such a labor would be idle, unprofit- able, and derogatory ; but, when a change takes place in a publia man's opinions which leads to a change of conduct, and into a new line of action disastrous to the country, it becomes the duty of history to note the fact, and to expose the contradiction — not for personal disparage- ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 143 ment — but to counteract the force of the new and dangerous opinion. In this sense it becomes an obligatory task to show the change, or rather changes, in Mr. Cal- houn's opinions on the constitutional power of Congress over the existence of slavery in the national territories; and these changes have been great — too great to admit of followers if they had been known. First, fully admitting the power, and justifying its exercise in the largest and highest possible case. Next, ad- mitting the power, but deprecating its exercise in certain limited, specified, qualified cases. Then, denying it in a limited and specified case. Finally, denying the power any where, and every where, either in Congress, or in the terri- torial legislature as its delegate, or in the people as sovereign. The last of these mutations, or rather the one before the last (for there are but few who can go the whole length of the three propositions in the Oregon speech), has been adopted by a large political party and acted upon ; and with deplorable effect to the coun- try. Holding the Missouri compromise to have been unconstitutional, they have abrogated it as a nullity ; and in so doing have done more to disturb the harmony of this Union, to unsettle its foundations, to shake its stability, and to prapare the two halves of the Union for part- ing, than any act, or all acts put together, since the commencement of the federal government. This lamentable act could not have been done, — could not have found a party to do it. — if Mr. Calhoun had not changed his opinion on the constitutionality of the Missouri compromise line; or if he could have recollected in 1848 that he approved that line in 1820 ; and fur- ther remembered, that he saw nothing uncon- stitutional in it as late as 1838. The change being now shown, and the imperfection of his memory made manifest by his own testimony, it becomes certain that the new doctrine was an after-thought, disowned by its antecedents— a figment of the brain lately hatched— and which its author would have been estopped from pro- mulgating if these antecedents had been recol- lected. History now pleads them as an estoppel against his followers. Mr. Monroe, in his letter to General Jackson, immediately after the establishment of the Mis- souri compromise, said that that compromise settled the slavery agitation which threatened to break up the Union. Thirt}^-four years of quiet and harmony under that settlement bear witness to the truth of these words, spoken in the fulness of patriotic gratitude at seeing his country escape from a great danger. The year 1854 has seen the abrogation of that compro- mise ; and with its abrogation the revival of the agitation, and with a force and fury never known before : and now may be seen in fact what was hypothetically foreseen by Mr. Calhoun in 1838, when, as the fruit of this agitation, he saw the destruction of all sympathy between the two sections of the Union — obliteration from the me- mory of all proud recollections of former com- mon danger and glory — hatred in the hearts of the North and the South, more deadly than ever existed between two neighboring nations. May we not have to witness the remainder of his prophetic vision — "Two people made of one ! " P. S. — After this chapter had been written, the author received authentic information that, during the time that John M. Clayton, Esq. of Delaware, was Secretary of State under Presi- dent Taylor (1849-50), evidence had been found in the Department of State, of the fact, that the opinion of Mr. Calhoun and of the rest of Mr. Monroe's cabinet, had been filed there. In consequence a note of inquiry was addressed to Mr. Clayton, who answered (under date of July 19th, 1855) as follows : " In reply to your inquiry I have to state that I have no recollection of having ever met with Mr. Calhoun's answer to Mr. Monroe's cabinet queries, as to the constitutionality of the Mis- souri compromise. It had not been found while I was in the department of state, as I was then informed : but the archives of the department disclose the fact, that Mr. Calhoun, and other members of the cabinet, did answer Mr. Mon- roe's questions. It appears by an index that these answers were filed among the archives of that department. I was told they had been abstracted from the records, and could not be found ; but I did not make a search for them myself. I have never doubted that Mr. Calhoun at least acquiesced in the decision of the cabinet of that day. Since I left the Department of State I have heard it rumored that Mr. Cal- houn's answer to Mr. Monroe's queries had been found ; but I know not upon what au- thority the statement was made." 144 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. CHAPTER XXXIY. DEATH OF COMMODOEE EODGEES, AND NOTICE OF HI3 LIFE AND CHAKACTEE. My idea of the perfect naval commander had been formed from history, and from the study of such characters as the Yon Tromps and De Ruyters of Holland, the Blakes of England, and the De Tourvilles of France — men modest and virtuous, frank and sincere, brave and patriotic, gentle in peace, terrible in war ; formed for high command by nature ; and raising themselves to their proper sphere by their own exertions from low beginnings. When I first saw Commodore Rodgers, which was after I had reached sena- torial age and station, he recalled to me the idea of those model admirals ; and subsequent ac- quaintance confirmed the impression then made. He was to me the complete impersonation of my idea of the perfect naval commander — per- son, mind, and manners ; with the qualities for command grafted on the groundwork of a good citizen and good father of a family ; and all lodged in a frame to bespeak the seaman and the officer. His very figure and face were those of the naval hero — such as we conceive from naval songs and ballads ; and, from the course of life which the sea officer leads — exposed to the double peril of waves and war, and contending with the storms of the elements as well as with the storm of battle. We associate the idea of bodily power with such a life ; and when we find them united — the heroic qualities in a frame of powerful muscular development — we expe- rience a gratified feeling of completeness, which fulfils a natural expectation, and leaves nothing to be desired. And when the same great quali- ties are found, as they often are, in the man of slight and slender frame, it requires some effort of reason to conquer a feeling of surprise at a combination which is a contrast, and which presents so much power in a frame so little promising it ; and hence all poets and orators, all painters and sculptors, all the dealers in im- aginary perfections, give a corresponding figure of strength and force to the heroes they create. Commodore Rodgers needed no help from the creative imagination to endow him with the form which naval heroism might require. His person was of the middle height, stout, square, solid, compact ; well-proportioned ; and combining in the perfect degree the idea of strength and en- durance with the reality of manly comeliness — the statue of Mars, in the rough state, before the conscious chisel had lent the last polish. His face, stern in the outline, was relieved by a gentle and benign expression — grave with the overshadowing of an ample and capacious fore- head and eyebrows. C ourage need not be named among the qualities of Americans ; the question would be to find one without it. His skill, en- terprise, promptitude and talent for command, were shown in the war of 1812 with Great Britain; in the quasi war of 1799 with the French Republic — quasi only as it concerned political relations, real as it concerned desperate and brilliant combats at sea ; and in the Medi- terranean wars with the Barbary States, when those States were formidable in that sea and held Europe under tribute ; and which tribute from the United States was relinquished by Tripoli and Tunis at the end of the war with these States — Commodore Rodgers command- ing at the time as successor to Barron and Preble. It was at the end of this war, 1804, so valiantly conducted and so triumphantly con- cluded, that the reigning Pope, Pius the Seventh, publicly declared that America had done more for Christendom against the Barbary States, than all the powers of Europe combined. He was first lieutenant on the Constellation when that frigate, under Truxton, vanquished and captured the French frigate Insurgent; and great as his merit was in the action, where he showed himself to be the proper second to an able commander, it was greater in what took place after it ; and in which steadiness, firmness, humanity, vigilance, endurance, and seamanship, were carried to their highest pitch ; and in all which his honors were shared by the then strip- ling midshipman, afterwards the brilliant Com- modore Porter. The Insurgent having struck, and part of her crew been transferred to the Constellation, Lieut. Rodgers and Midshipman Porter were on board the prize, superintending the trans- fer, when a tempest arose — the ships parted — and dark night came on. There were still one hundred and seventy-three French prisoners on ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 145 board. The two young officers had but eleven men — thirteen in all — to guard thirteen times their number ; and work a crippled frigate at the same time, and get her into port. And nobly did they do it. For three days and nights did these thirteen (though fresh from a bloody conflict which strained every faculty and brought demands for rest), without sleep or repose, arm- ed to the teeth, watching with eye and ear, stand to the arduous duty — sailing their ship, restrain- ing their prisoners, solacing the wounded — ready to kill, and hurting no one. They did not sail at random, or for the nearest port; but, faithful to the orders of their commander, given under different circumstances, steered for St. Kitts, in the West Indies — arrived there safely — and were received with triumph and admira- tion. Such an exploit equalled any fame that could be gained in battle ; for it brought into requi- sition all the qualities for command which high command requires ; and foreshadowed the fu- ture eminence of these two young officers. What firmness, steadiness, vigilance, endurance, and courage — far above that which the battle- field requires ! and one of these young officers, a slight and slender lad, as frail to the look as the other was powerful ; and yet each acting his part with the same heroic steadiness and perseverance, coolness and humanity ! They had no irons to secure a single man. The one hundred and seventy-three French were loose in the lower hold, a sentinel only at each gang- way ; and vigilance, and readiness to use their arms, the only resource of the little crew. If history has a parallel to this deed I have not seen it; and to value it in all its extent, it must be remembered that these prisoners were Frenchmen — their inherent courage exalted by the frenzy of the revolution — themselves fresh from a murderous conflict— the decks of the ship still red and slippery with the blood of their comrades ; and they with a right, both legal and moral, to recover their liberty if they could. These three days and nights, still more than the victory which preceded them, earned for Rodgers the captaincy, and for Porter the lieutenancy, with which they were soon respec- tively honored. American cruisers had gained credit in the war of the Revolution, and in the quasi war with the French Republic ; and American squadrons Vol. II.— 10 had bearded the Barbary Powers in their dens, after chasing their piratical vessels from the seas : but a war with Great Britain, with her one thousand and sixty vessels of war on her naval list, and above seven hundred of these for service, her fleets swelled with the ships of all nations, exalted with the idea of invincibility, and one hundred and twenty guns on the decks of her first-class men-of-war — any naval contest with such a power, with seventeen vessels for the sea, ranging from twelve to forty-four guns (which was the totality which the American naval register could then show), seemed an in- sanity. And insanity it would have been with even twenty times as many vessels, and double their number of guns, if naval battles with rival fleets had been intended. Fortunately we had naval officers at that time who understood the virtue of cruising, and believed they could do what Paul Jones and others had done during the war of the Revolution. Political men believed nothing could be done at sea but to lose the few vessels which we had ; that even cruising was out of the question. Of our seventeen vessels, the whole were in port but one ; and it was determined to keep them there, and the one at sea with them, if it had the luck to get in. I am under no obligation to make the admission, but I am free to acknow- ledge, that I was one of those who supposed that there was no salvation for our seventeen men-of-war but to run them as far up the creek as possible, place them under the guns of bat- teries, and collect camps of militia about them, to keep off the British. This was the policy at the day of the declaration of the war ; and I have the less concern to admit myself to have been participator in the delusion, because I claim the merit of having profited from expe- rience — happy if I could transmit the lesson to posterity. Two officers came to Washington — Bainbridge and Stewart. They spoke with Mr. Madison, and urged the feasibility of cruising. One-half of the whole number of the British men-of-war were under the class of frigates, consequently no more than matches for some of our seventeen ; the whole of her merchant marine (many thousands) were subject to cap- ture. Here was a rich field for cruising ; and the two officers, for themselves and brothers, boldly proposed to enter it. Mr. Madison had seen the efficiency of cruis- 146 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. ing and privateering, even against Great Britain, and in our then infantile condition, during the war of the Revolution ; and besides was a man of sense, and amenable to judgment and reason. He listened to the two experienced and valiant officers ; and, without consulting Congress, which perhaps would have been a fatal con- sultation (for multitude of counsellors is not the council for bold decision), reversed the policy which had been resolved upon ; and, in his supreme character of constitutional com- mander of the army and navy, ordered every ship that could cruise to get to sea as soon as possible. This I had from Mr. Monroe, and it is due to Mr. Madison to tell it, who, without pretending to a military character, had the merit of sanctioning this most vital war meas- ure. Commodore Rodgers was then in New York, in command of the President (44), intended for a part of the harbor defence of that city. With- in one hour after he had received his cruising orders, he was under way. This was the 21st of June. That night he got information of the Jamaica fleet (merchantmen), homeward bound ; and crowded all sail in the direction they had gone, following the Gulf Stream towards the east of Newfoundland. While on this track, on the 23d, a British frigate was perceived far to the northeast, and getting further off. It was a nobler object than a fleet of merchantmen, and chase was immediately given her, and she gained upon ; but not fast enough to get along- side before night. It was four o'clock in the evening, and the enemy in range of the bow-chasers. Commodore Rodgers determined to cripple her, and diminish her speed ; and so come up with her. He point- ed the first gun himself, and pointed it well. The shot struck the frigate in her rudder coat, drove through her stern frame, and passed into the gun-room. It was the first gun fired during the war; and was no waste of ammunition. Second Lieutenant Gamble, commander of the battery, pointed and discharged the second — hitting and damaging one of the enemy's stern chasers. Commodore Rodgers fired the third — hitting the stern again, and killing and wound- ing six men. Mr. Gamble fired again. The gun bursted ! killing and wounding sixteen of her own men, blowing up the Commodore — who fell with a broken leg upon the deck. The pause in working the guns on that side, occasioned by this accident, enabled the enemy to bring some stern guns to bear, and to lighten his vessel to increase her speed. He cut away his anchors, stove and threw overboard his boats, and start- ed fourteen tons of water. Thus lightened, he escaped. It was the Belvidera, 36 guns, Captain Byron. The President would have taken her with all ease if she had got alongside ; and of that the English captain showed himself duly, and excusably sensible. The frigate having escaped, the Commodore, regardless of his broken leg, hauled up to its course in pursuit of the Jamaica fleet, and soon got information that it consisted of eighty-five sail, and was under convoy of four men-of-war ; one of them a two-decker, another a frigate; and that he was on its track. Passing New- foundland and finding the sea well sprinkled with ths signs of West India fruit — orange peels, cocoanut shells, pine-apple rinds, &c. — the Com- modore knew himself to be in the wake of the fleet, and made every exertion to come up with it before it could reach the chops of the channel : but in vain. When almost in sight of the Eng- lish coast, and no glimpse obtained of the fleet, he was compelled to tack, run south : and, after an extended cruise, return to the United States. The Commodore had missed the two great objects of his ambition — the fleet and the frigate ; but the cruise was not barren either in material or moral results. Seven British merchantmen were captured — one American recaptured — the English coast had been approached. With im- punity an American frigate — one of those in- sultingly styled " fir-built, with a bit of striped bunting at her mast-head," — had almost looked into that narrow channel which is considered the sanctum of a British ship. An alarm had been spread, and a squadron of seven men-of- war (four of them frigates and one a sixty-four gun ship) were assembled to capture him ; one of them the Belvidera, which had escaped at the bursting of the President's gun, and spread the news of her being at sea. It was a great honor to Commodore Rodgers to send such a squadron to look after him ; and became still greater to Captain Hull, in the Constitution, who escaped from it after having been almost surrounded by it. It was evening when this captain began to fall in with that ANNO 1839. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 147 squadron, and at daylight found himself almost encompassed by it — three ahead and four astern. Then began that chase which continued seventy- two hours, in which seven pursued one, and seemed often on the point of closing on their prize ; in which every means of progress, from reefed topsails to kedging and towing, was put into requisition by either party — the one to escape, the other to overtake; in which the stern-chasers of one were often replying to the bow-chasers of the other ; and the greatest pre- cision of manoeuvring required to avoid falling under the guns of some while avoiding those of others ; and which ended with putting an escape on a level with a great victory. Captain Hull brought his vessel safe into port, and without the sacrifice of her equipment — not an anchor having been cut away, boat stove, or gun thrown overboard to gain speed by lightening the vessel. It was a brilliant result, with all the moral effects of victory, and a splendid vindication of the policy of cruising — showing that we had seamanship to escape the force which we could not fight. Commodore Rodgers made another extended cruise during this war, a circuit of eight thou- sand miles, traversing the high seas, coasting the shores of both continents, searching wher- ever the cruisers or merchantmen of the enemy were expected to be found ; capturing what was within his means, avoiding the rest. A British government packet, with nearly $300,000 in specie, was taken; many merchantmen were taken ; and, though an opportunity did not offer to engage a frigate of equal or nearly equal force, and to gain one of those electrifying victories for which our cruisers were so remarkable, yet the moral effect was great — demonstrating the am- ple capacity of an American frigate to go where she pleased in spite of the " thousand ships of war " of the assumed mistress of the seas ; car- rying damage and alarm to the foe, and avoiding misfortune to itself. At the attempt of the British upon Baltimore Commodore Rodgers was in command of the maritime defences of that city, and, having no means of contending with the British fleet in the bay, he assembled all the seamen of the ships-of-war and of the flotilla, and entered judi- ciously into the combinations for the land de- fence. Humane feeling was a characteristic of this brave officer, and was verified in all the relations of his life, and in his constant conduct. Stand- ing on the bank of the Susquehanna river, at Havre de Grace, one cold winter day, the river flooded and filled with floating ice, he saw (with others), at a long distance, a living object — dis- cerned to be a human being — carried down the stream. He ventured in, against all remon- strance, and brought the object safe to shore. It was a colored woman — to him a human being, doomed to a frightful death unless relieved ; and heroically relieved at the peril of his own life. He was humane in battle. That was shown in the affair of the Little Belt — chased, hailed, fought (the year before the war), and compelled to answer the hail, and tell who she was, with expense of blood, and largely; but still the smallest possible quantity that would accom- plish the purpose. The encounter took place in the night, and because the British captain would not answer the American hail. Judging from the inferiority of her fire that he was engaged with an unequal antagonist, the American Com- modore suspended his own fire, while still re- ceiving broadsides from his arrogant little adver- sary ; and only resumed it when indispensable to his own safety, and the enforcement of the question which he had put. An answer was obtained after thirty-one had been killed or wounded on board the British vessel ; and this at six leagues from the American coast : and, the doctrine of no right to stop a vessel on the high seas to ascertain her character not having been then invented, no political consequence followed this bloody enforcement of maritime police — exasperated against each other as the two nations were at the time. At the death of Decatur, killed in that la- mentable duel, I have heard Mr. Randolph tell, and he alone could tell it, of the agony of Rod- gers as he stood over his dying friend, in bodily contention with his own grief — convulsed with- in, calm without ; and keeping down the strug- gling anguish of the soul by dint of muscular power. That feeling heart was doomed to suffer a great agony in the untimely death of a heroic son, emulating the generous devotion of the father, and perishing in the waves, in vain efforts to save comrades more exhausted than himself; and to whom he nobly relinquished the means of his own safety. It was spared another grief 148 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. of a kindred nature (not having lived to see it), in the death of another heroic son, lost in the sloop-of-war Albany, in one of those calamitous founderings M, sea in which the mystery of an unseen fate deepens the shades of death, and darkens the depths of sorrow — leaving the hearts of far distant friends a prey to a long agony of hope and fear — only to be solved in an agony still deeper. Commodore Rodgers died at the head of the American navy, without having seen the rank of Admiral established in our naval service, for which I voted when senator, and hoped to have seen conferred on him, and on others who have done so much to exalt the name of their coun- try ; and which rank I deem essential to the good of the service, even in the cruising system I deem alone suitable to us. CHAPTER XXXV. ANTI-DUELLING ACT. The death of Mr. Jonathan Cilley, a represen- tative in Congress from the State of Maine, killed in a duel with rifles, with Mr. Graves of Kentucky, led to the passage of an act with severe penalties against duelling, in the District of Columbia, or out of it upon agreement within the District. The penalties were — death to all the survivors, when any one was killed : a five years imprisonment in the penitentiary for giv- ing or accepting a challenge. Like all acts passed under a sudden excitement, this act was defective, and more the result of good intentions than of knowledge of human nature. Passions of the mind, like diseases of the body, are liable to break out in a different form when suppressed in the one they had assumed. No physician suppresses an eruption without considering what is to become of the virus which is escaping, if stopped and confined to the body : no legisla- tor should suppress an evil without considering whether a worse one is at the same time planted. I was a young member of the general assembly of Tennessee (1809), when a most worthy mem- ber (Mr. Robert C. Foster), took credit to him- self for having put down billiard tables in Nash- ville. Another most worthy member (General Joseph Dixon) asked him how many card tables he had put up in their place ? This was a side of the account to which the suppressor of billiard tables had not looked : and which opened up a view of serious consideration to every person in- trusted with the responsible business of legisla- tion — a business requiring so much knowledge of human nature, and so seldom invoking the little we possess. It has been on my mind ever since ; and I have had constant occasions to witness its disregard — and seldom more lamentably than in the case of this anti-duelling act. It looked to one evil, and saw nothing else. It did not look to the assassinations, under the pretext of self- defence, which were to rise up in place of the regular duel. Certainly it is deplorable to see a young man, the hope of his father and mother — a ripe man, the head of a family — an eminent man, necessary to his country — struck down in the duel ; and should be prevented if possible. Still this deplorable practice is not so bad as the bowie knife, and the revolver, and their pretext of self-defence — thirsting for blood. In the duel, there is at least consent on both sides, with a preliminary opportunity for settlement, with a chance for the law to arrest them, and room for the interposition of friends as the affair goes on. There is usually equality of terms ; and it would not be called an affair of honor, if honor was not to pievail all round ; and if the satisfying a point of honor, and not vengeance, was the end to be attained. Finally, in the regular duel, the principals are in the hands of the seconds (for no man can be made a second without his consent) ; and as both these are required by the duelling code (for the sake of fairness and humanity), to be free from ill will or grudge towards the adversary prin- cipal, they are expected to terminate the affair as soon as the point of honor is satisfied — and, the less the injury, so much the better. The only exception to these rules is, where the principals are in such relations to each other as to admit of no accommodation, and the injury such as to admit of no compromise. In the knife and revolver business, all this is different. There is no preliminary interval for settlement- no chance for officers of justice to intervene — no room for friends to interpose. Instead of equal- ity of terms, every advantage is sought. Instead of consent, the victim is set upon at the most unguarded moment. Instead of satisfying a ANNO 1839. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 149 point of honor, it is vengeance to be glutted. Nor does the difference stop with death. In the duel, the unhurt principal scorns to continue the combat upon his disabled adversary : in the knife and revolver case, the hero of these weap- ons continues firing and stabbing while the prostrate body of the dying man gives a sign of life. In the duel the survivor never assails the character of the fallen : in the knife and revol- ver case, the first movement of the victor is to attack the character of his victim — to accuse him of an intent to murder ; and to make out a case of self-defence, by making out a case of premeditated attack against the other. And in such false accusation, the French proverb is usually verified — the dead and the absent are always in the wrong. The anti-duelling act did not suppress the passions in which duels originate : it only sup- pressed one mode, and that the least revolting, in which these passions could manifest themselves. It did not suppress the homicidal intent — but gave it a new form : and now many members of Congress go into their seats with deadly weapons under their garments — ready to insult with foul language, and prepared to kill if the language is resented. The act should have pursued the homicidal intent into whatever form it might assume ; and, therefore, should have been made to include all unjustifiable homicides. The law was also mistaken in the nature of its penalties : they are not of a kind to be en- forced, if incurred. It is in vain to attempt to punish more ignominiously, and more severely, a duel than an assassination. The offences, though both great, are of very different degrees ; and human nature will recognize the difference though the law may not : and the result will be seen in the conduct of juries, and in the tem- per of the pardoning power. A species of pen- alty unknown to the common law, and rejected by it, and only held good when a man was the vassal of his lord— the dogma that the private injury to the family is merged in the public wrong— this species of penalty (amends to the family) is called for by the progress of homi- cides in our country; and not as a substitute for the death penalty, but cumulative. Under this dogma, a small injury to a man's person brings him a moneyed indemnity ; in the greatest of all injuries, that of depriving a family of its sup- port and protector, no compensation is allowed. This is preposterous, and leads to deadly con- sequences. It is cheaper now to kill a man, than to hurt him ; and, accordingly, the prep- aration is generally to kill, and not to hurt. The frequency, the wantonness, the barbarity, the cold-blooded cruelty, and the demoniac levi- ty with which homicides are committed with us, have become the opprobrium of our country. An incredible number of persons, and in all parts of the country, seem to have taken the code of Draco for their law, and their own will for its execution — kill for every offence. The death penalty, prescribed by divine wisdom, is hardly a scare-crow. Some States have abolished it by statute — some communities, virtually, by a mawkish sentimentality : and every where, the jury being the judge of the law as well as of the fact, find themselves pretty much in a condition to do as they please. And unanimity among twelve being required, as in the English law, instead of a concurrence of three-fifths in fif- teen, as in the Scottish law, it is in the power of one or two men to prevent a conviction, even in the most flagrant cases. In this deluge of bloodshed some new remedy is called for in ad- dition to the death penalty ; and it may be best found in the principle of compensation to the family of the slain, recoverable in every case where the homicide was not justifiable under the written laws of the land. In this wide- spread custom of carrying deadly weapons, often leading to homicides where there was no pre- vious intent, some check should be put on a practice so indicative of a bad heart — a heart void of social duty, and fatally bent on mis- chief; and this check may be found in making the fact of having such arms on the person an offence in itself, prima facie evidence of malice, and to be punished cumulatively by the judge ; and that without regard to the fact whether used or not in the affray. The anti-duelling act of 1839 was, there- fore, defective in not pursuing the homicidal offence into all the new forms it might assume ; in not giving damages to a bereaved family — and not punishing the carrying of the weapon, whether used or not — only accommodating the degree of punishment to the more or less use that had been made of it. In the Halls of Congress it should be an offence, in it- self, whether drawn or not, subjecting the of- fender to all the penalties for a high misde- 150 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. meanor — removal from office — disqualification to hold any office of trust or profit under the United States — and indictment at law besides. CHAPTER XXXYI. SLAVEEY AGITATION IN THE HOUSE OF EEPEE- SENTATIVES, AND EETIEING OF SOUTHEEN MEMBEES FEOM THE HALL. The most angry and portentous debate which had yet taken place in Congress, occurred at this time in the House of Representatives. It was brought on by Mr. "William Slade, of Ver- mont, who, besides presenting petitions of the usual abolition character, and moving to refer them to a committee, moved their reference to a select committee, with instructions to report a bill in conformity to their prayer. This motion, in- flammatory and irritating in itself, and without practical legislative object, as the great majority of the House was known to be opposed to it, was rendered still more exasperating by the manner of supporting it. The mover entered into a general disquisition on the subject of slavery, all denunciatory, and was proceeding to speak upon it in the State of Virginia, and other States, in the same spirit, when Mr. Legare, of South Carolina, interposed, and — " Hoped the gentleman from Vermont would allow him to make a few remarks before he proceeded further. He sincerely hoped that gentleman would consider well what he was about before he ventured on such ground, and that he would take time to consider what might be its probable consequences. He solemnly en- treated him to reflect on the possible results of such a course, which involved the interests of a nation and a continent. He would warn him, not in the language of defiance, which all brave and wise men despised, but he would warn him in the language of a solemn sense of duty, that if there was ' a spirit aroused in the North in relation to this subject,' that spirit would en- counter another spirit in the South full as stubborn. He would tell them that, when this question was forced upon the people of the South, they would be ready to take up the gauntlet. He concluded by urging on the gen- tleman from Vermont to ponder well on his course before he ventured to proceed." Mr. Slade continued his remarks when Mr. Dawson, of Georgia, asked him for the floor, that he might move an adjournment — evidently to carry off the storm which he saw rising. Mr. Slade refused to yield it ; so the motion to ad- journ could not be made. Mr. Slade continued, and was proceeding to answer his own inquiry, put to himself — what was Slavery ? when Mr. Dawson again asked for the floor, to make his motion of adjournment. Mr. Slade refused it: a visible commotion began to pervade the House — members rising, clustering together, and talking with animation. Mr. Slade con- tinued, and was about reading a judicial opinion in one of the Southern States which defined a slave to be a chattel — when Mr. Wise called him to order for speaking beside the question — the question being upon the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and Mr. Slade's re- marks going to its legal character, as property in a State. The Speaker, Mr. John White, of Kentucky, sustained the call, saying it was not in order to discuss the subject of slavery in any of the States. Mr. Slade denied that he was doing so, and said he was merely quoting a South- ern judicial decision as he might quote a legal opinion delivered in Great Britain. Mr. Robert- son, of Virginia, moved that the House adjourn. The Speaker pronounced the motion (and cor- rectly), out of order, as the member from Ver- mont was in possession of the floor and address- ing the House. He would, however, suggest to the member from Vermont, who could not but observe the state of the House, to confine himself strictly to the subject of his motion. Mr. Slade went on at great length, when Mr. Petrikin, of Pennsylvania, called him to order ; but the Chair did not sustain the call. Mr. Slade went on, quoting from the Declaration of Independence, and the constitutions of the several States, and had got to that of Virginia, when Mr. Wise called him to order for reading papers without the leave of the House. The Speaker decided that no paper, objected to, could be read without the leave of the House. Mr. Wise then said : " That the gentleman had wantonly discussed the abstract question of slavery, going back to the very first day of the creation, instead of slavery as it existed in the District, and the powers and duties of Congress in relation to it. He was now examining the State constitutions to show that as it existed in the States it was against them, and against the laws of God and man. This was out of order." ANNO 1839. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 151 Mr. Slade explained, and argued in vindica- tion of his course, and was about to read a me- morial of Dr. Franklin, and an opinion of Mr. Madison on the subject of slavery — when the reading was objected to by Mr. Griffin, of South Carolina ; and the Speaker decided they could not be read without the permission of the House. Mr. Slade, without asking the permission of the House, which he knew would not be granted, assumed to understand the prohibition as ex- tending only to himself personally, said — " Then I send them to the clerk: let him read them." The Speaker decided that this was equally against the rule. Then Mr. Griffin withdrew the objection, and Mr. Slade proceed- ed to read the papers, and to comment upon them as he went on, and was about to go back to the State of Virginia, and show what had been the feeling there on the subject of slavery previous to the date of Dr. Franklin's memorial : *Mr. Rhett, of South Carolina, inquired of the Chair what the opinions of Virginia fifty years ago had to do with the case ? The Speaker was about to reply, when Mr. Wise rose with warmth, and said — " He has discussed the whole abstract question of slavery : of slavery in Virginia : of slavery in my own district : and I now ask all my colleagues to retire with me from this hall." Mr. Slade reminded the Speaker that he had not yielded the floor ; but his progress was impeded by the condition of the House, and the many exclamations of mem- bers, among whom Mr. Halsey, of Georgia, was heard calling on the Georgia delegation to with- draw with him ; and Mr. Rhett was heard pro- claiming, that the South Carolina members had already consulted together, and agreed to have a meeting at three o'clock in the committee room of the District of Columbia. Here the Speaker interposed to calm the House, standing up in his place and saying : " The gentleman from Vermont had been re- minded by the Chair that the discussion of slavery, as existing within the States, was not in order ; when he was desirous to read a paper and it was objected to, the Chair had stopped him ; but the objection had been withdrawn, and Mr. Slade had been suffered to proceed ; he was now about to read another paper, and objection was made ; the Chair would, therefore, take the question on permitting it to be read." Many members rose, all addressing the Chair at the same time, and many members leaving the hall, and a general scene of noise and con- fusion prevailing. Mr. Rhett succeeded in rais- ing his voice above the roar of the tempest which raged in the House, and invited the entire dele- gations from all the slave States to retire from the hall forthwith, and meet in the committee room of the District of Columbia. The Speaker again essayed to calm the House, and again standing up in his place, he recapitulated his attempts to preserve order, and vindicated the correctness of his own conduct — seemingly im- pugned by many. " What his personal feelings were on the subject (he was from a slave State), might easily be conjectured. He had endeavor- ed to enforce the rules. Had it been in his power to restrain the discussion, he should promptly have exercised the power ; but it was not. Mr. Slade, continuing, said the paper which he wished to read was of the continental Congress of 1774. The Speaker was about to put the question on leave, when Mr. Cost Johnson, of Maryland, inquired whether it would be in order to force the House to vote that the mem ber from Vermont be not permitted to proceed? The Speaker replied it would not. Then Mr. James J. McKay, of North Carolina — a clear, coolheaded, sagacious man — interposed the ob- jection which headed Mr. Slade. There was a rule of the House, that when a member was called to order, he should take his seat ; and if decided to be out of order, he should not be allowed to speak again, except on the leave of the House. Mr. McKay judged this to be a proper occasion for the enforcement of that rule ; and stood up and said : " That the gentleman had been pronounced out of order in discussing slavery in the States ; and the rule declared that when a member was so pronounced by the Chair, he should take his seat, and if any one objected to his proceeding again, he should not do so, unless by leave of the House. Mr. McKay did now object to the gentleman from Vermont proceeding any far- ther." Redoubled noise and confusion ensued — a crowd of members rising and speaking at once —who eventually yielded to the resounding blows of the Speaker's hammer upon the lid of his desk, and his apparent desire to read something to the House, as he held a book (re- cognized to be that of the rules) in his hand. Obtaining quiet, so as to enable himself to be heard, he read the rale referred to by Mr. Mc- 152 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Kay ; and said that, as objection had now, for the first time, been made under that rule to the gentleman's resuming his speech, the Chair decided that he could not do so without the leave of the House. Mr. Slade attempted to go on : the Speaker directed him to take his seat until the question of leave should be put. Then, Mr. Slade, still keeping on his feet, asked leave to proceed as in order, saying he would not discuss slavery in Virginia. On that ques- tion Mr. Allen, of Vermont, asked the yeas and nays. Mr. Rencher, of North Carolina, moved an adjournment. Mr. Adams, and many others, demanded the yeas and nays on this motion, which were ordered, and resulted in 106 yeas, and 63 nays — some fifty or sixty members hav- ing withdrawn. This opposition to adjourn- ment was one of the worst features of that un- happy day's work — the only effect of keeping the House together being to increase irritation, and multiply the chances for an outbreak. From the beginning Southern members had been in favor of it, and essayed to accomplish it, but were prevented by the tenacity with which Mr. Slade kept possession of the floor: and now, at last, when it was time to adjourn any way — when the House was in a condition in which no good could be expected, and great harm might be apprehended, there were sixty- three members — being nearly one-third of the House — willing to continue it in session. They were: " Messrs. Adams, Alexander, H. Allen, J. W. Allen, Aycrigg, Bell, Biddle, Bond, Borden, Briggs, Wm. B. Calhoun, Coffin, Corwin, Cran- ston, Curtis, Cushing, Darlington, Davies, Dunn, Evans, Everett, Ewing I. Fletcher, Fillmore, Goode, Grennell, Haley, Hall, Hastings, Henry, Herod, Hoffman, Lincoln, Marvin, S. Mason, Maxwell, McKennan, Milligan, M. Morris, C. Morris, Naylor, Noyes, Ogle, Parmenter, Patter- son, Peck, Phillips, Potts, Potter, Rariden, Ran- dolph, Reed, Ridgway, Russel, Sheffer, Sibley, Slade, Stratton, Tillinghast, Toland, A. S. White, J. White, E. Whittlesey— 63." The House then stood adjourned ; and as the adjournment was being pronounced, Mr. Camp- bell of South Carolina, stood up on a chair, and calling for the attention of members, said : " He had been appointed, as one of the Southern delegation, to announce that all those gentlemen who represented slaveholding States, were in- vited to attend the meeting now being held in the District committee room." Members from the slave-holding States had repaired in large numbers to the room in the basement, where they were invited to meet. Various passions agitated them — some violent. Extreme propositions were suggested, of which Mr. Rhett, of South Carolina, in a letter to his constituents, gave a full account of his own — thus : " In a private and friendly letter to the editor of the Charleston Mercury, amongst? other events accompanying the memorable secession of the Southern members from the hall of the House of Representatives, I stated to him, that I had prepared two resolutions, drawn as amendments to the motion of the member from Vermont, whilst he was discussing the institution of slavery in the South, ' declaring, that the con- stitution having failed to protect the South in the peaceable possession and enjoyment of their rights and peculiar institutions, it was expedient that the Union should be dissolved; and the other, appointing a committee of two members from each State, to report upon the best means of peaceably dissolving it.' They were intended as amendments to a motion, to refer with in- structions to report a bill, abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia. I expected them to share the fate, which inevitably awaited the original motion, so soon as the floor could have been obtained, viz., to be laid upon the table. My design in presenting them, was, to place before Congress and the people, what, in my opinion, was the true issue upon this great and vital question ; and to point out the course of policy by which it should be met by the South- ern States." But extreme counsels did not prevail. There were members present, who well considered that, although the provocation was great, and the number voting for such a firebrand motion was deplorably large, yet it was but little more than the one-fourth of the House, and decidedly less than one half of the members from the free States : so that, even if left to the free State vote alone, the motion would have been rejected. But the motion itself, and the manner in which it was supported, was most reprehensible — necessarily leading to disorder in the House, the destruction of its harmony and capacity for useful legislation, tending to a sectional segre- gation of the members, the alienation of feeling between the North and the South ; and alarm to all the slaveholding States. The evil required a remedy, but not the remedy of breaking up the Union ; but one which might prevent the like in future, while administering a rebuke upon the past. That remedy was found in ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 153 adopting a proposition to be offered to the House, which, if agreed to, would close the door against any discussion upon abolition peti- tions in future, and assimilate the proceedings of the House, in that particular, to those of the Senate. This proposition was put into the hands of Mr. Patton, of Virginia, to be offered as an amendment to the rules at the opening of the House the next morning. It was in these words : " Resolved, That all petitions, memorials, and papers, touching the abolition of slavery or the buying, selling, or transferring of slaves, in any State, District, or Territory, of the United States. be laid on the table, without being debated, printed, read, or referred, and that no further action whatever shall be had thereon." Accordingly, at the opening of the House, Mr. Patton asked leave to submit the resolution — which was read for information. Mr. Adams objected to the grant of leave. Mr. Patton then moved a suspension of the rules — which motion required two-thirds to sustain it ; and, unless obtained, this salutary remedy for an alarming evil (which was already in force in the Senate) could not be offered. It was a test motion, and on which the opponents of abolition agitation in the House required all their strength : for unless two to one, they were defeated. Happily the two to one were ready, and on taking the yeas and nays, demanded by an abolition member (to keep his friends to the track, and to hold the free State anti-abolitionists to their responsi- bility at home), the result stood 135 yeas to 60 nays — the full two-thirds, and fifteen over. The yeas on this important motion, were : Messrs. Hugh J. Anderson, John T. An- drews, Charles G. Atherton, William Beatty, Andrew Beirne, John Bell, Bennet Bicknell, Richard Biddle, Samuel Birdsall, Ratliff Boon, James W. Bouldin, John C. Brodhead, Isaac H. Bronson, Andrew D. W. Bruyn, Andrew Bu- chanan, John Calhoun, C. C. Cambreleng, Wm. B. Campbell, John Campbell, Timothy J. Car- ter, Wm. B. Carter, Zadok Casey, John Cham- bers, John Chaney, Reuben Chapman, Richard Cheatham, Jonathan Cilley, John F. H. Clai- borne, Jesse F. Cleaveland, Wm. K. Clowney, Walter Coles, Thomas Corwin, Robert CraigJ John W. Crocket, Samuel Cushman, Edmund Deberry, John I. De Graff, John Dennis, George C. Dromgoole, John Edwards, James Farring- ton, John Fairfield, Jacob Fry, jr., James Gar- land, James Graham, Seaton Grantland, Abr'm P. Grant, William J. Graves, Robert H. Ham- mond, Thomas L. Hamer, James Harlan, Albert G. Harrison, Richard Hawes, Micajah T. Haw- kins, Charles E. Haynes, Hopkins Holsey, Or- rin Holt, George W. Hopkins, Benjamin C. Howard, Edward B. Hubley, Jabez Jackson, Joseph Johnson, Wm. Cost Johnson, John W. Jones, Gouverneur Kemble, Daniel Kilgore, John Klingensmith, jr., Joab Lawler, Hugh S. Legare, Henry Logan, Francis S. Lyon, Francis Mallory, James M. Mason, Joshua L. Martin, Abram'P. Maury, Wm. L. May, James J. Mc~ Kay, Robert McClellan, Abraham McClelland, Charles McClure, Isaac McKim, Richard H. Menefee, Charles F. Mercer, Wm. Montgomery, Ely Moore, Wm. S. Morgan, Samuel W. Mor- ris, Henry A. Muhlenberg, John L. Murray, Win. H. Noble, John Palmer, Amasa J. Parker, John M. Patton, Lemuel Paynter, Isaac S. Pennybacker, David Petrikin, Lancelot Phelps, Arnold Plumer, Zadock Pratt, John H. Pren- tiss, Luther Reily, Abraham Rencher, John Robertson, Samuel T. Sawyer, Augustine H. Shepperd, Charles Shepard, Ebenezer J. Shields, Matthias Sheplor, Francis 0. J. Smith, Adam W. Snyder, Wm. W. Southgate, James B. Spencer, Edward Stanly, Archibald Stuart, Wm. Stone, John Taliaferro, Wm. Taylor, Oba- diah Titus, Isaac Toucey, Hopkins L. Turney, Joseph R. Underwood, Henry Vail, David D. Wagener, Taylor Webster, Joseph Weeks, Al- bert S. White, John White, Thomas T. Whittle- sey, Lewis Williams, Sherrod Williams, Jared W. Williams, Joseph L. Williams, Christ'r H. Williams, Henry A. Wise, Archibald Yell. The nays were : Messrs. John Quincy Adams, James Alex- ander, jr., Heman Allen, John W. Allen, J. Banker Aycrigg, Wm. Key Bond, Nathaniel B. Borden, George N. Briggs, Wm. B. Calhoun, Charles D. Coffin, Robert B. Cranston, Caleb Cushing, Edward Darlington, Thomas Davee, Edward Davies, Alexander Duncan, George H. Dunn, George Evans, Horace Everett, John Ewing, Isaac Fletcher, Millard Filmore, Henry A. Foster, Patrick G. Goode, George Grennell, jr., Elisha Haley, Hiland Hall, Alexander Har- per, Wm. S. Hastings, Thomas Henry, Wm. Herod, Samuel Ingham, Levi Lincoln, Richard P. Marvin, Samson Mason, John P. B. Maxwell, Thos. M. T. McKennan, Mathias Morris, Cal- vary Morris, Charles Nay lor, Joseph C. Noyes, Charles Ogle, Wm. Parmenter, Wm. Patterson, Luther C. Peck, Stephen C. Phillips, David Potts, jr., James Rariden, Joseph F. Randolph, John Reed, Joseph Ridgway, David Russell, Daniel Sheffer, Mark H. Sibley, Wm. Slade, Charles C. Stratton, Joseph L. Tillinghast, George W. Toland, Elisha Whittlesey, Thomas Jones Yorke. This was one of the most important votes ever delivered in the House. Upon its issue de- pended the quiet of the House on one hand, or 154 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW, on the other, the renewal, and perpetuation of the scenes of the day before — ending in breaking up all deliberation, and all national legislation. It was successful, and that critical step being safely over, the passage of the resolution was secured — the free State friendly vote being itself sufficient to carry it : but, although the passage of the reso- lution was secured, yet resistance to it continued. Mr. Patton rose to recommend his resolution as a peace offering, and to prevent further agitation by demanding the previous question. He said : " He had offered this resolution in the spirit of peace and harmony. It involves (said Mr. P.), so far as I am concerned, and so far as con- cerns some portion of the representatives of the slaveholding States, a concession ; a concession which we make for the sake of peace, harmony, and union. We offer it in the hope that it may allay, not exasperate excitement ; we desire to extinguish, not to kindle a flame in the coun- try. In that spirit, sir, without saying one word in the way of discussion ; without giving utterance to any of those emotions which swell in my bosom at the recollection of what took place here yesterday, I shall do what I have never yet done since I have been a member of this House, and which I have very rarely sus- tained, when done by others : I move the pre- vious question." Then followed a scene of disorder, which thus appears in the Register of Debates : " Mr. Adams rose and said : Mr. Speaker, the gentleman precedes his resolution — (Loud cries of ' Order ! order ! ' from all parts of the hall.) Mr. A. He preceded it with remarks — (' Order ! order!') " The Chair reminded the gentleman that it was out of order to address the House after the demand for the previous question. " Mr. Adams. I ask the House — (continued cries of ' Order ! ' which completely drowned the honorable member's voice.)" Order having been restored, the next question was — " Is the demand for the previous question seconded ? " — which seconding would consist of a majority of the whole House — which, on a division, quickly showed itself. Then came the further question — " Shall the main question be now put ? " — on which the yeas and nays were demanded, and taken; and ended in a repeti- tion of the vote of the same 63 against it. The main question was then put, and carried ; but again, on yeas and nays, to hold free State mem- bers to their responsibility ; showing the same 63 in the negative, with a few additional votes from free State members, who, having staked themselves on the vital point of suspending the rules, saw no use in giving themselves further trouble at home, by giving an unnecessary vote in favor of stifling abolition debate. In this way, the ranks of the 63 were increased to 74. Thus was stifled, and in future prevented in the House, the inflammatory debates on these disturbing petitions. It was the great session of their presentation — being offered by hun- dreds, and signed by hundreds of thousands of persons — many of them women, who forgot their sex and their duties, to mingle in such inflam- matory work ; some of them clergymen, who forgot their mission of peace, to stir up strife among those who should be brethren. Of the pertinacious 63, who backed Mr. Slade through- out, the most notable were Mr. Adams, who had been President of the United States — Mr. Fillmore, who became so — and Mr. Caleb Cush- ing, who eventually became as ready to abolish all impediments to the general diffusion of slavery, as he then was to abolish slavery itself in the District of Columbia. It was a porten- tous contest. The motion of Mr. Slade was, not for an inquiry into the expediency of abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia (a motion in itself sufficiently inflammatory), but to get the command of the House to bring in a bill for that purpose — which would be a decision of the question. His motion failed. The storm sub- sided ; and very few of the free State members who had staked themselves on the issue, lost any thing among their constituents for the devotion which they had shown to the Union. CHAPTER XXXVII. ABOLITIONISTS CLASSIFIED BY ME. CLAY: UL- TRAS DENOUNCED: SLAVERY AGITATORS NORTH AND SOUTH EQUALLY DENOUNCED AS DANGEROUS TO THE UNION. " It is well known to the Senate, said Mr. Clay, that I have thought that the most judicious course with abolition petitions has not been of late pursued by Congress. I have believed that it would have been wisest to have received and referred them, without opposition, and to have reported against their object in a calm and dis- passionate and argumentative appeal to the ANNO 1838. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 155 good sense of the whole community. It has been supposed, however, by a majority of Con- gress that it was most expedient either not to receive the petitions at all, or, if formally re- ceived, not to act definitively upon them. There is no substantial difference between these opposite opinions, since both look to an abso- lute rejection of the prayer of the petitioners. But there is a great difference in the form of proceeding; and, Mr. President, some experi- ence in the conduct of human affairs has taught me to believe that a neglect to observe estab- lished forms is often attended with more mis- chievous consequences than the infliction of a positive injury. We all know that, even in private life, a violation of the existing usages and ceremonies of society cannot take place without serious prejudice. I fear, sir, that the abolitionists have acquired a considerable appa- rent force by blending with the object which they have in view a collateral and totally dif- ferent question arising out of an alleged viola- tion of the right of petition. I know full well, and take great pleasure in testifying, that nothing was remoter from the intention of the majority of the Senate, from which I differed, than to violate the right of petition in any case in which, according to its judgment, that right could be constitutionally exercised, or where the object of the petition could be safely or properly granted. Still, it must be owned that the abolitionists have seized hold of the fact of the treatment which their petitions have re- ceived in Congress, and made injurious impres- sions upon the minds of a large portion of the community. This, I think, might have been avoided by the course which I should have been glad to have seen pursued. " And I desire now, Mr. President, to advert to some of those topics which I think might have been usefully embodied in a report by a committee of the Senate, and which, I am per- suaded, would have checked the progress, if it had not altogether arrested the efforts of aboli- tion. I am sensible, sir, that this work would have been accomplished with much greater abil- ity, and with much happier effect, under the auspices of a committee, than it can be by me. But, anxious as I always am to contribute whatever is in my power to the harmony, con- cord, and happiness of this great people, I feel myself irresistibly impelled to do whatever is in my power, incompetent as I feel myself to be, to dissuade the public from continuing to agitate a subject fraught with the most direful consequences. " There are three classes of persons opposed, or apparently opposed, to the continued exist- ence of slavery in the United States. The first are those who, from sentiments of philanthropy and humanity, are conscientiously opposed to the existence of slavery, but who are no less opposed, at the same time, to any disturbance of the peace and tranquillity of the Union, or the infringement of the powers of the States composing the confederacy. In this class may be comprehended that peaceful and exemplary society of ' Friends,' one of whose established maxims is, an abhorrence of war in all its forms, and the cultivation of peace and good- will amongst mankind. The next class consist? of apparent abolitionists — that is, those who, having been persuaded that the right of peti- tion has been violated by Congress, co-operate with the abolitionists for the sole purpose of as- serting and vindicating that right. And the third class are the real ultra-abolitionists, who are resolved to persevere in the pursuit of their object at all hazards, and without regard to any p consequences, however calamitous they may be. "With them the rights of property are nothing ; the deficiency of the powers of the general gov- erment is nothing; the acknowledged and in- contestable powers of the States are nothing ; civil war, a dissolution of the Union, and the overthrow of a government in which are con- centrated the fondest hopes of the civilized world, are nothing. A single idea has taken possession of their minds, and onward they pur- sue it, overlooking all barriers, reckless and re- gardless of all consequences. With this class, the immediate abolition of slavery in the Dis- trict of Columbia, and in the territory of Flori- da, the prohibition of the removal of slaves from State to State, and the refusal to admit any new State, comprising within its limits the institu- tion of domestic slavery, are but so many means conducing to the accomplishment of the ulti- mate but perilous end at which they avowedly and boldly aim ; are but so many short stages in the long and bloody road to the distant goal at which they would finally arrive. Their pur- pose is abolition, universal abolition, peaceably if it can, forcibly if it must. Their object is no longer concealed by the thinnest veil ; it is avowed and proclaimed. Utterly destitute of constitutional or other rightful power, living in totally distinct communities, as alien to the communities in which the subject on which they would operate resides, so far as concerns political power over that subject, as if they lived in Africa or Asia, they nevertheless pro- mulgate to the world their purpose to be to manumit forthwith, and without compensation, and without moral preparation, three millions of negro slaves, under jurisdictions altogether separated from those under which they live. "I have said that immediate abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia and in the territory of Florida, and the exclusion of new States, were only means towards the attainment of a much more important end. Unfortunately, they are not the only means. Another, and much more lamentable one is that which this class is endeavoring to employ, of arraying one portion against another portion of the Union. With that view, in all their leading prints and publications, the alleged horrors of slavery are depicted in the most glowing and exaggerated colors, to excite the imaginations and stimulate 156 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. the rage of the people in the free States against the people in the slave States. The slaveholder is held up and represented as the most atrocious of human beings. Advertisements of fugitive slaves to be sold are carefully collected and blazoned forth, to infuse a spirit of detestation and hatred against one entire and the largest section of the Union. And like a notorious agitator upon another theatre (Mr. Daniel O'Connell), they would hunt down and pro- scribe from the pale of civilized society the in- habitants of that entire section. Allow me, Mr. President, to say, that whilst I recognize in the justly wounded feelings of the Minister of the United States at the court of St. James much to excuse the notice which he was provoked to take of that agitator, in my humble opinion, he would better have consulted the dignity of his station and of his country in treating him with contemptuous silence. That agitator would ex- clude us from European society — he who himself can only obtain a contraband admission, and is re- ceived with scornful repugnance into it ! If he be no more desirous of our society than we are of his, he may rest assured that a state of eternal non-intercourse will exist between us. Yes, sir, I think the American Minister would have best pursued the dictates of true dignity by regard- ing the language of that member of the British House of Commons as the malignant ravings of the plunderer of his own country, and the libeller of a foreign and kindred people. " But the means to which I have already ad- verted are not the only ones which this third class of ultra-Abolitionists are employing to effect their ultimate end. They began their operations by professing to employ only per- suasive means in appealing to the humanity, and enlightening the understandings, of the slaveholdmg portion of the Union. If there were some kindness in this avowed motive, it must be acknowledged that there was rather a presumptuous display also of an assumed supe- riority in intelligence and knowledge. For some time they continued to make these appeals to our duty and our interest; but impatient with the slow influence of their logic upon our stupid minds, they recently resolved to change their system of action. To the agency of their powers of persuasion, they now propose to substitute the powers of the ballot box ; and he must be blind to what is passing before us, who does not perceive that the inevitable tendency of their proceedings is, if these should be found insuffi- cient, to invoke, finally, the more potent powers of the bayonet. " Mr. President, it is at this alarming stage of the proceedings of the ultra- Abolitionists that I would seriously invite every considerate man in the country solemnly to pause, and deliberately to reflect, not merely on our existing posture, but upon that dreadful precipice down which they would hurry us. It is because these ultra- Abolitionists have ceased to employ the instru- ments of reason and persuasion, have made their cause political, and have appealed to the ballot box, that I am induced, upon this occasion, to address you. " There have been three epochs in the history of our country at which the spirit of abolition displayed itself. The first was immediately after the formation of the present federal gov- ernment. When the constitution was about going into operation, its powers were not well understood by the community at large, and re- mained to be accurately interpreted and defined. At that period numerous abolition societies were formed, comprising not merely the Society of Friends, but many other good men. Peti- tions were presented to Congress, praying for the abolition of slavery. They were received without serious opposition, referred, and report- ed upon by a committee. The report stated that the general government had no power to abolish slavery as it existed in the several States, and that these States themselves had ex- clusive jurisdiction over the subject. The re- port was generally acquiesced in, and satisfac- tion and tranquillity ensued ; the abolition societies thereafter limiting their exertions, in respect to the black population, to offices of humanity within the scope of existing laws. " The next period when the subject of slavery and abolition, incidentally, was brought into notice and discussion, was on the memorable occasion of the admission of the State of Mis- souri into the Union. The struggle was long, strenuous, and fearful. It is too recent to make it necessary to do more than merely advert to it, and to say, that it was finally composed by one of those compromises characteristic of our institutions, and of which the constitution itself is the most signal instance. " The third is that in which we now find our- selves, and to which various causes have con- tributed. The principal one, perhaps, is British emancipation in the islands adjacent to our con- tinent. Confounding the totally different cases of the powers of the British Parliament and those of our Congress, and the totally different conditions of the slaves in the British West India Islands and the slaves in the sovereign and independent States of this confederacy, superficial men have inferred from the undecid- ed British experiment the practicability of the abolition of slavery in these States. All these are different. The powers of the British Parlia- ment are unlimited, and often described to be omnipotent. The powers of the American Con- gress, on the contrary, are few, cautiously limit- ed, scrupulously excluding all that are not granted, and above all, carefully and absolutely excluding all power over the existence or con- tinuance of slavery in the several States. The slaves, too, upon which British legislation ope- rated, were not in the bosom of the kingdom, but in remote and feeble colonies, having no voice in Parliament. The West India slave- holder was neither representative, or represented in that Parliament. And while I most fervently ANNO 1839. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 157 wish complete success to the British experiment of the West India emancipation, I confess that I have fearful forebodings of a disastrous ter- mination. Whatever it may be, I think it must be admitted that, if the British Parliament treated the West India slaves as freemen, it also treated the West India freemen as slaves. If instead of these slaves being separated by a wide ocean from the parent country, three or four millions of African negro slaves had been dispersed over England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and their owners had been members of the British Parliament — a case which would have presented some analogy to our own coun- try — does any one believe that it would have been expedient or practical to have emancipated them, leaving them to remain, with all their embittered feelings, in the United kingdom, boundless as the powers of the British govern- ment are ? " Other causes have conspired with the Brit- ish example to produce the existing excitement from abolition. I say it with profound regret, and with no intention to occasion irritation here or elsewhere, that there are persons in both parts of the Union who have sought to mingle abolition with politics, and to array one portion of the Union against the other. It is the misfortune of free countries that, in high party times, a disposition too often prevails to seize hold of every thing which can strengthen the one side or weaken the other. Prior to the late election of the present President of the United States, he was charged with being an abolitionist, and abolition designs were imputed to many of his supporters. Much as I was op- posed to his election, and am to his administra- tion, I neither shared in making or believing the truth of the charge. He was scarcely in- stalled in office before the same charge was di- rected against those who opposed his election. " It is not true — I rejoice that it is not true — that either of the two great parties in this country has any design or aim at abolition. I should deeply lament if it were true. I should consider, if it were true, that the danger to the stability of our system would be infinitely greater than any which does, I hope, actually exist. Whilst neither party can be, I think, justly accused of any abolition tendency or pur- pose, both have profited,, and both been injured, in particular localities, by the accession or ab- straction of abolition support. If the account were fairly stated, I believe the party to which I am opposed has profited much more, and been injured much less, than that to which I belong. But I am far, for that reason, from being dis- posed to accuse our adversaries of abolitionism." CHAPTER XXXVIII. BANK OF THE UNITED STATES : EESIGNATION OF ME. BIDDLE : FINAL SUSPENSION. On the first of January of this year this Bank made an exposition of its affairs to the Gene- ral Assembly of Pennsylvania, as required by its charter, in which its assets aggregated $66,180,396 ; and its liabilities aggregated $33,180,855 : the exposition being verified by the usual oaths required on such occasious. On the 30th of March following Mr. Biddle resigned his place as president of the Bank, giving as a reason for it that, ; ' the affairs of the institution were in a state of great pros- perity, and no longer needed his services." On the same day the board of directors in ac- cepting the resignation, passed a resolve declar- ing that the President Biddle had left the insti- tution "prosperous in all its relations, strong in its ability to promote the interest of the community, cordial with other banks, and se- cure in the esteem and respect of all connected with it at home or abroad." On the 9th of October the Bank closed her doors upon her creditors, under the mild name of suspension — never to open them again. In the month of April preceding, when leav- ing Washington to return to Missouri, I told the President there would be another suspension, headed by the Bank of the United States, be- fore we met again : at my return in November it was his first expression to remind me of that conversation ; and to say it was the second time I had foreseen these suspensions, and warned him of them. He then jocularly said, don't predict so any more. I answered I should not ; for it was the last time this Bank would sus- pend. Still dominating over the moneyed systems of the South and West, this former colossal insti- tution was yet able to carry along with her near- ly all the banks of one-half of the Union : and using her irredeemable paper against the solid currency of the New York and other Northern banks, and selling fictitious bills on Europe, she was able to run them hard for specie— curtail their operations — and make panic and distress in the money market. At the same time by 158 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. making an imposing exhibition of her assets, arranging a reciprocal use of their notes with other suspended banks, keeping up an apparent par value for her notes and stocks by fictitious and collusive sales and purchases, and above all, by her political connection with the powerful opposition — she was enabled to keep the field as a bank, and as a political power : and as such to act an effective part in the ensuing presiden- tial election. She even pretended to have be- come stronger since the time when Mr. Biddle left her so prosperous ; and at the next exposi- tion of her affairs to the Pennsylvania legis- lature (Jan. 1, 1840), returned her assets at $74,603,142 ; her liabilities at $36,959,539, and her surplus at $37,643,603. This surplus, after paying all liabilities, showed the stock to be worth a premium of $2,643,603. And all this duly sworn to. CHAPTER XXXIX. FIRST SESSION TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS : MEM- BERS : ORGANIZATION : POLITICAL MAP OF THE HOUSE. Members of the Senate. New Hampshire. — Henry Hubbard, Franklin Pierce. Maine. — John Ruggles, Reuel Williams. Massachusetts. — John Davis, Daniel Web- ster. Vermont. — Sam'l Prentiss, Sam'l S. Phelps. Rhode Island. — Nehemiah R. Knight, N. F. Dixon. Connecticut. — Thaddeus Betts, Perry Smith. New York.— Silas Wright, N. P. Tallmadge. New Jersey. — Sam'l L. Southard, Garret D. Wall. Pennsylvania. — James Buchanan, Daniel Sturgeon. Delaware. — Thomas Clayton. Maryland. — John S. Spence, Wm. D. Mer- rick. Virginia. — William H. Roane. North Carolina. — Bedford Brown, R. Strange. South Carolina. — John C. Calhoun, Wm. Campbell Preston. Georgia. — Wilson Lumpkin, Alfred Cuth- bert. Kentucky.— Henry Clay, John J. Critten- den. Tennessee, — Hugh L. White, Alex. An- derson. Ohio. — William Allen, Benjamin Tappan. Indiana. — Oliver H. Smith, Albert S. White. Mississippi. — Robert J. Walker, John Hen- derson. Louisiana. — Robert C. Nicholas, Alexander Mouton. Illinois. — John M. Robinson, Richard M. Young. Alabama. — Clement C. Clay, Wm. Rufus, King. Missouri. — Thomas H. Benton, Lewis F. Linn. Arkansas. — William S. Fulton, Ambrose Sevier. Michigan. — John Norvell, Augustus S. Por- ter. Members of the House of Representatives. Maine. — Hugh J. Anderson, Nathan Clifford, Thomas Davee, George Evans, Joshua A. Lowell, Virgil D. Parris, Benjamin Randall, Albert Smith. New Hampshire. — Charles G. Atherton, Edmund Burke, Ira A. Eastman, Tristram Shaw, Jared W. Williams. Connecticut. — Joseph Trumbull, William L. Storrs, Thomas W. Williams, Thomas B. Osborne, Truman Smith, John H. Brockway. Vermont. — Hiland Hall, William Slade, Horace Everett, John Smith, Isaac Fletcher. Massachusetts. — Abbot Lawrence, Leverett Saltonstall, Caleb Cushing, William Parmenter, Levi Lincoln, [Vacancy,] George N. Briggs, William B. Calhoun, William S. Hastings, Hen- ry Williams, John Reed, John Quincy Adams. Rhode Island. — Chosen by general ticket. Joseph L. Tillinghast, Robert B. Cranston. New York. — Thomas B. Jackson, James de la Montayne, Ogden Hoffman, Edward Curtis, Moses H. Grinnell, James Monroe, Gouverneur Kemble, Charles Johnson, Nathaniel Jones, Rufus Palen, Aaron Vanderpoel, John Ely, Hiram P. Hunt, Daniel D. Barnard, Anson Brown, David Russell, Augustus C. Hand, John Fine, Peter J. Wagoner, Andrew W. Doig, John G. Floyd, David P. Brewster, Thomas C. Crittenden, John H. Prentiss, Judson Allen, John C. Clark, S. B. Leonard, Amasa Dana, Edward Rogers, Nehemiah H. Earl, Christopher Morgan, Theron R. Strong, Francis P. Granger, Meredith Mallory, Seth M. Gates, Luther C. Peck, Richard P. Marvin, Millard Fillmore, Charles F. Mitchell. New Jersey. — Joseph B. Randolph, Peter D. Vroom, Philemon Dickerson, William R. Cooper, Daniel B. Ryall, Joseph Kille. Pennsylvania. — William Beatty, Richard Biddle, James Cooper, Edward Davies, John Davis, John Edwards, Joseph Fornance, John Galbraith, James Gerry, Robert II. Hammond, Thomas Henry, Enos Hook, Francis James, George M. Keim, Isaac Leet, Albert G. Mar- chand, Samuel W. Morris, George McCulloch, Charles Naylor, Peter Newhard, Charles Ogle, ANNO 1839. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 159 Lemuel Paynter, David Petrikin, William S. Ramsey, John Sergeant, William Simonton, George W. Toland, David D. Wagener. Delaware. — Thomas Robinson, jr. Maryland. — James Carroll, John Dennis, Solomon Hillen, jr., Daniel Jenifer, William Cost Johnson, Francis Thomas, Philip F. Thomas, John T. H. Worthington. Virginia. — Linn Banks, Andrew Beirne, John M. Botts, Walter Coles, Robert Craig, George C. Dromgoole, James Garland, William L. Goggin, John Hill, Joel Holleman, George W. Hopkins, Robert M. T. Hunter, Joseph Johnson, John W. Jones, William Lucas, Charles F. Mercer, Francis E. Rives, Green B. Samuels, Lewis Steinrod, John Taliaferro, Hen- ry A. Wise. North Carolina. — Jesse A. Bynum, Henry W. Connor, Edmund Deberry, Charles Fisher, James Graham, Micajah T. Hawkins, John Hill, James J. McKay, William Montgomery, Kenneth Rayner, Charles Shepard, Edward Stanly, Lewis Williams. South Carolina. — Sampson H. Butler, John Campbell, John K. Griffin, Isaac E. Holmes, Francis W. Pickens, R. Barnwell Rhett, James Rogers, Thomas B. Sumter, Waddy Thomp- son, jr. Georgia. — Julius C. Alford, Edward J. Black, Walter T. Colquitt, Mark A. Cooper, William C. Dawson, Richard W. Habersham, Thomas B. King, Eugenius A. Nisbet, Lott Warren. Alabama. — R. II. Chapman, David Hubbard, George W. Crabb, Dixon H. Lewis, James Dil- lett. Louisiana. — Edward D. White, Edward Chinn, Rice Garland. Mississippi. — A. G. Brown, J. Thompson. Missouri. — John Miller, John Jameson. Arkansas. — Edward Cross. Tennessee. — William B. Carter, Abraham McClellan, Joseph L. Williams, Julius W. Blackwell, Hopkins L. Turney, William B. Campbell, John Bell, Meredith P. Gentry, Harvey M. Waterson, Aaron V. Brown, Cave Johnson, John W. Crockett, Christopher H. Williams. Kentucky.— Linn Boyd, Philip Triplett, Jo- seph Underwood, Sherrod Williams, Simeon W. Anderson, Willis Green, John Pope, William J. Graves, John White, Richard Hawes, L. W. Andrews, Garret Davis, William 0. Butler. Ohio.— Alexander Duncan, John B. Weller, Patrick G. Goode, Thomas Corwin, William Doane, Calvary Morris, William K. Bond, Jo- seph Ridgway, William Medill, Samson Ma- son, Isaac Parish, Jonathan Taylor, D. P. Lead- better, George Sweeny, John W. Allen, Joshua R. Giddings, John Hastings, D. A. Stark- weather, Henry Swearingen. Michigan. — Isaac E. Crary. Indiana- — Geo. H. Proffit, John Davis, John Carr, Thomas Smith, James Rariden, Wm. W. Wick, T. A. Howard. Illinois. — John Reynolds, Zadok Casey, John T. Stuart. The organization of the House was delayed for many days by a case of closely and earnest- ly contested election from the State of New Jersey. Five citizens, to wit : John B. Ay- crigg, John B. Maxwell, William Halsted, Thomas C. Stratton, Thomas Jones Yorke, had received the governor's certificate as duly elect- ed : five other citizens, to wit : Philemon Dick- erson, Peter D. Vroom, Daniel B. Ryall, Wil- liam R. Cooper, John Kille, claimed to have received a majority of the lawful votes given in the election : and each set demanded admission as representatives. No case of contested election was ever more warmly disputed in the House. The two sets of claimants were of opposite politi- cal parties : the House was nearly divided : five from one side and added to the other would make a difference of ten votes : and these ten might determine its character. The first struggle was on the part of the members holding the certifi- cates claiming to be admitted, and to act as mem- bers, until the question of right should be de- cided ; and as this would give them a right to vote for speaker, it might have had the effect of decid- ing that important election : and for this point a great struggle was made by the whig party. The democracy could not ask for the immediate admission of the five democratic claimants, as they only presented a case which required to be examined before it could be decided. Their course was to exclude both sets, and send them equally before the committee of contested elec- tions ; and in the mean time, a resolution to pro- ceed with the organization of the House was adopted after an arduous and protracted struggle, in which every variety of parliamentary motion was exhausted by each side to accomplish its pur- pose ; and, at the end of three months it was re- ferred to the committee to report which five of the ten contestants had received the greatest number of legal votes. This was putting the issue on the rights of the voters— on the broad and popular ground of choice by the people : and was equiv- alent to deciding the question in favor of the democratic contestants, who held the certificate of the Secretary of State that the majority of votes returned to his office was in their favor, — counting the votes of some precincts which the governor and council had rejected for illegality in holding the elections. As the constitutional 160 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. judge of the election, qualifications and returns of its own members, the House disregarded the decision of the governor and council ; and, de- ferring to the representative principle, made the decision turn, not upon the conduct of the offi- cers holding the election, but upon the rights of the voters. This strenuous contest was not terminated until the 10th of March — nearly one hundred days from the time of its commencement. The five democratic members were then admitted to their seats. In the mean time the election for speaker had been brought on by a vote of 118 to 110 — the democracy having succeeded in bringing on the election after a total exhaustion of every parliamentary manoeuvre to keep it off. Mr. John W. Jones, of Virginia, was the demo- cratic nominee : Mr. Jno. Bell, of Tennessee, was nominated on the part of the whigs. The whole vote given in was 235, making 118 necessary to a choice. Of these, Mr. Jones received 118: Mr. Bell, 102. Twenty votes were scattered, of which 11, on the whig side, w T ent to Mr. Dawson of Georgia ; and 9 on the democratic side were thrown upon three southern mem- bers. Had any five of these nine voted for Mr. Jones, it would have elected him: while the eleven given to Mr. Dawson would not have ef- fected the election of Mr. Bell. It was clear the democracy had the majority, for the contested election from New Jersey having been sent to a committee, and neither set of the contestant s allowed to vote, the question became purely and simply one of party : but there was a fraction in each party which did not go with the party to which it belonged : and hence, with a ma- jority in the House to bring on the election, and a majority voting in it, the democratic nominee lacked five of the number requisite to elect him. The contest was continued through five successive ballotings without any better re- sult for Mr. Jones, and worse for Mr. Bell ; and it became evident that there was a fraction of each party determined to control the election. It became a question with the democratic party what to do ? The fraction which did not go with the party were the friends of Mr. Calhoun, and although always professing democratically had long acted with the whigs, and had just re- turned to the body of the party against which they had been acting. The election was in their hands, and they gave it to be known that if one of their number was taken, they would vote with the body of the party and elect him : and Mr. Dixon H. Lewis, of Alabama, was the person indicated. The extreme importance of having a speaker friendly to the administration induced all the leading friends of Mr. Van Buren to go into this arrangement, and to hold a caucus to cary it into effect. The caucus was held : Mr. Lewis was adopted as the candidate of the party: and, the usual resolves of unanimity having been adopted, it was expected to elect him on the first trial. He was not, however, so elected ; nor on the second trial ; nor on the third; nor on any one up to the seventh: when, having never got a higher vote than Mr. Jones, and falling off to the one-half of it, he was dropped ; and but few knew how the balk came to pass. It was thus : The writer of this View was one of a few who would not capitulate to half a dozen members, known as Mr. Cal- houn's friends, long separated from the party, bitterly opposing it, just returning to it, and undertaking to govern it by constituting them- selves into a balance wheel between the two nearly balanced parties. He preferred a clean defeat to any victory gained by such capitula- tion. He was not a member of the House, but had friends there who thought as he did ; and these he recommended to avoid the caucus, and remain unbound by its resolves ; and when the election came on, vote as they pleased : which they did : and enough of them throwing away their votes upon those who were no candidates, thus prevented the election of Mr. Lewis : and so returned upon the little fraction of pretenders the lesson which they had taught. It was the same with the whig party. A fraction of its members refused to support the regular candidate of the party ; and after many fruitless trials to elect him, he was abandoned — Mr. Robert M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, taken up, and eventually elected. He had voted with the whig party in the New Jersey election case — among the scattering in the votes for speaker ; and was finally elected by the full whig vote, and a few of the scattering from the democratic ranks. He was one of the small band of Mr. Calhoun's friends ; so that that gentleman suc- ceeded in governing the whig election of speaker, after failing to govern that of the democracy. In looking over the names of the candidates for speaker it will be seen that the whole were Southern men — no Northern man being at any time put in nomination, or voted for. And this ANNO 1839. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 161 circumstance illustrates a pervading system of action between the two sections from the foundation of the government — the southern going for the honors, the northern for the bene- fits of the government. And each has succeeded, but with the difference of a success in a solid and in an empty pursuit. The North has be- come rich upon the benefits of the government : the South has grown lean upon its honors. This arduous and protracted contest for speaker, and where the issue involved the vital party question of the organization of the House, and where every member classified himself by a deliberate and persevering series of votes, be- comes important in a political classification point of view, and is here presented in detail as the political map of the House — taking the first vote as showing the character of the whole. 1. Members voting for Mr. Jones : 113. Judson Allen, Hugh J. Anderson, Charles G. Atherton, Linn Banks, William Beatty, Andrew Beirne, Julius W. Blackwell, Linn Boyd, David P. Brewster, Aaron V. Brown, Albert G. Brown, Edmund Burke, Sampson H. Butler, William 0. Butler, Jesse A. Bynum, John Carr, James Carroll, Zadok Casey, Reuben Chapman, Nathan Clifford, Walter Coles, Henry W. Connor, Ro- bert Craig, Isaac E. Crary, Edward Cross, Amasa Dana, Thomas Davee, John Davis, John W. Davis, William Doan, Andrew W. Doig, George C. Dromgoole, Alexander Duncan. Ne- hemiah H. Earl, Ira A. Eastman, John Ely, John Fine, Isaac Fletcher, John G. Floyd, Joseph Fornance, John Galbraith, James Gerry, Robert H. Hammond, Augustus C. Hand, John Hastings, Micajah T. Hawkins, John Hill of North Carolina, Solomon Hillen jr., Joel Holle- man, Enos Hook, Tilghman A. Howard, David Hubbard, Thomas B. Jackson, John Jameson, Joseph Johnson, Cave Johnson, Nathaniel Jones, George M. Keim, Gouverneur Kemble, Daniel P. Leadbetter, Isaac Leet, Stephen B. Leonard, Dixon H. Lewis, Joshua A. Lowell, William Lucas, Abraham McLellan, George McCulloch, James J. McKay, Meredith Mallory, Albert G. Marchand, William Medill, John Miller, James D. L. Montanya, William Mont- gomery, Samuel W. Morris, Peter Newhard, Isaac Parrish, William Parmenter, Virgil D. Parris, Lemuel Paynter, David Petrikin, Francis W. Pickens, John H. Prentiss, William S. Ram- sey, John Reynolds, R. Barnwell Rhett, Francis E. Rives, Thomas Robinson jr., Edward Rod- gers, Green B. Samuels, Tristram Shaw, Charles Shepard, Albert Smith, John Smith, Thomas Smith, David A. Starkweather, Lewis Steenrod, Theron R. Strong, Henry Swearingen, George Sweeny, Jonathan Taylor, Francis Thomas, Philip F. Thomas, Jacob Thompson, Hopkins Vol. II.— 11 L. Turney, Aaron Vanderpoel, David D. Wagner, Harvey M. Watterson, John B. Weller, William W. Wick, Jared W. Williams, Henry Williams, John T. H. Worthington. 2. Members voting for Mr. Bell: 102. John Quincy Adams, John W. Allen, Simeon H. Anderson, Landaff W. Andrews, Daniel D. Barnard, Richard Biddle, William K. Bond, John M. Botts, George N. Briggs, John H. Brockway, Anson Brown, William B. Calhoun, William B. Campbell, William B. Carter, Thom- as W. Chinn, Thomas C. Chittenden, John C. Clark, James Cooper, Thomas Corwin, George W. Crabb, Robt. B. Cranston, John W. Crockett, Edward Curtis, Caleb Cushing, Edward Davies, Garret Davis, William C. Dawson, Edmund Deberry, John Dennis, James Dellet, John Ed- wards, George Evans, Horace Everett, Millard Fillmore, Rice Garland, Seth M. Gates, Meredith P. Gentry, Joshua R. Giddings, William L. Goggin, Patrick G. Goode, James Graham, Francis Granger, Willis Green, William J. Graves, Moses H. Grinnell, Hiland Hall, Wil- liam S. Hastings, Richard Hawes, Thomas Hen- ry, John Hill of Virginia, Ogden Hoffman, Hiram P. Hunt, Francis James, Daniel Jenifer, Charles Johnston, William Cost Johnson, Ab- bott Lawrence, Levi Lincoln, Richard P. Marvin, Samson Mason, Charles F. Mercer, Charles F. Mitchell, James Monroe, Christopher Morgan, Calvary Morris, Charles Naylor, Charles Ogle, Thomas B. Osborne, Rufus Palen, Luther C. Peck, John Pope, George H. Proffit, Benjamin Randall, Joseph F. Randolph, James Rariden, Kenneth Rayner, John Reed, Joseph Ridgway, David Russell, Leverett Saltonstall, John Ser- geant, William Simonton, William Slade, Tru- man Smith, Edward Stanly, William L. Storrs, John T. Stuart, John Taliaferro, Joseph L. Til- linghast, George W. Toland, Philip Triplett, Joseph Trumbull, Joseph R. Underwood, Peter J. Wagner, Edward D. White, John White, Thomas W. Williams, Lewis Williams, Joseph L. Williams, Christopher H. Williams, Sherrod Williams, Henry A. Wise. 3. Scattering: 20. The following named members voted for William C. Dawson, of Georgia. Julius C. Alford, John Bell, Edward J. Black, Richard W. Habersham, George W. Hopkins, Hiram P. Hunt, William Cost Johnson, Thomas B. King, Eugenius A. Nisbet, Waddy Thomp- son jr., Lott Warren. The following named members voted for Dixon H. Lewis, of Alabama : John Campbell, Mark A. Cooper, John K. Griffin, John W. Jones, Walter T. Colquitt. The following named members voted for Francis W. Pickens, of South Carolina : Charles Fisher, Isaac E. Holmes, Robert M. T. Hunter, James Rogers, Thomas B. Sumter. James Garland voted for George W. Hopkins, of Virginia. 162 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Charles Ogle voted for Robert M. T. Hunter, of Virginia. CHAPTER XL. FIRST SESSION OF THE TWENTY-SIXTH CON- GRESS : PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. The President met with firmness the new sus- pension of the banks of the southern and west- ern half of the Union, headed by the Bank of the United States. Far from yielding to it he persevered in the recommendation of his great measures, found in their conduct new reasons for the divorce of Bank and State, and plainly reminded the delinquent institutions with a to- tal want of the reasons for stopping payment which they had alleged two years before. He " It now appears that there are other motives than a want of public confidence under which the banks seek to justify themselves in a refusal to meet their obligations. Scarcely were the country and government relieved, in a degree, from the difficulties occasioned by the general suspension of 1837, when a partial one, occur- ring within thirty months of the former, pro- duced new and serious embarrassments, though it had no palliation in such circumstances as were alleged in justification of that which had previously taken place. There was nothing in the condition of the country to endanger a well- managed banking institution ; commerce was deranged by no foreign war ; every branch of manufacturing industry was crowned with rich rewards ; and the more than usual abundance of our harvests, after supplying our domestic wants, had left our granaries and storehouses filled with a surplus for exportation. It is in the midst of this, that an irredeemable and de- preciated paper currency is entailed upon the people by a large portion of the banks. They are not driven to it by the exhibition of a loss of public confidence ; or of a sudden pressure from their depositors or note-holders, but they excuse themselves by alleging that the current of business, and exchange with foreign coun- tries, which draws the precious metals from their vaults, would require, in order to meet it, a larger curtailment of their loans to a compar- atively small portion of the community, than it will be convenient for them to bear, or perhaps safe for the banks to exact. The plea has ceased to be one of necessity. Convenience and policy are now deemed sufficient to war- rant these institutions in disregarding their solemn obligations. Such conduct is not mere- ly an injury to individual creditors, but it is a wrong to the whole community, from whose liberality they hold most valuable privileges — whose rights they violate, whose business they derange, and the value of whose property they render unstable and insecure. It must be evi- dent that this new ground for bank suspen- sions, in reference to which their action is not only disconnected with, but wholly independent of, that of the public, gives a character to their suspensions more alarming than any which they exhibited before, and greatly increases the im- propriety of relying on the banks in the trans- actions of the government." The President also exposed the dangerous nature of the whole banking system from its chain of connection and mutual dependence of one upon another, so as to make the misfortune or criminality of one the misfortune of all. Our country banks were connected with those of New York and Philadelphia : they again with the Bank of England. So that a financial crisis commencing in London extends immediately to our great Atlantic cities ; and thence through- out the Stites to the most petty institutions of the most remote villages and counties : so that the lever which raised or sunk our country banks was in New York and Philadelphia, while they themselves were worked by a lever in London ; thereby subjecting our system to the vicissitudes of English banking, and espe- cially while we had a national bank, which, by a law of its nature, would connect itself with the Bank of England. All this was well shown by the President, and improved into a reason for disconnecting ourselves from a moneyed system, which, in addition to its own inherent vices and fallibilities, was also subject to the vices, fallibilities, and even inimical designs of another, and a foreign system — belonging to a power, always our competitor in trade and manufactures — sometimes our enemy in open war. "Distant banks may fail, without seriously affecting those in our principal commercial cities ; but the failure of the latter is felt at the extremities of the Union. The suspension at New York, in 1837, was every where, with very few exceptions, followed, as soon as it was known ; that recently at Philadelphia imme- diately affected the banks of the South and West in a similar manner. This dependence of our whole banking system on the institutions in a few large cities, is not found in the laws of their organization, but in those of trade and exchange. The banks at that centre to which currency ANNO 1839. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 163 flows, and where it is required in payments for merchandise, hold the power of controlling those in regions whence it comes, while the latter possess no means of restraining them ; so that the value of individual property, and the pros- perity of trade, through the whole interior of the country, are made to depend on the good or bad management of the banking institutions in the great seats of trade on the seaboard. But this chain of dependence does not stop here. It does not terminate at Philadelphia or New York. It reaches across the ocean, and ends in London, the centre of the credit system. The same laws of trade, which give to the banks in our principal cities power over the whole bank- ing system of the United States, subject the former, in their turn, to the money power in Great Britain. It is not denied that the sus- pension of the New York banks in 1837, which was followed in quick succession throughout the Union, was partly produced by an application of that power ; and it is now alleged, in extenu- ation of the present condition of so large a por- tion of our banks, that their embarrassments have arisen from the same cause. From this influence they cannot now entirely escape, for it has its origin in the credit currencies of the two countries ; it is strengthened by the cur- rent of trade and exchange, which centres in London, and is rendered almost irresistible by the large debts contracted there by our mer- chants, our banks, and our States. It is thus that an introduction of a new bank into the most distant of our villages, places the business of that village within the influence of the money power in England. It is thus that every new debt which we contract in that country, seriously affects our own currency, and extends over the pursuits of our citizens its powerful influence. We cannot escape from this by making new banks, great or small, State or National. The same chains which bind those now existing to the centre of this system of paper credit, must equally fetter every similar institution we create. It is only by the extent to which this system has been pushed of late, that we have been made fully aware of its irresistible tendency to sub- ject our own banks and currency to a vast con- trolling power in a foreign land ; and it adds a new argument to those which illustrate their precarious situation. Endangered in the first place by their own mismanagement, and again by the conduct of every institution which con- nects them with the centre of trade in our own country, they are yet subjected, beyond all this, to the effect of whatever measures, policy, neces- sity, or caprice, may induce those who control the credits of England to resort to. Is an argu- ment required beyond the exposition of these facts, to show the impropriety of using our banking institutions as depositories of the pub- lic money ? Can we venture not only to en- counter the risk of their individual and mutual mismanagement, but, at the same time, to place our foreign and domestic policy entirely under the control of a foreign moneyed interest ? To do so is to impair the independence of our government, as the present credit system has already impaired the independence of our banks. It is to submit all its important operations, whether of peace or war, to be controlled or thwarted at first by our own banks, and then by a power abroad greater than themselves. I cannot bring myself to depict the humiliation to which this government and people might be sooner or later reduced, if the means for defend- ing their rights are to be made dependent upon those who may have the most powerful of mo- tives to impair them." These were sagacious views, clearly and strongly presented, and new to the public. Few had contemplated the evils of our paper system, and the folly and danger of depending upon it for currency, under this extended and comprehensive aspect ; but all saw it as soon as it was presented ; and this actual dependence of our banks upon that of England became a new reason for the governmental dissolution of all connection with them. Happily they were working that dissolution themselves, and pro- ducing that disconnection by their delinquencies which they were able to prevent Congress from decreeing. An existing act of Congress forbid the employment of any non-specie paying bank as a government depository, and equally forbid the use of its paper. They expected to coerce the government to do both : it did neither : and the disconnection became complete, even before Congress enacted it. The President had recommended, in his first annual message, the passage of a pre-emption act in the settlement of the public lands, and of a graduation act to reduce the price of the lands according to their qualities, governed by the length of time they had been in market. The former of these recommendations had been acted upon, and became law ; and the President had now the satisfaction to communicate its beneficial operation. "On a former occasion your attention was invited to various considerations in support of a pre-emption law in behalf of the settlers on the public lands ; and also of a law graduating the prices for such lands as had long been in the market unsold, in consequence of their inferior quality. The execution of the act which was passed on the first subject has been attended with the happiest consequences, in quieting titles, and securing improvements to the indus- trious j and it has also, to a very gratifying ex- tent, been exempt from the frauds which were 164 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. practised under previous pre-emption laws. It has, at the same time, as was anticipated, con- tributed liberally during the present year to the receipts of the Treasury. The passage of a graduation law, with the guards before recom- mended, would also, I am persuaded, add con- siderably to the revenue for several years, and prove in other respects just and beneficial. Your early consideration of the subject is, there- fore, once more earnestly requested." The opposition in Congress, who blamed the administration for the origin and conduct of the war with the Florida Indians, had succeeded in getting through Congress an appropriation for a negotiation with this tribe, and a resolve re- questing the President to negotiate. He did so — with no other effect than to give an oppor- tunity for renewed treachery and massacre. The message said : " In conformity with the expressed wishes of Congress, an attempt was made in the spring to terminate the Florida war by negotiation. It is to be regretted that these humane intentions should have been frustrated, and that the efforts to bring these unhappy difficulties to a satis- factory conclusion should have failed. But, after entering into solemn engagements with the Com- manding General, the Indians, without any pro- vocation, recommenced their acts of treachery and murder. The renewal of hostilities in that Territory renders it necessary that I should recommend to your favorable consideration the measure proposed by the Secretary at War (the armed occupation of the Territory)." With all foreign powers the message had nothing but what was friendly and desirable to communicate. Nearly every question of dis- sension and dispute had been settled under the administration of his predecessor. The accu- mulated wrongs of thirty years to the property and persons of our citizens, had been redressed under President Jackson. He left the foreign world in peace and friendship with his country ; and his successor maintained the amicable rela- tions so happily established. CHAPTER XLI. DIVOECE OP BANK AND STATE ; DIVOECE DE- CEEED. This measure, so long and earnestly contested, was destined to be carried into effect at this session j but not without an opposition on the part of the whig members in each House, which exhausted both the powers of debate, and the rules and acts of parliamentary warfare. Even after the bill had passed through all its forms — had been engrossed for the third read- ing, and actually been read a third time and was waiting for the call of the vote, with a fixed majority shown to be in its favor — the warfare continued upon it, with no other view than to excite the people against it : for its passage in the Senate was certain. It was at this last mo- ment that Mr. Clay delivered one of his impas- sioned and glowing speeches against it. " Mr. President, it is no less the duty of the statesman than the physician, to ascertain the exact state of the body to which he is to minis- ter before he ventures to prescribe any healing remedy. It is with no pleasure, but with pro- found regret, that I survey the present condition of our country. I have rarely, I think never, known a period of such universal and intense dis- tress. The general government is in debt, and its existing revenue is inadequate to meet its ordi- nary expenditure. The States are in debt, some of them largely in debt, insomuch that they have been compelled to resort to the ruinous expedient of contracting new loans to meet the interest upon prior loans ; and the people are surrounded with difficulties; greatly embar- rassed, and involved in debt. Whilst this is, unfortunately, the general state of the country, the means of extinguishing this vast mass of debt are in constant diminution. Property is fall- ing in value — all the great staples of the coun- try are declining in price, and destined, I fear, to further decline. The certain tendency of this very measure is to reduce prices. The banks are rapidly decreasing the amount of their cir- culation. About one-half of them, extending from New Jersey to the extreme Southwest, have suspended specie payments, presenting an image of a paralytic, one moiety of whose body is stricken with palsy. The banks are without a head ; and, instead of union, concert, and co- operation between them, we behold jealousy, distrust, and enmity. We have no currency whatever possessing uniform value throughout the whole country. That which we have, con- sisting almost entirely of the issues of banks, is in a state of the utmost disorder, insomuch that it varies, in comparison with the specie standard, from par to fifty per cent, discount. Exchanges, too, are in the greatest possible confusion, not merely between distant parts of the Union, but between cities and places in the same neighbor- hood. That between our great commercial marts of New York and Philadelphia, within five or six hours of each other, vacillating be- tween seven and ten per cent. The products of our agricultural industry are unable to find their way to market from the want of means in ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 165 the hands of traders to purchase them, or from the want of confidence in the stability of things. Many of our manufactories stopped or stopping, especially in the important branch of woollens ; and a vast accumulation of their fabrics on hand, owing to the destruction of confidence and the wretched state of exchange between different sections of the Union. Such is the unexaggerated picture of our present condition. And amidst the dark and dense cloud that surrounds us, I perceive not one gleam of light. It gives me no- thing but pain to sketch the picture. But duty and truth require that existing diseases should be fearlessly examined and probed to the bottom. We shall otherwise be utterly incapable of con- ceiving or applying appropriate remedies. If the present unhappy state of our country had been brought upon the people by their folly and extravagance, it ought to be borne with fortitude, and without complaint, and without reproach. But it is my deliberate judgment that it has not been — that the people are not to blame — and that the principal causes of existing embarrassments are not to be traced to them. Sir, it is not my purpose to waste the time or excite the feelings of members of the Senate by dwelling long on what I suppose to be those causes. My object is a better, a higher, and I hope a more acceptable one — to consider the remedies proposed for the present exigency. Still, I should not fulfil my whole duty if I did not briefly say that, in my conscience, I believe our pecuniary distresses have mainly sprung from the refusal to recharter the late Bank of the United States ; the removal of the public deposits from that institution ; the multiplica- tion of State banks in consequence ; and the Treasury stimulus given to them to extend their operations ; the bungling manner in which the law, depositing the surplus treasure with the States, was executed ; the Treasury circular ; and although last, perhaps not least, the exer- cise of the power of the veto on the bill for dis- tributing, among the States, the net proceeds of the sales of the public lands." This was the opening of the speech — the con- tinuation and conclusion of which was bound to be in harmony with this beginning ; and obliged to fill up the picture so pathetically drawn. It did so, and the vote being at last taken, the bill passed by a fair majority— 24 to 18. But it had the House of Representatives still to en- counter, where it had met its fate before ; and to that House it was immediately sent for its concurrence. A majority were known to be for it ; but the shortest road was taken to its pas- sage ; and that was under the debate-killing pressure of the previous question. That ques- tion was freely used; and amendment after amendment cut off j motion after motion stifled j speech after speech suppressed ; the bill carried from stage to stage by a sort of silent struggle (chiefly interrupted by the repeated process of calling yeas and nays), until at last it reached the final vote — and was passed — by a majority, not large, but clear — 124 to 107. This was the 30th of June, that is to say, within twenty days of the end of a session of near eight months. The previous question, so often abused, now so properly used (for the bill was an old measure, on which not a new word was to be spoken, or a vote to be changed, the only effort being to stave it off until the end of the session), accom- plished this good work — and opportunely ; for the next Congress was its deadly foe. The bill was passed, but the bitter spirit which pursued it was not appeased. There is a form to be gone through after the bill has passed all its three readings — the form of agreeing to its title. This is as much a matter of course and form as it is to give a child a name after it is born : and, in both cases, the parents having the natural right of bestowing the name. But in the case of this bill the title becomes a question, which goes to the House, and gives to the ene- mies of the measure a last chance of showing their temper towards it: for it is a form in which nothing but temper can be shown. This is sometimes done by simply voting against the title, as proposed by its friends — at others, and where the opposition is extreme, it is done by a motion to amend the title by striking it out, and substituting another of odium, and this mode of opposition gives the party opposed to it an opportunity of expressing an opinion on the merits of the bill itself, compressed into an essence, and spread upon the journal for a per- petual remembrance. This was the form adopt- ed on this occasion. The name borne at the head of the bill was inoffensive, and descriptive. It described the bill according to its contents, and did it in appropriate and modest terms. None of the phrases used in debate, such as " Divorce of Bank and State," " Sub-treasury," "Independent Treasury," &c, and which had become annoying to the opposition, were em- ployed, but a plain title of description in these terms: " An act to provide for the collection, safe-keeping, and disbursing of the public money." To this title Mr. James Cooper, of Pennsylvania, moved an amendment, in the shape of a substitute, in these words : " An act 166 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. to reduce the value of property, the products of the farmer, and the wages of labor, to de- stroy the indebted portions of the community, and to place the Treasury of the nation in the hands of the President.'''' Before a vote could be taken upon this proposed substitute, Mr. Caleb Cushing, of Massachusetts, proposed to amend it by adding " to enable the public money to be drawn from the public Treasury without ap- propriation made by law" and having proposed this amendment to Mr. Cooper's amendment, Mr. Cushing began to speak to the contents of the bill. Then followed a scene in which the parliamen- tary history must be allowed to speak for itself. " Mr. Cushing then resumed, and said he had moved the amendment with a view of making a very limited series of remarks pertinent to the subject. He was then proceeding to show why, in his opinion, the contents of the bill did not agree with its title, when " Mr. Petrikin, of Pennsylvania, called him to order. " The Speaker said the gentleman from Mas- sachusetts had a right to amend the title of the bill, if it were not a proper title. He had, therefore, a right to examine the contents of the bill, to show that the title was improper. " Mr. Petrikin still objected. " The Speaker said the gentleman from Penn- sylvania would be pleased to reduce his point of order to writing. " Mr. Proffit, of Indiana, called Mr. Petrikin to order ; and after some colloquial debate, the objection was withdrawn. "Mr. Cushing then resumed, and appeared very indignant at the interruption. He wished to know if the measure was to be forced on the country without affording an opportunity to say a single word. He said they were at the last act in the drama, but the end was not yet. Mr. C. then proceeded to give his reasons why he considered the bill as an unconstitutional mea- sure, as he contended that it gave the Secretary power to draw on the public money without appropriations by law. He concluded by ob- serving that he had witnessed the incubation and hatching of this cockatrice, but he hoped the time was not far distant when the people would put their feet on the reptile and crush it to the dust. " Mr. Pickens, of South Carolina, then rose, and in a very animated manner said he had wished to make a few remarks upon the bill be- fore its passage, but be was now compelled to confine himself in reply to the very extraordi- nary language and tone assumed by the gentle- man from Massachusetts. What right had he to speak of this bill as being forced on the coun- try by "brutal numbers?" That gentleman had denned the bill according to his conception of it; but he would tell the gentleman, that the bill would, thank God, deliver this govern- ment from the hands of those who for so many years had lived by swindling the proceeds of honest labor. Yes, said Mr. P., I thank my God that the hour of our deliverance is now so near, from a system which has wrung the hard earnings from productive industry for the bene- fit of a few irresponsible corporations. " Sir, I knew the contest would be fierce and bitter. The bill, in its principles, draws the line between the great ^laboring and landed interests of this confederacy, and those who are identified with capitalists in stocks and live upon incorporated credit. The latter class have lived and fattened upon the fiscal action of this government, from the funding system down to the present day — and now they feel like wolves who have been driven back from the warm blood they have been lapping for for- ty years. Well may the gentleman [Mr. Cush- ing], who represents those interests, cry out and exclaim that it is a bill passed in force by fraud and power — it is the power and the spirit of a free people determined to redeem them- selves and their government. " Here the calls to order were again renewed from nearly every member of the opposition, and great confusion prevailed. " The Speaker with much difficulty succeeded in restoring something like order, and as none of those who had so vociferously called Mr. P. to order, raised any point, "Mr. Pickens proceeded with his remarks, and alluding to the words of Mr. Cushing, that " this was the last act of the drama," said this was the first, and not the last act of the drama. There were great questions that lay behind this, connected with the fiscal action of the government, and which we will be called on to decide in the next few years ; they were all connected with one great and complicated sys- tem. This was the commencement, and only a branch of the system. " Here the cries of order from the opposition were renewed, and after the storm had some- what subsided, " Mr. P. said, rather than produce confusion at that late hour of the day, when this great measure was so near a triumphant consumma- tion, and, in spite of all the exertions of its enemies, was about to become the law of the land, he would not trespass any longer on the attention of the House. But the gentleman had said that because the first section had de- clared what should constitute the Treasury, and that another section had provided for keeping portions of the Treasury in other places than the safes and vaults in the Treasury building of this place ; that, therefore, it was to be in- ferred that those who were to execute it would draw money from the Treasury without appro- priations by law, and thus to perpetrate a fraud upon the constitution. Mr. P. said, let those ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 167 who are to execute this bill dare to commit this outrage, and use money for purposes not in- tended in appropriations by law, and they would be visited with the indignation of an outraged and wronged people. It would be too gross and palpable. Such is not the broad meaning and intention of the bill. The con- struction given by the gentleman was a forced and technical one, and not natural. It was too strained to be seriously entertained by any one for a moment. He raised his protest against it. "Mr. P. regretted the motion admitted of such narrow and confined debate. He would not delay the passage of the bill upon so small a point. He congratulated the country that we had approached the period when the measure was about to be triumphantly passed into a permanent law of the land. It is a great measure. Considering the lateness of the hour, the confusion in the House, and that the gen- tleman had had the advantage of an opening speech, he now concluded by demanding the previous question. " On this motion the disorder among the op- position was renewed with tenfold fury, and some members made use of some very hard words, accompanied by violent gesticulation. " It was some minutes before any thing ap- proaching order could be restored. " The Speaker having called on the sergeant- at-arms to clear the aisles, " The call of the previous question was sec- onded, and the main question on the amend- ment to the amendment ordered to be put. " The motion for the previous question hav- ing received a second, the main question was ordered. " The question was then taken on Mr. Cush- ing's amendment to the amendment, and disa- greed to without a count. " The question recurring on the substitute of Mr. Cooper, of Pennsylvania, for the original title of the bill, "Mr. R. Garland, of Louisiana, demanded the yeas and nays, which having been ordered, were — yeas 87, nays 128. Eighty-seven members voted, on yeas and nays, for Mr. Cooper's proposed title, which was a strong way of expressing their opinion of it For Mr. Cushing's amendment to it, there were too few to obtain a division of the House ; and thus the bill became complete by getting a name — but only by the summary, silent, and enforcing process of the previous question. Even the title was obtained by that process. The passage of this act was the distinguishing glory of the Twenty-sixth Congress, and the " crowning mercy " of Mr. Van Buren's admin- istration. Honor and gratitude to the members, and all the remembrance which this book can give them. Their names were : In the Senate : — Messrs. Allen of Ohio, Benton, Brown of North Carolina, Buchanan, Calhoun, Clay of Alabama, Cuthbert of Geor- gia, Fulton of Arkansas, Grundy, Hubbard of New Hampshire, King of Alabama, Linn of Missouri, Lumpkin of Georgia, Mouton of Loui- siana, Norvell of Michigan, Pierce of New Hampshire, Roane of Virginia, Sevier of Ar- kansas, Smith of Connecticut, Strange of North Carolina, Tappan of Ohio, "Walker of Missis- sippi, "Williams of Maine. In the House of Representatives:— Messrs. Judson Allen, Hugh J. Anderson, Charles G. Atherton, "William Cost Johnson, Cave Johnson, Nathaniel Jones, John W. Jones, George ty* Keim, Gouverneur Kemble, Joseph Kille, Daniel P. Leadbetter, Isaac Leet, Stephen B. Leonard, Dixon H. Lewis, Joshua A. Lowell, William Lucas, Abraham McClellan, George McCulloch, James J. McKay, Meredith Mallory, Albert G. Marchand, William Medill, John Miller, James D. L. Montanya, Linn Banks, William Beatty, Andrew Beirne, William Montgomery, Samuel W. Morris, Peter Newhard, Isaac Parrish, Wil- liam Parmenter, Virgil D. Parris, Lemuel Payn- ter, David Petrikin, Francis W. Pickens, John II. Prentiss, William S. Ramsey, John Reynolds, R. Barnwell Rhett, Francis E. Rives, Thomas Robinson, Jr., Edward Rogers, James Rogers, Daniel B. Ryall, Green B. Samuels, Tristram Shaw, Charles Shepard, Edward J. Black, Julius W. Blackwell, Linn Boyd, John Smith, Thomas Smith, David A. Starkweather, Lewis Steenrod, Theron R. Strong, Thomas D. Sum- ter, Henry Swearingen, George Sweeney, Jona- than Taylor, Francis Thomas, Philip F. Thomas, Jacob Thompson, Hopkins L. Turney, Aaron Vanderpoel, Peter D. Vroom, David D. Wagener, Harvey M. Watterson, John B. Weller, Jared W. Williams, Henry Williams, John T. H. Worthington. CHAPTER XLII. FLORIDA ARMED OCCUPATION BILL: MR. BEN- TON'S SPEECH : EXTRACTS. Armed occupation, with land to the occupant, is the true way of settling and holding a con- quered country. It is the way which has been followed in all ages, and in all countries, from the time that the children of Israel entered the promised land, with the implements of hus- bandry in one hand, and the weapons of war in the other. From that day to this, all conquered 168 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. countries had been settled in that way. Armed settlement, and a homestead in the soil, was the principle of the Roman military colonies, by which they consolidated their conquests. The northern nations bore down upon the south of Europe in that way : the settlers of the New World — our pilgrim fathers and all — settled these States in that way: the settlement of Kentucky and Tennessee was effected in the same way. The armed settlers went forth to fight, and to cultivate. They lived in stations first — an assemblage of blockhouses (the Roman presidium), and emerged to separate settlements afterwards ; and in every instance, an interest in the soil — an inheritance in the land — was the reward of their enterprise, toil, and danger. The peninsula of Florida is now prepared for this armed settlement : the enemy has been driven out of the field. lie lurks, an unseen foe, in the swamps and hammocks. He no longer shows himself in force, or ventures a combat ; but, dispersed and solitary, commits individual murders and massacres. The coun- try is prepared for armed settlement. It is the fashion — I am sorry to say it — to depreciate the services of our troops in Florida — to speak of them as having done nothing ; as having accomplished no object for the country, and acquired no credit for themselves. This was a great error. The military had done an immensity there ; they had done all that arms could do, and a great deal that the axe and the spade could do. They had completely conquered the country ; that is to say, they had driven the enemy from the field ; they had dispersed the foe ; they had reduced them to a roving banditti, whose only warfare was to murder stragglers and families. Let any one compare the present condition of Florida with what it was at the commencement of the war, and see what a change has taken place. Then combats were frequent. The Indians embodied continually; fought our troops, both regulars, militia, and volunteers. Those hard contests cannot be forgotten. It cannot be forgotten how often these Indians met our troops in force, or hung upon the flanks of marching columns, harassing and attacking them at every favorable point. Now all this is done. For two years past, we have heard of no such thing. The Indians, de- feated in these encounters, and many of them removed to the West, have now retired from the field, and dispersed in small parties over the whole peninsula of Florida. They are dispersed over a superficies of 45,000 square miles, and that area sprinkled all over with haunts adapted to their shelter, to which they retire for safety, like wild beasts, and emerge again for new mis- chief. Our military have then done much ; they have done all that military can do ; they have broken, dispersed, and scattered the enemy. They have driven them out of the field ; they have prepared the country for settlement, that is to say, for armed settlement. There has been no battle, no action, no skirmish, in Florida, for upwards of two years. The last combats were at Okeechobee and Caloosahatchee, above two years ago. There has been no war since that time ; nothing but individual massacres. The country has been waiting for settlers for two years ; and this bill provides for them, and offers them inducements to settle. Besides their military labors, our troops have done an immensity of labor of a different kind. They have penetrated and perforated the whole peninsula of Florida ; they have gone through the Serbonian bogs of that peninsula; they have gone where the white man's foot never before was seen to tread ; and where no Indian believed it could ever come. They have gone from the Okeefekonee swamp to the Everglades ; they have crossed the peninsula backwards and forwards, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlan- tic Ocean. They have sounded every morass, threaded every hammock, traced every creek, examined every lake, and made the topography of the country as well known as that of the counties of our States. The maps which the topographical officers have constructed, and the last of which is in the Report of the Secretary at War, attest the extent of these explorations, and the accuracy and minuteness of the surveys and examinations. Besides all this, the troops have established some hundreds of posts ; they have opened many hundred miles of wagon road; and they have constructed some thou- sands of feet of causeways and bridges. These are great and meritorious labors. They are labors which prepare the country for settle- ment ; prepare it for the 10,000 armed cultiva- tors which this bill proposes to send there. Mr. B. said he paid this tribute cheerfully to the merits of our military, and our volunteers and militia employed in Florida ; the more ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 169 cheerfully, because it was the inconsiderate custom of too many to depreciate the labors of these brave men. He took pleasure, here in his place, in the American Senate, to do them justice ; and that without drawing invidious comparisons — without attempting to exalt some at the expense of others. He viewed with a favorable eye — with friendly feelings — with pre- possessions in their favor — all who were doing their best for their country ; and all such — all who did their best for their country — should have his support and applause, whether fortune was more or less kind to them, in crowning their meritorious exertions with success. He took pleasure in doing all this justice ; but his tribute would be incomplete, if he did not add what was said by the Secretary at War, in his late report, and also by the immediate com- mander, General Taylor. Mr. B. repeated, that the military had done their duty, and deserved well of their country. They had brought the war to that point, when there was no longer an enemy to be fought ; when there was nothing left but a banditti to be extirpated. Congress, also, had tried its policy — the policy of peace and conciliation — and the effort only served to show the unparal- leled treachery and savageism of the ferocious beasts with which we had to deal He alluded to the attempts at negotiation and pacification, tried this summer under an intimation from Congress. The House of Representatives, at the last session, voted $5,000 for opening nego- tiations with these Indians. When the appro- priation came to the Senate, it was objected to by himself and some others, from the know- ledge they had of the character of these Indians, and their belief that it would end in treachery and misfortune. The House adhered ; the ap- propriation was made ; the administration acted upon it, as they felt bound to do j and behold the result of the attempt ! The most cruel and perfidious massacres plotted and contrived while making the treaty itself ! a particular officer selected, and stipulated to be sent to a particular point, under the pretext of establish- ing a trading-post, and as a protector, there to be massacred ! a horrible massacre in reality perpetrated there ; near seventy persons since massacred, including families ; the Indians themselves emboldened by our offer of peace, and their success in treachery j and the whole aspect of the war made worse by our injudicious attempt at pacification. Lt. Col. Harney, with a few soldiers and some citizens, was reposing on the banks of the Ca- loosahatchee, under the faith of treaty negotia- tions, and on treaty ground. He was asleep. At the approach of daybreak he was roused by the firing and yells of the Indians, who had got possession of the camp, and killed the sergeant and more than one-half of his men. Eleven soldiers and five citizens were killed ; eight sol- diers and two citizens escaped. Seven of the soldiers, taking refuge in a small sail-boat, then lying off in the stream, in which the two citi- zens fortunately had slept that night, as soon as possible weighed anchor, and favored by a light breeze, slipped off unperceived by the In- dians. The Colonel himself escaped with great difficulty, and after walking fifteen miles down the river, followed by one soldier, came to a canoe, which he had left there the evening pre- vious, and succeeded, by this means, in getting on board the sail-boat, where he found those who had escaped in her. Before he laid down to sleep, the treacherous Chitto Tustenuggee, partaking his hospitality, lavished proofs of friendship upon him. Here was an instance of treachery of which there was no parallel in In- dian warfare. With all their treachery, the treaty-ground is a sacred spot with the In- dians ; but here, in the very articles of a treaty itself, they plan a murderous destruction of an officer whom they solicited to be sent with them as their protector ; and, to gratify all their passions of murder and robbery at once, they stipulate to have their victims sent to a remote point, with settlers and traders, as well as soldiers, and with a supply of goods. All this they arranged ; and too successfully did they execute the plan. And this was the be- ginning of their execution of the treaty. Mas- sacres, assassinations, robberies, and house-burn- ings, have followed it up, until the suburbs of St. Augustine and Tallahasse are stained with blood, and blackened with fire. About seventy murders have since taken place, including the de- struction of the shipwrecked crews and passen- gers on the southern extremity of the peninsula. The plan of Congress has, then, been tried ; the experiment of negotiation has been tried, and has ended disastrously and cruelly for us, and with greatly augmenting the confidence 170 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. and ferocity of the enemy. It puts an end to all idea of finishing the war there by peaceable negotiation. Chastisement is what is due to these Indians, and what they expect. They mean to keep no faith with the government; and henceforth they will expect no faith to be reposed in them. The issue is now made ; we have to expel them by force, or give up forty- five thousand square miles of territory — much of it an old settled country — to be ravaged by this banditti. The plan of Congress has been tried, and has ended in disaster; the military have done all that military can do ; the administration have now in the country all the troops which can be spared for the purpose. They have there the one-half of our regular infantry, to wit : four regiments out of eight ; they have there the one-half of our dragoons, to wit : one regiment ; they even have there a part of our artillery, to wit: one regiment; and they have besides, there, a part of the naval force to scour the coasts and inlets ; and, in addition to all this, ten companies of Florida volunteers. Even the marines under their accomplished commander (Col. Henderson), and at his request, have been sent there to perform gallant service, on an ele- ment not their own. No more of our troops can be spared for that purpose ; the West and the North require the remainder, and more than the remainder. The administration can do no more than it has done with the means at its command. It is laid under the necessity of asking other means ; and the armed settlers provided for in this bill are the principal means required. One thousand troops for the war, is all that is asked in addition to the settlers, in this bill. This then is the point we are at : To choose between granting these means, or doing nothing ! Yes, sir, to choose between the recommenda- tions of the administration, and nothing ! I say, these, or nothing ; for I presume Congress will not prescribe another attempt at negotia- tion ; no one will recommend an increase of ten thousand regular troops ; no one will re- commend a draft of ten thousand militia. It is, then, the plan of the administration, or nothing ; and this brings us to the question, whether the government can now fold its arms, leave the regulars to man their posts, and aban- don the country to the Indians ? This is now the question ; and to this point I will direct the observations which make it impossible for us to abdicate our duty, and abandon the country to the Indians. I assume it then as a point granted, that Florida cannot be given up — that she cannot be abandoned — that she cannot be left in her present state. What then is to be done? Raise an army of ten thousand men to go there to fight ? Why, the men who are there now can find nobody to fight ! It is two years since a fight has been had ; it is two years since we have heard of a fight. Ten men, who will avoid surprises and ambuscades, can now go from one end of Florida to the other. As warriors, these Indians no longer appear ; it is only as assas- sins, as robbers, as incendiaries, that they lurk about. The country wants settlers, not an army. It has wanted these settlers for two years ; and this bill provides for them, and offers them the proper inducements to go. And here I take the three great positions, that this bill is the appropriate remedy ; that it is the efficient remedy ; that it is the cheap reme- dy, for the cure of the Florida difficulties. It is the appropriate remedy; for what is now wanted, is not an army to fight, but settlers and cultivators to retain possession of the coun- try, and to defend their possessions. We want people to take possession, and keep possession ; and the armed cultivator is the man for that The blockhouse is the first house to be built in an Indian country ; the stockade is the first fence to be put up. Within that blockhouse, and a few of them together — a hollow square of blockhouses, two miles long on each side, two hundred yards apart, and enclosing a good field — safe habitations are found for families. The faithful mastiff, to give notice of the ap- proach of danger, and a few trusty rifles in brave hands, make all safe. Cultivation and defence then goes hand in hand. The heart of the Indian sickens when he hears the crowing of the cock, the barking of the dog, the sound of the axe, and the crack of the rifle. These are the true evi- dences of the dominion of the white man ; these are the proof that the owner has come, and means to stay ; and then they feel it to be time for them to go. While soldiers alone are in the country, they feel their presence to be temporary ; that they are mere sojourners in the land, and sooner or later must go away. It is the settler alone, the armed settler, whose presence announces the ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 171 dominion — the permanent dominion — of the white man. It is the most efficient remedy. On this point we can speak with confidence, for the other remedies have been tried, and have failed. The other remedies are to catch the Indians, and remove them ; or, to negotiate with them, and induce them to go off. Both have been tried ; both are exhausted. No human being now thinks that our soldiers can catch these Indians ; no one now believes in the possibility of removing them by treaty. No other course remains to be tried, but the armed settlement ; and that is so obvious, that it is difficult to see how any one that has read history, or has heard how this new world was settled, or how Kentucky and Tennessee were settled, can doubt it. The peninsula is a desolation. Five counties have been depopulated. The inhabitants of five counties — the survivors of many massacres — have been driven from their homes : this bill is intended to induce them to return, and to induce others to go along with them. Such induce- ments to settle and defend new countries have been successful in all ages and in all nations ; and cannot fail to be effectual with us. De- liberat Boma, perit Saguntum, became the watchword of reproach, and of stimulus to ac- tion in the Roman Senate when the Senate deliberated while a colony was perishing. Saguntum perishes while Rome deliberates : and this is truly the case with ourselves and Florida. That beautiful and unfortunate terri- tory is a prey to plunder, fire, and murder. The savages kill, burn and rob — where they find a man, a house, or an animal in the desolation which they have made. Large part of the terri- tory is the empty and bloody skin of an im- molated victim. CHAPTER XLIII. ASSUMPTION OF THE STATE DEBTS, About one-half of the States had contracted debts abroad which they were unable to pay when due, and in many instances were unable to pay the current annual interest These debts at this time amounted to one hundred and seventy millions of dollars, and were chiefly due in Great Britain. They had been converted into a stock, and held in shares, and had gone into a great number of hands ; and from de- faults in payments were greatly depreciated. The Reverend Sydney Smith, of witty memory, and aimiable withal, was accustomed to lose all his amiability, but no part of his wit, when he spoke of his Pennsylvania bonds — which in fact was very often. But there was another class of these bond-holders who did not exhale their griefs in wit, caustic as it might be, but looked to more substantial relief — to an assumption in some form, disguised or open, virtual or actual, of these debts by the federal government. These British capitalists, connected with capital- ists in the United States, possessed a weight on this point which was felt in the halls of Con- gress. The disguised attempts at this assump- tion, were in the various modes of conveying federal money to the States in the shape of dis- tributing surplus revenue, of dividing the public land money, and of bestowing money on the States under the fallacious title of a deposit. But a more direct provision in their behalf was wanted by these capitalists, and in the course of the year 1839 a movement to that effect was openly made through the columns of their regu- lar organ — The London Bankers' Circular, emanating from the most respectable and opu- lent house of the Messrs. Baring, Brothers and Company. At this open procedure on the part of these capitalists, it was deemed expedient to meet the attempt in limine by a positive de- claration in Congress against the constitution- ality, the justice, and the policy of any such measure. With this view Mr. Benton, at the commencement of the first session of Congress after the issuing of the Bankers' Circular, sub- mitted a series of resolutions in the Senate, which, with some modification, and after an earnest debate, were passed in that body. These were the resolutions : " 1. That the assumption of such debts either openly, by a direct promise to pay them, or disguisedly by going security for their payment, or by creating surplus revenue, or applying the national funds to pay them, would be a gross and flagrant violation of the constitution, wholly unwarranted by the letter or spirit of that in- strument, and utterly repugnant to all the ob- 172 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. jects and purposes for which the federal Union was formed. " 2. That the debts of the States being now chiefly held by foreigners, and constituting a stock in foreign markets greatly depreciated, any legislative attempt to obtain the assumption or securityship of the United States for their payment, or to provide for their payment out of the national funds, must have the effect of enhancing the value of that stock to the amount of a great many millions of dollars, to the enor- mous and undue advantage of foreign capitalists, and of jobbers and gamblers in stocks ; thereby holding out inducement to foreigners to inter- fere in our affairs, and to bring all the influences of a moneyed power to operate upon public opinion, upon our elections, and upon State and federal legislation, to produce a consumma- tion so tempting to their cupidity, and so pro- fitable to their interest. " 3. That foreign interference and foreign in- fluence, in all ages, and in all countries, have been the bane and curse of free governments ; and that such interference and influence are far more dangerous, in the insidious intervention of the moneyed power, than in the forcible in- vasions of fleets and armies. " 4. That to close the door at once against all applications for such assumption, and to arrest at their source the vast tide of evils which would flow from it, it is necessary that the constituted authorities, without delay, shall resolve and declare their utter opposition to the proposal contained in the late London Bankers' Circular in relation to State debts, contracted for local and State purposes, and recommending to the Con- gress of the United States to assume, or gua- rantee, or provide for the ultimate payment of said debts." In the course of the discussion of these resolu- tions an attempt was made to amend them, and to reverse their import, by obtaining a direct vote of the Senate in favor of distributing the public land revenue among the States to aid them in the payment of these debts. This pro- position was submitted by Mr. Crittenden, of Kentucky ; and was in these words : " That it would be just and proper to distribute the pro- ceeds of the sales of the public lands among the several States in fair and ratable proportions ; and that the condition of such of the States as have contracted debts is such, at the present moment of pressure and difficulty, as to render such distribution especially expedient and im- portant." This proposition received a consider- able support, and was rejected upon yeas and nays — 28 to 17. The yeas were Messrs. Betts of Connecticut, Clay of Kentucky, Crittenden, Davis of Massachusetts, Dixon of Rhode Island, Knight of Connecticut, Merrick of Maryland, Phelps of Vermont, Porter of Michigan, Pren- tiss of Vermont, Ruggles of Maine, Smith of Indiana, Southard of New Jersey, Spence of Maryland, Tallmadge, Webster, White of Indi- ana. The nays were : Messrs. Allen of Ohio, Anderson of Tennessee, Benton, Bedford Brown Calhoun, Clay of Alabama, Alfred Cuthbert, Grundy, Henderson of Mississippi, Hubbard, King of Alabama, Linn of Missouri. Lumpkin of Georgia, Mouton, Nicholas of Louisiana, Norvell of Michigan, Pierce, Preston, Roane, Robinson, Sevier, Strange, Sturgeon, Tappan of Ohio, Wall of New Jersey, Williams, Wright. As the mover of the resolutions Mr. Benton sup- ported them in a speech, of which some extracts are given in the next chapter. CHAPTEE XLIV. ASSUMPTION OF THE STATE DEBTS: MR BEN- TON'S SPEECH: EXTRACTS. The assumption of the State debts contracted for State purposes has been for a long time a measure disguisedly, and now is a measure openly, pressed upon the public mind. The movement in favor of it has been long going on ; opposing measures have not yet commenc- ed. The assumption party have the start, and the advantage of conducting the case ; and they have been conducting it for a long time, and in a way to avoid the name of assumption while accomplishing the thing itself. All the bills for distributing the public land revenue — all the propositions for dividing surplus revenue — all the refusals to abolish unnecessary taxes — all the refusals to go on with the necessary defences of the country — were so many steps taken in the road to assumption. I know very well that many who supported these measures had no idea of assumption, and would oppose it as soon as discovered ; but that does not alter the nature of the measures they supported, and which were so many steps in the road to that assumption, then shrouded in mystery and futurity, now ripened into strength, and emboldened into a public disclosure of itself. Already the State legislatures are occupied with this subject, while we sit here, waiting its approach. ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 173 It is time for the enemies of assumption to take the field, and to act. It is a case in which they should give, and not receive, the attack. The President has led the way ; he has shown his opinions. He has nobly done his duty. He has shown the evils of diverting the general funds from their proper objects — the mischiefs of our present connection with the paper sys- tem of England — and the dangers of foreign in- fluence from any further connection with it. In this he has discharged a constitutional and a patriotic duty. Let the constituted authorities, each in their sphere, follow his example, and declare their opinions also. Let the Senate especially, as part of the legislative power — as the peculiar representative of the States in their sovereign capacity — let this body declare its sentiments, and, by its resolves and discussions, arrest the progress of the measure here, and awaken attention to it elsewhere. As one of the earliest opposers of this measure — as, in fact, the very earliest opposer of the whole family of measures of which it is the natural offspring — as having denounced the assumption in disguise in a letter to my constituents long before the London Bankers' letter revealed it to the public : as such early, steadfast, and first denouncer of this measure, I now come forward to oppose it in form, and to submit the resolves which may arrest it here, and carry its discus- sion to the forum of the people. I come at once to the point, and say that dis- guised assumption, in the shape of land revenue distribution, is the form in which we shall have to meet the danger ; and I meet it at once in that disguise. I say there is no authority in the constitution to raise money from any branch of the revenue for distribution among the States, or to distribute that which had been raised for other purposes. The power of Congress to raise money is not unlimited and arbitrary, but restricted, and directed to the national objects named in the constitution. The means, the amount, and the application, are all limited. The means are direct taxes — duties on imports — and the public lands ; the objects are the support of the government — the common de- fence — and the payment of the debts of the Union : the amount to be raised is of course limited to the amount required for the accom- plishment of these objects. Consonant to the words and the spirit of the constitution, is the title, the preamble and the tenor of all the early statutes for raising money ; they all declare the object for which the money is wanted; they declare the object at the head of the act. Whether it be a loan, a direct tax, or a duty on imports, the object of the loan, the tax, or the duty, is stated in the preamble to the act ; Congress thus excusing and justifying them- selves for the demand in the very act of making it, and telling the people plainly what they wanted with the money. This was the way in all the early statutes ; the books are full of ex- amples ; and it was only after money began to be levied for objects not known to the constitu~ tion, that this laudable and ancient practice was dropped. Among the enumerated objects for which money can be raised by Congress, is that of paying the debts of the Union ; and is it not a manifest absurdity to suppose that, while it requires an express grant of power to enable us to pay the debts of the Union, we can pay those of the States by implication and by indi- rection ? No, sir, no. There is no constitu- tional way to assume these State debts, or to pay them, or to indorse them, or to smuggle the money to the States for that purpose, under the pretext of dividing land revenue, or surplus revenue, among them. There is no way to do it. The whole thing is constitutionally impos- sible. It was never thought of by the framers of our constitution. They never dreamed of such a thing. There is not a word in their work to warrant it. and the whole idea of it is utterly repugnant and offensive to the objects and purposes for which the federal Union was framed. We have had one assumption in our country, and that in a case which was small in amount, and free from the impediment of a constitu- tional objection; but which was attended by such evils as should deter posterity from imi- tating the example. It was in the first year of the federal government ; and although the as- sumed debts were only twenty millions, and were alleged to have been contracted for gene- ral purposes, yet the assumption was attended by circumstances of intrigue and corruption, which led to the most violent dissension in Congress, suspended the business of the two Houses, drove some of the States to the verge of secession, and menaced the Union with in- stant dissolution. Mr. Jefferson, who was a 174 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. witness of the scene, and who was overpowered by General Hamilton, and by the actual dan- gers of the country, into its temporary support, thus describes it : " This game was over (funding the soldiers' certificates), and another was on the carpet at the moment of my arrival ; and to this I was most ignorantly and innocently made to hold the candle. This fiscal manoeuvre is well known by the name of the assumption. Inde- pendently of the debts of Congress, the States had, during the war, contracted separate and heavy debts, &c. * * * * This money, whether wisely or foolishly spent, was pretend- ed to have been spent for general purposes, and ought therefore to be paid from the gene- ral purse. But it was objected, that nobody knew what these debts were, what their amount, or what their proofs. No matter ; we will guess them to be twenty millions. But of these twenty millions, we do not know how much should be reimbursed to one State or how much to another. No matter; we will guess. And so another scramble was set on foot among the several States, and some got much, some little, some nothing. * * * * This measure produced the most bitter and an- gry contests ever known in Congress, before or since the union of the States. * * * * The great and trying question, however, was lost in the House of Representatives. So high were the feuds excited by this subject, that on its rejection business was suspended. Congress met and adjourned, from day to day, without doing any thing, the parties being too much out of temper to do business together. The East- ern members particularly, who, with Smith from South Carolina, were the principal gam- blers in these scenes, threatened a secession and dissolution. * * * * But it was final- ly agreed that whatever importance had been attached to the rejection of this proposition, the preservation of the Union, and of concord among the States, was more important ; and that, therefore, it would be better that the vote of rejection should be rescinded ; to effect which, some members should change their votes. But it was observed that this pill would be pecu- liarly bitter to the Southern States, and that some concomitant measure should be adopted to sweeten it a little to them. There had be- fore been propositions to fix the seat of govern- ment either at Philadelphia, or at Georgetown, on the Potomac ; and it was thought that, by giving it to Philadelphia for ten years, and to Georgetown permanently afterwards, this might, as an anodyne, calm in some degree the ferment which might be excited by the other measure alone. So two of the Potomac mem- bers (White and Lee, but White with a revul- sion of stomach almost convulsive) agreed to change their votes, and Hamilton undertook to carry the other point j and so the assumption was passed, and twenty millions of stock divid- ed among the favored States, and thrown in as a pabulum to the stock-jobbing herd. * * * Still the machine was not complete ; the effect of the funding system and of the assumption would be temporary j it would be lost with the loss of the individual members whom it had en- riched ; and some engine of influence more per- manent must be contrived while these myrmi- dons were yet in place to carry it through. This engine was the Bank of the United States." What a picture is here presented ! Debts assumed in the mass, without knowing what they were in the gross, or what in detail — Con- gress in a state of disorganization, and all busi- ness suspended for many days — secession and disunion openly menaced — compromise of in- terests — intrigue — buying and selling of votes — conjunction of parties to pass two measures together, neither of which could be passed sep- arately — speculators infesting the halls of legis- lation, and openly struggling for their spoil — the funding system a second time sanctioned and fastened upon the country — jobbers and gamblers in stocks enriched — twenty millions of additional national debt created — and the es- tablishment of a national bank insured. Such were the evils attending a small assumption of twenty millions of dollars, and that in a case where there was no constitutional impediment to be evaded or surmounted. For in that case the debts assumed had been incurred for the general good — for the general defence during the revolution : in this case they have been in- curred for the local benefit of particular States. Half the States have incurred none ; and are they to be taxed to pay the debts of the rest ? These stocks are now greatly depreciated. Many of the present holders bought them upon speculation, to take the chance of the rise. A diversion of the national domain to their pay- ment would immediately raise them far above par — would be a present of fifty or sixty cents on the dollar, and of fifty or sixty millions in the gross — to the foreign holders, and, virtual- ly, a present of so much public land to them. It is in vain for the bill to say that the proceeds of the lands are to be divided among the States. The indebted States will deliver their portion to their creditors ; they will send it to Europe , they will be nothing but the receivers-general and the sub-treasurers of the bankers and stockjobbers of London, Paris, and of Amster- ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 175 dam. The proceeds of the sales of the lands will go to them. The hard money, wrung from the hard hand of the western cultivator, will go to these foreigners ; and the whole influence of these foreigners will be immediately directed to the enhancement of the price of our public lands, and to the prevention of the passage of all the laws which go to graduate their price, or to grant pre-emptive rights to the settlers. What more unwise and more unjust than to contract debts on long time, as some of the States have done, thereby invading the rights and mortgaging the resources of posterity, and loading unborn generations with debts not their own ? What more unwise than all this, which several of the States have done, and which the effort now is to make all do ? Be- sides the ultimate burden in the shape of final payment, which is intended to fall upon pos- terity, the present burden is incessant in the shape of annual interest, and falling upon each generation, equals the principal in every period- ical return of ten or a dozen years. Few have calculated the devouring effect of annual in- terest on public debts, and considered how soon it exceeds the principal. Who supposes that we have paid near three hundred millions of in- terest on our late national debt, the principal of which never rose higher than one hundred and twenty-seven millions, and remained but a year or two at that ? Who supposes this ? Yet it is a fact that we have paid four hundred and thirty-one millions for principal and in- terest of that debt ; so that near three hundred millions, or near double the maximum amount of the debt itself, must have been paid in in- terest alone; and this at a moderate interest varying from three to six per cent, and payable at home. The British national debt owes its existence entirely to this policy. It was but a trifle in the beginning of the last century, and might have been easily paid during the reigns of the first and second George ; but the policy was to fund it, that is to say, to pay the in- terest annually, and send down the principal to posterity ; and the fruit of that policy is now seen in a debt of four thousand five hundred millions of dollars, two hundred and fifty mil- lions of annual taxes, with some millions of people without bread ; while an army, a navy and a police, sufficient to fight all Europe, is kept under pay, to hold in check and subordi- nation the oppressed and plundered ranks of their own population. And this is the example which the transferrers of the State debt would have us to imitate, and this the end to which they would bring us ! I do not dilate upon the evils of a foreign in- fluence. They are written upon the historical page of every free government, from the most ancient to the most modern : they are among those most deeply dreaded, and most sedulous- ly guarded against by the founders of the American Union. The constitution itself con- tains a special canon directed against them. To prevent the possibility of this foreign influ- ence, every species of foreign connection, de- pendence, or employment, is constitutionally forbid to the whole list of our public functiona- ries. The inhibition is express and fundamen- tal, that "no person holding any office of profit or trust under the United States shall, with- out the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State" All this was to prevent any foreign potentate from acquiring partisans or influence in our government — to prevent our own citi- zens from being seduced into the interests of foreign powers. Yet, to what purpose all these constitutional provisions against petty sove- reignties, if we are to invite the moneyed power which is able to subsidize kings, princes, and potentates — if we are to invite this new and master power into the bosom of our councils, give it an interest in controlling public opinion, in directing federal and State legislation, and in filling our cities and seats of government with its insinuating agents, and its munificent and lavish representatives ? To what purpose all this wise precaution against the possibility of influence from the most inconsiderable German or Italian prince, if we are to invite the com- bined bankers of England, France, and Holland, to take a position in our legislative halls, and by a simple enactment of a few words, to con- vert their hundreds of millions into a thousand millions, and to take a lease of the labor and property of our citizens for generations to come ? The largest moneyed operation which we ever had with any foreign power, was that of the purchase of Louisiana from the Great Emperor. That was an affair of fifteen millions. It was insignificant and contemptible, compared to the 176 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. hundreds of millions for which these bankers are now upon us. And are we, while guarded by the constitution against influence from an emperor and fifteen millions, to throw our- selves open to the machinations of bankers, with their hundreds of millions 1 CHAPTER XLV. DEATH OP GENERAL SAMUEL SMITH, OF MARY- LAND ; AND NOTICE OF HIS LIFE AND CHAR- ACTER. He was eighteen years a senator, and nearly as long a member of the House — near forty years in Congress : which speaks the estimation in which his fellow-citizens held him. He was thoroughly a business member, under all the aspects of that character : intelligent, well in- formed, attentive, upright ; a very effective speaker, without pretending to oratory : well read : but all his reading subordinate to com- mon sense and practical views. At the age of more than seventy he was still one of the most laborious members, both in the committee room and the Senate : and punctual in his attendance in either place. He had served in the army of the Revolution, and like most of the men of that school, and of that date, had acquired the habit of punctuality, for which Washington was so remarkable — that habit which denotes a well- ordered mind, a subjection to a sense of duty, and a considerate regard for others. He had been a large merchant in Baltimore, and was particularly skilled in matters of finance and commerce, and was always on committees charged with those subjects — to which his clear head, and practical knowledge, lent light and order in the midst of the most intricate state- ments. He easily seized the practical points on these subjects, and presented them clearly and intelligibly to the chamber. Patriotism, honor, and integrity were his eminent characteristics ; and utilitarian the turn of his mind j and bene- ficial results the object of his labors. He be- longed to that order of members who, without classing with the brilliant, are nevertheless the most useful and meritorious. He was a work- ing member ; and worked diligently, judicious- ly, and honestly, for the public good. In poli- tics he was democratic, and greatly relied upon by the Presidents Jefferson, Madison, and Mon- roe. He was one of the last of the revolutionary stock that served in the Senate — remaining there until 1833 — above fifty years after that Declara- tion of Independence which he had helped to make good, with his sword. Almost octogena- rian, he was fresh and vigorous to the last, and among the most assiduous and deserving mem- bers. He had acquired military reputation in the war of the Revolution, and was called by his fellow-citizens to take command of the local troops for the defence of Baltimore, when threat- ened by the British under General Ross, in 1814 — and commanded successfully — with the judgment of age and the fire of youth. At his death, his fellow-citizens of Baltimore erected a monument to his memory — well due to him as one of her longest and most respected inhabit- ants, as having been one of her eminent mer- chants, often her representative in Congress, besides being senator ; as having defended her both in the war of the Revolution and in that of 1812; and as having made her welfare and prosperity a special object of his care in all the situations of his life, both public and private. CHAPTER XLVI. SALT; THE UNIVERSALITY OF ITS SUPPLY; MYS- TERY AND INDISPENSABILITY OF ITS USE; TYRANNY AND IMPIETY OF ITS TAXATION; SPEECH OF MR. BENTON : EXTRACTS. It is probable that salt is the most abundant substance of our globe — that it is more abun- dant than earth itself. Like other necessaries of life — like air, and water, and food — it is univer- sally diffused, and inexhaustibly supplied. It is found in all climates, and in a great variety of forms. The waters hold it in solution ; the earth contains it in solid masses. Every sea contains it. It is found in all the boundless oceans which surround and penetrate the earth, and through all their fathomless depths. Many inland seas, lakes, ponds, and pools are impreg- nated with it. Streams of saline water, in in- numerable places, emerging from the bowels of the earth, approach its surface, and either issue from it in perennial springs, or are easily reached ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 177 by wells. In the depths of the earth itself it is found in solid masses of interminable extent. Thus inexhaustibly abundant, and universally diffused, the wisdom and goodness of Providence is further manifested in the cheapness and fa- cility of the preparation of this necessary of life, for the use of man. In all the warm latitudes, and especially between the tropics, nature her- self performs the work. The beams of the sun evaporate the sea water in all the low and shal- low reservoirs, where it is driven by the winds, or admitted by the art of man ; and this evapo- ration leaves behind a deposit of pure salt, ready for use, and costing very little more than the labor of gathering it up. In the interior, and in the colder latitudes, artificial heat is sub- stituted for the beams of the sun : the simplest process of boiling is resorted to; and where fuel is abundant, and especially coal, the pre- paration of this prime necessary is still cheap and easy ; and from six to ten cents the real bushel may be considered as the ordinary cost of production. Such is the bountiful and cheap supply of this article, which a beneficent Provi- dence has provided for us. The Supreme Ruler of the Universe has done every thing to supply his creatures with it. Man, the fleeting shadow of an instant, invested with his little brief au- thority, has done much to deprive them of it. In all ages of the world, and in all countries, salt has been a subject, at different periods, of heavy taxation, and sometimes of individual or of government monopoly ; and precisely, because being an article that no man could do without, the government was sure of its tax, and the monopolizer of his price. Almost all nations, in some period of their history, have suffered the separate or double infliction of a tax, and a monopoly on its salt ; and, at some period, all have freed themselves, from one or both. At present, there remain but two countries which suffer both evils, our America, and the British East Indies. All others have got rid of the monopoly; many have got rid of the tax. Among others, the very country from which we copied it, and the one above all others least able to do without the product of the tax. England, though loaded with debt, and taxed in every thing, is now free from the salt tax. Since 1822, it has been totally suppressed ; and this necessary of life is now as free there as air and water. She even has a statute to guard Vol. II.— 12 its price, and common law to prevent its mo- nopoly. This act was passed in 1807. The common law of England punishes all monopolizers, fore^ stallers, and regraters. The Parliament, in 1807, took cognizance of a reported combination to raise the price of salt, and examined the manu- facturers on oath : and rebuked them. Mr. B. said that a salt tax was not only politi- cally, but morally wrong : it was a species of impiety. Salt stood alone amidst the produc- tions of nature, without a rival or substitute, and the preserver and purifier of all things. Most nations had regarded it as a mystic and sacred substance. Among the heathen nations of antiquity, and with the Jews, it was used in the religious ceremony of the sacrifices — the head of the victim being sprinkled with salt and water before it was offered. Among the primitive Christians, it was the subject of Divine allusions, and the symbol of purity, of incorruptibility, and of perpetuity. The disciples of Christ were called " the salt of the earth ; " and no language, or metaphor, could have been more expressive of their character and mission — pure in them- selves, and an antidote to moral, as salt was to material corruption. Among the nations of the East salt always has been, and still is, the sym- bol of friendship, and the pledge of inviolable fidelity. He that has eaten another's salt, has contracted towards his benefactor a sacred obli- gation ; and cannot betray or injure him there- after, without drawing upon himself (according to his religious belief) the certain effects of the Divine displeasure. While many nations have religiously regarded this substance, all have abhorred its taxation ; and this sentiment, so universal, so profound, so inextinguishable in the human heart, is not to be overlooked by the legislator. Mr. B. concluded his speech with declaring implacable war against this tax, with all its ap- purtenant abuses, of monopoly in one quarter of the Union, and of undue advantages in an- other. He denounced it as a tax upon the en- tire economy of nature and of art — a tax upon man and upon beast — upon life and upon health — upon comfort and luxury— upon want and superfluity — upon food and upon raiment — on washing, and on cleanliness. He called it a heartless and tyrant tax, as inexorable as it was omnipotent and omnipresent ; a tax which no 178 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. economy could avoid — no poverty could shun — no privation escape — no cunning elude — no force resist — no dexterity avert — no curses repulse — no prayers could deprecate. It was a tax which Invaded the entire dominion of human opera- tions, falling with its greatest weight upon the most helpless, and the most meritorious ; and depriving the nation of benefits infinitely tran- scending in value, the amount of its own pro- duct. I devote myself, said Mr. B., to the extir- pation of this odious tax, and its still more odious progeny — the salt monopoly of the West. I war against them while they exist, and while I remain on this floor. Twelve years have passed away — two years more than the siege of Troy lasted — since I began this contest. Nothing disheartened by so many defeats, in so long a time, I prosecute the war with unabated vigor ; and, relying upon the goodness of the cause, firmly calculate upon ultimate and final success. CHAPTEE XLVII. PAIRING OFF. At this time, and in the House of Representa- tives, was exhibited for the first time, the spec- tacle of members "pairing off" as the phrase was ; that is to say, two members of opposite political parties agreeing to absent themselves from the duties of the House, without the con- sent of the House, and without deducting their per diem pay during the time of such voluntary absence. Such agreements were a clear breach of the rules of the House, a disregard of the constitution, and a practice open to the grossest abuses. An instance of the kind was avowed on the floor by one of the parties to the agree- ment, by giving as a reason for not voting that be had "paired off" with another member, whose affairs required him to go home. It was a strange annunciation, and called for rebuke ; and there was a member present who had the spirit to administer it ; and from whom it came with the greatest propriety on account of his age and dignity, and perfect attention to all his duties as a member, both in his attendance in the House and in the committee rooms. That member was Mr. John Quincy Adams, who im- mediately proposed to the House the adoption of this resolution : " Resolved, that the practice, first openly avowed at the present session of Congress, of pairing off, involves, on the part of the members resorting to it, the violation of the constitution of the United States, of an express rule of this House, and of the duties of both parties in the transaction to their immediate constituents, to this House, and to their coun- try." This resolve was placed on the calendar to take its turn, but not being reached during the session, was not voted upon. That was the first instance of this reprehensible practice, fifty years after the government had gone into opera- tion ; but since then it has become common, and even inveterate, and is carried to great length. Members pair off, and do as they please — either remain in the city, refusing to attend to any duty, or go off together to neighboring cities ; or separate ; one staying and one going ; and the one that remains sometimes standing up in his place, and telling the Speaker of the House that he had paired off ; and so refusing to vote. There is no justification for such conduct, and it becomes a facile way for shirking duty, and evading responsibility. If a member is un- der a necessity to go away the rules of the House require him to ask leave ; and the journals of the early Congresses are full of such applications. If he is compelled to go, it is his misfortune, and should not be communicated to another. This writer had never seen an instance of it in the Senate during his thirty years of service there; but the practice has since penetrated that body; and" pairing off" has become as common in that House as in the other, in pro- portion to its numbers, and with an aggravation of the evil, as the absence of a senator is a loss to his State of half its weight. As a conse- quence, the two Houses are habitually found voting with deficient numbers — often to the ex- tent of a third — often with a bare quorum. In the first age of the government no member absented himself from the service of the House to which he belonged without first asking, and obtaining its leave ; or, if called off suddenly, a colleague was engaged to state the circumstance to the House, and ask the leave. In the journals of the two Houses, for the first thirty years of the government, there is, in the index, a regular head for " absent without leave ; " and, turning to the indicated page, every such name will be ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 179 seen. That head in the index has disappeared in later times. I recollect no instance of leave asked since the last of the early members — the Macons, Randolphs, Rufus Kings, Samuel Smiths, and John Taylors of Caroline— disap- peared from the halls of Congress. CHAPTER XLVIII. TAX ON BANK NOTES : ME. BENTON'S SPEECH : EXTRACTS: Mr. Benton brought forward his promised motion for leave to bring in a bill to tax the circulation of banks and bankers, and of all cor- porations, companies or individuals which issued paper currency. He said nothing was more reasonable than to require the moneyed interest which was employed in banking, and especially in that branch of banking which was dedicated to the profitable business of converting lamp- black and rags into money, to contribute to the support of the government. It was a large in- terest, very able, and very proper, to pay taxes, and which paid nothing on their profitable issues — profitable to them — injurious to the country. It was an interest which possessed many privi- leges over the rest of the community by law ; which usurped many others which the laws did not grant ; which, in fact, set the laws and the government at defiance whenever it pleased ; and which, in addition to all these privileges and ad- vantages, was entirely exempt from federal taxa- tion. While the producing and laboring classes were all taxed ; while these meritorious classes, with their small incomes, were taxed in their com- forts and necessaries — in their salt, iron, sugar, blankets, hats, coats and shoes, and so many other articles — the banking interest, which dealt in hundreds of millions, which manufactured and monopolized money, which put up and put down prices, and held the whole country sub- ject to its power, and tributary to its wealth, paid nothing. This was wrong in itself, and unjust to the rest of the community. It was an error or mistake in government which he had long intended to bring to the notice of the Sen- ate and the country ; and he judged the present conjuncture to be a proper time for doing it. Revenue is wanted. A general revision of the tariff is about to take place. An adjustment of the taxes for a long period is about to be made. This is the time to bring forward the banking interest to bear their share of the public bur- dens, and the more so, as they are now in the fact of proving themselves to be a great burden on the public, and the public mind is beginning to consider whether there is any way to make them amenable to law and government. In other countries, Mr. B^. said, the banking interest was subject to taxation. He knew of no country in which banking was tolerated, except our own, in which it was not taxed. In Great Britain — that country from which we borrow the banking system — the banking interest pays its fair and full proportion of the public taxes : it pays at present near four millions of dollars. It paid in 1836 the sum of $3,725,400 : in 1837 it paid $3,594,300. These were the last years for which he had seen the details of the British taxation, and the amounts he had stated com- prehended the bank tax upon the whole united kingdom : upon Scotland and Ireland, as well as upon England and Wales. It was a hand- some item in the budget of British taxation, and was levied on two branches of the banking business : on the circulation, and on bills of ex- change. In the bill which he intended to bring forward, the circulation alone was proposed to be taxed ; and, in that respect, the paper sys- tem would still remain more favored here than it was in Great Britain. In our own country, Mr. B. said, the banking interest had formerly been taxed, and that in all its branches; in its circulation, its discounts, and its bills of exchange. This was during the late war with Great Britain} and though the banking business was then small compared to what it is now, yet the product of the tax was considerable, and well worth the gathering : it was about $500,000 per annum. At the end of the war this tax was abolished ; while most of the war taxes, laid at the same time, for the same purpose, and for the same period, were continued in force ; among them the tax on salt, and other necessaries of life. By a perver- sion of every principle of righteous taxation, the tax on banks was abolished, and that on salt was continued. This has remained the case for twenty-five years, and it is time to reverse the proceeding. It is time to make the banks pay, and to let salt go free. 180 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Mr. B. next stated the manner of levying the bank tax at present in Great Britain, which he said was done with great facility and simplicity. It was a levy of a fixed sum on the average cir- culation of the year, which the bank was re- quired to give in for taxation like any other property, and the amount collected by a distress warrant if not paid. This simple and obvious method of making the levy, had been adopted in 1815, and had been followed ever since. Be- fore that time it was effected through the instru- mentality of a stamp duty ; a stamp being re- quired for each note, but with the privilege of compounding for a gross sum. In 1815 the op- tion of compounding was dropped: a gross amount was fixed by law as the tax upon every million of the circulation; and this change in the mode of collection has operated so benefi- cially that, though temporary at first, it has been made permanent. The amount fixed was at the rate of £3,500 for every million. This was for the circulation only : a separate, and much heavier tax was laid upon bills of exchange, to be collected by a stamp duty, without the privi- lege of composition. Mr. B. here read, from a recent history of the Bank of England, a brief account of the taxation of the circulation of that institution for the last fifty years — from 1790 to the present time. It was at that time that her circulation began to be taxed, because at that time only did she begin to have a circulation which displaced the specie of the country. She then began to issue notes under ten pounds, having been first char- tered with the privilege of issuing none less than one hundred pounds. It was a century — from 1694 to 1790— before she got down to £5, and afterwards to £2, and to £1 ; and from that time the specie basis was displaced, the currency convulsed, and the banks suspending and break- ing. The government indemnified itself, in a small degree, for the mischiefs of the pestiferous currency which it had authorized ; and the ex- tract which he was about to read was the his- tory of the taxation on the Bank of England notes which, commencing at the small composi- tion of £12,000 per annum, now amounts to a large proportion of the near four millions of dollars which the paper system pays annually to the British Treasury. He read : " The Bank, till lately, has always been par- ticularly favored in the composition which they paid for stamp duties. In 1791, they paid a composition of £12,000 per annum, in lieu of all stamps, either on bill or notes. In 1799, on an increase of the stamp duty, their composition was advanced to £20,000 ; and an addition of £4,000 for notes issued under £5, raised the whole to £24,000. In 1804, an addition of not less than fifty per cent, was made to the stamp duty ; but, although the Bank circulation of notes under £5 had increased from one and a half to four and a half millions, the whole composition was only raised from £24,000 to £32,000. In 1808, there was a further increase of thirty-three per cent, to the stamp duty, at which time the composition was raised from £32,000 to £42,000. In both these instances, the increase was not in proportion even to the increase of duty ; and no allowance whatever was made for the increase in the amount of the bank circulation. It was not till the session of 1815, on a further increase of the stamp duty, that the new principle was established, and the Bank compelled to pay a composition in some proportion to the amount of their circulation. The composition is now fixed as follows : Upon the average circulation of the preceding year, the Bank is to pay at the rate of £3,500 per million, on their aggregate circulation, without reference to the different classes and value of their notes. The establishment of this princi- ple, it is calculated, caused a saving to the pub- lic, in the years 1815 and 1816, of £70,000. By the neglect of this principle, which ought to have been adopted in 1799, Mr. Ricardo esti- mated the public to have been losers, and the Bank consequently gainers, of no less a sum than half a million." Mr. B. remarked briefly upon the equity of this tax, the simplicity of its levy since 1815, and its large product. He deemed it the proper model to be followed in the United States, un- less we should go on the principle of copying all that was evil, and rejecting all that was good in the British paper system. We bor- rowed the banking system from the English, with all its foreign vices, and then added others of our own to it. England has suppressed the pestilence of notes under £5 (near $25) j we retain small notes down to a dollar, and thence to the fractional parts of a dollar. She has taxed all notes ; and those under £5 she taxed highest while she had them ; we, on the con- trary, tax none. The additional tax of £4,000 on the notes under £5 rested on the fair prin- ciple of taxing highest that which was most profitable to the owner, and most injurious to the country. The small notes fell within that category, and therefore paid highest. Having thus shown that bank circulation ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 181 was now taxed in Great Britain, and had been for fifty years, he proceeded to show that it had also been taxed in the United States. This was in the year 1813. In the month of August of that year, a stamp-act was passed, applicable to banks and to bankers, and taxing them in the three great branches of their busi- ness, to wit : the circulation, the discounts, and the bills of exchange. On the circulation, the tax commenced at one cent on a one dollar note, and rose gradually to fifty dollars on notes exceeding one thousand dollars ; with the privilege of compounding for a gross sum in lieu of the duty. On the discounts, the tax began at five cents on notes discounted for one hundred dollars, and rose gradually to five dol- lars on notes of eight thousand dollars and up- wards. On bills of exchange, it began at five cents on bills of fifty dollars, and rose to five dollars on those of eight thousand dollars and upwards. Such was the tax, continued Mr. B., which the moneyed interest, employed in banking, was required to pay in 1813. and which it con- tinued to pay until 1817. In that year the banks were released from taxation, while taxes were continued upon all the comforts and ne- cessaries of life. Taxes are now continued upon articles of prime necessity — upon salt even — and the question will now go before the Senate and country, whether the banking in- terest, which has now grown so rich and pow- erful — which monopolizes the money of the country — beards the government — makes dis- tress or prosperity when it pleases — the ques- tion is now come whether this interest shall continue to be exempt from tax, while every thing else has to pay. Mr. B. said he did not know how the bank- ing interest of the present day would relish a proposition to make them contribute to the support of the government. He did not know how they would take it ; but he did know how a banker of the old school — one who paid on sight, according to his promise, and never broke a promise to the holder of his notes — he did know how such a banker viewed the act of 1813 ; and he would exhibit his behavior to the Senate ; he spoke of the late Stephen Girard of Philadelphia ; and he would let him speak for himself by reading some passages from a pe- tition which he presented to Congress the year after the tax on bank notes was laid. Mr. B. read : "That your memorialist has established a bank in the city of Philadelphia, upon the foun- dation of his own individual fortune and credit, and for his own exclusive emolument, and that he is willing most cheerfully to contribute, in common with his fellow-citizens throughout the United States, a full proportion of the taxes which have been imposed for the support of the national government, according to the profits of his occupation and the value of his estate ; but a construction has been given to the acts of Congress laying duties on notes of banks, &c, from which great difficulties have occurred, and great inequalities daily produced to the disadvantage of his bank, that were not, it is confidently believed, within the contemplation of the legislature. And your memorialist hav- ing submitted these considerations to the wis- dom of Congress, respectfully prays, that the act of Congress may be so amended as to permit the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into a composition for the stamp duty, in the case of private bankers, as well as in the case of corpo- rations and companies, or so as to render the duty equal in its operations upon every deno- mination of bankers." Mr. B. had read these passages from Mr. Gi- rard's petition to Congress in 1814, jirst, for the purpose of showing the readiness with which a banker of the old school paid the taxes which the government imposed upon his busi- ness ; and, next, to show the very considerable amount of that tax, which on the circulation alone amounted to ten thousand dollars on the million. All this, with the additional tax on the discounts, and on the bills of exchange, Mr. Girard was entirely willing to pay, provided all paid alike. All he asked was equality of taxa- tion, and that he might have the benefit of the same composition which was allowed to incor- porated banks. This was a reasonable request, and was immediately granted by Congress. Mr. B. said revenue was one object of his bill : the regulation of the currency by the sup- pression of small notes and the consequent protection of the constitutional currency, was another : and for that purpose the tax was pro- posed to be heaviest on notes under twenty dollars, and to be augmented annually until it accomplished its object. 182 THTRTY YEARS' VIEW. CHAPTER XLIX. LIBERATION OF SLAVES BELONGING TO AMERI- CAN CITIZENS IN BRITISH COLONIAL PORTS. Up to this time, and within a period of ten years, three instances of this kind had occurred. First, that of the schooner Comet. This ves- sel sailed from the District of Columbia in the year 1830, destined for New Orleans, having, among other things, a number of slaves on board. Her papers were regular, and the voy- age in all respects lawful. She was stranded on one of the false keys of the Bahama Islands, opposite to the coast of Florida, and almost in sight of our own shores. The persons on board, including the slaves, were taken by the wreck- ers, against the remonstrance of the captain and the owners of the slaves, into Nassau, New Providence — one of the Bahama Islands ; where the slaves were forcibly seized and detained by the local authorities. The second was the case of the Encomium. She sailed from Charleston in 1834, destined to New Orleans, on a voyage lawful and regular, and was stranded near the same place, and with the same fate with the Comet. She was carried into Nassau, where the slaves were also seized and detained by the local authorities. The slaves belonged to the Messrs. "Waddell of North Carolina, among the most respectable inhabitants of the State, and on their way to Louisiana with a view to a per- manent settlement in that State. The third case was that of the Enterprize, sailing from the District of Columbia in 1835, destined for Charleston, South Carolina, on a lawful voyage, and with regular papers. She was forced una- voidably, by stress of weather, into Port Ham- ilton, Bermuda Island, where the slaves on board were forcibly seized and detained by the local authorities. The owners of the slaves, protesting in vain, at the time, and in every in- stance, against this seizure of their property, afterwards applied to their own government for redress ; and after years of negotiation with Great Britain, redress was obtained in the two first cases — the full value of the slaves being delivered to the United States, to be paid to the owners. This was accomplished during Mr. Van Buren's administration, the negotiation having commenced under that of President Jackson. Compensation in the case of the En- terprize had been refused ; and the reason given for the distinction in the cases, was, that the two first happened during the time that slavery existed in the British West India colonies — the latter after its abolition there. All these were coasting voyages between one port of the United States and another, and involved practical ques- tions of great interest to all the slave States. Mr. Calhoun brought the question before the Senate in a set of resolutions which he drew up for the occasion; and which were in these words : " Resolved, That a ship or a vessel on the high seas, in time of peace, engaged in a lawful voyage, is, according to the laws of nations, un- der the exclusive jurisdiction of the State to which her flag belongs ; as much so as if con- stituting a part of its own domain. " Resolved, That if such ship or vessel should be forced by stress of weather, or other una- voidable cause, into the port of a friendly power, she would, under the same laws, lose none of the rights appertaining to her on the high seas ; but, on the contrary, she and her cargo and persons on board, with their proper- ty, and all the rights belonging to their per- sonal relations, as established by the laws of the State to which they belong, would be placed under the protection which the laws of nations extend to the unfortunate under such circum- stances. " Resolved, That the brig Enterprize, which was forced unavoidably by stress of weather into Port Hamilton, Bermuda Island, while on a lawful voyage on the high seas from one port of the Union to another, comes within the prin- ciples embraced in the foregoing resolutions ; and that the seizure and detention of the ne- groes on board by the local authority of the island, was an act in violation of the laws of nations, and highly unjust to our own citizens to whom they belong." It was in this latter case that Mr. Calhoun wished to obtain the judgment of the Senate, and the point he had to argue was, whether a municipal regulation of Great Britain could al- ter the law of nations ? Under that law she made indemnity for the slaves liberated in the two first cases : under her own municipal law she denied it in the latter case. The distinc- tion taken by the British minister was, that in the first cases, slavery existing in this British colony and recognized by law, the persons com- ing in with their slaves had a property in them which had been divested: in the latter case ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 183 that slavery being no longer recognized in this colony, there was no property in them after their arrival ; and consequently no rights di- vested. Mr. Calhoun admitted that would be the case if the entrance had been voluntary ; but denied it where the entrance was forced ; as in this case. His argument was : " I object not to the rule. If our citizens had no right to their slaves, at any time after they entered the British territory — that is, if the mere fact of entering extinguished all right to them (for that is the amount of the rule) — they could, of course, have no claim on the British government, for the plain reason that the local authority, in seizing and detaining the negroes, seized and detained what, by supposi- tion, did not belong to them. That is clear enough ; but let us see the application : it is given in a few words. He says : ' Now the owners of the slaves on board the Enterprize never were lawfully in possession of those slaves within the British territory ; ' assigning for reason, ' that before the Enterprize arrived at Bermuda, slavery had been abolished in the British empire' — an assertion which I shall show, in a subsequent part of my remarks, to be erroneous. From that, and that alone, he comes to the conclusion, ' that the negroes on board the Enterprize had, by entering within the British jurisdiction, acquired rights which the local courts were bound to protect.' Such certainly would have been the case if they had been brought in, or entered voluntarily. He who enters voluntarily the territory of another State, tacitly submits himself, with all his rights, to its laws, and is as much bound to submit to them as its citizens or subjects. No one denies that ; but that is not the present case. They entered not voluntarily, but from necessity ; and the very point at issue is, whether the British municipal laws could di- vest their owners of property in their slaves on entering British territory, in cases such as the Enterprize, when the vessel has been forced into their territory by necessity, through an act of Providence, to save the lives of those on board. We deny they can, and maintain the opposite ground: — that the law of nations in such cases interposes and protects the vessel and those on board, with their rights, against the municipal laws of the State, to which they have never submitted, and to which it would be cruel and inhuman, as well as unjust, to sub- ject them. Such is clearly the point at issue between the two governments ; and it is not less clear, that it is the very point assumed by the British negotiator in the controversy." This is fair reasoning upon the law of the case, and certainly left the law of nations in full force in favor of the American owners. The equity of the case was also fully stated, and the injury shown to be of a practical kind, which self-protection required the United States to prevent for the future. In this sense, Mr. Calhoun argued : " To us this is not a mere abstract question, nor one simply relating to the free use of the high seas. It comes nearer home. It is one of free and safe passage from one port to another of our Union ; as much so to us, as a question touching the free and safe use of the channels between England and Ireland on the one side, and the opposite coast of the continent on the other, would be to Great Britain. To understand its deep importance to us, it must be borne in mind, that the island of Bermuda lies but a short distance off our coast, and that the channel between the Bahama islands and Florida is not less than two hundred miles in length, and on an average not more than fifty wide ; and that through this long, narrow and difficult channel, the immense trade between our ports on the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlan- tic coast must pass, which, at no distant period, will constitute more than half of the trade of the Union. The principle set up by the British government, if carried out to its full extent, would do much to close this all-important channel, by rendering it too hazardous for use. She has only to give an indefinite extension to the principle applied to the case of the Enter- prize, and the work would be done ; and why has she not as good a right to apply it to a car- go of sugar or cotton, as to the slaves who pro- duced it." The resolutions were referred to the com- mittee on foreign relations, which reported them back with some slight alteration, not af- fecting or impairing their force; and in that form they were unanimously adopted by the Senate. Although there was no opposition to them, the importance of the occasion justified a record of the vote : and they were accordingly taken by yeas and nays — or rather, by yeas : for there were no nays. This was one of the occasions on which the mind loves to dwell, when, on a question purely sectional and Southern, and wholly in the interest of slave property, there was no division of sentiment in the American Senate. ■ 184 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. CHAPTER L. RESIGN ATION OF SENATOR HUGH LAWSON WHITE OF TENNESSEE: HIS DEATH: SOME NOTICE OF HIS LIFE AND CHARACTER. This resignation took place under circumstances, not frequent, but sometimes occurring in the Senate — that of receiving instructions from the General Assembly of his State, which either op- erate as a censure upon a senator, or require him to do something which either his con- science, or his honor forbids. Mr. White at this time — the session of 1839-40 — received instructions from the General Assembly of his State which affected him in both ways — con- demning past conduct, and prescribing a future course which he could not follow. He had been democratic from his youth — came into the Senate — had grown aged — as such : but of late years had voted generally with the whigs on their leading measures, and classed politically with them in opposition to Mr. Van Buren. In these circumstances he received instructions to reverse his course of voting on these leading measures — naming them ; and requiring him to support the administration of Mr. Van Buren. He consulted his self-respect, as well as obeyed a democratic principle ; and sent in his resigna- tion. It was the conclusion of a public life which disappointed its whole previous course. From his youth he had been a popular man, and that as the fair reward of conduct, without practising an art to obtain it, or even seeming to know that he was winning it. Bred a lawyer, and coming early to the bar, he was noted for a probity, modesty and gravity — with a learning, ability, assiduity and patience — which marked him for the judicial bench : and he was soon pla- ced upon it— that of the Superior Court. After- wards, when the judiciary of the State was re- modelled, he was placed on the bench of the Su- preme Court. It was considered a favor to the public to get him to take the place. That is well known to the writer of this View, then a mem- ber of the General Assembly of Tennessee, and the author of the new modelled judiciary. He applied to Judge White, who had at that time returned to the bar, to know if he would take the place ; and considered the new system ac- credited with the public on receiving his an- swer that he would. That was all that he had to do with getting the appointment : he was elected unanimously by the General Assembly, with whom the appointment rested. That is about the way in which he received all his ap- pointments, either from his State, or from the federal government — merely agreeing to take the office if it was offered to him ; but not al- ways agreeing to accept : often refusing — as in the case of a cabinet appointment offered him by President Jackson, his political and perso- nal friend of forty years' standing. It was long before he would enter a political career, but finally consented to become senator in the Con- gress of the United States : always discharging the duties of an office, when accepted, with the assiduity of a man who felt himself to be a ma- chine in the hands of his duty ; and with an in- tegrity of purpose which left his name without spot or stain. It is beautiful to contemplate such a career ; sad to see it set under a cloud in his advanced years. He became alienated from his old friends, both personally and politi- cally — even from General Jackson ; and even- tually fell under the censure of his State, as above related — that State which, for more than forty years, had considered it a favor to itself that he should accept the highest offices in her gift. He resigned in January, and died in May — his death accelerated by the chagrin of his spirit; for he was a man of strong feelings, though of such measured and quiet deportment. His death was announced in the Senate by the senator who was his colleague at the time of his resignation — Mr. Alexander Anderson ; and the motion for the usual honors to his memory was seconded by Senator Preston, who pro- nounced on the occasion a eulogium on the de- ceased as just as it was beautiful. " I do not know, Mr. President, whether I am entitled to the honor I am about to assume in seconding the resolutions which have just been offered by the senator from Tennessee, in honor of his late distinguished colleague ; and yet, sir, I am not aware that any one present is more entitled to this melancholy honor, if it belongs to long acquaintance, to sincere admi- ration, and to intimate intercourse. If these circumstances do not entitle me to speak, I am sure every senator will feel, in the emotions which swell his own bosom, an apology for my desire to relieve my own, by bearing testimony ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 185 to the virtues and talents, the long services and great usefulness, of Judge White. " My infancy and youth were spent in a re- gion contiguous to the sphere of his earlier fame and usefulness. As long as I can remem- ber any thing, I remember the deep confidence he had inspired as a wise and upright judge, in which station no man ever enjoyed a purer reputation, or established a more implicit reli- ance in his abilities and honesty. There was an antique sternness and justness in his charac- ter. By a general consent he was called Cato. Subsequently, at a period of our public affairs very analogous to the present, he occupied a position which placed him at the head of the financial institutions of East Tennessee. He sustained them by his individual character. The name of Hugh L. White was a guarantee that never failed to attract confidence. Insti- tutions were sustained by the credit of an indi- vidual, and the only wealth of that individual was his character. From this more limited sphere of usefulness and reputation, he was first brought to this more conspicuous stage as a member of an important commission on the Spanish treaty, in which he was associated with Mr. Tazewell and Mr. King. His learning, his ability, his firmness, and industry, immediately extended the sphere of his reputation to the boundaries of the country. Upon the comple- tion of that duty, he came into this Senate. Of his career here, I need not speak. His grave and venerable form is even now before us — that air of patient attention, of grave deliberation, of unrelaxed firmness. Here his position was of the highest — beloved, respected, honored; al- ways in his place — always prepared for the business in hand — always bringing to it the treasured reflections of a sedate and vigorous understanding. Over one department of our deliberations he exercised a very peculiar con- trol. In the management of our complex and difficult relations with the Indians we all de- ferred to him, and to this he addressed himself with unsparing labor, and with a wisdom, a pa- tient benevolence, that justified and vindicated the confidence of the Senate. " In private life he was amiable and ardent. The current of his feelings was warm and strong. His long familiarity with public af- fairs had not damped the natural ardor of his ^temperament. We all remember the deep feel- ing with which he so recently took leave of this body, and how profoundly that feeling was re- ciprocated. The good will, the love, the respect which we bestowed upon him then, now give depth and energy to the mournful feelings with which we offer a solemn tribute to his memo- ry." And here this notice would stop if it was the design of this work merely to write on the out- side of history — merely to chronicle events; but that is not the design. Inside views are the main design : and this notice of Senator White's life and character would be very im- perfect, and vitally deficient, if it did not tell how it happened that a man so favored by his State during a long life should have lost that favor in his last days — received censure from those who had always given praise — and gone to his grave under a cloud after having lived in sunshine. The reason is briefly told. In his advanced age he did the act which, with all old men, is an experiment ; and, with most of them, an unlucky one. He married again : and this new wife having made an immense stride from the head of a boarding-house table to the head of a senator's table, could see no reason why she should not take one step more, and that comparatively short, and arrive at the head of the presidential table. This was before the presidential election of 1836. Mr. Van Buren was the generally accepted democratic candi- date : he was foremost of all the candidates : and the man who is ahead of all the rest, on such occasions, is pretty sure to have a com- bination of all the rest against him. Mr. Van Buren was no exception to this rule. The whole whig party wished to defeat him : that was a fair wish. Mr. Calhoun's party wished to defeat him : that was invidious : for they could not elect Mr. Calhoun by it. Many professing democrats wished to defeat him, though for the benefit of a whig : and that was a movement towards the whig camp — where most of them eventually arrived. All these parties combined, and worked in concert ; and their line of opera- tions was through the vanity of the victim's wife. They excited her vain hopes. And this modest, unambitious man, who had spent all his life in resisting office pressed upon him by his real friends, lost his power of resistance in his old age, and became a victim to the combina- tion against him — which all saw, and deplored, except himself. As soon as he was committed, and beyond extrication, one of the co-operators against him, a whig member of Congress from Kentucky — a witty, sagacious man of good tact — in the exultation of his feelings wrote the news to a friend in his district, who, in a still higher state of exultation, sent it to the news- papers — thus : " Judge White is on the track, running gayly, and won't come off ; and if he would, his wife wonH let himP This was the whole story, briefly and cheerily told — and tru- 186 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. ly. He ran the race ! without prejudice to Mr. Van Buren — without benefit to the whig can- didates — without support from some who had incited him to the trial : and with great politi- cal and social damage to himself. Long an inhabitant of the same State with Judge White — indebted to him for my law li- cense — moving in the same social and political circle — accustomed to respect and admire him — sincerely friendly to him, and anxious for his peace and honor, I saw with pain the progress of the movement against him, and witnessed with profound grief its calamitous consumma- tion. CHAPTER LI. DEATH OF EX-SENATOR HAYNE OF SOUTH' CAR- OLINA : NOTICE OF HIS LIFE AND CHARAC- TER. Nature had lavished upon him all the gifts which lead to eminence in public, and to happi- ness, in private life. Beginning with the person and manners — minor advantages, but never to be overlooked when possessed — he was entirely fortunate in these accessorial advantages. His person was of the middle size, slightly above it in height, well proportioned, flexible and grace- ful. His face was fine — the features manly, well formed, expressive, and bordering on the handsome : a countenance ordinarily thought- ful and serious, but readily lighting up, when accosted, with an expression of kindness, intel- ligence, cheerfulness, and an inviting amiability. His face was then the reflex of his head and his heart, and ready for the artist who could seize the moment to paint to the life. His manners were easy, cordial, unaffected, affable ; and his address so winning, that the fascinated stranger was taken captive at the first saluta- tion. These personal qualities were backed by those of the mind — all solid, brilliant, practical, and utilitarian : and always employed on use- ful objects, pursued from high motives, and by fair and open means. His judgment was good, and he exercised it in the serious consideration of whatever business he was engaged upon, with an honest desire to do what was right, and a laudable ambition to achieve an honora- ble fame. He had a copious and ready elocu- tion, flowing at will in a strong and steady cur- rent, and rich in the material which constitutes argument. His talents were various, and shone in different walks of life, not often united : em- inent as a lawyer, distinguished as a senator : a writer as well as a speaker : and good at the council table. All* these advantages were en- forced by exemplary morals ; and improved by habits of study, moderation, temperance, self- control, and addiction to business. There was nothing holiday, or empty about him — no lying in to be delivered of a speech of phrases. Prac- tical was the turn of his mind : industry an at- tribute of his nature : labor an inherent impul- sion, and a habit : and during his ten years of senatorial service his name was incessantly con- nected with the business of the Senate. He was ready for all work — speaking, writing, con- sulting — in the committee-room as well as in the chamber — drawing bills and reports in pri- vate, as well as shining in the public debate, and ready for the social intercourse of the evening when the label's of the day were over A de- sire to do service to the country, and to earn just fame for himself, by working at useful ob- jects, brought all these high qualities into con- stant, active, and brilliant requisition. To do good, by fair means, was the labor of his sen- atorial life ; and I can truly say that, in ten years of close association with him I never saw him actuated by a sinister motive, a selfish cal- culation, or an unbecoming aspiration. Thus, having within himself so many quali- ties and requisites for insuring advancement in life, he also had extrinsic advantages, auxiliary to talent, and which contribute to success in a public career. He was well descended, and bore a name dear to the South — the synonym of honor, courage, and patriotism — memorable for that untimely and cruel death of one of its revolu- tionary wearers, which filled the country with pity for his fate, and horror for his British exe- cutioners. The name of Hayne, pronounced any where in the South, and especially in South Carolina, roused a feeling of love and respect, and stood for a passport to honor, until deeds should win distinction. Powerfully and exten- sively connected by blood and marriage, he had the generous support which family pride and policy extends to a promising scion of the con- nection. He had fortune, which gave him the advantage of education, and of social position, and left free to cultivate his talents, and to de- i ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 187 vote them to the public service. Resident in Charleston, still maintaining its colonial reputa- tion for refined society, and high and various talent, he had every advantage of enlightened and elegant association. Twice happily married in congenial families (Pinckney and Alston), his domestic felicity was kept complete, his con- nections extended, and fortune augmented. To crown all, and to give effect to every gift with which nature and fortune had endowed him, he had that further advantage, which the Grecian Plutarch never fails to enumerate when the case permits it, and which he considered so aux- iliary to the advancement of some of the eminent men whose lives he commemorated — the advan- tage of being born in a State where native talent was cherished, and where the community made it a policy to advance and sustain a promising young man, as the property of the State, and for the good of the State. Such was, and is, South Carolina ; and the young Hayne had the full benefit of the generous sentiment. As fast as years permitted, he was advanced in the State government : as soon as age and the federal con- stitution permitted, he came direct to the Senate, without passing through the House of Repre- sentatives ; and to such a Senate as the body then was — Rufus King, John Taylor of Caro- line, Mr. Macon, John Gaillard, Edward Lloyd of Maryland, James Lloyd of Massachusetts, James Barbour of Virginia, General Jackson, Louis McLane of Delaware, Wm. Pinkney of Maryland, Littleton Waller Tazewell, Webster, Nathan Sandford, of New York, M. Van Buren, King of Alabama, Samuel Smith of Maryland, James Brown, and Henry Johnson of Louis- iana ; and many others, less known to fame, but honorable to the Senate from personal deco- rum, business talent, and dignity of character. Hayne arrived among them ; and was con- sidered by such men, and among such men, as an accession to the talent and character of the chamber. I know the estimate they put upon him, the consideration they had for him, and the future they pictured for him: for they were men to look around, and consider who were to carry on the government after they were gone. But the proceedings of the Senate soon gave the highest evidence of the degree of consideration in which he was held. In the very second year of his service, he was appointed to a high duty — 6uch as would belong to age and long service, as well as to talent and elevated character. He was made chairman of the select committee — and select it was — which brought in the bill for the grants ($200,000 in money, and 24,000 acres of land), to Lafayette ; and as such became the organ of the expositions, as delicate as they were responsible, which reconciled such grants to the words and spirit of our constitution, and adjusted them to the merit and modesty of the receiver : a high function, and which he ful- filled to the satisfaction of the chamber, and the country. Six years afterwards he had the great debate with Mr. Webster — a contest of many days, sustained to the last without losing its inter- est — (which bespoke fertility of resource, as well as ability in both speakers), and in which his adversary had the advantage of a more ripened intellect an established national reputa- tion, ample preparation, the choice of attack, and the goodness of the cause. Mr. Webster came into that field upon choice and deliberation, well feeling the grandeur of the occasion ; and pro- foundly studying his part. He had observed during the summer, the signs in South Carolina, and marked the proceedings of some public meetings unfriendly to the Union ; and which he ran back to the incubation of Mr. Calhoun. He became the champion of the constitution and the Union, choosing his time and occasion, hanging his speech upon a disputed motion with which it had nothing to do, and which was im- mediately lost sight of in the blaze and expan- sion of a great national discussion : himself armed and equipped for the contest, glittering in the panoply of every species of parliamentary and forensic weapon — solid argument, playful wit, biting sarcasm, classic allusion ; and strik- ing at a new doctrine of South Carolina origin, in which Hayne was not implicated: but his friends were — and that made him their defender. The speech was at Mr. Calhoun, then presiding in the Senate, and without right to reply. Hayne became his sword and buckler, and had much use for the latter to cover his friend — hit by incessant blows — cut by many thrusts : but he understood too well the science of defence in wordy as well as military digladiation to confine himself to fending off. He returned, as well as received blows ; but all conducted courteously ; and stings when inflicted gently extracted on either side by delicate compliments. Each 188 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. morning he returned re-invigorated to the contest, like Antaeus refreshed, not from a fabulous contact with mother earth, but from a real communion with Mr. Calhoun ! the ac- tual subject of Mr. "Webster's attack : and from the well-stored arsenal of his powerful and subtle mind, he nightly drew auxiliary supplies. Friends relieved the combatants occasionally ; but it was only to relieve ; and the two princi- pal figures remained prominent to the last. To speak of the issue would be superfluous ; but there was much in the arduous struggle to con- sole the younger senator. To cope with Web- ster, was a distinction : not to be crushed by him, was almost a victory : to rival him in copious and graceful elocution, was to establish an equality at a point which strikes the masses : and Hayne often had the crowded galleries with him. But, equal argument ! that was impos- sible. The cause forbid it, far more than dis- parity of force ; and reversed positions would have reversed the issue. I have said elsewhere (Vol. I. of this work), that I deem Mr. Hayne to have been entirely sincere in professing nullification at that time only in the sense of the Virginia resolutions of '98-'99, as expounded by their authors : three years afterwards he left his place in the Senate to become Governor of South Carolina, to en- force the nullification ordinance which the Gen- eral Assembly of the State had passed, and against which President Jackson put forth his impressive proclamation. Up to this point, in writing this notice, the pen had run on with pride and pleasure — pride in portraying a shin- ing American character: pleasure in recalling recollections of an eminent man, whom I es- teemed — who did me the honor to call me friend ; and with whom I was intimate. Of all the senators he seemed nearest to me — both young in the Senate, entering it nearly together ; born in adjoining States; not wide apart in age; a similarity of political principle : and, I may add, some conformity of tastes and habits. Of all the young generation of statesmen coming on, I considered him the safest — the most like Wil- liam Lowndes ; and best entitled to a future eminent lead. He was democratic, not in the modern sense of the term, as never bolting a caucus nomination, and never thinking differ- ently from the actual administration; but on principle, as founded in a strict, in contradis- tinction to a latitudinarian construction of the constitution ; and as cherishing simplicity and economy in the administration of the federal government, in contradistinction to splendor and extravagance. With his retiring from the Senate, Mr. Hayne's national history ceases. He does not appear af- terwards upon the theatre of national affairs : but his practical utilitarian mind, and ardent industry, found ample and beneficent employ- ment in some noble works of internal improve- ment. The railroad system of South Carolina, with its extended ramifications, must admit him for its founder, from the zeal he carried into it, and the impulsion he gave it. He died in the meridian of his life, and in the midst of his use- fulness, and in the field of his labors — in west- ern North Carolina, on the advancing line of the great iron railway, which is to connect the greatest part of the South Atlantic with the noblest part of the Valley of the Mississippi. The nullification ordinance, which he became Governor of South Carolina to enforce, was wholly directed against the tariff system of the time — not merely against a protective tariff, but against its fruits — undue levy of revenue, ex- travagant expenditure ; and expenditure in one quarter of the Union of what was levied upon the other. The levy and expenditure were then some twenty-five millions of dollars : they are now seventy-five millions : and the South, while deeply agitated for the safety of slave property — (now as safe, and more valuable than ever, as proved by the witness which makes no mistakes, the market price) — is quiet upon the evil which produced the nullification ordinance of 1832 : quiet under it, although that evil is three times greater now than then : and without excuse, as the present vast expenditure is the mere effect of mad extravagance. Is this quietude a con- demnation of that ordinance ? or, is it of the nature of an imaginary danger which inflames the passions, that it should supersede the real evil which affects the pocket ? If the Hayne of 1824, and 1832, was now alive, I think his prac- tical and utilitarian mind would be seeking a proper remedy for the real grievance, now so much greater than ever; and that he would leave the fires of an imaginary danger to die out of themselves, for want of fuel. ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 189 CHAPTER LII. ABOLITION OF SPECIFIC DUTIES BY THE COM- PKOMISE ACT OF 1833: ITS ERROR, AND LOSS TO THE REVENUE, SHOWN BY EXPERIENCE. The introduction of the universal ad valorem system in 1833 was opposed and deprecated by practical men at the time, as one of those refined subtleties which, aiming at an ideal perfection, overlooks the experience of ages, and disregards the warnings of reason. Specific duties had been the rule^-ad valorems the exception — from the beginning of the collection of custom- house revenue. The specific duty was a ques- tion in the exact sciences, depending upon a mathematical solution by weight, count, or mea- sure: the ad valorem presented a question to the fallible judgment of men, sure to be different at different places ; and subject, in addition to the fallibility of judgment, to the chances of ignorance, indifference, negligence and corrup- tion. All this was urged against the act at the time, but in vain. It was a piece of legislation arranged out of doors — christened a compro- mise, which was to save the Union — brought into the House to be passed without alteration : and was so passed, in defiance of all judgment and reason by the aid of the votes of those — always a considerable per centum in every public body — to whom the name of compromise is an irresist- ible attraction : amiable men, who would do no wrong of themselves, and without whom the de- signing could do but little wrong. Objections to this pernicious novelty (of universal ad valo- rems), were in vain urged then: experience, with her enlightened voice, now came forward to plead against them. The act had been in force seven years : it had had a long, and a fair trial : and that safest of all juries — Time and Experience — now came forward to deliver their verdict. At this session ('39-'40) a message was sent to the House of Representatives by the President, covering reports from the Secre- tary of the Treasury, and from the Comptroller of the Treasury, with opinions from the late Attorneys-general of the United States (Messrs. Benjamin F. Butler and Felix Grundy), and letters from the collectors of the customs in all the principal Atlantic ports, all relating to the practical operation of the ad valorem system, and showing it to be unequal, uncertain, unsafe — diverse in its construction — injurious to the revenue — open to unfair practices — and greatly expensive from the number of persons required to execute it. The whole document may be profitably studied by all who deprecate unwise and pernicious legislation ; but a selection of a few of the cases of injurious operation which it presents will be sufficient to give an idea of the whole. Three classes of goods are selected — silks, linens, and worst d: all staple articles, and so well known as to be the least susceptible of diversity of judgment ; and yet on which, in the period of four years, a fraction over five millions of dollars had been lost to the Treasury from diversity of construction between the Treasury officers and the judiciary — with the further prospective loss of one million and three-quarters in the ensuing three years if the act was not amended. The document, at page 44, states the annual ascertained loss during four years' operation of the act on these classes of goods, to be : "In 1835 - $624,356 In 1837 - $463,090 1836 - 847,162 1838 - 428,237 " Making in the four years $2,362,845 ; and the comptroller computes the annual prospective loss during the time the act may remain un- altered, at $800,000. So much for silks ; now for linens. The same page, for the same four years, represents the annual loss on this article to be: In 1835 - $370,785 In 1837 - $303,241 1836 - 516,988 1838 - 226,375 "Making the sum of $1,411,389 on this article for the four years ; to which is to be added the estimated sum of $400,000, for the future an- nual losses, if the act remains unaltered. " On worsted goods, for the same time, and on page 45, the report exhibits the losses thus : In 1835 - $409,329 In 1837 - $209,391 1836 - 416,832 1838 - 249,590 " Making a total of ascertained loss on this head, in the brief space of four years, amount to the sum of $1,285,142; with a computation of a prospective loss of $500,000 per annum, while the compromise act remains as it is." Such were the losses from diversity of con- struction alone on three classes of goods, in the short space of four years ; and these classes sta- I pie goods, composed of a single material. When 190 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. it came to articles of mixed material, the diversi- ty became worse. Custom-house officers dis- agreed : comptrollers and treasurers disagreed : attorneys-general disagreed. Courts were re- ferred to, and their decision overruled all. Many importers stood suits ; and the courts and juries overruled all the officers appointed to collect the revenue. The government could only collect what they are allowed. Often, after paying the duty assessed, the party has brought his action and recovered a large part of it back. So that this ad valorem system, besides its great expense, its chance for diversity of opin- ions among the appraisers, and its openness to corruption, also gave rise to differences among the highest administrative and law officers of the government, with resort to courts of law, in nearly all which the United States was the loser. CHAPTER LIII . REFINED SUGAR AND EUM DRAWBACKS: THEIR ABUSE UNDER THE COMPROMISE ACT OF 1833: MR. BENTON'S SPEECH. Mr. Benton rose to make the motion for which he had given notice on Friday last, for leave to bring in a bill to reduce the drawbacks allowed on the exportation of rum and refined sugars ; and the bounties and allowances to fishing ves- sels, in proportion to the reduction which had been made, and should be made, in the duties upon imported sugars, molasses and salt, upon which these bounties and allowances were re- spectively granted. Mr. B. said that the bill, for the bringing in of which he was about to ask leave, proposed some material alteration in the act of 1833, for the modification of the tariff, commonly called the compromise act ; and as that act was held by its friends to be sacred and inviolable, and entitled to run its course untouched and un- altered, it became his duty to justify his bill in advance ; to give reasons for it before he ventur- ed to submit the question of leave for its intro- duction ; and to show, beforehand, that here was great and just cause for the measure he pro- Mr. B. said it would be recollected, by those who were contemporary with the event, and might be seen by all who should now look into our legislative history of that day, that he was thoroughly opposed to the passage of the act of 1833 ; that he preferred waiting the progress of Mr. Verplanck's bill ; that he opposed the compro- mise act, from beginning to end ; made speeches against it, which were not answered ; uttered predictions of it, which were disregarded ; pro- posed amendments to it, which were rejected ; showed it to be an adjournment, not a settle- ment, of the tariff question ; and voted against it, on its final passage, in a respectable minority of eighteen. It was not his intention at this time to recapitulate all the objections which he then made to the act ; but to confine himself to two of those objections, and to those two of them, the truth and evils of which time had developed ; and for which evils the public good demands an immediate remedy to be applied. He spoke of the drawbacks and allowances founded upon duties, which duties were to un- dergo periodical reductions, while the draw- backs and allowances remained undiminished ; and of the vague and arbitrary tenor of the act, which rendered it incapable of any regular, uni- form, or safe execution. He should confine him- self to these two objections ; and proceed to ex- amine them in the order in which they were mentioned. At page 208 of the Senate journal, session of 1832-33, is seen this motion : " Moved by Mr. Benton to add to the bill a section in the fol- lowing words : ' That all drawbacks allowed on the exportation of articles manufactured in the United States from materials imported from foreign countries , and subject to duty, shall be reduced in proportion to the reduction of duties provided for in this act? " The par- ticular application of this clause, as explained and enforced at the time, was to sugar and mo- lasses, and the refined sugar, and the rum man- ufactured from them. As the laws then stood, and according to the principle of all drawbacks, the exporters of these refined sugars and rum were allowed to draw back from the Treasury precisely as much money as had been paid into the Treasury on the im- portation of the article out of which the export- ed article was manufactured. This was the principle, and this was the law ; and so rigidly was this insisted upon by the manufacturing ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 191 and exporting interest, that only four years be- fore the compromise act, namely, in 1829, the drawback on refined sugars exported was raised from four to *ive cents a pound upon the motion of General Smith, a then senator from Mary- land ; and this upon an argument and a calcula- tion made by him to show that the quantity of raw sugar contained in every pound of refined sugar, had, in reality, paid five instead of four cents duty. My motion appeared to me self- evidently just, as the new act, in abolishing all specific duties, and reducing every thing to an ad valorem duty of twenty per centum, would reduce the duties on sugar and molasses eventu- ally to the one-third or the one-fourth of their then amount ; and, unless the drawback should be proportionately reduced, the exporter of re- fined sugars and rum, instead of drawing back the exact amount he had paid into the Treasury, would in reality draw back three or four times as much as had been paid in. This would be un- just in itself; and, besides being unjust, would involve a breach of the constitution, for, so much of the drawback as was not founded upon the duty, would be a naked bounty paid for nothing out of the Treasury. I expected my motion to be adopted by a unanimous vote ; on the con- trary, it was rejected by a vote of 24 to 18 ; * and I had to leave it to Time, that slow, but sure witness, to develope the evils which my argu- ments had been unable to show, and to enforce the remedies which the vote of the Senate had rejected. That witness has come. Time, with his unerring testimony, has arrived. The act of 1833 has run the greater part of its course, without having reached its ultimate depression of duties, or developed its greatest mischiefs; but it has gone far enough to show that it has done immense injury to the Treasury, and must continue to do it if a remedy is not applied. Always indifferent to my rhetoric, and careful of my facts — always leaving oratory behind, and laboring to establish a battery of facts in front — I have applied at the fountain head of infor- * The following was the vote : Yeas— Messrs. Benton, Buckner, Calhonn, Dallas, Dicker- son, Dudley, Forsyth, Johnston, Kane, King, Rives, Robin- son, Seymour, Tomlinson, Webster, White, Wilkins, and Wright— 18. Nays— Messrs. Bell, Bibb, Black, Clay, Clayton, Ewiug, Foot, Grundy, Hendricks, Holmes, Knight, Mangum, Miller, Moore, Naudain, Polndexter, Prentiss, Bobbins, Silsbee, Smith, Sprague, Tipton, Troup, Tyler- -24. mation— the Treasury Department— for all the statistics connected with the subject ; and the successive reports which had been received from that department, on the salt duties and the fish- ing bounties and allowances, and on the sugar and molasses duties, and the drawbacks on ex- ported rum and refined sugar, and which had been printed by the order of the Senate, had supplied the information which constituted the body of facts which must carry conviction to the mind of every hearer. Mr. B. said he would take up the sugar duties first, and show what had been the operation of the act of 1833, in relation to the revenue from that article, and the drawbacks founded upon it. In document No. 275, laid upon our tables on Friday last, we find four tables in relation to this point, and a letter from the Register of the Treasury, Mr. T. L. Smith, describing their con- tents. These tables are all valuable. The whole of the information which they contain is useful, and is applicable to the business of legislation, and goes to enlighten us on the subject under con- sideration ; but it is not in my power, continued Mr. B., to quote them in detail. Results and prominent facts only can be selected ; and, pro- ceeding on this plan, I here show to the Senate, from table No. 1, that as early as the year 1837 — being only four years after the compromise act — the drawback paid on the exportation of refined sugar actually exceeded the amount of revenue derived from imported sugar, by the sum of $861 71. As the duties continued to diminish, and the drawback remained the same, this ex- cess was increased in 1838 to $12,690 ; and in 1839 it was increased to $20,154 37. Thus far the results are mathematical ; they are copied from the Treasury books ; they show the actual operation of the compromise act on this article, down to the end of the last year. These are facts to pause at, and think upon. They imply that the sugar refiners manufactured more sugar than was imported into the United States for each of these three years — that they not only manufactured, but exported, in a refined state, more than was imported into the United States, about 400,000 lbs. more the last of these years — that they paid duty on these quantities, not leaving a pound of imported sugar to have been used or duty paid on it by any other person — and not leaving a pound of their own refined 192 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. sugar to be used in the United States. In other words, the whole amount of the revenue from brown and clayed sugars was paid over to 29 sugar refiners from 1837: and not only the whole amount, but the respective sums of $861 71, and $12,690, and $20,154 37, in that and the two succeeding years, over and above that amount. This is what the table shows as far as the act has gone ; and as we know that the refiners only consumed a small part of the sugar imported, and only exported a part of what they refined, and consequently only paid duty on a small part, it stands to reason that a most enormous abuse has been committed — the fault of the law allowing them to " draw back " out of the Treasury what they had never put into it. The table then goes on to show the prospec- tive operation of the act for the remainder of the time which it has to run, and which will in- clude the great reductions of duty which are to take place in 1841 and 1842 ; and here the re- sults become still more striking. Assuming the importation of each succeeding year to be the same that it was in 1839, and the excess of the drawback over the duties will be, for 1840, $37,343 38; for 1841, the same; for 1842 $114,693 94 ; and for 1843, the sum of $140, 477 45. That is to say, these refiners will receive the whole of the revenue from the sugar tax, and these amounts in addition, for these four years ; when they would not be entitled, under an honest law, to more than the one for- tieth part of the revenue — which, in fact, is more than they received while the law was honest. These will be the bounties payable out of the Treasury in the present, and in the three suc- ceeding years, provided the importation of sugars shall be the same that it was in 1839 ; but will it be the same ? To this question, both reason and experience answer in the negative. They both reply that the importation will increase in proportion to the increased profit which the in- creasing difference between the duty and the drawback will afford ; and this reply is proved by the two first columns in the table under con- sideration. These columns show that, under the encouragement to importation already afforded by the compromise act, the import of sugar in- creased in six years from 1,558,971 pounds, costing $72,336, to 11,308,561 pounds, costing $554,119. Here was an enormous increase un- der a small inducement compared to that which is to follow ; so that we have reason to conclude that the importations of the present and ensuing years, unless checked by the passage of the bill which I propose to bring in, will not only in- crease in the ratio of the past years, but far be- yond it ; and will in reality be limited only by the capacity of the world to supply the demand : so great will be the inducement to import raw or clayed sugars, and export refined. The effect upon our Treasury must be great. Several hundred thousand dollars per annum must be taken from it for nothing ; the whole extracted from the Secretary of the Treasury in hard money ; his reports having shown us that, while paper money, and even depreciated paper, is systematically pressed upon the government in payment of duties, nothing but gold and silver will be received back in payment of drawbacks. But it is not the Treasury only that would suffer : the consumers of sugar would come in for their share of the burden: the drawback will keep up the price ; and the home consumer must pay the drawback as well as the govern- ment ; otherwise the refined sugar will seek a foreign market. The consumers of brown sugar will suffer in the same manner ; for the manu- facturers will monopolize it, and refine it, and have their five cents drawback, either at home or abroad. Add to all this, it will be well if enterprising dealers shall not impose domestic sugars upon the manufacturers, and thus convert the home crop into an article entitled to draw- back. Such are the mischiefs of the act of 1833 in relation to this article ; they are great already, and still greater are yet to come. As early as 1837, the whole amount of the sugar revenue, and $861,71 besides, was delivered over to some twenty odd manufacturers of refined sugars ! At this day, the whole amount of that revenue goes to these few individuals, and $37,343,38 besides. This is the case this year. Henceforth they are to receive the whole amount of this revenue, with some hundreds of thousands of dollars besides, to be drawn from other branches of revenue, unless this bill is passed which I pro- pose to bring in. This is the effect of the act, dignified with the name of compromise, and hal- lowed by the imputed character of sacred and inviolable ! It turns over a tax levied from seventeen millions of people on an article of es- ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 193 sential comfort, and almost a necessary ; it turns over this whole tax to a few individuals ; and that not being enough to satisfy their demand, they receive the remainder from the National Treasury ! It violates the constitution to the whole extent of the excess of the drawback over the duty. It subjects the Treasury to an un- foreseen amount of undue demands. It deprives the people of the whole benefit of the reduction of the sugar tax, provided for by the act itself ; and subjects them to the mercies of those who may choose to monopolize the article for refine- ment and exportation. The whole number of persons into whose hands all this money and power is thrown, is, according to a statement derived from Gov. Wolf, the late collector of the customs at Philadelphia, no more than own the 29 sugar refineries ; the whole of which, omit- ting some small ones in the West, and three in New Orleans, are situate on the north side of Mason and Dixon's line. Members from the South and West complain of the unequal work- ing of our revenue system — of the large amounts expended in the northeast — the trifle expended South and West. But, why complain ? Their own improvident and negligent legislation makes it so. This bill alone, in only one of its items — the sugar item — will send millions, before 1842, to the north side of that famous line : and this bill was the concoction, and that out of doors, of one member from the South and one more from the West. Mr. Benton would proceed to the next article to the effect upon which, of the compromise act, he would wish to call their attention j and that article was imported molasses, and its manufac- ture, in the shape of exported rum. On this article, and its manufacture, the operation of the act was of the same character, though not to the same degree, that it was on sugars ; the duties were reduced, while the drawback remained the same. This was constantly giving drawback where no duty had been paid ; and in 1842 the whole of the molasses tax will go to these rum distillers — giving the legal implication that they had imported all the molasses that came into the United States, and paid duty on it — and then exported it all in the shape of rum — leav- ing not a gallon to have been consumed by the rest of the community, nor even a gallon of their own rum to have been drank in the United States. All this is clear from the regular opera- Vol. II.— 13 tion of the compromise act, in reducing duties without making a corresponding reduction in the drawbacks founded upon them. But is there not to be cheating in addition to the regu- lar operation of the act ? If not, we shall be more fortunate than we have been heretofore, and that under the circumstances of greater temptation. It is well known that whiskey can be converted into New England rum, and ex ported as such, and receive the drawback of the molasses duty ; and that this has been done just as often as the price of whiskey (and the mean- est would answer the purpose) was less than the cost of molasses. The process was this. Purchase base whiskey at a low rate — filtrate it through charcoal, to deprive it of smell and taste — then pass it through a rum distillery, in company with a little real rum — and the whis- key would come out rum, very fit to be sold as such at home, or exported as such, with the benefit of drawback. All this has been done, and has been proved to be done ; and, therefore, may be done again, and certainly will be done, under the increased temptation which the com- promise act now affords, and will continue to afford, if not amended as proposed by the bill I propose to bring in. It was proved before a committee of the House of Representatives in the session of 1827-8. Mr. Jeromus Johnson, then a member of Congress from the city of New York, now a custom-house officer in that city, testified directly to the fact. To the ques- tion : '•' Are there not large quantities of whis- key used with molasses in the distillation of ichat is called New England rum ? " He an- swered : " There are : " and that when mixed at the rate of only four gallons to one, and the mixture run through a rum distillery — the whiskey previously deprived of its taste and smell by filtration through charcoal — the best practised rum drinker could not tell the differ- ence — even if appealed to by a custom-house officer. That whiskey is now used for that purpose, is clearly established by the table marked B. That table shows that the impor- tation of foreign molasses for the year 1839 was 392,368 gallons ; and the exportation of distil- led rum for that quantity was 356,699 gallons ; that is to say, nearly as many gallons of rum went out as of molasses came in ; and, admitting that a gallon of good molasses will make a gal- lon of rum, yet the average is below it. Infe- 194 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. rior or common molasses falls short of producing gallon for gallon by from 5 to 7^ per cent. Now make an allowance for this deficiency ; allow also for the quantity of foreign molasses con- sumed in the United States in other ways ; al- low likewise for the quantity of rum made from molasses, and not exported, but consumed at home : allow for these three items, and the con- viction becomes irresistible, that whiskey was used in the distillation of rum in the year 1839, and exported with the benefit of drawback! and that such will continue to be the case (if this blunder is not corrected), as the duty gets lower and the temptation to export whiskey, under the disguise of New England rum, becomes greater. After 1842, this must be a great busi- ness, and the molasses drawback a good profit on mean whiskey. Putting these two items together — the sugar and the molasses drawbacks — and some millions must be plundered from the Treasury under the preposterous provisions of this compromise act. CHAPTER LIV. FISHING BOUNTIES AND ALLOWANCES, AND THEIR ABUSE: ME. BENTON'S SPEECH: EX- TRACTS. The bill which I am asking leave to introduce, proposes to reduce the fishing bounties and allowances in proportion to the reduction which the salt duty has undergone, and is to undergo 5 and at the threshold I am met by the question, whether these allowances are founded upon the salt duty, and should rise and fall with it, or are independent of that duty, and can be kept up without it ? I hold the affirmative of this question. I hold that the allowances rest upon the duty, and upon nothing else, and that there is neither statute law nor constitution to support them on any other foundation. This is what I hold : but I should not have noticed the ques- tion at this time except for the issue joined upon it between the senator from Massachusetts who sits farthest on the other side (Mr. Davis), and myself. He and I have made up an issue on this point ; and without going into the argu- ment at this time, I will cite him to the original petition from the Massachusetts legislature, asking for a drawback of the duties, or, as they styled it, " a remission of duties on all the duti- able articles used in the fisheries; and ako premiums and bounties:" and having shown this petition, I will point to half a dozen acts of Congress which prove my position — hoping that they may prove sufficient, but promising to come down upon him with an avalanche of au- thorities if they are not. The dutiable articles used in the fisheries, and of which a remission duty was asked in the pe- tition, were: salt, rum, tea, sugar, molasses, coarse woollens, lines and hooks, sail-cloth, cordage, iron, tonnage. This petition, present- ed to Congress in the year 1790, was referred to the Secretary of State (Mr. Jefferson), for a report upon it ; and his report was, that a draw- back of duties ought to be allowed, and that the fisheries are not to draw support from the Treas- ury ; the words, " drawback of duty," only ap- plying to articles exported, was confined to the salt upon that part of the fish which were ship- ped to foreign countries : and to this effect was the legislation of Congress. 1 briefly review the first half dozen of these acts. 1. The act of 1789 — the same which imposed a duty of six cents a bushel on salt, and which granted a bounty of five cents a barrel on pickled fish exported, and also on beef and pork export- ed, and five cents a quintal on dried fish ex- ported — declared these bounties to be " in lieu of a drawback of the duties imposed on the im- portation of the salt employed and expended thereon." This act is decisive of the whole ques- tion. In the first place it declares the bounty to be in lieu of a drawback of the salt duty. In the second place, it conforms to the principle of all drawbacks, and only grants the bounty on the part of the fish which is exported. In the third place, it gives the same bounty, and in the same words, to the exporters of salted beef and pork which is given to the exporters of fish : and certainly mariners were not expected to be created among the raisers of swine and cattle — which negatives the idea of this being an en- couragement to the formation of seamen. 2. In 1790 the duty on salt was doubled : it was raised from six to twelve cents a bushel : by the same act the fishing bounties and allow- ances were also doubled : they were raised from five to ten cents the barrel and the quintal. By this act the bounties and allowances both to ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 195 fish and provisions, were described to be " in lieu of drawback of the duty on salt used in cu- ring fish and provisions exported." 3. The act of 1792 repeals "the bounty in lieu of drawback on dried fish ; " and, " in lieu of that, and as commutation thereof, and as an equivalent therefor," shifts the bounty from the "quintal" of dried fish to the "tonnage" of the fishing vessel ; and changes its name from " bounty " to " allowance." This is the key act to the present system of tonnage allowance to the fishing vessel; and was passed upon the petition of the fishermen, and to enable the " crew " of the vessel to draw the bounty in- stead of letting it fall into the hands of the ex- porting merchant. It was done upon the fisher- men's petition, and for the benefit of the crew, interested in the adventure, and who had paid the duty on the salt. which they used. And to exclude all idea of considering this change as a change of policy, and to cut off all inference that the allowance was now to become a bounty from the Treasury as an encouragement for a seaman's nursery, the act went on to make this precise and explicit declaration: " That the allowance so granted to the fishing vessel was a commutation of, and an equivalent for. the bounty in lieu of drawback of the duties im- posed on the importation of the salt used, in curing the fish exported." This is plain lan- guage — the plain language used by legislators of that day — and defies misconception, misun- derstanding, or cavil. 4. In 1797 the duty on salt was raised from twelve cents to twenty cents a bushel : by the same act a corresponding increase was made in the bounties both to exported salted provisions and pickled fish, and in the allowance to the fishing vessels. The salt duty was raised one- third and a fraction: and these bounties and allowances were raised one-third. Thirty-three and one-third per cent, was added all round ; and the act, to make all sure, was express in again declaring the bounties and allowances to be a commutation in lieu of the drawback of the salt duty. 5. The act of April 12th, 1800, continues the salt duty, and with it all the bounties to salted provisions and pickled fish exported, and all the allowances to fishing vessels, for ten years ; and then adds this proviso : " That these allowances shall not be understood to be continued for a longer time than the correspondent duties on salt, respectively, for which the said allowances were granted, shall be payable." Such are the terms of the act of the year 1800. It is a clincher. It nails up, and crushes every thing. It shows that Congress was determined that the salt duty, and the bounties and allowances, should be one and indivisible : that they should come, and go together — should rise and fall together— should live and die together. 6. In 1807, Mr. Jefferson being President, the salt tax was abolished upon his recom- mendation: and with it all the bounties and allowances to fishing vessels, to pickled fish, and to salted beef and pork were all swept away. The same act abolished the whole. The first section repealed the salt duty : the second repealed the bounties and allowances : and the repeal of both was to take effect on the same day — namely, on the first day of January, 1808 : a day which deserves to be nationally com- memorated, as the day of the death of an odi- ous, criminal and impious tax. The beneficent and meritorious act was in these words : "That from and after the first day of January next, so much of any act as allows a bounty on ex- ported salt provisions and pickled fish, in lieu of drawback of the duties on the salt employed in curing the same, and so much of any act as makes allowances to the owners and crews of fishing vessels, in lieu of drawback of the duties paid on the salt used in the same, shall be, and the same hereby is repealed." This was the end of the first salt tax in the United States, and of all the bounties and allowances built upon it. It fell, with all its accessories, un- der the republican administration of Mr. Jeffer- son — and with the unanimous vote of every re- publican — and also with the vote of many fede- ralists: so much more favorable were the old federalists than the whigs of this day, to the in- terests of the people. In fact there were only five votes against the repeal, and not one of these upon the ground that the bounties and allow- ances were independent of the salt duty. 7. After this, and for six years, there was no salt tax — no fishing bounties or allowances in the United States. The tax, and its progeny lay buried in one common grave, and had no resurrection until the year 1813. The war with Great Britain revived them — the tax and its off- spring together ; but only as a temporary meas- 196 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW lire — as a war tax — to cease within one year after the termination of the war. Before that year was out, the tax, and its appendages were contin- ued — not for any determinate period, but until repealed by Congress. They have not been re- pealed yet ! and that was forty years ago ! No act could then have been obtained to continue this duty for the short space of three years. The continuance could only be obtained on the argument that Congress could then repeal it at any time ; a fallacious reliance, but always seductive to men of easy and temporizing tem- peraments. The pretension that these fishing bounties and allowances were granted as encouragement to mariners, is rejected by every word of the acts which grant them, and by the striking fact, that no part of them goes to the whale fisheries. Not a cent of them had ever gone to a whale ship : they had only gone to the cod and mack- erel fisheries. The noble whaler of four or five hundred tons, with her ample crew, which sailed twenty thousand miles, doubling a most tem- pestuous cape before she arrived at the field of her labors — which remained out three years, waging actual war with the monsters of the deep — a war in which a brave heart, a steady eye, and an iron nerve were as much wanted as in any battle with man ; — this noble whaler got nothing. It all went to the hook-and-line men — to the cod and mackerel fisheries, which were carried on in diminutive vessels, as small as five tons, and in the rivers, and along the shores, and on the shallow banks of Newfoundland. Meritorious as these hook-and-line fishermen might be, they cannot compare with the whalers : and these whalers receive no bounties and al- lowances because they pay no duty on imported salt, re-exported by them. I now come to the clause in my bill which has called forth these preliminary remarks ; the third clause, which proposes the reduction of fishing bounties and allowances in proportion to the reduction which the salt tax has undergone, and shall undergo. And here, it is not the com- promise act alone that is to be blamed : a pre- vious act shares that censure with it. In 1830 the salt duty was reduced one-half, to take effect in 1830 and 1831 ; the fishing bounties and allowances should have been reduced one-half at the same time. I made the motion in the Sen- ate to that effect; but it failed of success. When the compromise act was passed in 1833, and provided for a further reduction of the salt duty — a reduction which has now reduced it two-thirds, and in 1841 and '42 will reduce it still lower — when this act was passed, a reduc- tion of the fishing bounties and allowances should have taken place. The two senators who concocted that act in their chambers, and brought it here to be registered as the royal edicts were registered in the times of the old French monarchy; when these two senators concocted this act, they should have inserted a provision in it for the correspondent reduction of the fishing bounties and allowances with the salt tax : they should have placed these allow- ances, and the refined sugar, and the rum draw- backs, all on the same footing, and reduced them all in proportion to the reduction of the duties on the articles on which they Were founded. They did not do this. They omitted the whole ; with what mischief you have already seen in the case of rum and refined sugar, and shall pre- sently see in the case of the fishing bounties and allowances. I attempted to supply a part of their omission in making the motion in rela- tion to drawbacks, which was read to you at the commencement of these remaks. Failing in that motion, I made no further attempt, but waited for time, the great arbiter of all ques- tions, to show the mischief, and to enforce the remedy. That arbiter is now here, with his proofs in his hand, in the shape of certain re- ports from the Treasury Department in relation to the salt duty and the fishing bounties and allowances, which have been printed by the order of the Senate, and constitute part of the salt document, No. 196. From that document I now proceed to collect the evidences of one branch of the mischief — the pecuniary branch of it — which the omission to make the proper reductions in these allowances has inflicted upon the country. The salt duty was reduced one-fourth in the year 1831 ; the fishing bounties and allowances that year were $313,894; they should have been reduced one-fourth also, which would have made them about $160,000. In 1832 the duty was reduced one-half; the fishing bounties and allowances were paid in full, and amounted to $234,137 ; they should have been reduced one- half; and then $117,018 would have discharged them. The compromise act wa& made in 1833, ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 197 and, under the operation of that act, the salt duty has undergone biennial reductions, until it is now reduced to about one-third of its original amount : if it had provided for the correspond- ent reduction of the fishing bounties and allow- ances, there would have been saved from that year to the year 1839 — the last to which the returns have been made up — an annual average sum of about $150,000, or a gross sum of about $900,000. The prospective loss can only be estimated ; but it is to increase rapidly, owing to the large reductions in the salt duty in the years 1841 and 1842. The present year, 1840, lacks but a little of exhausting the whole amount of the salt reve- nue in paying the fishing bounties and allow- ances ; the next year will take more than the whole ; and the year after will require about double the amount of the salt revenue of that year to be taken from other branches of the revenue to satisfy the demands of the fishing vessels : thus producing the same result as in the case of the sugar duties — the whole amount of the salt duty, and as much more out of other duties, being paid to the cod and mackerel fish- ermen, as the whole amount of the sugar tax, and considerably more, is paid to the sugar- refiners. The results for the present year, and the ensuing ones, are of course computed : they are computations founded upon the basis of the last ascertained year's operations. The last 3*ear to which all the heads of this branch of business is made up, is the year 1838 ; and for that year they stand thus : Salt imported, in round numbers, seven millions of bushels ; net revenue from it, about $430,000 ; fishing boun- ties and allowances, $320,000. Assuming the importation of the present year to be the same, and the bounties and allowances to be the same, the loss to the Treasury will be $206,000 ; for the salt duty this year will undergo a fur- ther reduction. In 1842, when this duty has reached its lowest point, the whole amount of revenue derived from it is computed at about $170,000, while the fishing bounties and al- lowances continuing the same, namely, about $320,000, the salt revenue in the gross will be little more than half enough to pay it; and, after deducting the weighers' and measurers' fees, which come out of the Treasury, and amount to $52,500 on an importation of seven millions ; after deducting this item, there will be a deficiency of about $200,000 in the salt revenue, in meeting the drawbacks, in the shape of bounties and allowances founded upon it. Thus two-thirds of the whole amount of the salt revenue is at this time paid to the fishing vessels. Next year it will all go to them ; and after 1842, we shall have to raise money from other sources to the amount of $200,000 per annum, or raise the salt duty itself to produce that amount, in order to satisfy these draw- backs, which were permitted to take the form of bounties and allowances to fishing vessels. Such is the operation of the compromise act I that act which is styled sacred and inviolable ! Of the other mischiefs resulting from this compromise act, which reduced the duties on salt, and the one which preceded it for the same purpose, without reducing the correspondent bounties and allowances to the fishing interest — of these remaining mischiefs, whereof there are many, I mean to mention but one ; and merely to mention that, and not to argue it. It is the constitutional objection to the pay- ment of any thing beyond the duty received — the payment of any thing which exceeds the drawback of the duty. Up to that point, I ad- mit the constitutionality of drawbacks, whether passing under that name, or changed to the name of a bounty, or an allowance in lieu of a drawback. I admit the constitutional right of Congress to permit a drawback of the amount paid in : I deny the constitutional right to per- mit a drawback of any amount beyond what was paid in. This is my position, which I pledge myself to maintain, if any one disputes it ; and applying this principle to the fishing bounties and allowances, and also to the draw- backs in the case of refined sugars and rum : and I boldly affirm that the constitution of the United States has been in a state of flagrant violation, under the compromise act, from the day of its passage to the present hour, and will continue so until the bill is passed which I am about to ask leave to bring in. Sir, I quit this part of my subject with pre- senting, in a single picture, the condensed view of what I have been detailing. It is, that the whole annual revenue derived from sugar, salt, and molasses, is delivered over gratuitously to a few thousand persons in a particular section of the Union, and is not even sufficient to satisfy their demands ! In other words, that a tax 198 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. upon a nation of seventeen millions of people, upon three articles of universal consumption, articles of necessity, and of comfort, is laid for the benefit of a few dozen rum distillers and sugar refiners, and a few thousand fishermen ; and not being sufficient for them, the deficit, amounting to many hundred thousand dollars per annum, is taken from other branches of the revenue, and presented to them ! and all this the effect of an act which was made out of doors, which was not permitted to be amended on its passage, and which is now held to be sacred and inviolable ! and which will eventually sink under its own iniquities, though sustained now by a cry which was invented by knavery, and is repeated by ignorance, folly, and faction — a cry that that compromise saved the Union. This is the picture I present— which I prove to be true — and the like of which is not to be seen in the legislation, or even in the despotic decrees, of arbitrary monarchs, in any other country upon the face of the earth. About five millions of dollars have been taken from the Treasury under these bounties and allowances — the greater part of it most un- duly and abusefully.* The fishermen are only entitled to an amount equal to the duty paid on the imported salt, which is used upon that part of the fish which is exported ; and the law re- quires not only the exportation to be proved, but the landing and remaining of the cargo in a foreign country. They draw back this year $355,000. Do they pay that amount of duty on the salt put on the modicum of fish which they export ? Why, it is about the entire amount of the whole salt tax paid by the whole United States ! and to justify their right to it, they must consume on the exported part of their fish the whole quantity of foreign salt now im- ported into the United States — leaving not a handful to be used by the rest of the popula- tion, or by themselves on that part of their fish which is consumed at home — and which is so much greater than the exported part. This shows the enormity of the abuse, and that the whole amount of the salt tax now goes to a few thousand fishermen ; and if this compromise act is not corrected, that whole amount, after 1842, will not be sufficient to pay this small * About four and a quarter millions taken since ; and still taking. class — not equal in number to the farmers in a common Kentucky county ; and other money must be taken out of the Treasury to make good the deficiency. I have often attempted to get rid of the whole evil, and render a great service to the country, by repealing in toto the tax and all the bounties and allowances erected upon it. At present I only propose, and that without the least prospect of success, to correct a part of the abuse, by reducing the payments to the fishermen in proportion to the reduction of the duty on salt : but the true remedy is the one applied under Mr. Jefferson's administra- tion — total repeal of both. CHAPTER LV. EXPENDITURES OF THE GOVERNMENT. At no point does the working of the govern- ment more seriously claim the attention of statesmen than at that of its expenses. It is the tendency of all governments to increase their expenses, and it should be the care of all statesmen to restrain them within the limits of a judicious economy. This obligation was felt as a duty in the earty periods of our history, and the doctrine of economy became a principle in the political faith of the party, which, whether called Republican as formerly, or Democratic as now, is still the same, and was incorporated in its creed. Mr. Jefferson largely rested the character of his administration upon it ; and deservedly : for even in the last year of his administration, and after the enlargement of our territory by the acquisition of Louisiana, the expenses of the government were but about three millions and a half of dollars. At the end of Mr. Monroe's administration, sixteen years later, they had risen to about seven millions j and in the last year of Mr. Van Buren's (six- teen years more), they had risen to about thir- teen millions. At the same time, at each of these epochs, and in fact, in every year of every administration, there were payments from the Treasury for extraordinary or temporary ob- jects, often far exceeding in amount the regular governmental expenses. Thus, in the last year of Mr. Jefferson, the whole outlay from the ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 199 Treasury, was about twelve millions and a half ; of which eight millions went to the payment of principal and interest on the public debt, and about one million to other extra objects. And in the last year of Mr. Monroe, the whole pay- ments were about thirty-two millions of dollars, of which sixteen millions and a half went to the liquidation of the public debt ; and above eight millions more to other extraordinary and tem- porary objects. Towards the close of Mr. Van Buren's administration, this aggregate of outlay for all objects had risen to about thirty-seven millions, which the opposition called thirty- nine ; and presenting this gross sum as the actual expenses of the government, made a great outcry against the extravagance of the adminis- tration j and the people, not understanding the, subject, were seriously impressed with the force and truth of that accusation, while the real ex- penses were but about the one-third of that sum. To present this result in a plain and authentic form, the author of this View obtained a call upon the Secretary for the different payments, ordinary and extraordinary, from the Treasury for a series of years, in which the payments would be placed under three heads — the ordi- nary, the extraordinary, and the public debt — specifying the items of each ; and extending from Monroe's time (admitted to be economi- cal), to Mr. Van Buren's charged with extrava- gance. This return was made by the Secretary, divided into three columns, with specifications, as required ; and though obtained for a tempo- rary and transient purpose, it possesses a per- manent interest as giving a complete view of the financial working of the government, and fixing points of comparison in the progress of expendi- ture—very proper to be looked back upon by those who would hold the government to some degree of economy in the use of the public money. There has been no such examination since the year 1840: there would seem to be room for it now (1855), when the aggregate of appropriations exceed seventy millions of dol- lars. A deduction for extraordinaries would largely reduce that aggregate, but still leave enough behind to astound the lovers of economy. Three branches of expenditure alone, each with- in itself, exceeds by upwards of four to one, the whole ordinary expenses of the government in the time of Mr. Jefferson ; and upwards of double of such expense in the time of Mr. Mon- roe ; and some millions more than the same aggregate in the last year of Mr. Van Buren, These three branches are, 1. The civil, diplo- matic, and miscellaneous, $17,265,929 and 50 cents. 2. The naval service (without the pen- sions and "reserved" list), $15,012,091 and 53 cents. 3. The army, fortifications, military academy (without the pensions), $12,571,496 and 64 cents. These three branches of expendi- ture alone would amount to about forty-five millions of dollars — to which twenty-six mil- lions more are to be added. The dormant spirit of economy — hoped to be only dormant, not dead — should wake up at this exhibition of the public expenditure : and it is with that view — with the view of engaging the attention of some economical members of Congress, that the ex- hibit is now made — that this chapter is writ- ten — and some regard invoked for the subject of which it treats. The evils of extravagance in the government are great. Besides the bur- den upon the people, it leads to corruption in the government, and to a janissary horde of office holders to live upon the people while pol- luting their elections and legislation, and poison- ing the fountains of public information in mould- ing public opinion to their own purposes. More than that. It is the true source of the just dis- content of the Southern States, and must aggra- vate more and more the deep-seated complaint against the unnecessary levy of revenue upon the industry of one half of the Union to be chiefly expended in the other. That complaint was great enough to endanger the Union twenty- five years ago, when the levy and expenditure was thirty odd millions : it is now seventy odd ! At the same time it is the opinion of this writer, that a practical man, acquainted with the objects for which the federal government was created, and familiar with its financial working from the time its fathers put it into operation, could take his pen and cross out nearly the one half of these seventy odd millions, and leave the govern- ment in full vigor for all its proper objects, and more pure, by reducing the number of those who live upon the substance of the people. To complete the effect of this chapter, some extracts are given in the ensuing one, from the speech made in 1840, upon the expenditures of the government, as presenting practical views upon a subject of permanent interest, and more wor- thy of examination now than then. 200 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. CHAPTER LVI. EXPENSES OF THE GOVERNMENT, COMPAEATIVE AND PROGRESSIVE, AND SEPARATED FROM EX- TRAORDINARIES. Mr. Benton moved to print an extra number of these tabular statements received from the Secretary of the Treasury, and proposed to give his reasons for the motion, and for that purpose, asked that the papers should be sent to him (which was done) ; and Mr. B. went on to say that his object was to spread before the country, in an authentic form, the full view of all the government expenses for a series of years past, going back as far as Mr. Monroe's administra- tion ; and thereby enabling every citizen, in every part of the country, to see the actual, the comparative, and the classified expenditures of the government for the whole period. This proceeding had become necessary, Mr. B. said, from the systematic efforts made for some years past, to impress the country with the belief that the expenditures had increased threefold in the last twelve years — that they had risen from thirteen to thirty-nine millions of dollars ; and that this enormous increase was the effect of the extravagance, of the corruption, and of the incompetency of the administrations which had succeeded those of Mr. Adams and Mr. Monroe. These two latter administrations were held up as the models of economy ; those of Mr. Van Buren and General Jackson were stigmatized as monsters of extravagance ; and tables of figures were so arranged as to give color to the charac- ters attributed to each. These systematic efforts — this reiterated assertion, made on this floor, of thirteen millions increased to thirty-nine — and the effect which such statements must have upon the minds of those who cannot see the purposes for which the money was expended, appeared to him (Mr. B.), to require some more formal and authentic refutation than any one individual could give — something more impos- ing than the speech of a solitary member could afford. Familiar with the action of the govern- ment for twenty years past — coming into the Senate in the time of Mr. Monroe — remaining in it ever since — a friend to economy in public and in private life — and closely scrutinizing the expenditures of the government during tho whole time — he (Mr. B.) felt himself to be very able at any time to have risen in his place, and to have exposed the delusion of this thirteen and thirty-nine million bugbear ; and, if he did not do so, it was because, in the first place, he was disinclined to bandy contradictions on the floor of the Senate ; and, in the second place, because he relied upon the intelligence of the country to set all right whenever they obtained a view of the facts. This view he had made himself the instrument of procuring, and the Secretary of the Treasury had now presented it. It was ready for the contemplation of the American people ; and he could wish every citi- zen to have the picture in his own hands, that he might contemplate it at his own fireside, and at his full leisure. He could wish every citizen to possess a copy of this report, now received from the Secretary of the Treasury, under the call of the Senate, and printed by its order ; he could wish every citizen to possess one of these authentic copies, bearing the imprimatur of the American Senate; but that was impossible; and, limiting his action to what was possible, he would propose to print such number of extra copies as would enable some to reach every quarter of the Union. Mr. B. then opened the tables, and explained their character and contents. The first one (marked A) consisted of three columns, and ex- hibited the aggregate, and the classified expen- ditures of the government from the year 1824 to 1839, inclusive ; the second one (marked B) contained the detailed statement of the pay- ments annually made on account of all tempo- rary or extraordinary objects, including the public debt, for the same period. The second table was explanatory of the third column of the first one ; and the two, taken together, would enable every citizen to see the actual ex- penditures, and the comparative expenditures j of the government for the whole period which he had mentioned. Mr. B. then examined the actual and the comparative expenses of two of the years, taken from the two contrasted periods referred to, and invoked the attention of the Senate to the results which the comparison would exhibit. He took the first and the last of the years men- tioned in the tables— the years 1824 and 1839 — and began with the first item in the first ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 201 column. This showed the aggregate expendi- tures for every object for the year 1824, to have been $31,898,538 47— very near thirty-two mil- lions of dollars, said Mr. B., and if stated alone, and without explanation, very capable of aston- ishing the public, of imposing upon the igno- rant, and of raising a cry against the dreadful extravagance, the corruption, and the wicked- ness of Mr. Monroe's administration. Taken by itself (and indisputably true it is in itself), and this aggregate of near thirty-two millions is very sufficient to effect all this surprise and indignation in the public mind ; but, passing on to the second column to see what were the ex- penditures, independent of the public debt, and this large aggregate will be found to be reduced more than one half; it sinks to $15,330,144 71. This is a heavy deduction ; but it is not all. Passing on to the third column, and it is seen that the actual expenses of the government for permanent and ordinary objects, independent of the temporary and extraordinary ones, for this same year, were only $7,107,892 05 ; be- ing less than the one-fourth part of the aggre- gate of near thirty-two millions. This looks quite reasonable, and goes far towards relieving Mr. Monroe's administration from the imputa- tion to which a view of the aggregate expendi- ture for the year would have subjected it. But, to make it entirely satisfactory, and to enable every citizen to understand the impor- tant point of the government expenditures — a point on which the citizens of a free and repre- sentative government should be always well informed — to attain this full satisfaction, let us pass on to the second table (marked B), and fix our eyes on its first column, under the year 1824. We shall there find every temporary and extraordinary object, and the amount paid on account of it, the deduction of which reduced an aggregate of near thirty-two millions to a fraction over seven millions. We shall there find the explanation of the difference between the first and third columns. The first item is the sum of $16,568,393 76, paid on account of the principal and interest of the public debt. The second is the sum of $4,891,386 56, paid to merchants for indemnities under the treaty with Spain of 1819, by which we acquired Florida. And so on through nine minor items, amounting in the whole, exclusive of the public debt, to about eight millions and a quarter. This total added to the sum paid on account of the public debt, makes close upon twenty-five millions of dollars ; and this, deducted from the aggregate of near thirty-two millions, leaves a fraction over seven millions for the real ex- penses of the government — the ordinary and permanent expenses —during the last year of Mr. Monroe's administration. This is certainly a satisfactory result. It ex- empts the administration of that period from the imputation of extravagance, which the un- explained exhibition of the aggregate expendi- tures might have drawn upon it in the minds of uninformed persons. It clears that adminis- tration from all blame. It must be satisfactory to every candid mind. And now let us apply the test of the same examination to some year of the present administration, now so inconti- nently charged with ruinous extravagance. Let us see how the same rule will work when ap- plied to the present period ; and, for that pur- pose, let us take the last year in the table, that of 1839. Let others take any year that they please, or as many as they please : I take one, because I only propose to give an example ; and I take the last one in the table, because it is the last. Let us proceed with this examina- tion, and see what the results, actual and com- parative, will be. Commencing with the aggregate payments from the Treasury for all objects, Mr. B. said it would be seen at the foot of the first column in the first table, that they amounted to $37,129,396 80 j passing to the second col- umn, and it would be seen that this sum was reduced to $25,982,797 75 ; and passing to the third, and it would be seen that this latter sum was itself reduced to $13,525,800 18 j and, re- ferring to the second table, under the year 1839, and it would be seen how this aggregate of thirty-seven millions was reduced to thirteen and a half. It was a great reduction ; a reduc- tion of nearly two-thirds from the aggregate amount paid out ; and left for the proper ex- penses of the government — its ordinary and permanent expenses — an inconceivably small sum for a great nation of seventeen millions of souls, covering an immense extent of territo- ry, and acting a part among the great powers of the world. To trace this reduction — to show the reasons of the difference between the first and the third columns, Mr. B. would follow the 202 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. same process which he had pursued in explain- ing the expenditures of the year 1824, and ask for nothing in one case which had not been granted in the other. 1. The first item to be deducted from the thirty-seven million aggregate, was the sum of $11,146,599 05, paid on account of the public debt. He repeated, on account of the public debt ; for it was paid in redemption of Treasury notes ; and these Treasury notes were so much debt incurred to supply the place of the revenue deposited with the States, in 1836, or shut up in banks during the suspension of 1837, or due from merchants, to whom indulgence had been granted. To supply the place of these unattain- able funds, the government went in debt by issuing Treasury notes ; but faithful to the sen- timent which abhorred a national debt, it paid off the debt almost as fast as it contracted it. Above eleven millions of this debt was paid in 1839, amounting to almost the one-third part of the aggregate expenditure of that year ; and thus, nearly the one-third part of the sum which is charged upon the administration as extrava- gance and corruption, was a mere payment of debt ! — a mere payment of Treasury notes which we had issued to supply the place of our misplaced and captured revenue — our three in- stalments of ten millions cash presented to the States under the false and fraudulent name of a deposit, and our revenue of 1837 captured by the banks when they shut their doors upon their creditors. The glorious administration of President Jackson left the. country free from public debt : its worthy successor will do the same. Removal of Indians from the Southern and Western States, and extinction of their titles, and numerous smaller items, all specified in the third column of the table, amount to about twelve millions and a half more ; and these added to the payments on the public debt, the remainder is the expense of the government, and is but about the one-third of the aggregate expenditure — to be precise, about thirteen mil- lions and a half. With this view of the tabular statements Mr. B. closed the examination of the items of ex- penditure, and stated the results to be a reduc- tion of the thirty-seven million aggregate in 1839, like that of the thirty-two million aggre- gate in 1824, to about one-third of its amount. The very first item, that of the payment of pub- lic debt in the redemption of Treasury notes, reduced it eleven millions of dollars : it sunk it from thirty-seven millions to twenty-six. The other eighteen items amounted to $12,656,977, and reduced the twenty-six millions to thirteen and a half. Here then is a result which is at- tained by the same process which applies to the year 1824, and to every other year, and which is right in itself ; and which must put to flight and to shame all the attempts to excite the country with this bugbear story of extrava- gance. In the first place the aggregate expen- ditures have not increased threefold in fifteen years; they have not risen from thirteen to thirty-nine millions, as incontinently asserted by the opposition ; but from thirty-two millions to thirty-seven or thirty-nine. And how have they risen ? By paying last year eleven mil- lions for Treasury notes, and more than twelve millions for Indian lands, and wars, removals of Indians, and increase of the army and navy, and other items as enumerated. The result is a residuum of thirteen and a half millions for the real expenses of the government ; a sum one and a half millions short of what gentlemen proclaim would be an economical expenditure. They all say that fifteen millions would be an economical expenditure ; very well ! here is thirteen and a half ! which is a million and a half short of that mark. CHAPTER LVII. DEATH OF MR. JUSTICE BARBOUR OP THE SU- PREME COURT, AND APPOINTMENT OF PETER V. DANIEL, ESQ., IN HIS PLACE. Mr. Phillip P. Barbour was a representative in Congress from the State of Virginia when I was first elected to the Senate in 1820. I had the advantage — (for advantage I truly deemed it for a young member) — to be in habitual so- ciety with such a man — one of the same mess with him the first session of my service. Nor was it accidental, but sought for on my part. It was a talented mess — among others the bril- liant orator, William Pinkney of Maryland ; and the eloquent James Barbour, of the Senate, brother to the representative : their cousin, the ANNO 1840. MARTI X VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 203 representative John S. Barbour, equal to either in the endowments of the mind : Floyd of Vir- ginia : Trimble and Clay of Kentucky. I knew the advantage of such association — and cher- ished it. From that time I was intimate with Mr. Phillip P. Barbour during the twenty-one winters which his duties, either as representa- tive in Congress, or justice of the Supreme Court, required him to be at Washington. He was a man worthy of the best days of the re- public — modest, virtuous, pure : artless as a child : full of domestic affections : patriotic : filially devoted to Virginia as his mother State, and a friend to the Union from conviction and sentiment. He had a clear mind — a close, log- ical and effective method of speaking — copious without diffusion ; and, always speaking to the subject, both with knowledge and sincerity, he was always listened to with favor. He was some time Speaker of the House, and was ap- pointed to the bench of the Supreme Court by President Van Buren in 1837, in place of Mr. Justice Duval, resigned. He had the death which knows no pain, and which, to the body, is sleep without waking. He was in attendance upon the Supreme Court, in good health and spirits, and had done his part the night before in one of the conferences which the labors of the Supreme Bench impose almost nightly on the learned judges. In the morning he was supposed by his servant to be sleeping late, and, finally going to his bedside, found him dead — the face all serene and composed, not a feature or muscle disturbed, the body and limbs in their easy natural posture. It was evident that the machinery of life had stopped of itself, and without a shock. Ossification of the heart was supposed to be the cause. He was suc- ceeded on the Supreme Bench by Peter V. Daniel, Esq., of the same State, also appointed by Mr. Van Buren— one in the first, the other in the last days of his administration. A beautiful instance in Mr. Barbour of self- denial, and of fidelity to party and to personal friendship, and regard for honor and decorum, occurred while he was a member of the House. Mr. Randolph was in the Senate : the time for his re-election came round : he had some per- sonal enemies in his own party, who, joined to the whig party, could defeat him : and it was a high object with the administration at Wash- ington (that of Mr. Adams), to have him de- feated. The disaffected and the opposition com' bined together, counted their numbers, ascer- tained their strength, and saw that they could dispose of the election; but only in favor of some one of the same party with Mr. Randolph. They offered the place to Mr. Barbour. It was the natural ascent in the gradation of his ap- pointments ; and he desired it ; and, it may be said, the place desired him : for he was a man tc adorn the chamber of the American Senate. But honor forbid ; for with him Burns's line was a law of his nature : Where you feel your honor grip, let that still be your border. He was the personal and political friend of Mr. Randolph, and would not be used against him ; and sent an answer to the combined parties which put an end to their solicitations. Mr. John Tyler, then governor of the State, and standing in the same relation with Mr. Barbour to Mr. Randolph, was then offered the place : and took it. It was his first step in the road to the whig camp ; where he arrived eventually — and lodged, until elected out of it into the vice-presidential chair. Judge Barbour was a Virginia country gen- tleman, after the most perfect model of that most respectable class — living on his ample estate, baronially, with his family, his slaves, his flocks and herds — all well cared for by him- self, and happy in his care. A farmer by posi- tion, a lawyer by profession, a politician of course — dividing his time between his estate, his library, his professional, and his public du- ties — scrupulously attentive to his duties in all : and strict in that school of politics of which Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, John Taylor of Caroline, Mr. Monroe, Mr. Macon, and others, were the great exemplars. A friend to order and economy in his private life, he carried the same noble qualities into his public stations, and did his part to administer the govern- ment with the simplicity and purity which its founders intended for it. CHAPTER LVIII. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. Mr. Van Buren was the democratic candidate. His administration had been so acceptable to his party, that his nomination in a convention 204 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. was a matter of form, gone through according to custom, but the result commanded by the party in the different States in appointing their delegates. Mr. Richard M. Johnson, the actual Vice-President, was also nominated for re-elec- tion ; and both nominations were made in con- formity to the will of the people who sent the delegates. On the part of the whigs the same nominations were made as in the election of 1836 — General William Henry Harrison of Ohio, for President; and Mr. John Tyler of Virginia, for Vice-President. The leading states- men of the whig party were again passed by to make room for a candidate more sure of being elected. The success of General Jackson had* turned the attention of those who managed the presidential nominations to military men, and an " odor of gunpowder " was considered a sufficient attraction to rally the masses, without the civil qualifications, or the actual military fame which General Jackson possessed. Availability, to use their own jargon, was the only ability which these managers asked — that is, available for the purposes of the election, and for their own advancement, relying on themselves to ad- minister the government. Mr. Clay, the prom- inent man, and the undisputed head of the par- ty, was not deemed available ; and it was deter- mined to set him aside. How to do it was the question. He was a man of too much power and spirit to be rudely thrust aside. Gentle, and respectful means were necessary to get him out of the way ; and for that purpose he was concertedly importuned to withdraw from the canvass. He would not do so, but wrote a let- ter submitting himself to the will of the con- vention. When he did so he certainly expected an open decision — a vote in open convention — every delegate acting responsibly, and according to the will of his constituents. Not so the fact. He submitted himself to the convention : the convention delivered him to a committee : the committee disposed of him in a back chamber. It devised a process for getting at a result, which is a curiosity in the chapter of ingenious inventions — which is a study for the complica- tion of its machinery — a model contrivance of the few to govern many — a secure way to pro- duce an intended result without showing the design, and without leaving a trace behind to show what was done : and of which none but itself can be its own delineator : and, therefore, here it is : " Ordered, That the delegates from each State be requested to assemble as a delegation, and appoint a committee, not exceeding three in number, to receive the views and opinions of such delegation, and communicate the same to the assembled committees of all the delegations, to be by them respectively reported to their principals ; and that thereupon the delegates from each State be requested to assemble as a delegation, and ballot for candidates for the offices of President and Vice-President, and hav- ing done so, to commit the ballot designating the votes of each candidate, and by whom given, to. its committee ; and thereupon all the com- mittees shall assemble and compare the several ballots, and report the result of the same to their several delegations, together with such facts as may bear upon the nomination; and said delegation shall forthwith re-assemble and ballot again for candidates for the above offices, and again commit the result to the above com- mittees, and if it shall appear that a majority of the ballots are for any one man for candi- date for President, said committee shall report the result to the convention for its considera- tion ; but if there shall be no such majority, then the delegations shall repeat the balloting until such a majority shall be obtained, and then report the same to the convention for its consideration. That the vote of a majority of each delegation shall be reported as the vote of that State ; and each State represented here shall vote its full electoral vote by such delega- tion in the committee." As this View of the Thirty Years is intended to show the working of our political system, and how things were done still more than what was done ; and as the election of chief magis- trate is the highest part of that working ; and as the party nomination of a presidential candi- date is the election of that candidate so far as the party is concerned : in all these points of view, the device of this resolution becomes his- torical, and commends itself to the commenta- tors upon our constitution. The people are to elect the President. Here is a process through multiplied nitrations by which the popular sen- timent is to be deduced from the masses, collected in little streams, then united in one swelling cur- rent, and poured into the hall of the convention — no one seeing the source, or course of any one of the streams. Algebra and alchemy must have been laid under contribution to work out a quotient from such a combination of signs and symbols. But it was done. Those who ANNO 1840. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 205 set the sum could work it : and the quotient was political death to Mr. Clay. The result produced was — for General Scott, 16 votes : for Mr. Clay, 90 votes : for General Harrison, 148 votes. And as the law of these conventions swallows up all minorities in an ascertained majority, so the majority for General Harrison swallowed up the 106 votes given to Mr. Clay and General Scott, made them count for the victor, presenting him as the unanimity can- didate of the convention, and the defeated can- didate and all their friends bound to join in his support. And in this way the election of 1840 was effected ! a process certainly not within the purview of those framers of the constitution, who supposed they were giving to a nation the choice of its own chief magistrate. From the beginning it had been foreseen that there was to be an embittered contest — the se- verest ever known in our country. Two powers were in the field against Mr. Van Buren, each strong within itself, and truly formidable when united — the whole whig party, and the large league of suspended banks, headed by the Bank of the United States — now criminal as well as bankrupt, and making its last struggle for a new national charter in the effort to elect a President friendly to it. In elections as in war money is the sinew of the contest, and the broken and suspended banks were in a condi- tion, and a temper, to furnish that sinew with- out stint. By mutual support they were able to make their notes pass as money ; and, not being subject to redemption, it could be fur- nished without restraint, and with all the good will of a self-interest in putting down the dem- ocratic party, whose hard-money policy, and in- dependent treasury scheme, presented it as an enemy to paper money and delinquent banks. The influence of this moneyed power over its debtors, over presses, over travelling agents, was enormous, and exerted to the uttermost, and in amounts of money almost fabulous ; and in ways not dreamed of. The mode of operat- ing divided itself into two general classes, one coercive — addressed to the business pursuits and personal interests of the community : the other seductive, and addressed to its passions. The phrases given out in Congress against the financial policy of the administration became texts to speak upon, and hints to act upon. Carrying out the idea that the re-election of Mr. Van Buren would be the signal for the downfall of all prices, the ruin of all industry, and the destruction of all labor, the newspapers in all the trading districts began to abound with such advertisements as these : : ' The sub- scriber will pay six dollars a barrel for flour if Harrison is elected, and three dollars if Van Buren is." " The subscriber will pay five dollars a hundred for pork ij Harrison is elected, and two and a half if Van Buren is." And so on through the whole catalogue of mar- ketable articles, and through the different kinds of labor : and these advertisements were signed by respectable men, large dealers in the arti- cles mentioned, and well able to fix the market price for them. In this way the result of the election was brought to bear coercively upon the business, the property, and the pecuniary interest of the people. The class of induce- ments addressed to the passions and imagina- tions of the people were such as history blushes to record. Log-cabins, coonskins, and hard cider were taken as symbols of the party, and to show its identification with the poorest and humblest of the people : and these cabins were actually raised in the most public parts of the richest cities, ornamented with coonskins after the fashion of frontier huts, and cider drank in them out of gourds in the public meetings which gathered about them : and the virtues of these cabins, these skins, and this cider were celebrated by travelling and stationary orators. The whole country was put into commotion by travelling parties and public gatherings. Steamboats and all public conveyances were crowded with parties singing doggerel ballads made for the occasion, accompanied with the music of drums, fifes, and fiddles ; and incited by incessant speaking. A system of public gatherings was got up which pervaded every State, county and town — which took place by day and by night, accompanied by every pre- paration to excite ; and many of which gather- ings were truly enormous in their numbers — only to be estimated by the acre ; attempts at counting or computing such masses being out of the question. The largest of these gather- ings took place at Dayton, in the State of Ohio, the month before the election ; and the descrip- tion of it, as given by its enthusiastic friends, will give a vivid idea of that monster assem- blage, and of the myriads of others of which it 206 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. was only the greatest — differing in degree only, not in kind : " Dayton, the whole body there assembled in convention covered ten acres by actual meas- urement ! And at no time were there more than two-thirds of the people on the ground. Every house with a flag was a hotel without price — the strings of every door being out, and every latch unfastened! One hundred thou- sand ! It were useless to attempt any thing like a detailed description of this grand gath- ering of the people. We saw it &\\—felt it all — and «hall bear to our graves, live we yet half a century, the impression it made upon our hearts. But we cannot describe it. No eye that wit- nessed it, can convey to the mind of another, even a faint semblance of the things it there beheld. The bright and glorious day — the beautiful and hospitable city — the green-clad and heaven-blessed valley — the thousand flags, fluttering in every breeze and waving from every window — the ten thousand banners and badges, with their appropriate devices and pa- triotic inscriptions— ^and, more than all, the hundred thousand human hearts beating in that dense and seething mass of people — are things which those alone can properly feel and appre- ciate, who beheld this grandest spectacle of time. The number of persons present was, during the whole of the morning, variously es- timated at from seventy-five to ninety thousand. Conjecture, however, was put to rest in the af- ternoon, at the speakers' stand. Here, while the crowd was compact, as we have elsewhere described it, and during the speech of General Harrison, the ground upon which it stood was measured by three different civil engineers, and allowing to the square yard four persons, the following results were arrived at : the first made it 77,600, the second 75,000, and the third 80,000. During the time of making three meas- urements, the number of square yards of sur- face covered was continually changing, by pres- sure without and resistance from within. Mr. Van Buren and his wiseacre assistants, have so managed currency matters, that we have very little to do business with. We can, therefore, be away from home, a portion of the time, as well as at home. And with respect to our families, when we leave upon a rally, we take them with us ! Our wives and daughters, we are proud to say, have the blood of their revo- lutionary mothers and grandmothers coursing through their veins. There is no man among us whose heart is more filled and animated than theirs, by the spirit of seventy-six. Look at the three hundred and fifty at Nashville, who invited Henry Clay, the nation's pride, to be with them and their husbands and brothers on the 15th of August ! Look at the four hundred at St. Louis, the nine hundred at the Tippeca- noe battle-ground, the five thousand at Dayton ! What now, but the spirit of seventy-six, does all this manifest ? Ay, and what tale does it all tell? Does it not say, that the wicked charlatanry, and mad ambition, and selfish schemings, of the leading members of this ad- ministration of the general government, have made themselves felt in the very sanctum sanc- torum of domestic life ? Does it not speak of the cheerless hearth, where willing hands sit without employment? Does it not speak of the half-recompensed toil of the worn laborer, who finds, now and then, a week's hard work, upon the scant proceeds of which he must sub- sist himself and his family for a month ! Does it not speak of empty larders in the town, while the garners of the country are overflowing? Does it not speak of want here and abundance there, without any medium of exchange to equalize the disparity? Does it not speak of a general disorganization of conventional opera- tions — of embarrassment, stagnation, idleness, and despondency — whose 'malign influences' have penetrated the inner temples of man's home, and aroused, to indignant speech and unusual action, her who is its peace, its gentle- ness, its love, its all but divinity ? The truth is — and it should be told — the women are the very life and soul of these movements of the people. Look at their liberal preparations at Nashville. Look at their boundless hospitality at Dayton. Look at their ardor and activity every where. And last, though far from the least important, look at their presence, in hun- dreds and by thousands, wherever there is any good to be done, to animate and encourage, and urge on their fathers, husbands and brothers. Whence those six hundred and forty-four flags, whose stars and stripes wave in the morning breeze, from nearly every house-top, as we en- ter the beautiful little city of Dayton ? From the hand of woman. Whence the decorations of these porticoes and balconies, that gleam in the rising sun, as we ride through the broad and crowded streets ? From the hand of wo- man. Whence this handsome and proudly cherished banner, under which the Ohio dele- gation returned from Nashville, and which now marks the head-quarters of the Cincinnati dele- gation of one thousand to Dayton ? From the hand of woman. Whence yon richly wrought and surpassingly beautiful standard, about which cluster the Tippecanoe hosts, and whose production has cost many weeks of incessant labor ? From the hand of woman. And to come down to less poetical but more substan- tial things, whence all the wholesome viands prepared in the six hundred and forty-four flag-houses around us, for our refreshment, and all the pallets spread for our repose ? from the hand of woman." By arts like these the community was worked up into a delirium, and the election was carried by storm. Out of 294 electoral votes Mr. Van Buren received but 60 : out of twenty-six States ANNO 1841. MARTIN VAN BUREN, PRESIDENT. 207 he received the votes of only seven. He seemed to have been abandoned by the people ! On the contrary he had been unprecedentedly support' ed by them — had received a larger popular vote than ever had been given to any President be- fore ! and three hundred and sixty-four thou- sand votes more than he himself had received at the previous presidential election when he beat the same General Harrison fourteen thousand votes. Here was a startling fact, and one to excite inquiry in the public mind. How could there be such overwhelming defeat with such an enormous increase of strength on the de- feated side ? This question pressed itself upon every thinking mind ; and it was impossible to give it a solution consistent with the honor and purity of the elective franchise. For, after mak- ing all allowance for the greater number of voters brought out on this occasion than at the previous election by the extraordinary exertions now made to bring them out, yet there would still be required a great number to make up tiie five hundred and sixty thousand votes which General Harrison received over and above his vote of four years before. The belief of false and fraudulent votes was deep-seated, and in fact susceptible of proof in many instances. Many thought it right, for the sake of vindi- cating the purity of elections, to institute a scrutiny into the votes; but nothing of the kind was attempted, and on the second Wed- nesday in February, 1841, all the electoral votes were counted without objection — General Har- rison found to have a majority of the whole number of votes given — and Messrs. Wise and Gushing on the part of the House and Mr. Preston on the part of the Senate, were ap- pointed to give him the formal notification of his election. Mr. Tyler received an equal num- ber of votes with him, and became Vice-presi- dent : Mr. Richard M. Johnson fell twelve votes behind Mr. Van Buren, receiving but 48 elec- toral votes. It was a complete rout of the de- mocratic party, but without a single moral effect of victory. The spirit of the party ran as high as ever, and Mr. Van Buren was immedi- ately, and generally, proclaimed the democratic candidate for the election of 1844. CHAPTER LIX. CONCLUSION OF MK. VAN BUKEN'S ADMINISTRA- TION. The last session of the Twenty-sixth Congress was barren of measures, and necessarily so, as being the last of an administration superseded by the popular voice, and soon to expire ; and therefore restricted by a sense of propriety, during the brief remainder of its existence, to the details of business and the routine of service. But his administration had not been barren of measures, nor inauspicious to the harmony of the Union. It had seen great measures adopted, and sectional harmony conciliated. The divorce of Bank and State, and the restoration of the constitutional currency, were illustrious meas- ures, beneficial to the government and the peo- ple ; and the benefits of which will continue to be felt as long as they shall be kept. One of them dissolved a meretricious connection, disad- vantageous to both parties, and most so to the one that should have suffered least, and was made to suffer most. The other carried back the government to what it was intended to be — re-established it as it was in the first year of Washington's administration — made it in fact a hard-money government, giving solidity to the Treasury, and freeing the government and the people from the revulsions and vicissitudes of the paper system. No more complaints about the currency and the exchanges since that time. Unexampled prosperity has attended the peo- ple ; and the government, besides excess of solid money in time of peace, has carried on a foreign war, three thousand miles from home, with its securities above par during the whole time : a felicitous distinction, never enjoyed by our coun- try before, and seldom by any country of the world. These two measures constitute an era in the working of our government, entitled to a proud place in its history, on which the eye of posterity may look back with gratitude and admiration. His administration was auspicious to the general harmony, and presents a period of re- markable exemption from the sectional bitter- ness whioh had so much afflicted the Union for 208 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. some years before — and so much more sorely since. Faithful to the sentiments expressed in his inaugural address, he held a firm and even course between sections and parties, and passed through his term without offence to the North or the South on the subject of slavery. He recon- ciled South Carolina to the Union — received the support of her delegation in Congress — saw his administration receive the approving vote of her general assembly — and counted her vote among those which he received for the presidency — the first presidential vote which she had given in twelve years. No President ever had a more difficult time. Two general suspensions of the banks — one at the beginning, and the other to- wards the close of his administration — the delin- quent institutions in both instances allying them- selves with a great political party — were power- ful enough to derange and distress the business of the country, and unscrupulous enough to charge upon his administration the mischiefs which themselves created. Meritorious at home, and in his internal policy, his administration was equally so in its foreign relations. The insurrec- tion in Canada, contemporaneous with his acces- sion to the presidency, made a crisis between the United States and Great Britain, in which he dis- charged his high duties with equal firmness, skill, and success. The border line of the United States, for a thousand miles, was in commotion to join the insurgent Canadians. The laws of neu- trality, the duties of good neighborhood, our own peace (liable to be endangered by lawless expe- ditions from our shores), all required him to re- press this commotion. And faithfully he did so, using all the means— judicial and military — which the laws put in his hands ; and successfully for the maintenance of neutrality, but with some personal detriment, losing much popular favor in the border States from his strenuous repression of aid to a neighboring people, insurging for liberty, and militarily crushed in the attempt. He did his duty towards Great Britain by pre- venting succor from going to her revolted sub- jects ; and when the scene was changed, and her authorities did an injury to us by the murder of our citizens, and the destruction of a vessel on our own shore — the case of the Caroline at Schlosser — he did his duty to the United States by demanding redress ; and when one of the al- leged perpetrators was caught in the State where the outrage had been committed, he did his duty to that State by asserting her right to punish the infraction of her own laws. And although he did not obtain the redress for the outrage at Schlosser, yet it was never refused to him, nor the right to redress denied, nor the outrage it- self assumed by the British government as long as his administration lasted. Respected at home, his administration was equally so abroad. Cordially supported by his friends in Congress, he was equally so by his cabinet, and his lead- ing newspaper, the Washington Globe. Messrs. Forsyth, Secretary of State — Woodbury of the Treasury — Poinsett of War — Paulding of the Navy — Kendall and John M. Niles, Postmas- ters-general — and Butler 3 Grundy and Gilpin, successive Attorneys-general — were all har- monious and efficient co-operators. With every title to respect, and to public confidence, he was disappointed of a second election, but in a can- vass which had had no precedent, and has had no imitation; and in which an increase of 364,000 votes on his previous election, attests an increase of strength which fair means could not have overcome. ANNO 1841. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, PRESIDENT. 209 ADMINISTRATION OF WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. CHAPTER LX. INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT HARRISON: HIS CABINET— CALL OF CONGRESS— AND DEATH. March the 4th, at twelve o'clock, the Senate met in its chamber, as summoned to do by the retiring President, to be ready for the inaugura- tion of the President elect, and the transaction of such executive business as he should bring before it. The body was quite full, and was called to order by the secretary, Mr. Asbury Dickens; and Mr. King, of Alabama, being elected temporary President of the Senate, ad- ministered the oath of office to the Vice-presi- dent elect. John Tyler, Esq., who immediately took the chair as President of the Senate. The scene in the chamber was simple and impressive. The senators were in their seats : members of the House in chairs. The justices of the Su- preme Court, and the foreign diplomatic corps were in the front semicircle of chairs, on the floor of the Senate. Officers of the army and navy were present — many citizens — and some ladies. Every part of the chamber and galleries were crowded, and it required a vigilant police to prevent the entrance of more than the allot- ted number. After the Vice-president elect had taken his seat, and delivered to the Senate over which he was to preside a well-conceived, well- expressed, and well-delivered address, appropri- ately brief, a short pause and silence ensued. The President elect entered, and was conducted to the seat prepared for him in front of the sec- retary's table. The procession was formed and proceeded to the spacious eastern portico, where Vol. II.— 14 seats were placed, and the ceremony of the in- auguration was to take place. An immense crowd, extending far and wide, stood closely wedged on the pavement and enclosed grounds in front of the portico. The President elect read his inaugural address, with animation and strong voice, and was well heard at a distance. As an inaugural address, it was confined to a declaration of general principles and sentiments ; and it breathed a spirit of patriotism which ad- versaries, as well as friends, admitted to be sincere, and to come from the heart. After the conclusion of the address, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Mr. Taney, administered the oath prescribed by the constitution : and the ceremony of inauguration was at an end. The Senate returned to its chamber, and hav- ing received a message from the President with the nominations for his cabinet, immediately pro- ceeded to their consideration ; and unanimously confirmed the whole. They were : Daniel Web- ster, Secretary of State ; Thomas E wing, Secre- tary of the Treasury ; John Bell, Secretary at War ; George E. Badger, Secretary of the Navy ; Francis Granger, Postmaster-general; John J. Crittenden, Attorney-general. On the 17th of March, the President issued a proclamation, convoking the Congress in ex- traordinary session for the 31st day of May en- suing. The proclamation followed the usual form in not specifying the immediate, or direct, cause of the convocation. It merely stated. " That sundry and weighty matters, principally growing out of the condition of the revenue and finances of the country, appear to call for the 210 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. convocation of Congress at an earlier day than its next annual session, and thus form an extra- ordinary occasion which, in the judgment of the President, rendered it necessary for the two Houses to convene as soon as practicable." President Harrison did not live to meet the Congress which he had thus convoked. Short as the time was that he had fixed for its meet- ing, his own time upon earth was still shorter. In the last days of March he was taken ill : on the fourth day of April he was dead — at the age of 69 ; being one year under the limit which the psalmist fixed for the term of manly life. There was no failure of health or strength to indicate such an event, or to excite apprehension that he would not go through his term with the vigor with which he commenced it. His attack was sudden, and evidently fatal from the begin- ning. A public funeral was given him, most numerously attended, and the body deposited in the Congress vault — to wait its removal to his late home at North Bend, Ohio ; — whither it was removed in the summer. He was a man of infinite kindness of heart, affectionate to the human race, — of undoubted patriotism, irre- proachable integrity both in public and private life ; and of a hospitality of disposition which received with equal welcome in his house the humblest and the most exalted of the land. The public manifestations of respect to the memory of the deceased President, were appro- priate and impressive, and co-extensive with the bounds of the Union. But there was another kind of respect which his memory received, more felt than expressed, and more pervading than public ceremonies : it was the regret of the nation, without distinction of party : for it was a case in which the heart could have fair play, and in which political opponents could join with their adversaries in manifestations of respect and sorrow. Both the deceased President, and the Vice-president, were of the same party, elected by the same vote, and their administra- tions expected to be of the same character. It was a case in which no political calculation could interfere with private feeling ; and the national regret was sincere, profound, and pervading. Gratifying was the spectacle to see a national union of feeling in behalf of onj who had been so lately the object of so much political division. It was a proof that there can be political opposi- tion without personal animosity. General Harrison was a native of Virginia, son of a signer of the Declaration of Independ- ence, and a descendant of the " regicide " Harri- son who sat on the trial of Charles I. In the course of the first session of Congress after the death of General Harrison — that ses- sion which convened under his call — the oppor- tunity presented itself to the author of this View to express his personal sentiments with respect to him. President Tyler, in his message, re- commended a grant of money to the family of the deceased President " in consideration of his expenses in removing to the seat of government, and the limited means which he had left be- hind ; " and a bill had been brought into the Senate accordingly, taking one year's presiden- tial salary ($25,000) as the amount of the grant. Deeming this proceeding entirely out of the limits of the constitution — against the policy of the government — and the commencement of the monarchical system of providing for families, Mr. Benton thus expressed himself at the conclusion of an argument against the grant : " Personally I was friendly to General Harri- son, and that at a time when his friends were not so numerous as in his last days ; and if I had needed any fresh evidences of the kindness of his heart, I had them in his twice mentioning to me, during the short period of his presidency, that, which surely I should never have men- tioned to him — the circumstance of my friend- ship to him when his friends were fewer. I would gladly now do what would be kind and respectful to his memory — what would be libe- ral and beneficial to his most respectable widow ; but, to vote for this bill! that I cannot do. High considerations of constitutional law and public policy forbid me to do so, and command me to make this resistance to it, that a mark may be made — a stone set up — at the place where this new violence was done to the consti- tution — this new page opened in the book of our public expenditures; and this new departure taken, which leads into the bottomless gulf of civil pensions and family gratuities." The deceased President had been closely pre- ceded, and was rapidly followed, by the deaths of almost all his numerous family of sons and daughters. A worthy son survives (John Scott Harrison, Esq.), a most respectable member of Congress from the State of Ohio. ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 211 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN TYLER. CHAPTER LXI. ACCESSION OF THE VICE-PEESIDENT TO THE PRESIDENCY. The Vice-president was not in Washington when the President died : he was at his resi- dence in lower Virginia : some days would ne- cessarily elapse before he could arrive. Presi- dent Harrison had not been impressed with the probable fatal termination of his disease, and the consequent propriety of directing the Vice- president to be sent for. His cabinet could not feel themselves justified in taking such a step while the President lived. Mr. Tyler would feel it indelicate to repair to the seat of govern- ment, of his own will, on hearing the report of the President's illness. The attending physi- cians, from the most proper considerations, held out hopes of recovery to near the last ; but, for four days before the event, there was a pervad- ing feeling in the city that the President would not survive his attack. His death left the ex- ecutive government for some days in a state of interregnum. There was no authority, or per- son present, legally empowered to take any step ; and so vital an event as a change in the chief magistrate, required the fact to be formally and publicly verified. In the absence of Con- gress, and the Vice-president, the members of the late cabinet very properly united in announ- cing the event to the country, and in despatch- ing a messenger of state to Mr. Tyler, to give him the authentic information which would show the necessity of his presence at the seat of government. He repaired to it immediately, took the oath of office, before the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, William Cranch, Esquire ; and appointed the late cabinet for his own. Each was retained in the place held under his predecessor, and with the strongest expressions of regard and confi- dence. Four days after his accession to the presi- dency, Mr. Tyler issued an address, in the na- ture of an inaugural, to the people of the United States, the first paragraph of which was very appropriately devoted to his predecessor, and to the circumstances of his own elevation to the presidential chair. That paragraph was in these words : " Before my arrival at the seat of government, the painful communication was made to you, by the officers presiding over the several depart- ments, of the deeply regretted death of William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States. Upon him you had conferred your suf- frages for the first office in your gift, and had selected him as your chosen instrument to cor- rect and reform all such errors and abuses as had manifested themselves from time to time, in the practical operations of the government. While standing at the threshold of this great work ; he has, by the dispensation of an all-wise Providence, been removed from amongst us, and by the provisions of the constitution, the efforts to be directed to the accomplishing of this vi- tally important task have devolved upon myself. This same occurrence has subjected the wisdom and sufficiency of our institutions to a new test. For the first time in our history, the person elected to the Vice-presidency of the United States, by the happening of a contingency pro- vided for in the constitution, has had devolved 212 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. upon him the presidential office. The spirit of faction, which is directly opposed to the spirit of a lofty patriotism, may find in this occasion for assaults upon my administration. And in succeeding, under circumstances so sudden and unexpected, and to responsibilities so greatly augmented, to the administration of public affairs, I shall place in the intelligence and pa- triotism of the people, my only sure reliance. — My earnest prayer shall be constantly addressed to the all-wise and all-powerful Being who made me, and by whose dispensation I am called to the high office of President of this confederacy, understandingly to carry out the principles of that constitution which I have sworn "to pro- tect, preserve, and defend." Two blemishes were seen in this paragraph, the first being in that sentence which spoke of the "errors and abuses" of the government which his predecessor had been elected to " cor- rect and reform ; " and the correction and refor- mation of which now devolved upon himself. These imputed errors and abuses could only apply to the administrations of General Jackson and Mr. Van Buren, of both which Mr. Tyler had been a zealous opponent; and therefore might not be admitted to be an impartial judge. Leaving that out of view, the bad taste of such a reference was palpable and repulsive. The second blemish was in that sentence in which he contrasted the spirit of " faction " with the spirit of " lofty patriotism," and seemed to refer in advance all the " assaults " which should be made upon his administration, to this factious spirit, warring upon elevated patriotism. Little did he think when he wrote that sentence, that within three short months — within less time than a commercial bill of exchange usually has to run, the great party which had elected him, and the cabinet officers which he had just ap- pointed with such warm expressions of respect and confidence, should be united in that assault ! should all be in the lead and van of a public outcry against him ! The third paragraph was also felt to be a fling at General Jackson and Mr. Van Buren, and therefore unfit for a place in a President's message, and especially in an inaugural address. It was the very periphrasis of the current party slang against General Jack- son, plainly visible through the transparent hy- pothetical guise which it put on; and was in these words : " In view of the fact, well avouched by history, that the tendency of all human institutions is to concentrate power in the hands of a single man, and that their ultimate downfall has proceeded from this cause, I deem it of the most essential importance that a complete separation should take place between the sword and the purse. No matter where or how the public moneys shall be deposited, so long as the President can exert the power of appointing and removing, at his pleasure, the agents selected for their cus- tody, the commander-in-chief of the army and navy is in fact the treasurer. A permanent and radical change should therefore be decreed. The patronage incident to the presidential office, already great, is constantly increasing. Such in- crease is destined to keep pace with the growth of our population, until, without a figure of speech, an army of officeholders may be spread over the land. The unrestrained power exerted by a selfishly ambitious man, in order either to perpetuate his authority or to hand it over to some favorite as his successor, may lead to the employment of all the means within his control to accomplish his object. The right to remove from office, while subjected to no just restraint, is inevitably destined to produce a spirit of crouching servility with the official corps, which in order to uphold the hand which feeds them, would lead to direct and active interference in the elections, both State and federal, thereby subjecting the course of State legislation to the dictation of the chief executive officer, and mak- ing the will of that officer absolute and su- preme." This phrase of "purse and sword," once so appropriately used by Patrick Henry, in de- scribing.the powers of the federal government, and since so often applied to General Jackson, for the removal of the deposits, could have no other aim than a fling at him ; and the abuse of patronage in removals and appointments to per- petuate power, or hand it over to a favorite, was the mere repetition of the slang of the presiden- tial canvass, in relation to General Jackson and Mr. Van Buren. Departing from the usual reserve and gener- alization of an inaugural, this address went into a detail which indicated the establishment of a national bank, or the re-charter of the defunct one, masked and vitalized under a Pennsylvania State charter. That paragraph ran thus : "The public interest also demands that, if any war has existed between the government and the currency, it shall cease. Measures of a financial character, now having the sanction of legal enactment, shall be faithfully enforced until repealed by the legislative authority. But I owe it to myself to declare that I regard exist- ing enactments as unwise and impolitic, and in j a high degree oppressive. I shall promptly i ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 213 give my sanction to any constitutional measure which, originating in Congress, shall have for its object the restoration of a sound circulating medium, so essentially necessary to give confi- dence in all the transactions of life, to secure to industry its just and adequate rewards, and to re-establish the public prosperity. In deciding upon the adaptation of any such measure to the end proposed, as well as its conformity to the constitution, I shall resort to the fathers of the great republican school for advice and instruc- tion, to be drawn from their sage views of our system of government, and the light of their ever glorious example." The concluding part of this paragraph, in which the new President declares that, in look- ing to the constitutionality and expediency of a national bank, he should look for advice and instruction to the example of the fathers of the Republic, he was understood as declaring that he would not be governed by his own former opinions against a national bank, but by the example of Washington, a signer of the consti- tution (who signed the charter of the first na- tional bank) ; and by the example of Mr. Madi- son, another signer of the constitution, who, yielding to precedent and the authority of ju- dicial decisions, had signed the charter for the second bank, notwithstanding his early consti- tutional objections to it. In other parts of the paragraph he was considered as declaring in favor of the late United States Bank, as in the previous part of the paragraph where he used the phrases which had become catch-words in the long contest with that bank — "war upon the currency " — " sound circulating medium " — " restoration of national prosperity j " &c, &c. He was understood to express a preference for the re-charter of that institution. And this impression was well confirmed by other circum- stances — his zealous report in favor of that bank when acting as volunteer chairman to the Senate's committee which was sent to examine it — his standing a canvass in a presidential elec- tion in which the re-charter of that bank, though concertedly blinked in some parts of the Union, was the understood vital issue every where — his publicly avowed preference for its notes over gold, at Wheeling, Virginia — the retention of a cabinet, pledged to that bank, with expressions of confidence in them, and in terms that prom- ised a four years' service together — and his utter condemnation in other parts of his inau- gural, and in all his public speeches, of every other plan (sub-treasury, state banks, revival of the gold currency), which had been presented as remedies for the financial and currency dis- orders. All these circumstances and declara- tions left no doubt that he was not only in favor of a national bank, but of re-chartering the late one ; and that he looked to it, and to it alone, for the "sound circulating medium" which he preferred to the constitutional cur- rency — for the keeping of those deposits which he had condemned Jackson for removing from it — and for the restoration of that national pros- perity, which the imputed war upon the bank had destroyed. CHAPTER LXII. TWENTY-SEVENTH CONGKESS : FIRST SESSION: LIST OF MEMBERS, AND ORGANIZATION OF THE HOUSE. Members of the Senate. Maine. — Reuel Williams, George Evans. New Hampshire. — Franklin Pierce, Levi Woodbury. Vermont. — Samuel Prentis, Samuel Phelps. Massachusetts. — Rufus Choate, Isaac C. Bates. Rhode Island. — Nathan F. Dixon, James F. Simmons. Connecticut. — Perry Smith, Jaz. W. Hunt- ington. New York. — Silas Wright, N. P. Tallmadge. New Jersey. — Sam. L. Southard, Jacob W. Miller. Pennsylvania. — James Buchanan, D. W. Sturgeon. Delaware. — Richard H. Bayard, Thomas Clayton. Maryland. — John Leeds Kerr, Wm. D. Mer- rick. Virginia. — Wm. C. Rives, Wm. S. Archer. North Carolina. — Wm. A. Graham, Wil- lie P. Mangum. South Carolina. — Wm. C. Preston, John C. Calhoun. Georgia. — Alfred Cuthbert, John M. Ber- rien. Alabama. — Clement C. Clay, William R. King. Mississippi. — John Henderson, Robert J. Walker. \ Louisiana. — Alexander Mouton, Alexander Barrow. Tennessee. — A. O. P. Nicholson, Spencer Jarnagin, executive appointment. Ephraim H. Foster. Kentucky. — Henry Clay, J. J. Morehead. 214 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Ohio. — "William Allen, Benjamin Tappan. Indiana. — Oliver H. Smith, Albert S. White. Illinois. — Richard M. Young, Sam'l McRob- erts. Missouri. — Lewis F. Linn, Thomas II. Ben- ton. Arkansas. — Ambrose H. Sevier, William S. Fulton. Michigan. — Augustus S. Porter, William Woodbridge. Members of the House. Maine. — Nathaniel Clifford, Wm. P. Fessen- den, Benj. Randall, David Bronson, Nathaniel Littlefield, Alfred Marshall, Joshua A. Lowell, Elisha H. Allen. New Hampshire. — Tristram Shaw, Ira A. Eastman, Charles G. Atherton, Edmund Burke, John R. Reding. Vermont. — Hiland Hall, William Slade, Horace Everett, Augustus Young, John Mat- tocks. Massachusetts. — Robert C. Winthrop, Lev- erett Saltonstall, Caleb Cushmg, Wm. Parmen- ter, Charles Hudson, Osmyn Baker, Geo. N. Briggs, William B. Calhoun, Wm. S. Hastings, Nathaniel B. Borden, Barker Burnell, John Quincy Adams. Rhode Island. — Joseph L. Tillinghast, Wil- liam B. Cranston. Connecticut. — Joseph Trumbull, Wm. W. Boardman, Thomas W. Williams, Thos. B. Os- borne, Truman Smith, John H. Brockway. New York.— Chas. A. Floyd, Joseph Egbert, John McKeon, James J. Roosevelt, Fernando Wood, Chas. G. Ferris, Aaron Ward, Richard D. Davis, James G. Clinton, John Van Buren, R. McClellan, Jacob Hauck, jr., Hiram P. Hunt, Daniel D. Barnard, Archibald L. Lin, Bernard Blair, Thos. A. Tomlinson, H. Van Rensselaer, John Sanford, Andrew W. Doig, John G. Floyd, David P. Brewster, T. C. Chittenden, Sam. S. Bowne, Samuel Gordon, John C. Clark, Lewis Riggs, Sam. Partridge, Victory Birdseye, A. L. Foster, Christopher Morgan, John Maynard, John Greig, Wm. M. Oliver, Timothy Childs, Seth M. Gates, John Young, Stanley N. Clark, Millard Fillmore, Babcock. New Jersey. — John B. Aycrigg, John P. B. Maxwell, William Halsted, Joseph F. Ran- dolph, Joseph F. Stratton, Thos. Jones Yorke. Pennsylvania. — Charles Brown, John Ser- geant, George W. Tolland, Charles Ingersoll, John Edwards, Jeremiah Brown, Francis James, Joseph Fornance, Robert Ramsay, John Westbrook, Peter Newhard, George M. Keim, Wm. Simonton, James Gerry, James Cooper, Amos Gustine, James Irvine, Benj. Bidlack, John Snyder, Davis Dimock, Albert G. Marchand, Joseph Lawrence, Wm. W. Ir- win, William Jack, Thomas Henry, Arnold Plumer. Delaware. — George B. Rodney. Maryland. — Isaac D. Jones, Jas. A. Pearce, James W. Williams, J, P. Kennedy, Alexan- der Randall, Wm. Cost Johnson, John T. Ma- son, Augustus R. Sollers. Virginia.— Henry A. Wise, Francis Mallory, George B. Cary, John M. Botts, R. M. T. Hun- ter, John Taliaferro, Cuthbert Powell, Linn Banks, Wm. O. Goode, John W. Jones, E. W. Hubbard, Walter Coles, Thomas W. Gilmer, Wm. L. Goggin, R. B. Barton, Wm. A. Harris, A. H. H. Stuart, Geo. W. Hopkins, Geo. W. Summers, S. L. Hays, Lewis Steinrod. North Carolina. — Kenneth Rayner, John R. J. Daniel, Edward Stanly, Wm. H. Wash- ington, James J. McKay, Archibald Arrington, Edmund Deberry, R. M. Saunders, Aug'e H. Shepherd, Abraham Rencher, Green C. Cald- well, James Graham, Lewis Williams. South Carolina. — Isaac E. Holmes, Wil- liam Butler, F. W. Pickens, John Campbell, James Rogers, S. H. Butler, Thomas D. Sum- ter, R. Barnwell Rhett, C. P. Caldwell. Georgia. — Rich'd W. Habersham, Wm. C. Dawson, Julius C. Alvord, Eugenius A. Nisbet, Lott Warren, Thomas Butler King, Roger L. Gamble, Jas. A. Merriwether, Thos. F. Foster. Alabama. — Reuben Chapman, Geo. S. Hous- ton, Dixon H. Lewis, Benj. G. Shields. Mississippi. — A. L. Bingaman, W. R. Harley. Louisiana. — Edward D. White, J. B. Daw- son, John Moore. Arkansas. — Edward Cross. Tennessee. — Thomas D. Arnold, Abraham McClellan, Joseph L. Williams, Thomas J. Campbell, Hopkins L. Turney, Wm. B. Camp- bell, Robert L. Caruthers, Meredith P. Gentry, Harvey M. Watterson, Aaron V. Brown, Cave Johnson, Milton Brown, Christopher H. Wil- liams. Kentucky. — Linn Boyd, Philip Triplet, Jo- seph R. Underwood, Bryan W. Owsley, John B. Thompson, Willis Green, John Pope, James C. Sprigg, John White, Thomas F. Marshall, Lan- doff W. Andrews, Garret Davis, William 0. Butler. Ohio.— N. G. Pendleton, John B. Weller, Patrick G. Goode, Jeremiah Morrow, William Doane, Calvary Morris, Wm. Russell, Joseph Ridgeway, Wm. Medill, Samson Mason, B. S. Cowan, Joshua Matheot, James Matthews, Geo. Sweeney, S. J. Andrews, Joshua R. Gid- dings, John Hastings, Ezra Dean, Sam. Stock- ley. Indiana.— George W. Promt, Richard W. Thompson, Joseph L. White, James H. Cra- vens, Andrew Kennedy, David Wallace, Henry S. Lane. Missouri. — John Miller, John C. Edwards. Michigan. — Jacob M. Howard. Mr. John White of Kentucky (whig), was elected Speaker of the House over Mr. John W. Jones of Virginia, democratic. Mr. Matthew St. Clair Clarke of Pennsylvania (whig), was ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 215 elected clerk over Mr. Hugh A. Garland of Vir- ginia, democratic. The whigs had a majority of near fifty in the House, and of seven in the Senate ; so that all the legislative, and the ex- ecutive department of the government — the two Houses of Congress and the President and cab- inet — were of the same political party, present- ing a harmony of aspect frequently wanting during the three previous administrations. Notwithstanding their large majority, the whig party proceeded slowly in the organization of the House in the adoption of rules for its pro- ceeding. A fortnight had been consumed in vain when Mr. Cushing, urgently, and success- fully exhorted his whig friends to action : " I say (continued Mr. Cushing) that it is our fault if this House be disorganized. We are in the majority — we have a majority of forty — and we are responsible to our country, to the con- stitution, and to our God, for the discharge of our duty here. It is our duty to proceed to the organization of the House, to the transac- tion of the business for which the country sent us here. And I appeal to the whig party on this floor that they do their duty — that they act manfully and expeditiously, and that, how- soever the House may organize, under what- ever rules, or under no rules at all ; for I am prepared, if this resolution be not adopted, to call upon the Speaker for the second reading of a bill from the Senate, now upon the table, and to move that we proceed with it under the par- liamentary law. We can go on under that. We are a House, with a speaker, clerk, and officers ; and whether we have rules or not is immaterial. We can proceed as the Commons in England do. We can act upon bills by re- ferring them to a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, or to select committees, if there are no standing committees. And I am prepared, if the House cannot be organized under the proposition now before us, for the purpose of testing the question and enabling the country to see whose fault it is that we do not go on with its business, to call at once for the action of the House upon that bill under the parliamentary law. Once more I appeal to the whig party, for party lines, I see, are now about to be drawn ; I appeal to the whig party, to the friends of the administration — and I recognize but one, and that is the administration of John Tyler — that is the administration, and I recog- nize no other in the United States at this time ; I appeal to the administration party, to the friends of the administration of John Tyler, that at this hour they come to the rescue of their country, and organize the House, under whatever rules : because, if we do not, we shall become, as we are now becoming, the laughing- stock, the scorn, the contempt of the people of these United States." The bill from the Senate, for action on which Mr. Cushing was so impatient, and so ready to act without rules, was the one for the repeal of the sub-treasury ; whilom characterized by him as a serpent hatched of a fowl's egg, (cock- atrice) ; which the people would trample into the dust. Under his urgent exhortation the House soon organized, and made the repeal. Passed so promptly, this repealing bill, with equal celerity, was approved and signed by the President — leaving him in the first quarter of his administration in full possession of that for- midable sword and long purse, the imputed union of which in the hands of General Jack- son had been his incontinent deprecation, even in his inaugural address. For this repeal of the sub-treasury provided no substitute for keeping the public moneys, and left them with- out law in the President's hands. CHAPTEE LXIII. FIRST MESSAGE OF MR. TYLER TO CONGRESS, AND MR. CLAY'S PROGRAMME OF BUSINESS. The first paragraph in the message related to the death of President Harrison, and after a proper expression of respect and regret, it went on to recommend a grant of money to his family, grounded on the consideration of his expenses in removing to the seat of government, and the limited means of his private fortune : " With this public bereavement are connected other considerations which will not escape the attention of Congress. The preparations neces- sary for his removal to the seat of government, in view of a residence of four years, must have devolved upon the late President heavy expen- ditures, which, if permitted to burden the limited resources of his private fortune, may tend to the serious embarrassment of his sur- viving family ; and it is therefore respectfully submitted to Congress, whether the ordinary principles of justice would not dictate the pro- priety of its legislative interposition." This recommendation was considered by many as being without the pale of the constitution, and of dangerous precedent. With respect to the limited means of which he spoke, the fact was alike true and honorable to the late Presi- dent. In public employment from early life. 216 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. and during the greatest part of his life, no pecu- niary benefit had resulted to him. In situations to afford opportunities for emolument, he availed himself of none. With immense amounts of public money passing through his hands, it all went, not only faithfully to its objects, but without leaving any profit behind from its use. He lived upon his salaries, liberally dispensing hospitality and charities, and with simplicity and economy in all his habits. He used all that he received, and came out of office as he entered it, and died poor. This, among the ancient Ro- mans was a commendable issue of a public ca- reer, to be mentioned with honor at the funeral of an illustrious man : and should be so held by all republican people. The message showed that President Tyler would not have convoked the Congress in extra session had it not been done by his predecessor ; but being convoked he would not disturb the arrangement ; and was most happy to find him- self so soon surrounded by the national repre- sentation : " In entering upon the duties of this office, I did not feel that it would be becoming in me to disturb what had been ordered by my lamented predecessor. Whatever, therefore, may have been my opinion originally as to the propriety of convening Congress at so early a day from that of its late adjournment, I found a new and controlling inducement not to interfere with the patriotic desires of the late President, in the novelty of the situation in which I was so unex- pectedly placed. My first wish, under such cir- cumstances, would necessarily have been to have called to my aid in the administration of public affairs, the combined wisdom of the two Houses of Congress, in order to take their counsel and advice as to the best mode of extricating the government and the country from the embar- rassments weighing heavily on both. I am then most happy in finding myself so soon, after my accession to the presidency, surrounded by the immediate representatives of the States and people." The state of our foreign relations claimed but a brief paragraph. The message stated that no important change had taken place in them since the last session of Congress, and that the Presi- dent saw nothing to make him doubt the con- tinuance of the peace with which the country was blessed. He passed to home affairs : " In order to supply the wants of the govern- ment, an intelligent constituency, in view of their best interests, will without hesitation, sub- mit to all necessary burdens. But it is, never- theless, important so to impose them as to avoid defeating the just expectations of the country growing out of pre-existing laws. The act of the 2d March, 1833, commonly called the com- promise act, should not be altered, except under urgent necessities, which are not believed at this time to exist. One year only remains to complete the series of reductions provided for by that law, at which time provisions made by the same, and which law then will be brought actively in aid of the manufacturing interest of the Union, will not fail to produce the most beneficial results." This compromise act of 1833, was drawing towards the close of its career, and was proving itself to have been a complete illusion in all the good it had promised, and a sad reality in all the ill that had been predicted of it. It had been framed on the principle of helping manu- factures for nine years, and then to be a free trade measure for ever after. The first part succeeded, and so well, in keeping up high duties as to raise far more revenue than the govern- ment needed : the second part left the govern- ment without revenue for its current uses, and under the necessity of giving up that uniform twenty per centum duty on the value of imports, which was to have been the permanent law of our tariff j and which never became law at all. In the meanwhile, the compromise having pro- vided for periodical reductions in the duties on imported sugars and molasses, made no provi- sion for proportionate reductions of the draw- back upon these articles when exported in the changed shape of rum and refined sugars : and enormous sums were drawn from the treasury by this omission in the compromise act — the great refiners and rum distillers driving an im- mense capital into their business for the mere purpose of getting the gratuitous drawbacks. The author of this View endeavored to supply the omission at the time, and repeatedly after- wards ; but these efforts were resisted by the advocates of the compromise until these gratui- ties becoming enormous, rising from $2,000 per annum, to hundreds of thousands per annum, and finally reaching five hundred thousand, they roused the alarm of the government, and sunk under the enormity of their abuse. Yet it was this compromise which was held too sacred to have its palpable defects corrected, and the inviolability of which was recommended to be preserved, that in addition to its other faults, ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 217 was making an annual present of some hundreds of thousands of dollars to two classes of manu- facturers. A bank of some kind was recommended, under the name of fiscal agent, as necessary to facili- tate the operations of the Treasury, to promote the collection and disbursement of the public revenue, and to supply a currency of uniform value. The message said : " In intimate connection with the question of revenue, is that which makes provision for a suitable fiscal agent, capable of adding increased facilities in the collection and disbursement of the public revenues, rendering more secure their custody, and consulting a true economy in the great multiplied and delicate operations of the Treasury department. Upon such an agent de- pends in an eminent degree, the establishment of a currency of uniform value, which is of so great importance to all the essential interests of society j and on the wisdom to be manifested in its creation, much depends." These are the reasons which General Hamil- ton gave for asking the establishment of the first national bank, in 1791, and which have been given ever since, no matter with what variation of phraseology, for the creation of a similar institution. This preference for a bank, under a new name, was confirmed by the rejec- tion of the sub-treasury and hard-money cur- rency, assumed by the message to have been condemned by the people in the result of the presidential election. Speaking of this system, it said : " If carried through all the stages of its traris mutation, from paper and specie to nothing out the precious metals, to say nothing of the insecurity of the public moneys, its inju- rious effects have been anticipated by the coun- try, in its unqualified condemnation.'''' The justice and wisdom of this condemnation, thus inferred from the issue of the presidential elec- tion, and carried as that election was (and as has been described), has been tested by the ex- perience of many years, without finding that in- security of the public moneys, and those inju- rious effects which the message assumed. On the contrary those moneys have been safely kept, and the public prosperity never as great as under the Independent Treasury and the gold and silver currency of the federal govern- ment : and long has it been since any politician has allowed himself to be supposed to be against them. Up to the date of that message then— up to the first day of the extra session, 1841 — Mr. Tyler may be considered as in favor of a national bank, with its paper currency, and op- posed to the gold and silver currency, and the sub-treasury. A distribution of the proceeds of the sales of the public lands was recommended as a means of assisting the States in the pay- ment of their debts, and raising the price of their stocks in foreign markets. Repudiating as un- constitutional, the federal assumption of the State debts, he still recommended a grant of money from the public funds to enable them to meet these debts. In this sense the message said: " And while I must repudiate, as a measure founded in error, and wanting constitutional sanction, the slightest approach to an assump- tion by this government of the debts of the States, yet I can see in the distribution adverted to much to recommend it. The compacts be- tween the proprietor States and this government expressly guarantee to the States all the bene- fits which may arise from the sales. The mode by which this is to be effected addresses itself to the discretion of Congress as the trustee for the States, and its exercise, after the most bene- ficial manner, is restrained by nothing in the grants or in the constitution so long as Congress shall consult that equality in the distribution which the compacts require. In the present condition of some of the States, the question of distribution may be regarded as substantially a question between direct and indirect taxation. If the distribution be not made in some form or other, the necessity will daily become more urgent with the debtor States for a resort to an oppressive system of direct taxation, or their credit, and necessarily their power and influence, will be greatly diminished. The payment of taxes, often the most inconvenient and oppres- sive mode, will be exacted in place of contri- butions for the most part voluntarily made, and therefore comparatively unoppressive. The States are emphatically the constituents of this government, and we should be entirely regard- less of the objects held in view by them, in the creation of this government, if we could be in- different to their good. The happy effects of such a measure upon all the States, would im- mediately be manifested. With the debtor States it would effect the relief to a great extent of the citizens from a heavy burden of direct taxation, which presses with severity on the laboring classes, and eminently assist in restor- ing the general prosperity. An immediate ad- vance would take place in the price of the State securities, and the attitudes of the States would become once more, as it should ever be, lofty and erect. Whether such distribution should be made directly to the States in the proceeds of the sales, or in the form of profits by virtue 218 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. of the operations of any fiscal agency having those proceeds as its basis, should such measure be contemplated by Congress, would well de- serve its consideration." Mr. Tyler, while a member of the democratic party, had been one of the most strict in the construction of the constitution, and one of the most vigilant and inflexible in bringing pro- posed measures to the test of that instrument — repulsing the most insignificant if they could not stand it. He had been one of the foremost against the constitutionality of a national bank, and voting for a scire facias to vacate the char- ter of the last one soon after it was established. Now, in recommending the grant of money to the family of General Harrison — in recommend- ing a bank under the name of fiscal agent — in preferring a national paper currency — in con- demning the currency of the constitution — in proposing a distribution of the land revenue — in providing for the payment of the State debts : in all these recommendations he seemed to have gone far beyond any other President, however latitudinarian. Add to this, he had instituted an inquisition to sit upon the conduct of officers, to hear and adjudge in secret ; to the encourage- ment of informers and debaters, and to the in- fringement of the liberty of speech, and the freedom of opinion in the subordinates of the government. In view of all this, the author of this work immediately exclaimed : " What times we have fallen upon ! what wonders we witness ! how strange are the scenes of the day ! We have a President, who has been the foremost in the defence of the constitution, and in support of the rights of the States — whose walk has been on the outward wall of the constitution — his post in the front line of its defenders — his seat on the topmost branches of the democratic tree. I will not disparage the President by saying that he fought side by side with me in defence of the constitution and the States, and against the latitudinarians. It would be to wrong him to place him by my side. His position, as guard of the constitution, was far ahead, and far above mine. He was always in the advance — on the look-out — listening and watching — snuffing danger in the first tainted breeze, and making anticipated battle against the still invisible invader. Hardly any thing was constitutional enough for him. This was but a few brief years ago. Now we see the measures brought forward in the very bud and first blossom of this administration, which leave all former unconstitutional measures far in the rear — which add subterfuge and evasion to open violence, and aim more deadly wounds at the constitution than the fifty previous years of its existence had brought upon it. I know not the sentiment of the President upon these measures, except as disclosed by himself, and say nothing to reach him ; but I know the measures them- selves — their desperate character, and fatal issues : and I am free to say, if such things can come to pass — if they can survive the double ordeal of the House and the Senate — then there is an end of all that our fathers contended for in the formation of the federal government. To be sure, the machinery of government would still stand. We should still have President, Congress, and a Judiciary — an army, a navy — a taxing power, the tax-payers, the tax-gather- ers, and the tax-consumers. But, if such mea- sures as these are to pass — a bill to lavish the public lands on the (indebted) States in order to pay their debts, supply their taxes, and raise the market price of their stock — a contrivance to defraud the constitution, and to smuggle and bribe a bank, though a national bank, through Congress, under the alius dictus of fiscal agent — the bill to commence the career of civil pen- sions and family gratuities — the inquisitorial committee, modelled on the plan of Sir Robert Walpole's committees of secrecy, now sitting in the custom-house of New York, the terror of the honest and the hope of the corrupt — the ex post facto edict for the creation of political offences, to be punished on suspicion in exparie trials — the schemes for the infringement of the liberty of speech, and for the suppression of freedom of opinion, and for the encouragement and reward of debaters and informers : if such schemes and measures as these are to come to pass, then do I say that all the guards and limi- tations upon our government are broken down 1 that our limited government is gone ! and a new, wild, and boundless authority, substituted in its place. The new triumvirate — Bank, Con- gress, and President — will then be supreme. Fraud and corruption, more odious than arms and force, will rule the land. The constitution will be covered with a black veil : and that derided and violated instrument will never be referred to, except for the mock sanction of a ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 219 fraudulent interpretation, or the insulting cere- mony of a derisory adjuration." Mr. Tyler had delivered a message : Mr. Clay virtually delivered another. In the first week of the session, he submitted a programme of mea- sures, in the form of a resolve, to be adopted by the Senate, enumerating and declaring the par- ticular subjects, to which he thought the atten- tion of Congress should be limited at this extra session. The following was his programme : " Resolved, as the opinion of the Senate, That at the present session of Congress, no business ought to be transacted, but such as being of an important or urgent nature, may be supposed to have influenced the extraordinary convention of Congress, or such as that the postponement of it might be materially detrimental to the public interest. " Resolved, therefore, as the opinion of the Senate, That the following subjects ought first, if not exclusively, to engage the deliberation of Congress, at the present session — " 1st. The repeal of the sub-treasury. " 2d. The incorporation of a bank adapted to the wants of the people and of the government. "3d. The provision of an adequate revenue for the government by the imposition of duties, and including an authority to contract a tempo- rary loan to cover the public debt created by the last administration. " 4th. The prospective distribution of the pro- ceeds of the public lands. " 5 th. The passage of necessary appropriation bills ; and " 6th. Some modification of the banking sys- tem of the District of Columbia, for the benefit of the people of the District. " Resolved, That it is expedient to distribute the business proper to be done this session, be- tween the Senate and House of Representatives, so as to avoid both Houses acting on the same subject, and at the same time." It was, probably, to this assumption over the business of Congress — this recommendation of measures which Mr. Clay thought ought to be adopted — that Mr. Cushing alluded in the House, when, in urging the instant repeal of the sub-treasury act, he made occasion to say that he recognized no administration but that of John Tyler. As for the " public debt," here mentioned as being "created by the last ad- ministration," it consisted of the treasury notes and loans resorted to to supply the place of the revenue lost under the descending scale of the compromise, and the amount taken from the Treasury to bestow upon the States, under the fraudulent name of a deposit. CHAPTER LXIY. KEPEAL OF THE INDEPENDENT TREASUEY ACT. This was the first measure of the new dominant party, and pursued with a zeal that bespoke a resentment which required gratification, and in- dicated a criminal which required punishment. It seemed to be considered as a malefactor which had just fallen into the hands of justice, and whose instant death was necessary to expiate his offences. Mr. Clay took the measure into his own charge. It was No. 1, in his list of bills to be passed; and the bill brought in by him- self, was No. 1, on the Senate's calendar ; and it was rapidly pushed on to immediate decision. The provisions of the bill were as summary as the proceedings upon it were rapid. It provided for instant repeal — to take effect as soon as passed, although it was in full operation all over the United States, and the officers at a distance, charged with its execution, could not know of the repeal until ten or twelve days after the event, and during all which time they would be acting without authority ; and, consequently, without official liabilit}^ for accident or miscon- duct. No substitute was provided ; and when passed, the public moneys were to remain with- out legal guardianship until a substitute should be provided — intended to be a national bank ; but a substitute which would require time to pass it, whether a bank or some other measure. These considerations were presented, but pre- sented in vain to an impatient majority. A respite of a few days, for the act to be known before it took effect, was in vain urged. In vain was it urged that promulgation was part of a law : that no statute was to take effect until it was promulgated ; and that time must be allow- ed for that essential formality. The delay of passing a substitute was urged as certain : the possibility of not passing one at all, was sug- gested : and then the reality of that alarm of danger to the Treasury — the union of the purse and the sword — which had so haunted the minds of senators at the time of the removal of the deposits ; and which alarm, groundless then, was now to have a real foundation. All in vain. The days of the devoted act were numbered: 220 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. the sun was not to set upon it alive : and late in the evening of a long and hot day in June, the question was called, with a refusal upon yeas and nays by the majority, to allow a post- ponement until the next day for the purpose of debate. Thus, refused one night's postpone- ment, Mr. Benton, irritated at such unparlia- mentary haste, and at the unmeasured terms of abuse which were lavished upon the doomed act, rose and delivered the speech, of which some extracts are given in the next chapter. In the progress of this bill a clause was pro- posed by Mr. Benton to exclude the Bank of the United States from becoming a depository of public moneys, under the new order of things which the repeal of the Sub-treasury system would bring about ; and he gave as a reason, her criminal and corrupt conduct, and her insolvent condition. The clause was rejected by a strict party vote, with the exception of Mr. Archer — who voted for the exclusion. The repeal bill was carried in the Senate by a strict party vote: Yeas — Messrs. Archer, Barrow, Bates, Bay- ard, Berrien, Choate, Clay of Kentucky, Clay- ton, Dixon, Evans, Graham, Henderson, Hunt- ington, Ker, Mangum, Merrick, Miller, More- head. Phelps, Porter, Prentiss, Preston, Rives, Simmons, Smith of Indiana, Southard, Tall- madge, White, and Woodbridge — 29. Nays — Messrs. Allen, Benton, Calhoun, Clay of Alabama, Fulton, King, McRoberts, Nichol- son, Pierce, Sevier, Smith of Connecticut, Stur- geon, Tappan, Walker, Williams, Woodbury, Wright, and Young — 18. In the House the repeal was carried by a decided vote — 134 to 87. The negative voters were: Messrs. Archibald H. Arrington, Charles G. Atherton, Linn Banks, Henry W. Beeson, Ben- jamin A. Bidlack, Samuel S. Bowne, Linn Boyd, Aaron V. Brown, Charles Brown, Edmund Burke, Sampson H. Butler, William 0. Butler, Green W. Caldwell, Patrick C. Caldwell, George B. Cary, Reuben Chapman, Nathan Clifford, James G. Clinton, Walter Coles, Edward Cross, John R. J. Daniel, Richard D. Davis, John B. Dawson, Ezra Dean, William Doan, Andrew W. Doig, John C. Edwards, Joseph Egbert, Charles G. Ferris, John G. Floyd, Charles A. Floyd, Joseph Fornance, William 0. Goode, Samuel Gordon, Amos Gustine, William A. Harris, John Hastings, Samuel L. Hays, Isaac E. Holmes, George W. Hopkins, Jacob Houck, jr., George S. Houston, Edmund W. Hubard, Robert M. T. Hunter, Charles J. Ingersoll, Wiliam Jack, Cave Johnson, John W. Jones, George M. Keim, Andrew Kennedy, Dixon H. Lewis, Nathaniel S. Littlefied, Joshua A. Lowell, Abraham McClellan, Robert McClellan, James J. McKay, Albert G. Marchand, Alfred Marshall, John Thompson Mason, James Mathews, Wil- liam Medill, John Miller, William M. Oliver, William Parmenter, Samuel Patridge, William W. Payne, Francis W, Pickens, Arnold Plumer, John R. Reding, Lewis Riggs, James Rogers, James I. Roosevelt, John Sanford, Romulus M. Saunders, Tristram Shaw, Benjamin G. Shields, John Snyder, C. Sprigg, Lewis Steenrod, Hop- kins L. Turney, John Van Buren, Aaron Ward, Harvey M. Watterson, John B. Weller, John Westbrook, James W. Williams, Fernando Wood. CHAPTEB LXV. KEPEAL OF THE INDEPENDENT TREASURY ACT: MR. BENTON'S SPEECH. The lateness of the hour, the heat of the day. the impatience of the majority, and the deter- mination evinced to suffer no delay in gratify- ing the feeling which demanded the sacrifice of the Independent Treasury system, shall not pre- vent me from discharging the duty which I owe to the friends and authors of that system, and to the country itself, by defending it from the unjust and odious character which clamor and faction have fastened upon it. A great and sys- tematic efibrt has been made to cry down the sub- treasury by dint of clamor, and to render it odious by unfounded representations and distorted de- scriptions. It seems to have been selected as a subject for an experiment at political bam- boozling; and nothing is too absurd, too pre- posterous, too foreign to the truth, to be urged against it, and to find a lodgment, as it is be- lieved, in the minds of the uninformed and cre- dulous part of the community. It is painted with every odious color, endowed with every mischievous attribute, and made the source and origin of every conceivable calamity. Not a vestige of the original appears; and, instead of the old and true system which it revives and enforces, nothing is seen but a new and hide- ous monster, come to devour the people, and to destroy at once their liberty, happiness and pro- perty. In all this the opponents of the system copy the conduct of the French jacobins of the ANNO 1841. JOHN * TYLER, PRESIDENT. 221 year '89, in attacking the veto power reserved to the king. The enlightened historian, Thiers, has given us an account of these Jacobinical ex- periments upon French credulity j and we are almost tempted to believe he was describing, with the spirit of prophecy, what we have seen taking place among ourselves. He says that, in some parts of the country, the people were taught to believe that the veto was a tax, which ought to be abolished ; in others, that it was a criminal, which ought to be hung ; in others again, that it was a monster, which ought to be killed ; and in others, that it was a power in the king to prevent the people from eating or drink- ing. As a specimen of this latter species of imposition which was attempted upon the ignorant, the historian gives a dialogue which actually took place between a jacobin politician and a country peasant in one of the remote de- partments of France, and which ran in about these terms : " My friend, do you know what the veto is?" ' ; / do not." Then I will tell you what it is. It is this: You have some soup in your porringer ; you are going to eat it; the king commands you to empty it on the ground, and you must instantly empty it on the ground : that is the veto ! " This, said Mr. B. is the account which an eminent historian gives us of the means used to bamboozle ignorant peasants and to excite them against a constitu- tional provision in France, made for their bene- fit, and which only arrested legislation till the people could speak ; and I may say that means little short of such absurdity and nonsense have been used in our country to mislead and deceive the people, and to excite them against the sub- treasury here. It is my intention, said Mr. B., to expose and to explode these artifices ; to show the folly and absurdity of the inventions which were used to delude the people in the country, and which no senator of the opposite party will so far for- get himself as to repeat here ; and to exhibit the independent treasury as it is — not as a new and hurtful measure just conceived ; but as an old and salutary law, fallen into disuse in evil times, and now revived and improved for the safety and advantage of the country. What is it, Mr. President, which constitutes the system called and known by the name of the sub-treasury, or the independent treasury ? It is two features, and two features alone, which constitute the system — all the rest is detail — and these two features are borrowed and taken from the two acts of Congress of September first, and September the second, 1789 ; the one establishing a revenue system, and the other establishing a treasury department for the United States. By the first of these acts, and by its 30th section, gold and silver coin alone was made receivable in payments to the United States ; and by the second of them, section four, the treasurer of the United States is made the receiver, the keeper, and the payer, of the moneys of the United States, to the exclusion of banks, of which only three then existed. By these two laws, the first and the original finan- cial system of the United States was established ; and they both now stand upon the statute book, unrepealed, and in full legal force, except in some details. By these laws, made in the first days of the first session of the first Con- gress, which sat under the constitution, gold and silver coin only was made the currency of the federal treasury, and the treasurer of the United States was made the fiscal agent to re- ceive, to keep, and to pay out that gold and sil- ver coin. This was the system of "Washington's administration ; and as such it went into effect. All payments to the federal government were made in gold and silver j all such money paid remained in the hands of the treasurer himself, until he paid it out ; or in the hands of the col- lectors of the customs, or the receivers of the land offices, until he drew warrants upon them in favor of those to whom money was due from the government. Thus it was in the beginning — in the first and happy years of Washington's administration. The money of the government was hard money ; and nobody touched that money but the treasurer of the United States, and the officers who collected it j and the whole of these were under bonds and penalties for their good behavior, subject to the lawful or- ders and general superintendence of the Secre- tary of the Treasury and the President of the United States, who was bound to see the laws faithfully executed. The government was then what it was made to be — a hard-money govern- ment. It was made by hard-money men, who had seen enough of the evils of paper money, and wished to save their posterity from such evils in future. The money was hard, and it was in the hands of the officers of the govern- 222 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. ment — those who were subject to the orders of the government — and not in the hands of those who were only subject to requisitions — who could refuse to pay, protest a warrant, tell the government to sue, and thus go to law with the government for its own money. The framers of the constitution, and the authors of the two acts of 1789, had seen enough of the evils of the system of requisitions under the confederation to warn them against it under the constitution. They determined that the new government should keep its own hard money, as well as col- lect it ; and thus the constitution, the law, the practice under the law, and the intentions of the hard-money and independent treasury men, were all in harmony, and in full, perfect, and beautiful operation, under the first years of General Washington's administration. All was right, and all was happy and prosperous, at the commencement. But the spoiler came ! General Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury. He was the advocate of the paper system, the banking sys- tem, and the funding system, which were fast- ened upon England by Sir Robert Walpole, in his long and baneful administration under the first and second George. General Hamilton was the advocate of these systems, and wished to transplant them to our America. He exerted his great abilities, rendered still more potent by his high personal character, and his glori- ous revolutionary services, to substitute paper money for the federal currency, and banks for the keepers of the public money ; and he suc- ceeded to the extent of his wishes. The hard- money currency prescribed by the act of Sep- tember 1st, 1789, was abolished by construction, and by a Treasury order to receive bank notes j the fiscal agent for the reception, the keeping, and the disbursement of the public moneys, con- sisting of the treasurer, and his collectors and receivers, was superseded by the creation of a national bank, invested with the privilege of keeping the public moneys, paying them out, and furnishing supplies of paper money for the payment of dues to the government. Thus, the two acts of 1789 were avoided, or superseded ; not repealed, but only avoided and superseded by a Treasury order to receive paper, and a bank to keep it and pay it out. From this time paper money became the federal currency, and a bank the keeper of the federal money. It is needless to pursue this departure farther. The bank had its privileges for twenty years — was suc- ceeded in them by local banks — they superseded by a second national bank — it again by local banks — and these finally by the independent treasury system — which was nothing but a return to the fundamental acts of 1789. This is the brief history — the genealogy rather — of our fiscal agents ; and from this it results, that after more than forty years of de- parture from the system of our forefathers — after more than forty years of wandering in the wilderness of banks, local and national — after more than forty years of wallowing in the slough of paper money, sometimes sound, some- times rotten — we have returned to the point from which we sat out — hard money for our Federal Treasury ; and our own officers to keep it. We returned to the acts of '89, not sud- denly and crudely, but by degrees, and with details, to make the return safe and easy. The specie clause was restored, not by a sudden and single step, but gradually and progressively, to be accomplished in four years. The custody of the public moneys was restored to the treasurer and his officers ; and as it was impossible for him to take manual possession of the moneys every where, a few receivers-general were given to him to act as his deputies, and the two mints in Philadelphia and New Orleans (proper places to keep money, and their keys in the hands of our officers), were added to his means of receiv- ing and keeping them. This return to the old acts of '89 was accomplished in the summer of 1840. The old system, with a new name, and a little additional organization, has been in force near one year. It has worked well. It has worked both well and easy, and now the ques- tion is to repeal it, and to begin again where General Hamilton started us above forty years ago, and which involved us so long in the fate of banks and in the miseries and calamities of paper money. The gentlemen on the other side of the House go for the repeal ; we against it ; and this defines the position of the two great parties of the day — one standing on ground oc- cupied by General Hamilton and the federalists in the year '91 j the other standing on the ground occupied at the same time by Mr. Jefferson and the democracy. The democracy oppose the repeal, because this system is proved by experience to be the ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 223 safest, the cheapest, and the best mode of col- lecting the revenues, and keeping and disburs- ing the public moneys, which the wisdom of man has yet invented. It is the safest mode of col- lecting, because it receives nothing but gold and silver, and thereby saves the government from loss by paper money, preserves the standard of value, and causes a supply of specie to be kept in the country for the use of the people and for the support of the sound part of the banks. It is the cheapest mode of keeping the moneys ; for the salaries of a few receivers are nothing compared to the cost of employing banks ; for banks must be paid either by a per centum, or by a gross sum, or by allowing them the gra- tuitous use of the public money. This latter method has been tried, and has been found to be the dearest of all possible modes. The sub- treasury is the safest mode of keeping, for the receivers-general are our officers — subject to our orders — removable at our will — punishable criminally — suable civilly — and bound in heavy securities. It is the best mode ; for it has no interest in increasing taxes in order to increase the deposits. Banks have this interest. A na- tional bank has an interest in augmenting the revenue, because thereby it augmented the pub- lic deposits. The late bank had an average de- posit for near twenty years of eleven millions and a half of public money in the name of the treasurer of the United States, and two mil- lions and a half in the names of public officers. It had an annual average deposit of fourteen mil- lions, and was notoriously in favor of all taxes, and of the highest tariffs, and was leagued with the party which promoted these taxes and tariffs. A sub-treasury has no interest of this kind, and in that particular alone presents an immense advantage over any bank depositories, whether a national institution or a selection of local banks. Every public interest requires the independent treasury to be continued. It is the old system of '89. The law for it has been on our statute-book for fifty-two years. Every citizen who is under fifty- two years old has lived all his life under the sub-treasury law, although the law itself has been superseded or avoided during the greater part of the time. Like the country gentleman in Moliere's come- dy, who had talked prose all his life without knowing it, every citizen who is under fifty-two has lived his life under the sub-treasury law — under the two acts of '89 which constitute it, and which have not been repealed. We are against the repeal ; and although un- able to resist it here, we hope to show to the American people that it ought not to be re- pealed, and that the time will come when its re-establishment will be demanded by the pub- lic voice. Independent of our objections to the merits of this repeal, stands one of a preliminary char- acter, which has been too often mentioned to need elucidation or enforcement, but which can- not be properly omitted in any general exami- nation of the subject. We are about to repeal one system without having provided another, and without even knowing what may be sub- stituted, or whether any substitute whatever shall be agreed upon. Shall we have any. and if any, what ? Shall it be a national bank, after the experience we have just had of such insti- tutions ? Is it to be a nondescript invention — a fiscality — or fiscal agent — to be planted in this District because we have exclusive juris- diction here, and which, upon the same argu- ment, may be placed in all the forts and arse- nals, in all the dock-yards and navy- yards, in all the lighthouses and powder magazines, and in all the territories which the United States now possess, or may hereafter acquire ? We have exclusive jurisdiction over all these ; and if, with this argument, we can avoid the consti- tution in these ten miles square, we can also avoid it in every State, and in every territory of the Union. Is it to be the pet bank system of 1836, which, besides being rejected by all parties, is an impossibility in itself? Is it to be the lawless condition of the public moneys, as gentlemen denounced it, which prevailed from October, 1833, when the deposits were removed from the Bank of the United States, till June, 1836, when the State bank deposit system was adopted ; and during all which time we could hear of nothing but the union of the purse and the sword, and the danger to our liberties from the concentration of all power in the hands of one man ? Is it to be any one of these, and which ? And if neither, then are the two acts of '89, which have never been repealed — which have only been superseded by tempo- rary enactments, which have ceased, or by trea- sury constructions which no one can now de- fend — are these two acts to recover their vitali- 224 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. ty and vigor, and again become the law of the land, as they were in the first years of General Washington's administration, and before Gen- eral Hamilton overpowered them ? If so, we are still to have the identical system which we now repeal, with no earthly difference but the absence of its name, and the want of a few of its details. Be all this as it may — let the substi- tute be any thing or nothing — we have still ac- complished a great point by the objection we have taken to the repeal before the substitute was produced, and by the vote which we took upon that point yesterday. We have gained the advantage of cutting gentlemen off from all plea for adopting their baneful schemes, found- ed upon the necessity of adopting something, because we have nothing. By their own vote they refuse to produce the new system before they abolish the old one. By their own vote they create the necessity which they deprecate ; and having been warned in time, and acting with their eyes open, they cannot make their own conduct a plea for adopting a bad measure rather than none. If Congress adjourns with- out any system, and the public moneys remain as they did from 1833 to 1836, the country will know whose fault it is ; and gentlemen will know what epithets to apply to themselves, by recollecting what they applied to General Jack- son from the day the deposits were removed until the deposit act of '36 was passed. Who demands the repeal of this system? Not the people of the United States ; for there is not a solitary petition from the farmers, the mechanics, the productive classes, and the busi- ness men, against it. Politicians who want a national bank, to rule the country, and mil- lionary speculators who want a bank to plun- der it — these, to be sure, are clamorous for the repeal ; and for the obvious reasons that the present system stands in the way of their great plans. But who else demands it? Who else objects to either feature of the sub-treasury — the hard-money feature, or the deposit of our own moneys with our own officers ? Make the inquiry — pursue it through its details — exam- ine the community by classes, and see who ob- jects. The hard-money feature is in full force. It took full effect at once in the South and West, because there were no bank-notes in those quarters of the Union of the receivable description: it took full effect in New York and New England, because, having preserved specie payments, specie was just as plenty in that quarter as paper money ; and all payments were either actually or virtually in hard money. It was specie, or its equivalent. The hard- money clause then went into operation at once, and who complained of it ? The payers of the revenue ? No, not one of them. The mer- chants who pay the duties have not com- plained ; the farmers who buy the public lands have not complained. On the contrary, they rejoice ; for hard-money payments keep off the speculator, with his bales of notes borrowed from banks, and enable the farmer to get his land at a fair price. The payers of the revenue then do not complain. How stands it with the next most interested class — the receivers of money from the United States ? Are they dis- satisfied at being paid in gold and silver ? And do they wish to go back to the depreciated pa- per — the shinplasters — the compound of lamp- black and rags — which they received a few years ago ? Put this inquiry to the merito- rious laborer who is working in stone, in wood, earth, and in iron for you at this moment. Ask him if he is tired of hard-money payments, and wishes the independent treasury system re- pealed, that he may get a chance to receive his hard-earned wages in broken bank-notes again. Ask the soldier and the mariner the same ques- tion. Ask the salaried officer and the con- tractor the same question. Ask ourselves here if we wish it — we who have seen ourselves paid in gold for years past, after having been for thirty years without a sight of that metal. No, sir, no. Neither the payers of money to the government, nor the receivers of money from the government, object to the hard-money clause in the sub-treasury act. How is it then with the body of the people — the great mass of the productive and business classes ? Do they object to the clause ? Not at all. They rejoice at it : for they receive, at second-hand, all that comes from the government. No officer, con- tractor, or laborer, eats the hard money which he receives from the government, but pays it out for the supplies which support his family : it all goes to the business and productive classes : and thus the payments from the gov- ernment circulate from hand to hand, and go through the whole body of the people. Thus the whole body of the productive classes receive ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 225 the benefit of the whole amount of the govern- ment hard-money payments. Who is it then that objects to it ? Broken banks, and their political confederates, are the clamorers against it. Banks which wish to make their paper a public currency : politicians who wish a na- tional bank as a machine to rule the country. These banks, and these politicians, are the sole clamorers against the hard-money clause in the sub-treasury system : they alone clamor for paper money. And how is it with the other clause — the one which gives the custody of the public money to the hands of our own officers, bound to fidelity by character, by official posi- tion, by responsibility, by ample securityship — and makes it felony in them to touch it for their own use ? Here is a clear case of con- tention between the banks and the government, or between the clamorers for a national bank and the government. These banks want the custody of the public money. They struggle and strive for it as if it was their own. They fight for it : and if they get it, they will use it as their own — as we all well know ; and refuse to render back when they choose to suspend. Thus, the whole struggle for the repeal resolves itself into a contest between the government, and all the productive and business classes on one side, and the federal politicians, the rotten part of the local banks, and the advocates of a national bank on the other. Sir, the independent treasury has been organ- ized : I say, organized ! for the law creating it is fifty-two years old — has been organized in obedience to the will of the people, regularly expressed through their representatives after the question had been carried to them, and a general election had intervened. The sub- treasury system was proposed by President Van Buren in 1837, at the called session: it was adopted in 1840, after the question had been carried to the people, and the elections made to turn upon it. It was established, and clearly established, by the will of the people. Have the people condemned it ? Have they expressed dissatisfaction ? By no means. The presidential election was no test ot this ques- tion ; nor of any question. The election of General Harrison was effected by the combi- nation of all parties to pull down one party, without any unity among the assailants on the question of measures. A candidate was Vol. II.-— 15 agreed upon by the opposition for whom all could vote. Suppose a different selection had been made, and an eminent whig candidate taken, and he had been beaten two to one (as would probably have been the case) : what then would have been the argument? Why, that the sub-treasury, and every other measure of the democracy, had been approved, two to one. The result of the election admits of no inference against this system ; and could not, without imputing a heedless versatility to the people, which they do not possess. Theii representatives, in obedience to their will, and on full three years' deliberation, established the system — established it in July, 1840 : is it pos- sible that, within four months afterwards — in the month of November following — the same people should condemn their own work ? But the system is to be abolished ; and we are to take our chance for something, or nothing, in place of it. The abolition is to take place incontinently — incessantly — upon the instant of the passage of the bill ! such is the spirit which pursues it ! such the revenge- ful feeling which burns against it ! And the system is still to be going on for a while after its death — for some days in the nearest parts, and some weeks in the remotest parts of the Union. The receiver-general in St. Louis will not know of his official death until ten days after he shall have been killed here. In the mean time, supposing himself to be alive, he is acting under the law ; and all he does is with- out law, and void. So of the rest. Not only must the system be abolished before a substi- tute is presented, but before the knowledge of the abolition can reach the officers who carry it on ; and who must continue to receive, and pay out public moneys for days and weeks after their functions have ceased, and when all their acts have become illegal and void. Such is the spirit which pursues the measure — such the vengeance against a measure which has taken the money of the people from the moneyed corporations. It is the vengeance of the banking spirit against its enemy — against a system which deprives soulless corporations of their rich prey. Something must rise up in the place of the abolished system until Con- gress provides a substitute; and that some- thing will be the nest of local banks which the Secretary of the Treasury may choose to select. 226 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Among these local banks stands that of the Bank of the United States. The repeal of the sub-treasury has restored that institution to its capacity to become a depository of the pub- lic moneys : and well, and largely has she pre- pared herself to receive them. The Merchants' Bank in New Orleans, her agent there; her branch in New York under the State law ; and her branches and agencies in the South and in the West : all these subordinates, already pre- pared, enable her to take possession of the pub- lic moneys in all parts of the Union. That she expected to do so we learn from Mr. Biddle, who considered the attempted resumption in January last as unwise, because, in showing the broken condition of his bank, her claim to the deposits would become endangered. Mr. Bid- die shows that the deposits were to have been restored ; that, while in a state of suspension, his bank was as good as any. Be noche todas los gatos son pardos. So says the Spanish proverb. In the dark, all the cats are grey — all of one color : the same of banks in a state of suspension. And in this darkness and assimi- lation of colors, the Bank of the United States has found her safety and security — her equality with the rest, and her fair claim to recover the keeping of the long-lost deposits. The attempt at resumption exposed her emptiness, and her rottenness — showed her to be the whited sepul- chre, filled with dead men's bones. Liquida- tion was her course — the only honest — the only justifiable course. Instead of that she accepts new terms (just completed) from the Penn- sylvania legislatures — affects to continue to exist as a bank : and by treating Mr. Biddle as the Jonas of the ship, when the whole crew were Jonases, expects to save herself by throw- ing him overboard. That bank is now, on the repeal of the sub-treasury, on a level with the rest for the reception of the public moneys. She is legally in the category of a public de- pository, under the act of 1836, the moment she resumes : and when her notes are shaved in — a process now in rapid movement — she may assert and enforce her right. She may resume for a week, or a month, to get hold of the public moneys. By the repeal, the public deposits, so far as law is concerned, are restored to the Bank of the United States. When the Senate have this night voted the repeal, they have also voted the restoration of the deposits ; and they will have done it wittingly and know- ingly, with their eyes open, and with a full per- ception of what they were doing. When they voted down my proposition of yesterday — a vote in which the whole opposition concurred, except the senator from Virginia who sits nearest me (Mr. Archer) — when they voted down that proposition to exclude the Bank of the United States from the list of future de- posit banks, they of course declared that she ought to remain upon the list, with the full right to avail herself of her privilege under the revived act of 1836. In voting down that pro- position, they voted up the prostrate bank of Mr. Biddle, and accomplished the great object of the panic of 1833-'34 — that of censuring General Jackson, and of restoring the deposits. The act of that great man — one of the most pa- triotic and noble of his life — the act by which he saved forty millions of dollars to the Ameri- can people — is reversed. The stockholders and creditors of the institution lose above forty mil- lions,, which the people otherwise would have lost. They lose the whole stock, thirty-five millions — for it will not be worth a straw to those who keep it : and the vote of the bank re- fusing to show their list of debtors — suppressing, hiding and concealing — the rotten list of debts — (in which it is mortifying to see a Southern gentleman concurring) — is to enable the in- itiated jobbers and gamblers to shove off their stock at some price on ignorant and innocent purchasers. The stockholders lose the thirty- five millions capital : they lose the twenty per centum advance upon that capital, at which many of the later holders purchased it ; and which is near seven millions more : they lose the six millions surplus profits which were re- ported on hand : but which, perhaps, was only a bank report : and the holders of the notes lose the twenty to thirty per centum, which is now the depreciation of the notes of the bank — soon to be much more. These losses make some fifty millions of dollars. They now fall on the stockholders, and note-holders : where would they have fallen if the deposits had not been removed ? They would have fallen upon the public treasury — upon the people of the United States: for the public is always the goose that is to be first plucked. The public money would have been taken to sustain the bank: taxes would have been laid to uphold ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 227 her : the high tariff would have been revived for her benefit. Whatever her condition re- quired would have been done by Congress. The bank, with all its crimes and debts — with all its corruptions and plunderings — would have been saddled upon the country — its char- ter renewed — and the people pillaged of the more than forty millions of dollars which have been lost. Congress would have been enslaved : and a new career of crime, corruption, and plunder commenced. The heroic patriotism of Presi- dent Jackson saved us from this shame and loss : but we have no Jackson to save us now ; and millionary plunderers — devouring harpies — foul birds, and voracious as foul — are again to seize the prey which his brave and undaunted arm snatched from their insatiate throats. The deposits are restored, so far as the vote of the Senate goes ; and if not restored in fact, it will be because policy, and new schemes for- bid it. And what new scheme can we have ? A nondescript, hermaphrodite, Janus-faced fis- cality 1 or a third edition of General Hamil- ton's bank of 1791 ? or a bastard compound, the unclean progeny of both ? Which will it be ? Hardly the first named. It comes forth with the feeble and rickety symptoms which announce an unripe conception, and an untime- ly death. Will it be the second ? It will be that, or worse. And where will the late flat- terers — the present revilers of Mr. Biddle— the authors equally of the bank that is ruined, and of the one that is to be created : where will they find better men to manage the next than they had to manage the last ? I remember the time when the vocabulary of praise was ex- hausted on Mr. Biddle — when in this chamber, and out of it, the censer, heaped with incense, was constantly kept burning under his nose : when to hint reproach of him was to make, if not a thousand chivalrous swords leap from their scabbards, at least to make a thousand tongues, and ten thousand pens, start up to de- fend him. I remember the time when a sena- tor on this floor, and now on it (Mr. Preston of South Carolina), declared in his place that the bare annunciation of Mr. Biddle's name as Secretary of the Treasury, would raise the value of the people's property one hundred millions of dollars. My friend, here on my right (pointing to Senator Woodbury) was the Secretary of the Treasury ; and the mere transposition of names and places — the mere substitution of Biddle for Woodbury — was to be worth one hundred millions of dollars to the property of the country ! What flattery could rise higher than that ? Yet this man, once so lauded — once so followed, flattered, and courted — now lies condemned by all his former friends. They cannot now denounce sufficient- ly the man who, for ten years past, they could not praise enough : and, after this, what confi- dence are we to have in their judgments ? What confidence are we to place in their new bank, and their new managers, after seeing such mistakes about the former ? Let it not be said that this bank went to ruin since it became a State institution. The State charter made no difference in its charac- ter, or in its management : and Mr. Biddle de- clared it to be stronger and safer without the United States for a partner than with it. The mortal wounds were all given while it was a national institution ; and the late report of the stockholders shows not one species of offence, the cotton speculations alone excepted, which was not shown by Mr. Clayton's report of 1832 ; and being shown, was then defended by the whole power of those who are now cutting loose from the old bank, and clamoring for a new one. Not an act now brought to fight, save and except the cotton operation, not even that for which Reuben M. Whitney was crushed to death, and his name constituted the syno- nyme of perjury and infamy for having told it ; not an act now brought to light which was not shown to exist ten years ago, and which was not then defended by the whole federal party ; so that the pretension that this institution did well as a national bank, and ill as a State one, is as unfounded in fact, as it is preposterous and absurd in idea. The bank was in the high road to ruin' — in the gulf of insolvency — in the slough of crime and corruption — when the patriot Jack- son signed the veto, and ordered the removal of the deposits ; and nothing but these two great acts saved the people from the loss of the forty millions of dollars which have now fallen upon the stockholders and the note holders, and from the shame of seeing their government the slave and instrument of the bank. Jack- son saved the people from this loss, and their 228 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. government from this degradation ; and for this he is now pursued with the undying vengeance of those whose schemes of plunder and ambi- tion were balked by him. Wise and prudent was the conduct of those who refused to recharter the second Bank of the United States. They profited by the error of their friends who refused to recharter the first one. These latter made no preparations for the event — did nothing to increase the con- stitutional currency — and did not even act until the last moment. The renewed charter was only refused a few days before the expiration of the existing charter, and the federal govern- ment fell back upon the State banks, which im- mediately sunk under its weight. The men of 1832 acted very differently. They decided the question of the renewal long before the expira- tion of the existing charter. They revived the gold currency, which had been extinct for thir- ty years. They increased the silver currency by repealing the act of 1819 against the circula- tion of foreign silver. They branched the mints. In a word, they raised the specie cur- rency from twenty millions to near one hun- dred millions of dollars ; and thus supplied the country with a constitutional currency to take the place of the United States Bank notes. The supply was adequate, being nearly ten times the average circulation of the national bank. That average circulation was but eleven millions of dollars ; the gold and silver was near one hundred millions. The success of our measures was complete. The country was hap- py and prosperous under it ; but the architects of mischief— the political, gambling, and rotten part of the banks, headed by the Bank of the United States, and aided by a political party — set to work to make panic and distress, to make suspensions and revulsions, to destroy trade and business, to degrade and poison the currency ; to harass the country until it would give them another national bank : and to charge all the mischief they created upon the demo- cratic administration. This has been their con- duct j and having succeeded in the last presi- dential election, they now come forward to seize the spoils of victory in creating another national bank, to devour the substance of the people, and to rule the government of their country. Sir, the suspension of 1837, on the part of the Bank of the United States and its confederate banks and politicians, was a con- spiracy and a revolt against the government. The preatent suspension is a continuation of the same revolt by the same parties. Many good banks are overpowered by them, and forced into suspension ; but with the Bank of the United States, its affiliated banks, and its con- federate politicians, it is a revolt and a con- spiracy against the government. Sir, it is now nightfall. We are at the end of a long day when the sun is more than fourteen hours above the horizon, and when a suffocat- ing heat oppresses and overpowers the Senate. My friends have moved adjournments: they have been refused. I have been compelled to speak now, or never, and from this commence- ment we may see the conclusion. Discussion is to be stifled ; measures are to be driven through ; and a mutilated Congress, hastily assembled, imperfectly formed, and representing the census of 1830, not of 1840, is to manacle posterity with institutions which are as abhorent to the constitution as they are dangerous to the liber- ties, the morals, and the property of the people. A national bank is to be established, not even a a simple and strong bank like that of General Hamilton, but some monstrous compound, born of hell and chaos, more odious, dangerous, and terrible than any simple bank could be. Pos- terity is to be manacled, and delivered up in chains to this deformed monster ; and by whom ? By a rump Congress, representing an expired census of the people, in the absence of mem- bers from States which, if they had their mem- bers here, would still have but the one-third part of their proper weight in the councils of the Union. The census of 1840 gives many States, and Missouri among the rest, three times their present relative weight; and no permanent measure ought to be discussed until this new relative weight should appear in Congress. Why take the census every ten years, if an ex- piring representation at the end of the term may reach over, and bind the increased num- bers by laws which claim immunity from re- peal, and which are rushed through without de- bate ? Am I to submit to such work ? No, never ! I will war against the bank you may establish, whether a simple or a compound monster ; I will war against it by every means known to the constitution and the laws. I will vote for the repeal of its charter, as General ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 229 Harrison and others voted for the repeal of the late bank charter in 1819. I will promote quo warrantors and sci.fa.'s against it. I will op- pose its friends and support its enemies, and work at its destruction in every legal and con- stitutional way. I will war upon it while I have breath ; and if I incur political extinction in the contest, I shall consider my political life well sold — sold for a high price — when lost in such a cause. But enough for the present. The question now before us is the death of the sub-treasury. The discussion of the substitute is a fair inquiry in this question. "We have a right to see what is to follow, and to compare it with what we have. But gentlemen withhold their schemes, and we strike in the dark. My present purpose is to vindicate the independent treasury sys- tem — to free it from a false character — to show it to be what it is, nothing but the revival of the two great acts of September the 1st and Sep- tember the 2d, 1789, for the collection, safe keeping, and disbursement of the public moneys, under which this government went into opera- tion; and under which it operated safely and successfully until General Hamilton overthrew it to substitute the bank and state system of Sir Robert Walpole, which has been the curse of England, and towards which we are now hurrying again with headlong steps and blind- fold eyes. CHAPTER LXVI. THE BANKRUPT ACT: WHAT IT WAS: AND HOW IT WAS PASSED. It has been seen in Mr. Tyler's message that, as a measure of his own administration, he would not have convened Congress in extraordinary session ; but this having been done by his pre- decessor, he would not revoke his act. It was known that the call had been made at the urgent instance of Mr. Clay. That ardent statesman had so long seen his favorite meas- ures baffled by a majority opposition to them in one House or the other, and by the twelve years presidency of General Jackson and Mr. Van Buren, that he was naturally now impatient to avail himself of the advantage of having all the branches of the government in their favor. He did so without delay. Mr. Tyler had de- livered his message, recommending the measures which he deemed proper for the consideration of Congress : Mr. Clay did the same— that is to say, recommend his list of measures to Congress also, not in the shape of a message, but in the form of a resolve, submitted to the Senate ; and which has been given. A bankrupt act was not in his programme, nor in the President's mes- sage ; and it was well known, and that by evi- dence less equivocal than its designed exclusion from his list of measures, that Mr. Clay was opposed to such a bill. But parties were so nearly balanced in the Senate, a deduction of two or three from the one side and added to the other would operate the life or death of most important measures, in the event that a few members should make the passage of a favorite measure the indispensable condition of their vote for some others which could not be carried without it. This was the case with the bank bill, and the distribution bill. A bank was the leading measure of Mr. Clay's policy — the cor- ner stone of his legislative edifice. It was num- ber two in his list : it was number one in his affections and in his parliamentary movement. He obtained a select committee on the second day of the session, to take into consideration the part of the President's message which related to the currency and the fiscal agent for the man- agement of the finances ; but before that select committee could report a bill, Mr. Henderson, of Mississippi, taking the shortest road to get at his object, asked and obtained leave to bring in a bill to establish a system of bankruptcy. This measure, then, which had no place in the Pre- sident's message, or in Mr. Clay's schedule, and to which he was averse, took precedence on the calendar of the vital measure for which the extra session was chiefly called ; and Mr. Hen- derson being determinedly supported by his colleague, Mr. Walker, and a few other resolute senators with whom the bankrupt act was an overruling consideration, he was enabled to keep it ahead, and coerce support from as many averse to it as would turn the scale in its favor. It passed the Senate, July 24th, by a close vote, 26 to 23. The yeas were : " Messrs. Barrow, Bates, Berrien, Choate, Clay of Kentucky, Clayton, Dixon, Evans, Hen- derson, Huntington, Kerr, Merrick, Miller, 230 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Morehead, Mouton, Phelps, Porter, Simmons, Smith of Indiana, Southard, Tallmadge, Walker, White, Williams, Woodbridge, Young.' " Nays — Messrs, Allen, Archer, Bayard, Ben- ton, Buchanan, Calhoun, Clay of Alabama, Cuth- bert, Fulton, Graham, King, Linn, McRoberts, Nicholson, Pierce, Prentiss, Rives, Sevier, Smith of Connecticut, Sturgeon, Tappan, Woodbury, Wright." The distribution bill was a leading measure in Mr. Clay's policy : it ranked next after the national bank. He had also taken it into his own care, and had introduced a bill on leave for the purpose at an early day. A similar bill was also introduced in the House of Representatives. There was no willing majority for the bankrupt bill in either House ; but the bank bill and the land bill were made to pass it. The ardent friends of the bankrupt bill embargoed both the others until their favorite measure was secure. They were able to defeat the other two, and de- termined to do so if they did not get their own measure; and they did get it — presenting the spectacle of a bill, which had no majority in either House, forcing its own passage, and con- trolling the fate of two others — all of them mea- sures of great national concern. The bankrupt bill had passed the Senate ahead of the bank bill, and also of the distribu- tion bill, and went to the House of Representa- tives, where the majority was against it. It seemed doomed in that House. The same bill had originated in that body ; but lay upon the table without consideration. The President, beset by a mass of debtors who had repaired to Washington to promote the passage of the bill, sent in a special message in its favor ; but with- out effect. The House bill slept on the table : the Senate bill arrived there, and was soon put to rest upon the same table. Mr. Underwood, of Kentucky, a friend of Mr. Clay, had moved to lay it on the table ; and the motion prevailed by a good majority — 110 to 97. Information of this vote instantly flew to the Senate. One of the senators, intent upon the passage of the bill, left his seat and went down to the House ; and when he returned he informed the writer of this View that the bill would pass — that it would be taken off the table, and put through immedi- ately : and such was the fact. The next day the bill was taken up and passed— the meagre majority of only six for it. The way in which this was done was made known to the writer of this View by the senator who went down to attend to the case when the bill was laid on the table: it was simply to let the friends of the bank and distribution bills know that these measures would be defeated if the bankrupt bill was not passed — that there were enough de- termined on that point to make sure : and, for the security of the bankrupt bill, it was required to be passed first. The bill had passed the House with an amend- ment, postponing the commencement of its ope- ration from November to February; and this amendment required to be communicated to the Senate for its concurrence — which was immedi- ately done. This amendment was a salvo to the consciences of members for their forced votes : it was intended to give Congress an opportunity of repealing the act before it took effect; but the friends of the bill were willing to take it that way — confident that they could baffle the repeal for some months, and until those most interested, had obtained the relief they wanted. At the time that this amendment was coming up to the Senate that body was engaged on the distribution bill, the debate on the bank veto message having been postponed by the friends of the bank to make way for it. August the 18th had been fixed for that day — 12 o'clock the hour. The day and the hour, had come ; and with them an immense crowd, and an ex- cited expectation. For it was known that Mr. Clay was to speak — and to speak according to his feelings — which were known to be highly excited against Mr. Tyler. In the midst of this expectation and crowd, and to the disappoint- ment of every body, Mr. Berrien rose and said that — " Under a sense of duty, he was induced to move that the consideration of the executive veto message on the fiscal bank bill be post- poned until to-morrow, 12 o'clock." — Mr. Cal- houn objected to this postponement. " The day, he said, had been fixed by the friends of the bank bill. The President's message contain- ing his objections to it had now been in posses- sion of the Senate, and on the tables of mem- bers for two days. Surely there had been suffi- cient time to reflect upon it : yet now it was proposed still longer to defer action upon it. He asked the senator from Georgia, who had made the motion, to assign some reason for the proposed delay." The request of Mr. Calhoun for a reason, was entirely parliamentary and ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 231 proper ; and in fact should have been anticipated by giving the reason with the motion — as it was not deferential to the Senate to ask it to do a thing without a reason, especially when the thing to be done was contrary to an expressed resolve of the Senate, and took members by surprise who came prepared to attend to the appointed business, and not prepared to attend to another subject. Mr. Berrien declined to give a reason, and said that — " When the sen- ator from South Carolina expressed his personal conviction that time enough had been allowed i for reflection on the message, he expressed what would no doubt regulate his personal conduct ; but when he himself stated that, under a sense of duty, he had asked for further time, he had stated his own conviction in regard to the course which ought to be pursued. Senators would decide for themselves which opinion was to prevail." — Mr. Calhoun rejoined in a way to show his belief that there was a secret and sinister cause for this reserve, so novel and ex- traordinary in legislative proceedings. He said — " Were the motives such as could not be pub- licly looked at ? were they founded on move- ments external to that chamber ? It was cer- tainly due to the Senate that a reason should be given. It was quite novel to refuse it. Some reason was always given for a postponement. He had never known it to be otherwise." — Mr. Berrien remained unmoved by this cogent ap- peal, and rejoined — " The senator from South Carolina was at liberty to suggest whatever he might think proper; but that he should not conclude him (Mr. Berrien), as having made a motion here for reasons which he could not dis- close." — Mr. Calhoun then said that, " this was a very extraordinary motion, the votes of sen- ators upon it ought to be recorded : he would therefore move for the yeas and nays,"— which were ordered, and stood thus : Yeas : Messrs. Archer, Barrow, Bates, Bayard, Berrien, C ho ate, Clay of Kentucky, Clayton (Thomas of Dela- ware), Dixon, Evans, Graham, Henderson, Hunt- ingdon, Kerr, Mangum, Merrick, Miller, More- head, Phelps, Porter, Prentiss, Preston, Rives, Simmons, Smith of Indiana, Southard, Tallmadge, White, and Woodbridge, 29 — the supporters of the bank all voting for the postponement, their numbers swelled a little beyond their actual strength by the votes of Mr. Rives, and a few other whigs. The nays were : Messrs. Allen, Benton, Buchanan, Calhoun, Clay of Alabama, Cuthbert, Fulton, King, Linn, McRoberts, Mou- ton, A. 0. P. Nicholson, Pierce, Sevier, Stur- geon, Tappan, Walker, Williams, Woodbury, Wright, and Young — 21. It was now apparent that the postponement of the bank question was a concerted measure of the whig party — that Mr. Berrien was its organ in making the motion —and that the reason for it was a party secret which he was not at liberty to disclose. Events, however, were in progress to make the dis- closure. The distribution bill was next in order, and during its consideration Mr. White, of Indiana, made a remark which attracted the attention of Mr. Benton. Deprecating further debate, as a useless waste of time, Mr. White wished discus- sion to cease, and the vote be taken — " as he hoped, as well as believed, that the bill would pass, and not alone, but be accompanied by other measures." This remark from Mr. White gave Mr. Benton something to go upon ; and he immediately let out what was on his mind. He thanked the senator from Indiana for his avowal ; it was a confirmation of what he well knew before — that measures, at this extraordi- nary session, were not passed or rejected upon their merits, but made to depend one upon an- other, and the whole upon a third ! It was all bargain and sale. All was conglomerated into one mass, and must go together or fall together. This was the decree out of doors. When the sun dips below the horizon, a private Congress is held, the fate of the measure is decided ; a v bundle are tied together; and while one goes ahead as a bait, another is held back as a rod. Mr. Linn, of Missouri, still more frank than his colleague, stigmatized the motive for post- ponement, and the means that were put in prac- tice to pass momentous bills which could not pass on their own merits ; and spoke out with- out disguise : "These artifices grow out of the system adopted for carrying through measures that never could be carried through other than by trick and art. The majority which by force, not by argument, have to carry their measures, must meet in secret — concoct their measures in conclave — and then hold every member of the party bound to support what is thus agreed upon — a master spirit leading all the while. There had been enough of falsehood, misrepre- sentation and delusion. The presidential elec- tion had contained enough of it, without adding 232 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. to the mass at this session. The country was awake to these impositions, and required only to be informed of the movements of the wire- workers to know how to appreciate their mea- sures. And the people should be informed. As far as it was possible for him and his friends to lay that information before the country, it should be done. Every man in the community must be told how this bank bill, which was in- tended to rule the country with a moneyed des- potism for years to come, had been passed — how a national debt was entailed upon the country — how this bankrupt bill was forced through, as he (Mr. Linn) now understood it was, by a majority of five votes, in the other end of the Capitol, many of its whig opponents dodging behind the columns ; and how this land distri- bution bill was now in the course of being passed, and the tricks resorted to to effect its passage. It was all part and parcel of the same system which was concocted in Harrisburg, wrought with such blind zeal at the presiden- tial election, and perfected by being compressed into a congressional caucus, at an extraordinary called, but uncalled-for, session." The distribution bill had been under debate for an hour, and Mr. King, of Alabama, was on the floor speaking to it, when the clerk of the House of Representatives appeared at the door of the Senate Chamber with the bankrupt bill, and the amendments made by the House — and asking the concurrence of the Senate. Still standing on his feet, but dropping the line of his argument, Mr. King exclaimed : " That, sir, is the bill. There it is sir. That is the bill which is to hurry this land distri- bution bill to its final passage, without either amendments or debate. Did not the senator know that yesterday, when the bankrupt bill was laid on the table by a decided vote in the other House, the distribution bill could not, by any possibility then existing, be passed in this House ? But now the case was altered. A re- consideration of the vote of yesterday had taken place in the other House, and the bankrupt bill was now returned to the Senate for concurrence ; after which it would want but the signature of the Executive to become a law. But how had this change been so suddenly brought about ? How, but by putting on the screws ? Gentle- men whose States cried aloud for the relief of a bankrupt law, were told they could not have it unless they would pay the price — they must pass the distribution bill, or they should have no bankrupt bill. One part of the bargain was already fulfilled : the bankrupt bill was passed. The other part of the bargain is now to be con- summated: the distribution bill can pass now without further delay. He (Mr. King) had had the honor of a seat in this chamber for many years, but never during that time had he seen legislation so openly and shamefully dis- graced by a system of bargain and sale. This extra session of Congress would be long remem- bered for the open and undisguised extent to which this system had been carried." Incontinently the distribution bill was laid upon the table, and the bankrupt bill was taken up. This was done upon the motion of Mr. Walker, who gave his reasons, thus : " He rose not to prolong the debate on the distribution bill, but to ask that it might be laid on the table, that the bill to establish a general bankrupt law, which had just been re- ceived from the House, might be taken up, and the amendment, which was unimportant, might be concurred in by the Senate. He expressed his ardent joy at the passage of this bill by this House, which was so imperiously demanded as a measure of great relief to a suffering commu- nity, which he desired should not be held in suspense another night ; but that they should immediately take up the amendments, and act on them. For this purpose he moved to lay the distribution bill on the table." Mr. Linn asked for the yeas and nays, that it might be seen how senators voted in this riga- doon legislation, in which movements were so rapid, so complicated, and so perfectly per- formed. They were ordered, and stood : Yeas — Messrs. Archer, Barrow, Bates, Bayard, Ber- rien, Choate, Clay of Kentucky, Dixon, Evans, Henderson, Huntington, Kerr, Mangum, Mer- rick, Miller, Morehead, Phelps, Porter, Preston, Simmons, Smith of Indiana, Southard, Tall- madge, Walker, White, and Woodbridge — 26. Nays — Messrs. Allen, Benton, Buchanan, Cal- houn, Clay of Alabama, Clayton, Cuthbert, Ful- ton, Graham, King, Linn, McRoberts, Mouton, Pierce, Sevier, Sturgeon, Tappan, Williams, Woodbury, Wright, and Young— 21. So that the whole body of the friends to the distribution bill, voted to lay it down to take up the bank- rupt bill, as they had just voted to lay down the bank bill to take up the distribution. The three measures thus travelled in company, but bank- rupt in the lead — for the reason, as one of its supporters told Mr. Benton, that they were afraid it would not get through at all if the other measures got through before it. The bankrupt bill having thus superseded the distribution bill, as itself had superseded the bank bill, Mr. Wal- ker moved a concurrence in the amendment. Mr. Buchanan intimated to Mr. Walker that he was taken in— that the postponement was to ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 233 enable Congress to repeal the bill before it took effect ; and, speaking in this sense, said : " From the tone of the letters he had received from politicians differing with him, he should advise his friend from Mississippi [Mr. Walker], not to be quite so soft as, in his eagerness to pass this bill, to agree to this amendment, postponing the time for it to take effect to February, as it would be repealed before its operation com- menced ; although it was now made a price of the passage of the distribution bill. He felt not a particle of doubt but there would be a violent attempt to repeal it next session." Mr. Walker did not defend the amendment, but took it rather than, by a non-concurrence, to send the bill back to the House, where its friends could not trust it again. He said — " When his friend from Pennsylvania spoke of his being ' soft,' he did not know whether he referred to his head or his heart ; but he could assure him he was not soft enough to run the chance of defeating the bill by sending it back to the House." — Mr. Calhoun did not concur with his friend from Pennsylvania, that there would be any effort to repeal this bill. It would be exceedingly popular at its first " go off," and if this bill passed, he hoped that none of his friends would attempt to repeal it. It would, if permitted to work, produce its legitimate effects ; and was enough to destroy any adminis- tration. He saw that this was a doomed ad- ministration. It would not only destroy them, but blow them " sky high." This was the only instance in which Mr. Cal- houn was known to express a willingness that a bad measure should stand because it would be the destruction of its authors ; and on this occasion it was merely the ebullition of an excited feeling, as proved when the question of repeal came on at the next session — in which he cor- dially gave his assistance. The amendment was concurred in without a division, the adversaries of the bill being for the postponement in good faith, and its friends agreeing to it for fear of something worse. There had been an agree- ment that the three measures were to pass, and upon that agreement the bank bill was allowed to go down to the House before the bankrupt bill was out of it ; but the laying that bill on the table raised an alarm, and the friends of the bankrupt required the others to be stopped until their cherished measure was finished : and that was one of the reasons for postponing the debate on the bank veto message which could not be disclosed to the Senate. The amendment of the House being agreed to, there was no further vote to be taken on the bill ; but a motion was made to suppress it by laying it on the table. That motion brought out a clean vote for and against the bill — 23 to 2G. The next day it re- ceived the approval of the President, and became a law. The act was not a bankrupt law, but prac- tically an insolvent law for the abolition of debts at the will of the debtor. It applied to all per- sons in debt — allowed them to commence their proceedings in the district of their own resi- dence, no matter how lately removed to it — al- lowed constructive notice to creditors in news- papers — declared the abolition of the debt where effects were surrendered and fraud not proved. It broke down the line between the jurisdiction of the federal courts and the State courts in the whole department of debtors and creditors ; and bringing all local debts and dealings into the federal courts, at the will of the debtor, to be settled by a federal jurisdiction, with every ad- vantage on the side of the debtor. It took away from the State courts the trials between debtor and creditor in the same State — a thing which under the constitution can only be done between citizens of different States. Jurisdic- tion over bankruptcies did not include the mass of debtors, but only that class known to legis- lative and judicial proceedings as bankrupts. To go beyond, and take in all debtors who could not pay their debts, and bring them into the federal courts, was to break down the line be- tween federal and State jurisdictions, and sub- ject all persons — all neighbors — to have their dealings settled in the federal courts. It vio- lated the principle of all bankrupt systems — that of a proceeding on the part of the creditors for their own benefit — and made it entirely a pro- ceeding for the benefit of the debtor, at his own will. It was framed upon the model of the English insolvent debtor's act of George the Fourth ; and after closely paraphrasing eighteen provisions out of that act, most flagrantly de- parted from its remedy in the conclusion, in sub- stituting a release from the debt instead of a release from imprisonment. In that feature, and in applying to all debts, and in giving the initiative to the debtor, and subjecting the whole proceeding to be carried on at his will, it ceased 234 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. to be a bankrupt act, and became an insolvent act ; but with a remedy which no insolvent act, or bankrupt system, had ever contained before — that of a total abolition of the debt by the act of the debtor alone, unless the creditor could prove fraud ; which the sort of trial allowed would render impossible, even where it actually existed. It was the same bill which had been introduced at the previous session, and sup- ported by Mr. Webster in an argument which confounded insolvency with bankruptcy, and assumed every failure to pay a debt to be a bankruptcy. The pressure for the passing of the act was immense. The long disorders of the currency, with the expansions, contractions, suspensions, and breaking of banks had filled the country with men of ruined fortunes, who looked to the extinction of their debts by law as the only means of getting rid of their incum- brances, and commencing business anew. This unfortunate class was estimated by the most moderate observers at an hundred thousand men. They had become a power in the State. Their numbers and zeal gave them weight: their common interest gave them unity : the stake at issue gave them energy. They worked in a body in the presidential election, and on the side of the whigs : and now attended Con- gress, and looked to that party for the legisla- tive relief for which they had assisted in the election. Nor did they look in vain. They got all they asked — but most unwillingly, and under a moral duresse — and as the price of passing two other momentous bills. Such is legislation in high party times ! selfish and sinistrous, when the people believe it to be honest and patriotic ! people at home, whose eyes should be opened to the truth, if they wish to preserve the purity of their government. Here was a measure which, of itself, could not have got through either House of Congress : combined with others, it carried itself, and licensed the passing of two more ! And all this was done — so nicely were parties balanced — by the zeal and activity (more than the numbers) of a single State, and that a small one, and among the most indebted. In brief, the bankrupt act was passed, and the passage of the bank and distribution bills were licensed by the State of Mississippi, dominated by the condition of its population. Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Wright, Mr. Woodbury, were the principal speakers against the bill in the Senate. Mr. Benton addressed himself mainly to Mr. Webster's position, confounding insolvency and bankruptcy, as taken at the pre- vious session ; and delivered a speech of some research in opposition to that assumption — of which some extracts are given in the next chapter. CHAPTER LXVII. BANKEUPT BILL: ME. BENTON'S SPEECH: EX- TEACTS. The great ground which we occupy in relation to the character of this bill (said Mr. B.) is this : that it is not a bankrupt system, but an insol- vent law, perverted to a discharge from debts, instead of a discharge from imprisonment. As such, it was denounced from the moment it made its appearance in this chamber, at the last session, and I am now ready to prove it to be such. I have discovered its origin, and hold the evidence in my hand. It is framed upon the English insolvent debtor's act of the 1st of George IV., improved and extended by the act of the 7th of George IV., and by the 1st of Vic- toria. From these three insolvent acts our fa- mous bankrupt system of 1841 is compiled ; and it follows its originals with great fidelity, except in a few particulars, until it arrives at the conclusion, where a vast and terrible altera- tion is introduced ! Instead of discharging the debtor from imprisonment, as the English acta do, our American copy discharges him from his debts ! But this is a thing rather to be proved than told ; and here is the proof. I have a copy of the British statutes on my table, containing the three acts which I have mentioned, and shall quote from the first one, in the first year of the reign of George IV., and is entitled " An act for the relief of insolvent debtors in England" The preamble recites that it is expedient to make permanent provision for the relief of in- solvent debtors in England confined in jail, and who shall be willing to surrender their property to their creditors, and thereby obtain a discharge from imprisonment. For this purpose the act creates a new court, to be called the insolvent debtors coitrt, which was to sit in London, and send commissioners into the counties. The first ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 235 sections are taken up with the organization of the court. Then come its powers and duties, its modes of proceeding, and the rights of insol- vents in it : and in these enactments, as in a mirror, and with a few exceptions (the effect of design, of accident, or of necessity, from the difference of the two forms of government), we perceive the original of our bankrupt act. I quote partly from the body of the statute, but chiefly from the marginal notes, as being a suffi- cient index to the contents of the sections. (Here the speaker quoted eighteen separate clauses in which the bill followed the English act, constituting the whole essence of the bill, and its mode of proceeding.) This is the bill which we call bankrupt — a mere parody and perversion of the English in- solvent debtor's act. And now,how came such a bill to be introduced ? Sir, it grew out of the contentions of party ; was brought forward, as a party measure ; and was one of the bitter fruits of the election of 1840. The bill was brought forward in the spring of that year, passed in the Senate, and lost in the House. It was contested in both Houses as a party measure, and was taken up as a party topic in the presidential canvass. The debtor class — those irretrievably in debt, and estimated by the most moderate at a hundred thousand men — entered most zealously into the canvass, and on the side of the party which favored the act. The elections were carried by that party — the Congress as well as the presidential. All power is in the hands of that party ; and an extra session of the legislature was impatiently called to realize the benefits of the victory. But the opening of the session did not appear to be aus- picious to the wishes of the bankrupts. The President's message recommended no bankrupt bill ; and the list of subjects enumerated for the action of Congress, and designated in a paper drawn by Mr. Clay, and placed on our journal for our guidance, was equally silent upon that subject. To all appearance, the bankrupt bill was not to come before us at the extra session. It was evidently a deferred subject. The friends and expectants of the measure took the alarm — flocked to Congress — beset the President and the members — obtained from him a special mes- sage recommending a bankrupt law ; and pre- vailed on members to bring in the bill. It was brought into the Senate — the same which had been defeated in 1840 — and it was soon seen that its passage was not to depend upon its own merits ; that its fate was indissolubly connected with another bill ; and that one must carry the other. This is an insolvent bill : it is so proved, and so admitted : and to defend it the argument is, that insolvency and bankruptcy are the same — a mere inability or failure to pay debts. This is the corner stone of the argument for the bill, and has been firmly planted as such, by its ablest supporter (Mr. Webster). He says : " Bankruptcies, in the general use and accep- tation of the term, mean no more than failures. A bankruptcy is a fact. It is an occurrence in the life and fortunes of an individual. When a man cannot pay his debts, we say that he has become bankrupt, or has failed. Bankruptcy is not merely the condition of a man who is insol- vent, and on whom a bankrupt law is already acting. This would be quite too technical an interpretation. According to this, there never could be bankrupt laws j because every law, if this were the meaning, would suppose the ex- istence of a previous law. Whenever a man's means are insufficient to meet his engagements and pay his debts, the fact of bankruptcy has taken place — a case of bankruptcy has arisen, whether there be a law providing for it or not. A learned judge has said, that a law on the sub- ject of bankruptcies is a law making provision for cases of persons failing to pay their debts. Over the whole subject of these failures, or these bankruptcies, the power of Congress, as it stands on the face of the constitution, is full and complete." This is an entire mistake. There is no foun- dation for confounding bankruptcy and insol- vency. A debtor may be rich, and yet be a bankrupt. Inability to pay does not even en- ter as an ingredient into bankruptcy. The whole system is founded on ability and fraud. The bankrupt is defined in Blackstone's com- mentaries — a work just issued and known to all our statesmen at the time of our Revolution — " to be a trader , who secretes himself, or does certain other acts to defraud his creditors." So far from making insolvency a test of bank- ruptcy the whole system supposes ability and fraud — ability to pay part or all, and a fraudu- lent intent to evade payment. And every British act upon the subject directs the surplus to be restored to the debtor if his effects sell for more than pays the debts— a proof that in- solvency was no ingredient in the acts. The eminent advocate of the bill, in con- 236 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. founding insolvency and bankruptcy, has gone to the continent of Europe, and to Scotland, to quote the cessio bonorum of the civil law, and to confound it with bankruptcy. He says : ;; That bankrupt laws, properly so called, or laws providing- for the cessio bonorum, on the continent of Europe and Scotland,, were never confined to traders." That is true. This ces- sio was never confined to traders : it applied to debtors who could not pay. It was the ces- sion, or surrender of his property by the debtor for the purpose of obtaining freedom for his person — leaving the debt in full force — and all future acquisitions bound for it. I deal in au- thority, and read from Professor BelPs Com- mentaries upon the Laws of Scotland — an ele- gant an instructive work, which has made the reading of Scottish law almost as agreeable to the law reader as the writings of Scott have made Scottish history and manners to the gen- eral reader. Mr. Bell treats of the cessio and of bankruptcy, and treats of them under dis- tinct heads ; and here is what he says of them : " The law of cessio bonorum had its origin in Rome. It was introduced by Julius Caesar, as a remedy against the severity of the old Roman laws of imprisonment ; and his law — which in- cluded only Rome and Italy — was, before the time of Diocletian, extended to the provinces. The first law of the code respecting the cessio bonorum expresses, in a single sentence, the whole doctrine upon the subject : ' Qui bonis cesserint,^ says the Emperor Alexander Seve- rus, ' nisi solidum creditor receperit, non sunt liberati. In eo enim tanlummodo hoc benefi- cium eis prodest, ne judicati detrahantur in carcerem? This institution, having been great- ly improved in the civil law, was adopted by those of the European nations who followed that system of jurisprudence. In France, the institution was adopted very nearly as it was received with us. Perhaps, indeed, it was from France that our system received its distinguish- ing features. The law in that country was, during the seventeenth century, extremely se- vere — not only against bankrupts (which name they applied to fraudulent debtors alone), but against debtors innocently insolvent. * * * The short digest of the law of cessio in Scot- land, then, is : " 1. That a debtor who has been a month in prison, for a civil debt, may apply to the court of session — calling all his creditors before that court, by a summons in the king's name ; and concluding that he should be freed from prison on surrendering to his creditors all his funds and effects. " 2. That he is entitled to this benefit without any mark of disgrace, if (proving his insolven- cy) he can satisfy the court, in the face of his creditors, that his insolvency has arisen from innocent misfortune, and is willing to surrender all his property and effects to his creditors. " 3. That, though he may clear himself from any imputation of fraud, still, if he has been extravagant, and guilty of sporting with the money of his creditors, he is, in strict law, not entitled to the cessio, but on the condition of wearing the habit (mark of disgrace) ; but which is now exchanged for a prolongation of his imprisonment. "4. That, if his creditors can establish a charge of fraud against him, he is not entitled to the cessio at all ; but must lie in prison, at the mercy of his creditors, till the length of his imprisonment may seem to have sufficiently punished his crime ; when, on a petition, the court may admit him to the benefit. " 5. That, if he has not given a fair account of his funds, and shall still be liable to the sus- picion of concealment, the court will, in the meanwhile, refuse the benefit of the cessio — leaving it to him to apply again, when he is able to present a clearer justification, or willing to make a full discovery." This is the cessio, and its nature and origin are both given. Its nature is that of an insol- vent law, precisely as it exists at this day in the United States and in England. Its origin is Roman, dating from the dictatorship of Julius Caesar. That great man had seen the evils of the severity of the Roman law against debtors. He had seen the iniquity of the law itself, in the cruel condemnation of the helpless debtor to slavery and death at the will of the creditor ; and he had seen its impolicy, in the disturbances to which it subjected the republic — the sedi- tions, commotions, and conspiracies, which, from the time of the secession of the people to the Mons Sacer to the terrible conspiracy of Cati- line, were all built upon the calamities of the debtor class, and had for their object an aboli- tion of debts. Caesar saw this, and determined to free the commonwealth from a deep-seated cause of commotion, while doing a work of in- dividual justice. He freed the person of the debtor upon the surrender of his property ; and this equitable principle, becoming ingrafted in the civil law, spread over all the provinces of the Roman world — has descended to our times, and penetrated the new world — and now forms the principle of the insolvent laws of Europe and America. The English made it permanent by their insolvent law of the first of George the ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 237 Fourth— that act from which our bankrupt sys- tem is compiled ; and in two thousand years, and among all nations, there has been no de- parture from the wise and just principles of Caesar's edict, until our base act of Congress has undertaken to pervert it into an abolition debt law, by substituting a release from the debt for a release from jail ! This is the cessio omnium bonorum of Scot- land, to which we are referred as being the same thing with bankruptcy (properly so called), and which is quoted as an example for our act of 1841. And, now, what says Profes- sor Bell of bankruptcy ? Does he mention that subject? Does he treat of it under a separate head — as a different thing from the cessio — and as requiring a separate consideration ? In fact, he does. He happens to do so ; and gives it about 300 pages of his second volume, under the title of "System of the Bankrupt Laws;" which system runs on all- fours with that of the English system, and in the main point — that of discharge from his debts — it is identical with the English ; requiring the concurrence of four- fifths of the creditors to the discharge ; and that bottomed on the judicial attestation of the bank- rupt's integrity. Here it is, at page 441 of the second volume : c; The concurrence of the creditors, without which the bankrupt cannot apply to the court for a discharge, must be not that of a mere ma- jority, but a majority of four-fifths in number and value. * * * * The creditors are sub- ject to no control in respect to their concur- rence. Against their decision there is no appeal, nor are they bound to account for or explain the grounds of it. They are left to proceed upon the whole train of the bankrupt's conduct, as they may have seen occasion to judge of him ; and the refusal of their concurrence is an abso- lute bar until the opposition be overcome. * * * * The statute requires the concurrence of the trustee, as well as of the creditors. There appears, however, to be this difference between them: that the creditors are entirely uncon- trolled in giving or withholding their concur- rence ; while, on the part of the trustee, it is debitum justilice either to the bankrupt or to the creditors to give or withhold his concur- rence. He acts not as a creditor, but as a judge. To his jurisdiction the bankrupt is subjected by the choice of his creditors ; and, on deciding on the bankrupt's conduct, he is not entitled to proceed on the same undisclosed motives or evidence on which a creditor may act, but on the ground of legal objection alone — as fraud, concealment, nonconformity with the statute. In England, the commissioners are public officers — not the mere creatures of the creditors. They are by statute invested with a judicial dis- cretion, which they exercise under the sanction of an oath. Their refusal is taken as if they swore they could not grant the certificate ; and no mandamus lies to force them to sign." So much for bankruptcy and cessio — two things very different in their nature, though at- tempted to be confounded ; and each of them still more different from our act, for which they are quoted as precedents. But the author of our act says that bankrupt laws in Scotland are not confined to traders, but take in all persons whatsoever ; and he might have added — though, perhaps, it did not suit his purpose at the mo- ment—that those laws, in Scotland, were not confined to natural persons, but also included corporations and corporate bodies. Bell ex- pressly says : " Corporate bodies are, in law, considered as persons, when associated by royal authority or act of Parliament. When a community is thus established by public authority, it has a legal existence as a person, with power to hold funds, to sue and to defend. It is, of consequence, sub- ject to diligence; and although personal exe- cution cannot proceed against this ideal-legal person, and so the requisites of imprisonment, &c, cannot be complied with, there seems to be no reason to doubt that a corporation may now be made bankrupt by the means recently provided for those cases in which imprisonment is incompetent." — vol. 2, p. 167. The gentleman might have quoted this pas- sage from the Scottish law; and then what would have become of his argument against in- cluding corporations in the bankrupt act ? But he acts the advocate, and quotes what suits him; and which, even if it were applicable, would answer but a small part of his purpose. The Scot- tish system differs from the English in its appli- cation to persons not traders ; but agrees with it in the great essentials of perfect security for creditors, by giving them the initiative in the proceedings, discriminating between innocent and culpable bankruptcy, and making the dis- charge from debt depend upon their consent, bottomed upon an attestation of integrity from the officer that tries the case. It answers no purpose to the gentleman, then, to carry us to Scotland for the meaning of a term in our con- stitution. It is to no purpose that he suggests that the framers of the constitution might have 238 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW been looking to Scotland for an example of a bankrupt system. They were no more looking to it in that case, than they were in speaking of juries, and in guarantying the right of jury trials — a jury of twelve, with unanimit}', as in England ; and not of fifteen, with a majority of eight to give the verdict, as in Scotland. In all its emplo} r ment of technical, legal, and political phrases, the constitution used them as used in England — the country from which we received our birth, our language, our manners, and cus- toms, and all our systems of law and politics. We got all from England ; and, this being the case, there is no use in following the gentleman to the continent of Europe, after dislodging him from. Scotland; but as he has quoted the con- tinent for the effect of the cessio in abolishing debts, and for its identity with bankruptcy, I must be indulged with giving him a few cita- tions from the Code Napoleon, which embodies the principles of the civil law, and exemplifies the systems of Europe on the subject of bank- ruptcies and insolvencies. Here they are : Mr. B. here read copiously from the Code Napoleon, on the subjects of bankruptcies and cession of property ; the former contained in the commercial division of the code, the latter in the civil. Bankruptcy was divided into two classes — innocent and fraudulent ; both confined to traders (commercants) ; the former were treated with lenity, the latter with criminal severity. The innocent bankrupt was the trader who be- came unable to pay his debts by the casualties of trade, and who had not lived beyond his means, nor gambled, nor engaged in speculations of pure hazard ; who kept fair books, and satis- fied his creditors and the judge of his integrity. The fraudulent bankrupt was the trader who had lived prodigally, or gambled, or engaged in speculations of pure hazard, or who had not kept books, or not kept them fairly, or misap- plied deposits, or violated trusts, or been guilty of any fraudulent practice. He was punished by imprisonment and hard labor for a term of years, and could not be discharged from his debts by any majority of his creditors what- ever. Cession of property — in French, la ces- sion de Mens — was precisely the cessio omnium bonorum of the Romans, as established by Julius Caesar. It applied to all persons, and obtained for them freedom from imprisonment, and from suits, on the surrender of all their present property to their creditors; leaving their future acquisitions liable for the remainder of the debt. It was the insolvent law of the civil law ; and thus bankruptcy and insolvency were as distinct on the continent of Europe as in England and Scotland, and governed by the same principles. Having read these extracts from the civil law, Mr. B. resumed his speech, and went on to say that the gentleman was as unfortunate in his visit to the continent as in his visit to Scotland. In the first place he had no right to go there for exemplification of the terms used in our con- stitution. The framers of the constitution did not look to other countries for examples. They looked to England alone. In the second place, if we sought them elsewhere, we found pre- cisely the same thing that we found in Eng- land: we found bankruptcy and insolvency everywhere distinct and inconvertible. They were, and are, distinct everywhere; here and elsewhere — at home and abroad — in England, Scotland, France, and all over Europe. They have never been confounded anywhere, and can- not be confounded here, without committing a double offence : first, violating our own consti- tution; secondly, invading the States. And with this, I dismiss the gentleman's first funda- mental position, affirming that he has utterly failed in his attempt to confound bankruptcy with insolvency; and, therefore, has utterly failed to gain jurisdiction for Congress over the general debts of the community, by the pretext of the bankrupt power. I have said that this so-called bankrupt bill of ours is copied from the insolvent law of the first year of George IV., and its amendments ; and so it is, all except section 13 of that act, which is omitted, and for the purpose of keep- ing out the distinction between bankrupts and insolvents. That section makes the distinction. The act permits all debtors to petition for the benefit of the insolvent law, that is to say, dis- charge from imprisonment on surrendering their property ; yet, in every case in which traders, merchants, &c, petition, the proceedings stop until taken up, and proceeded upon by the creditors. The filing the petition by a person subject to the bankrupt law, is simply held to be an act of bankruptcy, on which the creditors may proceed, or not, as on any other act of bankruptcy, precisely as they please. And thus ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 239 insolvency and bankruptcy are kept distinct; double provisions on the same subject are pre- vented ; and consistency is preserved in the administration of the laws. Not so under our bill. The omission to copy this 13th section has nullified all that relates to involuntary bank- ruptcy ; puts it into the power of those who are subject to that proceeding to avoid it. at their pleasure, by the simple and obvious process of availing themselves of their absolute right to proceed voluntarily. And now a word upon volunteer bankruptcy. It is an invention and a crudity in our bill, growing out of the confound- ing of bankruptcy and insolvency. There is no such thing in England, or in any bankrupt sys- tem in the world ; and cannot be, without re- versing all the rules of right, and subjecting the creditor to the mercy of his debtor. The Eng- lish bankrupt act of the 6th George IV., and the insolvent debtors' act of the 1st of the same reign, admit the bankrupt, as an insolvent, to file his declaration of insolvency, and petition for relief; but there it stops. His voluntary action goes no further than the declaration and petition. Upon that, his creditors, if they please, may proceed against him as a bankrupt, taking the declaration as an act of bankruptcy. If they do not choose to proceed, the case stops. The bankrupt cannot bring his creditors into court, and prosecute his claim to bankruptcy, whether they will or not. This is clear from the 6th section of the bankrupt act of George IV., and the 13th section of the insolvent debtors' act of the 1st year of the same reign ; and thus our act of 1841 has the honor of inventing vol- unteer bankruptcy, and thus putting the aboli- tion of debts in the hands of every person ! for these volunteers have a right to be discharged from their debts, without the consent of their creditors ! Mr. Benton then read the two sections of the two acts of George IV. to which he had referred, and commented upon them to sustain his posi- tions. And first the 6th section of the act of George IV. (1826) for the amendment of the bankrupt laws : " Sec. 6. That if any such trader shall file in the oifice of the Lord Chancellor's secretary of bank- rupts, a declaration in writing, signed by such trader, and attested by an attorney or solicitor, that he is insolvent or unable to meet his en- gagements, the said secretary of bankrupts, or his deputy, shall sign a memorandum that such declaration hath been filed ; which memorandum shall be authority for the London Gazette to in- sert an advertisement of such declaration there- in ; and every such declaration shall, after such advertisement inserted as aforesaid, be an act of bankruptcy committed by such trader at the time when such declaration was filed : but no commission shall issue thereupon, unless it be sued out within two calendar months next after the insertion of such advertisement, and unless such advertisement shall have been in- serted in the London Gazette within eight days after such declaration filed. And no docket shall be struck upon such act of bankruptcy be- fore the expiration of four days next after such insertion of such advertisement, in case such commission is to be executed in London ; or be- fore the expiration of eight days next after such insertion, in case such commission is to be exe- cuted in the country ; and the Gazette contain- ing such advertisement shall be evidence to be received of such declaration having been filed." Having read this section, Mr. B. said it was explicit, and precluded argument. The volun- tary action of the debtor, which it authorized, was limited to the mere filing of the declaration of insolvency. It went no further ; and it was confined to traders — to the trading classes — who, alone, were subject to the laws of bank- ruptcy. Mr. B. said that the English had, as we all know, an insolvent system, as well as a bank- rupt system. They had an insolvent debtors' court, as well as a bankrupt court; and both these were kept separate, although there were no States in England to be trodden under foot by treading down the insolvent laws. Not so with us. Our insolvent laws, though belonging to States called sovereign, are all trampled un- der foot ! There would be a time to go into this. At present, Mr. B. would only say that, in England, bankruptcy and insolvency were still kept distinct ; and no insolvent trader was allowed to proceed as a bankrupt. On the con- trary, an insolvent, applying in the insolvent debtors' court for the release of his person, could not proceed one step beyond filing his declaration. At that point the creditors took up the declaration, if they pleased, transferred the case to the bankrupt court, and prosecuted the case in that court. This is done by virtue of the 13th section of the insolvent debtors' act of 7th George IV. (1827). Mr. B. read the section, as follows : 240 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. "Insolvent debtors* act of 7th year of George IV. (1827). "Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That the filing of the petition of every person in ac- tual custody, who shall be subject to the laws concerning bankrupts, and who shall apply by petition to the said court for his or her discharge from custody, according to this act, shall be ac- counted and adjudged an act of bankruptcy from the time of filing such petition ; and that any commission issuing against such person, and under which he or she shall be declared bankrupt before the time appointed by the said court, and advertised in the London Gazette, for hearing the matters of such petition, or at any time within two calendar months from the time of filing such petition, shall have effect to avoid any conveyance and assignment of the estate and effects of such person, which shall have been made in pursuance of the provisions of this act : Provided, always, That the filing of such petition shall not be deemed an act of bankruptcjr, unless such person be so declared bankrupt before the time so advertised as afore- said, or within such two calendar months as aforesaid ; but that every such conveyance and assignment shall be good and valid, notwith- standing any commission of bankruptcy under which such person shall be declared bankrupt after the time so advertised as aforesaid, and after the expiration of such two calendar months as aforesaid." This (said Mr. B.) accords with the section of the year before in the bankrupt act. The two sections are accordant, and identical in their provisions. They keep up the great dis- tinction between" insolvency and bankruptcy, which some of our judges have undertaken to abrogate ; they keep up. also, the great distinc- tion between the proper subjects of bankrupt- cy — to wit : traders, and those who are not traders ; and they keep up the distinction be- tween the release of the person (which is the object of insolvent laws) and the extinction of the debt with the consent of creditors, which is the object of bankrupt systems. By this sec- tion, if the "person" in custody who files a declaration of insolvency shall be a trader, sub- ject to the laws of bankruptcy, it only operates as an act of bankruptcy — upon which the cred- itors may proceed, or not, as they please. If they proceed, it is done by suing out a commis- sion of bankruptcy j which carries the case to the bankrupt court. If the creditors do not proceed, the petition of the insolvent trader only releases his person. Being subject to bankruptcy, his creditors may call him into the bankrupt court, if they please ; if they do not, he cannot take it there, nor claim the benefit of bankruptcy in the insolvent court : he can only get his person released. This is clear from the section ; and our bill of 1841 commit- ted something worse than a folly in not copying this section. That bill creates two sorts of bankruptcy — voluntary and involuntary — and, by a singular folly, makes them convertible ! so that all may be volunteers, if they please. It makes merchants, traders, bankers, and some others of the trading classes, subject to invol- untary bankruptcy : then it gives all persons whatever the right to proceed voluntarily. Thus the involuntary subjects of bankruptcy may become volunteers; and the distinction becomes ridiculous and null. Our bill, which is compiled from the English Insolvent Debtors' Act, and is itself nothing but an insolvent law perverted to the abolition of debts at the will of the debtor, should have copied the 13 th sec- tion of the English insolvent law : for want of copying this, it annihilated involuntary bank- ruptcy — made all persons, traders or not, vol- unteers who chose to be so — released all debts, at the will of the debtor, without the consent of a single creditor ; and committed the most daring legislative outrage upon the rights of property, which the world ever beheld 1 CHAPTER LXVIII. DISTRIBUTION OF THE PUBLIC LAND EEVENUE, AND ASSUMPTION OF THE STATE DEBTS. About two hundred millions of dollars were due from States and corporations to creditors in Europe. These debts were in stocks, much depreciated by the failure in many instances to pay the accruing interest — in some instances, failure to provide for the principal. These creditors became uneasy, and wished the fed- eral government to assume their debts. As early as the year 1838 this wish began to be manifested : in the year 1839 it was openly ex- pressed: in the year 1840, it became a regular question, mixing itself up in our presidential election ; and openly engaging the active exer- tions of foreigners. Direct assumption was not ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 241 urged : indirect, by giving the public land rev- enue to the States, was the mode pursued, and the one recommended by Mr. Tyler. In his first regular message, he recommended this dis- position of the public lands, and with the ex- pressed view of enabling the States to pay their debts, and also to raise the value of the stock. It was a vicious recommendation, and a flagrant and pernicious violation of the constitution. It was the duty of Congress to provide for the pay- ment of the federal debts : that was declared in the constitution. There was no prohibition upon the payment of the State debts : that was a departure from the objects of the Union too gross to require prohibition : and the absence of any authority to do so was a prohibition as absolute as if expressed in the eyes of all those who held to the limitations of the constitution, and considered a power, not granted, as a power denied. Mr. Calhoun spoke with force and clearness, and with more than usual animation, against this proposed breach in the constitu- tion. He said : " If the bill should become a law, it would make a wider breach in the constitution, and be followed by changes more disastrous, than any other measure which has ever been adopted. It would, in its violation of the constitution, go far beyond the general welfare doctrine of former days, which stretched the power of the government as far as it was then supposed was possible by construction, however bold. But as wide as were the limits which it assigned to the powers of the government, it admitted by implication that there were limits ; while this bill, as I shall show, rests on principles which, if admitted, would supersede all limits. Ac- cording to the general welfare doctrine, Con- gress had power to raise money and appro- priate it to all objects which might seem calcu- lated to promote the general welfare — that is, the prosperity of the States, regarded in their aggregate character as members of the Union : or, to express it more briefly, and in language once so common, to national objects : thus ex- cluding, by necessary implication, all that were not national, as falling within the sphere of the separate States. It takes in what is excluded under the general welfare doctrine, and assumes for Congress the right to raise money, to give by distribution to the States : that is, to be ap- plied by them to those very local State objects to which that doctrine, by necessary implica- tion, denied that Congress had a right to appro- priate money ; and thus superseding all the limits of the constitution — as far, at least, as the money power is concerned. Such, and so overwhelming, are the constitutional difficulties JVol. IL— 16 which beset this measure. No one who can overcome them — who can bring himself to vote for this bill — need trouble himself about consti- tutional scruples hereafter. He may swallow without hesitation bank, tariff, and every other unconstitutional measure which has ever been adopted or proposed. Yes ; it would be easier to make a plausible argument for the constitu- tionality of the measures proposed by the aboli- tionists — for abolition itself — than for this de- testable bill. And yet we find senators from slaveholding States, the very safety of whose constituents depends upon a strict construction of the constitution, recording their names in fa- vor of a measure from which they have nothing to hope, and every thing to fear. To what is a course so blind to be attributed, but to that fa- naticism of party zeal, openly avowed on this floor, which regards the preservation of the power of the whig party as the paramount con- sideration ? It has staked its existence on the passage of this, and the other measures for which this extraordinary session was called ; and when it is brought to the alternative of their defeat or success, in their anxiety to avoid the one and secure the other, constituents, con- stitution, duty, country, — all are forgotten." Clearly unconstitutional, the measure itself was brought forward at the most inauspicious time — when the Treasury was empty, a loan bill, and a tax bill actually depending; and measures going on to raise money from the cus- toms, not only to support the government, but to supply the place of this very land money proposed to be given to the States. Mr. Ben- ton exposed this aggravation in some pointed remarks : What a time to choose for squandering this patrimony ! We are just in the midst of loans, and taxes, and new and extravagant expendi- tures, and scraping high and low to find money to support the government. Congress was called together to provide revenue ; and we be- gin with throwing away what we have. We have just passed a bill to borrow twelve mil- lions, which will cost the people sixteen mil- lions to pay. We have a bill on the calendar — the next one in order — to tax every thing now free, and to raise every tax now low, to raise eight or ten millions for the government, at the cost of eighteen or twenty to the people. Six- teen millions of deficit salute the commence- ment of the ensuing year. A new loan of twelve millions is announced for the next ses- sion. All the articles of consumption which escape taxation now, are to be caught and taxed 242 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. then. Such are the revelations of the chairman of the Finance Committee ; and they corres- pond with our own calculations of their con- duct. In addition to all this, we have just commenced the national defences — neglected when we had forty millions of surplus, now obliged to he attended to when we have nothing : these defences are to cost above a hundred millions to create them, and above ten millions annually to sustain them. A new and frightful extravagance has broken out in the Indian Department. Treaties which cannot be named, are to cost millions upon millions. Wild savages, who cannot count a hundred except by counting their fingers ten times over, are to have millions ; and the customs to pay all ; for the lands are no longer to pay for themselves, or to discharge the heavy annuities which have grown out of their acquisition. The chances of a war ahead : the ordinary expenses of the government, under the new administration, not thirteen millions as was promised, but above thirty, as this session proves. To crown all, the federal party in power ! that party whose instinct is debt and tax — whose passion is waste and squander — whose cry is that of the horse- leech, give ! give ! give ! — whose call is that of the grave, more ! more ! more ! In such cir- cumstances, and with such prospects ahead, we are called upon to throw away the land revenue, and turn our whole attention to taxing and bor- rowing. The custom-house duties — that is to say, foreign commerce, founded upon the labor of the South and West, is to pay all. The farmers and planters of the South and West are to take the chief load, and to carry it. Well may the senator from Kentucky [Mr. Clay] announce the forthcoming of new loans and taxes — the recapture of the tea and coffee tax, if they escape us now — and the increase and perpetuity of the salt tax. All this must come, and more too, if federalism rules a few years longer. A few years more under federal sway, at the rate things have gone on at this session — this sweet little session called to relieve the people — and our poor America would be ripe for the picture for which England now sits, and which has been so powerfully drawn in the Edinburgh Review. Listen to it, and hear what federalism would soon bring us to, if not stopped in its mad career : " Taxes upon every article which enters into the mouth, or covers the back, or is placed un- der the foot. Taxes upon every thing which it is pleasant to see, hear, feel, smell, or taste. Taxes upon warmth, light, and locomotion. Taxes on every thing on earth, and the waters under the earth ; on every thing that comes from abroad, or is grown at home. Taxes on the raw material; taxes on every fresh value that is added to it by the industry of man Taxes on the sauce which pampers a man's ap- petite, and the drug that restores him to health ; on the ermine which decorates the judge, and the rope which hangs the criminal ; on the brass nails of the coffin, and the ribbons of the bride. At bed or board, couchant or levant, we must pay. The schoolboy whips his taxed top ; the beardless youth manages his taxed horse with a taxed bridle, on a taxed road. The dying Englishman pours his medicine, which has paid seven per cent., into a spoon that has paid fif- teen per cent.; flings himself back upon his chintz bed, which has paid twenty-two per cent. ; makes his will on an eight-pound stamp, and expires in the arms of an apothecary, who has paid a license of a hundred pounds for the privilege of putting him to death. His whole property is then immediately taxed from two to ten per cent. Besides the probate, large fees are demanded for burying him in the chan- cel ; his virtues handed down to posterity on taxed marble, and he is then gathered to {lis fathers, to be taxed no more." This is the way the English are now taxed, and so it would be with us if the federalists should remain a few years in power. Execrable as this bill is in itself, and for its objects, and for the consequences which it draws after it, it is still more abominable for the time and manner in which it is driven through Con- gress, and the contingencies on which its pas- sage is to depend. What is the time ? — when the new States are just read} 7 " to double their representation, and to present a front which would command respect for their rights, and secure the grant of all their just demands. They are pounced upon in this nick of time, before the arrival of their full representation under the new census, to be manacled and fet- tered by a law which assumes to be a perpetual settlement of the land question, and to bind their interests for ever. This is the time ! what is the manner ? — gagged through the House of Representatives by the previous question, and by new rules fabricated from day to day, to stifle discussion, prevent amendments, suppress yeas and nays, and hide the deeds which shun- ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 243 ned the light. This was the manner ! What was the contingency on which its passage was to depend ? — the passage of the bankrupt bill ! So that this execrable bill, baited as it was with douceurs to old States, and bribes to the new ones, and pressed under the gag, and in the ab- sence of the new representation, was still un- able to get through without a bargain for pass- ing the bankrupt bill at the same time. Can such legislation stand ? Can God, or man, re- spect such work ? But a circumstance which distinguished the passage of this bill from all others — which up to that day was without a precedent — was the open exertion of a foreign interest to influence our legislation. This interest had already ex- erted itself in our presidential election : it now appeared in our legislation. Victorious in the election, they attended Congress to see that their expectations were not disappointed. The lobbies of the House contained them: the boarding-houses of the whig members were their resort : the democracy kept aloof, though under other circumstances they would have been glad to have paid honor to respectable strangers, only avoided now on account of in- terest and exertions in our elections and legis- lation. Mr. Fernando Wood of New York brought this scandal to the full notice of the House. " In connection with this point I will add that, at the time this cheat was in prepara- tion — the merchants' petition being drawn up by the brokers and speculators for the con- gressional market — there were conspicuous bankers in Wall street, anxious observers, if not co-laborers in the movement. Among them might be named Mr. Bates, partner of the celebrated house of Baring, Brothers & Com- pany ; Mr. Cryder, of the equally celebrated house of Morrison, Cryder & Company ; Mr. Palmer, junior, son of Mr. Horsley Palmer, now, or lately, the governor of the Bank of England. Nor were these 'allies' seen only in Wall street. Their visits were extended to the capi- tol ; and since the commencement of the debate upon this bill in the other House, they have been in the lobbies, attentive, and apparently interested listeners. I make no comment. Comment is unnecessary. I state facts — unde- niable facts : and it is with feelings akin to hu- miliation and shame that I stand up here and state them." These respectable visitors had a twofold object in their attention to our legisla- tion — the getting a national bank established, as well as the State debts provided for. Mr. Benton also pointed out this outrage upon our legislation : He then took a rapid view of the bill — its origin, character, and effects ; and showed it to be federal in its origin, associated with all the federal measures of the present and past ses- sions ; with bank, tariff, assumption of State debts, dependent upon the bankrupt bill for its passage ; violative of the constitution and the compacts with the new States ; and crowning all its titles to infamy by drawing capitalists from London to attend this extra session of Congress, to promote the passage of this bill for their own benefit. He read a paragraph from the money article in a New York paper, reciting the names and attendance, on account of this bill, of the foreign capitalists at Washington. The passage was in these words : " At the commencement of the session, almost every foreign house had a representative here. Wilson, Palmer, Cryder, Bates, Willinck, Hope, Jaudon, and a host of others, came over on va- rious pretences ; all were in attendance at Wash-' ington, and all seeking to forward the proposed measures. The land bill was to give them three millions per annum from the public Treasury, or thirty millions in ten years, and to raise the value of the stock at least thirty millions more. The revenue bill was to have supplied the defi- ciency in the Treasury. The loan bill was to have. been the basis of an increase of importa- tions and of exchange operations ; and the new bank was the instrument of putting the whole in operation." This Mr. Benton accompanied by an article from a London paper, showing that the capitalists in that city were counting upon the success of their emissaries at Washington, and that the passage of this land bill was the first and most anxious wish of their hearts — that they con- sidered it equivalent to the assumption of the State debts — and that the benefit of the bill would go to themselves. This established the character of the bill, and showed that it had been the means of bringing upon the national legislation the degrading and corrupting in- fluences of a foreign interference. For the first time in the history of our government, foreign- ers have attended our Congress, to promote the passage of laws for their own benefit. For the first time we have had London capitalists for 244 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. lobby members ; and, mortifying to be told, in- stead of being repulsed by defeat, they have been encouraged by success ; and their future attendance may now be looked for as a matter of course, at our future sessions of Congress, when they have debts to secure, stocks to en- hance, or a national bank to establish. - Mr. Benton also denounced the bill for its unconstitutionality, its demagogue character, its demoralizing tendencies, its bid for popularity, and its undaunted attempt to debauch the people with their own money. The gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Archer], to whose speech I am now replying, in allusion to the frequent cry of breach of the constitution, when there is no breach, says he is sick and weary of the cry, wolf ! wolf ! when there is no wolf. I say so too. The constitution should not be trifled with — should not be invoked on every petty occasion — should not be proclaimed in danger when there is no danger. Granting that this has been done sometimes — that too often, and with too little consideration, the grave question of constitutionality has been pressed .into trivial discussions, and violation proclaimed where there was none: granting this, I must yet be permitted to say that such is not the case now. It is not now a cry of wolf ! when there is no wolf. It is no false or sham cry now. The boy cries in earnest this time. The wolf has come ! Long, lank, gaunt, hungry, vora- cious, and ferocious, the beast is here ! howling, for its prey, and determined to have it at the expense of the life of the shepherd. The politi- cal stockjobbers and gamblers raven for the public lands, and tear the constitution to pieces to get at them. They seize, pillage, and plunder the lands. It is not a case of misconstruction, but of violation. It is not a case of misunder- standing the constitution, but of assault and battery — of maim and murder — of homicide and assassination — committed upon it. Never has such a daring outrage been perpetrated — never such a contravention of the object of a confedera- tion — never such a total perversion, and bare- faced departure, from all the purposes for which a community of States bound themselves to- gether for the defence, and not for the plunder of each other. No, sir ! no ! The constitution was not made to divide money. This confede- racy was not framed for a distribution among its members of lands, money, property, or effects of any kind. It contains rules and directions for raising money — for levying duties equally, which the new tariff will violate ; and for raising direct taxes in proportion to federal population ; but it contains no rule for dividing money ; and the distributors have to make one as they go, and the rule they make is precisely the one that is necessary to carry the bill ; and that varies with the varying strength of the distributing party. In 1836, in the deposit act, it was the federal representation in the two Houses of Congress : in this bill, as it came from the House of Representatives, it was the federal numbers. We have put in representation: it will come back to us with numbers ; and numbers will prevail ; for it is a mere case of plunder — the plunder of the young States by the old ones — of the weak by the strong. Sir, it is sixteen years since these schemes of distribution were brought into this chamber, and I have viewed them all in the same light, and given them all the same indignant opposition. I have opposed all these schemes as unconstitutional, immoral, fatal to the Union, degrading to the people, de- bauching to the States ; and inevitably tending to centralism on one hand or to disruption on the other. I have opposed the whole, begin- ning with the first proposition of a senator from New Jersey [Mr. Dickerson], to divide five millions of the sinking fund, and following the baneful scheme through all its modifications for the distribution of surplus revenue, and finally of land revenue. I have opposed the whole, ad- hering to the constitution, and to the objects of the confederacy, and scorning the ephemeral popularity which a venal system of plunder could purchase from the victims, or the dupes, of a false and sordid policy. I scorn the bill: I scout its vaunted popu- larity : I detest it. Nor can I conceive of an object more pitiable and contemptible than that of the demagogue haranguing for votes, and ex- hibiting his tables of dollars and acres, in order to show each voter, or each State, how much money they will be able to obtain from the Treasury if the land bill passes. Such haran- guing, and such exhibition, is the address of im- pudence and knavery to supposed ignorance, meanness, and folly. It is treating the people as if they were penny wise and pound foolish ; and still more mean than foolish. Why, the land revenue, after deducting the expenses, if ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 245 fairly divided among the people, would not ex- ceed ninepence a head per annum ; if fairly di- vided among the States, and applied to their debts, it would not supersede above ninepence per annum of taxation upon the units of the population. The day for land sales have gone by. The sales of this year do not exceed a mil- lion and a half of dollars, which would not leave more than a million for distribution ; which, among sixteen millions of people would be ex- actly fourpence half penny, Virginia money, per head ! a Jip in New York, and a picaillon in Louisiana. At two millions, it would be nine- pence a head in Virginia, equivalent to a levy in New York, and a bit in Louisiana ! precisely the amount which, in specie times, a gentleman gives to a negro boy for holding his horse a minute at the door. And for this miserable doit — this insignificant subdivision of a shilling — a York shilling — can the demagogue suppose that the people are base enough to violate their constitution, mean enough to surrender the de- fence of their country, and stupid enough to be taxed in their coffee, tea, salt, sugar, coats, hats, blankets, shoes, shirts ; and every article of com- fort, decency, or necessity, which they eat, drink, or wear ; or on which they stand, sit, sleep, or lie ? The bill was bound to pass. Besides being in the same boat with the other cardinal whig measures— bank, bankrupt, repeal of independent treasury — and all arranged to pass together ; and besides being pushed along and supported by the London bankers — it contained within itself the means of success. It was richly freighted with inducements to conciliate every interest. To every new State it made a preliminary dis- tribution of ten per centum (in addition to the five per centum allowed by compact), on the amount of the sales within the State : then it came in for a full share of all the rest in propor- tion to its population. To the same new States it gave also five hundred thousand acres of land ; or a quantity sufficient to make up that amount where less had been granted. To the settlers in the new States, including foreigners who had made the declaration of their intentions to be- come naturalized citizens, it gave a pre-emption right in the public lands, to the amount of one quarter section : 1G0 acres. Then it distributed the whole amount of the land revenue, after de- duction of the ten and the five per centum to the new States, to all the old States and new States together, in proportion to their popula- tion: and included all the States yet to be created in this scheme of distribution. And that no part of the people should go without their share in these largesses, the Territories, though not States, and the District of Columbia, though not a Territory, were also embraced in the plan — each to receive in proportion to its numbers. So many inducements to all sections of the country to desire the bill, and such a chance for popularity to its authors, made sure, not only of its passage, but of its claim to the national gratitude. To the eye of patriotism, it was all a venal proceeding — an attempt to buy up the people with their own money — having the money to borrow first. For it so happened that while the distribution bill was passing in one House, to divide out money among the States and the people, there was a loan bill de- pending in the other House, to borrow twelve millions of dollars for three years ; and also, a tax bill to produce eighteen millions a year to reimburse that loan, and to defray the current expenses of the government. To make a gra- tuitous distribution of the land revenue (equal to several millions per annum), looked like fatuity ; and was so in a financial or govern- mental point of view. But it was supposed that the distribution scheme would be irresistibly popular — that it would chain the people and the States to the party which passed it — and insure them success in the ensuing presidential elections. Baseless calculation, as it applied to the people ! Vain hope, as it applied to them- selves ! The very men that passed the bill had to repeal it, under the sneaking term of suspen- sion, before their terms of service were out — within less than one year from the time it was passed ! to be precise, within eleven calendar months and twelve days, from the day of its passage — counting from the days, inclusive of both, on which John Tyler, President, approved and disapproved it — whereof, hereafter. But it passed ! and was obliged to pass. It was a case of mutual assurance with the other whig mea- sures, and passed the Senate by a party vote — Mr. Preston excepted — who " broke ranks," and voted with the democracy, making the negative vote 23. The yeas and nays were : Yeas — Messrs. Archer, Barrow, Bates, Bay- ard, Berrien, Choate, Clay of Kentucky, Clayton, 246 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Dixon, Evans, Graham, Henderson, Huntington, Kerr. Mangum, Merrick, Miller, Morehead, Phelps, Porter, Prentiss, Hives, Simmons, Smith of Indiana, Southard, Tallmadge, White, Wood- bridge. Nays — Messrs. Allen, Benton, Buchanan, Cal- houn, Clay of Alabama, Cuthbert, Fulton, King, Linn, McRoberts, Mouton, Nicholson, Pierce, Preston, Sevier, Smith of Connecticut, Sturgeon, Tappan, Walker, Williams, Woodbury, Wright, Young. In the House the vote was close — almost even — 116 to 108. The yeas and nays were : Yeas — Messrs. John Quincy Adams, Elisha H. Allen, Landaff W. Andrews, Sherlock J. An- drews, Thomas D. Arnold, John B. Aycrigg, Alfred Babcock, Osmyn Baker, Daniel D. Bar- nard, Victory Birdseye, Henry Black, Bernard Blair, William W. Boardman, Nathaniel B. Bor- den, John M. Botts, George N. Briggs, John H. Brockway, David Bronson, Jeremiah Brown, Barker Burnell, William B. Calhoun, Thomas J. Campbell, Robert L. Caruthers, Thomas C. Chittenden, John C. Clark, Staley N. Clarke, James Cooper, Benjamin S. Co wen, Robert B. Cranston, James H. Cravens, Caleb Cushing, Edmund Deberry, John Edwards, Horace Eve- rett, William P. Fessenden, Millard Fillmore, A. Lawrence Foster, Seth M. Gates, Meredith P. Gentry, Joshua R. Giddings, William L. Goggin, Patrick G. Goode, Willis Green, John Greig, Hiland Hall, William Halstead, William S. Hastings, Thomas Henry, Charles Hudson, Hiram P. Hunt, James Irvin, William W. Irvin, Francis James, William Cost Johnson, Isaac D. Jones, John P. Kennedy, Henry S. Lane, Joseph Lawrence, Archibald L. Linn, Thomas F. Mar- shall, Samson Mason, Joshua Mathiot, John Mattocks, John P. B. Maxwell, John Maynard, John Moore, Christopher Morgan, Calvary Mor- ris, Jeremiah Morrow, Thomas B. Osborne, Bryan Y. Owsley, James A. Pearce, Nathaniel G. Pendleton, John Pope, Cuthbert Powell. George H. Proffit, Robert Ramsey, Benjamin Randall, Alexander Randall, Joseph F. Ran- dolph, Kenneth Rayner, Joseph Ridgway, George B. Rodney, William Russel, Leverett Salton- stall, John Sergeant, William Simonton, Wil- liam Slade, Truman Smith, Augustus R. Sollers, James C. Sprigg, Edward Stanly, Samuel Stoke- ly, Charles C, Stratton, Alexander H. H. Stuart, George W. Summers, John Taliaferro, John B. Thompson, Richard W. Thompson, Joseph L. Tillinghast, George W. Toland, Thomas A. Tom- linson, Philip Triplett, Joseph Trumbull, Joseph R. Underwood, Henry Van Rensselaer, David Wallace, William H. Washington, Edward D. White, Joseph L. White, Thomas W. Williams, Lewis Williams, Joseph L. Williams, Robert C. Winthrop, Thomas Jones Yorke, Augustus Young, John Young. 1 hose who voted in the negative, are : Nays — Messrs. Julius C. Alford, Archibald H. Arrington, Charles G. Atherton, Linn Banks, Henry W. Beeson, Benjamin A. Bidlack, Samuel S. Bowne, Linn Boyd, David P. Brewster, Aaron V. Brown, Milton Brown, Joseph Egbert, Charles G. Ferris, John G. Floyd, Joseph Fornance, Thomas F. Foster, Roger L. Gamble, Thomas W. Gilmer, William 0. Goode, Samuel Gordon, James Graham, Amos Gustine, Richard W. Ha- bersham, William A. Harris, John Hastings, Samuel L. Hays, Isaac E. Holmes, George W. Hopkins, Jacob Houck, jr., George S. Houston, Edmund W. Hubard, Robert M. T. Hunter, Wil- liam Jack, Cave Johnson. John W. Jones, George M. Keim, Edmund Burke, Sampson H. Butler, William Butler, William 0. Butler, Green W. Caldwell, Patrick C. Caldwell, John Campbell, William B. Campbell, George B. Cary, Reuben Chapman, Nathan Clifford, Andrew Kennedy, Thomas Butler King, Dixon H. Lewis, Nathaniel S. Littlefield, Joshua A. Lowell, Abraham Mc- Clellan, Robert McClellan, James J. McKay, John McKeon, Francis Mallory, Albert G. Mar- chand, Alfred Marshall, John Thompson Mason, James Mathews, William Med ill, James A. Me- riwether^John Miller, Peter Newhard, Eugenius A. Nisbet, William M. Oliver, William Parmen- ter, Samuel Patridge, William W. Payne, Fran- cis W. Pickens, Arnold Plumer, James G. Clin- ton, Walter Coles, John R. J. Daniel, Richard D. Davis, John B. Dawson, Ezra Dean, Davis Dimock, jr., William Doan, Andrew W. Doig, Ira A. Eastman, John C. Edwards, John R. Reding, Abraham Rencher, R. Barnwell llhett, Lewis Biggs, James Rogers, James I. Roosevelt, John Sanford, Romulus M. Saunders, Tristram Shaw, Augustine H. Shepperd, Benjamin G. Shields, John Snyder, Lewis Steenrod, Thomas D. Sum- ter, George Sweney, Hopkins L. Turney, John Van Buren, Aaron Ward, Lott Warren, Harvey M. Watterson, John B. Weller, John Westbrook, James W. Williams, Henry A. Wise, Fernando Wood. The progress of the abuse inherent in a measure so vicious, was fully illustrated in the course of these distribution-bills. First, they were merely to relieve the distresses of the peo- ple : now they were to make payment of State debts, and to enhance the price of State stocks in the hands of London capitalists. In the be- ginning they were to divide a surplus on hand, for which the government had no use, and which ought to be returned to the people who had paid it, and who now needed it : afterwards it was to divide the land-money years ahead without knowing whether there would be any surplus or not : now they are for dividing money when there is none to divide — when there is a treasury deficit — and loans and taxes required to supply it. Originally, they were ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 247 for short and limited terms — first, for one year — afterwards for five years : now for perpetui- ty. This bill provides for eternity. It is a cu- riosity in human legislation, and contained a clause which would be ridiculous if it had not been impious — an attempt to manacle future Congresses, and to bind posterity through un- born generations. The clause ran in these words : That if, at any time during the exist- ence of this act, duties on imported goods should be raised above the rate of the twenty per centum on the value as provided in the compromise act of 1833, then the distribution of the land revenue should be suspended, and continue so until reduced to that rate ; and then be resumed. Fallacious attempt to bind posterity ! It did not even bind those who made it : for the same Congress disregarded it. But it shows to what length the distribution spirit had gone ; and that even protective tariff — that former sovereign remedy for all the wants of the people — was sacrificed to it. Mr. Clay undertaking to bind all the Congresses for ever to uniform twenty per centum ad valo- rem duties. And while the distribution-bill thus undertook to protect and save the compro- mise of 1833, the new tariff-bill of this session, undertook to return the favor by assuming to protect and save the distribution-bill. Its second section contained this proviso : That if any duty exceeding twenty per centum on the value shall be levied before the 30th day of June, 1842, it should not stop the distribution of the land revenue, as provided for in the dis- tribution act of the present session. Thus, the two acts were made mutual assurers, each stip- ulating for the life of the other, and connecting things which had no mutual relation except in the coalitions of politicians ; but, like other assurers, not able to save the lives they assured. Both acts were gone in a year ! And the mar- vel is how such flimsy absurdities could be put into a statute ? And the answer, from the ne- cessity of conciliating some one's vote, without which the bills could not pass. Thus, some Southern anti-tariff men would not vote for the distribution bill unless the compromise of 1833 was protected ; and some distribution men of the West would not vote for the anti-tariff act unless the distribution bill was protected. And hence the ridiculous, presumptuous, and idle expedient of mutually insuring each other. CHAPTER LXIX. INSTITUTION OP THE HOUR EULE IN DEBATE IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: ITS ATTEMPT, AND REPULSE IN THE SENATE. This session is remarkable for the institution of the hour rule in the House of Representa- tives — the largest limitation upon the freedom of debate which any deliberative assembly ever imposed upon itself, and presents an eminent instance of permanent injury done to free insti- tutions in order to get rid of a temporary an- noyance. It was done at a time when the par- ty, called whig, was in full predominance in both Houses of Congress, and in the impatience of delay in the enactment of their measures. It was essentially a whig measure — though with exceptions each way — the body of the whigs going for it ; the body of the democracy against it — several eminent whigs voting with them : Mr. John Quincy Adams, William C. Dawson, James A. Pearce, Kenneth Rayner, Edward Stanly, Alexander H. H. Stuart, Ed- ward D. White and others. Mr. Lott Warren moved the rule as an amendment to the body of the rules ; and, in the same moment, moved the previous question : which was carried. The vote was immediately taken, and the rule estab- lished by a good majority — only seventy-five members voting against it. They were : Messrs. John Quincy Adams, Archibald H. Arrington, Charles G. Atherton, Linn Banks, Daniel D. Barnard, John M. Botts, Samuel S. Bowne, Linn Boyd, David P. Brewster, Aaron V. Brown, Edmund Burke, Barker Burnell, Green W. Caldwell, John Campbell, Robert L. Caruthers, George B. Cary, Reuben Chapman, James G. Clinton, Walter Coles, John R. J. Daniel, Wm. C. Dawson, Ezra Dean, Andrew W. Doig, Ira A. Eastman, Horace Everett, Charles G. Ferris, John G. Floyd, Charles A. Floyd, William 0. Goode, Samuel Gordon, Samuel L. Hays, George W. Hopkins, Jacob Houck, jr., Edmund W. Hubard, Charles Hudson, Hiram P. Hunt, William W. Irwin, William Jack. Cave Johnson, John W. Jones, George M. Keim, Andrew Kennedy, Thomas Butler King, Dixon H. Lewis, Nathaniel S. Littlefield, Joshua A. Lowell, Abraham McClellan, Robert McClel- lan, James J. McKay, Francis Mallory, Alfred Marshall, Samson Mason, John Thompson Ma- son, John Miller, Peter Newhard, William Par- menter, William W. Payne, James A. Pearce, 248 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Francis TV. Pickens, Kenneth Rayner, John R. Reding, Lewis Riggs, Romulus M. Saunders, William Slade, John Snyder, Augustus R. Sol- lers, James C. Sprigg, Edward Stanly, Lewis Steenrod, Alexander II. H. Stuart, Hopkins L. Turney, Aaron Ward, John Westbrook, Edward D. White. Joseph L. Williams. The Roman republic had existed four hun- dred and fifty years, and was verging towards its fell under the first triumvirate — (Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus) — before pleadings were limited to two hours before the Judices Se- lecti. In the Senate the speeches of senators were never limited at all ; but even the partial limitation then placed upon judicial pleadings, but which were, in fact, popular orations, drew from Cicero an aifecting deprecation of its effect upon the cause of freedom, as well as upon the field of eloquence. The reader of the admired treatise on oratory, and notices of celebrated orators, will remember his lamentation — as wise in its foresight of evil consequences to free institutions, as mournful and affecting in its lamentation over the decline of oratory. Little could he have supposed that a popular assem- bly should ever exist, and in a country where his writings were read, which would voluntari- ly impose upon itself a far more rigorous limit- ation than the one over which he grieved. Cer- tain it is, that with our incessant use of the previous question, which cuts off all debate, and the hour rule which limits a speech to sixty minutes (constantly reduced by interruptions) ; and the habit of fixing an hour at which the question shall be taken, usually brief, and the intermediate little time not secure for that question : with all these limitations upon the freedom of debate in the House, certain it is that such an anomaly was never seen in a de- liberative assembly, and the business of a peo- ple never transacted in the midst of such igno- rance of what they are about by those who are doing it. No doubt the license of debate has been greatly abused in our halls of Congress — as in those of the British parliament : but this sup- pression of debate is not the correction of the abuse, but the destruction of the liberty of speech : and that, not as a personal privilege, but as a representative right, essential to the welfare of the people. For fifty years of our government there was no such suppression : in no other country is there the parallel to it. Yet in all popular assemblies there is an abuse in the liberty of speech, inherent in the right of speech, which gives to faction and folly the same latitude as to wisdom and patriotism. The English have found the best corrective : it is in the House itself— its irregular power : its refusal to hear a member further when they are tired of him. A significant scraping and cough- ing warns the annoying speaker when he should cease : if the warning is not taken, a tempest drowns his voice : when he appeals to the chair, the chair recommends him to yield to the temper of the House. A few examples reduce the practice to a rule — insures its observance ; and works the correction of the abuse without the destruction of debate. No man speaking to the subject, and giving information to the House, was ever scraped and coughed down, in the British House of Commons. No matter how plain his language, how awkward his man- ner, how confused his delivery, so long as he gives information he is heard attentively ; while the practice falls with just, and relentless effect upon "the loquacious members, who mistake volubility for eloquence, who delight them- selves while annoying the House — who are in- sensible to the proprieties of time and place, take the subject for a point to stand on : and then speak off from it in all directions, and equally without continuity of ideas or discon- nection of words. The practice of the British House of Commons puts an end to all such an- noyance, while saving every thing profitable that any member can utter. The first instance of enforcing this new rule stands thus recorded in the Register of De- bates : " Mr. Pickens proceeded, in the next place, to point out the items of expenditure which might, without the least injury to the interests of the government or to the public service, suf- fer retrenchment. He quoted the report of the Secretary of the Treasury of December 9, 1840 ; from it he took the several items, and then stated how much, in his opinion, each might be reduced. The result of the first branch of this reduction of particulars was a sum to be re- trenched amounting to $852,000. He next went into the items of pensions, the Florida war, and the expenditures of Congress ; on these, with a few minor ones in addition, he es- timated that there might, without injury, be a saving of four millions. Mr. P. had gotten thus ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 249 far in his subject, and was just about to enter into a comparison of the relative advantages of a loan and of Treasury notes, when " The Chair here reminded Mr. Pickens that his hour had expired. •' Mr. Pickens. The hour out ? "The Chair. Yes, sir. " Mr. Pickens. [Looking at his watch.] Bless my soul ! Have I run my race ? "Mr. Holmes asked whether his colleague had not taken ten minutes for explanations ? "Mr. Warren desired that the rule be en- forced. " Mr. Pickens denied that the House had any constitutional right to pass such a rule. "The Chair again reminded Mr. Pickens that he had spoken an hour. " Mr. Pickens would, then, conclude by say- ing it was the most infamous rule ever passed by any legislative body. " Mr. J. G. Floyd of New York, said the gen- tleman had been frequently interrupted, and had, therefore, a right to continue his remarks. "The Chair delivered a contrary opinion. " Mr. Floyd appealed from his decision. " The Chair then rose to put the question, whether the decision of the Chair should stand as the judgment of the House ? when "Mr. Floyd withdrew his appeal. " Mr. Dawson suggested whether the Chair had not possibly made a mistake with respect to the time. " The Chair said there was no mistake. " Mr. Pickens then gave notice that he would oner an amendment. "The Chair remarked that the gentleman was not in order. "Mr. Pickens said that if the motion to strike out the enacting clause should prevail, he would move to amend the bill by introduc- ing a substitute, giving ample means to the Treasury, but avoiding the evils of which he complained in the bill now under consider- ation." The measure having succeeded in the House which made the majority master of the body, and enabled them to pass their bills without resistance or exposure, Mr. Clay undertook to do the same thing in the Senate. He was im- patient to pass his bills, annoyed at the resist- ance they met, and dreadfully harassed by the species of warfare to which thej were subject- ed ; and for which he had no turn. The demo- cratic senators acted upon a system, and with a thorough organization, and a perfect under- standing. Being a minority, and able to do nothing, they became assailants, and attacked incessantly ; not by formal orations against the whole body of a measure, but by sudden, short, and pungent speeches, directed against the vul- nerable parts ; and pointed by proffered amend- ments. Amendments were continually offered — a great number being prepared every night, and placed in suitable hands for use the next day — always commendably calculated to expose an evil, and to present a remedy. Near forty propositions of amendment were offered to the first fiscal agent bill alone — the yeas and nays taken upon them seven and thirty times. All the other prominent bills — distribution, bank- rupt, fiscal corporation — new tariff act, called revenue — were served the same way. Every proposed amendment made an issue, which fixed public attention, and would work out in our favor — end as it might. If we carried it, which was seldom, there was a good point gained : if we lost it, there was a bad point ex- posed. In either event we had the advantage of discussion, which placed our adversaries in the wrong ; and the speaking fact of the yens and nays — which told how every man was upon every point. We had in our ranks every variety of speaking talent, from plain and calm up to fiery and brilliant — and all matter-of-fact men — their heads well stored with knowledge. There were but twenty-two of us ; but every one a speaker, and effective. We kept their measures upon the anvil, and hammered them continually : we im- paled them against the wall, and stabbed them incessantly. The Globe newspaper was a pow- erful ally (Messrs. Blair and Rives) ; setting off all we did to the best advantage in strong editorials— and carrying out our speeches, fresh and hot, to the people : and we felt victorious in the midst of unbroken defeats. Mr. Clay's temperament could not stand it, and he was de- termined to silence the troublesome minority, and got the acquiescence of his party, and the promise of their support : and boldly com- menced his operations — avowing his design, at the same time, in open Senate. It was on the 12th day of July— just four days after the new rule had been enforced in the House, and thereby established (for up to that day, it was doubtful whether it could be enforced) — that Mr. Clay made his first move- ment towards its introduction in the Senate; and in reply to Mr. Wright of New York — one of the last men in the world to waste time in the Senate, or to speak without edification to those who would listen. It was on the famous fiscal bank bill, and on a motion of Mr. Wright 250 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. to strike out the large subscription reserved for the government, so as to keep the government unconnected with the business of the bank. The mover made some remarks in favor of his motion — to which Mr. Clay replied : and then went on to say : " He could not help regarding the opposition to this measure as one eminently calculated to delay the public business, with no other object that he could Fee than that of protracting to the last moment the measures for which this ses- sion had been expressly called to give to the people. This too was at a time when the whole country was crying out in an agony of distress for relief." These remarks, conveying a general imputa- tion upon the minority senators of factious con- duct in delaying the public business, and thwart- ing the will of the people, justified an answer from any one of them to whom it was appli- cable : and first received it from Mr% Calhoun. " Mr. Calhoun was not surprised at the impa- tience of the senator from Kentucky, though he was at his attributing to this side of the cham- ber the delays and obstacles thrown in the way of his favorite measure. How many days did the senator himself spend in amending his own bill ? The bill had been twelve days before the Senate, and eight of those had been occupied by the friends of the bill. That delay did not originate on this side of the House ; but now that the time which was cheerfully accorded to him and his friends is to be reciprocated, before half of it is over, the charge of factious delay is raised. Surely the urgency and impatience of the senator and his friends cannot be so very great that the minority must not be allowed to employ as many days in amending their bill as they took themselves to alter it. The senator from Kentucky says he is afraid, if we go on in this way, we will not get through the measures of this session till the last of autumn. Is not the fault in himself, and in the nature of the measures he urges so impatiently ? These mea- sures are such as the senators in the minority are wholly opposed to on principle — such as they conscientiously believe are unconstitu- tional — and is it not then right to resist them, and prevent, if they can, all invasions of the con- stitution ? "Why does he build upon such un- reasonable expectations as to calculate on carry- ing measures of this magnitude and importance with a few days of hasty legislation on each ? What are the measures proposed by the sen- ator? They comprise the whole federal sys- tem, which it took forty years, from 1789 to 1829, to establish— but which are now, happily for the country, prostrate in the dust. And it is these measures^ fraught with such important results that are now sought to be hurried through in one extra session ; measures which, without consuming one particle of useless time to discuss fully, would require, instead of an extra session of Congress, four or five regular sessions. The senator said the country was in agony, crying for " action," " action." He un- derstood whence that cry came — it came from the holders of State stocks, the men who ex- pected another expansion, to relieve themselves at the expense of government. " Action " — " action." meant nothing but " plunder," " plun- der," " plunder ;" and he assured the gentleman, that he could not be more anxious in urging on a system of plunder than he (Mr. Calhoun) would be in opposing it. He so understood the senator, and he inquired of him, whether he called this an insidious amendment ? This was a sharp reply, just in its retort, spirited in its tone, judicious in expanding the basis of the new debate that was to come on ; and greatly irritated Mr. Clay. He im- mediately felt that he had no right to impeach the motives of senators, and catching up Mr. Calhoun on that point, and strongly contesting it, brought on a rapid succession of contradic- tory asseverations : Thus : " Mr. Clay. I said no such thing, sir ; I did not say any thing about the motives of sena- tors. " Mr. Calhoun said he understood the sena- tor's meaning to be that the motives of the op- position were factious and frivolous. "Mr. Clay. I said no such thing, sir. " Mr. Calhoun. It was so understood. " Mr. Clay. No, sir; no, sir. " Mr. Calhoun. Yes, sir, yes ; it could be understood in no other way. " Mr. Clay. What I did say, was, that the effect of such amendments, and of consuming time in debating them, would be a waste of that time from the business of the session ; and, conse- quently, would produce unnecessary delay and embarrassment. I said nothing of motives — I only spoke of the practical effect and result. " Mr. Calhoun said he understood it had been repeated for the second time that there could be no other motive or object entertained by the senators in the opposition, in making amend- ments and speeches on this bill, than to em- barrass the majority by frivolous and vexatious delay. " Mr. Clay insisted that he made use of no as- sertions as to motives. " Mr. Calhoun. If the senator means to say that he does not accuse this side of the House of bringing forward propositions for the sake of delay, he wished to understand him. " Mr. Clay. I intended that. " Mr. Calhoun repeated that he understood the senator to mean that the senators in the op- ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 251 position were spinning out the time for no other purpose but that of delaying and embarrassing the majority. " Mr. Clay admitted that was his meaning, though not thus expressed." So ended this keen colloquy in which the perti- nacity, and clear perceptions of Mr. Calhoun brought out the admission that the impeachment of motives was intended, but not expressed. Having got this admission Mr. Calhoun went on to defy the accusation of faction and frivolity, and to declare a determination in the minority to continue in their course; and put a per- emptory question to Mr. Clay. " Mr. Calhoun observed that to attempt, by such charges of factious and frivolous motives, to silence the opposition, was wholly useless. He and his friends had principles to contend for that were neither new nor frivolous, and they would here now, and at all times, and in all places, maintain them against those measures, in whatever way they thought most efficient. Did the senator from Kentucky mean to apply to the Senate the gag law passed in the other branch of Congress ? If he did, it was time he should know that he (Mr. Calhoun), and his friends were ready to meet him on that point." This question, and the avowed readiness to meet the gagging attempt, were not spoken with- out warrant. The democratic senators having got wind of what was to come, had consulted together and taken their resolve to defy and to dare it — to resist its introduction, and trample upon the rule, if voted : and in the mean time to gain an advantage with the public by rendering odious their attempt. Mr. Clay answered argu- mentatively for the rule, and that the people were for it : " Let those senators go into the country, and they will find the whole body of the people complaining of the delay and interruption of the national business, by their long speeches in Con- gress ; and if they will be but admonished by the people, they will come back with a lesson to cut short their debating, and give their atten- tion more to action than to words. Who ever heard that the people would be dissatisfied with the abridgment of speeches in Congress ? He had never heard the shortness of speeches com- plained of. Indeed, he should not be surprised if the people would get up remonstrances against lengthy speeches in Congress." With respect to the defiance, Mr. Clay re- turned it, and declared his determination to bring forward the measure. " With regard to the intimation of the gentle- man from South Carolina [Mr. Calhoun], he understood him and his course perfectly well, and told him and his friends that, for himself, he knew not how his friends would act ; he was ready at any moment to bring forward and sup- port a measure which should give to the ma- jority the control of the business of the Senate of the United States. Let them denounce it as much as they pleased in advance : unmoved by any of their denunciations and threats, standing firm in the support of the interests which he believed the country demands, for one, he was ready for the adoption of a rule which would place the business of the Senate under the con- trol of a majority of the Senate." Mr. Clay was now committed to bring for- ward the measure ; and was instantly and defy- ingly invited to do so. " Mr. Calhoun said there was no doubt of the senator's predilection for a gag law. Let him bring on that measure as soon as ever he pleases. " Mr. Benton. Come on with it." Without waiting for any thing further from Mr. Clay, Mr. Calhoun proceeded to show him, still further, how little his threat was heeded ; and taunted him with wishing to revive the spirit of the alien and sedition laws : " Mr. Calhoun said it must be admitted that, if the senator was not acting on the federal side, he would find it hard to persuade the American people of the fact, by showing them his love of gag laws, and strong disposition to silence both the national councils and the press. Did he not remember something about an alien and sedition law, and can he fail to perceive the relationship with the measure he contemplates to put down debate here ? What is the difference, in prin- ciple, between his gag law and the alien and sedition law ? We are gravely told that the speaking of the representatives of the people, which is to convey to them full information on the subjects of legislation in their councils, is worse than useless, and must be abated. Who consumed the time of last Congress in long speeches, vexatious and frivolous attempts to embarrass and thwart the business of the coun- try, and useless opposition, tending to no end but that out of doors, the presidential election ? Who but the senator and his party, then in the minority ? But now, when they are in the ma- jority, and the most important measures ever pressed forward together in one session, he is the first to threaten a gag law, to choke off de- bate, and deprive the minority even of the poor privilege of entering their protest." Of all the members of the Senate, one of the mildest and most amicable — one of the gentlest language, and firmest purpose — was Dr. Linn, of Missouri. The temper of the minority sena- 252 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. be judged by the tone and tenor of his tors may- remarks. " He (Mr. Linn) would for his part, make a few remarks here, and in doing so he intended to be as pointed as possible, for he had now, he found, to contend for liberty of speech ; and while any of that liberty was left, he would give his remarks the utmost bounds consistent with his own sense of what was due to himself, his constituents, and the country. The whigs, during the late administration, had brought to bear a system of assault against the majority in power, which might justly be characterized as frivolous and vexatious, and nothing else ; yet they had always been treated by the majority with courtesy and forbearance ; and the utmost latitude of debate had been allowed them with- out interruption. In a session of six months, they consumed the greater part of the time in speeches for electioneering effect, so that only twenty-eight bills were passed. These election- eering speeches, on all occasions that could be started, whether the presentation of a petition, motion, or a resolution, or discussion of a bill, were uniformly and studiously of the most in- sulting character to the majority, whose mildest form of designation was " collar men ;" and other epithets equally degrading. How often had it been said of the other branch of Congress, " What could be expected from a House so con- stituted ? " Trace back the course of that party, step by step, to 1834, and it may be tracked in blood. The outrages in New York in that year are not forgotten. The fierce and fiendish spirit of strife and usurpation which prompted the seizure of public arms, to turn them against tho^e who were their fellow-citizens, is yet fresh as ever, and ready to win its way to what it aims at. What was done then, under the influ- ence and shadow of the great money power, may be done again. He (Mr. Linn) had mark- ed them, and nothing should restrain him from doing his duty and standing up in the front rank of opposition to keep them from the in- novations they meditated. Neither the frown nor menace of any leader of that party — no lofty bearing, or shaking of the mane — would deter him from the fearless and honest discharge of those obligations which were due to his consti- tuents and to the country. He next adverted to the conduct of the whig party when the sub- treasury was under discussion, and reminded the present party in power of the forbearance with which they had been treated, contrasting that treatment with the manifestations now made to the minority. We are now, said Mr. Linn in conclusion, to be checked ; but I tell the senator from Kentucky, and any other sen- ator who chooses to tread in his steps, that he is about to deal a double handed game at which two can play. He is welcome to try his skill. But I would expect that some on that side are not prepared to go quite so far ; and that there is yet among them sufficient liberality to coun- terbalance political feeling, and induce them not to object to our right of spending as much time in trying to improve their bill as they have taken themselves to clip and pare and shape it to their own fancies." Here this irritating point rested for the day — and for three days, when it was revived by the reproaches and threats of Mr. Clay against the minority. " The House (he said) had been treading on the heels of the Senate, and at last had got the start of it a long way in advance of the business of this session. The reason was obvious. The majority there is for action, and has secured it. Some change was called for in this chamber. The truth is that the minority here control the action of the Senate, and cause all the delay of the public business. They obstruct the majority in the dispatch of all business of importance to the country, and particularly those measures which the majority is bound to give to the country without further delay. Did not this reduce the majority to the necessity of adopting some measure which would place the control of the business of the session in their hands % It was impossible to do without it: it must be re- sorted to." To this Mr. Calhoun replied : " The senator from Kentucky tells the Senate the other House has got before it. How has the other House got before the Senate ? By a despotic exercise of the power of a majority. By destroj- ing the liberties of the people in gag- ging their representatives. By preventing the minority from its free exercise of its right of re- monstrance. This is the way the House has got before the Senate. And now there was too much evidence to doubt that the Senate was to be made to keep up with the House by the same means." Mr. Clay, finding such undaunted opposition to the hour rule, replied in a way to let it be seen that the threat of that rule was given up, and that a measure of a different kind, but equally effective, was to be proposed; and would be certainly adopted. He said : " If he did not adopt the same means which had proved so beneficial in the other House, he would have something equally efficient to offer. He had no doubt of the cheerful adoption of such a measure when it should come before the Senate. So far from the rule being condemned, he would venture to say that it would be gene- rally approved. It was the means of controlling the business, abridging long and unnecessary speeches, and would be every way hailed as one of the greatest improvements of the age." This glimpse of another measure, confirmed ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 253 the minority in the belief of what they had heard — that several whig senators had refused to go with Mr. Clay for the hour rule, and forced him to give it up ; but they had agreed to go for the previous question, which he held to be equally effective ; and was, in fact, more so — as it cut off debate at any moment. It was just as offen- sive as the other. Mr. King, of Alabama, was the first to meet the threat, under this new form, and the Register of Debates shows this scene : " Mr. King said the senator from Kentucky complained of three weeks and a half having been lost in amendments to his bill. Was not the senator aware that it was himself and his friends had consumed most of that time ? But now that the minority had to take it up, the Senate is told there must be a gag law. Did he understand that it was the intention of the senator to introduce that measure ? " Mr. Clay. I will, sir ; I will ! " Mr. King. I tell the senator, then, that he may make his arrangements at his boarding- house for the winter. "Mr. Clay. Very well, sir. "Mr. King was truly sorry to see the honor- able senator so far forgetting what is due to the Senate, as to talk of coercing it by any possible abridgment of its free action. The freedom of debate had never yet been abridged in that body, since the foundation of this government. Was it fit or becoming, after fifty years of unre- strained liberty, to threaten it with a gag law 1 He could tell the senator that, peaceable a man as he (Mr. King) was, whenever it was at- tempted to violate that sanctuary, he, for one, would resist that attempt even unto the death." The issue was now made up, and the determi- nation on both sides declared — on the part of Mr. Clay, speaking in the name of his party, to introduce the previous question in the Senate, for the purpose of cutting off debate and amend- ments ; on the part of the minority, to resist the rule — not only its establishment, but its execution. This was a delicate step, and re- quired justification before the public, before a scene of resistance to the execution — involving disorder, and possibly violence — should come on. The scheme had been denounced, and de- fied ; but the ample reasons against it had not been fully stated ; and it was deemed best that a solid foundation of justification for whatever might happen, should be laid beforehand in a reasoned and considered speech. The author of this View, was required to make that speech ; and for that purpose followed Mr. King. " Mr. Benton would take this opportunity to say a word on this menace, so often thrown out, of a design to stifle debate, and stop amend- ments to bills in this chamber. He should con- sider such an attempt as much a violation of the constitution, and of the privileges of the cham- ber, as it would be for a military usurper to enter upon us, at the head of his soldiery, and expel us from our seats. " It is not in order, continued Mr. B. — it is not in order, and would be a breach of the privilege of the House of Representatives, to refer to any thing which may have taken place in that House. My business is with our own chamber, and with the threat which has so often been uttered on this floor, during this extra session, of stifling debate, and cutting oft' amendments, by the in- troduction of the previous question. " With respect to debates, senators have a con- stitutional right to speak ; and while they speak to the subject before the House, there is no power any where to stop them. It is a consti- tutional right. When a member departs from the question, he is to be stopped : it is the duty of the Chair — your duty, Mr. President, to stop him — and it is the duty of the Senate to sustain you in the discharge of this duty. We have rules for conducting the debates, and these rules only require to be enforced in order to make debates decent and instructive in their import, and brief and reasonable in their duration. The government has been in operation above fifty years, and the freedom of debate has been some- times abused, especially during the last twelve years, when those out of power made the two houses of Congress the arena of political and electioneering combat against the democratic administration in power. The liberty of debate was abused during this time ; but the demo- cratic majority would not impose gags and muz- zles on the mouths of the minority ; they would not stop their speeches ; considering, and justly considering, that the privilege of speech was in- estimable and inattackable — that some abuse of it was inseparable from its enjoyment — and that it was better to endure a temporary abuse than to incur a total extinction of this great privi- lege. " But, sir, debate is one thing, and amendments another. A long speech, wandering off from the bill, is a very different thing from a short amend- ment, directed to the texture of the bill itself, and intended to increase its beneficial, or to diminish its prejudicial action. These amend- ments are the point to which I now speak, and to the nature of which I particularly invoke the attention of the Senate. " By the constitution of the United States, each bill is to receive three readings, and each reading represents a different stage of proceeding, and a different mode of action under it. The first reading is for information only ; it is to let the House know what the bill is for, what its con- tents are ; and then neither debate nor amend- ment is expected, and never occurs, except in 254 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. extraordinary cases. The second reading is for amendments and debate, and this reading usually takes place in Committee of the Whole in the House of Representatives, and in quasi com- mittee in the Senate. The third reading, after the bill is engrossed, is for passage ; and then it cannot be amended, and is usually voted upon with little or no debate. Now, it is apparent that the second reading of the bill is the impor- tant one — that it is the legislative — the law- making — reading ; the one at which the collec- tive wisdom of the House is concentrated upon it, to free it from defects, and to improve it to the utmost — to illustrate its nature, and trace its consequences. The bill is drawn up in a com- mittee ; or it is received from a department in the form of a projet de loi, and reported by a committee ; or it is the work of a single member, and introduced on leave. The bill, before per- fected by amendments, is the work of a com- mittee, or of a head of a department, or of a single member ; and if amendments are pre- vented, then the legislative power of the House is annihilated ; the edict of a secretary, of a committee, or of a member, becomes the law ; and the collected and concentrated wisdom and experience of the House has never been brought to bear upon it. " The previous question cuts off amendments ; and, therefore, neither in England nor in the United States, until now, in the House of Repre- sentatives, has that question ever been applied to bills in Committee of the Whole, on the second reading. This question annihilates legis- lation, sets at nought the wisdom of the House, and expunges the minority. It is always an invidious question, but seldom enforced in Eng- land, and but little used in the earlier periods of our own government. It has never been used in the Senate at all, never at any stage of the bill ; in the House of Representatives it has never been used on the second reading of a bill, in Committee of the Whole, until the present session — this session, so ominous in its call and commencement, and which gives daily proof of its alarming tendencies, and of its unconsti- tutional, dangerous, and corrupting measures. The previous question has never yet been ap- plied in this chamber ; and to apply it now, at this ominous session, when all the old federal measures of fifty years ago are to be conglom- erated into one huge and frightful mass, and rushed through by one convulsive effort ; to ap- ply it now, under such circumstances, is to muz- zle the mouths, to gag the jaws, and tie up the tongues of those whose speeches would expose the enormities which cannot endure the light, and present to the people these ruinous meas- ures in the colors in which they ought to be seen. " The opinion of the people is invoked — they are said to be opposed to long speeches, and in favor of action. But, do they want action with- out deliberation, without consideration, without knowing what we are doing 1 Do they want bills without amendments — without examina- tion of details — without a knowledge of their effect and operation when they are passed ? Certainly the people wish no such thing. They want nothing which will not bear discussion. The people are in favor of discussion, and never read our debates with more avidity than at this ominous and critical extraordinary session. But I can well conceive of those who are against those debates, and want them stifled. Old se- dition law federalism is against them : the cor- morants who are whetting their bills for the prey which the acts of this session are to give them, are against them : and the advocates of these acts, who cannot answer these arguments, and who shelter weakness under dignified si- lence, they are all weary, sick and tired of a contest which rages on one side only, and which exposes at once the badness of their cause and the defeat of its defenders. Sir, this call for action ! action ! action ! (as it was well said yes- terday), comes from those whose cry is, plun- der ! plunder ! plunder ! " The previous question, and the old sedition law, are measures of the same character, and children of the same parents, and intended for the same purposes. They are to hide light — to enable those in power to work in darkness — to enable them to proceed unmolested — and to permit them to establish ruinous measures with- out stint, and without detection. The introduc- tion of this previous question into this body, I shall resist as I would resist its conversion into a bed of justice — Lit de Justice — of the old French monarchy, for the registration of royal edicts. In these beds of justice — the Parliament formed into a bed of justice — the kings before the revolution, caused their edicts to be regis- tered without debate, and without amendment. The king ordered it, and it was done — his word became law. On one occasion, when the Par- liament was refractory, Louis XIV. entered the chamber, booted and spurred — a whip in his hand — a horsewhip in his hand— ^and stood on his feet until the edict was registered. This is what has been done in the way of passing bills without debate or amendment, in France. But, in extenuation of this conduct of Louis the XIV., it must be remembered that he was a very young man when he committed this indiscretion, more derogatory to himself than to the Parliament which was the subject of the indignity. He never repeated it in his riper age, for he was a gentleman as well as a king, and in a fifty years' reign never repeated that indiscretion of his youth. True, no whips may be brought into our legislative halls to enforce the gag and the muzzle, but I go against the things themselves — against the infringement of the right of speech — and against the annihilation of our legislative faculties by annihilating the right of making amendments. I go against these ; and say that we shall be nothing but a bed of justice for the registration of presidential, or partisan, or civil chieftain edicts, when debates and amendments I are suppressed in this body. ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 255 "Sir, when the previous question shall be brought into this chamber — when it shall be applied to our bills in our quasi committee — I am ready to see my legislative life terminated. I want no seat here when that shall be the case. As the Romans held their natural lives, so do I hold my political existence. The Roman car- ried his life on the point of his sword; and when that life ceased to be honorable to himself, or useful to his country, he fell upon his sword, and died. This made of that people the most warlike and heroic nation of the earth. What they did with their natural lives. I am willing to do with my legislative and political existence : I am willing to terminate it, either when it shall cease to be honorable to myself, or useful to my country ; and that I feel would be the case when this chamber, stripped of its constitutional free- dom, shall receive the gag and muzzle of the previous question." Mr. Clay again took the floor. He spoke mildly, and coaxingly — reminded the minority of their own course when in power — gave a hint about going into executive business — but still felt it his duty to give the majority the control of the public business, notwithstanding the threatened resistance of the minority. "He (Mr. Clay) would, however, say that after all, he thought the gentlemen on the other side would find it was better to go on with the public business harmoniously and good humor- edly together, and all would get along better. He would remind the gentlemen of their own course when in power, and the frequent occa- sions on which the minority then acted with courtesy in allowing their treasury note bills to pass, and on various other occasions. He thought it was understood that they were to go into executive session, and afterwards take up the loan bill. He should feel it his duty to take measures to give the majority the control of the business, maugre all the menaces that had been made." Here was a great change of tone, and the hint about going into executive business was a sign of hesitation, faintly counterbalanced by the reiteration of his purpose under a sense of duty. It was still the morning hour — the hour for motions, before the calendar was called : the hour for the motion he had been expected to make. That motion was evidently deferred. The intimation of going into executive business, was a surprise. Such business was regularly gone into towards the close of the day's session — after the day's legislative work was done; and this course was never departed from except in emergent cases — cases which would consume a whole day, or could not wait till evening: and no such cases were known to exist at present. This was a pause, and losing a day in the carry- ing along of those very measures, for Hastening which the new rule was wanted. Mr. Calhoun, to take advantage of the hesitation which he perceived, and to increase it, by daring the threatened measure, instantly rose. He was saluted with cries that " the morning hour was out : " " not yet ! " said he : " it lacks one minute of it ; and I avail myself of that minute : " and then went on for several minutes. " He thought this business closely analogous to the alien and sedition laws. Here was a pal- pable attempt to infringe the right of speech. He would tell the senator that the minority had rights under the constitution which they meant to exercise, and let the senator try when he pleased to abridge those rights, he would find it no easy job. When had that (our) side of the Senate ever sought to protract discussion unne- cessarily ? [Cries of 'never ! never !'] Where was there a body that had less abused its privi- leges 1 If the gag-law was attempted to be put in force, he would resist it to the last. As judg- ment had been pronounced, he supposed submis- sion was expected. The unrestrained liberty of speech, and freedom of debate, had been pre- served in the Senate for fifty years. But now the warning was given that the yoke was to be put on it which had already been placed on the other branch of Congress. There never had been a body in this or any other country, in which, for such a length of time, so much dignity and decorum of debate had been maintained. It was remarkable for the fact, the range of discussion was less discursive than in any other similar body known. Speeches were uniformly con- fined to the subject under debate. There could be no pretext for interference. There was none but that of all despotisms. He would give the senator from Kentucky notice to bring on his gag measure as soon as he pleased. He would find it no such easy matter as he seemed to think." Mr. Linn, of Missouri, rose the instant Mr. Calhoun stopped, and inquired of the Chair if the morning hour was out. The president pro tempore answered that it was. Mr. Linn said, he desired to say a few words. The chair re- ferred him to the Senate, in whose discretion it was, to depart from the rule. Mr. Linn appealed to the Senate : it gave him leave : and he stood up and said : " It was an old Scottish proverb, that threat- ened people live longest. He hoped the liberties of the Senate would yet outlive the threats of the senator from Kentucky. But, if the lash was to be applied, he would rather it was ap- 256 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. plied at once, than to be always threatened with it. There is great complaint of delay ; but who was causing the delay now growing out of this threat ? Had it not been made, there would be no necessity for repelling it. He knew of no disposition on the part of his friends to consume the time that ought to be given to the public business. He had never known his friends, while in the majority, to complain of discussion. He knew very well, and could make allowances, that the senator from Kentucky was placed in a very trying situation. He knew, also, that his political friends felt themselves to be in a very critical condition. If he brought forward measures that were questionable, he had to en- counter resistance. But he was in the predica- ment that he had pledged himself to carry those measures, and, if he did not, it would be his political ruin. He had every thing on the issue, hence his impatience to pronounce judgment against the right of the minority to discuss his measures." Mr. Clay interrupted Mr. Linn, to say that he had not offered to pronounce judgment. Mr. Linn gave his words "that if the Senate was disposed to do as he thought it ought to do, they would adopt the same rule as the other House." Mr. Clay admitted the words; and Mr. Linn claimed their meaning as pronouncing judgment on the duty of the Senate, and said : " Very well ; if the senator was in such a criti- cal condition as to be obliged to say he cannot get his measures through without cutting off debates, why does he not accept the proposition of taking the vote on his bank bill on Monday ? If he brings forward measures that have been battled against successfully for a quarter of a century, is it any wonder that they should be opposed, and time should be demanded to dis- cuss them ? The senator is aware that whiggery is dying off in the country, and that there is no time to be lost : unless he and his friends pass these measures they are ruined. All he should say to him was, pass them if he could. If, in order to do it, he is obliged to come on with his gag law, he (Mr. Linn) would say to his friends, let them meet him like men. He was not for threatening, but if he was obliged to meet the crisis, he would do it as became him." Mr. Berrien, apparently acting on the hint of Mr. Clay, moved to go into the consideration of executive business. A question of order was raised upon that motion by Mr. Calhoun. The Chair decided in its favor. Mr. Calhoun de- manded what was the necessity for going into executive business ? Mr. Berrien did not think it proper to discuss that point : so the executive session was gone into : and when it was over, the Senate adjourned for the day. Here, then, was a day lost for such pressing business — the bill, which was so urgent, and the motion, which was intended to expedite it Neither of them touched : and the omission entirely the fault of the majority. There was evidently a balk. This was the 15th of July. The 16th came, and was occupied with the quiet transaction of business : not a word said about the new rules. The 17th came, and as soon as the Senate met, Mr. Calhoun took the floor; and after presenting some resolutions from a public meeting in Virginia, condemning the call of the extra session, and all its measures, he passed on to correct an erroneous idea that had got into the newspapers, that he himself, in 1812, at the declaration of war against Great Britain, being acting chairman of the committee of foreign relations, who had reported the war bill, had stifled discussion — had hurried the bill through, and virtually gagged the House. He gave a detail of circumstances, which showed the error of this report — that all the causes of war had been discussed before — that there was nothing new to be said, nor desire to speak : and that, for one hour before the vote was taken, there was a pause in the House, waiting for a paper from the department ; and no one choosing to occupy any part of it with a speech, for or against the war, or on any subject. He then gave a history of the introduction of the pre- vious question into the House of Represen- tatives. " It had been never used before the 11th Con- gress (1810-12). It was then adopted, as he always understood, in consequence of the abuse of the right of debate by Mr. Gardinier of New York, remarkable for his capacity for making long speeches. He could keep the floor for days. The abuse was considered so great, that the previous question was introduced to prevent it ; but so little was it in favor with those who felt themselves forced to adopt it, that he would venture to say without having looked at the journals, that it was not used half a dozen times during the whole war, with a powerful and un- scrupulous opposition, and that in a body nearly two-thirds the size of the present House. He believed he might go farther, and assert that it was never used but twice during that eventful period. And now, a measure introduced under such pressing circumstances, and so sparingly used, is to be made the pretext for introducing the gag-law into the Senate, a body so much smaller, and so distinguished for the closeness of its debate and the brevity of its discussion. He would add that from the first introduction ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 257 of the previous question into the House of Rep- resentatives, his impression was that it was not used but four times in seventeen years, that is from 1811 to 1828, the last occasion on the pas- sage of the tariff bill. He now trusted that he had repelled effectually the attempt to prepare the country for the effort to gag the Senate, by a reference to the early history of the previous question in the other House." Mr. Calhoun then referred to a decision made by Mr. Clay when Speaker of the House, and the benefit of which he claimed argumen- tatively. Mr. Clay disputed his recollection: Mr. Calhoun reiterated, The senators became heated, Mr. Clay calling out from his seat — " No, sir, No ! " — and Mr. Calhoun answering back as he stood — " Yes, sir, yes : " and each giving his own version of the circumstance without convincing the other. He then return- ed to the point of irritation — the threatened gag ; — and said : " The senator from Kentucky had endeavored to draw a distinction between the gag law and the old sedition law. He (Mr. Calhoun) ad- mitted there was a distinction — the modern gag law was by far the most odious. The sedition law was an attempt to gag the people in their individual character, but the senator's gag was an attempt to gag the representatives of the people, selected as their agents to deliberate, discuss, and decide on the important subjects intrusted by them to this government." This was a taunt, and senators looked to see what would follow. Mr. Clay rose, leisurely, and surveying the chamber with a pleasant ex- pression of countenance, said : " The morning had been spent so very agree- ably, that he hoped the gentlemen were in a good humor to go on with the loan bill, and afford the necessary relief to the Treasury." The loan bill was then taken up, and pro- ceeded with in a most business style, and quite amicably. And this was the last that was heard of the hour rule, and the previous ques- tion in the Senate: and the secret history of their silent abandonment was aftewards fully learnt. Several whig senators had yielded as- sent to Mr. Clay's desire for the hour rule un- der the belief that it would only be resisted parliamentarily by the minority ; but when they saw its introduction was to produce ill blood, and disagreeable scenes in the chamber, they withdrew their assent j and left him with- out the votes to carry it : and that put an end I Vol. II.— 17 to the project of the hour rule. The previous question was then agreed to in its place, sup- posing the minority would take it as a " com- promise ; " but when they found this measure was to be resisted like the former, and was deemed still more odious, hurtful and degrading, they withdrew their assent again : and then Mr. Clay, brought to a stand again for want of voters, was compelled to forego his design ; and to re- treat from it in the manner which has been shown. He affected a pleasantry, but was deeply chagrined, and the more so for having failed in the House where he acted in person, after succeeding in the other where he acted vicariously. Many of his friends were much dissatisfied. One of them said to me : " He gives your party a great deal of trouble, and his own a great deal more." Thus, the firmness of the minority in the Senate — it may be said, their courage, for their intended resistance con- templated any possible extremity — saved the body from degradation — constitutional legisla- tion from suppression — the liberty of speech from extinction, and the honor of republican government from a disgrace to which the peo- ple's representatives are not subjected in any monarchy in Europe. The previous question has not been called in the British House of Commons in one hundred years — and never in the House of Peers. CHAPTER LXX. BILL FOE THE EELIEF OF MES. HAEEISON, WIDOW OF THE LATE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Such was the title of the bill which was brought into the House of Representatives for an in- demnity, as it was explained to be, to the family of the late President for his expenses in the presidential election, and in removing to the seat of government. The bill itself was in these words : " That the Secretary of the Treasury pay, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to Mrs. Harrison, widow of William Henry Harrison, late Presi- dent of the United States, or in the event of her death before payment, to the legal rapre- 258 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. sentatives of the said William Henry Harrison, the sum of $25,000. Mr. John Quincy Adams, as reporter of the bill from the select committee to which had been referred that portion of the President's message relating to the family of his predecessor, explained the motives on which the bill had been founded ; and said : " That this sum ($25,000), as far as he under- stood, was in correspondence with the prevail- ing sentiment of the joint committee raised on this subject, and of which the gentleman now in the chair had been a member. There had been ^some difference of opinion among the members of the committee as to the sum which it would be proper to appropriate, and, also, on the part of one or two gentlemen as to the con- stitutionality of the act itself in any shape. There had been more objection to the constitu- tionality than there had been as to the sum proposed. So far as there had been any dis- cussion in the committee, it seemed to be the general sense of those composing it, that some provision ought to be made for the family of the late President, not in the nature of a grant, but as an indemnity for actual expenses incurred by himself first, when a candidate for the presi- dency. It had been observed in the committee, and it must be known to all members of the House, that, in the situation in which General Harrison had been placed — far from the seat of government, and for eighteen months or two years, while a candidate for the presidency, ex- posed to a heavy burden of expense which he could not possibly avoid — it was no more than equitable that he should, to a reasonable de- gree, be indemnified. He had been thus bur- dened while in circumstances not opulent ; but, on the contrary, it had been one ground on which he had received so decided proof of the people's favor, that through a long course of public service he remained poor, which was in itself a demonstrative proof that he had remain- ed pure also. Such had been his condition be- fore leaving home to travel to the seat of gov- ernment. After his arrival here, he had been exposed to another considerable burden of ex- pense, far beyond any amount he had received from the public purse during the short month he had continued to be President. His decease had left his family in circumstances which would be much improved by this act of justice done to him by the people, through their representa- tives. The feeling was believed to be very general throughout the country, and without distinction of party, in favor of such a meas- ure." This bill, on account of its principle, gave rise to a vehement opposition on the part of some members who believed they saw in it a de- parture from the constitution, and the establish- ment of a dangerous precedent. Mr. Payne, of Alabama, said : " As he intended to vote against this proposi- tion it was due to himself to state the reasons which would actuate him. In doing so he was not called to examine either the merits or de- merits of General Harrison. They had nothing to do with the question. The question before the House was, not whether General Harrison was or was not a meritorious individual, but whether that House would make an appropri- ation to his widow and descendants. That being the question, the first inquiry was, had the House a right to vote this money, and, if they had, was it proper to do so ? Mr. P. was one of those who believed that Congress had no constitutional right to appropriate the public money for such an object. He quoted the lan- guage of the constitution, and then inquired whether this was an appropriation to pay the debts of the Union, to secure the common de- fence, or to promote the general welfare ? He denied that precedents ever ought to be con- sidered as settling a constitutional question. If they could, then the people had no remedy. It was not pretended that this money was* to be given as a reward for General Harrison's public services, but to reimburse him for the expense of an electioneering campaign. This was in- finitely worse." Mr. Gilmer, of Virginia, said : " When he had yesterday moved for the rising of the committee, he had not proposed to him- self to occupy much of the time of the House in debate, nor was such his purpose at present. With every disposition to vote for this bill, he had then felt, and he still felt, himself unable to give it his sanction, and that for reasons which had been advanced by many of the advocates in its favor. This was not a place to indulge feel- ing and sympathy : if it were, he presumed there would be but one sentiment throughout that House and throughout the country, and that would be in favor of the bill. If this were an act of generosity, if the object were to vote a bounty, a gratuity, to the widow or relatives of the late President, it seemed to Mr. G. that they ought not to vote it in the representative capa- city, out of the public funds, but privately from their own personal resources. They had no right to be generous with the money of the peo- ple. Gentlemen might bestow as much out of their own purses as they pleased ; but they were here as trustees for the property of others, and no public agent was at liberty to disregard the trust confided to him under the theory of our government. It was quite needless here to at- tempt an eulogy on the character of the illustri- ous dead : history has done and would hereafter do ample justice to the civil and military charac- ter of William Henry Harrison. The result of the recent election, a result unparalleled in the ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 259 annals of this country, spoke the sentiment of the nation in regard to his merits, while the drapery of death which shrouded the legislative halls, the general gloom which overspread the nation, spoke that sentiment in accents mourn- fully impressive. But those rhapsodies in which gentlemen had indulged, might, he thought, bet- ter be deferred for some Fourth of July oration, or at least reserved for other theatres than this. They had come up here not to be generous, but to be just. His object now was to inquire whether they could not place this bill on the basis of indisputable justice, so that it might not be carried by a mere partial vote, bat might conciliate the support of gentlemen of all parties, and from every quarter of the Union. He wish- ed, if possible, to see the whole House united, so as to give to their act the undivided weight of public sentiment. Mr. G. said he could not bow to the authority of precedent ; he should ever act under the light of the circumstances which surrounded him. His wish was, not to furnish an evil precedent to others by his ex- ample. He thought the House in some danger of setting one of that character; a precedent which might hereafter be strained and tortured to apply to cases of a very different kind, and objects of a widely different character. He called upon the advocates of the bill to enable all the members of the House, or as nearly all as was practicable (for, after what had trans- pired yesterday, he confessed his despair of see- ing the House entirely united), to agree in voting for the bill." There was an impatient majority in the House in favor of the passage of the bill, and to that impatience Mr. Gilmer referred as making de- spair of any unanimity in the House, or of any considerate deliberation. The circumstances were entirely averse to any such deliberation — a victorious party, come into power after a most heated election, seeing their elected candidate dying on the threshold of his administration, poor, and beloved : it was a case for feeling more than of judgment, especially with the po- litical friends of the deceased — but few of whom could follow the counsels of the head against the impulsions of the heart. Amongst these few Mr. Gilmer was one, and Mr. Underwood of Kentucky, another ; who said : " His heart was on one side and his judgment upon the other. If this was a new case, he might be led away by his heart ; but as he had here- tofore, in his judgment, opposed all such claims he should do so now. He gave his reasons thus at large, because a gentleman from Indiana, on the other side of the House, denounced those who should vote against the bill. He objected, because it was retroactive in its provisions and because it called into existence legislative dis- cretion, and applied it to past cases — because it provided for the widow of a President for ser- vices rendered by her husband while in office, thus increasing the President's compensation after his death. If it applied to the widow of the President, it applied to the widows of mili- tary officers. He considered if this bill passed, that Mr. Jefferson's heirs might with equal propriety claim the same compensation." If the House had been in any condition for considerate legislation there was an amendment proposed by Mr. Gordon of New York, which might have brought it forth. He proposed an indemnity equal to the amount of one quarter's salary, $6,250. He proposed it, but got but little support for his proposition, the majority calling for the question, and some declaring themselves for $50,000, and some for $100,000. The vote was taken, and showed 66 negatives, comprehending the members who were best known to the country as favorable to a strict construction of the constitution, and an econom- ical administration of the government. The negatives were : Archibald H. Arrington, Charles G. Ather- ton, Linn Banks, Henry W. Beeson, Linn Boyd, David P. Brewster, Aaron V. Brown, Charles Brown, Edmund Burke, William O. Butler, Green W. Caldwell, Patrick C. Caldwell, John Campbell, George B. Cary, Reuben Chapman, Nathan Clifford, James G. Clinton, Walter Coles, John R. J. Daniel, Richard D. Davis, William Doan, Andrew W. Doig, Ira A. East- man, John C. Edwards, Joseph Egbert, John G. Floyd, Charles A. Floyd, James Gerry, Wil- liam O. Goode, Samuel Gordon, Amos Gustine, William A. Harris, Samuel L. Hays, George W. Hopkins, Jacob Houck, jr., Edmund W. Hub- ard, Robert M. T. Hunter, Cave Johnson, John W. Jones, George M. Keim, Andrew Kennedy, Joshua A. Lowell, Abraham McClellan, Robert McClellan, James J. McKay, Albert G. Mar- chand, Alfred Marshal], John Thompson Ma- son, James Mathews, William Medill, John Miller, Peter Newhard, William W. Payne, Francis W. Pickens, Arnold Plumer, John R. Reding, James Rogers, Romulus M. Saunders, Tristram Shaw, John Snyder, Lewis Steenrod, Hopkins L. Turney, Joseph R. Underwood, Harvey M. Watterson, John B. Weller, James W. Williams. Carried to the Senate for its concurrence, the bill continued to receive there a determined op- position from a considerable minority. Mr. Cal- houn said : " He believed no government on earth leane4 260 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. more than ours towards all the corruptions of an enormous pension list. Not even the aris- tocratic government of Great Britain has a stronger tendency to it than this government. This is no new thing. It was foreseen from the beginning, and the great struggle then was, to keep out the entering wedge. He recollected very well, when he was at the head of the War Department, and the military pension bill passed, that while it was under debate, it was urged as a very small matter — only an appro- priation of something like $150,000 to poor and meritorious soldiers of the Revolution, who would not long remain a burden on the Treas- ury. Small as the sum was, and indisputable as were the merits of the claimants, it was with great difficulty the bill passed. Why was this difficulty — this hesitation on such an apparent- ly irresistible claim ? Because it was wisely argued, and with a spirit of prophecy since ful- filled, that it would prove an entering wedge, which, once admitted, would soon rend the pil- lar of democracy. And what has been the re- sult of that trifling grant 1 It is to be found in the enormous pension list of this govern- ment at the present day. " He asked to have any part of the Consti- tution pointed out in which there was authori- ty for making such an appropriation as this. If the authority exists in the Constitution at all, it exists to a much greater extent than has yet been acted upon, and it is time to have the fact known. If the Constitution authorizes Congress to make such an appropriation as this for a President of the United States, it surely authorizes it to make an appropriation of like nature for a doorkeeper of the Senate of the United States, or for any other officer of the government. There can be no distinction drawn. Pass this act, and the precedent is established for the family of every civil officer in the government to be placed on the pension list. Is not this the consummation of the ten- dency so long combated ? But the struggle is in vain — there is not, he would repeat, a gov- ernment on the face of the earth, in which there is such a tendency to all the corruptions of an aristocratic pension list as there is in this." Mr. Woodbury said : " This was the first instance within his (Mr. W.'s) knowledge, of an application to pension a civil officer being likely to succeed ; and a dan- gerous innovation, he felt convinced, it would prove. Any civil officer, by the mere act of taking possession of his office for a month, ought to get his salary for a year, on the rea- soning adopted by the senator from Delaware, though only performing a month's service. If that can be shown to be right, he (Mr. W.) would go for this, and all bills of the kind. But it must first be shown satisfactorily. If this lady was really poor, there would be some plea for sympathy, at least. But he could point to hundreds who have that claim, and not on account of civil, but military service, who yet have obtained no such grant, and never will. He could point to others in the civil ser- vice, who had gone to great expense in taking possession of office and then died, but no claim of this kind was encouraged, though their widows were left in most abject poverty. All analogy in civil cases was against going beyond the death of the incumbent in allowing either salary or gratuity." Mr. Pierce said : " Without any feelings adverse to this claim, political or otherwise, he protested against any legislation based upon our sympathies — he pro- tested against the power and dominion of that ' inward arbiter,'' which in private life was al- most sure to lead us right ; but, as public men, and as the dispensers of other men's means — other men's contributions — was quite as sure to lead us wrong. It made a vast difference whether we paid the inorfey from our own pockets, or drew it from the pockets of our con- stituents. He knew his weakness on this point, personally, but it would be his steady purpose, in spite of taunts and unworthy imputations, to escape from it, as the representative of others. But he was departing from the object which in- duced him, for a moment, to trespass upon the patience of the Senate. This claim did not come from the family. No gentleman under- stood on what ground it was placed. The indi- gence of the family had not even been urged : he believed they were not only in easy circum- stances, but affluent. It was not for loss of limb, property, or life, in the military service. If for any thing legitimate, in any sense, or by any construction, it was for the civil services of the husband ; and, in this respect, was a broad and dangerous precedent. In saying that the claim did not come from the family of General Harrison, Mr. Pierce spoke the words which all knew to be true. Where then did it come from ? It came, as was well known at the time, from persons who had ad- vanced moneys to the amount of about $22,000, for the purposes mentioned in the bill j and who had a claim upon the estate to that amount. Mr. Benton moved to recommit the bill with instructions to prefix a preamble, or insert an amendment showing upon what ground the grant was motived. The bill itself showed no grounds for the grant. It was, on its face, a simple legislative donation of money to a lady, describing her as the widow of the late Presi- dent ; but in no way connecting either herself, or her deceased husband, with any act or fact as the alleged ground of the grant. The grant ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 261 is without consideration : the donee is merely- described, to prevent the donation from going to a wrong person. It was to go to Mrs. Harri- son. "What Mrs. Harrison ? Why, the widow of the late President Harrison. This was de- scriptive, and sufficiently descriptive ; for it would carry the money to the right person. But why carry it? That was the question which the bill had not answered ; for there is nothing in the mere fact of being the widow of a President which could entitle the widow to a sum of public money. This was felt by the re- porter of the bill, and endeavored to be sup- plied by an explanation, that it was not a "grant" but an " indemnity ; " and an indem- nity for " actual expenses incurred when he was a candidate for the presidency;" and for ex- penses incurred after his "arrival at the seat of government j " and as "some provision for his family ; " and because he was " poor." Now why not put these reasons into the bill ? Was the omission oversight, or design? If oversight, it should be corrected ; if design, it should be thwarted. The law should be com- plete in itself. It cannot be helped out by a member's speech. It was not oversight which caused the omission. The member who re- ported the bill is not a man to commit over- sights. It was design ! and because such rea- sons could not be put on the face of the bill ! could not be voted upon by yeas and nays ! and therefore must be left blank, that every member may vote upon what reasons he pleases, with- out being committed to any. This is not the way to legislate ; and, therefore, the author of this View moved the re-commitment, with in- structions to put a reason on the face of the bill itself, either in the shape of a preamble, or of an amendment — leaving the selection of the rea- sons to the friends of the bill, who constituted the committee to which it would be sent. Mr. Calhoun supported the motion for re-commit- ment, and said : "Is it an unreasonable request to ask the committee for a specific report of the grounds on which they have recommended this appropri- ation ? No ; and the gentlemen know it is not unreasonable ; but they will oppose it not on that account ; they will oppose it because they know such a report would defeat their bill. It could not be sustained in the face of their own report. Not that there would be no ground as- sumed, but because those who now support the bill do so on grounds as different as any possibly can be ; and, if the committee was fastened down to one ground, those who support the others would desert the standard." The vote was taken on the question, and ne- gatived. The yeas were : Messrs. Allen, Ben- ton, Calhoun, Clay of Alabama, Fulton, King of Alabama, Linn, McRoberts, Pierce, Sevier, Smith of Connecticut, Tappan, Williams of Maine, Woodbury, Wright, Young of Illinois. To the argument founded on the alleged poverty of General Harrison, Mr. Benton replied : " Look at the case of Mr. Jefferson, a man than whom no one that ever existed on God's earth were the human family more indebted to. His furniture and his estate were sold to satisfy his creditors. His posterity was driven from house and home, and his bones now lay in soil owned by a stranger. His family are scattered ; some of his descendants are married in foreign lands. Look at Monroe — the amiable, the pa- triotic Monroe, whose services were revolution- ary, whose blood was spilt in the war of Inde- pendence, whose life was worn out in civil ser- vice, and whose estate has been sold for debt, his family scattered, and his daughter buried in a foreign land. Look at Madison, the model of every virtue, public or private, and he would only mention in connection with this subject, his love of order, his economy, and his sys- tematic regularity in all his habits of business. He, when his term of eight years had expired, sent a letter to a gentleman (a son of whom is now upon this floor) [Mr. Preston], enclosing a note for five thousand dollars, which he re- quested him to endorse, and raise the money in Virginia, so as to enable him to leave this city, and return to his modest retreat — his patrimo- nial inheritance — in that State. General Jackson drew upon the consignee of his cotton crop in New Orleans for six thousand dollars to enable him to leave the seat of government without leaving creditors behind him. These were honored leaders of the republican party. They had all been Presidents. They had made great sacrifices, and left the presidency deeply embar- rassed ; and yet the republican party who had the power and the strongest disposition to re- lieve their necessities, felt they had no right to do so by appropriating money from the public Treasury. Democracy would not do this. It was left for the era of federal rule and federal supremacy — who are now rushing the country with steam power into all the abuses and cor- ruptions of a monarchy, with its pensioned aristocracy — and to entail upon the country a civil pension list. " To the argument founded on the expense of removing to the seat of government, Mr. Ben- ton replied that there was something in it, and 262 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. if the bill was limited to indemnity for that ex- pense, and a rule given to go by in all cases, it might find claims to a serious consideration. Such a bill would have principle and reason in it — the same principle and the same reason which allows mileage to a member going to and returning from Congress. The member was supposed during that time to be in the public service (he was certainly out of his own ser- vice) : he was at expense : and for these reasons he was allowed a compensation for his journeys. But, it was by a uniform rule, applicable to all members, and the same at each session. The same reason and principle with foreign mi- nisters. They received an out-fit before they left home, and an in-fit to return upon. A quarter's salary, was the in-fit : the out-fit was a year's salary, because it included the expense of setting up a house after the minister arrived at his post. The President finds a furnished house on his arrival at the seat of government, so that the principle and reason of the case would not give to him, as to a minister to a foreign court, a full year's salary. The in-fit would be the proper measure ; and that rule applied to the coming of the President elect, and to his going when he retires, would give him $6,250 on each occasion. For such an allowance he felt perfectly clear that he could vote as an act of justice; and nearly as clear that he could do it constitution- ally. But it would have to be for a general and permanent act." The bill was passed by a bare quorum, 28 affirmatives out of 52. The negatives were 16 : so that 18 senators — being a greater number than voted against the bill — were either absent, or avoided the vote. The absentees were con- sidered mostly of that class who were willing to see the bill pass, but not able to vote for it themselves. The yeas and nays were : Yeas — Messrs. Barrow, Bates, Bayard, Ber- rien, Buchanan, Choate, Clay of Kentucky, Clay- ton, Dixon, Evans, Graham, Huntington, Man- gum, Merrick, Miller, Morehead, Phelps, Porter, Prentiss, Preston, Rives, Simmons, Smith of Indiana, Southard, Tallmadge, Walker, White, Woodbridge. Nays — Messrs. Allen, Benton, Calhoun, Clay of Alabama, Fulton, King, Linn, McRoberts, Nicholson, Sevier, Smith of Connecticut, Sur- geon, Tappan, Williams, Woodbury, Wright, Young. It was strenuously opposed by the stanch members of the democratic party, and elabo- rately resisted in a speech from the writer of this View — of which an extract is given in the next chapter. CHAPTER LXXI. MRS. HAEEISONS BILL: SPEECH OF ME. BENTON: EXTEACTS. Mr. Benton said he was opposed to this bill — opposed to it on high constitutional grounds, and upon grounds of high national policy — and could not suffer it to be carried through the Senate without making the resistance to it which ought to be made against a new, dan- gerous, and unconstitutional measure. It was a bill to make a grant of money — twenty-five thousand dollars — out of the com- mon Treasury to the widow of a gentleman who had died in a civil office, that of President of the United States ; and was the commencement of that system of civil pensions, and support for families, which, in the language of Mr. Jefferson, has divided England, and other European coun- tries into two classes — the tax payers and the tax consumers — and which sends the laboring man supperless to bed. It is a new case — the first of the kind upon our statute book — and should have been accom- panied by a report from a committee, or pre- ceded by a preamble to the bill, or interjected with a declaration, showing the reason for which this grant is made. It is a new case, and should have carried its justification along with it. But nothing of this is done. There is no report from a committee — from the two committees in fact — which sat upon the case. There is no preamble to it, setting forth the reason for the grant. There is no declaration in the body of the bill, showing the reason why this money is voted to this lady. It is simply a bill granting to Mrs. Harrison, widow of William H. Harri- son, late President of the United States, the sum of $25,000. Now, all this is wrong, and con- trary to parliamentary practice. Reason tells us there should be a report from a committee in such a case. In fact, we have reports every day in every case, no matter how inconsiderable, which even pays a small sum of money to an individual. It is our daily practice, and yet two committees have shrunk from that practice in this new and important case. They would not make a report, though urged to do it. I speak advisedly, for I was of the committee, and ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 263 know what was done. No report could be ob- tained ; and why ? because it was difficult, if not impossible, for any committee to agree upon a reason which would satisfy the constitution, and satisfy public policy, for making this grant. Gentlemen could agree to give the money — they could agree to vote — but they could not agree upon the reason which was to be left upon the record as a justification for the gift and the vote. Being no report, the necessity became apparent for a preamble ; but we have none of that. And, worse than all, in the absence of report and pre- amble, the bill itself is silent on the motive of the grant. It does not contain the usual clause in money bills to individuals, stating, in a few words, for what reason the grant or payment is made. All this is wrong; and I point it out now, both as an argument against the bill, and as a reason for having it recommitted, and re- turned with a report, or a preamble, or a de- claratory clause. We were told at the last session that a new set of books were to be opened — that the new administration would close up the old books, and open new ones ; and truly we find it to be the case. New books of all kinds are opened, as foreign to the constitution and policy of the country, as they are to the former practice of the government, and to the late professions of these new patriots. Many new books are open- ed, some by executive and some by legislative authority ; and among them is this portentous volume of civil pensions, and national recom- penses, for the support of families. Military pensions we have always had, and they are founded upon a principle which the mind can un- derstand, the tongue can tell, the constitution can recognize, and public policy can approve. They are founded upon the principle of personal danger and suffering in the cause of the country — upon the loss of life or limb in war. This is reasonable. The man who goes forth, in his country's cause, to be shot at for seven dollars a month, or for forty dollars a month, or even for one or two hundred, and gets his head or his limbs knocked off, is in a very different case from him who serves the same country at a desk or a table, with a quill or a book in his hand, who may quit his place when he sees the enemy coming ; and has no occasion to die ex- cept in his tranquil and peaceful bed. The case of the two classes is wholly different, and thus far the laws of our country have recognized and maintained the difference. Military pensions have been granted from the foundation of the government — civil pensions, never; and now, for the first time, the attempt is to be made to grant them. A grant of money is to be made to the widow of a gentleman who has not been in the army for near thirty years — who has, since that time, been much employed in civil service, and has lately died in a civil office. A pension, or a grant of a gross sum of money, under such circumstances, is a new proceeding under our government, and which finds no war- rant in the constitution, and is utterly con- demned by high considerations of public policy. The federal constitution differs in its nature — and differs fundamentally from those of the States. The States, being original sovereignties, may do what they are not prohibited from do- ing ; the federal government, being derivative, and carved out of the States, is like a corpora- tion, the creature of the act which creates it, and can only do what it can show a grant for doing. Now the moneyed power of the federal government is contained in a grant from the States, and that grant authorizes money to be raised either by loans, duties or taxes, for the pur- pose of paying the debts, supporting the govern- ment, and providing for the common defence of the Union. These are the objects to which mo- ney may be applied, and this grant to Mrs. Har- rison can come within neither of them. But, gentlemen say this is no pension — it is not an annual payment, but a payment in hand. I say so, too, and that it is so much the more objectionable on that account. A pension must have some rule to go by — so much a month — and generally a small sum, the highest on our pension roll being thirty dollars — and it termi- nates in a reasonable time, usually five years, and at most for life. A pension granted to Mrs. Harrison on this principle, could amount to no great sum — to a mere fraction, at most, of these twenty-five thousand dollars. It is not a pen- sion, then, but a gift — a gratuity — a large pres- ent — a national recompense ; and the more ob- jectionable for being so. Neither our constitu- tion, nor the genius of our government, admits of such benefactions. National recompenses are high rewards, and require express powers to 264 THIRTY YEARS* VIEW grant them in every limited government. The French Consular Constitution of the year 1799, authorized such recompenses ; ours does not, and it has not yet been attempted, even in mili- tary cases. "We have not yet voted a fortune to an officer's or a soldier's family, to lift them from poverty to wealth. These recompenses are worse than pensions : they are equally un- founded in the constitution, more incapable of being governed by any rule, and more suscep- tible of great and dangerous abuse. We have no rule to go by in fixing the amount. Every one goes by feeling — by his personal or political feeling — or by a cry got up at home, and sent here to act upon him. Hence the diversity of the opinions as to the proper sum to be given. Some gentlemen are for the amount in the bill ; some are for double that amount ; and some are for nothing. This diversity itself is an argu- ment against the measure. It shows that it has no natural foundation — nothing to rest upon — nothing to go by ; no rule, no measure, no stand- ard, by which to compute or compare it. It is all guess-work — the work of the passions or policy — of faction or of party. By our constitution, the persons who fill offices are to receive a compensation for their services ; and, in many cases, this compensation is neither to be increased nor diminished during the period for which the person shall have been elected ; and in some there is a prohibition against receiving presents either from foreign States, or from the United States, or from the States of the Union. The office of President comes under all these restrictions, and shows how jealous the framers of the constitution were, of any moneyed influence being brought to bear upon the Chief Magistrate of the Union. All these limitations are for obvious and wise rea- sons. The President's salary is not to be di- minished during the time for which he was elected, lest his enemies, if they get the upper hand of him in Congress, should deprive him of his support, and starve him out of office. It is not to be increased, lest his friends, if they get the upper hand, should enrich him at the public expense ; and he is not to receive " any other emolument," lest the provision against an in- crease of salary should be evaded by the grant of gross sums. These are the constitutional pro- visions ; but to what effect are they, if the sums can be granted to the officer's family, which cannot be granted to himself? — if his widow — his wife — his children can receive what he can- not 7 In this case, the term for which General Harrison was elected, is not out. It has not expired ; and Congress cannot touch his salary, or bestow upon him or his, any emolument with- out a breach of the constitution. It is in vain to look to general clauses of the constitution. Besides the general spirit of the instrument, there is a specific clause upon the subject of the President's salary and emolu- ments. It forbids him any compensation, ex- cept at stated times, for services rendered ; it forbids increase or diminution; and it forbids all emolument. To give salary or emolument to his family, is a mere evasion of this clause. His family is himself— so far as property is con- cerned, a man's family is himself. And many persons would prefer to have money or property conveyed to his family, or some member of it, because it would then receive the destination which his will would give it, and would be free from the claims or contingencies to which his own property — that in his own name — would be sub- ject. There is nothing in the constitution to war- rant this proceeding, and there is much in it to condemn it. It is condemned by all the clauses which relate to the levy, and the application of money ; and it is specially condemned by the precise clause which regulates the compensation of the President, and which clause would control any other part of the constitution which might come in conflict with it. Condemned upon the constitutional test, how stands this bill on the question of policy and expediency ? It is con- demned — utterly condemned, and reprobated, upon that test ! The view which I have already presented of the difference between military and naval services (and I always include the naval when I speak of the military) shows that the former are proper subjects for pensions — the latter not. The very nature of the service makes the difference. Differing in principle, as the military and civil pensions do, they differ quite as much when you come to details, and undertake to administer the two classes of re- wards. The military has something to go by — some limit to it — and provides for classes of in- dividuals — not for families or for individuals — one by one. Though subject to great abuse, yet ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 265 the military pensions have some limit — some boundary — to their amount placed upon them. They are limited at least to the amount of ar- mies, and the number of wars. Our armies are small ; and our wars few and far between. We have had but two with a civilized power in sixty years. Our navy, also, is limited ; and compared to the mass of the population, the army and navy must be always small. Confined to their proper subjects, and military and naval pensions have limits and boundaries which confine them within some bounds ; and then the law is the same for all persons of the same rank. The military and naval pensioners are not provided for individu- ally, and therefore do not become a subject of favoritism, of party, or of faction. Not so with civil pensions. There is no limit upon them. They may apply to the family of every person civilly employed — that is, to almost every body — and this without intermission of time ; for civil services go on in peace and war, and the claims for them will be eternal when once begun. Then again civil pensions and grants of money are given individually, and not by classes, and every case is governed by the feeling of the mo- ment, and the predominance of the party to which the individual belonged. Every case is the sport of party, of faction, of favoritism ; and of feelings excited and got up for the occasion. Thus it is in England, and thus it will be here. The English civil pension list is dreadful, both for the amount paid, and the nature of the ser- vices rewarded; but it required centuries for England to ripen her system. Are we to begin it in the first half century of our existence ? and begin it without rule or principle to go by ? Every thing to be left to impulse and favor — by the politics of the individual, his party affinities, and the political complexion of the party in power. Gentlemen refuse to commit themselves on the record ; but they have reasons ; and we have heard enough, here and elsewhere, to have a glimpse of what they are. First, poverty : as if that was any reason for voting a fortune to a family, even if it was true ! If it was a reason, one half of the community might be packed upon the backs of the other. Most of our pub- lic men die poor ; many of them use up their patrimonial inheritances in the public service ; yet, until now, the reparation of ruined fortune has not been attempted out of the public Treas- ury. Poverty would not do, if it was true ; but here it is not true : the lady in question has a fine estate, and certainly has not applied for this money. No petition of hers is here ! No letter, even, that we have heard of ! So far as we know, she is ignorant of the proceeding ! Certain it is, she has not applied for this grant, either on the score of poverty, or any thing else. Next, election expenses are mentioned; but that would seem to be a burlesque upon the character of our republican institutions. Cer- tainly nc candidate for the presidency ought to electioneer for it — spend money for it — and if he did, the public Treasury ought not to indemnify him. Travelling expenses coming on to the seat of government, are next mentioned ; but these could be but a trifle, even if the President elect came at his own expense. But we know to the contrary. We know that the contest is for the honor of bringing him ; that convey- ances and entertainments are prepared ; and that friends dispute for precedence in the race of lifting and helping along, and ministering to every want of the man who is so soon to be the dispenser of honor and fortune in the shape of office and contracts. Such a man cannot travel at his own expense. Finally, the fire in the roof of the west wing of the North Bend man- sion has been mentioned ; but Jackson had the whole Hermitage burnt to the ground when he was President, and would have scorned a gift from the public Treasury to rebuild it. Such are the reasons mentioned in debate, or else- where, for this grant. Their futility is apparent on their face, and is proved by the unwillingness of gentlemen to state them in a report, or a pre- amble, or in the body of the bill itself. CHAPTEK LXXII. ABUSE OF THE NAVAL PENSION SYSTEM : VAIN ATTEMPT TO CORRECT IT. The annual bill for these pensions being on its passage, an attempt was made to correct the abuse introduced by the act of 1837. That act had done four things : — 1. It had carried back the commencement of invalid naval pensions to the time of receiving the inability, instead of the time of completing the proof. 2. It ex- 266 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. tended the pensions for death to all cases of death, whether incurred in the line of duty or not. 3. It extended the widows' pensions for life, when five years had been the law both in the army and the navy. 4. It pensioned chil- dren until twenty-one years of age, thereby adopting the English pension system. The ef- fects of these changes were to absorb and bank- rupt the navy pension fund — a meritorious fund created out of the government share of prize money, relinquished for that purpose ; — and to throw the pensions, the previous as well as the future, upon the public treasury — where it was never intended they were to be. This act, so novel in its character — so plundering in its ef- fects — and introducing such fatal principles into the naval pension system, and which it has been found so difficult to get rid of — was one of the deplorable instances of midnight legisla- tion, on the last night of the session ; when, in the absence of many, the haste of all, the sleep- iness of some, and a pervading inattention, an enterprising member can get almost any thing passed through — and especially as an amend- ment. It was at a time like this that this pen- sion act was passed, the night of March 3d, 1837 — its false and deceptive title ( ;c An act for the more equitable administration of the Navy Pension Fund) being probably as much of it as was heard by the few members who heard any thing about it ; and the word " equitable," so untruly and deceptiously inserted, probably the only part of it which lodged on their minds. And in that way was passed an act which in- stantly pillaged a sacred fund of one million two hundred thousand dollars — which has thrown the naval pensioners upon the Treas- ury, instead of the old navy pension fund, for their support — which introduced the English pension system — which was so hard to repeal ; and which has still all its burdens on our finances, and some of its principles in our laws. It is instructive to learn the history of such legislation, and to see its power (a power inhe- rent in the very nature of an abuse, and the greater in proportion to the greatness of the abuse) to resist correction : and with this view the brief debate on an ineffectual attempt in the Senate to repeal the act of this session is here given — Mr. Reuel Williams, of Maine, having the honor to commence the movement. " The naval pension appropriation bill being under consideration, Mr. Williams offered an amendment, providing for the repeal of the act of 1837 ; and went at some length into the rea- sons in favor of the adoption of the amendment. He said all admitted the injurious tendency of the act of 1837, by which the fund which had been provided by the bravery of our gallant sailors for the relief of the widows and orphans of those who had been killed in battle, or had died from wounds which had been received while in the line of their duty, had been utter- ly exhausted ; and his amendment went to the repeal of that law." " Mr. Mangum hoped the amendment would not be adopted — that the system would be al- lowed to remain as it was until the next ses- sion. It was a subject of great complexity, and if this amendment passed it would be equivalent to the repeal of all the naval pension acts." " Mr. Williams understood the senator from North Carolina as saying, that if they passed this amendment, and thus repealed the act of 1837, they repeal all acts which grant a pension for disability." " Mr. Mangum had said, if they repealed the law of '37, they would cut off every widow and orphan now on the pension list, and leave none except the seamen, officers, and marines, enti- tled to pensions under the act of 1800." " Mr. Williams said the senator was entirely mistaken ; and read the law of 1813, which was still in full force, and could not be affected by the repeal of the law of 1837. The law of 1813 gives a pension to the widows and orphans of all who are killed in battle, or who die from wounds received in battle ; and also gives pen- sions to those who are disabled while in the line of their duty. This law was now in force. The additional provisions of the law of 1837, were to carry back the pensions to the time when the disability was incurred, and to extend it to the widows and children of those who died, no matter from what cause, while they were in the naval service. Thus, if an officer or seaman died from intoxication, or even committed sui- cide, his widow received a pension for life, and his children received pensions until they were twenty-one years of age. ;< Again : if officers or seamen received a wound which did not disable them, they con- tinued in the service, receiving their full pay for years. When they thought proper they retired from the service, and applied for a pension for disability, which, by the law of 1837, they were authorized to have carried back to the time the disability was incurred, though they had, dur- ing the whole series of years subsequent to re- ceiving the disability, and prior to the applica- tion for a pension, been receiving their full pay as officers or seamen. It was to prevent the continuance of such abuses, that the amendment was offered." "Mr. Walker must vote against this amend- ment, repealing the act of 1837, because an amendment which had been offered by him, ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 267 and adopted, provided for certain pensions un- der this very act, and which ought, in justice, to be given." " Mr. Williams thought differently, as the specific provision in the amendment of the sen- ator from Mississippi, would except the cases included in it from the operation of the repeal- ing clause." " Mr. Evans opposed the amendment, on the ground that it cut off all the amendments adopted, and brought back again the law of 1800." The proposed amendment of Mr. Williams was then put to the vote — and negatived — only nineteen senators voting for it. The yeas and nays were : Yeas — Messrs. Allen, Benton, Calhoun, Clay of Alabama, Fulton, King, Linn, McRoberts, Mouton, Nicholson, Pierce, Sevier, Smith of Connecticut, Sturgeon, Tappan, Williams, Woodbury, Wright, Young — 19. Nays — Messrs. Archer, Barrow, Bates, Bay- ard, Berrien, Choate, Clay of Kentucky, Clay- ton, Dixon, Evans, Graham, Huntington, Kerr, Mangum, Merrick, Miller, Morehead, Phelps, Porter, Prentiss, Preston, Simmons, Smith of Indiana, Southard, Tallmadge, Walker, White, Woodbridge— 28. It is remarkable that in this vote upon a pal- pable and enormous abuse in the navy, there was not a whig vote among the democracy for correcting it, nor a democratic vote, except one, among the negatives. A difference about a navy — on the point of how much, and of what kind — had always been a point of difference be- tween the two great political parties of the Union, which, under whatsoever names, are al- ways the same — each preserving its identity in principles and policy : but here the two parties divided upon an abuse which no one could de- ny, or defend. The excuse was to put it off to another time, which is the successful way of perpetuating abuses, as there are always in every public assembly, as in every mass of indi- viduals, many worthy men whose easy temper- aments delight in temporizations ; and who are always willing to put off, temporarily, the re- peal of a bad law, or even to adopt temporarily, the enactment of a doubtful one. Mr. Williams' proposed amendment was not one of repeal only, but of enactment also. It repealed the act of 1837, and revived that of 1832, and corrected some injurious principles interjected into the naval pension code — especially the ante-dating of pensions, and the abuse of drawing pay and pension at the same time. This amendment being rejected, and some minor ones adopted, the question came up upon one offered by Mr. Walker — providing that all widows or children of naval officers, seamen, or marines, now de- ceased, and entitled to pensions under the act of 1837, should receive the same until otherwise directed by law ; and excluding all cases from future deaths. Mr. Calhoun proposed to amend this amendment by striking out the substantive part of Mr. Walker's amendment, and after pro- viding for those now on the pension-roll under the act of 1837, confining all future pensioners to the acts of April 23d, 1800— January 24th, 1813 — and the second section of the act of the 3d of March, 1814. In support of his motion Mr. Calhoun spoke briefly, and pointedly, and unanswerably ; but not quite enough so to save his proposed amendment. It was lost by one vote, and that the vote of the president pro tem- pore, Mr. Southard. The substance of Mr. Calhoun's brief speech is thus preserved in the register of the Congress debates : "Mr. Calhoun said that, among the several objections to this, there was one to which he did hope the Senate would apply the correction. The amendment not only kept alive the act of 1837, as to the pensioners now on the list, un- der that act, but also kept it alive for all future applications which might be made under it, until it should be hereafter repealed, if it ever should be. To this he strongly objected. " There was one point on which all were agreed, that the act in question was not only inexpedient, but something much w r orse — that it committed something like a fraud upon the pension fund. It is well known to the Senate that that fund was the result of prize money pledged to the use of meritorious officers and sailors who might be disabled in the service of their country. The whole of this fund, amount- ing to nearly a million and a half of dollars, was swept away by this iniquitous act, that passed on the third of March — the very last day of the session — introduced and carried through by no- body knows who, and for which nobody seems responsible. He ventured nothing in asserting, that if such an act was now under discussion for the first time, it would not receive a single vote with the present knowledge which the Senate has of the subject, but, on the contrary, would be cast from it with universal scorn and indignation. He went further: it would now be repealed with like unanimity, were it not that many persons had been placed upon the list under the act, which was still in force, which was felt by many to be a sort of a pledge to pay them until the act was formally repealed. But why should we go further? Why should 268 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW*. we keep it alive to let in those who are not yet put upon the list ? But one answer could be given, and that one stated by the two senators from Massachusetts, that the act partook of the nature of a contract between the government and the officers, sailors and marines, compre- hended within its provisions. There might be some semblance of reason for the few cases which have occurred since the passage of the act ; but not the slightest as far as it relates to that more numerous class which occurred be- fore its passage. And yet the amendment keeps the act open for the latter as well as the for- mer. As strong as this objection is to the amendment as it stands, there are others not less so. "It introduces new and extraordinary prin- ciples into our pension list. It gives pensions for life — yes, beyond — to children for twenty- one years, as well as the widows of the deceased officer, sailor or marine, who may die while in service. It makes no distinction between the death of the gallant and brave in battle, or him who may die quietly in his hammock or his bed on shore, or even him who commits suicide. Nor does it even distinguish between those who have served a long or a short time. The widows and children of all, however short the service, even for a single day, whatever might be the cause of death, are entitled, under this fraudulent act, to receive pensions, the widow for life, and the children for twenty-one years. To let in this undeserving class, to this un- measured liberality of public bounty, this act is to be kept alive for an indefinite length of time — till the Congress may hereafter choose to re- peal it. ' ; The object of my amendment, said Mr. C, is to correct this monstrous abuse ; and, for this purpose, he proposed so to modify the amend- ment of the senator from Mississippi, as to ex- clude all who are not now on the pension roll from receiving pensions under the act of 1837, and also to prevent any one from being put on the navy pension roll hereafter under any act, except those of April 23, 1800, January 20, 1813, and the second section of the act of 30th March, 1814. These acts limit the pensions to the case of officers, sailors and marines, being disabled in the line of their duty, and limit the pensions to their widows and children to five years, even in those meritorious cases. Mr. C. then sent his amendment to the chair. It proposed to strike out all after the word ' now,' and insert, ' the pension roll, under the act of 1837, shall receive their pension till otherwise decided by law, but no one shall hereafter be put on the navy pen- sion roll, under the said act, or any other act, except that of April 23, 1800, and the act of January 24, 1813, and the second section of the act of 3d March, 1814.' The question was then taken on the amendment by a count, and the Chair announced the amendment was lost — ayes 20, noes 21. Mr. Calhoun inquired if the Chair had voted. The Chair said he had voted with the majority. Mr. Buchanan then said he would offer an amendment which he had at- tempted to get an opportunity of offering in committee. It was to strike out the words ' until otherwise directed by law,' and insert the words ' until the close of the next session of Congress,' so as to limit the operations of the bill to that period. The amendment was adopt- ed, and the amendments to the bill were ordered to be engrossed, and the bill ordered to a third reading." Mr. Pierce having been long a member of the Pension Committee had seen the abuses to which our pension laws gave rise, and spoke decidedly against their abuse— and especially in the naval branch of the service. He said : " There were cases of officers receiving pay for full disability, when in command of line-of- battle ships. The law of 1837 gave pay to officers from the time of their disability. He had been long enough connected with the Pen- sion Committee to understand something of it. He had now in his drawer more than fifty let- ters from officers of the army, neither begging nor imploring, but demanding to be placed on the same footing with the navy in regard to pensions. He thought, on his conscience, that the pension system of this country was the worst on the face of the earth, and that they could never have either an army or a navy until there were reforms of more things than pen- sions. He pointed to the military academy, ap- pointments to which rested on the influence that could be brought to bear by both Houses of Congress. He had looked on that scientific institution, from which no army would ever have a commander while West Point was in the ascendency ; and he would tell why. The prin- ciples on which Frederick the Great and Napo- leon acted were those to make soldiers — where merit was, reward always followed, but had they not witnessed cases of men of character, courage, and capacity, asking, from day to day, in vain for the humble rank of third lieutenant in your army, who would be glad to have such appointments ? I know (said Mr. P.) a man who, at the battle of the Withlacoochie, had he performed the same service under Napoleon, would have received a baton. But in ours what did he get 1 Three times did that gallant fel- low, with his arm broken and hanging at his side, charge the Indians, and drive them from their hammocks, where they were intrenched. The poor sergeant staid in the service until his time expired, and that was all he got for his gallantry and disinterestedness. Such instances of neglect would upset any service, destroy all emulation, and check all proper pride and ambi- tion in subordinates. If ever they were to have a good army or navy, they must promote merit ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 269 in both branches of service, as every truly great general had done, and every wise government ought to do." In the House of Representatives an instruc- tive debate took place, chiefly between Mr. Adams, and Mr. Francis Thomas, of Maryland, in which the origin and course of the act was somewhat traced — enough to find out that it was passed in the Senate upon the faith of a committee, without any discussion in the body ; and in the House by the previous question, cut- ting off all debate ; and so quietly and rapidly as to escape the knowledge of the most vigilant members — the knowledge of Mr. Adams him- self, proverbially diligent. In the course of his remarks he (Mr. Adams) said : " Upwards of $1,200,000 in the year 1837, constituting that fund, had been accumulating for a number of years. What had become of it, if the fund was exhausted? It was wasted — it was gone. And what was it gone for ? Gen- tlemen would tell the House that it had gone to pay those pensioners not provided for by the 8th and 9th sections of the act which had been read — the act of 1800; but to provide for the pay- ment of others, their wives and children ; and their cousins, uncles and aunts, for aught he knew — provided for by the act of 1837. It was gone. Now, he wished gentlemen who were so much attached to the economies of the present administration, to make a little comparison be- tween the condition of the fund now and its condi- tion in 1837, when the sum of $1,200,000 had ac- cumulated — from the interest of which all the pensions designated in the act of 1800 were to have been paid. In the space of three little years, this fund of $1,200,000 (carrying an interest of $70,000) was totally gone — absorbed — not a dollar of it left. Yes : there were some State stocks, to be sure; about $18,000 or less ; but they were unsaleable ; and it was because they w r ere unsaleable that this appropriation, in part, was wanted. How came this act of 1837 to have passed Congress ? Because he saw, from the ground taken by the chairman of the com- mittee on naval affairs, that it was Congress that had been guilty of this waste of the public money ; the President had nothing to do with it — the administration had nothing to do with it. How, he asked, was this law of 1837 pass- ed ? Would the Chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs tell the House how it had been passed ; by whom it had been brought in and supported ; and in what manner it had been car- ried through both Houses of Congress ? If he would, we should then hear whether it came from whigs ; or from economists, retrenchers, and reformers." Mr. Francis Thomas, now the Chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs, in answer to Mr. Adams's inquiry, as to who were the authors of this act of 1837, stated that " It had been reported to the Senate by the honorable Mr. Robinson, of Illinois, and sent to the Committee on Naval Affairs, of which Mr. Southard was a member, and he had reported the bill to the Senate, by whom it had been passed without a division. The Senate bill coming into the House, had been referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs, in the House. Mr. T. read the names of this committee, among which that of Mr. Wise was one. The bill had been ordered to its third reading without a di- vision, and passed by the House without amend- ment. "Mr. Wise explained, stating that, though his name appeared on the naval committee, he was not responsible for the bill. He was at that time but nominally one of the committee — his attention was directed elsewhere — he had other fish to fry — and could no longer attend to the business of that committee [of which he had previously been an active member], being ap- pointed on another, which occupied his time and thoughts." Mr. Adams, while condemning the act of 1837, would not now refuse to pay the pensioners out of the Treasury. He continued : "When the act of 1837 was before Congress, then was the time to have inquired whether these persons were fairly entitled to such a pen- sion — whether Congress was bound to provide for widows and children, and for relatives in the seventh degree (for aught he knew). But that was not now the inquiry. He thought that, by looking at the journals, gentlemen would see that the bill was passed through under the pre- vious question, or something of that kind. He was in the House, but he could not say how it passed. He was not conscious of it ; and the discussion must have been put down in the way in which such things were usually done in this House — by clapping the previous question upon it. No questions were asked ; and that was the way in which the bill passed. He did not think he could tell the whole story ; but he thought it very probable that there were those in this House who could tell if they would, and who could tell what private interests were provided for in it. He had not been able to look quite far enough behind the curtain to know these things, but he knew that the bill was passed in a way quite common since the reign of reform commenced in squandering away the public treasure. That he affirmed, and the Chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs would not, he thought, under- take to contradict it. So much for that." Mr. Adams showed that a further loss had been sustained under this pension act of 1837, 270 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. under the conduct of the House itself, at the previous session, in refusing to consider a mes- sage from the President, and in refusing to intro- duce a resolution to show the loss which was about to be sustained. At that time there was a part of this naval pension fund ($153,000) still on hand, but it was in stocks, greatly de- preciated ; and the President sent in a report from the Secretary of the Navy, that $50,000 was wanted for the half-3-early payments due the first of July ; and, if not appropriated by Congress, the stocks must be sold for what they would bring. On this head, he said : " Towards the close of the last session of Con- gress, a message was transmitted by the Presi- dent, covering a communication from the Secre- tary of the Navy, suggesting that an appropria- tion of $50,000 was necessary to meet the pay- ment of pensions coming due on the 1st of July last. The message was sent on the 19th of June, and there was in it a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, stating that the sum of $50,000 was required to pay pensions coming due on the then 1st of July, and that it was found impracticable to effect a sale of the stocks belonging to the fund, even at considerable loss, in time to meet the payment. What did the House do with that message ? It had no time to consider it ; and then it was that he had offered his resolutions. But the House would not receive them — would not allow them to be read. The time of pay- ment came — and sacrifices of the stocks were made, which were absolutely indispensable so long as the House would not make the pay- ment. And that $50,000 was one of the demon- strations and reductions from the expenditures of 1840, about which the President and the Secretary of the Treasury were congratulating themselves and the country. They called for the $50,000. They told the House that if that sum was not appropriated, it would be necessary to make great sacrifices. Yet the House refused to consider the subject at all. " He had desired a long time to say this much to the House ; and he said it now, although a little out of order, because he had never been allowed to say it in order. At the last ses- sion the House would not hear him upon any thing ; and it was that consideration which in- duced him to offer the resolutions he had read, and which gave something like a sample of these things. He offered them after the very message calling for $50,000 for this very ob- ject, had come in. But no, it was not in order, and there was a gentleman here who cried out " / object ! " He (Mr. A.) was not heard by the House, but he had now been heard ; and he hoped that when he should again offer these resolutions, as he wished to do, they might at least be allowed to go on the journal as a record, to show that such propositions had been offered. Those resolutions went utterly and entirely against the system of purchasing State bonds above par, and selling them fifty or sixty per cent, below par." These debates are instructive, as showing in what manner legislation can be carried on, under the silencing process of the previous question. Here was a bill, slipped through the House, with- out the knowledge of its vigilant members, by which a fund of one million two hundred thou- sand dollars was squandered at once, and a charge of about $100,000 per annum put upon the Treasury to supply the place of the squan- dered fund, to continue during the lives of the pensioners, so far as they were widows or in- valids, and until twenty-one years of age, so far as they were children. And it is remarkable that no one took notice of the pregnant insinua- tion of Mr. Adams, equivalent to an affirmation, that, although he could not tell the whole story of the passage of the act of 1837, there were others in the House who could, if they would ; and also could tell what private interests were provided for. No branch of the public service requires the reforming and retrenching hand of Congress more than the naval, now costing (ocean steam mail lines included) above eighteen millions of dollars : to be precise— $18,586,547, and 41 cents ; and exclusive of the coast survey, about $400,000 more ; and exclusive of the naval pensions. The civil, diplomatic, and miscella- neous branch is frightful, now amounting to $17,255,929 and 59 cents: and the military, also, now counting $12,571,496 and 64 cents (not including the pensions). Both these branches cry aloud for retrenchment and re- form ; but not equally with the naval — which stands the least chance to receive it. The navy, being a maritime establishment, has been con- sidered a branch of service with which members from the interior were supposed to have but little acquaintance ; and, consequently, but little right of interference. I have seen many eyes open wide, when a member from the interior would presume to speak upon it. By conse- quence, it has fallen chiefly under the manage- ment of members from the sea-coast — the tide- water districts of the Atlantic coast: where there is an interest in its growth, and also in its abuses. Seven navy yards (while Great Britain has but two) j the constant building, ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT 271 and equally constant repairing and altering ves- sels ; their renewed equipment ; the enlistment and discharge of crews ; the schools and hos- pitals ; the dry docks and wet docks ; the con- gregation of officers ashore ; and the ample pen- sion list: all these make an expenditure, pe- rennial and enormous, and always increasing, creates a powerful interest in favor of every proposition to spend money on the navy — espe- cially in the north-east, where the bulk of the money goes; and an interest not confined to the members of Congress from those districts, but including a powerful lobby force, supplied with the arguments which deceive many, and the means which seduce more. While this management remains local, reform and retrench- ment are not to be expected ; nor could any member accomplish any thing without the sup- port and countenance of an administration. Be- sides a local interest, potential on the subject, against reform, party spirit, or policy, opposes the same obstacle. The navy has been, and still is, to some degree, a party question — one party assuming to be its guardian and protector ; and defending abuses to sustain that character. So far as this question goes to the degree, and kind of a navy — whether fleets to fight battles for the dominion of the seas, or cruisers to protect com- merce — it is a fair question, on which parties may differ : but as to abuse and extravagance, there should be no difference. And yet what but abuse — what but headlong, wilful, and irre- sponsible extravagance, could carry up our naval expenditure to 18 millions of dollars, in time of peace, without a ship of the line afloat ! and without vessels enough to perform current ser- vice, without hiring and purchasing ! CHAPTER LXXIII. HOME SQUADRON, AND AID TO PRIVATE STEAM LINES. Great Britain has a home squadron, and that results from her geographical structure as a cluster of islands, often invaded, more frequently threatened, and always liable to sudden descents upon some part of her coast, resulting from her proximity to continental Europe, and engaged as principal or ally in almost all the wars of that continent. A fleet for home purposes, to cruise continually along her coasts, and to watch the neighboring coasts of her often enemies, was, then, a necessity of her insular position. Not so with the United States. We are not an island, but a continent, geographically remote from Europe, and politically still more so — un- connected with the wars of Europe — having but few of our own ; having but little cause to ex- pect descents and invasions, and but little to fear from them, if they came. Piracy had dis- appeared from the West Indies twenty years before. We had then no need for a home squad- ron. But Great Britain had one ; and therefore we must. That was the true reason, with the desire for a great navy, cherished by the party opposed to the democracy (no matter under what name), and now dominant in all the de- partments of the government, for the creation of a home squadron at this session. The Secre- tary of the Navy and the navy board recom- mended it : Mr. Thomas Butler King, from the Naval Committee of the House, reported a bill for it, elaborately recommended in a most ample report : the two Houses passed it : the Presi- dent approved it : and thus, at this extra ses- sion, was fastened upon the country a supernu- merary fleet of two frigates, two sloops, two schooners, and two armed steamers: for the annual subsistence and repairs of which, about nine hundred thousand dollars were appropri- ated. This was fifteen years ago ; and the country has yet to hear of the first want, the first service, rendered by this domestic squad- ron. In the mean time, it furnishes comfortable pay and subsistence, and commodious living about home, to some considerable number of officers and men. But the ample report which was drawn up, and of which five thousand extra copies were printed, and the speeches delivered in its favor, were bound to produce reasons for this new precaution against the danger of invasion, now to be provided after threescore years of exist- ence without it, and when we had grown too strong, and too well covered our maritime cities with fortresses, to dread the descent of any enemy. Reasons were necessary to be given, and were ; in which the British example, of course, was omitted. But reasons were given (in addition to the main object of defence), as 272 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. that it would be a school for the instruction of the young midshipmen ; and that it would give employment to many junior officers then idle in the cities. With respect to the first of these reasons it was believed by some that the merchant service was the best school in which a naval officer was ever trained ; and with re- spect to the idle officers, that the true remedy was not to create so many. The sum appro- priated by the bill was in gross — so much for all the different objects named in the bill, with- out saying how much for each. This was ob- jected to by Mr. McKay of North Carolina, as being contrary to democratic practice, which required specific appropriations; also as being a mere disguise for an increase of the navy; and further that it was not competent for Con- gress to limit the employment of a navy. He said : " That the bill before the committee proposed to appropriate a gross sum to effect the object in view, which he deemed a departure from the wholesome rule heretofore observed in making appropriations. It was known to all that since the political revolution of 1800, which placed the democratic party in power, the doctrine had generally prevailed, that all our appropriations should be specific. Now he would suggest to the chairman whether it would not be better to pursue that course in the present instance. Here Mr. McKay enumerated the different items of expenditure to be provided for in the bill, and named the specific sum for each. This was the form, he said, in which all our naval appro- priation bills had heretofore passed. He saw no reason for a departure from this wholesome practice in this instance — a practice which was the best and most effectual means of securing the accountability of our disbursing officers. There was another suggestion he would throw out for the consideration of the chairman, and he thought it possessed some weight. This bill purported to be for the establishment of a home squadron, but he looked upon it as nothing more nor less than for the increase of the navy. Again, could Congress be asked to direct the manner in which this squadron, after it was fit- ted out, should be employed ? It was true that by the constitution, Congress alone was author- ized to build and fit out a navy, but the Presi- dent was the commander-in-chief, and had alone the power to direct how and where it should be employed. The title of this bill, therefore, should be f a bill to increase the navy,' for it would not be imperative on the President to em- ploy this squadron on our coasts. Mr. M. said he did not rise to enter into a long discussion, but merely to suggest to the consideration of the chairman of the committee, the propriety of making the appropriations in the bill spe- cific." " Mr. Wise said that he agreed entirely with the gentleman from North Carolina as to the doctrine of specific appropriations; and if he supposed that this bill violated that salutary principle he should be willing to amend it. But it did not ; it declared a specific object, for which the money was given. He did not see the necessity of going into all the items which made up the sum. That Congress had no power to ordain that a portion of the navy should be always retained upon the coast as a home squadron, was to him a new doctrine. The bill did not say that these vessels should never be sent any where else." " Mr. McKay insisted on the ground he had taken, and went into a very handsome eulogy on the principle of specific appropriations of the public money, as giving to the people the only security they had for the proper and the eco- nomical use of their money ; but this, by the present shape of the bill, they would entirely be deprived of. The bill might be modified with the utmost ease, but he should move no amend- ments." Mr. Thomas Butler King, the reporter of the bill, entered largely into its support, and made some comparative statements to show that much money had been expended heretofore on the navy with very inadequate results in get- ting guns afloat, going as high as eight millions of dollars in a year and floating but five hun- dred and fifty guns ; and claimed an improve- ment now, as, for seven millions and a third they would float one thousand and seventy guns. Mr. King then said : "He had heard much about the abuse and misapplication of moneys appropriated for the navy, and he believed it all to be true. To illustrate the truth of the charge, he would re- fer to the table already quoted, snowing on one hand the appropriations made, and on the other the results thereby obtained. In 1800 there had been an appropriation of $2,704,148, and we had then 876 guns afloat ; while in 1836, with an appropriation of $7,011,055, we had but 462 guns afloat. In 1841, with an appro- priation of a little over three millions, we had 836 guns afloat ; and in 1838, with an appro- priation of over eight millions, we had but 554 guns afloat. These facts were sufficient to show how enormous must have been the abuses some- where." Mr. King also gave a statement of the French and British navies, and showed their great strength, in order to encourage our own build- ing of a great navy to be able to cope with them on the ocean. He ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 273 " Alluded to the change which had manifest- ed itself in the naval policy of Great Britain, in regard to a substitution of steam power for or- dinary ships of war. He stated the enumera- tion of the British fleet, in 1840, to be as fol- lows : ships of the line, 105 ; vessels of a lower grade, in all, 403 ; and war steamers, 87. The number of steamers had since then been stated at 300. The French navy, in 1840, consisted of 23 ships of the line, 180 lesser vessels, and 36 steamers ; besides which, there had been, at that time, eight more steamers on the stocks. These vessels could be propelled by steam across the Atlantic in twelve or fourteen days. What would be the condition of the lives and property of our people, if encountered by a force of this description, without a gun to de- fend themselves ? " Lines of railroad, with their steam-cars, had not, at that time, taken such extension and multiplication as to be taken into the account for national defence. Now troops can come from the geographical centre of Missouri in about sixty hours (summoned by the electric telegraph in a few minutes), and arrive at al- most any point on the Atlantic coast ; and from all the intermediate States in a proportionately less time. The railroad, and the electric tele- graph, have opened a new era in defensive war, and especially for the United States, supersed- ing old ideas, and depriving invasion of all alarm. But the bill was passed — almost unan- imously — only eight votes against it in the House ; namely : Linn Boyd of Kentucky ; Walter Coles of Virginia ; John G. Floyd of New York ; William O. Goode of Virginia ; Cave Johnson, Abraham McClelland, and Hopkins L. Turney of Tennessee; and John Thompson Mason of Maryland. It passed the Senate without yeas and nays. A part of the report in favor of the home squadron was also a recommendation to extend assistance out of the public treasury to the es- tablishment of private lines of ocean steamers, adapted to war purposes ; and in conformity to it Mr. King moved this resolution : " Resolved, That the Secretary of the Navy is hereby directed to inquire into the expe- diency of aiding individuals or companies in our establishment of lines of armed steamers be- tween some of our principal Northern and Southern ports, and to foreign ports ; to adver- tise for proposals for the establishment of such lines as he may deem most important and prac- ticable ; and to report to this House at the next session of Congress." Vol. II.— 18 This resolution was adopted, and laid the foundation for those annual enormous appro- priations for private lines of ocean steamers which have subjected many members of Con- gress to such odious imputations, and which has taken, and is taking, so many millions of the public money to enable individuals to break down competition, and enrich themselves at the public expense. It was a measure worthy to go with the home squadron, and the worst of the two — each a useless waste of money; and each illustrating the difficulty, and almost total impossibility, of getting rid of bad meas- ures when once passed, and an interest created for them. CHAPTER LXXIV. EECHARTER OP THE DISTRICT BANKS : ME. BEN- TON'S SPEECH : EXTRACTS. Mr. Benton then proposed the following amendment : " And be it further enacted, That each and every of said banks be, and they are hereby, expressly prohibited from issuing or paying out, under any pretence whatever, any bill, note, or other paper, designed or intended to be used and circulated as money, of a less denomi- nation than five dollars, or of any denomination between five and ten dollars, after one year from the passage of this bill ; or between ten and twenty dollars, after two years from the same time ; and for any violation of the pro- visions of this section, or for issuing or paying out the notes of any bank in a state of suspen- sion, its own inclusive, the offending bank shall incur all the penalties and forfeitures to be pro- vided and directed by the first section of this act for the case of supension or refusal to pay in specie ; to be enforced in like manner as is directed by that section." Mr. Benton. The design of the amendment is to suppress two great evils in our banking sys- tem : the evil of small notes, and that of banks combining to sustain each other in a state of suspension. Small notes are a curse in them- selves to honest, respectable banks, and lead to their embarrassment, whether issued by them- selves or others. They go into hands of labor- ing people, and become greatly diffused, and give rise to panics ; and when a panic is raised it cannot be stopped among the holders of these 274 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. small notes. Their multitudinous holders can- not go into the counting-room to examine assets, and ascertain an ultimate ability. They rush to the counter, and demand pay. They assemble in crowds, and spread alarm. When started, the alarm becomes contagious — makes a run upon all banks ; and overturns the good as well as the bad. Small notes are a curse to all good banks. They are the cause of suspen- sions. When the Bank of England commenced operations, she issued no notes of a less denom- ination than one hundred pounds sterling ; and when the notes were paid into the Bank, they were cancelled and destroyed. But in the course of one hundred and three years, she worked down from one hundred pound notes to one pound notes. And when did they com- mence reducing the amount of their notes? During the administration of Sir Robert Wal- pole. When the notes got down to one pound, specie was driven from circulation, and went to France and Holland, and a suspension of six and twenty years followed. They are a curse to all good banks in another way: they banish gold and silver from the country : and when that is banished the foun- dation which supports the bank is removed : and the bank itself must come tumbling down. While there is gold and silver in the country — in common circulation — banks will be but little called upon for it : and if pressed can get assist- ance from their customers. But when it is banished the country, they alone are called upon, and get no help if hard run. All good banks should be against small notes on their own account. These small notes are a curse to the public. They are the great source of counterfeiting. Look at any price current, and behold the cata- logue of the counterfeits. They are almost all on the small denominations — under twenty dol- lars. And this counterfeiting, besides being a crime in itself, leads to crimes — to a general demoralization in passing them. Holders can- not afford to lose them : they cannot trace out the person from whom they got them. They gave value for them ; and pass them to some- body — generally the most meritorious and least able to bear the loss — the day-laborer. Final- ly, they stop in somebody's hands — generally in the hands of a working man or woman. Why are banks so fond of issuing these small notes ? Why, in the first place, banks of high character are against them : it is only the pred- atory class that are for them: and, unfortu- nately, they are a numerous progen}^. It is in vain they say they issue them for public ac- commodation. The public would be much bet- ter accommodated with silver dollars, gold dol- lars — with half, whole, double, and quarter eagles — whereof they would have enough if these predatory notes were suppressed. No! they are issued for profit — for dishonest profit — for the shameful and criminal purpose of get- ting something for nothing. It is for the wear and tear of these little pilfering messengers ! for their loss in the hands of somebody ! which loss is the banker's gain ! the gain of a day's or a week's work from a poor man, or woman, for nothing. Shame on such a spirit, and criminal punishment on it besides. But although the gains are small individually, and in the petty lar- ceny spirit, yet the aggregate is great ; and en- ters into the regular calculation of profit in these paper money machines ; and counts in the end. There is always a large per centum of these notes outstanding — never to come back. When, at the end of twenty-five years, Parliament re- pealed the privilege granted to the Bank of England to issue notes under five pounds, a large amount were outstanding ; and though the repeal took place more than twenty years ago, yet every quarterly return of the Bank now shows that millions of these notes are still out- standing, which are lost or destroyed, and never will be presented. The Bank of England does not now issue any note under five pounds ster- ling: nor any other bank in England. The large banks repulsed the privilege for them- selves, and got it denied to all the small class. To carry the iniquity of these pillaging little notes to the highest point, and to make them open swindlers, is to issue them at one place, redeemable at another. That is to double the cheat — to multiply the chance of losing the little plunderer by sending him abroad, and to get a chance of "shaving" him in if he does not go. The statistics of crime in Great Britain show, that of all the counterfeiting of bank bills and paper securities in that kingdom, more is coun- terfeited on notes under five pounds than over, and it is the same in this country. On whom does the loss of these counterfeit notes fall 1 On the poor and the ignorant — the laborer and the ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 275 mechanic. Hence these banks inflict a double injury on the poorer classes ; and of all the evils of the banking system, the most revolting is its imposing unequal burdens on that portion of the people the least able to bear them. Mr. B. then instanced a case in point of an Insurance Company in St. Louis, which, in vio- lation of law, assumed banking privileges, and circulated to a large extent the notes of a sus- pended bank. Up to Saturday night these notes were paid out from its counter, and the working man and mechanics of St. Louis were paid their week's wages in them. "Well, when Monday morning came, the Insurance Company refused to receive one of them, and they fell at once to fifty cents on the dollar. Thus the laborer and the mechanic had three days of their labor an- nihilated, or had worked three days for the ex- clusive benefit of those who had swindled them ; and all this by a bank having power to receive or refuse what paper they please, and when they please. And the Senate are now called upon to confer the same privilege upon the banks of this district. Mr. B. said it was against the immutable prin- ciples of justice — in opposition to God's most holy canon, to make a thing of value to-day, which will be of none to-morrow. You might as well permit the dry goods merchant to call his yard measure three yards, or the grocer to call his quart three quarts, as to permit the banker to call his dollar three dollars. There is no difference in principle, though more subtle in the manner of doing it. Money is the stand- ard of value, as the yard, and the gallon, and the pound weight, were the standards of meas- ure. When he proposed the amendment, he con- sidered it a proper opportunity to bring before the people of the United States the great ques- tion, whether they should have an exclusive paper currency or not. He wished to call their attention to this war upon the currency of the constitution — a war unremitting and merciless — to establish in this country an exclusive paper currency. This war to subvert the gold and silver currency of the constitution, is waged by that party who vilify your branch mints, ridicule gold, ridicule silver, go for banks at all times and at all places ; and go for a paper circulation down to notes of six and a quarter cents. He rejoiced that this question was presented in that body, on a platform so high that every American can see it — the question of a sound or depreciated currency. He was glad to see the advocates of banks, State and national, show their hand on this question. To hear these paper-money advocates cele- brate their idols — for they really seem to wor- ship bank notes — and the smaller and meaner the better — one would be tempted to think that bank notes were the ancient and universal cur- rency of the world, and that gold and silver were a modern invention — an innovation — an experiment — the device of some quack, who de- served no better answer than to be called hum- bug. To hear them discoursing of "sound banks," and " sound circulating medium," one would suppose that they considered gold and silver unsound, and subject to disease, rotten- ness, and death. But, why do they apply this phrase " sound " to banks and their currency ? It is a phrase never applied to any thing which is not subject to unsoundness — to disease — to rottenness — to death. The very phrase brings up the idea of something subject to unsound- ness ; and that is true of banks of circulation and their currency : but it is not true of gold and silver : and the phrase is never applied to them. No one speaks of the gold or silver cur- rency as being sound, and for the reason that no one ever heard of it as rotten. Young merchants, and some old ones, think there is no living without banks — no transact- ing business without a paper money currency. Have these persons ever heard of Holland, where there are merchants dealing in tens of millions, and all of it in gold and silver ? Have they ever heard of Liverpool and Manchester, where there was no bank of circulation, not even a branch of the Bank of England ; and whose immense ope- rations were carried on exclusively upon gold and the commercial bill of exchange? Have they ever heard of France, where the currency amounts to four hundred and fifty millions of dollars, and it all hard money ? For, although the Bank of France has notes of one hundred, and five hundred, and one thousand francs, they are not used as currency but as convenient bills of exchange, for remittance, or travelling. Have they ever heard of the armies, and merchants, and imperial courts of antiquity? Were the Roman armies paid with paper ? did the mer- chant princes deal in paper? Was Nineveh 276 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. and Babylon built on paper? Was Solomon's temple so built ? And yet, according to these paper-money idolaters, we cannot pay a hand- ful of militia without paper ! cannot open a dry goods store in a shanty without paper ! cannot build a house without paper! cannot build a village of log houses in the woods, or a street of shanties in a suburb, without a bank in their midst ! This is real humbuggery ; and for which the industrial classes — the whole work- ing population, have to pay an enormous price. Does any one calculate the cost to the people of banking in our country ? how many costly edi- fices have to be built ? what an army of officers have to be maintained ? what daily expenses have to be incurred? how many stockholders must get profits ? in a word, what a vast sum a bank lays out before it begins to make its half yearly dividen I of four or five per centum, leav- ing a surplus— all to come out of the productive classes of the people ? And after that comes the losses by the wear and tear of small notes — by suspensions and breakings — by expansions and contractions — by making money scarce when they want to buy, and plenty when they want to sell. We talk of standing armies in Europe, living on the people : we have an army of bank officers here doing the same. We talk of European taxes ; the banks tax us here as much as kings tax their subjects. And this district is crying out for banks. It has six, and wants them rechartered — Congress all the time spending more hard money among them than they can use. They had twelve banks : and what did they have to do 1 Send to Holland, where there is not a single bank of circulation, to borrow one million of dollars in gold, which they got at five per centum per an- num ; and then could not pay the interest. At the end of the third year the interest could not be paid ; and Congress had to pay it to save the whole corporate effects of the city from being sold — sold to the Dutch, because the Dutch had no banks. And sold it would have been if Con- gress had not put up the money : for the dis- tress warrant was out. and was to be levied in thirty days. Then what does this city want with banks of circulation ? She has no use for them j but I only propose to make them a little safer by suppressing their small notes, and pre- venting them from dealing in the depreciated notes of suspended, or broken banks. CHAPTER LXXV. KEVOLT IN CANADA: BOEDER SYMPATHY: FIRM- NESS OF MR. VAN BUREN: PUBLIC PEACE EN- DANGEEED— AND PRESERVED :— CASE OF MC- LEOD. The revolt which took place in Canada in the winter of 1837-8 led to consequences which tried the firmness of the administration, and also tried the action of our duplicate form of government in its relations with foreign powers. The revolt commenced imposingly, with a large show of disjointed forces, gaining advantages at the start ; but was soon checked by the regular local troops. The French population, being the majority of the people, were chiefly its pro- moters, with some emigrants from the United States ; and when defeated they took refuge on an island in the Niagara River on the British side, near the Canadian coast, and were collect- ing men and supplies from the United States to renew the contest. From the beginning an in- tense feeling in behalf of the insurgents mani- fested itself all along the United States border, upon a line of a thousand miles — from Vermont to Michigan. As soon as blood began to flow on the Canadian side, this feeling broke out into acts on the American side, and into organization for the assistance of the revolting party — the patriots, as they were called. Men assembled and enrolled, formed themselves into companies and battalions, appointed officers — even gene- rals — issued proclamations — forced the public stores and supplied themselves with arms and ammunition : and were certainly assembling in sufficient numbers to have enabled the insur- gents to make successful head against any Brit- ish forces then in the provinces. The whole border line was in a state of excitement and commotion — many determined to cross over, and assist — many more willing to see the assistance given: the smaller part only discountenanced the proceeding and wished to preserve the rela- tions which the laws of the country, and the duties of good neighborhood, required. To the Canadian authorities these movements on the American side were the cause of the deepest solicitude; and not without reason: for the numbers, the inflamed feeling, and the de- termined temper of these auxiliaries, presented a ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 277 force impossible for the Canadian authorities to resist, if dashing upon them, and difficult for their own government to restrain. From the first demonstration, and without waiting for any request from the British minister at Wash- ington (Mr. Fox), the President took the steps which showed his determination to have the laws of neutrality respected. A proclamation was immediately issued, admonishing and command- ing all citizens to desist from such illegal pro- ceedings, and threatening the guilty with the utmost penalties of the law. But the President knew full well that it was not a case in which a proclamation, and a threat, were to have effi- cacy ; and he took care to add material means to his words. Instructions were issued to all the federal law officers along the border, the marshals and district attorneys, to be vigilant in making arrests : and many were made, and prosecutions instituted. He called upon the governors of the border States to aid in sup- pressing the illegal movement : which they did. And to these he added all the military and naval resources which could be collected. Major-gen- eral Scott was sent to the line, with every dis- posable regular soldier, and with authority to call on the governors of New York and Michi- gan for militia and volunteers : several steam- boats were chartered on Lake Erie, placed un- der the command of naval officers, well manned with regular soldiers, and ordered to watch the lake. The fidelity, and even sternness with which all these lawless expeditions from the United States, were repressed and rebuked by Presi- dent Van Buren, were shown by him in his last communication to Congress on the subject ; in which he said : " Information has been given to me, derived from official and other sources, that many citi- zens of the United States have associated to- gether to make hostile incursions from our territory into Canada, and to aid and abet insur- rection there, in violation of the obligations and laws of the United States, and in open disregard of their own duties as citizens. " The results of these criminal assaults upon the peace and order of a neighboring country have been, as was to be expected, fatally de- structive to the misguided or deluded persons engaged in them, and highly injurious to those in whose behalf they are professed to have been undertaken. The authorities in Canada, from intelligence received of such intended move- ments among our citizens, have felt themselves obliged to take precautionary measures against them ; have actually embodied the militia, and assumed an attitude to repel the invasion to which they believed the colonies were exposed from the United States. A state of feeling on both sides of the frontier has thus been pro- duced, which called for prompt and vigorous in- terference. If an insurrection existed in Canada, the amicable dispositions of the United States towards Great Britain, as well as their duty to themselves, would lead them to maintain a strict neutrality, and to restrain their citizens from all violations of the laws which have been passed for its enforcement. But this government re- cognizes a still higher obligation to repress all attempts on the part of its citizens to disturb the peace of a country where order prevails, or has been re-established. Depredations by our citizens upon nations at peace with the United States, or combinations for committing them, have at all times been regarded by the American government and people with the greatest abhor- rence. Military incursions by our citizens into countries so situated, and the commission of acts of violence on the members thereof, in order to effect a change in its government, or under any pretext whatever, have, from the commencement of our government, been held equally criminal on the part of those engaged in them, and as much deserving of punishment as would be the disturbance of the public peace by the perpetra- tion of similar acts within our own territory." By these energetic means, invasions from the American side were prevented ; and in a contest with the British regulars and the local troops, the disjointed insurgents, though numerous, were overpowered — dispersed — subjected — or driven out of Canada. Mr. Van Buren had dis- charged the duties of neutrality most faithfully, not merely in obedience to treaties and the law of nations, but from a high conviction of what was right and proper in itself, and necessary to the well-being of his own country as well as that of a neighboring power. Interruption of friendly intercourse with Great Britain, would be an evil itself, even if limited to such inter- ruption: but the peace of the United States might be endangered: and it was not to be tolerated that bands of disorderly citizens should bring on war. He had done all that the laws, and all that a sense of right and justice required — and successfully, to the repression of hostile movements — and to the satisfaction of the Brit- ish authorities. Faithfully and ably seconded by his Secretary of State (Mr. Forsyth), and by his Attorney-general (Mr. Gilpin), he sue- 278 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. ceeded in preserving our neutral relations in the most trying circumstances to which they had ever been exposed, and at large cost of personal popularity to himself: for the sympathy of the border States resented his so earnest interfer- ence to prevent aid to the insurgents. The whole affair was over, and happily, when a most unexpected occurrence revived the diffi- culty — gave it a new turn — and made the soil of the United States itself, the scene of inva- sion — of bloodshed — of conflagration — and of abduction. Some remnant of the dispersed in- surgents had taken refuge on Navy Island, near the Canadian shore ; and reinforced by some Americans, were making a stand there, and threatening a descent upon the British colonies. Their whole number has been ascertained to have been no more than some five hundred — but magnified by rumor at the time to as many thousands. A small steamboat from the Ameri- can side, owned by a citizen of the United States, was in the habit of carrying men and supplies to this assemblage on the island. Her practices became known to the British military authori- ties, encamped with some thousand men at Chip- pewa, opposite the island ; and it was deter- mined to take her in the fact, and destroy her. It was then the last of December. A night ex- pedition of boats was fitted out to attack this vessel, moored to the island ; but not finding her there, the vessel was sought for in her own waters — found moored to the American shore ; and there attacked and destroyed. The news of this outrage was immediately communicated to the President, and by him made known to Congress in a special message — accompanied by the evidence on which the information rested, and by a statement of the steps which the Presi- dent had taken in consequence. The principal evidence was from the master of the boat — her name, the Caroline — and Schlosser, on the American shore, her home and harbor. After admitting that the boat had been employed in carrying men and supplies to the assemblage on Navy Island, his affidavit continues : "That from this point the Caroline ran to Schlosser, arriving there at three o'clock in the afternoon; that, between this time and dark, the Caroline made two trips to Navy Island, landing as before. That, at about six o'clock in the evening, this deponent caused the said Caroline to be landed at Schlosser, and made fast with chains to the dock at that place. That the crew and officers of the Caroline numbered ten, and that, in the course of the evening, twenty-three individuals, all of whom were citizens of the United States, came on board of the Caroline, and requested this deponent and other officers of the boat to permit them to remain on board during the night, as they were unable to get lodgings at the tavern near by ; these requests were acceded to, and the persons thus coming on board retired to rest, as did also all of the crew and officers of the Caroline, except such as were stationed to watch during the night. That, about midnight, this deponent was informed by one of the watch, that several boats filled with men, were making towards the Caroline from the river, and this deponent immediately gave the alarm ; and before he was able to reach the deck, the Caroline was boarded by some 70 or 80 men, all of whom were armed. That they immediately commenced a warfare with muskets, swords, and cutlasses, upon the defenceless crew and passengers of the Caroline, under a fierce cry of G — d damn them, give them no quarter ; kill every man : fire ! fire ! That the Caroline was abandoned without resistance, and the only effort made by either the crew or passengers seemed to be to escape slaughter. That this deponent narrowly escaped ; having received several wounds, none of which, however, are of a serious character. That immediately after the Caroline fell into the hands of the armed force who boarded her, she was set on fire, cut loose from the dock, was towed into the current of the river, there abandoned, and soon after de- scended the Niagara Falls : that this deponent has made vigilant search after the individuals, thirty-three in number, who are known to have been on the Caroline at the time she was boarded, and twenty-one only are to be found, one of whom, to wit, Amos Durfee, of Buffalo, was found dead upon the dock, having received a shot from a musket, the ball of which pene- trated the back part of the head, and came out at the forehead. James H. King, and Captain C. F. Harding, were seriously, though not mor- tally wounded. Several others received slight wounds. The twelve individuals who are miss- ing, this deponent has no doubt, were either murdered upon the steamboat, or found a watery grave in the cataract of the falls. And this de- ponent further says, that immediately after the Caroline was got into the current of the stream and abandoned, as before stated, beacon lights were discovered upon the Canada shore, near Chippewa ; and after sufficient time had elapsed to enable the boats to reach that shore, this de- ponent distinctly heard loud and vociferous cheering at that point. That this deponent has no doubt that the individuals who boarded the Caroline, were a part of the British forces now stationed at Chippewa." Ample corroborative testimony confirmed this ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 279 affidavit — for which, in fact, there was no neces- sity, as the officer in command of the boats made his official report to his superior (Col. Mc- Nab), to the same effect — who published it in general orders ; and celebrated the event as an exploit. This report varied but little from the American in any respect, and made it worse in others. After stating that he did not find the Caroline at Navy Island, " as expected," he went in search of her, and found her at Grand Island, and moored to the shore. The report pro- ceeds : " I then assembled the boats off the point of the Island, and dropped quietly down upon the steamer ; we were not discovered until within twenty yards of her, when the sentry upon the gangway hailed us, and asked for the counter- sign, which I told him we would give when we got on board ; he then fired upon us, when we immediately boarded and found from twenty to thirty men upon her decks, who were easily overcome, and in two minutes she was in our possession. As the current was running strong, and our position close to the Falls of Niagara, I deemed it most prudent to burn the vessel ; but previously to setting her on fire, we took the precaution to loose her from her moorings, and turn her out into the stream, to prevent the possibility of the destruction of anything like American property. In short, all those on board" the steamer who did not resist, were quietly put on shore, as I thought it possible there might be some American citizens on board. Those who assailed us, were of course dealt with according to the usages of war. " I beg to add, that we brought one prisoner away, a British subject, in consequence of his ac- knowledging that he had belonged to Duncombe's army, and was on board the steamer to join Mackenzie upon Navy Island. Lieutenant Mc- Cormack, of the Royal Navy, and two others were wounded, and I regret to add that five or six of the enemy were killed." This is the official report of Captain Drew, and it adds the crimes of impressment and ab- duction to all the other enormities of that mid- night crime. The man carried away as a British subject, and because he had belonged to the in- surgent forces in Canada, could not (even if these allegations had been proved upon him), been de- livered up under any demand upon our govern- ment : yet he was carried off by violence in the night. This outrage on the Caroline, reversed the condition of the parties, and changed the tenor of their communications. It now became the part of the United States to complain, and to demand redress ; and it was immediately done in a communication from Mr. Forsyth, the Sec- retary of State, to Mr. Fox, the British minis- ter, at Washington. Under date of January 5th, 1838, the Secretary wrote to him : " The destruction of the property, and assas- sination of citizens of the United States on the soil of New York, at the moment when, as is well known to you, the President was anxiously endeavoring to allay the excitement, and earnestly seeking to prevent any unfortunate occurrence on the frontier of Canada, has produced upon his mind the most painful emotions of surprise and regret. It will necessarily form the subject of a demand for redress upon her majesty's government. This communication is made to you under the expectation that, through your instrumentality, an early explanation may be obtained from the authorities of Upper Canada, of all the circumstances of the transaction ; and that, by your advice to those authorities, such decisive precautions may be used as will render the perpetration of similar acts hereafter im- possible. Not doubting the disposition of the government of Upper Canada to do its duty in punishing the aggressors and preventing future outrage, the President, notwithstanding, has deemed it necessary to order a sufficient force on the frontier to repel any attempt of a like character, and to make known to you that if it should occur, he cannot be answerable for the effects of the indignation of the neighboring people of the United States." In communicating this event to Congress, Mr. Van Buren showed that he had already taken the steps which the peace and honor of the country required. The news of the outrage, spreading through the border States, inflamed the repressed feeling of the people to the highest degree, and formidable retaliatory expeditions were immediately contemplated. The President called all the resources of the frontier into in- stant requisition to repress these expeditions, and at the same time took measures to obtain redress from the British government. His mes- sage to the two Houses said : " I regret, however, to inform you that an outrage of a most aggravated character has been committed, accompanied by a hostile, though temporary invasion of our territory, producing the strongest feelings of resentment on the part of our citizens in the neighborhood, and on the whole border line ; and that the excitement pre- viously existing, has been alarmingly increased. To guard against the possible recurrence of any similar act, I have thought it indispensable to call out a portion of the militia to be posted on that frontier. The documents herewith pre- 280 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. sented to Congress show the character of the outrage committed, the measures taken in con- sequence of its occurrence, and the necessity for resorting to them. It will also be seen that the subject was immediately brought to the notice of the British minister accredited to this coun- try, and the proper steps taken on our part to obtain the fullest information of all the circum- stances leading to and attendant upon the trans- action, preparatory to a demand for reparation." The feeling in Congress was hardly less strong than in the border States, on account of this out- rage, combining all the crimes of assassination, arson, burglary, and invasion of national terri- tory. An act of Congress was immediately passed, placing large military means, and an ap- propriation of money in the President's hands, for the protection of our frontier. His demand for redress was unanimously seconded by Con- gress ; and what had been so earnestly depre- cated from the beginning, as a consequence of this border trouble — a difficulty between the two nations — had now come to pass ; but en- tirely from the opposite side from which it had been expected. The British government delayed the answer to the demand for redress — avoided the assumption of the criminal act — excused and justified it — but did not assume it : and in fact could not, without contradicting the official re- ports of her own officers, all negativing the idea of any intention to violate the territory of the United States. The orders to the officer com- manding the boats, was to seek the Caroline at Navy Island, where she had been during the day, and was expected to be at night. In pur- suance of this order, the fleet of boats went to the island, near midnight ; and not finding the offending vessel there, sought her elsewhere. This is the official report of Capt. Drew, of the Royal Navy, commanding the boats : " I imme- mediately directed five boats to be armed, and manned with forty-five volunteers; and, at about eleven o'clock, p. m., we pushed off from the shore for Navy Island, when not finding her there, as expected, we went in search, and found her moored between the island and the main shore." The island here spoken of as the one between which and the main shore, the Caroline was found, was the American island, called Grand Island, any descent upon which, Colonel McNab had that day officially disclaimed, be- cause it was American territory. The United States Attorney for the District of New York, (Mr. Rodgers), then on the border to enforce the laws against the violators of our neutrality, hearing that there was a design to make a de- scent upon Grand Island, addressed a note to Col. McNab. commanding on the opposite side of the river, to learn its truth ; and received this answer : " With respect to the report in the city of Buffalo, that certain forces under my command had landed upon Grand Island — an island with- in the territory of the United States — I can as- sure you that it is entirely without foundation ; and that so far from my having any intention of the kind, such a proceeding would be in di- rect opposition to the wishes and intentions of her Britannic majesty's government, in this colony, whose servant I have the honor to be. Entering at once into the feeling which induced you to address me on this subject, I beg leave to call your attention to the following facts : That so far from occupying or intending to oc- cupy, that or any other portion of the Ameri- can territorjr, aggressions of a serious and hos- tile nature have been made upon the forces un- der my command from that island. Two affi- davits are now before me, stating that a volley of musketry from Grand Island was yesterday fired upon a party of unarmed persons, some of whom were females, without the slightest provocation having been offered. That on the same day, one of my boats, unarmed, manned by British subjects, passing along the American shore, and without any cause being given, was fired upon from the American side, near Fort Schlosser, by cannon, the property, I am told, of the United States." This was written on the 29th day of Decem- ber, and it was eleven o'clock of the night of that day that the Caroline was destroyed on the American shore. It was Col. McNab, commanding the forces at Chippewa, that gave the order to destroy the Caroline. The letter and the order were both written the same day — probably within the same hour, as both were written in the afternoon : and they were coin- cident in import as well as in date. The order was to seek the offending vessel at Navy Island, being British territory, and where she was seen at dark : the letter disclaimed both the fact, and the intent, of invading Grand Island, because it was American territory: and besides the dis- claimer for himselfj Col. McNab superadded another equally positive in behalf of her Majes- ty's government in Canada, declaring that such a proceeding would be in direct opposition to the wishes and intentions of the colonial gov- ernment. In the face of these facts the British ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 281 government found it difficult, and for a long time impossible, to assume this act of destroy- ing the Caroline as a government proceeding. It was never so assumed during the administra- tion of Mr. Van Buren — a period of upwards of three years — to be precise — (and this is a case which requires precision) — three years and two months and seven days : that is to say, from the 29th of December, 1837, to March 3d, 1841. When this letter of Col. McNab was read in the House of Representatives (which it was within a few days after it was written), Mr. Fillmore (afterwards President of the United States, and then a representative from the State of New York, and, from that part of the State which included the most disturbed portion of the border), stood up in his place, and said : " The letter just read by the clerk, at his col- league's request, was written in reply to one from the district attorney as to the reported intention of the British to invade Grand Island ; and in it is the declaration that there was no such intention. Now, Mr. F. would call the at- tention of the House to the fact that that letter was written on the 29th December, and that it was on the very night succeeding the date of it that this gross outrage was committed on the Caroline. Moreover, he would call the atten- tion of the House to the well-authenticated fact, that, after burning the boat, and sending it over the falls, the assassins were lighted back to McNab's camp, where he was in person, by bea- cons lighted there for that purpose. Mr. F. certainly deprecated a war with Great Britain as sincerely as any gentleman on that floor could possibly do : and hoped, as earnestly, that these difficulties would be amicably adjusted between the two nations. Yet, he must say, that the letter of McNab, instead of aifording grounds for a palliation, was, in reality, a great aggravation of the outrage. It held out to us the assurance that there was nothing of the kind to be apprehended ; and yet, a few hours afterwards, this atrocity was perpetrated by an officer sent directly from the camp of that McNab." At the time that this was spoken the order of Col. McNab to Captain Drew had not been seen, and consequently it was not known that the letter and the order were coincident in their character, and that the perfidy, implied in Mr. Fillmore's remarks, was not justly attributable to Col. McNab : but it is certain he applauded the act when done : and his letter will stand for a condemnation of it, and for the disavowal of authority to do it. The invasion of New York was the invasion of the United States, and the President had im- mediately demanded redress, both for the pub- lic outrage, and for the loss of property to the owners of the boat. Mr. Van Buren's entire administration went off without obtaining an answer to these demands. As late as January, 1839 — a year after the event — Mr. Stevenson, the United States minister in London, wrote : " I regret to say that no answer has yet been given to my note in the case of the Caroline." And towards the end of the same year, Mr. Forsyth, the American Secretary of State, in writing to him, expressed the belief that an an- swer would soon be given. He says : " I have had frequent conversations with Mr. Fox in re- gard to this subject — one of very recent date — and from its tone, the President expects the British government will answer your applica- tion in the case without much further delay." — Delay, however, continued; and, as late as December, 1840, no answer having yet been re- ceived, the President directed the subject again to be brought to the notice of the British gov- ernment ; and Mr. Forsyth accordingly wrote to Mr. Fox : " The President deems this to be a proper occasion to remind the government of her Bri- tannic majesty that the case of the " Caroline " has been long since brought to the attention of her Majesty's principal Secretary of State for foreign affairs, who, up to this day, has not communicated its decision thereupon. It is hoped that the government of her Mnjesty will perceive the importance of no longer leaving the government of the United States uninformed of its views and intentions upon a subject which has naturally produced much exasperation, and which has led to such grave consequences. I avail myself of this occasion to renew to you the assurance of my distinguished consider- ation." This was near the close of Mr. Van Buren's administration, and up to that time it must be noted, first, that the British government had not assumed the act of Captain Drew in de- stroying the Caroline j secondly, that it had not answered (had not refused redress) for that act. Another circumstance showed that the government, in its own conduct in relation to those engaged in that affair, had not even indi- rectly assumed it by rewarding those who did it. Three years after the event, in the House of Commons, Lord John Russell, the premier, 282 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. was asked in his place, whether it was the in- tention of ministers to recommend to her Ma- jesty to bestow any reward upon Captain Drew, and others engaged in the affair of the Caroline ; to which he replied negatively, and on account of the delicate nature of the subject. His an- swer was : " No reward had been resolved upon, and as the question involved a subject of a very delicate nature, he must decline to answer it further." Col. McNab had been knighted ; not for the destruction of the Caroline on United States territory (which his order did not justi- fy, and his letter condemned), but for his ser- vices in putting down the revolt. Thus the affair stood till near the close of Mr. Van Buren's administration, when an event took place which gave it a new turn, and brought on a most serious question between the United States and Great Britain, and changed the relative positions of the two coun- tries — the United States to become the injured party, claiming redress. The circumstances were these : one Alexander McLeod, inhabitant of the opposite border shore, and a British sub- ject, had been in the habit of boasting that he had been one of the destroyers of the Caroline, and that he had himself killed one of the " damned Yankees." There were enough to repeat these boastings on the American side of the line ; and as early as the spring of 1838 the Grand Jury for the county in which the outrage had been committed, found a bill of in- dictment against him for murder and arson. He was then in Canada, and would never have been troubled upon the indictment if he had re- mained there ; but, with a boldness of conduct which bespoke clear innocence, or insolent defi- ance, he returned to the seat of the outrage — to the county in which the indictment lay — and publicly exhibited himself in the county town. This was three years after the event ; but the memory of the scene was fresh, and indignation boiled at his appearance. He was quickly ar- rested on the indictment, also sued for damages by the owner of the destroyed boat, and com- mitted to jail — to take his trial in the State court of the county of Niagara. This arrest and imprisonment of McLeod immediately drew an application for his release in a note from Mr. Fox to the American Secretary of State. Un- der date of the 13th December, 1840, he wrote : " I feel it my duty to call upon the govern- ment of the United States to take prompt and effectual steps for the liberation of Mr. McLeod. It is well known that the destruction of the steamboat ; Caroline ' was a public act of per- sons in her Majesty's service, obeying the order of their superior authorities. — That act, there- fore, according to the usages of nations, can only be the subject of discussion between the two national governments ; it cannot justly be made the ground of legal proceedings in the United States against the individuals concerned, who were bound to obey the authorities appointed by their own government. I may add that I be- lieve it is quite notorious that Mr. McLeod was not one of the party engaged in the destruction of the steamboat ' Caroline,' and that the pre- tended charge upon which he has been impris- oned rests only upon the perjured testimony of certain Canadian outlaws and their abettors, who, unfortunately for the peace of that neigh- borhood, are still permitted by the authorities of the State of New York to infest the Canadian frontier. The question, however, of whether Mr. McLeod was or was not concerned in the destruction of the ' Caroline,' is beside the pur- pose of the present communication. That act was the public act of persons obeying the con- stituted authorities of her Majesty's province. The national government of the United States thought themselves called upon to remonstrate against it ; and a remonstrance which the Pres- ident did accordingly address to her Majesty's government is still, I believe, a pending subject of diplomatic discussion between her Majesty's government and the United States legation in London. I feel, therefore, justified in expecting that the President's government will see the justice and the necessity of causing the present immediate release of Mr. McLeod, as well as of taking such steps as may be requisite for preventing others of her Majesty's subjects from being persecuted, or molested in the United States in a similar manner for the fu- ture." This note of Mr. Fox is fair and unexception- able — free from menace — and notable in show- ing that the demand for redress for the affair of the Caroline was still under diplomatic dis- cussion in London, and that the British govern- ment had not then assumed the act of Captain Drew. The answer of Mr. Forsyth was prompt and clear — covering the questions arising out of our duplicate form of government, and the law of nations — and explicit upon the rights of the States, the duties of the federal govern- ment, and the principles of national law. It is one of the few answers of the kind which cir- cumstances have arisen to draw from our gov- ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 283 ernment, and deserves to be well considered for its luminous and correct expositions of the important questions of which it treats. Under date of the 28th of December, and writing un- der the instructions of the President, he says : "The jurisdiction of the several States which constitute the Union is, within its appropriate sphere, perfectly independent of the federal government. The offence with which Mr. Mc- Leod is charged was committed within the ter- ritory, and against the laws and citizens of the State of New York, and is one that comes clearly within the competency of her tribunals. It does not, therefore, present an occasion where, under the constitution and laws of the Union, the interposition called for would be proper, or for which a warrant can be found in the powers with which the federal executive is invested. Nor would the circumstances to which you have referred, or the reasons you have urged, justify the exertion of such a power, if it existed. The transaction out of which the question arises, presents the case of a most unjustifiable in- vasion, in time of peace, of a portion of the ter- ritory of the United States, by a band of armed men from the adjacent territory of Canada, the forcible capture by them within our own waters, and the subsequent destruction of a steamboat, the property of a citizen of the United States, and the murder of one or more American citi- zens. If arrested at the time, the offenders might unquestionably have been brought to justice by the judicial authorities of the State within whose acknowledged territory these crimes were committed ; and their subsequent voluntary entrance within that territory, places them in the same situation. The President is not aware of any principle of international law, or, indeed, of reason or justice, which entitles such offenders to impunity before the legal tri- bunals, when coming voluntarily within their independent and undoubted jurisdiction, because they acted in obedience to their superior authori- ties, or because their acts have become the sub- ject of diplomatic discussion between the two governments. These methods of redress, the legal prosecution of the offenders, and the appli- cation of their government for satisfaction, are independent of each other, and may be sepa- rately and simultaneously pursued. The avowal or justification of the outrages by the British authorities might be a ground of complaint with the government of the United States, distinct from the violation of the territory and laws of the State of New York. The application of the government of the Union to that of Great Brit- ain, for the redress of an authorized outrage of the peace, dignity, and rights of the United States, cannot deprive the State of New York of her undoubted right of vindicating, through the exercise of her judicial power, the property and lives of her citizens. You have very prop- erly regarded the alleged absence of Mr. McLeod from the scene of the offence at the time when it was committed, as not material to the deci- sion of the present question. That is a matter to be decided by legal evidence ; and the sincere desire of the President is, that it may be satis- factorily established. If the destruction of the Caroline was a public act of persons in her Ma- jesty's service, obeying the order of their supe- rior authorities, this fact has not been commu- nicated to the government of the United States by a person authorized to make the admission ; and it will be for the court which has taken cognizance of the offence with which Mr. McLeod is charged, to decide upon its validity when le- gally established before it." This answer to Mr. Fox, was read in the two Houses of Congress, on the 5th of January, and was heard with great approbation — apparently unanimous in the Senate. It went to London, and on the 8th and 9th of February, gave rise to some questions and answers, which showed that the British government did not take its stand in approving the burning of the Caroline, until after the presidential election of 1840 — until after that election had ensured a change of administration in the United States. On the 8th of February, to inquiries as to what steps had been taken to secure the liberation of Mc- Leod, the answers were general from Lord Pal- merston and Lord Melbourne, " That her Ma- jesty's ministers would take those measures which, in their estimation, would be best cal culated to secure the safety of her Majesty's subjects, and to vindicate the honor of the Brit- ish nation?'' This answer was a key to the in- structions actually given to Mr. Fox, showing that they were framed upon a calculation of what would be most effective, and not upon a conviction of what was right. They would do what they thought would accomplish the pur- pose ; and the event showed that the calculation led them to exhibit the war attitude — to assume the offence of McLeod, and to bully the new ad- ministration. And here it is to be well noted that the British ministry, up to that time, had done nothing to recognize the act of Captain Drew. Neither to the American minister in London, nor to the Secretary of State here, had they assumed it. More than that : they care- fully abstained from indirect, or implied assump- tion, by withholding pensions to their wounded officers in that affair — one of whom had five severe wounds. This fact was brought out at 284 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. this time by a question from Mr. Hume in the House of Commons to Lord John Russell, in which — " He wished to ask the noble lord a question relating to a matter of fact. He believed that, in the expedition which had been formed for the destruction of the Caroline, certain officers, who held commissions in her Majesty's army and navy, were concerned in that affair, and that some of these officers had, in the execution of the orders which were issued, received wounds. The question he wished to ask was, whether or not her Majesty's government had thought proper to award pensions to those officers, cor- responding in amount with those which were usually granted for wounds received in the regu- lar service of her Majesty." This was a pointed question, and carrying an argument along with it. Had the wounded offi- cers received the usual pension ? If not, there must be a reason for departing from the usual practice ; and the answer showed that the prac- tice had been departed from. Lord John Rus- sell replied : " That he was not aware of any pensions having been granted to those officers who were wounded in the expedition against the Caro- line" This was sufficiently explicit, and showed that up to the 8th day of February, 1841, the act of Captain Drew had not been even indi- rectly, or impliedly recognized. But the matter did not stop there. Mr. Hume, a thoroughly business member, not satisfied with an answer which merely implied that the government had not sanctioned the measure, followed it up with a recapitulation of circumstances to show that the government had not answered, one way or the other, during the three years that the United States had been calling for redress ; and ending with a plain interrogatory for information on that point. " He said that the noble lord (Palmerston), had just made a speech in answer to certain questions which had been put to him by the noble lord, the member for North Lancashire ; but he (Mr. Hume) wished to ask the House to suspend their opinion upon the subject until they had the whole of the papers laid before the House. He had himself papers in his posses- sion, that would explain many things connected with this question, and which, by-the-bye, were not exactly consistent with the statement which had just been made. It appeared by the papers which he had in his possession, that in January, 1838, a motion was made in the TJ. S. House of Representatives, calling upon the President to place upon the table of the House, all the papers respecting the Caroline, and all the correspond- ence which had passed between the government of the United States and the British govern- ment on the subject of the destruction of the Caroline. In consequence of that motion, cer- tain papers were laid upon the table, including one from Mr. Stevenson, the present minister here from the U. States. These were accompa- nied by a long letter, dated the 15th of May, 1838, from that gentleman, and in that letter, the burning of the Caroline was characterized in very strong language. He also stated, that agreeably to the orders of the President, he had laid before the British government the whole of the evidence relating to the subject, which had been taken upon the spot, and Mr. Steven- son denied he had ever been informed that the expedition against the Carolme was author- ized or sanctioned, by the British government. Now, from May, 1838, the time when the letter had been written, up to this hour, no answer had been given to that letter, nor had any satis- faction been given by the British government upon this subject. In a letter dated from Lon- don, the 2d of July, Mr. Stevenson stated that he had not received any answer upon the sub- ject, and that he did not wish to press the subject further ; but if the government of the United States wished him to do so, he prayed to be informed of it. By the statement which had taken place in the House of Congress, it appeared that the government of the United States had been ignorant of any information that could lead them to suppose that the enterprise against the Caroline had been undertaken by the orders of the British government, or by British authority. That he believed was the ground upon which Mr. Forsyth acted as he had done. He takes his objections, and denies the allegation of Mr. Fox, that neither had he nor her Majesty's government made any communi- cation to him or the authorities of the United States, that the British government had author- ized the destruction of the Caroline. He (Mr. Hume) therefore hoped that no discussion would take place, until all the papers connected with the matter were laid before the House. He wished to know what the nature of those com- munications was with Mr. Stevenson and her Majesty's government which had induced him to act as he had done." Thus the ministry were told to their faces, and in the face of the whole Parliament, that for the space of three years, and under repeated calls, they had never assumed the destruction of the Caroline : and to that assertion the min- istry then made no answer. On the following day the subject was again taken up, " and in the course of it Lord Palmerston admitted that the government approved of the burning ANNO 1841. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 285 of the Caroline." So says the Parliamentary Register of Debates, and adds : " The conver- sation was getting rather warm, when Sir Robert Peel interposed by a motion on the affairs of Persia." This was the first know- ledge that the British parliament had of the as- sumption of that act, which undoubtedly had just been resolved upon. It is clear that Lord Palmerston was the presiding spirit of this resolve. He is a bold man, and a man of judgment in his boldness. He probably never would have made such an assumption in deal- ing with General Jackson : he certainly made no such assumption during the three years he had to deal with the Van Buren administration. The conversation was "getting warm;" and well it might : for this pregnant assumption, so long delayed, and so given, was entirely gra- tuitous, and unwarranted by the facts. Col. McNab was the commanding officer, and gave all the orders that were given. Captain Drew's report to him shows that his orders were to de- stroy the vessel at Navy Island : McNab's let- ter of the same day to the United States Dis- trict Attorney (Rodgers), shows that he would not authorize an expedition upon United States territory ; and his sworn testimony on the trial of McLeod shows that he did not do it in his orders to Captain Drew. That testimony says : " I do remember the last time the steamboat Caroline came down previous to her destruc- tion ; from the information I received, I had every reason to believe that she came down for the express purpose of assisting the rebels and brigands on Navy Island with arms, men, am- munition, provisions, stores, &c. ; to ascertain this fact, I sent two officers with instructions to watch the movements of the boat, to note the same, and report to me ; they reported they saw her land a cannon (a six or nine-pounder), several men armed and equipped as soldiers, and that she had dropped her anchor on the east side of Navy Island ; on the information I had previously received from highly respectable persons in Buffalo, together with the report of these gentlemen, I determined to destroy her that night. I intrusted the command of the expedition for the purposes aforesaid, to Capt. A. Drew, royal navy ; seven boats were equip- ped, and left the Canadian shore ; I do not re- collect the number of men in each boat ; Cap- tain Drew held the rank of commander in her Majesty's royal navy ; I ordered the expedition, and first communicated it to Capt. Andrew Drew, on the beach, where the men embarked a short time previous to their embarkation; Captain Drew was ordered to take and destroy the Caroline wherever he could find her; I gave the order as officer in command of the forces assembled for the purposes aforesaid ; they em- barked at the mouth of the Chippewa river ; in my orders to Captain Drew nothing was said about invading the territory of the United States, but such was their nature that Captain Drew might feel himself justified in destroying the boat wherever he might find her." From this testimony it is clear that McNab gave no order to invade the territory of the United States ; and the whole tenor of his tes- timony agrees with Captain Drew's report, that it was " expected " to have found the Car- oline at Navy Island, where she was in fact im- mediately before, and where McNab saw her while planning the expedition. No such order was then given by him — nor by any other au- thority ; for the local government in Quebec knew no more of it than the British ministry in London. Besides, Col. McNab was only the military commander to suppress the insurrec- tion. He had no authority, for he disclaimed it, to invade an American possession ; and if the British government had given such authority, which they had not, it would have been an out- rage to the United States, not to be overlooked. They then assumed an act which they had not done ; and assumed it ! and took a war attitude ! and all upon a calculation that it was the most effectual way to get McLeod released. It was in the evening of the 4th day of March that all Washington city was roused by the rumor of this assumption and demand : and on the 12th day of that month they were all formally com- municated to our government. It was to the new administration that this formidable communica- tion was addressed — and addressed at the ear- liest moment that decency would permit. The effect was to the full extent all that could have been calculated upon ; and wholly reversed the stand taken under Mr. Van Buren's adminis- tration. The burning of the Caroline was ad- mitted to be an act of war, for which the sov- ereign, and not the perpetrators, was liable : the invasion of the American soil was also an act of war : the surrender of McLeod could not be effected by an order of the federal govern- ment, because he was in the hands of a State court, charged with crimes against the laws of that State : but the United States became his defender and protector, with a determination to save him harmless : and all this was immedi- 286 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. ately communicated to Mr. Fox in unofficial in- terviews, before the formal communication could be drawn up and delivered. Lord Palmers- ton's policy was triumphant ; and it is necessa- ry to show it in order to show in what manner the Caroline affair was brought to a conclusion ; and in its train that of the northeastern boun- dary, so long disputed ; and that of the north- western boundary, never before disputed ; and that of the liberated slaves on their way from one United States port to another: and all other questions besides which England wished settled. For, emboldened by the success of the Palmerstonian policy in the case of the Caro- line, it was incontinently applied in all other cases of dispute between the countries — and with the same success. But of this hereafter. The point at present is, to show, as has been shown, that the assumption of this outrage was not made until three years after the event, and then upon a calculation of its efficiency, and contrary to the facts of the case; and when made, accompanied by large naval and military demonstrations — troops sent to Canada — ships to Halifax — newspapers to ourselves, the Times especially — all odorous of gunpowder and clam- orous for war. This is dry detail, but essential to the scope of this work, more occupied with telling how things were done than what was done : and in pursuing this view it is amazing to see by what arts and contrivances — by what trifles and accidents — the great affairs of nations, as well as the small ones of individuals, are often de- cided. The finale in this case was truly ridicu- lous : for, after all this disturbance and commo- tion — two great nations standing to their arms, exhausting diplomacy, and inflaming the people to the war point — after the formal assumption of McLeod's offence, and war threatened for his release, it turned out that he was not there ! and was acquitted by an American jury on am- ple evidence. He had slept that night in Chip- pewa, and only heard of the act the next morn- ing at the breakfast table — when he wished he had been there. Which wish afterwards ri- pened into an assertion that he was there ! and, further, had himself killed one of the damned Yankees — by no means the first instance of a man boasting of performing exploits in a fight which he did not see. But what a lesson it teaches to nations ! Two great countries brought to angry feelings, to criminative diplo- macy, to armed preparation, to war threats — their governments and people in commotion — their authorities all in council, and taxing their skill and courage to the uttermost : and all to settle a national quarrel as despicable in its ori- gin as the causes of tavern brawls ; and exceed- ingly similar to the origin of such brawls. McLeod's false and idle boast was the cause of all this serious difficulty between two great Powers. Mr. Fox had delivered his formal demand and threat on the 12th day of March : the adminis- tration immediately undertook McLeod's re- lease. The assumption of his imputed act had occasioned some warm words in the British House of Commons, where it was known to be gratuitous : its communication created no warmth in our cabinet, but a cold chill rather, where every spring was immediately put in ac- tion to release McLeod. Being in the hands of a State court, no order could be given for his liberation ; but all the authorities in New York were immediately applied to — governor, legis- lature, supreme court, local court — all in vain : and then the United States assumed his defence, and sent the Attorney-General, Mr. Crittenden, to manage his defence, and General Scott, of the United States army, to protect him from popu- lar violence ; and hastened to lay all their steps before the British minister as fast as they were taken. The acquittal of McLeod was honorable to the jury that gave it ; and his trial was honor- able to the judge, who, while asserting the right to try the man, yet took care that the trial should be fair. The judges of the Supreme Court (Bronson, Nelson, and Cowan) refused the habeas corpus which would take him out of the State : the Circuit judge gave him a fair trial. It was satisfactory to the British ; and put an end to their complaint against us : un- happily it seemed to put an end to our com- plaint against them. All was postponed for a future general treaty — the invasion of territory, the killing of citizens, the arson of the boat, the impressment and abduction of a supposed Brit- ish subject — all, all were postponed to the day of general settlement : and when that day came all were given up. The conduct of the administration in the set- tlement of the affair became a subject of a future ; — this in the same letter in which he closes the door upon the fate of his own countrymen burnt and murdered in the Caroline, and promises never to disturb the Brit- ish government about them again. McLeod and all Canadians are encouraged to repeat their most serious facts upon us, by the perfect immunity which both themselves and their government have experienced. And to expedite their re- lease, if hereafter arrested for such facts, they are informed that Congress had been " called " upon to pass the appropriate law — and passed it was ! The habeas corpus act against the States, which had slept for many months in the Senate, and seemed to have sunk under the pub- lic execration — this bill was " called " up, and passed contemporaneously with the date of this letter. And thus the special minister was en- abled to carry home with him an act of Con- gress to lay at the footstool of his Queen, and to show that the measure of atonement to McLoed was complete : that the executive, the military, the legislative, and the judicial departments had all been put in requisition, and faithfully ex- erted themselves to protect her Majesty's sub- jects from being harmed for a past invasion, conflagration, and murder ; and to secure them from being called to account by the State courts for such trifles in future. And so ends the case of the Caroline and McLeod. The humiliation of this conclusion, and the contempt and future danger which it brings upon the country, demand a pause, and a moment's reflection upon the catastrophe of this ANNO 1842. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 437 episode in the negotiation. The whole negotia- tion has been one of shame and injury ; but this catastrophe of the McLeod and Caroline affair puts the finishing hand to our disgrace. I do not speak of the individuals who have done this work, but of the national honor which has been tarnished in their hands. Up to the end of Mr. Van Buren's administration, all was safe for the honor of the country. Redress for the outrage at Schlosser had been demanded ; interference to release McLeod had been refused; the false application of the laws of war to a state of peace had been scouted. On the 4th day of March, 1841, the national honor was safe ; but on that day its degradation commenced. Timing their movements with a calculated precision, the British government transmitted their assump- tion of the Schlosser outrage, their formal de- mand for the release of McLeod, and their threat in the event of refusal, so as to arrive here on the evening of the day on which the new admin- istration received the reins of government. Their assumption, demand, and threat, arrived in Washington on the evening of the 4th day of March, a few hours after the inauguration of the new powers was over. It seemed as if the British had said to themselves: This is the time — our friends are in power — we helped to elect them — now is the time to begin. And begin they did. On the 8th day of March, Mr. Fox delivered to Mr. Webster the formal notifi- cation of the assumption, made the demand, and delivered the threat. Then the disgraceful scene began. They reverse the decision of Mr. Van Buren's administration, and determine to inter- fere in behalf of McLeod, and to extricate him by all means from the New York courts. To mask the ignominy of this interference, they pretend it is to get at a nobler antagonist ; and that they are going to act the Romans, in spar- ing the humble and subduing the proud. It is with Queen Victoria with whom they will deal ! McLeod is too humble game for them. McLeod released, the next thing is to get out of the scrape with the Queen ; and for that purpose they invent a false reading of the law of nations, and apply the laws of war to a state of peace. The jus belli, and not the jus gentium, then be- comes their resort. And here ends their grand imitation of the Roman character. To assume the laws of war in time of peace, in order to cover a craven retreat, is the nearest approach which they make to war. Then the special minister comes. They accept from him private and verbal explanations, in full satisfaction to themselves of all the outrage at Schlosser : but beg the minister to write them a little apology, which they can show to the people. The min- ister refuses ; and thereupon they assume that they have received it, and proclaim the apology to the world. To finish this scene, to complete the propitiation of the Queen, and to send her minister home with legal and parchment evi- dence in his hand of our humiliation, the ex- pression of regret for the arrest and detention of McLeod is officiously and gratuitously re- newed ; the prospect of a like detention of any of her Majesty's subjects in future is patheti- cally deplcred ; and, to expedite their delivery from State courts when they again invade our soil, murder our citizens, and burn our vessels. the minister is informed that Congress has been "called" upon to pass a law to protect them from these courts. And here " a most se- rious/act " presents itself. Congress has actu- ally obeyed the "call" — passed the act — se- cured her Majesty's subjects in future — and given the legal parchment evidence of his suc- cess to her minister before he departs for his home. The infamous act — the habeas corpus against the States — squeamishly called the " re- medial justice act " — is now on the statute- book ; the original polluting our code of law, the copy lying at the footstool of the British Queen. And this is the point we have reached. In the short space of a year and a half, the national character has been run down, from the pinnacle of honor to the abyss of disgrace. I limit my- self now to the affair of McLeod and the Caro- line alone ; and say that, in this business, ex- clusive of other disgraces, the national character has been brought to the lowest point of con- tempt. It required the Walpole administration five-and-twenty long years of cowardly submis- sion to France and Spain to complete the degra- dation of Great Britain: our present rulers have completed the same work for their own country in the short space of eighteen months. And this is the state of our America! that America which Jackson and Van Buren left so proud ! that America which, with three millions of people fought and worsted the British empire — with seven millions fought it, and worsted it again— and now, with eighteen millions, truckles to the British Queen, and invents all sorts of propitiatory apologies for her, when the most 438 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. ample atonement is due to itself. Are we the people of the Revolution ?— of the war of 1812 ? — of the year 1834, when Jackson electrified Europe by threatening the King of France with reprisals ! McLeod is given up because he is too weak ; the Queen is excused, because she is too strong ; propitiation is lavished where atonement is due ; an apology accepted where none was offered ; the statute of limitations pleaded against an insult, by the party which received it! And the miserable performers in all this drama of national degradation expect to be applauded for magnanimity, when the laws of honor and the code of nations, stamp their conduct with the brand of cowardice. CHAPTER CIII. BRITISH TREATY: NORTHEASTERN BOUNDARY ARTICLE: MR. BENTON'S SPEECH: EXTRACT. The establishment of the low-land boundary in place of the mountain boundary, and parallel to it. This new line is 110 miles long. It is on this side of the awarded line — not a con- tinuation of it, but a deflection from it ; and evidently contrived for the purpose of weaken- ing our boundary, and retiring it further from Quebec. It will be called in history the Webster line. It begins on the awarded line, at a lake in the St. Francis River ; breaks off at right angles to the south, passes over the valley of the St. John in a straight line, and equidistant from that river and the mountain, until it reaches the north-west branch of the St. John, when approaching within forbidden distance of Quebec, it deflects to the east ; and then holds on its course to the gorge in the mountain at the head of Metjarmette creek. A view of the map will show the character of this new line ; the words of the treaty show how cautiously it was guarded ; and the want of protocols hides its paternity from our view. The character of the line is apparent ; and it requires no military man, or military woman, or military child, to say to whose benefit it enures. A man of any sort — a woman of any kind — a child of any age — can tell that ! It is a British line, made for the security of Quebec. Follow its calls on the map, and every eye will see this design. The surrender of the mountain boundary be- tween the United States and Great Britain on the frontiers of Maine. This is a distinct ques- tion from the surrender of territory. The lat- ter belonged to Maine: the former to the United States. They were national, and not State boundaries — established by the war of the Revolution, and not by a State law or an act of Congress ; and involving all the consider- ations which apply to the attack and defence of nations. So far as a State boundary is coter- minous with another State, it is a State ques- tion, and may be left to the discretion of the States interested : so far as it is coterminous with a foreign power, it is a national question, and belongs to the national authority. A State cannot be permitted to weaken and endanger the nation by dismembering herself in favor of a foreigner ; by demolishing a strong frontier, delivering the gates and keys of a country into the hands of a neighboring nation, and giving them roads and passes into the country. The boundaries in question were national, not State ; and the consent of Maine, even if given, availed nothing. Her defence belongs to the Union ; is to be made by the blood and treasure of the Union ; and it was not for her, even if she had been willing, to make this defence more difficult, more costly, and more bloody, by giving up the strong, and substituting the weak line of de- fence. Near three hundred miles of this strong national frontier have been surrendered by this treaty — being double as much as was given up by the rejected award. The King of the Netherlands, although on the list of British generals, and in the pay of the British Crown, was a man of too much honor to deprive us of the commanding mountain frontier opposite to Quebec; and besides, Jackson would have scouted the award if he had attempted it. The King only gave up the old line to the north of the head of the St. Francis River ; and for this he had some reason, as the mountain there sub- sided into a plain, and the ridge of the high- lands (in that part) was difficult to follow : our negotiator gives up the boundary for one hun- dred and fifty miles on this side the head of the St. Francis, and without pretext ; for the moun- tain ridge was there three thousand feet high. The new part given up, from the head of the St. Francis to Metjarmette portage, is invaluable ANNO 1842. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 439 to Great Britain. It covers her new road to Quebec, removes us further from that city, places a mountain between us, and brings her into Maine. To comprehend the value of this new boundary to Great Britain, and its injury to us, it is only necessary to follow it on a map — to see its form — know its height, the depth of its gorges, and its rough and rocky sides. The report of Capt. Talcott will show its cha- racter — three thousand feet high : any map will show its form. The gorge at the head of the Metjarmette creek — a water of the St. Lawrence — is made the terminus ad quern of the new conventional lowland line : beyond that gorge, the mountain barrier is yielded to Great Britain. Now take up a map. Begin at the head of the Metjarmette creek, within a degree and a half of the New Hampshire line — follow the moun- tain north — see how it bears in upon Quebec — approaching within two marches of that great city, and skirting the St. Lawrence for some hundred miles. All this is given up. One hundred and fifty miles of this boundary is given up on this side the awarded line ; and the country left to guess and wonder at the enor- mity and fatuity of the sacrifice. Look at the new military road from Halifax to Quebec — that part of it which approaches Qubec and Hes between the mountain and the St. Lawrence. Even by the awarded line, this road was forced to cross the mountain at or beyond the head of the St. Francis, and then to follow the base of the mountain for near one hundred miles ; with all the disadvantages of crossing the spurs and gorges of the mountain, and the creeks and ravines, and commanded in its whole extent by the power on the mountain. See how this is changed by the new boundary ! the road per- mitted to take either side of the, mountain — to cross where it pleases — and cohered and pro- tected in its whole extent by the mountain heights, now exclusively British. Why this new way, and this security for the road, unless to give the British still greater advantages over us than the awarded boundary gave ? A palli- ation is attempted for it. It is said that the mountain is unfit for cultivation ; and the line along it could not be ascertained; and that Maine consented. These are the palliations — insignificant if true, but not true in their es- sential parts. And, first, as to the poverty of the mountain, and the slip along its base, con- stituting this area of 893 square miles surren- dered on this side the awarded line: Captain Talcott certifies it to be poor, and unfit for cul- tivation. I say so much the better for a fron- tier. As to the height of the mountains, and the difficulty of finding the dividing ridge, and the necessity of adopting a conventional line : I say all this has no application to the surren- dered boundary on this side the awarded line at the head of the St. Francis. On this side of that point, the mountain ridge is lofty, the heights attain three thousand feet ; and navi- gable rivers rise in them, and flow to the east and to the west — to the St. Lawrence and the Atlantic. Hear Captain Talcott, in his letter to Mr. Webster : (The letter read.) This letter was evidently obtained for the purpose of depreciating the lost boundary, by showing it to be unfit for cultivation. The note of the Secretary-negotiator which drew it forth is not given, but the answer of Captain Talcott shows its character ; and its date (that of the 14th of July) classes it with the testimony which was hunted up to justify a foregone con- clusion. The letter of Captain Talcott is good for the Secretary's purpose, and for a great deal more. It is good for the overthrow of all the arguments on which the pl&a for a conven- tional boundary stood. What was that plea? Simply, that the highlands in the neighborhood of the north-west corner of Nova Scotia could not be traced ; and that it was necessary to substitute a conventional line in their place. And it is the one on which the award of the King of the Netherlands turned, and was, to the extent of a part of his award, a valid one. But it was no reason for the American Secretary to give one hundred and fifty miles of mountain line on this side the awarded line, where the highlands attained three thousand feet of eleva- tion, and turned navigable rivers to the right and left. Lord Ashburton, in his letter of the 13th of June, commences with this idea : that the highlands described in the treaty could not be found, and had been so admitted by Ameri- can statesmen ; and quotes a part of a despatch from Mr. Secretary Madison in 1802 to Mr. Rufus King, then U. S. Minister in London. I quote the whole despatch, and from this it appears — 1. That the part at which the treaty could not be executed, for want of finding the highlands, was the 'point to be constituted by the intersec- tion of the due north line from the head of the St. Croix with the line drawn along the high- 440 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. lands. 2. That this point might be substituted by a conventional one agreed upon by the three commissioners. 3. That from this -point, so agreed upon, the line was to go to the highlands, and to follow them wherever they could be ascertained, to the head of the Connecticut River. This is the clear sense of Mr. Madison's letter and Mr. Jefferson's message ; and it is to be very careless to confound this point (which they admitted to be dubious, for want of high- lands at that place) with the line itself, which was to run near 300 miles on the elevations of a mountain reaching 3,000 feet high. The King of the Netherlands took a great liberty with this point when he brought it to the St. John's River: our Secretary-negotiator took a far greater liberty with it when he brought it to the head of the Metjarmette creek; for it is only at the head of this creek that our line under the new treaty begins to climb the high- lands. The King of the Netherlands had some apology for his conventional point and conven- tional line to the head of the St. Francis — for the highlands were sunk into table-land where the point ought to be, and which was the ter- minus a quo of his conventional line : but our negotiator had no apology at all for turning this conventional line south, and extending it 110 miles through the level lands of Maine, where the mountain highlands were all along in sight to the west. It is impossible to plead the diffi- culty of finding the highlands for this substitu- tion of the lowland boundary, in the whole distance from the head of the St. Francis, where the King of the Netherlands fixed the com- mencement of our mountain line, to the head of the Metjarmette, where our Secretary fixed its commencement. Lord Ashburton's quotation from Mr. Madison's letter is partial and incom- plete : he quotes what answers his purpose, and is justifiable in so doing. But what must we think of our Secretary-negotiator, who neglected to quote the remainder of that letter, and show that it was a conventional point, and not a con- ventional line, that Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madi- son proposed ? and that this conventional point was merely to fix the north-west angle of Nova Scotia, where, in fact, there were no highlands ; after which, the line was to proceed to the ele- vated ground dividing the waters, &c, and then follow the highlands to the head of the Con- necticut? Why did our Secretary omit this correction of the British minister's quotation, and thus enable him to use American names against us ? To mitigate the enormity of this barefaced sacrifice, our Secretary-negotiator enters into a description of the soil, and avers it to be unfit for cultivation. What if it were so ? It is still rich enough to bear cannon, and to carry the smuggler's cart; and that is the crop Great Britain wishes to plant upon it. . Gibraltar and Malta are rocks ; yet Great Britain would not exchange them for the deltas of the Nile and of the Ganges. It is not for growing potatoes and cabbages that she has fixed her eye, since the late war, on this slice of Maine ; but for trade and war — to consolidate her power on our north- eastern border, and to realize all the advantages which steam power gives to her new military and naval, and commercial staiw a, in Passama- quoddy Bay ; and her new route for trade and war through Halifax and Maine to Quebec. She wants it for great military and commercial purposes ; and it is pitiful and contemptible in our negotiator to depreciate the sacrifice as being poor land, unfit for cultivation, when power and dominion, not potatoes and cab- bages, is the object at stake. But the fact is, that much of this land is good ; so that the ex- cuse for surrendering it without compensation is unfounded as well as absurd. I do not argue the question of title to the territory and boundaries surrendered. That work has been done in the masterly report of the senator from Pennsylvania [Mr. Bu- chanan], and in the resolve of the Senate, unani- mously adopted, which sanctioned it. That re- port and that resolve were made and adopted in the year 1838 — seven years after the award of the King of the Netherlands — and vindicated our title to the whole extent of the disputed territory. After this vindication, it is not for me to argue the question of title. I remit that task to abler and more appropriate hands — to the author of the report of 1838. It will be for him to show the clearness of our title under the treaty of 1783 — how it was submitted to in Mr. Jay's treaty of 1794, in Mr. Liston's cor- respondence of 1798, in Mr. King's treaty of 1803, in Mr. Monroe's treaty of 1807, and in the conferences at Ghent — where, after the late war had shown the value of a military communica- tion between Quebec and Halifax, a variation of ANNO 1842. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 441 the line was solicited as a favor, by the British commissioners, to establish that communication. It will be for him also to show the progress of the British claim, from the solicited favor of a road, to the assertion of title to half the terri- tory, and all the mountain frontier of Maine ; and it will further be for him to show how he is deserted now by those who stood by him then. It will be for him to expose the fatal blunder at Ghent, in leaving our question of title to the arbitration of a European sovereign, instead of confiding the marking of the line to three com- missioners, as proposed in all the previous trea- ties, and agreed to in several of them. To him, also, it will belong to expose the contradiction between rejecting the award for adopting a con- ventional line, and giving up part of the territory of Maine ; and now negotiating a treaty which adopts two conventional lines, gives up all that the award did, and more too, and a mountain frontier besides ; and then pays money for Rouse's Point, which came to us without mone}- under the award. It will be for him to do these things. For what purpose ? some one will say. I answer, for the purpose of vindicating our honor, our intelligence, and our good faith, in all this affair with Great Britain ; for the pur- nose of showing how we are wronged in charac- ter and in rights by this treaty ; and for the purpose of preventing similar wrongs and blun- ders in time to come. Maine may be dismem- bered, and her boundaries lost, and a great mili- tary power established on three sides of her ; but the Columbia is yet to be saved ? There we have a repetition of the Northeastern comedj^ of errors on our part, and of groundless preten- sion on the British part, growing up from a pe- tition for joint possession for fishing and hunt- ing, to an assertion of title and threat of war ; this groundless pretension dignified into a claim by the lamentable blunder of the convention of London in 1818. We may save the Columbia by showing the folly, or worse, which has dis- membered Maine. The award of the King of the Netherlands was acceptable to the British, and that award was infinitely better for us ; and it was not only accepted by the British, but insisted upon ; and its non-execution on our part was made a subject of remonstrance and complaint against us. After this, can any one believe that the "peace mission " was sent out to make war upon us if we did not yield up near double as much as she then demanded ? No, sir ! there is no truth in this cry of war. It is only a phantom conjured up for the occasion. From Jackson and Van Buren the British would gladly have accepted the awarded boundary: the federalists prevented it, and even refused a new negotiation. Now, the same federalists have yielded double as much, and are thanking God that the British condescend to accept it. Such is federalism : and the British well knew their time, and their men, when they selected the present moment to send their special mis- sion ; to double their demands ; and to use ar- guments successfully, which would have been indignantly repelled when a Jackson or a Van Buren was at the head of the government — or, rather, would never have been used to such Presidents. The conduct of our Secretary-ne- gotiator is inexplicable. He rejects the award, because it dismembers Maine ; votes against new negotiations with England ; and announces himself ready to shoulder a musket and march to the highland boundary, and there fight his death for it. This was under Jackson's admin- istration. He now becomes negotiator himself; gives up the highland boundary in the first note; gives up all that was awarded by the King of the Netherlands ; gives up 110 miles on this side of that award ; gives up the mountain barrier which covered Maine, and commanded the Halifax road to Quebec; gives $500,000 for Rouse's Point, which the King of the Nether- land's allotted us as our right. CHAPTER CIV. BRITISH TEEATY: NORTHWESTERN BOUNDARY: MR. BENTONS SPEECH : EXTRACTS. The line from Lake Superior to the Lake of the Woods never was susceptible of a dispute. That from the Lake of the Woods to the head of the Mississippi was disputable, and long dis- puted; and it will not do to confound these two lines, so different in themselves, and in their political history. The line from Lake Superior was fixed by landmarks as permanent and no- torious as the great features of nature herself— the Isle Royale, in the northwest of Lake Su- 442 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. perior, and the chain of small lakes and rivers which led from the north of that isle to the Lake of the Woods. Such were the precise calls of the treaty of 1783, and no room for dis- pute existed about it. The Isle Royale was a landmark in the calls of the treaty, and a great and distinguished one it was — a large rocky island in Lake Superior, far to the northwest, a hundred miles from the southern shore ; unin- habitable, and almost inaccessible to the Indians in their canoes ; and for that reason believed by them to be the residence of the Great Spirit, and called in their language, Menong. This isle was as notorious as the lake itself, and was made a landmark in the treaty of 1783, and the boundary line directed to go to the north of it, and then to follow the chain of small lakes and rivers called "Long Lake," which constituted the line of water communication between Lake Superior and the Lake of the "Woods, a commu- nication which the Indians had followed beyond the reach of tradition, which was the highway of nations, and which all travellers and traders have followed since its existence became known to our first discoverers. A line through the Lake Superior, from its eastern outlet to the northward of the Isle Royale, leads direct to this communication ; and the line described was evidently so described for the purpose of going to that precise communication. The terms of the call are peculiar. Through every lake and every water-course, from Lake Ontario to the Lake Huron, the language of the treaty is the same : the line is to follow the middle of the lake. Through every river it is the same : the middle of the main channel is to be fol- lowed. On entering Lake Superior, this lan- guage changes. It is no longer the middle of the lake that is to constitute the boundary, 4 but a line through the lake to the " northward " of Isle Royale — a boundary which, so far from dividing the lake equally, leaves almost two- thirds of it on the American side. The words of the treaty are these : " Thence through Lake Superior, northward of the isles Royale and Philippeaux, to the Long Lake ; thence through the middle of said Long Lake, and the water communication between it and the Lake of the Woods, to the Lake of the Woods," &c. These are the words of the call ; and this va- riation of language, and this different mode of dividing the lake, were for the obvious purpose of taking the shortest course to the Long Lake, or Pigeon River, which led to the Lake of the Woods. The communication through these lit- tle lakes and rivers was evidently the object aimed at ; and the call to the north of Isle Royale was for the purpose of getting to that object. The island itself was nothing, except as a landmark. Though large (for it is near one hundred miles in circumference), it has no value, neither for agriculture, commerce, nor war. It is sterile, inaccessible, remote from shore ; and fit for nothing but the use to which the Indians consigned it — the fabulous residence of a fabulous deity. Nobody wants it — neither Indians nor white people. It was assigned to the United States in the treaty of 1783, not as a possession, but as a landmark, and because the shortest line through the lake, to the well-known route which led to the Lake of the Woods, passed to the north of that isle. All this is evident from the maps, and all the maps are here the same ; for these features of nature are so well defined that there has never been the least dis- pute about them. The commissioners under the Ghent treaty (Gen. Porter for the United States, and Mr. Barclay for Great Britain), though dis- agreeing about several things, had no disagree- ment about Isle Royale, and the passage of th? line to the north of that isle. In their separate reports, they agreed upon this ; and this settled the whole question. After going to the north of Isle Royale, to get out of the lake at a known place, it would be absurd to turn two hundred miles south, to get out of it at an unknown place. The agreement upon Isle Royale settled the line to the Lake of the Woods, as it was, and as it is : but it so happened that, in the year 1790, the English traveller and fur-trader Mr. (after- wards Sir Alexander) McKenzie, in his voyage to the Northwest, travelled up this line of water communication, saw the advantages of its exclu- sive possession by the British ; and proposed in his " History of the Fur Trade," to obtain it by turning the' line down from Isle Royale, near two hundred miles, to St. Louis River in the southwest corner of the lake. The Earl of Sel- kirk, at the head of the Hudson's Bay^ Company, repeated the suggestion ; and the British govern- ment, for ever attentive to the interests of its subjects, set up a claim, through the Ghent com- missioners, to the St. Louis River as the boun- ANNO 1842. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 443 dary. Mr. Barclay made the question, but too faintly to obtain even a reference to the arbitra- tor j and Lord Ashburton had too much candor and honor to revive it. He set up no pretension to the St. Louis River, as claimed by the Ghent commissioners : he presented the Pigeon River as the " long lake " of the treaty of 1783, and only asked for a point six miles south of that river ; and he obtained all he asked. His letter of the 17th of July is explicit on this point. He says : "In considering the second point, it really appears of little importance to either party how the line be determined through the wild country between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods, but it is important that some line should be fixed and known. I would pro- pose that the line be taken from a point about six miles south of Pigeon River, where the Grand Portage commences on the lake, and continued along the line of the said portage, alternately by land and water, to Lac la Pluie — the existing route by land and by water remaining common by both parties. This line has the advantage of being known, and attended with no doubt or uncertainty in running it." These are his Lordship's words: Pigeon River, instead of St. Louis River ! making no pretension to the four millions of acres of fine mineral land supposed to have been saved be- tween these two rivers ; and not even alluding to the absurd pretension of the Ghent commis- sioner ! After this, what are we to think of the candor and veracity of an official paper, which would make a merit of having saved four mil- lions of acres of fine mineral land, " northward of the claim set up by the British commissioner under the Ghent treaty?" What must we think of the candor of a paper which boasts of having " included this within the United States," when it was never out of the United States ? If there is any merit in the case, it is in Lord Ashburton — in his not having claimed the 200 miles between Pigeon River and St. Louis River. What he claimed, he got; and that was the southern line, commencing six miles south of Pigeon River, and running south of the true line to Rainy Lake. He got this ; making a dif- ference of some hundreds of thousands of acres, and giving to the British the exclusive posses- sion of the best route ; and a joint possession of the one which is made the boundary. To un- derstand the value of this concession, it must be known that there are two lines of communica- tion from the Lake Superior to the Lake of the Woods, both beginning at or near the mouth of Pigeon River ; that these lines are the channels of trade and travelling, both for Indians, and the fur-traders ; that they are water communi- cations ; and that it was a great point with the British, in their trade and intercourse with the Indians, to have the exclusive dominion of the best communication, and a joint possession with us of the other. This is what Lord Ashburton claimed — what the treaty gave him — and what our Secretary-negotiator became his agent and solicitor to obtain for him. I quote the Secre- tary's letter of the 25th of July to Mr. James Ferguson, and the answers of Mr. Ferguson of the same date, and also the letter of Mr. Joseph Delafield, of the 20th of July, for the truth of what I say. From these letters, it will be seen that our Secretary put himself to the trouble to hunt testimony to justify his surrender of the northern route to the British ; that he put lead- ing questions to his witnesses, to get the infor- mation which he wanted ; and that he sought to cover the sacrifice, by depreciating the agri- cultural value of the land, and treating the dif- ference between the lines as a thing of no im- portance. Here is the letter. I read an extract from it : " What is the general nature of the country between the mouth of Pigeon River and the Rainy Lake ? Of what formation is it, and how is its surface ? and will any considerable part of its area be fit for cultivation ? Are its waters active and running streams, as in other parts of the United States? Or are they dead lakes, swamps, and morasses ? If the latter be their general character, at what point, as you proceed westward, do the waters receive a more decided character as running streams ? " There are said to be two lines of communi- cation, each partly by water and partly by por- tages, from the neighborhood of Pigeon River to the Rainy Lake : one by way of Fowl Lake, the Saganaga Lake, and the Cypress Lake ; the other by way of Arrow River and Lake ; then by way of Saganaga Lake, and through the river Maligne, meeting the other route at Lake la Croix, and through the river Namekan to the Rainy Lake. Do you know any reason for at- taching great preference to either of these two lines ? Or do you consider it of no importance, in any point of view, which may be agreed to ? Please be full and particular on these several points." Here are leading questions, such as the rules 444 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW of evidence forbid to be put to any witness, and the answers to which would be suppressed by the order of any court in England or America. They are called "leading," because they lead the witness to the answer which the lawyer wants ; and thereby tend to the perversion of justice. The witnesses are here led to two points : first, that the country between the two routes or lines is worth nothing for agriculture ; secondly, that it is of no importance to the United States which of the two lines is estab- lished for the boundary. Thus led to the de- sired points, the witnesses answer. Mr. Fergu- son says : " As an agricultural district, this region will always be valueless. The pine timber is of high growth, equal for spars, perhaps, to the Norway pine, and may, perhaps, in time, find a market ; but there are no alluvions, no arable lands, and the whole country may be described as one waste of rock and water. " You have desired me also to express an opinion as to any preference which I may know to exist between the several lines claimed as boundaries through this country, between the United States and Great Britain. "Considering that Great Britain abandons her claim by the Fond du Lac and the St. Louis River ; cedes also Sugar Island (otherwise called St. George's Island) in the St. Marie River ; and agrees, generally, to a boundary following the old commercial route, commencing at the Pigeon River, I do not think that any reason- able ground exists to prevent a final determina- tion of this part of the boundary." And Mr. Delafield adds : " As an agricultural district, it has no value or interest, even prospectively, in my opinion. If the climate were suitable (which it is not), I can only say that I never saw, in my explora- tions there, tillable land enough to sustain any permanent population sufficiently numerous to justify other settlements than those of the fur- traders ; and, I might add, fishermen. The fur- traders there occupied nearly all those places ; and the opinion now expressed is the only one I ever heard entertained by those most experienced in these northwestern regions. " There is, nevertheless, much interest felt by the fur-traders on this subject of boundary. To them, it is of much importance, as they con- ceive ; and it is, in fact, of national importance. Had the British commissioner consented to pro- ceed by the Pigeon River (which is the Long Lake of Mitchell's map), it is probable there would have been an agreement. There were several reasons for his pertinacity, and for this disagreement; which belong, however, to the private history of the commission, and can be stated when required. The Pigeon River is a continuous water-course. The St. George's Island, in the St. Marie River, is a valuable island, and worth as much, perhaps, as most of the country between the Pigeon River and Dog River route, claimed for the United States, in an agricultural sense." These are the answers ; and while they are conclusive upon the agricultural character of the country between the two routes, and pre- sent it as of no value ; yet, on the relative im- portance of the routes as boundaries, they re- fuse to follow the lead which the question held out to them, and show that, as commercial routes, and, consequently, as commanding the Indians and their trade, a question of national importance is involved. Mr. Delafield says the fur-traders feel much interest in this boundary : to them, it is of much importance ; and it is, in fact, of national importance. These are the words of Mr. Delafield ; and they show the reason why Lord Ashburton was so tenacious of this change in the boundary. He wanted it for the benefit of the fur-trade, and for the con- sequent command which it would give the Brit- ish over the Indians in time of war. All this is apparent ; yet our Secretary would only look at it as a corn and potato region ! And finding it not good for that purpose, he surrenders it to % the British ! Both the witnesses look upon it as a sacrifice on the part of the United States, and suppose some equivalent in other parts of the boundary was received for it. There was no such equivalent : and thus this surrender becomes a gratuitous sacrifice on the part of the United States, aggravated by the condescension of the American Secretary to act as the at- torney of the British minister, and seeking tes- timony by unfair and illegal questions ; and then disregarding the part of the answers which made against his design. CHAPTER CV. BRITISH TREATY : EXTRADITION ARTICLE : MR. BENTON'S SPEECH : EXTRACT. I proceed to the third subject and last article in the treaty — the article which stipulates for the mutual surrender of fugitive criminals. ANNO 1842. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 445 And here again we are at fault for these same protocols. Not one word is found in the cor- respondence upon this subject, the brief note excepted of Lord Ashburton of the 9 th of Au- gust — the day of the signature of the treaty — to say that its ratification would require the consent of the British parliament, and would necessarily be delayed until the parliament met. Except this note, not a word is found upon the subject ; and this gives no light upon its origin, progress, and formation — nothing to show with whom it originated — what necessity for it in this advanced age of civilization, when the com- ity of nations delivers up fugitive offenders upon all proper occasions — and when explana- tions upon each head of offences, and each class of fugitives, is so indispensable to the right un- derstanding and the safe execution of the trea- ty. Total and black darkness on all these points. Nor is any ray of light found in the President's brief paragraphs in relation to it. Those paragraphs (the work of his Secretary, of course) are limited to the commendation of the article, and are insidiously deceptive, as I shall show at the proper time. It tells us nothing that we want to know upon the origin and design of the article, and how far it applies to the largest class of fugitive offenders from the United States — the slaves who escape with their master's property, or after taking his life — into Canada and the British West Indies. The message is as silent as the correspondence on all these points ; and it is only from looking into past history, and contemporaneous circum- stances, that we can search for the origin and design of this stipulation, so unnecessary in the present state of international courtesy, and so useless, unless something unusual and extraor- dinary is intended. Looking into these sources, and we are authorized to refer the origin and design of the stipulation to the British minis- ter, and to consider it as one of the objects of the special mission with which we have been honored. Be this as it may, I do not like the article. Though fair upon its face, it is difficult of execution. As a general proposition, atro- cious offenders, and especially between neigh- boring nations, ought to be given up ; but that is better done as an affair of consent and discre- tion, than under the constraints and embarrass- ments of a treaty obligation. Political offenders ought not to be given up ; but, under the stern requisitions of a treaty obligation, and the bene- fit of an ex 'parte accusation, political offenders may be given up for murder, or other crimes, real or pretended ; and then dealt with as their government pleases. Innocent persons should not be harassed with groundless accusations ; and there is no limit to these vexations, if all emigrants are placed at the mercy of malevo- lent informers, subjected to arrest in a new and strange land, examined upon ex parte testimo- ny, and sent back for trial if a probable case is made out against them. This is a subject long since considered in our country, and on which we have the benefit both of wise opinions and of some experience. Mr. Jefferson explored the whole subject when he was Secretary of State under President Wash- ington, and came to the conclusion that these surrenders could only be made under three limitations : — 1. Between coterminous coun- tries. 2. For high offences. 3. A special pro- vision against political offenders. Under these limitations, as far back as the }^ear 1793, Mr. Jefferson proposed to Great Britain and Spain (the only countries with which we held coter- minous dominions, and only for their adjacent provinces) a mutual delivery of fugitive crimi- nals. His proposition was in these words : "Any person having committed murder of malice prepense, not of the nature of treason, or forgery, within the United States or the Span- ish provinces adjoining thereto, and fleeing from the justice of the country, shall be deliv- ered up by the government where he shall be found, to that from which he fled, whenever de- manded by the same." This was the proposition of that great states- man : and how different from those which we find in this treaty ! Instead of being confined to coterminous dominions, the jurisdiction of the country is taken for the theatre of the crime ; and that includes, on the part of Great Britain, possessions all over the world, and every ship on every sea that sails under her flag. Instead of being confined to two of- fences of high degree — murder and forgery — one against life, the other against property — this article extends to seven offences ; some of which may be incurred for a shilling's worth of property, and another of them without touching or injuring a human being. Instead of a special provision in favor of political of- 446 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. fenders, the insurgent or rebel may be given up for murder, and then hanged and quartered for treason ; and in the long catalogue of seven of- fences, a charge may be made, and an ex parte case established, against any political offender which the British government shall choose to pursue. To palliate this article, and render it more acceptable to us, we are informed that it is copied from the 27th article of Mr. Jay's trea- ty. That apology for it, even if exactly true, would be but a poor recommendation of it to the people of the United States. Mr. Jay's treaty was no favorite with the American peo- ple, and especially with that part of the people which constituted the republican party. Least of all was this 27th article a favorite with them. It was under that article that the famous Jona- than Robbins, alias Thomas Nash, was surren- dered — a surrender which contributed largely to the defeat of Mr. Adams, and the overthrow of the federal party, in 1800. The apology would be poor, if true : but it happens to be not exactly true. The article in the Webster treaty differs widely from the one in Jay's treaty — and all for the worse. The imitation is far worse than the original — about as much worse as modern whiggery is worse than an- cient federalism. Here are the two articles ; let us compare them : Mr. Webster's Treaty. "Article 10.— It is agreed that the United States and her Britannic Majesty shall, upon mutual requisitions by them, or their ministers, officers, or authorities, respectively made, de- liver up to justice all persons who, being charged with the crime of murder, or assault with intent to commit murder, or piracy, or ar- son, or robbery, or for^ry, or the utterance of forged papers committed within the jurisdiction of either, shall seek an asylum, or shall be found, within the territories of the other : pro- vided, that this shall only be done, upon such evidence of criminality as, according to the laws of the place where the fugitive or person so charged shall be found, would justify his ap- prehension and commitment for trial, if the crime or offence had there been committed; and the respective judges and other magistrates shall have power, jurisdiction, and authority, upon complaint made under oath, to issue a warrant for the apprehension of the fugitive or person so charged, that he may be brought be- fore such judges, or other magistrates, respec- tively, to the end that the evidence of criminali- ty may be heard and considered; and if. on such hearing, the evidence be deemed sufficient to sustain the charge, it shall be the duty of the examining judge, or magistrate, to certify the same to the proper executive authority, that a warrant may issue for the surrender of such fugitive. The expense of such apprehen- sion and delivery shall be borne and defrayed by the party who makes the requisition, and receives the fugitive." Mr. Jay's Treaty. " Article 27. — It is further agreed that his Ma- jesty and the United States, on mutual requisi- tions by them, respectively, or by their respec- tive ministers, or officers, authorized to make the same, will deliver up to justice all persons who, being charged with murder, or forgery, committed within the jurisdiction of either, shall seek an asylum within any of the coun- tries of the other: provided, that this shall only be done on such evidence of criminality as, according to the laws of the place where the fugitive or person so charged shall be found, would justify his apprehension and commitment for trial if the offence had there been commit- ted. The expense of such apprehension and delivery shall be borne and defrayed by those who make the requisition, and receive the fugi- tive." These are the two articles, and the difference betweeen them is great and striking. First, the number of offences for which delivery of the offender is to be made, is much greater in the present treaty. Mr. Jay's article is limited to two offences — murder and forgery : the two proposed by Mr. Jefferson ; but without his qualification to exclude political offences, and to confine the deliveries to offenders from cotermi- nous dominions. The present treaty embraces these two, and five others, making seven in the whole. The five added offences are — assault, with intent to commit murder ; piracy ; rob- bery ; arson ; and the utterance of forged pa- per. These additional five offences, though high in name, might be very small in degree. Assault, with intent to murder, might be with- out touching or hurting any person ; for, to lift a weapon at a person within striking distance, without striking, is an assault : to level a fire- arm at a person within carrying distance, and without firing, is an assault ; and the offence being in the intent, is difficult of proof. Mr. Jefferson excluded it, and so did Jay's treaty ; because the offence was too small and too equivocal to be made a matter of international ANNO 1842. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 447 arrangement. Piracy was excluded, because it was absurd to speak of a pirate's country. He has no country. He is hostis humani generis — the enemy of the human race ; and is hung wherever he is caught. The robbery might be of a shilling's worth of bread ; the arson, of burning a straw shed ; the utterance of forged paper, might be the emission or passing of a counterfeit sixpence. All these were excluded from Jay's treaty, because of their possible in- significance, and the door they opened to abuse in harassing the innocent, and in multiplying the chances for getting hold of a political of- fender for some other offence, and then punish- ing him for his politics. Striking as these differences are between the present article and that of Mr. Jay's treaty, there is a still more essential difference in another part ; and a difference which nullifies the article in its only material bearing in our favor. It is this : Mr. Jay's treaty referred the delivery of the fugitive to the executive power. This treaty intervenes the judiciary, and re- quires two decisions from a judge or magistrate before the governor can act. This nullifies the treaty in all that relates to fugitive slaves guil- ty of crimes against their masters. In the eye of the British law, they have no master, and can commit no offence against such a person in asserting their liberty against him, even unto death. A slave may kill his master, if necessa- ry to his escape. This is legal under British law ; and, in the present state of abolition feel- ing throughout the British dominions, such kill- ing would not only be considered fair, but in the highest degree meritorious and laudable. What chance for the recovery of such a slave under this treaty? Read it — the concluding part — after the word "committed," and see what is the process to be gone through. Com- plaint is to be made to a British judge or jus- tice. The fugitive is brought before this judge or justice, that the evidence of the criminality may be heard and considered — such evidence as would justify the apprehension, commitment, and trial of the party, if the offence had been committed there. If, upon this hearing, the evidence be deemed sufficient to sustain the charge, the judge or magistrate is to certify the fact to the executive authority ; and then, and not until then, the surrender can be made. This is the process ; and in all this the new treaty differs from Jay's. Under his treaty, the delivery was a ministerial act, referring itself to the authority of the governor : under this treaty, it becomes a judicial act, referring itself to the discretion of the judge, who must twice decide against the slave (first, in issuing the warrant ; and next, in trying it) before the governor can order the surrender. Twice judi- cial discretion interposes a barrier, which can- not be forced ; and behind which the slave, who has robbed or killed his master, may repose in safety. What evidence of criminality will sat- isfy the judge, when the act itself is no crime in his eyes, or under his laws, and when all his sympathies are on the side of the slave ? What chance would there be for the judicial surren- der of offending slaves in the British dominions, under this treaty, when the provisions of our own constitution, within the States of our own Union, in relation to fugitive slaves, cannot be executed ? We all know that a judicial trial is immunity to a slave pursued by his owner, in many of our own States. Can such trials be expected to result better for- the owner in the British dominions, where the relation of mas- ter and slave is not admitted, and where aboli- tionism is the policy of the government, the voice of the law, and the spirit of the people ? Killing his master in defence of his liberty, is no offence in the eye of British law or British people ; and no slave will ever be given up for it. (Mr. Wright here said, that counterfeiting American securities, or bank notes, was no of- fence in Canada ; and the same question might arise there in relation to forgers.) Mr. Benton resumed. Better far to leave things as they are. Forgers are now given up in Canada, by executive authority, when they fly to that province. This is done in the spirit of good neighborhood ; and because all honest governments have an interest in suppressing crimes, and repelling criminals. The governor acts from a sense of propriety, and the dictates of decency and justice. Not so with the judge. He must go by the law ; and when there is no law against the offence, he has nothing to justi- fy him in delivering the offender. Conventions for the mutual surrender of large offenders, where dominions are coter- minous, might be proper. Limited, as pro- posed by Mr. Jefferson in 1793, and they might 448 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. be beneficial in suppression of border crimes and the preservation of order and justice. But extended as this is to a long list of offenders — unrestricted as it is in the case of murder — ap- plying to dominions in all parts of the world, and to ships in every sea — it can be nothing but the source of individual annoyance and na- tional recrimination. Besides, if we surrender to Great Britain, why not to Russia, Prussia, Austria, France, and all the countries of the world? If we give up the Irishman to Eng- land, why not the Pole to Russia, the Italian to Austria, the German to his prince ; and so on throughout the catalogue of nations ? Sir, the article is a pestiferous one ; and as it is deter- minable upon notice, it will become the duty of the American people to elect a President who will give the notice, and so put an end to its existence. Addressing itself to the natural feelings of the country, against high crimes and border offenders, and in favor of political liberty, the message of the President communicating and recommending this treaty to us, carefully pre- sents this article as conforming to our feelings in all these particulars. It is represented as applicable only to high crimes — to border of- fenders ; and to offences not political In all this, the message is disingenuous and deceptive, and calculated to ravish from the ignorant and the thoughtless an applause to which the treaty is not entitled. It says : " The surrender to justice of persons who, having committed high crimes, seek an asylum in the territories of a neighboring nation, would seem to be an act due to the cause of general justice, and properly belonging to the present state of civilization and intercourse. The Brit- ish provinces of North America are separated from the States of the Union by a line of sev- eral thousand miles ; and, along portions of this line, the amount of population on either side is quite considerable, while the passage of the boundary is always easy. "Offenders against the law on the one side transfer themselves to the other. Sometimes, with great difficulty they are brought to jus- tice ; but very often they wholly escape. A consciousness of immunity, from the power of avoiding justice in this way, instigates the un- principled and reckless to the commission of offences ; and the peace and good neighbor- hood of the border are consequently often dis- turbed. " In the case of offenders fleeing from Canada into the United States, the governors of States are often applied to for their surrender ; and questions of a very embarrassing nature arise from these applications. It has been thought highly important, therefore, to provide for the whole case by a proper treaty stipulation. The article on the subject, in the proposed treaty, is carefully confined to such offences as all man- kind agree to regard as heinous and destructive of the security of life and of property. In this careful and specific enumeration of crimes, the object has been to exclude all political offences, or criminal charges arising from wars or intes- tine commotions. Treason, misprision of trea- son, libels, desertion from military service, and other offences of a similar character, are ex- cluded." In these phrases the message recommends the article to the Senate and the country ; and yet nothing could be more fallacious and decep- tive than such a recommendation. It confines the surrender to border offenders — Canadian fugitives : yet the treaty extends it to all per- sons committing offences under the "jurisdic- tion " of Great Britain — a term which includes all her territory throughout the world, and every ship or fort over which her flag waves. The message confines the surrender to high crimes : yet we have seen that the treaty in- cludes crimes which may be of low degree — low indeed ! A hare or a partridge from a pre- serve ; a loaf of bread to sustain life ; a sixpen- ny counterfeit note passed; a shed burnt; a weapon lifted, without striking ! The message says all political crimes, all treasons, misprision of treason, libels, and desertions are excluded. The treaty shows that these offences are not excluded — that the limitations proposed by Mr. Jefferson are not inserted ; and, consequently, under the head of murder, the insurgent, the rebel, and the traitor who has shed blood, may be given up ; and so of other offences. When once surrendered, he may be tried for any thing. The fate of Jonathan Robbins, alias Nash, is a good illustration of all this. He was a British sailor — was guilty of mutiny, murder, and pi- racy on the frigate Hermione — deserted to the United States— was demanded by the Brtish minister as a murderer under Jay's treaty — given up as a murderer — then tried by a court- martial on board a man-of-war for mutiny, mur- der, desertion, and piracy — found guilty — exe- cuted — and his body hung in chains from the yard-arm of a man-of-war. And so it would be again. The man given up for one offence, would ANNO 1842. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 449 be tried for another ; and in the number and in- significance of the offences for which he might be surrendered, there would be no difficulty in reaching any victim that a foreign government chose to pursue. If this article had been in force in the time of the Irish rebellion, and Lord Edward Fitzgerald had escaped to the United States after wounding, as he did, several of the myrmidons who arrested him, he might have been demanded as a fugitive from justice, for the assault with intent to kill ; and then tried for treason, and hanged and quartered ; and such will be the operation of the article if it continues. CHAPTER CVI. BEITISH TREATY; AFRICAN SQUADRON FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF THE SLAVE TRADE ; MR. BEN- TON'S SPEECH; EXTRACT. The suppression of the African slave-trade is the second subject included in the treaty ; and here the regret renews itself at the absence of all the customary lights upon the origin and progress of treaty stipulations. No minutes of conference ; no protocols ; no draughts or counterdraughts ; no diplomatic notes ; not a word of any kind from one negotiator to the other. Nothing in relation to the subject, in the shape of negotiation, is communicated to us. Even the section of the correspondence entitled "Suppression of the slave-trade" — even this section professedly devoted to the subject, con- tains not a syllable upon it from the negotiators to each other, or to their Governments ; but opens and closes with communications from American naval officers, evidently extracted from them by the American negotiator, to justify the forthcoming of preconceived and foregone conclusions. Never since the art of writing was invented could there have been a treaty of such magnitude negotiated with such total absence of necessary light upon the history of its forma- tion. Lamentable as is this defect of light upon the formation of the treaty generally, it becomes particularly so at this point, where a stipulation new, delicate, and embarrassing, has been unexpectedly introduced, and falls upon us as abruptly as if it fell from the clouds. In the absence of all appropriate information Vol. II.— 29 from the negotiators themselves, I am driven to glean among the scanty paragraphs of the President's message, and in the answers of the naval officers to the Secretary's inquiries. Though silent as to the origin and progress of the proposition for this novel alliance, they still show the important particular of »;he motives which caused it. Passing from the political consequences of this entanglement — consequences which no human foresight can reach — I come to the im- mediate and practical effects which lie within our view, and which display the enormous in- expediency of the measure. First : the expense in money — an item which would seem to be entitled to some regard in the present deplorable state of the treasury — in the present cry for re- trenchment — and in the present heavy taxation upon the comforts and necessaries of life. This expense for 80 guns will be about $750,000 per annum, exclusive of repairs and loss of lives. I speak of the whole expense, as part of the naval establishment of the United States, and not of the mere expense of working the ships after they have gone to sea. Nine thousand dollars per gun is about the expense of the establishment ; 80 guns would be $720,000 per annum, which is $3,600,000 for five years. But the squadron is not limited to a maximum of 80 guns ; that is the minimum limit : it is to be 80 guns " at the least." And if the party which granted these 80 shall continue in power, Great Britain may find it as easy to double the num- ber, as it was to obtain the first eighty. Nor is the time limited to five years ; it is only de- terminable after that period by giving notice ; a notice not to be expected from those who made the treaty. At the least, then, the moneyed ex- pense is to be $3,600,000 ; if the present party continues in power, it may double or treble that amount ; and this, besides the cost of the ships. Such is the moneyed expense. Tn ships, the wear and tear of vessels must be great. We are to prepare, equip, and maintain in service, on a coast 4,000 miles from home, the adequate number of vessels to carry these 80 guns. It is not sufficient to send the number there; they must be kept up and maintained in ser- vice there ; and this will require constant ex- penses to repair injuries, supply losses and cover casualties. In the employment of men, and the waste of life and health, the expenditure must 450 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. be large. Ten men and two officers to the gun, is the smallest estimate that can be admitted. This would require a complement of 960 men. Including all the necessary equipage of the ship, and above 1.000 persons will be constantly re- quired. These are to be employed at a vast distance from home ; on a savage coast ; in a perilous service ; on both sides of the equator ; and in a climate which is death to the white race. This waste of men — this wear and tear of life and constitution — should stand for some- thing in a Christian land, and in this age of roaming philanthrophy ; unless, indeed, in ex- cessive love for the blacks, it is deemed meri- torious to destroy the whites. The field of ope- rations for this squadron is great ; the term " coast of Africa " having an immense applica- tion in the vocabulary of the slave-trade. On the western coast of Africa, according to the replies of the naval officers Bell and Paine, the trade is carried on from Senegal to Cape Frio — a distance of 3.600 miles, following its windings as the watching squadrons would have to go. But the track of the slavers between Africa and America has to be watched, as well as the im- mediate coast ; and this embraces a space in the ocean of 35 degrees on each side of the equator (say four thousand miles), and covering the American coast from Cuba to Rio Janeiro ; so that the coast of Africa — the western coast alone — embraces a diagram of the ocean of near 4,000 miles every way, having the equator in the centre, and bounded east and west by the New and the Old World. This is for the western coast only : the eastern is nearly as large. The same naval officers say that a large trade in ne- groes is carried on in the Mahometan countries bordering on the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and in the Portuguese East India colonies ; and, what is worthy to be told, it is also carried on in the British presidency of Bombay, and other British Asiatic possessions. It is true, the officers say the American slavers are not yet there ; but go there they will, according to all the laws of trading and hunting, the moment they are disturbed, or the trade fails on the western coast. Wherever the trade exists, the combined powers must follow it: for good is not to be done by halves, and philanthropy is not to be circumscribed by coasts and latitudes. Among all the strange features in the comedy of errors which has ended in this treaty, that of sending American ministers abroad, to close the markets of the world against the slave-trade, is the most striking. Not content with the ex- penses, loss of life, and political entanglement of this alliance, we must electioneer for insults, and send ministers abroad to receive, pocket, and bring them home. In what circumstances do we undertake all this fine work? What is our condition at home, while thus going abroad in search of em- ployment? We raise 1,000 men for foreign service, while reducing our little army at home! We send ships to the coast of Africa, while dis- mounting our dragoons on the frontiers of Mis- souri and Arkansas ! We protect Africa from slave-dealers, and abandon Florida to savage butchery ! We send cannon, shot, shells, pow- der, lead, bombs, and balls, to Africa, while de- nying arms and ammunition to the young men who go to Florida ! We give food, clothes, pay, to the men who go to Africa, and deny rations even to those who go to Florida ! We cry out for retrenchment, and scatter $3,600,000 at one broad cast of the hand ! We tax tea and coffee, and send the money to Africa ! We are borrowing and taxing, and striking paper money, and reducing expenses at home, when engaging in this new and vast expense for the defence of Africa ! What madness and folly ! Has Don Quixote come to life, and placed himself at the head of our Government, and taken the negroes of Africa, instead of the damsels of Spain, for the objects of his chivalrous protection ? The slave-trade is diabolical and infamous; but Great Britain is not the country to read us a lesson upon its atrocity, or to stimulate our exertions to suppress it. The nation which, at the peace of Utrecht, made the asiento — the slave contract — a condition of peace, fighting on till she obtained it j the nation which entailed African slavery upon us — which rejected our colonial statutes for its suppression* — which * He has waged cruel war against human nature itself vio- lating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare — the opprobrium of infidel powers — is the warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain, determined to keep open a market where men should be bought and sold. He baa prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative at- tempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce ; and, that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distin- guished dye, he is now exciting the very people to rise in arms ANNO 1842. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 451 has many, many ten millions, of white subjects in Europe and in Asia in greater slavery of body and mind, in more bodily misery and mental darkness, than any black slaves in the United States; — such a nation has no right to cajole or to dragoon us into alliances and expenses for the suppression of slavery on the coast of Africa. We have done our part on that subject. Con- sidering the example and instruction we had from Great Britain, we have done a wonderful part. The constitution of the United States, mainly made by slaveholding States, authorized Congress to put an end to the importation of slaves by a given day. Anticipating the limited day by legislative action, the Congress had the law ready to take effect on the day permitted by the constitution. On the 1st day of Janu- ary, 1808, Thomas Jefferson being President of the United States, the importation of slaves be- came unlawful and criminal. A subsequent act of Congress following up the idea of Mr. Jeffer- son in his first draught of the Declaration of In- dependence, qualified the crime as piratical, and delivered up its pursuers to the sword of the law, and to the vengeance of the world, as the enemies of the human race. Vessels of war cruising on the coast of Africa, under our act of 1819, have been directed to search our own ves- sels — to arrest the violators of the law, and bring them in — the ships for confiscation, and the men for punishment. This was doing enough — enough for a young country, far re- mote in the New World, and whose policy is to avoid foreign connections and entangling alli- ances. We did this voluntarily, without insti- gation, and without supervision from abroad; and now there can be no necessity for Great Britain to assume a superiority over us in this particular, and bind us in treaty stipulations, which destroy all the merit of a voluntary ac- tion. We have done enough ; and it is no part of our business to exalt still higher the fanati- cal spirit of abolition, which is now become the stalking-horse of nations and of political powers. Our country contains many slaves, derived from Africa ; and, while holding these, it is neither among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has de- prived them, by murdering the people on -whom he has ob- truded them; thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the Uvea of another." — [Original draught of the Declaration of Independence, as drawn by Mr. Jef- ferson, and before it was altered by the committee.] politic nor decent to join the crusade of Euro- pean powers to put down the African slave- trade. From combinations of powers against the present slave-takers, there is but a step to the combination of the same powers against the present slaveholders ; and it is not for the United States to join in the first movement, which leads to the second. "No entangling alliances " should be her motto ! And as for her part in preventing the foreign slave-trade, it is sufficient that she prevents her own citizens, in her own way, from engaging in it ; and that she takes care to become neither the instru- ment, nor the victim, of European combinations for its suppression. The eighth and ninth articles of the treaty bind us to this naval alliance with Great Britain. By these articles we stipulate to keep a squad- ron of at least 80 guns on the coast of Africa for five years for the suppression of this trade — with a further stipulation to keep it up until one or the other party shall give notice of a de- sign to retire from it. This is the insidious way of getting an onerous measure saddled upon the country. Short-sighted people are fasci- nated with the idea of being able to get rid of the burden when they please ; but such burdens are always found to be the most interminable. In this case Great Britain will never give the notice : our government will not without a con- gressional recommendation, and it will be found difficult to unite the two Houses in a request. The stipulation may be considered permanent under the delusion of a five years' limit, and an optional continuance. The papers communicated do not show at whose instance these articles were inserted ; and the absence of all minutes of conferences leaves us at a loss to trace their origin and pro- gress in the hands of the negotiators. The little that is seen would indicate its origin to be wholly American; evidence aliunde proves it to be wholly British ; and that our Secretary- negotiator was only doing the work of the Brit- ish minister in assuming the ostensible pater- nity of the articles. In the papers communi- cated, there is not a syllable upon the subject from Lord Ashburton. His finger is not seen in the afiair. Mr. Webster appears as sole mover and conductor of the proposition. In his letter of the 30th of April to Captains Bell and Paine of the United States navy, he first ap- y 452 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. proaches the subject, and opens it with a series of questions on the African slave-trade. This draws forth the answers which I have already shown. This is the commencement of the busi- ness. And here we are struck with the curious fact, that this letter of inquiry, laying the foun- dation for a novel and extraordinary article in the treaty, bears date 44 days before the first written communication from the British to the American negotiator! and 47 days before the first written communication from Mr. "Webster to Lord Ashburton ! It would seem that much was done by word of mouth before pen was put to paper ; and that in this most essential part of the negotiations, pen was not put to paper at all, from one negotiator to the other, through- out the whole affair. Lord Ashburton's name is never found in connection with the subject ! Mr. Webster's only in the notes of inquiry to the American naval officers. Even in these he does not mention the treaty, nor allude to the negotiation, nor indicate the purpose for which information was sought ! So that this most ex- traordinary article is without a clew to its his- tory, and stands in the treaty as if it had fallen from the clouds, and chanced to lodge there ! Even the President's message, which undertakes to account for the article, and to justify it, is silent on the point, though laboring through a mass of ambiguities and obscurities, evidently calculated to raise the inference that it originated with us. From the papers communicated, it is an American proposition, of which the British negotiator knew nothing until he signed the treaty. That is the first place where his name is seen in conjunction with it, or seen in a place to authorize the belief that he knew of it. Yet, it is certainly a British proposition ; it is cer- tainly a British article. Since the year 1806 Great Britain has been endeavoring to get the United States into some sort of arrangement for co-operation in the suppression of the African slave-trade. It was slightly attempted in Mr. Jefferson's time — again at Ghent; but the warning-voice of the Father of his country — no entangling alliances — saved us on each occa- sion. Now we are yoked — yoked in with the British on the coast of Africa ; and when we can get free from it, no mortal can foresee. CHAPTER CVII. EXPENSE OF THE NAVY: WASTE OP MONEY NECESSITY OF A NAVAL PEACE ESTABLISH MENT, AND OF A NAVAL POLICY. The naval policy of the United States was a question of party division from the origin of parties in the early years of the government— the federal party favoring a strong and splendid navy, the republican a moderate establishment, adapted to the purposes of defence more than of offence: and this line of division between the parties (under whatsoever names they have since worn), continues more or less perceptible to the present time. In this time (the administration of Mr. Tyler) all the branches being of the same political party, and retaining the early principles of the party under the name of whig, the policy for a great navy developed itself with great vigor. The new Secretary, Mr. Upshur, recom- mended a large increase of ships, seamen, and officers, involving an additional expense of about two millions and a half in the naval branch of the service ; and that at a time when a deficit of fourteen millions was announced, and a resort to taxes, loans and treasury notes recommended to make it up ; and when no emergency required increase in that branch of the public service. Such a recommendation brought on a debate in which the policy of a great navy was discussed — the necessity of a naval peace establishment was urged — the cost of our establishment ex- amined — and the waste of money in the naval department severely exposed. Mr. Calhoun, always attentive to the economical working of the government, opened the discussion on this interesting point. " The aggregate expense of the British navy in the year 1840 amounted to 4,980,353 pounds sterling, deducting the expense of transport for troops and convicts, which does not properly belong to the navy. That sum, at $4 80 to the pound sterling, is equal to $23,905,694 46. The navy was composed of 392 vessels of war of all descriptions, leaving out 36 steam vessels in the packet service, and 23 sloops fitted for foreign packets. Of the 392, 98 were line of battle ships, of which 19 were building; 116 frigates, of which 14 were building ; 68 sloops, of which 13 were building j 44 steam vessels, of which 16 ANNO 1842. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 453 were building ; and 66 gun brigs, schooners, and cutters, of which 12 were building. " The effective force of the year — that which was in actual service, consisted of 3,400 officers, 3,998 petty officers, 12.846 seamen, and 9,000 marines, making an aggregate of 29,244. The number of vessels in actual service were 175, of which 24 were line of battle ships. 31 frigates, 30 steam vessels, and 45 gun brigs, schooners, and cutters, not including the 30 steamers and 24 sloops in the packet service, at an average expenditure of $573 for each individual, includ- ing officers, petty officers, seamen, and marines. " Our navy is composed, at present, according to the report of the Secretary accompanying the President's message, of 67 vessels — of which 11 are line of battle ships, 17 frigates, 18 sloops of war, 2 brigs, 4 schooners, 4 steamers, 3 store ships, 3 receiving vessels, and 5 small schooners. The estimates for the year are made on the as- sumption, that there will be in service during the year, 2 ships of the line, 1 razee, 6 frigates, 20 sloops, 11 brigs and schooners, 3 steamers, 3 store ships and 8 small vessels ; making in the aggregate, 53 vessels. The estimates for the year, for the navy and marine corps, as has been stated, is $8,705,579 83, considerably exceeding one-third of the entire expenditures of the Brit- ish navy for 1840. " Mr. C. contended there should be no differ- ence in the expenses of the two navies. We should build as cheap and employ men as cheap, or we should not be able to compete with the British navy. If our navy should prove vastly more expensive than the British navy, we might as well give up, and he recommended this matter to the consideration of the Senate. " Among the objects of retrenchment, I place at the head the great increase that is proposed to be made to the expenditures of the navy, compared with that of last year. It is no less than $2,508,032 13, taking the expenditures of last year from the annual report of the Secre- tary. I see no sufficient reason, at this time, and in the present embarrassed condition of the Treasury, for this great increase. T have looked over the report of the Secretary hastily, and find none assigned, except general reasons, for an increased navy, which I am not disposed to controvert. But I am decidedly of the opinion, that the commencement ought to be postponed till some systematic plan is matured, both as to the ratio of increase and the description of force of which the addition should consist, and till the department is properly organized, and in a condition to enforce exact responsibility and economy in its disbursements. That the de- partment is not now properly organized, and in that condition, we have the authority of the Secretary himself, in which I concur. I am satis- fied that its administration cannot be made ef- fective under the present organization, particu- larly as it regards its expenditures." " The expenses of this government were of three classes : the civil list, the army and the navy ; and all of these had been increased enor- mously since 1823. The remedy now was to compare the present with the past, mark the difference, and compel the difference to be ac- counted for. He cited 1823, and intended to make that the standard, because that was the standard for him, the government being then economically administered. He selected 1823, also, because in 1824 we commenced a new sys- tem, and that of protection, which had done so much evil. We had made two tariffs since then, the origin of all evils. The civil list rose in seventeen years from about $2,000,000 to $6,000,000 — nearly a threefold proportion com- pared with the increase of population. In Con- gress the increase had been enormous. The increase of contingent expenses had been five- fold, and compared with population, sixfold. The aggregate expenses of the two Houses now amounted to more than $250,000. The expense of collecting revenue had also been enormously increased. From 1823 it had gone up from $700,000 to $1,700,000— an increase of one mil- lion of dollars. The expense on collection in 1823 was but one per cent., now one per cent, and 5-100. Under the tariff these increases were made from 1824 to 1828. Estimating the expenses of collection at $800,000, about $1,000,000 would be saved. The judiciary had increased in this proportion, and the light-house department also. In the war department, in 1822 (the only year for which he had estimates), the expenses per man were but $264 ; now the increase had gone up to $400 for each individual. At one time it had been as much as $480 for each individual — $1,400,000 could be saved here in the army proper, including the military academy alone. It might be said that one was a cheap and the other a dear year. Far other- wise ; meat was never cheaper, clothing never as cheap as now. All this resulted from the expansive force of a surplus revenue. In 1822 he had reduced the expenses of every man in the army. " It had been proposed to increase the expen- ditures of the navy two and a half millions of dollars over the past year, and he wag not ready for this. Deduct two millions from this recom- mendation, and it would be two millions saved. These appropriations, at least, might go over to the next session. The expenses of the marine corps amounted to nearly six hundred thousand dollars, nearly six hundred dollars a head — two hundred dollars a head higher than the army, cadets and all. He hoped the other expenses of the navy department were not in proportion so high as this. Between the reductions which might be made in the marine corps and the navy, two millions and a half might be saved. " The Secretary of the Treasury estimates for 32 millions of dollars for the expenses of the current year. I am satisfied that $17,000,000 were sufficient to meet the per annum expenses 454 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. of the government, and that this sum would have been according to the ratio of population. This sum, by economy, could be brought down to fifteen millions, and thus save nine millions over the present estimates. This could be done in three or four years — the Executive leading the way, and Congress co-operating and follow- ing the Executive." This was spoken in the year 1842. Mr. Cal- houn was then confident that the ordinary ex- penses of the government should not exceed 17 millions of dollars, and that, with good economy that sum might be further reduced two millions, making the expenses but 15 millions per annum. The navy was one of the great points to which he looked for retrenchment and reduction ; and on that point he required that the annual ap- propriation for the navy should be decreased instead of being augmented ; and that the money appropriated should be more judiciously and economically applied. The President should lead the way in economy and retrenchment. Organization as well as economy was wanted in the navy — a properly organized peace establish- ment. The peace establishment of the British navy in 1840, was 24 millions — there being 173 vessels in commission. Instead of reduction, the expense of our navy, also in time of peace, is gaining largely upon hers. It is nearly doubled since Mr. Calhoun spoke — 15 millions in 1855. Mr. Woodbury, who had been Secretary of the Navy under President Jackson, spoke de- cidedly against the proposed increase, and against the large expenditure in the depart- ment, and its unfavorable comparison with the expenses of the British navy in time of peace. He said : " There are twenty-nine or thirty post-cap- tains now on leave or waiting orders, and from thirty to forty commanders. Many of them are impatient to be called into active service — hating a life of indolence — an idle loafing life — and who are anxious to be performing some public service for the pay they receive. It was, gene- rally, not their fault that they were not on duty ; but ours, in making them so numerous that they could not be employed. He dwelt on the peace establishment of England — for her navy averaged £18,000,000 in time of war, before the year 1820 — but her peace establishment was now only £5,000,000 to 6,000,000. Gentlemen talk of 103 post-captains being necessary, for employment in commission ; while England has only 70 post-captains employed in vessels in commission. She had fewer commanders so employed than our whole number of the same grade. " The host of English navy officers was on re- tired and half-pay — less in amount than ours by one-third when full, and not one-half of full pay often, when retired 5 and her seamen only half. Her vessels afloat, also, were mostly small ones — 63 of them being steamers, with only one or two guns on an average. " That the navy ought to be regulated by law, every gentleman admits. Without any express law, was there not a manifest propriety in any proviso which should prevent the number of appointments from being carried half up. or quite up to the standard of the British navy, on full pay ? It would be a great relief to the Execu- tive, and the head of the Navy Department, to fix some limitation on appointments, by which the importunities with which they are beset shall not be the occasion of overloading the Government with a greater numbor of officers in any grade than the exigencies of the service actually demand. A clerk in any public office, a lieutenant in the army, a judge could not be appointed without authority of law; and why should there not be a similar check with regard to officers in the navy ? " It was urged heretofore, in official communi- cations by himself, that it would be proper to limit Executive discretion in this ; and a benefit to the Executive and the departments would also accrue by passing laws regulating the peace establishment. He had submitted a resolution for that purpose, in December last, which had not been acted on ; though he hoped it yet would be acted upon before our adjournment. It was better to bring this matter forward in an appro- priation bill, than that there should be no check at all. It is the only way in which the House now finds it practicable to effect any control on this question. It could only be done in an ap- propriation bill, which gives that House the power of control as to navy officers. There should be no reflection on the House on this account ; for there is no reflection on the Ex- ecutive or the Senate. It is their right and duty in the present exigency. He considered the introduction of it into this bill under all the circumstances, not only highly excusable, but justifiable. He did not mean to say that a separate law would not, in itself, if prepared early and seasonably, be more desirable ; but he contended this check was better than none at all. When acting on this proviso the Senate is acting on the whole bill. It was not put in without some meaning. It was not merely to strip the Executive and the Senate of the ap- pointing power, now unlimited : its object was to reduce the expenses of the navy, from the Secretary of the Navy's estimate of eight and a half millions of dollars, to about $6,293,000. That was the whole effect of the whole measure, and of all the changes in the bill. "The difference between both sides of the ANNO 1842. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 455 Senate on this subject seemed to be, that one believed the navy ought to be kept upon a quasi war establishment ; and the other, in peace and not expecting war, believed it ought to be on a peace establishment; — not cut down below that, but left liberally for peace. " During the administration of the younger Adams, there was a peace establishment of the navy; and was it not then perfectly efficient and prosperous for all peace purposes? Yet the average expenditure then was only from three to four millions. It was so under Gene- ral Jackson. Under Mr. Adams, piracy was ex- tirpated in the West Indies. Under his succes- sor, the Malays in the farthest India were chastised ; and a semi-banditti broken up at the Falkland Islands. It was not till 1836 '37 that a large increase commenced. But why ? Be- cause there was an overflowing treasury. We were embarrassed with money, rather than for money. An exploring expedition was then decided upon. But even with that expedition — so noble and glorious in some respects — six millions and a fraction were the whole expenses. But why should it now at once be raised to eight and a half millions ? " The British have a peace as well as a war establishment for their navy ; and the former was usually about one-third of the latter. We have no naval peace establishment. It is all on the war footing, and is now (1855) nearly double the expense of what it was in the war with Great Britain. A perpetual war establishment, when there is no war. This is an anomaly which no other country presents, and which no country can stand, and arises from the act of 1806, which authorizes the President " to keep in actual service, in time of peace, so many of the frigates and other armed public vessels of the United States as in his judgment the nature of the service might require, and to cause the residue thereof to be laid up in ordinary in convenient ports." This is the discretion which the act of 1806 gives to the President — un- limited so far as that clause goes ; but limited by two subsequent clauses limiting the number of officers to be employed to 94, and the whole number of seamen and boys to 925 ; and placing the unemployed officers on half pay without rations — a degree of reduction which made them anxious to be at sea instead of remaining unemployed at home. Under Mr. Jefferson, then, the act of 1806 made a naval peace estab- lishment ; but doing away all the limitations of that act, and leaving nothing of it in force but the presidential discretion to employ as many vessels as the service might require, the whole navy is thrown into the hands of the President : and the manner in which he might exercise that discretion might depend entirely upon the view which he would take of the naval policy which ought to be pursued— whether great fleets for offence, or cruisers for defence. All the limita- tions of the act of 1806 have been thrown down — even the limitation to half pay; and unemployed pay has been placed so high as to make it an object with officers to be unemployed. Mr. Reuel Williams, of Maine, exposed this solecism in a few pertinent remarks. He said : " Half of the navy officers are now ashore, and there can be no necessity for such a number of officers as to admit of half being at sea, and the other half on land. Such was not the case heretofore. It was in 1835 that such increase of shore pay was made, as caused it to be the interest of the officers to be off duty. The only cure for this evil was, either to reduce the pay when off duty, or to limit the time of relaxa- tion, and to adjust the number to the actual re- quirements of the service." The vote was taken upon the increase pro- posed by the Secretary of the Navy, and recom- mended by the President, and it was carried by one vote — the yeas and nays being well defined by the party line. " Yeas— Messrs. Archer, Barrow, Bates, Ber- rien, Choate, Clayton, Conrad, Crittenden, Evans, Graham, Henderson, Huntington, Kerr, Mangum, Merrick, Miller, Morehead, Porter, Preston, Rives, Simmons, Tallmadge, and Wood- bridge— 23." " Nays— Messrs. Allen, Bagby, Benton, Bu- chanan, Crafts, Cuthbert, Fulton, King, Linn, McRoberts, Sevier, Smith of Connecticut, Smith of Indiana, Sturgeon, Tappan, Walker, White, Wilcox, Williams, Woodbury, Wright and Young— 22." Mr. Benton spoke chiefly to the necessity of having a naval policy — a policy which would determine what was to be relied on— a great navy for offence, or a moderate one for defence ; and a peace establishment in time of peace, or a war establishment in peace as well as war. Some extracts from his speech are given in the next chapter. 456 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. CHAPTER CVIII. EXPENSES OF THE NAVY: MR. BENTON'S SPEECH : EXTRACTS. I propose to recall to the recollection of the Senate the attempt which was made in 1822 — being seven years after the war — to limit and fix a naval peace establishment ; and to fix it at about one-fourth of what is now proposed, and that that establishment was rejected because it was too large. Going upon the plan of Mr. Jefferson's act of 1806, it took the number of men and officers for the limitation, discouraged absence on shore by reducing the pay one-half and withholding rations ; collected timber for future building of vessels ; and directed all to remain in port which the public service did not require to go abroad. It provided for one rear- admiral; five commodores; twenty-five cap- tains ; thirty masters commandant ; one hun- dred and ninety lieutenants ; four hundred midshipmen ; thirty-five surgeons ; forty-five surgeon's mates : six chaplains ; forty pursers ; and three thousand five hundred men and boys — in all a little over four thousand men. Yet Congress refused to adopt this number. This shows what Congress then thought of the size of a naval peace establishment. Mr. B. was contemporary with that bill — supported it — knows the reason why it was rejected — and that was, because Congress would not sanction so large an establishment. To this decision there was a close adherence for many years. In the year 1833 — eleven years after that time, and when the present senator from New Hamp- shire [Mr. Woodbury] was Secretary of the Navy, the naval establishment was but little above the bill of 1822. It was about five thou- sand men, and cost about four millions of dol- lars, and was proposed by that Secretary to be kept at about that size. Here Mr. B. read sev- eral extracts from Mr. Woodbury's report of 1833 — the last which he made as Secretary of the Navy — which verified these statements. Mr. B. then looked to the naval establishment on the 1st of January, 1841, and showed that the establishment had largely increased since Mr. Woodbury's report, and was far beyond any calculation in 1822. The total number of men, of all grades, in the service in 1841, was a little over eight thousand; the total cost about six millions of dollars — being double the amount and cost of the proposed peace estab- lishment of the United States in the year 1822, and nearly double the actual establishment of 1833. Mr. B. then showed the additions made by executive authority in 1841, and that the number of men was carried up to upwards of eleven thousand, and the expense for 1842 was to exceed eight millions of dollars ! This (he said) was considered an excessive increase ; and the design now was to correct it, and carry things back to what they were a year before. This was the design ; and this, so far from be- ing destructive to the navy, was doing far more for it than its most ardent friends proposed or hoped for a few years before. Mr. B. here exhibited a table showing the actual state of the navy, in point of numbers, at the commencement of the years 1841 and 1842 ; and showed that the increase in one year was nearly as great as it had been in the previous twenty years ; and that its totality at the lat- ter of these periods was between eleven and twelve thousand men, all told. This is what the present administration has done in one year — the first year of its existence : and it is only the commencement of their plan — the first step in a long succession of long steps. The further increases, still contemplated were great, and were officially made known to the Congress, and the estimates increased accordingly. To say nothing of what was in the Senate in its executive capacity, Mr. B. would read a clause from the report of the Senate's Committee on Naval Affairs, which showed the number of ves- sels which the Secretary of the Navy proposed to have in commission, and the consequent vast increase of men and money which would be re- quired. (The following is the extract from Mr. Bayard's report) : " The second section of the act of Congress of the 21st April, 1806, expressly authorizes the President ' to keep in actual service, in time of peace, so many of the frigates and other pub- lic armed vessels of the United States, as in his judgment the nature of the service may require.' In the exercise of this discretion, the commit- tee are informed by the Secretary of the Navy that he proposes to employ a squadron in the Mediterranean, consisting of two ships of the line, four frigates, and four sloops and brigs — in all, ten vessels ; another squadron on the ANNO 1842. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 457 Brazil station, consisting, also, of two ships-of the-line, four frigates, and four sloops and brigs ; which two squadrons will be made from time to time to exchange their stations, and thus to traverse the intermediate portion of the Atlan- tic. He proposes, further, to employ a squad- ron in the Pacific, consisting of one ship-of-the- line, two frigates, and four sloops ; and a simi- lar squadron of one ship of the line, two fri- gates, and four sloops in the East Indies ; which squadrons, in like manner, exchanging from time to time their stations, will traverse the inter- mediate portion of the Pacific, giving counte- nance and protection to the whale fishery in that ocean. He proposes, further, to employ a fifth squadron, to be called the home squadron, consisting of one ship-of-the-line, three frigates, and three sloops, which, besides the duties which its name indicates, will have devolved upon it the duties of the West India squadron, whose cruising ground extended to the mouth of the Amazon, and as far as the 30th degree of west longitude from London* He proposes, ad- ditionally, to employ on the African coast one frigate and four sloops and brigs — in all, five vessels ; four steamers in the Gulf of Mexico, and four steamers on the lakes. There will thus be in commission seven ships-of-the-line, sixteen frigates, twenty-three sloops and brigs, and eight steamers — in all, fifty-four vessels." This is the report of the committee. This is what we are further to expect. Five great squadrons, headed by ships of the line; and one of them that famous home squadron hatch- ed into existence at the extra session one year ago, and which is the ridicule of all except those who live at home upon it, enjoying the emolu- ments of service without any service to per- form. Look at it. Examine the plan in its parts, and see the enormity of its proportions. Two ships-of-the-line, four frigates, and four sloops and brigs for the Mediterranean— a sea as free from danger to our commerce as is the Chesapeake Bay. Why, sir, our Secretary is from the land of Decatur, and must have heard of that commander, and how with three lit- tle frigates, one sloop, and a few brigs and schooners, he humbled Algiers, Tripoli, and Tu- nis, and put an end to their depredations on American ships and commerce. He must have heard of Lord Exmouth, who, with less force than he proposes to send to the Mediterranean, went there and crushed the fortifications of Al- giers, and took the bond of the pirates never to trouble a Christian again. And he must have heard of the French, who, since 1830, are the owners of Algiers. Certainly the Mediterra- nean is as free from danger to-day as is the Chesapeake Bay ; and yet our Secretary pro- poses to send two ships-of-the-line, four fri- gates, and four sloops to that safe sea, to keep holiday there for three years. Another squad- ron of the same magnitude is to go to Brazil, where a frigate and a sloop would be the extent that any emergency could require, and more than has ever been required yet. The same of the Pacific Ocean, where Porter sailed in tri- umph during the war with one little frigate ; and a squadron to the East Indies, where no power has any navy, and where our sloops and brigs would dominate without impediment. In all fifty-four men-of-war ! Seven ships-of-the-line, sixteen frigates, twenty-three sloops and brigs, and eight steamers. And all this under Jeffer- son's act of 1806, when there was not a ship-of- the-line, nor a large frigate, nor twenty vessels of all sorts, and part of them to remain in port — only the number going forth that would re- quire nine hundred and twenty-five men to man them ! just about the complement of one of these seven ships-of-the-line. Does not presi- dential discretion want regulating when such things as these can be done under the act of 1806 ? Has any one calculated the amount of this increase, and counted up the amount of men and money which it will cost ? The re- port does not, and, in that respect, is essential- ly deficient. It ought to be counted, and Mr. B. would attempt it. He acknowledged the difficulty of such an undertaking ; how easy it was for a speaker — and especially such a speaker as he was — to get into a fog when he got into masses of millions, and so bewilder others as well as himself. To avoid this, details must be avoided, and results made plain by simplifying the elements of calculation. He would endea- vor to do so, by taking a few plain data, in this case — the data correct in themselves, and the results, therefore, mathematically demonstrated. He would take the guns and the men — show what we had now, and what we proposed to have ; and what was the cost of each gun afloat, and the number of men to work it. The num- ber of guns we now have afloat is nine hundred and thirty-seven ; the number of men between eleven and twelve thousand ; and the estimated cost for the whole, a fraction over eight millions of dollars. This would give about twelve men and about nine thousand dollars to each gun. 458 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. [Mr. Bayard asked how could these nine thou- sand dollars a gun be made out ?] Mr. Ben- ton replied. By counting every thing that was necessary to give you the use of the gun — every thing incident to its use — every thing be- longing to the whole naval establishment. The end, design, and effect of the whole establish- ment, was to give you the use of the gun. That was all that was wanted. But, to get it, an es- tablishment had to be kept up of vast extent and variety — of shops and yards on land, as well as ships at sea — of salaries and pensions, as well as powder and balls. Every expense is counted, and that gives the cost per gun. Mr. B. said he would now analyze the gentleman's report, and see what addition these five squad- rons would make to the expense of the naval establishment. The first point was, to find the number of guns which they were to bear, and which was the element in the calculation that would lead to the results sought for. Recur- ring to the gentleman's report, and taking the number of each class of vessels, and the num- ber of guns which each would carry, and the results would be : 7 ships-of-the-line, rating 74, but carry- ing 80 guns, 16 frigates, 44 guns each, . 13 sloops, 20 guns each, 10 brigs, 10 guns each, 8 steamers, 10 guns each, 560 704 260 100 80 1,704 Here (said Mr. B.) is an aggregate of 1,704 guns, which, at $9,000 each gun, would give $15,336,000, as the sum -which the Treasury would have to pay for a naval establishment which would give us the use of that number. Deduct the difference between the 937, the pres- ent number of guns, and this 1.704, and you have 767 for the increased number of guns, which, at $9,000 each, will give $6,903,000 for the increased cost in money. This was the moneyed result of the increase. Now take the personal increase — that is to say, the increased number of men which the five squadrons would require. Taking ten men and two officers to the gun — in all, twelve — and the increased number of men and officers required for 767 guns would be 8,204. Add these to the 11,000 or 12,000 now in service, and you have close upon 20,000 men for the naval peace establish- ment of 1843, costing about fifteen millions and a half of dollars. But I am asked, and in a way to question my computation, how I get at these nine thousand dollars cost for each gun afloat ? I answer — by a simple and obvious process. I take the whole annual cost of the navy department, and then see how many guns we have afloat. The ob- ject is to get guns afloat, and the whole estab- lishment is subordinate and incidental to that object. Not only the gun itself, the ship which carries it, and the men who work it, are to be taken into the account, but the docks and navy- yards at home, the hospitals and pensions, the marines and guards — every thing, in fact, which constituted the expense of the naval establish- ment. The whole is employed, or incurred, to produce the result — which is, so many guns at sea to be fired upon the enemy. The whole is incurred for the sake of the guns, and therefore all must be counted. Going by this rule (said Mr. B.), it would be easily shown that his statement of yesterday was about correct — rather under than over ; and this could be seen by making a brief and plain sum in arithmetic. We have the number of guns afloat, and the es- timated expense for the year : the guns 936 ; the estimate for the year is $8,705,579. Now, divide this amount by the number of guns, and the result is a little upwards of $9,200 to each oae. This proves the correctness of the state- ment made yesterday; it proves it for the present year, which is the one in controversy. The result will be about the same for several previous years. Mr. B. said he had looked over the years 1841 and 1838, and found this to be the result : in 1841, the guns were 747, and the expense of the naval establishment $6,196,516. Divide the money by the guns, and you have a little upwards of $8,300. In 1838, the guns were 670, and the expense $5,980,971. This will give a little upwards of $8,900 to the gun. The average of the whole three years will be just about $9,000. Thus, the senator from New Hampshire [Mr. Woodbury] and himself were correct in their statement, and the figures proved it. At the same time, the senator from Delaware [Mr. Bayard] is undoubtedly correct in taking a small number of guns, and saying they may be added without incurring an expense of more than three or four thousand dollars. Small ad- ANNO 1842. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 459 ditions may be made, without incurring any thing but the expense of the gun itself, and the men who work it. But that is not the ques- tion here. The question is to almost double the number ; it is to carry up 937 to 1,700. Here is an increase intended by the Secretary of the Navy of near 800 guns — perhaps quite 800, if the seventy-fours carry ninety guns, as intimated by the senator [Mr. Bayard] this day. These seven or eight hundred guns could not be added without ships to carry them, and all the expense on land which is incident to the construction of these ships. These seven or eight hundred additional guns would require seven or eight thousand men, and a great many officers. Ten men and two officers to the gun is the estimate. The present establishment is near that rate, and the increase must be in the same proportion. The present number of men in the navy, exclusive of officers, is 9,784 : which is a fraction over ten to the gun. The number of officers now in service (midshipmen, surgeons, &c, included) is near 1,300, besides the list of nominations not yet confirmed. This is in the proportion of nearly one and a half to a gun. Apply the whole to the intended increase — the increase which the report of the committee discloses to us — and you will have close upon 17,000 men and 2,000 officers for the peace establishment of the navy — in all, near 20,000 men ! and this, independent of those employed on land, and the 2,000 mechanics and laborers who are usually at our navy-yards. Now, these men and officers cost money : two hundred and twenty-six dollars per annum per man, and eight hundred and fifty dollars per annum per officer, was the average cost in 1833, as stated in the report of the then Secretary of the Navy, the present senator from New Hamp- shire [Mr. Woodbury]. What it is now, Mr. B. did not know, but knew it was greater for the officers now, than it was then. But one thing he did know— and that was, that a naval peace establishment of the magnitude disclosed in the committee's report (six squadrons, 54 vessels, 1,700 guns, 17,000 men, and 2,000 or 3,000 officers) would break down the whole navy of the United States. Mr. B. said we had just had a presidential election carried on a hue-and-cry against ex- travagance, and a hurrah for a change, and a promise to carry on the government for thirteen millions of dollars ; and here were fifteen and a half millions for one branch of the service ! and those who oppose it are to be stigmatized as architects of ruin, and enemies of the navy ; and a hue-and-cry raised against them for the op- position. He said we had just voted a set of re- solutions [Mr. Clay's] to limit the expenses of the government to twenty-two millions; and yet here are two-thirds of that sum proposed for one branch of the service — a branch which, under General Jackson's administration, cost about four millions, and was intended to be limited to about that amount. This was the economy — the retrenchment — the saving of the people's money, which was promised before the election ! Mr. B. would not go into points so well stated by the senator from New Hampshire [Mr. Wood- bury] on yesterday, that our present peace naval establishment exceeds the cost of the war estab- lishment during the late war ; that we pay far more money, and get much fewer guns and men than the British do for the same money. He would omit the tables which he had on hand to prove these important points, and would go on to say that it was an obligation of imperious duty on Congress to arrest the present state of things; to turn back the establishment to what it was a year ago ; and to go to work at the next session of Congress to regulate the United States naval peace establishment by law. When that bill came up, a great question would have to be de- cided — the question of a navy for defence, or for offence ! When that question came on, he would give his opinion upon it, and his reasons for that opinion. A navy of some degree, and of some kind, all seemed to be agreed upon ; but what it is to be — whether to defend our homes, or carry war abroad — is a question yet to be decided, and on which the wisdom and the patriotism of the country would be called into requisition. He would only say, at present, that coasts and cities could be defended without great fleets at sea. The history of continental Europe was full of the proofs. England, with her thousand ships, could do nothing after Europe was ready for her, during the late wars of the French revolu- tion. He did not speak of attacks in time of peace, like Copenhagen, but of Cadiz and Tene- riffe in 1797, and Boulogne and Flushing in 460 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. 1804, where Nelson, with all his skill and per- sonal daring, and with vast fleets, was able to make no impression. Mr. B. said the navy was popular, and had many friends and champions; but there was such a thing as killing by kindness. He had watched the progress of events for some time, and said to his friends (for he made no speeches about it) that the navy was in danger — that the expense of it was growing too fast — that there would be reaction and revulsion. And he now said that, unless things were checked, and mode- rate counsels prevailed, and law substituted for executive discretion (or indiscretion, as the case might be), the time might not be distant when this brilliant arm of our defence should become as unpopular as it was in the time of the elder Mr. Adams. CHAPTER CIX. MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT AT THE OPENING OF THE PwEGULAE SESSION OF 1842-3. The treaty with Great Britain, and its com- mendation, was the prominent topic in the fore- part of the message. The President repeated, in a more condensed form, the encomiums which had been passed upon it by its authors, but without altering the public opinion of its cha- racter — which was that it was really a British treaty, Great Britain getting every thing settled which she wished, and all to her own satisfac- tion ; while all the subjects of interest to the United States were adjourned to an indefinite future time, as well known then as now never to occur. One of these deferred subjects was a matter of too much moment, and pregnant with too grave consequences, to escape general repro- bation in the United States : it was that of the Columbia River, exclusively possessed by the British under a joint-occupation treaty : and which possession only required time to ripen it into a valid title. The indefinite adjournment of that question was giving Great Britain the time she wanted ; and the danger of losing the country was turning the attention of the "West- ern people towards saving it by sending emi- grants to occupy it. Many emigrants had gone: more were going : a tide was setting in that di- rection. In fact the condition of this great American territory was becoming a topic of political discussion, and entering into the con- tests of party ; and the President found it ne- cessary to make further excuses for omitting to settle it in the Ashburton treaty, and a neces- sity to attempt to do something to soothe the public mind. He did so in this message : " It would have furnished additional cause for congratulation, if the treaty could have embraced all subjects calculated in future to lead to a mis- understanding between the two governments. The territory of the United States, commonly called the Oregon Territory, lying on the Pacific Ocean, north of the forty-second degree of lati- tude, to a portion of which Great Britain lays claim, begins to attract the attention of our fel- low-citizens ; and the tide of population, which has reclaimed what was so lately an unbroken wilderness in more contiguous regions, is pre- paring to flow over those vast districts which stretch from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. In advance of the acquirement of indi- vidual rights to these lands, sound policy dic- tates that every effort should be resorted to by the two governments to settle their respective claims. It became manifest, at an early hour of the late negotiations, that any attempt, for the time being, satisfactorily to determine those rights, would lead to a protracted discussion which might embrace, in its failure, other more pressing matters ; and the Executive did not re- gard it as proper to waive all the advantages of an honorable adjustment of other difficulties of great magnitude and importance, because this, not so immediately pressing, stood in the way. Although the difficulty referred to may not, for several years to come, involve the peace of the two countries, yet I shall not delay to urge on Great Britain the importance of its early settle- ment." The excuse given for the omission of this sub- ject in the Ashburton negotiations is lame and insufficient. Protracted discussion is incident to all negotiations, and as to losing other mat- ters of more pressing importance, all that were of importance to the United States were given up any way, and without getting any equiva- lents for them. The promise to urge an early settlement could promise but little fruit after Great Britain had got all she wanted ; and the discouragement of settlement, by denying land titles to the emigrants until an adjustment could be made, was the effectual way to abandon the country to Great Britain. But this subject will have an appropriate chapter in the history of ANNO 1842. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 461 the proceedings of Congress to encourage that emigration which the President would repress. The termination of the Florida war was a subject of just congratulation with the Presi- dent, and was appropriately communicated to Congress. "The vexatious, harassing, and expensive war which so long prevailed with the Indian tribes inhabiting the peninsula of Florida, has happily been terminated ; whereby our army has been relieved from a service of the most dis- agreeable character, and the Treasury from a large expenditure. Some casual outbreaks may occur, such as are incident to the close prox- imity of border settlers and the Indians ; but these, as in all other cases, may be left to the care of the local authorities, aided, when occa- sion may require, by the forces of the United States." The President does not tell by what treaty of peace this war was terminated, nor by what great battle it was brought to a conclusion : and there were none such to be told — either of treaty negotiated, or of battle fought. The war had died out of itself under the arrival of settlers attracted to its theatre by the Florida armed occupation act. No sooner did the act pass, giving land to each settler who should remain in the disturbed part of the territory five years, than thousands repaired to the spot. They went with their arms and ploughs — the weapons of war in one hand and the implements of husbandry in the other — their families, flocks and herds, established themselves in block- houses, commenced cultivation, and showed that they came to stay, and intended to stay. Bred to the rifle and the frontier, they were an over- match for the Indians in their own mode of war- fare ; and, interested in the peace of the coun- try, they soon succeeded in obtaining it. The war died out under their presence, and no per- son could tell when, nor how ; for there was no great treaty held, or great battle fought, to sig- nalize its conclusion. And this is the way to settle all Indian wars — the cheap, effectual and speedy way to do it : land to the armed settler, and rangers, when any additional force is wanted — rangers, not regulars. But a government bank, under the name of exchequer, was the prominent and engrossing feature of the message. It was the same paper- money machine, borrowed from the times of Sir Robert Walpole, which had been recom- mended to Congress at the previous session, and had been so unanimously repulsed by all parties. Like its predecessor it ignored a gold and silver currency, and promised paper. The phrases " sound currency " — " sound circulating medium" — "safe bills convertible at will into specie," figured throughout the scheme ; and to make this government paper a local as well as a national currency, the denomination of its notes was to be carried down at the start to the low figure of five dollars — involving the ne- cessity of reducing it to one dollar as soon as the banishment of specie which it would create should raise the usual demand for smaller paper. To do him justice, his condensed argument in favor of this government paper, and against the gold and silver currency of the constitution, is here given : " There can be but three kinds of public cur- rency : 1st. Gold and silver ; 2d. The paper of State institutions ; or, 3d. A representative of the precious metals, provided by the general government, or under its authority. The sub- treasury system rejected the last, in any form ; and, as it was believed that no reliance could be placed on the issues of local institutions, for the purposes of general circulation, it necessarily and unavoidably adopted specie as the exclusive currency for its own use. And this must ever be the case, unless one of the other kinds be used. The choice, in the present state of public sentiment, lies between an exclusive specie cur- rency on the one hand, and government issues of some kind on the other. That these issues cannot be made by a chartered institution, is supposed to be conclusively settled. They must be made, then, directly by government agents. For several years past, they have been thus made in the form of treasury notes, and have answered a valuable purpose. Their usefulness has been limited by their being transient and temporary ; their ceasing to bear interest at given periods, necessarily causes their speedy return, and thus restricts their range of circula- tion ; and being used only in the disbursements of government, they cannot reach those points where they are most required. By rendering their use permanent, to the moderate extent already mentioned, by offering no inducement for their return, and by exchanging them for coin and other values, they will constitute, to a certain extent, the general currency so much needed to maintain the internal trade of the country. And this is the exchequer plan, so far as it may operate in furnishing a currency." It would seem impossible to carry a passion for paper money, and of the worst kind, that of government paper, farther than President Tyler 462 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. did ; but he found it impossible to communicate his passion to Congress, which repulsed all the exchequer schemes with the promptitude which was due to an unconstitutional, pernicious, and gratuitous novelty. The low state of the public credit, the impossibility of making a loan, and the empty state of the Treasury, were the next topics in the message. " I cannot forego the occasion to urge its im- portance to the credit of the government in a financial point of view. The great necessity of resorting to every proper and becoming expe- dient, in order to place the Treasury on a foot- ing of the highest respectability, is entirely ob- vious. The credit of the government may be regarded as the very soul of the government it- self — a principle of vitality, without which all its movements are languid, and all its operations embarrassed. In this spirit the Executive felt itself bound, by the most imperative sense of duty, to submit to Congress, at its last session, the propriety of making a specific pledge of the land fund, as the basis for the negotiation of the loans authorized to be contracted. I then thought that such an application of the public domain would, without doubt, have placed at the com- mand of the government ample funds to relieve the Treasury from the temporary embarrass- ments under which it labored. American credit had suffered a considerable shock in Europe, from the large indebtedness of the States, and the temporary inability of some of them to meet the interest on their debts. The utter and dis- astrous prostration of the United States Bank of Pennsylvania had contributed largely to in- crease the sentiment of distrust, by reason of the loss and ruin sustained by the holders of its stock — a large portion of whom were foreigners, and many of whom were alike ignorant of our political organization, and of our actual respon- sibilities. It was the anxious desire of the Executive that, in the effort to negotiate the loan abroad, the American negotiator might be able to point the money-lender to the fund mortgaged for the redemption of the principal and interest of any loan he might contract, and thereby vindicate the government from all sus- picion of bad faith, or inability to meet its en- gagements. Congress differed from the Execu- tive in this view of the subject. It became, nevertheless, the duty of the Executive to resort to every expedient in its power to negotiate the authorized loan. After a failure to do so in the American market, a citizen of high character and talent was sent to Europe — with no better success ; and thus the mortifying spectacle has been presented, of the inability of this govern- ment to obtain a loan so small as not in the whole to amount to more than one-fourth of its ordinary annual income j at a time when the governments of Europe, although involved in debt, and with their subjects heavily burdened with taxation, readily obtain loans of any amount at a greatly reduced rate of interest. It would be unprofitable to look further into this anoma- lous state of things ; but I cannot conclude with- out adding, that, for a government which has paid off its debts of two wars with the largest maritime power of Europe, and now owing a debt which is almost next to nothing, when com- pared with its boundless resources — a govern- ment the strongest in the world, because ema- nating from the popular will, and firmly rooted in the affections of a great and free people — and whose fidelity to its engagements has never been questioned — for such a government to have ten- dered to the capitalists of other countries an opportunity for a small investment of its stock, and yet to have failed, implies either the most unfounded distrust in its good faith, or a purpose, to obtain which, the course pursued is the most fatal which could have been adopted. It has now become obvious to all men that the govern- ment must look to its own means for supplying its wants ; and it is consoling to know that these means are altogether adequate for the object. The exchequer, if adopted, will greatly aid in bringing about this result. Upon what I regard as a well-founded supposition, that its bills would be readily sought for by the public creditors, and that the issue would, in a short time, reach the maximum of $15,000,000, it is obvious that $10,000,000 would thereby be added to the available means of the treasury, without cost or charge. Nor can I fail to urge the great and beneficial effects which would be produced in aid of all the active pursuits of life. Its effects upon the solvent State banks, while it would force into liquidation those of an opposite char- acter, through its weekly settlements, would be highly beneficial ; and, with the advantages of a sound currency, the restoration of confidence and credit would follow, with a numerous train of blessings. My convictions are most strong that these benefits would flow from the adoption of this measure ; but, if the result should be ad- verse, there is this security in connection with it — that the law creating it may be repealed at the pleasure of the legislature, without the slightest implication of its good faith." It is impossible to read this paragraph with- out a feeling of profound mortification at seeing the low and miserable condition to which the public credit had sunk, both at home and abroad ; and equally mortifying to see the wretched ex- pedients which were relied upon to restore it : a government bank, issuing paper founded on its credit and revenues, and a hypothecation of the lands, their proceeds to help to bolster up the slippery and frail edifice of governmental paper : the United States unable to make a loan to the amount of one-fourth of its reve- ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 463 nues ! unable to borrow five millions of dollars ! unable to borrow any thing, while the over- loaded governments of Europe could borrow as much as they pleased. It was indeed a low point of depressed credit — the lowest that the United States had ever seen since the declaration of Independence. It was a state of humiliation and disgrace which could not be named without offering some reason for its existence ; and that reason was given : it was the " disastrous pros- tration." as it was called — the crimes and bank- ruptcy, as should have been called, of the Penn- sylvania Bank of the United States ! that bank which, in adding Pennsylvania to its name, did not change its identity, or its nature ; and which for ten long years had been the cherished idol of the President, his Secretary of State, and his exchequer orator on the floor of the House — for which General Jackson had been condemned and vituperated — and on the continued existence of which the whole prosperity of the govern- ment and the people, and their salvation from poverty and misery, was made to depend. That bank was now given as the cause of the woful plight into which the public credit was fallen — and truly so given ! for while its plunderings were enormous, its crimes were still greater: and the two put together — an hundred millions plundered, and a mass of crimes committed — the effect upon the American name was such as to drive it with disgrace from every exchange in Europe. And the former champions of the bank, uninstructed by experience, unabashed by previous appalling mistakes, now lavish the same encomiums on an exchequer bank which they formerly did on a national bank ; and chal- lenge the same faith for one which they had in- voked for the other. The exchequer is now, according to them, the sole hope of the country : the independent treasury and hard money, its only danger. Yet the exchequer was repulsed — the independent treasury and gold was estab- lished : and the effect, that that same country which was unable to borrow five millions of dollars, has since borrowed many ten millions, and is now paying a premium of 20 per centum — actually paying twenty dollars on the hun- dred — to purchase the privilege of paying loans before they are due. CHAPTER CX. EEPEAL OF THE BANKRUPT ACT: MR. BENTON'S SPEECH; EXTRACTS. The spectacle was witnessed in relation to the repeal of this act which has rarely been seen before — a repeal of a great act of national legis- lation by the same Congress that passed it — by the same members sitting in the same seats — and the repeal approved by the same President who had approved the enactment. It was a homage to the will of the people, and the result of the general condemnation which the act re- ceived from the community. It had been passed as a party measure : its condemnation was general without regard to party : and the universality of the sentiment against it was honorable to the virtue and intelligence of the people. In the commencement of the session 1842-'43, motions were made in both Houses to repeal the act ; and in the Senate the practical bad working of the act, and of the previous act, was shown as an evidence of the unfruitfulness of the whole system, and of the justice and wis- dom of leaving the whole relation of debtor and creditor in relation to insolvency, or bankrupt- cy, to the insolvent laws of the States. In of- fering a petition in the Senate for the repeal of the act from the State of Vermont, Mr. Benton said: " He would take the opportunity which the presentation of this petition offered, to declare that, holding the bankrupt act to be unconsti- tutional at six different points (the extinction of the debt without the consent of a given ma- jority of the creditors being at the head of these points), he would vote for no repeal which would permit the act to continue in force for the trial of depending cases, unless with pro- visions which would bring the action of the law within the constitution. To say nothing, at present, of other points of unconstitutionality, he limited himself to the abolition of debts without the consent of a given majority of the creditors. This, he held, no power in our coun- try can do. Congress can only go as far as the i bankrupt systems of England and other coun- tries go ; and that is, to require the consent of a given majority of the creditors (four-fifths in number and value in England and Scotland), and that founded upon a judicial certificate of integrity by the commissioners who examined the case, and approved afterwards by the Lord Chancellor. Upon these principles only could 464 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Congress act : upon these principles the Con- gress of 1800 acted, in making a bankrupt act : and to these principles he would endeavor to conform the action of the present act so long as it might run. He held all the certificates grant- ed by the courts to be null and void ; and that the question of the validity would be carried before the courts, and before the tribunal of public opinion. The federal judges decided the alien and sedition law to be constitutional. The people reversed that decision, and put down the men who held it. This bankrupt act was much more glaringly unconstitutional — much more immoral — and called more loudly upon the people to rise against it. If he was a United States judge, he would decide the act to be un- constitutional. If he was a State court, and one of these certificates of discharge from debts should be pleaded in bar before him, on an ac- tion brought for the recovery of the old debt, he would treat the certificate as a nullity, and throw it out of court. If commanded by the Supreme Court, he would resign first. The English law held all bankrupts, whose certifi- cates were not signed by the given majority of the creditors, to be uncertificated; and, as such, he held all these to be who had received certificates under our law. They had no cer- tificate of discharge from a given majority of the creditors ; and were, therefore, what the English law called ''uncertificated bankrupts.'' He said the bankrupt systems formed the cred- itors into a partnership for the management of the debtor's estate, and his discharge from debt ; and, in this partnership, a given majority acted for the whole, all having the same interest in what was lost or saved ; and, therefore, to be governed by a given majority, doing what was best for the whole. But even to this there were limitations. The four-fifths could not release the debt of the remaining fifth, except upon a certificate of integrity from the commissioners who tried the case, and a final approval by the Lord Chancellor. The law made itself party to the discharge, as it does in a case of divorce, and for the sake of good morals ; and required the judicial certificate of integrity, without which the release of four-fifths of the creditors would not extinguish the debt of the other fifth. It is only in this way that Congress can act. It can only act according to the established princi- ples of the bankrupt systems. It had no inhe- rent or supreme authority over debts. It could not abolish debts as it pleased. It could not confound bankruptcy and insolvency, and so get hold of all debts, and sweep them off as it pleased. All this was despotism, such as only could be looked for in a government which had no limits, either on its moral or political powers. The attempt to confound insolvency and bank- ruptcy, and to make Congress supreme over both, was the most daring attack on the consti- tution, on the State laws, on the rights of prop- erty, and on public morals, which the history of Europe or America exhibited. There was no parallel to it in Europe or America. It was repudiation — universal repudiation of all debts — at the will of the debtor. The law was sub- versive of civil society ; and he called upon Congress, the State legislatures, the federal and State judiciaries — and, above all, the people — to brand it for unconstitutionality and immorality, and put it down. " Mr. B. said he had laid down the law, but he would refer to the forms which the wisdom of the law provided for executing itself. These forms were the highest evidences of the law. They were framed by men learned in the law — approved by the courts — and studied by the apprentices to the law. They should also be studied by the journeymen — by the professors — and by the ermined judges. In this case, especially, they should be so studied. Bank- ruptcy was a branch of the law but little studied in our country. The mass of the community were uninformed upon it ; and the latitudina- rians, who could find no limits to the power of our government were daringly presuming upon the general ignorance, by undertaking to con- found bankruptcy and insolvency, and claiming for Congress a despotic power over both. This daring attempt must be chastised. Congress must be driven back within the pale of the con- stitution ; and for that purpose, the principles of the bankrupt systems must be made known to the people. The forms are one of the best modes of doing this : and here are the forms of a bankrupt's certificate in Great Britain — the country from which our constitution borrowed the system. [Mr. B. then read from Jacob's Law Dictionary, title Bankruptcy, at the end of the title, the three forms of the certificates which were necessary to release a debtor from his debts.] The first form was that of the com- missioners who examined the case, and who certified to the integrity of the bankrupt, and that he had conformed in all particulars to the act. The second form was that of the certificate of four-fifths of his creditors, ' allowing him to be discharged from his debts.'' The third was the certificate of the Lord Chancellor, certifying that notice of these two certificates having been published for twenty-one days in the London Gazette, and no cause being shown to the con- trary, the certificates granted by the commis- sioners and by the creditors were ' confirmed.'' Then, and not till then, could the debtor be dis- charged from his debts ; and with all this, the act of 1800 in the United States perfectly agreed, only taking two-thirds instead of four-fifths of the creditors. Congress could only absolve debts in this way, and that among the proper subjects of a bankrupt law : and the moral sense of the community must revolt against any at- tempt to do it in any other form. The present act was repudiation — criminal repudiation, as far as any one chose to repudiate — and must be put down by the community." ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 465 On the question for the repeal of the act, Mr. Benton took occasion to show it to be an in- vasion of the rights of the States, over the ordi- nary relations of debtor and creditor within their own limits, and a means of eating up estates to the loss of both debtor and creditor, and the enrichment of assignees, who make the settle- ment of the estate a life-long business, and often a legacy to his children. " A question cannot arise between two neigh- bors about a dozen of eggs, without being liable to be taken from the custody of the laws of the States, and brought up to the federal courts. And now, when this doctrine that insolvency and bankruptcy are the same, if a continuance of the law is to be contrived, it must be done in conformity with such a fallacy. The law has proved to be nothing but a great insolvent law, for the abolition of debts, for the benefit of debtors ; and would it be maintained that a permanent system ought to be built up on such a foundation as that ? " Some months ago, he read in a Philadelphia paper a notice to creditors to come forward for a dividend of half a cent in the dollar, in a case of bankruptcy pending under the old law of 1800, since the year 1801. And. three or four days ago, he read a notice in a London paper, calling on creditors to come in for a dividend of five-sixths of a penny in the pound, in a case of bankruptcy pending since the year 1793. Here has been a case where the waste of property has been going on for fifty years in England, and another case where it has been going on in this country forty-one or forty-two years. He had been himself twenty-three years in the Senate, and, during that time, various efforts were made to revive the old law of 1800 in some shape or other ; but never, till last session, in the shape in which the present law passed. And how could this law be expected to stand, when even the law of 1800 (which was in reality a bank- rupt law) could not stand ; but was, in the first year of its operation, condemned by the whole country ? " The passage of the act had been a reproach to Congress : its repeal should do them honor, and still more the people, under whose manifest and determined will it was to be done. The repeal bill readily passed the Senate, and then went to the House, where it was quickly passed, and under pressure of the previous question, by a vote 128 to 98. The history of the passage of these two measures (bankrupt and distribution) each of which came to an untimely end, is one of those legislative arcana which should be known, that such legislation may receive the reprobation which it deserves. The public only sees the out- Vol. II.— 30 side proceeding, and imagines a wise and patriotic motive for the enactment of important laws. Too often there is neither wisdom nor patriotism in such enactment, but bargain, and selfishness, and duresse of circumstances. So it was in this case. The misconduct and misfortunes of the banks, and the yices inherent in paper money, which had so long been the currency of the country, had filled the Union with pecuniary distress, and created an immense body of insolvent debtors, estimated by some at five hundred thousand : and all these were clamorous for a bankrupt act. The State of Mississppi was one of those most sorely afflicted with this state of things, and most earnest for the act. Her condition gov- erned the conduct of her senators, and their votes made the bankrupt act, and passed the fiscal bank through the Senate. Such are the mysteries of legislation. A bankrupt act, though expressly authorized by the constitution, had never been favored by the American people. It was tried fifty years ago. and condemned upon a two years' experience. Persevering efforts had since been made for a period of twenty years to obtain another act, but in vain. It was the opinion of Mr. Lowndes, expressed at the last session that he served, that no act framed upon the principles of the British system would ever be suitable to our country — that the complex and expensive machinery of the system, so objectionable in England, where debtors and creditors were comparatively near together, would be intolerable in the United States, where they were so widely separated, and the courts so sparsely scattered over the land, and so inconvenient to the majority of parties and witnesses. He believed a simple system might be adopted, reducing the process to a transaction between the debtor and his creditors, in which courts would have but little to do except to give effect to their agreement. The principle of his plan was that there should be a meeting of the creditors, either on the invitation of the failing debtor, or the summons of a given number of creditors ; and when to- gether, and invested with power to examine into the debtor's affairs, and to examine books and take testimony, that they themselves, by a given majority of two-thirds or three-fourths in value, should decide every question, make a pro rata division of the effects, and grant a certificate of release: the release to be of right if the 466 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. effects were taken. This simple process would dispense with the vexatious question, of what constitutes an act of bankruptcy ? And substi- tute for it the broad inquiry of failing circum- stances—in the solution of which, those most interested would be the judges. It would also save the devouring expenses of costs and fees, and delays equally devouring, and the commis- sioners that must be paid, and the assignees who frequently become the beneficiaries of the debtor's effects— taking what he collects for his own fees, and often making a life estate of it. The estate of a bankrupt, in the hands of an assignee, Mr. Randolph was accustomed to call, "'a lump of butter in a dog's mouth ; " a desig- nation which it might sometimes bear from the rapidity with which it was swallowed; but more frequently it was a bone to gnaw, and to be long gnawed before it was gnawed up. As an evidence of this, Mr. Benton read a notice from a Philadelphia paper, published while this debate was going on, inviting creditors to come forward and receive from the assignee a divi- dend of half a cent in the dollar, in a case of bankruptcy under the old act of 1800 ; also a notice in a London paper for the creditors to come in and receive a dividend of five-sixths of a penny in the pound in a case depending since 1793 — the assignees respectively having been administering, one of them forty-one years, and the other fifty- two years, the estate of the debtor ; and probably collecting each year about as much as paid his own fees. The system has become nearly intolerable in England. As far back as the year 1817, the British Parliament, moved by the pervading be- lief of the injustice and abuses under their bank- rupt laws, appointed a commissioner to examine into the subject, and to report the result of their investigation. It was done; and such a mass of iniquity revealed, as to induce the Lord Chancellor to say that the system was a disgrace to the country — that the assignees had no mercy either upon the debtor or his creditors — and that it would be better to repeal every law on the subject. The system, however, was too much interwoven with the business of the country to be abandoned. The report of the commissioners only led to a revision of the laws and attempted ameliorations; the whole of which were disregarded by our Congress of 1841, as were the principles of all previous bankrupt acts either in Great Britain, on the European Continent, or in the United States. That Congress abandoned the fundamental principle of all bankrupt systems — that of a proceeding of the creditors for their own bene- fit, and made it practically an insolvent law at the will of the debtor, for the abolition of his debt at his own pleasure. Iniquitous in itself, vicious in its mode of being passed, detested by the community, the life of the act was short and ignominious. Mr. Buchanan said it would be repealed in two years : and it was. Yet it was ardently contended for. Crowds attended Con- gress to demand it. Hundreds of thousands sent up tlieir petitions. The whole number of bankrupt, was stated by the most moderate at one hundred thousand: and Mr. Walker declared in his place that, if the act was not passed, thou- sands of unfortunate debtors would have to wear the chains of slavery, or be exiled from their native land. CHAPTER CXI. MILITAEY ACADEMY AND AEMY EXPENSES. The instincts of the people have been against this academy from the time it took its present form under the act of 1812, and those subse- quent and subsidiary to it : many efforts have been made to abolish or to modify it : and all unsuccessful — partly from the intrinsic difficul- ty of correcting any abuse — partly from the great number interested in the Academy as an eleemosynary institution of which they have the benefit — and partly from the wrong way in which the reformers go to work. They gen- erally move to abolish the whole system, and are instantly met by Washington's recommen- dation in favor of it. In the mean time Wash- ington never saw such an institution as now shelters behind his name ; and possibly would never have been in the army, except as a private soldier, if it had existed when he was a young man. He never recommended such an acade- my as we have : he never dreamed of such a thing : he recommended just the reverse of it, in recommending that cadets, serving in the field with the companies to which they were attached, and receiving the pay, clothing, and ration of a sergeant, should be sent — such of ANNO 1843 JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 467 them as showed a stomach for the hardships, as well as a taste for the pleasures and honors of the service, and who also showed a capacity for the two higher branches of the profession (engi- neering and artillery) — to West Point, to take instruction from officers in these two branches of the military art : and no more. At this ses- sion one of the usual movements was made against it — an attack upon the institution in its annual appropriation bill, by moving to strike out the appropriation for its support, and sub- stitute a bill for its abolition. Mr. Hale made the motion, and was supported in it by several members. Mr. McKay, chairman of the com- mittee, which had the appropriation bill in charge, felt himself bound to defend it, but in doing so to exclude the conclusion that he was favorable to the academy. Begging gentlemen, therefore, to withdraw their motion, he went on to say : " He was now, and always had been, in favor of a very material alteration in the organization of this institution. He did not think that the government should educate more young men than were necessary to fill the annual vacancies in the army. It was beyond dispute, that the number now educated was more than the aver- age annual vacancies in the army required ; and hence the number of supernumerary second lieutenants — which he believed was now some- thing like seventy; and would be probably thirty more the next year. This, however, did not present the true state of the question. In a single year, in consequence of an order issued from the war department, that all the officers who were in the civil service of the railroad and canal companies, &c. should join their respec- tive regiments, there were upwards of one hun- dred resignations. Now, if these resignations had not taken place, the army would have been overloaded with supernumerary second lieu- tenants. He was for reducing the number of cadets, but at the same time would make a pro- vision by which parents and guardians should have the privilege of sending their sons and wards there to be educated, at their own ex- pense. This (Mr. M. said) was the system adopted in Great Britain ; and it appeared, by a document he had in his hand, that there were three hundred and twenty gentlemen cadets, and fifteen officers educated at the English Mil- itary Academy, at a much less expense than it required to educate two hundred and twenty cadets at West Point. He agreed with much of what had been said by the gentleman from Con- necticut, Mr. Seymour, that it would be an ame- lioration of our military service, to open the door of promotion to meritorious non-commis- sioned officers and privates. Under the present system, no man who was a non-commissioned officer or private, however meritorious, had the least chance of promotion. It was true that there were instances of such men getting com- missions, but they were very rare ; and the consequence was, that the ranks of the army were filled with some of the worst men in the country, and desertions had prevailed to an enormous extent. Mr. McK. here gave from the documents, the number of annual deser- tions, from the year 1830 to 1836, showing an average of one thousand. He would not now, hoAvever, enlarge on this subject, but would re- serve his remarks till the bill for reorganizing the academy, which he understood was to be reported by the Military Committee, should Mr. McKay was not counted among the ora- tors of the House : he made no pretension to fine speaking : but he was one of those busi- ness, sensible, upright men, who always spoke sense and reason, and to the point, and general- ly gave more information to the House in a few sentences than could often be found in one of the most pretentious speeches. Of this charac- ter were the remarks which he made on this occasion ; and in the four statements that he made, first, that upwards of one hundred West Point officers had resigned their commissions in one year when ordered to quit civil service and join their corps ; secondly, that there was a surplus of seventy graduates at that time for whom there was no place in the army ; thirdly, that at the English Military Academy, three hundred and thirty-five cadets and officers were instructed at much less expense than two hun- dred and twenty with us ; fourthly, that the annual desertions from the rank and file of the army had averaged one thousand men per an- num for six years together, these desertions re- sulting from want of promotion and disgust at a service which was purely necessary. Mr. McKay was followed by another speaker of the same class with himself — Mr. Cave Johnson, of Tennessee ; who stood up and said : "That there was no certainty that the bill to be reported by the Military Committee, which the gentleman referred to, would be reached this session ; and he was therefore for effecting a reform now that the subject was before them. He would, therefore, suggest to the gentleman from New Hampshire to withdraw his amend- ment, and submit another, to the following ef- fect : That no money appropriated in this bill, or hereafter to be appropriated, shall be applied to the payment of any cadet hereafter to be ap- 468 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. pointed ; and the terms of service of those who have warrants now in the academy shall be held to cease from and after four years from the time of their respective appointments. The limitation of this appropriation now, would put an end to the academy, unless the House would act on the propositions which would be hereaf- ter made. He was satisfied it ought to be abol- ished, and he would at once abolish it, but for the remarks of his friend from North Carolina ; he therefore hoped his friend from New Hamp- shire would adopt the suggestions which had been made." Mr. Harralson, of Georgia, chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, felt himself called upon by his position to come to the de- fence of the institution, which he did in a way to show that it was indefensible. He " Intimated that that committee would pro- pose some reductions in the number of cadets ; and when that proposition came before the House, these amendments could be appropriate- ly offered. The proposition would be made to reduce the number of the cadets to the wants of the army. But this appropriation should now be made; and if, by any reductions here- after made, it should be found more than ade- quate to the wants of the institution, the bal- ance would remain in the Treasury, and would not be lost to the country. He explained the circumstances under which, in 1836, some per- sons educated as cadets at West Point became civil engineers, and accepted employment on projected lines of railroad 5 and asserted that no class of our countrymen were more ready to obey the call of their country, in any exigency which might arise." Mr. Orlando Ficklin, of Illinois, not satisfied with the explanations made by the chairman on military affairs, returned to the charge of the one hundred resignations in one year; and said : " He had listened to the apology or excuse rendered by the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, for the cadets who resigned in 1836. And what was that excuse? Why forsooth, though they had been educated at the government expense, yet, because they could get better pay by embarking in other pursuits, they deserted the service of the country which had educated them, and prepared them for her service. He did not intend to detain the com- mittee at present, but he must be permitted to say to those who were in favor of winding up the concern, that they ought not to vote an ap- propriation of a single dollar to that institution, unless the same bill contained a provision, in language as emphatic as it could be made, de- claring that this odious, detestable, and aristo- cratic institution, shall be brought to a close. If it did not cost this governmeut a single dol- lar, he would still be unwilling that it should be kept up. He was not willing that the door of promotion should be shut against the honest and deserving soldier, and that a few dandies and band-box heroes, educated at that insti- tution, should enjoy the monopoly of all the offices. Mr. F. adverted to the present condi- tion of the army. It was filled up, he saW, by foreigners. Native Americans, to whom they should naturally look as the defenders of the country, were deterred from entering it. It would be well, he thought, to have a committee of investigation, that the secrets of the prison- house might be disclosed, and its abuses brought to light." Mr. Bs^fc, of Georgia, proposed an amend- ment, compelling the cadets to serve ten years, and keeping up the number : upon which Mr. Hale remarked : "The amendment of the gentleman from Georgia would seem to imply that there were not officers enough: whereas the truth was there were more than enough. The difficulty was, there were already too many. The Army- Register showed a list already of seventy su- pernumeraries ; and more were being turned out upon us every year. The gentleman from New York had made a most unhappy illustra- tion of the necessity for educating cadets for the army, by comparing them with the midshipmen in the navy. Wliat was the service rendered by midshipmen on board our national vessels ? Absolutely none. They were of no sort of use ; and precisely so was it with these cadets. He denied that General Washington ever recom- mended a military academy like the present in- stitution ; and, if he had done so, he would, in- stead of proclaiming it, have endeavored to shield his great name from such a reproach." The movement ended as usual, in showing necessity for a reform, and in failing to get it. CHAPTER CXII. EMIGRATION TO THE COLUMBIA RIVER, AND FOUNDATION OF ITS SETTLEMENT BY AMERI- CAN CITIZENS: FREMONT'S FIRST EXPEDI- TION. The great event of carrying the Anglo-Saxon race to the shore of the Pacific Ocean, and planting that race firmly on that sea, took place at this time, beginning in 1842, and largely in- creasing in 1843. It was not an act of the gov- ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 469 vernment, leading the people and protecting them ; but, like all the other great emigrations and settlements of that race on our continent, it was the act of the people, going forward with- out government aid or countenance, establishing their possession, and compelling the government to follow with its shield, and spread it over them. So far as the action of the government was concerned, it operated to endanger our title to the Columbia, to prevent emigratx.ii, and to incur the loss of the country. The first great step in this unfortunate direction was the treaty of joint occupation, as it was called, of 1818 ; by which the British, under the fallacious idea of mutuality, where there was nothing mutual, were admitted to a delusive joint occupation, with ourselves, intended to be equal — but which quickly became exclusive on their part: and was obliged to become so, from the power and organization of their Hudson Bay Company, already flanking the country and ready to cross over and cover it. It is due to the memory of President Monroe, under whose administration this unfortunate treaty was made, to say that, since the publication of the first volume of this View, the author has been informed by General Jesup (who had the fact from Mr. Monroe him- self at the time), that his instructions had not authorized this arrangement (which in fact the commissioners intimated in their correspond- ence), and only after much hesitation prevailed on himself to send it to the Senate. That treaty was for ten years, and the second false step was in its indefinite extension by another of 1828, un- til one or the other of the parties should give no- tice for its discontinuance — the most insidious and pernicious of all agreements, being so easy to be adopted, and so hard to be got rid of. The third great blunder was in not settling the Ore- gon question in the Ashburton negotiation, when we had a strong hold upon the British govern- ment in its earnest desire to induce us to with- draw our northeastern boundary from the neigh- borhood of Lower Canada, and to surrender a part of Maine for the road from Halifax to Que- bec. The fourth step in this series of govern- mental blunders, was the recommendation of President Tyler to discountenance emigration to Oregon, by withholding land from the emi- grants, until the two governments had settled the title — a contingency too remote to be count- ed upon within any given period, and which every year's delay would make more difficult. The title to the country being thus endangered by the acts of the government, the saving of it devolved upon the people — and they saved it. In 1842, incited by numerous newspaper publi- cations, upwards of a thousand American emi- grants went to the country, making their long pilgrimage overland from the frontiers of Mis- souri, with their wives and children, their flocks and herds, their implements of husbandry and weapons of defence — traversing the vast inclined plane to the base of the Rocky Mountains, crossing that barrier (deemed impassable by Europeans), and descending the wide slope which declines from the mountains to the Pacific. Six months would be consumed in this journey, filled with hardships, beset by dangers from savage hostility, and only to be prosecuted in caravans of strength and deter- mination. The Burnets and Applegates from Missouri were among the first leaders, and in 1843, some two thousand more joined the first emigration. To check these bold adventurers was the object of the government : to encourage them, was the object of some Western members of Congress, on whom (in conjunction with the people) the task of saving the Columbia evi- dently devolved. These members were ready for their work, and promptly began. Early in the session, Mr. Linn, a senator from Missouri, introduced a bill for the purpose, of which these were the leading provisions : " That the President of the United States is hereby authorized and required to cause to be erected, at suitable places and distances, a line of stockade and blockhouse forts, not exceeding five in number, from some point on the Missouri and Arkansas rivers into the best pass for enter- ing the valley of the Oregon ; and, also, at or near the mouth of the Columbia River. " That provision hereafter shall be made by law to secure and grant six hundred and forty acres, or one section of land, to every white male inhabitant of the territory of Oregon, of the age of eighteen years and upward, who shall cultivate and use the same for five consecutive years ; or to his heir or heirs-at-law, if such there be, in case of his decease. And to every such inhabitant or cultivator (being a married man) there shall be granted, in addition, one hundred and sixty acres to the wife of said hus- band, and the like quantity of one hundred and sixty acres to the father for each child under the age of eighteen years he may have, or which may be born within the five years aforesaid. " That no sale, alienation, or contract of any 470 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. kind, shall be valid, of such lands, before the patent is issued therefor ; nor shall the same be liable to be taken in execution, or bound by any judgment, mortgage, or lien, of any kind, before the patent is so issued ; and all pretended alien- ations or contracts for alienating such lands, made before the issuing of the patents, shall be null and void against the settler himself, his wife, or widow, or against his heirs-at-law, or against purchasers, after the issuing of the pa- tent. ' : That the President is hereby authorized and required to appoint two additional Indian agents, with a salary of two thousand dollars each, whose duty it shall be (under his direction and control) to superintend the interests of the United States with any or every Indian tribe west of any agency now established by law. " That the sum of one hundred thousand dol- lars be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to carry into effect the provisions of this act. " Sec 2. And be it further enacted, That the civil and criminal jurisdiction of the supreme court and district courts of the territory of Iowa, be, and the same is hereby, extended over that part of the Indian territories lying west of the present limits of the said territory of Iowa, and south of the forty-ninth degree of north latitude, and west of the Rocky Mountains, and north of the boundary line between the United States and the Republic of Texas, not included within the limits of any State ; and also, over the In- dian territories comprising the Rocky Moun- tains and the country between them and the Pacific Ocean, south of fifty-four degrees and forty minutes of north latitude, and north of the forty-second degree of north latitude ; and jus- tices of the peace may be appointed for the said territory, in the same manner and with the same powers as now provided by law in relation to the territory of Iowa : Provided, That any sub- ject of the government of Great Britain, who shall have been arrested under the provisions of this act for any crime alleged to have been com- mitted within the territory westward of the Stony or Rocky Mountains, while the same re- mains free and open to the vessels, citizens, and subjects of the United States and of Great Britain, pursuant to stipulations between the two powers, shall be delivered up, on proof of his being such British subject, to the nearest or most convenient anthorities having cognizance of such offence by the laws of Great Britain, for the purpose of being prosecuted and tried accord- ing to such laws. " Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That one associate judge of the supreme court of the territory of Iowa, in addition to the number now authorized by law, may, in the discretion of the President, be appointed, to hold his office by the same tenure and for the same time, re- ceive the same compensation, and possess all the powers and authority conferred by law upon the associate judges of the said territory ; and one judicial district shall be organized by the said supreme court, in addition to the existing number, in reference to the jurisdiction con- ferred by this act ; and a district court shall be held in the said district by the judge of the su- preme court, at such times and places as the said court shall direct; and the said district court shall possess all the powers and authority vested in the present district courts of the said territory, and may, in like manner, appoint its own clerk. " Sec 4. And be it further enacted, That any justice of the peace, appointed in and for the territories described in the second section of this act, shall have power to cause all offenders against the laws of the United States to be ar- rested by such persons as they shall appoint for that purpose, and to commit such offenders to safe custody for trial, in the same cases and in the manner provided by law in relation to the Territory of Iowa ; and to cause the offenders so committed to be conveyed to the place ap- pointed for the holding of a district court for the said Territory of Iowa, nearest and most con- venient to the place of such commitment, there to be detained for trial, by such persons as shall be authorized for that purpose by any judge of the supreme court, or any justice of the peace of the said Territory ; or where such offenders are British subjects, to cause them to be de- livered to the nearest and most convenient Brit- ish authorities, as hereinbefore provided; and the expenses of such commitment, removal, and detention, shall be paid in the same manner as provided by law in respect to the fees of the marshal of the said territory." These provisions are all just and necessary for the accomplishment of their object, and carefully framed to promote emigration, and to avoid collisions with the British, or hostilities with the Indians. The land grants were the grand attractive feature to the emigrants : the provision for leaving British offenders to British jurisdiction was to avoid a clash of jurisdictions, and to be on an equality with the British settlers over whom the British Parliament had already extended the laws of Canada ; and the boundaries within which our settlers were to be protected, were precisely those agreed upon three years later in a treaty between the two powers. The provisions were all necessary for their object, and carefully framed to avoid infrac- tion of any part of the unfortunate treaty of 1818 ; but the bill encountered a strenuous, and for a long time a nearly balanced, opposition in the Senate — some opposed to the whole ob- ject of settling the country at any time — some ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 471 to its present settlement, many to the fear of collision with the British subjects already there, or infraction of the treaty of 1818. Mr. Mc- Duffie took broad ground against it. " For whose benefit are we bound to pass this bill ? Who are to go there, along the line of military posts, and take possession of the only part of the territory fit to occupy — that part lying upon the sea-coast, a strip less than one hundred miles in width ; for, as I have already stated, the rest of the territory consists of mountains almost inaccessible, and low lands which are covered with stone and volcanic re- mains, where rain never falls, except during the spring ; and even on the coast no rain falls, from April to October, and for the remainder of the year there is nothing but rain. Why, sir, of what use will this be for agricultural purposes ? I would not for that purpose give a pinch of snuff' for the whole territory. I wish to God we did not own it. I wish it was an impassable barrier to secure us against the intrusion of others. This is the character of the country. Who are we to send there? Do you think your honest farmers in Pennsylvania, New York, or even Ohio or Missouri, will abandon their farms to go upon any such enterprise as this? God forbid! if any man who is to go to that country, under the temptations of this bill, was my child — if he was an honest indus- trious man, I would say to him, for God's sake do not go there. You will not better your con- dition. You will exchange the comforts of home, and the happiness of civilized life, for the pains and perils of a precarious existence. But if I had a son whose conduct was such as made him a fit subject for Botany Bay, I would say in the name of God, go. This is my estimate of the importance of the settlement. Now, what are we to gain by making the settlement ? In what shape are our expenditures there to be returned ? When are we to get any revenue from the citizens of ours who go to that distant territory — 3,300 miles from the seat of govern- ment, as I have it from the senator from Mis- souri ? What return are they going to make us for protecting them with military posts, at the expense at the outset of $200,000, and swelling hereafter God knows how much — probably equalling the annual expenses of the Florida war. What will they return us for this enormous expense, after we have tempted them, by this bill, to leave their pursuits of honest industry, to go upon this wild and gambling adventure, in winch their blood is to be staked ? " Besides repulsing the country as worthless, Mr. McDuffie argued that there was danger in taking possession of it — that the provisions of the bill conflicted with the stipulations of the treaty of 1818 — and that Great Britain, though desirous of peace with the United States, would be forced into war in defence of her rights and honor. Mr. Calhoun was equally opposed as his colleagae to the passage of the bill, but not for the same reasons. He deemed the country well worth having, and presenting great com- mercial advantages in communicating with China and Japan, which should not be lost. " I do not agree with my eloquent and able colleague that the country is worthless. He has underrated it, both as to soil and climate. It contains a vast deal of land, it is true, that is barren and worthless ; but not a little that is highly productive. To that may be added its commercial advantages* which will, in time, prove to be great. We must not overlook the important events to which I have alluded as having recently occurred in the Eastern portion of Asia. As great as they are, they are but the beginning of a series of a similar character, which must follow at no distant day. What has taken place in China, will, in a few years, be followed in Japan, and all the eastern por- tions of that continent. Their ports, like the Chinese, will be opened, and the whole of that large portion of Asia, containing nearly half of the population and wealth of the globe, will be thrown open to the commerce of the world, and be placed within the pales of European and Ameri- can intercourse and civilization. A vast market will be created, and a mighty impulse will be given to commerce. No small portion of the share that would fall to us with this populous and industrious portion of the globe, is destined to pass through the ports of the Oregon Terri- tory to the valley of the Mississippi, instead of taking the circuitous and long voyage round Cape Horn ; or the still longer, round the Cape of Good Hope. It is mainly because I place this high estimate on its prospective value, that I am so solicitous to preserve it, and so adverse to this bill, or any other precipitate measure which might terminate in its loss. If I thought less of its value, or if I regarded our title less clear, my opposition would be less decided." Infraction of the treaty and danger of war — the difficulty and expense of defending a pos session so remote — the present empty condition of the treasury — were further reasons urged by Mr. Calhoun in favor of rejecting the bill ; but having avowed himself in favor of saving our title to the country, it became necessary to show his mode of doing so, and fell upon the same plan to ripen and secure our title, which others believed was wholly relied upon by Great Britain to ripen and secure hers— Time ! an element which only worked in favor of the possessor; and that possessor was now Great Britain. On this head he said : 472 THIRTY YEARS* VIEW. " The question presents itself, how shall we preserve this country ? There is only one means by which it can be ; but that, fortunately, is the most powerful of all — time. Time is acting for us ; and, if we shall have the wisdom to trust its operation, it will assert and maintain our right with resistless force, without costing a cent of money, or a drop of blood. There is often in the affairs of government, more effi- ciency and wisdom in non-action, than in action. All we want to effect our object in this case, is 'a wise and masterly inactivity.' Our popula- tion is rolling towards the shores of the Pacific, with an impetus greater than what we realize. It is one of those forward movements which leaves anticipation behind. In the period of thirty- two years which have elapsed since I took my seat in the other House, the Indian frontier has receded a thousand miles to the West. At that time, our population was much less than half what it is now. It was then increasing at the rate of about a quarter of a million annually ; it is now not less than six hundred thousand ; and still increasing at the rate of something more than three per cent, compound annually. At that rate, it will soon reach the yearly increase of a million. If to this be added, that the region west of Arkansas and the State of Missouri, and south of the Missouri River, is occupied by half civilized tribes, who have their lands secured to them by treaty (and which will prevent the spread of population in that direction), and that this great and increasing tide will be forced to take the comparatively narrow channel to the north of that river and south of our northern boundary, some conception may be formed of the strength with which the cur- rent will run in that direction, and how soon it will reach the eastern gorges of the Rocky Mountains. It will soon — far sooner than an- ticipated — reach the Rocky Mountains, and be ready to pour into the Oregon Territory, when it will come into our possession without resist- ance or struggle ; or, if there should be resist- ance, it would be feeble and ineffectual. We would then be as much stronger there, compa- ratively, than Great Britain, as she is now stronger than we are ; and it would then be as idle in her to attempt to assert and maintain her exclusive claim to the territory against us. as it would now be in us to attempt it against her. Let us be wise, and abide our time, and it will accomplish all that we desire, with far more certainty and with infinitely less sacrifice, than we can without it." Mr. Calhoun averred, and very truly, that his opposition to the bill did not grow out of any opposition to the growth of the West — declared himself always friendly to the interests of that great section of our country, and referred to his course when he was Secretary at war to prove it. " I go back to the time when I was at the head of the War Department. At that early period I turned my attention particularly to the interest of the West. I saw that it required increased security to its long line of frontier, and greater facility of carrying on intercourse with the Indian tribes in that quarter, and to enable it to develope its resources — especially that of its fur-trade. To give the required security, I ordered a much larger portion of the army to that frontier ; and to afford facility and protection for carrying on the fur-trade, the military posts were moved much higher up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Under the increased security and facility which these measures afforded, the fur-trade received a great impulse. It extended across the continent in a short time, to the Pacific, and north and south to the British and Mexican frontiers; 3'ielding in a few years, as stated by the Senator from Missouri [Mr. Linn], half a million of dol- lars annually. But I stopped not there. I saw that individual enterprise on our part, however great, could not successfully compete with the powerful incorporated Canadian and Hudson Bay Companies, and that additional measures were necessary to secure permanently our fur- trade. For that purpose I proposed to establish a post still higher up the Missouri, at the mouth of the Yellow Stone River, and to give such unity and efficiency to our intercourse and trade with the Indian tribes between our Western frontier and the Pacific ocean, as would enable our citizens engaged in the fur-trade to compete successfully with the British traders. Had the measures proposed been adopted, we would not now have to listen to the complaint, so fre- quently uttered in this discussion, of the loss of that trade." The inconsistent argument of Mr. McDuifie, that the country was worthless, and yet that Great Britain would go to war for it, was thus answered by Mr. Linn : " The senator from South Carolina somewhat inconsistently urges that the country is bleak, barren, volcanic, rocky, a waste always flooded when it is not parched ; and insists that, worth- less as it is, Great Britain will go at once to war for it. Strange that she should in 1818 have held so tenaciously to what is so worthless ! Stranger still, that she should have stuck yet closer to it in 1827, when she had had still ampler time to learn the bootlessness of the possession! And strangest of all, that she should still cling to it with the grasp of death ! Sir, I cannot for my life help thinking that she and the senator have formed a very different estimate of the territory, and that she is (as she ought to be) a good deal the better informed. She knows well its soil, climate, and physical re- sources, and perfectly comprehends its commer- cial and geographical importance. And know- ing all this, she was ready to sink all sense of ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 473 justice, stifle all respect for our clear title, and hasten to root her interests in the soil, so as to secure the strong, even when most wrongful, title of possession." The danger of waiting for Great Britain to strengthen her claim was illustrated by Mr. Linn, by what had happened in Maine. In 1814 she proposed to purchase the part she wanted. She afterwards endeavored to negotiate for a right of way across the State. Failing in that attempted negotiation, as in the offer to pur- chase, she boldly set up a claim to all she wanted — demanded it as matter of right — and obtained it by the Ashburton treaty — the United States paying Massachusetts and Maine for the dis- membered part. Deprecating a like result from temporizing measures with respect to Oregon, Mr. Linn said : "So little before 1813 or 1814 did Great Britain ever doubt your claim to the lately con- tested territory in Maine, that in 1814 she pro- posed to purchase that part of it which she de- sired. She next treated for a right of way. It was refused ; and she then set up a claim to the soil. This method has sped no ill with her ; for she has got what she wanted, and made you pay for it. Her Oregon game is the same. She has set her heart upon a strip of territory north of the Oregon, and seems determined to pluck it from us, either by circumvention or force. Aware of the political as well as legal advantages of possession, she is strengthening hers in every way not too directly responsible. She is selecting and occupying the best lands, the most favorable sites. These she secures to the settlers under contracts. For any counter- action of yours, she may take, and is taking, possession of the whole territory. She has ap- propriated sites for mills, manufactories, and farms. If one of these has been abandoned for a better, she reverts to it, if a citizen of yours occupies it, and ejects him. She tells her people she will protect them in whatever they have laid, or may lay, their hands upon. If she can legitimately do this, why may not we ? Is this a joint occupation of which she is to have the sole benefit 7 Had you as many citizens there as she, you would be compelled to protect them ; and if you have not, why is it but because she keeps them off. and you refuse to offer them the inducements which she holds out 1 Give them a prospective grant of lands, and insure them the shelter of your laws, and they will soon con- gregate there in force enough to secure your rights and their own." The losses already sustained by our citizens from the ravages of Indians, incited against them by the British Hudson Bay company, were stated by Mr. Linn upon good authority, to be five hundred men in lives taken in the first ten years of the joint occupation treaty, and half a million of dollars in property robbed or de- stroyed, besides getting exclusive possession of our soil, and the command of our own Indians within our own limits : and he then contrasted this backwardness to protect our own citizens on their own soil with the readiness to expend untold amounts on the protection of our citizens engaged in foreign commerce ; and even in going to the coast of .vfrica to guard the freedom of the negro race. " Wherever your sails whiten the sea, in no matter what clime, against no matter whom, the national arm stretches out its protection. Every where but in this unhappy territory, the persons and the pursuits of your citizens are watched over. You count no cost when other interests are concerned, when other rights are assailed ; but you recoil here from a trifling ap- propriation to an object of the highest national importance, because it enlists no sectional in- fluence. Contrast, for instance, your supineness about the Oregon Territory, with your alacrity to establish, for guarding the slave coast and Liberia, a squadron costing $600,000 annually, and which you have bound yourself by treaty to keep up for five years, with great exposure of lives and vessels. By stipulation, eighty guns (one-twelfth of your force afloat) is kept upon this service ; and, as your naval expendi- ture amounts to about seven millions a year, this (its twelfth part) will make, in five years, three millions bestowed in watching the coast of Africa, and guarding the freedom of the negro race ! For this you lavish millions ; and you grudge $100,000 to the great American and na- tional object of asserting your territorial rights and settling your soil. You grant at once what furthers the slave policy of a rival power, and deny the means of rescuing from its grasp your own property and soil." This African squadron has now been kept up more than twice five years, and promises to be perpetual ; for there was that delusive clause in the article, so tempting to all temporizing spirits, that after the lapse of the five years, the squad- ron was still to be kept up until the United States should give notice to terminate the article. This idea of notice to terminate a treaty, so easy to put in it, and so difficult to be given when en- tanglement and use combine to keep things as they are, was shown to be almost impossible in this treaty of joint occupation of the Columbia. Mr. Calhoun had demanded of Mr. Linn, why 474 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. not give the notice to terminate the treaty be- fore proceeding to settle the country 1 to which he answered : " The senator from South Carolina [Mr. Cal- houn], has urged that we should, first of all, give the twelve months' notice of our renuncia- tion of the treaty. He [Mr. Linn] could only answer that he had repeatedly, by resolutions, urged that course in former years ; but always in vain. He had ever been met with the answer : ' This is not the proper time — wait.' Mean- while, the adverse possession was going on, for- tifying from year to year the British claim and the British resources, to make it good. Mr. Madison had encouraged the bold and well-ar- ranged scheme of Astor to fortify and colonize. He was dispossessed ; and the nucleus of empire which his establishments formed, passed into the hands of the Hudson Bay Company, now the great instrument of English aggrandizement in that quarter. The senator insists that, by the treaty, there should be a joint possession. Be it so, if you will. But where is our part of this joint possession ? In what does it consist, or has it consisted ? We have no posts there, no agent, no military power to protect traders. Nay, indeed, no traders ! For they have disap- peared before foreign competition ; or fallen a sacrifice to the rifle, the tomahawk, or the scalp- ing knife of those savages whom the Hudson Bay Company can always make the instruments of systematic massacre of adventurous rivals." Mr. Benton spoke at large in defence of the bill, and first of the clause in it allotting land to the settlers, saying : " The objections to this bill grew out of the clause granting land to the settlers, not so much on account of the grants themselves, as on ac- count of the exclusive jurisdiction over the coun- try, which the grants would seem to imply. This was the objection ; for no one defended the title of the British to one inch square of the valley of Oregon. The senator from Arkansas [Mr. Sevier], who has just spoken, had well said that this was an objection to the whole bill ; for the rest would be worth nothing, without these grants to the settlers. Nobody would go there without the inducement of land. The British had planted a power there — the Hudson Bay Fur Company — in which the old Northwest Company was merged ; and this power was to them in the New World what the East India company was to them in the Old World: it was an arm of the government, and did every thing for the government which policy, or trea- ties prevented it from doing for itself. This company was settling and colonizing the Colum- bia for the British government, and we wish American citizens to settle and colonize it for us. The British government gives inducement to this company. It gives them trade, commerce, an exclusive charter, laws, and national protec- tion. We must give inducement also ; and our inducement must be land and protection. Grants of land will carry settlers there ; and the sena- tor from Ohio [Mr. Tappan] was treading in the tracks of Mr. Jefferson (perhaps without having read his recommendation, although he has read much) when he proposed, in his speech of yesterday, to plant 50,000 settlers, with their 50,000 rifles, on the banks of the Oregon. Mr. Jefferson had proposed the same thing in regard to Louisiana. He proposed that we should set- tle that vast domain when we acquired it ; and for that purpose, that donations of land should be made to the first 30,000 settlers who should go there. This was the right doctrine, and the old doctrine. The white race were a land-loving people, and had a right to possess it, because they used it according to the intentions of the Creator. The white race went for land, and they will continue to go for it, and will go where they can get it. Europe, Asia, and America, have been settled by them in this way. All the States of this Union have been so settled. The principle is founded in their nature and in God's command ; and it will continue to be obeyed. The valley of the Columbia is a vast field open to the settler. It is ours, and our people are beginning to go upon it. They go under the expectation of getting land ; and that expecta- tion must be confirmed to them. This bill pro- poses to confirm it ; and if it fails in this par- ticular, it fails in all. There is nothing left to induce emigration ; and emigration is the only thing which can save the country from the British, acting through their powerful agent — the Hudson Bay Company." Mr. Benton then showed from a report of Major Pilcher, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and who had visited the Columbia River, that actual colonization was going on there, attended by every circumstance that indicated ownership and the design of a permanent settlement. Fort Vancouver, the principal of these British es- tablishments, for there are many of them within our boundaries, is thus described by Major Pilcher : % " This fort is on the north side of the Colum- bia, nearly opposite the mouth of the Multnomah, in the region of tide-water, and near the head of ship navigation. It is a grand position, both in a military and commercial point of view, and formed to command the whole region watered by the Columbia and its tributaries. The sur- rounding country, both in climate and soil, is capable of sustaining a large population ; and its resources in timber give ample facilities for ship-building. This post is fortified with can- non ; and, having been selected as the principal or master position, no pains have been spared to strengthen or improve it. For this purpose. ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 47£ the old post near the mouth of the river has been abandoned. About one hundred and twenty acres of ground are in cultivation ; and the product in wheat, barley, oats, corn, pota- toes, and other vegetables, is equal to what is known in the best parts of the United States. Domestic animals are numerous — the horned cattle having been stated to me at three hun- dred ; hogs, horses, sheep, and goats, in propor- tion ; also, the usual domestic fowls : every tiling, in fact, indicating a permanent establish- ment. Ship-building has commenced at this place. One vessel has been built and rigged, sent to sea, and employed in the trade of the Pacific Ocean. I also met a gentleman, on my way to Lake Winnipec, at the portage between the Columbia and Athabasca, who was on his way from Hudson's Bay to Fort Colville, with a master ship-carpenter, and who was destined for Fort Vancouver, for the purpose of building a ship of considerable burden. Both grist and saw-mills have been built at Fort Vancouver : with the latter, they saw the timber which is needed for their own use, and also for exporta- tion to the Sandwich Islands ; upon the former, their wheat is manufactured into flour. And, from all that I could learn, this important post is silently growing up into a colony ; and is, perhaps, intended as a future military and na- val station, which was not expected to be delivered up at the expiration of the treaty which granted them a temporary and joint pos- Mr. Benton made a brief deduction of our title to the Columbia to the 49th parallel under the treaty of Utrecht, and rapidly traced the various British attempts to encroach upon that line, the whole of which, though earnestly made and perseveringly continued, failed to follow that great line from the Lake of the Woods to the shores of the Pacific. He thus made this deduction of title : " Louisiana was acquired in 1803. In the very instant of signing the treaty which brought us that province, another treaty was signed in London (without a knowledge of what was done in Paris), fixing, among other things, the line from the Lake of the Woods to the Missis- sippi. This treaty, signed by Mr. Rufus King and Lord Hawkesbury, was rejected by Mr. Jefferson, without reference to the Senate, on account of the fifth article (which related to the line between the Lake of the Woods and the head of the Mississippi), for fear it might com- promise the northern boundary of Louisiana and the line of 49 degrees. In this negotiation of 1803, the British made no attempt on the line of the 49th degree, because it was not then known to them that we had acquired Louisiana; but Mr. Jefferson, having a knowledge of this acquisition, was determined that nothing should be done to compromise our rights, or to unset- tle the boundaries established under the treaty of Utrecht. "Another treaty was negotiated with Great Britain in 1807, between Messrs. Monroe and William Pinckney on one side, and Lords Hol- land and Auckland on the other. The English were now fully possessed of the fact that we had acquired Louisiana, and become a party to the line of 49 degrees ; and they set themselves openly to work to destroy that line. The cor- respondence of the ministers shows the perti- nacity of these attempts ; and the instructions of Mr. Adams, in 1818 (when Secretary of State, under Mr. Monroe), to Messrs. Hush and Gallatin, then in London, charged with negotia- ting a convention on points left unsettled at Ghent, condense the history of the mutual pro- positions then made. Finally, an article was agreed upon, in which the British succeeded in mutilating the line, and stopping it at the Rocky Mountains. This treaty of 1807 shared the fate of that of 1803, but for a different reason. It was rejected by Mr. Jefferson, without refer- ence to the Senate, because it did not contain an explicit renunciation of the pretension of im- pressment ! " At Ghent the attempt was renewed : the arrest of the line at the Rocky Mountains was agreed upon, but the British coupled with their proposition a demand for the free navigation of the Mississippi, and access to it through the territories of the United States ; and this de- mand occasioned the whole article to be omit- ted. The Ghent treaty was signed without any stipulation on the subject of the line along the 49th degree, and that point became a principal object of the ministers charged with completing at London, in 1818, the subjects unfinished at Ghent in 1814. Thus the British were again foiled; but, true to their design, they perse- vered and accomplished it in the convention signed at London in 1818. That convention arrested the line at the mountains, and opened the Columbia to the joint occupation of the British; and, being ratified by the United States, it has become binding and obligatory on the country. But it is a point not to be overlooked, or undervalued, in this case, that it was in the year 1818 that this arrestation of the line took place ; that up to that period it was in full force in all its extent, and, consequently, in full force to the Pacific Ocean ; and a com- plete bar (leaving out all other barriers) to any British acquisition, by discover}^, south of 49 degrees in North America." The President in his message had said that "informal conferences" had taken place be- tween Mr. Webster and Lord Ashburton on the subject of the Columbia, but he had not com- municated them. Mr. Benton obtained a call 476 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. of the Senate for them : the President answered it was incompatible with the public interest to make them public. That was a strange answer, seeing that all claims by either party, and all negotiations on the subjects between them, whether concluded or not, and whether suc- cessful or not should be communicated. " The President, in his message recommend- ing the peace treaty, informs us that the Co- lumbia was the subject of " informal confer- ences " between the negotiators of that treaty ; but that it could not then be included among the subjects of formal negotiation. This was an ominous annunciation, and should have open- ed the eyes of the President to a great danger. If the peace mission, which came here to settle every thing, and which had so much to gain in the Maine boundary and the African alliance ; — if this mission could not agree with us about the Columbia, what mission ever can ? To an inquiry from the Senate to know the nature and extent of these " informal conferences " between Mr. Webster and Lord Ashburton, and to learn the reason why the Columbia question could not have been included among the subjects of formal negotiation — to these inquiries, the President answers, that it is incompatible with the public interest to communicate these things. This is a strange answer, and most unexpected. "We have no political secrets in our country, neither among ourselves nor with foreigners. On this subject of the Columbia, especially, we have no secrets. Every thing in relation to it has been published. All the conferences hereto- fore have been made public. The protocols, the minutes, the conversations, on both sides, have all been published. The British have published their claim, such as it is: we have published ours. The public documents are full of them, and there can be nothing in the question itself to require secrecy. The negotiator^ and not the subject, may require secrecy. Propositions may have been made, and listened to, which no pre- vious administration would tolerate, and which it may be deemed prudent to conceal until it has taken the form of a stipulation, and the cry of war can be raised to ravish its ratification from us. All previous administrations, while claiming the whole valley of the Columbia, have refused to admit a particle of British claim south of 49 degrees. Mr. Adams, under Mr. Monroe, peremptorily refused to submit any such claim even to arbitration. The Maine boundary, set- tled by the treaty of 1783, had been submitted to arbitration ; but this boundary of 49 was re- fused. And now, if, after all this, any proposi- tion has been made by our government to give up the north bank of the river, I, for one, shall not fail to brand such a proposition with the name of treason." This paragraph was not without point, and even inuendo. The north bank of the Columbia, with equal rights of navigation in the river, and to the harbor at its mouth, had been the object of the British from the time that the fur-trader, and explorer, Sir Alexander McKenzie, had shown that there was no river and harbor suit- able to commerce and settlement north of that stream. They had openly proposed it in negoti- ations : they had even gone so far as to tell our commissioners of 1818, that no treaty of boun- daries could be made unless that river became the line, and its waters and the harbor at the mouth made common to both nations — a decla- ration which should have utterly forbid the idea of a joint occupation, as such occupation was ad- mitting an equality of title and laying a founda- tion for a division of the territory. This cherish- ed idea of dividing by the river had pervaded every British negotiation since 1818. It was no secret: the British begged it: we refused it. Lord Ashburton, there is reason to know, brought out the same proposition. In his first diplomatic note he stated that he came pre- pared to settle all the questions of difference between the two countries; and this affair of the Columbia was too large, and of too long standing, and of too much previous negotiation to have been overlooked. It was not over- looked. The President says that there were conferences about it, qualified as informal : which is evidence there would have been formal negoti- ation if the informal had promised success. The informal did not so promise; and the reason was, that the two senators from Missouri being sounded on the subject of a conventional divi- sional line, repulsed the suggestion with an earnestness which put an end to it; and this knowledge of a proposition for a conventional line induced the indignant language which those two senators used on the subject in all their speeches. If they had yielded, the valley of the Columbia would have been divided ; for that is the way the whole Ashburton treaty was made. Senators were sounded by the American negoti- ator, each on the point which lay nearest to him ; and whatever they agreed to was put into the treaty. Thus the cases of the liberated slaves at Nassau and Bermuda were given up — the leading southern senators agreeing to it beforehand, and voting for the treaty af- terwards. The writer of this View had this fact from Mr. Bagby, who refused to go with ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 477 them, and voted against the ratification of the treaty. " This pretension to the Columbia is an en- croachment upon our rights and possession. It is a continuation of the encroachments which Great Britain systematically practises upon us. Diplomacy and audacity carry her through, and gain her position after position upon our bor- ders. It is in vain that the treaty of 1783 gave us a safe military frontier. We have been los- ing it ever since the late war, and are still losing it. The commission under the treaty of Ghent took from us the islands of Grand Menan, Campo Bello, and Indian Island, on the coast of Maine, and which command the bays of Fundy and Passamaquoddy. Those islands belonged to us by the treaty of peace, and by the laws of God and nature ; for they are on our coast, and within wading distance of it. Can we not wade to these islands ? [Looking at senator Williams, who answered, ' We can wade to one of them."] Yes, wade to it ! And yet the British worked them out of us ; and now can wade to us, and com- mand our land, as well as our water. By these acquisitions, and those of the late treaty, the Bay of Fundy will become a great naval station to overawe and scourge our whole coast, from Maine to Florida. Under the same commission of the Ghent treaty, she got from us the island of Boisblanc, in the mouth of the Detroit River, and which commands that river and the entrance into Lake Erie. It was ours under the treaty of 1783 ; it was taken from us by diplomacy. And now an American ship must pass between the mouths of two sets of British batteries — one on Boisblanc; the other directly opposite, at Maiden ; and the two batteries within three or four hundred yards of each other. Am I right as to the distance ? [Looking at Senator Wood- bridge, who answered, ' The distance is three hundred yards.'] Then comes the late treaty, which takes from us (for I will say nothing of what the award gave up beyond the St. John) the mountain frontier, 3,000 feet in height, 150 miles long, approaching Quebec and the St. Lawrence, and, in the language of Mr. Feather- stonhaugh, 'commanding all their communica- tions, and commanding and overawing Quebec itself.' This we have given up ; and, in doing so, have given up our military advantages in that quarter, and placed them in the hands of Great Britain, to be used against ourselves in future wars. The boundary between the Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods has been altered by the late treaty, and subjected us to another encroachment, and to the loss of a mili- tary advantage, which Great Britain gains. To say nothing about Pigeon River as being or not being the ' long lake ' of the treaty of 1783 ; to say nothing of that, there are yet two routes commencing in that stream — one bearing far to the south, and forming the large island called ' Hunter's.' By the old boundary, the line went the northern route ; by the new, it goes to tho south ; giving to the British a large scope of our territory (which is of no great value), but giving them, also, the exclusive possession of the old route, the best route, and the one commanding the Indians, which is of great importance. The encroachment now attempted upon the Colum- bia, is but a continuation of this system of en- croachments which is kept up against us, and which, until 1818, labored even to get the navi- gation of the Mississippi, by laboring to make the line from the Lake of the Woods reach its head spring. If Great Britain had succeeded in getting this line to touch the Mississippi, she was then to claim the navigation of the river, under the law of nations, contrary to her doctrine in the case of the people of Maine and the river St. John. The line of the 49th parallel of north latitude is another instance of her encroaching policy ; it has been mutilated by the persever- ing efforts of British diplomacy ; and the break- ing of that line was immediately followed by the most daring of all her encroachments — that of the Columbia River." The strength of the bill was tested by a motion to strike out the land-donation clause, which failed by a vote of 24 to 22. The bill was then passed by the same vote — the yeas and nays being : "Yeas. — Messrs. Allen, Benton, Buchanan, Clayton, Fulton, Henderson, King, Linn, Mc- Roberts, Magnum, Merrick, Phelps, Sevier, Smith, of Connecticut, Smith of Indiana, Stur- geon, Tappan, Walker, White, Wilcox, Wil- liams, Woodbury, Wright, Young." "Nays. — Messrs. Archer, Bagby, Barrow, Bates, Bayard, Berrien, Calhoun, Choate, Con- rad, Crafts, Dayton, Evans, Graham, Hunting- ton, McDuffie, Miller. Porter, Rives, Simmons, Sprague, Tallmadge, Woodbridge." The bill went to the House, where it remained unacted upon during the session ; but the effect intended by it was fully produced. The vote of the Senate was sufficient encouragement to the enterprising people of the West. Emigration increased. An American settlement grew up at the mouth of the Columbia. Conventional agree- ments among themselves answered the purpose of laws. A colony was planted— had planted itself— and did not intend to retire from its position— and did not. It remained and grew ; and that colony of self-impulsion, without the aid of government, and in spite of all its blun- ders, saved the Territory of Oregon to the United States : one of the many events which show how little the wisdom of government has 478 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. to do with great events which fix the fate of countries. Connected with this emigration, and auxiliary to it, was the first expedition of Lieutenant Fremont to the Rocky Mountains, and under- taken and completed in the summer of 1842 — upon its outside view the conception of the government, but in fact conceived without its knowledge, and executed upon solicited orders, of which the design -was unknown. Lieutenant Fremont was a young officer, appointed in the topographical corps from the class of citizens by President Jackson upon the recommendation of Mr. Poinsett, Secretary at War. He did not enter the army through the gate of West Point, and was considered an intrusive officer by the graduates of that institution. Having, before his appointment, assisted for two years the learned astronomer, Mr. Nicollet, in his great survey of the country between the Missouri and Mississippi, his mind was trained to such labor ; and instead of hunting comfortable berths about the towns and villages, he solicited employment in the vast regions beyond the Mississippi. Col. Abert, the chief of the corps, gave him an order to go to the frontier beyond the Mississippi. That order did not come up to his views. After receiving it he carried it back, and got it altered, and the Rocky Moun- tains inserted as an object of his exploration, and the South Pass in those mountains named as a particular point to be examined, and its position fixed by him. It was through this Pass that the Oregon emigration crossed the mountains, and the exploration of Lieutenant Fremont had the double effect of fixing an important point in the line of the emigrants' travel, and giving them encouragement from the apparent interest which the government took in their enterprise. At the same time the gov- ernment, that is, the executive administration, knew nothing about it. The design was con- ceived by the young lieutenant : the order for its execution was obtained, upon solicitation, from his immediate chief — importing, of course, to be done by his order, but an order which had its conception elsewhere. CHAPTER CXIII. LIEUTENANT FREMONTS FIRST EXPEDITION: SPEECH, AND MOTION OF SENATOR LINN. A communication was received from the War Department, in answer to a call heretofore made for the report of Lieutenant Fremont's expedition to the Rocky Mountains. Mr. Linn moved that it be printed for the use of the Senate ; and also that one thousand extra copies be printed. " In support of his motion," Mr. L. said, u that in the course of the last summer a very interest- ing expedition had been undertaken to the Rocky Mountains, ordered by Col. Abert, chief of the Topographical Bureau, with the sanction of the Secretary at War, and executed by Lieu- tenant Fremont of the topographical engineers. The object of the expedition was to examine and report upon the rivers and country between the frontiers of Missouri and the base of the Rocky Mountains ; and especially to examine the character, and ascertain the latitude and longitude of the South Pass, the great crossing place to these mountains on the way to the Oregon. All the objects of the expedition have been accomplished, and in a waj' to be beneficial to science, and instructive to the general reader, as well as useful to the government. "Supplied with the best astronomical and barometrical instruments, well qualified to use them, and accompanied by twenty-five voya- geurs, enlisted for the purpose at St. Louis, and trained to all the hardships and dangers of the prairies and the mountains, Mr. Fremont left the mouth of the Kansas, on the frontiers of Mis- souri, on the 10th of June ; and, in the almost incredibly short space of four months returned to the same point, without an accident to a man, and with a vast mass of useful observa- tions, and many hundred specimens in botany and geology. " In executing his instructions, Mr. Fremont proceeded up the Kansas River far enough to ascertain its character, and then crossed over to the Great Platte, and pursued that river to its source in the mountains, where the Sweet Water (a head branch of the Platte) issues from the neighborhood of the South Pass. He reached the Pass on the 8th of August, and describes it as a wide and low depression of the mountains, where the ascent is as easy as that of the hill on which this Capitol stands, and where a plainly beaten wagon road leads to the Oregon through the valley of Lewis's River, a fork of the Co- lumbia. He went through the Pass, and saw the head-waters of the Colorado, of the Gulf of California j and, leaving the valleys to indulge a laudable curiosity, and to make some useful ANNO ^43. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 479 observations, and attended by four of his men, he climbed the loftiest peak of the Rocky Moun- tains, until then untrodden by any known human being ; and, on the 15th of August, looked down upon ice and snow some thousand feet below, and traced in the distance the valleys of the rivers which, taking their rise in the same ele- vated ridge, flow in opposite directions to the Pacific Ocean and to the Mississippi. From that ultimate point he returned by the valley of the Great Platte, following the stream in its whole course, and solving all questions in rela- tion to its navigability, and the character of the country through which it flows. " Over the whole course of this extended route, barometrical observations were made by Mr. Fremont, to ascertain elevations both of the plains and of the mountains ; astronomical ob- servations were taken, to ascertain latitudes and longitudes ; the face of the country was marked as arable or sterile ; the facility of travelling, and the practicability of routes, noted ; the grand features of nature described, and some presented in drawings ; military positions indicated ; and a large contribution to geology and botany was made in the varieties of plants, flowers, shrubs, trees, and grasses, and rocks and earths, which were enumerated. Drawings of some grand and striking points, and a map of the whole route, illustrate the report, and facilitate the under- standing of its details. Eight carts, drawn by two mules each, accompanied the expedition ; a fact which attests the facility of travelling in this vast region. Herds of buffaloes furnished sub- sistence to the men ; a *short, nutritious grass, sustained the horses and mules. Two boys (one of twelve years of age, the other of eighteen), besides the enlisted men, accompanied the expedition, and took their share of its hard- ships ; which proves that boys, as well as men, are able to traverse the country to the Rocky Mountains. ' ; The result of all his observations Mr. Fre- mont had condensed into a brief report — enough to make a document of ninety or one hundred pages ; and believing that this document would be of general interest to the whole country, and beneficial to science, as well as useful to the government, I move the printing of the extra number which has been named. " In making this motion, and in bringing this report to the notice of the Senate, I take a great pleasure in noticing the activity and importance of the Topographical Bureau. Under its skil- ful and vigilant head [Colonel Abert], numerous valuable and incessant surveys are made ; and a mass of information collected of the highest importance to the country generally, as well as to the military branch of the public service. This report proves conclusively that the country, for several hundred miles from the frontier of Missouri, is exceedingly beautiful and fertile ; alternate woodland and prairie, and certain por- tions well supplied with water. It also proves that the valley of the river Platte has a very rich soil, affording great facilities for emigrants to the west of the Rocky Mountains. " The printing was ordered." CHAPTER CXIV. OREGON COLONIZATION ACT : MR. BENTON'S SPEECH. Mr. Benton said : On one point there is una- nimity on this floor ; and that is, as to the title to the country in question. All agree that the title is in the United States. On another point there is division ; and that is, on the point of giving offence to England, by granting the land to our settlers which the bill proposes. On this point we divide. Some think it will offend her — some think it will not. For my part, I think she will take offence, do what we may in rela- tion to this territory. She wants it herself, and means to quarrel for it, if she does not fight for it. I think she will take offence at our bill, and even at our discussion of it. The nation that could revive the question of impressment in 1842 — which could direct a peace mission to revive that question — the nation that can insist upon the right of search, and which was ready to go to war with us for what gentlemen call a few acres of barren ground in a frozen region — the nation that could do these things, and which has set up a claim to our territory on the west- ern coast of our own continent, must be ripe and ready to take offence at any thing that we may do. I grant that she will take offence; but that is not the question with me. Has she a right to take offence ? That is my question ! and this being decided in the negative, I neither fear nor calculate consequences. I take for my rule of action the maxim of President Jackson in his controversy with France— ask nothing but what is right, submit to nothing wrong, and leave the consequences to God and the country. That maxim brought us safely and honorably out of our little difficulty with France, notwithstanding the fears which so many then entertained ; and it will do the same with Great Britain, in spite of our present ap- prehensions. Courage will keep her off; fear will bring her upon us. The assertion of our 480 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. rights will command her respect ; the fear to assert them will bring us her contempt. The question, then, with me, is the question of right, and not of fear ! Is it right for us to make these grants on the Columbia? Has Great Britain just cause to be offended at it ? These are my questions ; and these being answered to my satisfaction, I go forward with the grants, and leave the consequences to follow at their pleasure. The fear of Great Britain is pressed upon us ; at the same time her pacific disposition is en- forced and insisted upon. And here it seems to me, that gentlemen fall into a grievous incon- sistency. While they dwell on the peaceable disposition of Great Britain, they show her ready to go to war with us for nothing, or even for our own ! The northeastern boundary is called a dispute for a few acres of barren land in a frozen region, worth nothing ; yet we are called upon to thank God Almighty and Daniel Webster for saving us from a war about these few frozen and barren acres. Would Great Britain have gone to war with us for these few acres ? and is that a sign of her pacific temper ? The Columbia is admitted on all hands to be ours ; yet gentlemen fear war with Great Britain if we touch it — worthless as it is in their eyes. Is this a sign of peace ? Is it a pacific disposition to go to war with us, for what is our own ; and which is besides, accord- ing to their opinion, not worth a straw ? Is this peaceful ? If it is, I should like to know what is hostile. The late special minister is said to have come here, bearing the olive branch of peace in his hand. Granting that the olive branch was in one hand, what was in the other ? Was not the war question of impressment in the other ? also, the war question of search, on the coast of Africa ? also, the war question of the Columbia, which he refused to include in the peace treaty ? Were not these three war ques- tions in the other hand ? — to say nothing of the Caroline ; for which he refused atonement ; and the Creole, which he says would have occa- sioned the rejection of the treaty, if named in it. All these war questions were in the other hand ; and the special mission, having accom- plished its peace object in getting possession of the military frontiers of Maine, has adjourned all the war questions to London, where we may follow them if we please. But there is one of these subjects for which we need not go to Lon- don — the Creole, and its kindred cases. The conference of Lord Ashburton with the aboli- tion committee of New York shows that that question need not go to London — that England means to maintain all her grounds on the sub- ject of slaves, and that any treaty inconsistent with these grounds would be rejected. This is what he says : " Lord Ashburton said that, when the dele- gation came to read his correspondence with Mr. Webster, they would see that he had taken all possible care to prevent any injury being done to the people of color ; that, if he had been willing to introduce an article including cases similar to that of the Creole, his government would never have ratified it, as they will adhere to the great principles they have so long avowed and maintained; and that the friends of the slave in England would be very watchful to see that no wrong practice took place under the tenth article." This is what his lordship said in New York, and which shows that it was not want of in- structions to act on the Creole case, as alleged in Mr. Webster's correspondence, but want of inclination in the British government to settle the case. The treaty would have been rejected, if the Creole case had been named in it ; and if we had had a protocol showing that fact, I pre- sume the important note of Lord Ashburton would have stood for as little in the eyes of other senators as it did in mine, and that the treaty would have found but few supporters. The Creole case would not be admitted into the treaty ; and what was put in it, is to give the friends of the slaves in England a right to watch us, and to correct our wrong practices under the treaty ! This is what the protocol after the treaty informs us ; and if we had had a protocol before it, it is probable that there would have been no occasion for this conference with the New York abolitionists. Be that as it may, the peace mission, with its olive branch in one hand, brought a budget of war questions in the other, and has carried them all back to London, to become the subject of future nego- tiations. All these subjects are pregnant with danger. One of them will force itself upon us in five years — the search question — which we have purchased off for a time ; and when the purchase is out we must purchase again, or sub- mit to be searched, or resist with arms. I re- ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 481 peat it: the pacific England has a budget of war questions now in reserve for us, and that we cannot escape them by fearing war. Neither nations nor individuals ever escaped danger by fearing it. They must face it, and defy it. An abandonment of a right, for fear of bringing on an attack, instead of keeping it off, will inevita- bly bring on the outrage that is dreaded. Other objections are urged to this bill, to which I cannot agree. The distance is objected to it. It is said to be eighteen thousand miles by water (around Cape Horn), and above three thousand miles by land and water, through the continent. Granted. The very distance, by Cape Horn, was urged by me, twenty years ago, as a reason for occupying and fortifying the mouth of the Columbia. My argument was, that we had merchant ships and ships of war in the North Pacific Ocean ; that these vessels were twenty thousand miles from an Atlantic port ; that a port on the western coast of America was indispensable to their safety ; and that it would be suicidal in us to abandon the port we have there to any power, and especial- ly to the most formidable and domineering na- val power which the world ever saw. And I instanced the case of Commodore Porter, his prizes lost, and his own ship eventually cap- tured in a neutral port, because we had no port of our own to receive and shelter him. The twenty thousand miles distance, and dangerous and tempestuous cape to be doubled, were with me arguments in favor of a port on the western coast of America, and, as such, urged on this floor near twenty years ago. The distance through the continent is also objected to. It is said to exceed three thousand miles. Granted. But it is further than that to Africa, where we propose to build up a colony of negroes out of our recaptured Africans. Our eighty-gun fleet is to carry her intercepted slaves to Liberia : so says the correspondence of the naval captains (Bell and Paine) with Mr. Webster. Hunting in couples with the British, at an expense of money (to say nothing of the loss of lives and ships) of six hundred thousand dollars per an- num, to recapture kidnapped negroes, we are to carry them to Liberia, and build up a black colony there, four thousand miles from us, while the Columbia is too far off for a white colony ! The English are to carry their re- deemed captives to Jamaica, and make appren- Vol. II.— 31 tices of them for life. We are to carry ours to Liberia ; and then we must go to Liberia to pro- tect and defend them. Liberia is four thousand miles distant, and not objected to on account of the distance ; the Columbia is not so far, and distance becomes a formidable objection. The expense is brought forward as another objection, and repeated, notwithstanding the decisive answer it has received from my col- league. He has shown that it is but a fraction of the expense of the African squadron ; that this squadron is the one-twelfth part of our whole naval establishment, which is to cost us seven millions of dollars per annum, and that the annual cost of the squadron must be near six hundred thousand dollars, and its expense for five years three millions. For the forts in the Oregon — forts which are only to be stock- ades and block-houses, for security against the Indians — for these forts, only one hundred thousand dollars is appropriated; being the sixth part of the annual expense, and the thir- tieth part of the whole expense, of the African fleet. Thus the objection of expense becomes futile and ridiculous. But why this everlasting objection of expense to every thing western ? Our dragoons dismounted, because, they say, horses are too expensive. The western rivers unimproved, on account of the expense. No western armory, because of the expense. Yet hundreds of thousands, and millions, for the African squadron ! Another great objection to the bill is the land clause — the grants of land to the settler, his wife, and his children. Gentlemen say they will vote for the bill if that clause is stricken out ; and I say, I will vote against it if that clause is stricken out. It is, in fact, the whole strength and essence of the bill. Without these grants, the bill will be worth nothing. Nobody will go three thousand miles to settle a new country, unless he gets land by it. The whole power of the bill is in this clause ; and if it is stricken out, the friends of the bill will give it up. They will give it up now, and wait for the next Congress, when the full represen- tation of the people, under the new census, will be in power, and when a more auspicious re- sult might be expected. Time is invoked, as the agent that is to help us. Gentlemen object to the present time, re- fer us to the future, and beg us to wait, and 482 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. rely upon time and negotiations to accom- plish all our wishes. Alas ! time and negotia- tion have been fatal agents to us, in all our dis- cussions with Great Britain. Time has been constantly working for her, and against us. She now has the exclusive possession of the Columbia ; and all she wants is time, to ripen her possession into title. For above twenty years — from the time of Dr. Floyd's bill, in 1820, down to the present moment — the present time, for vindicating our rights on the Colum- bia, has been constantly objected to ; and we were bidden to wait. Well, we have waited : and what have we got by it ? Insult and de- fiance ! — a declaration from the British minis- ters that large British interests have grown up on the Columbia during this time, which they will protect ! — and a flat refusal from the olive- branch minister to include this question among those which his peaceful mission was to settle ! No, sir; time and negotiation have been bad agents for us, in our controversies with Great Britain. They have just lost us the military frontiers of Maine, which we had held for sixty years ; and the trading frontier of the North- west, which we had held for the same time. Sixty years' possession, and eight treaties, se- cured these ancient and valuable boundaries : one negotiation, and a few days of time, have taken them from us ! And so it may be again. The Webster treaty of 1842 has obliterated the great boundaries of 1783 — placed the British, their fur company and their Indians, within our ancient limits : and I, for one, want no more treaties from the hand which is always seen on the side of the British. I go now for vindicat- ing our rights on the Columbia ; and, as the first step towards it, passing this bill, and mak- ing these grants of land, which will soon place the thirty or forty thousand rifles beyond the Rocky Mountains, which will be our effective negotiators. CHAPTER CXV. NAYY PAT AND EXPENSES: PROPOSED REDUC- TION: SPEECH OF MR. MERIWETHER, OF GEORGIA: EXTRACTS. Mr. Meriwether said " that it was from no hostility to the service that he desired to reduce the pay of the navy. It had been increased in 1835 to meet the increase of labor elsewhere, &c. ; and a decline having taken place there, he thought a corresponding decline should take place in the price of labor in the navy. At the last session of Congress, this House called on the Secretary of the Navy for a statement of the pay allowed each officer previous to the act of 1835. From the answer to that resolution, Mr. M. derived the facts which he should state to the House. He was desirous of getting the exact amount received by each grade of officers, to show the precise increase by the act of 1835. Aided by that report, the Biennial Register of 1822, and the Report of the Secretary of the Navy for 1822, furnishing the estimates for the ' full pay and full rations ' of each grade of officers, he was enabled to present the entire facts accurately. Previous to that time, the classification of offi- cers was different from what it has been since ; but, as far as like services have been rendered under each classification, the comparative pay is presented under each. Previous to 1835, the pay of the ' commanding officer of the navy ' was $100 per month, and sixteen rations per day, valued at 25 cents each ration ; which amounted, ' full pay and full rations,' to $2,660 per annum. The same officer as senior captain in service receives now $4,500 ; while ' on leave,' he receives $3,500 per annum. Before 1835, a 'captain commanding a squadron ' received the same pay as the commanding officer of the navy, and the same rations; amounting, in all, to $2,660; that same officer, exercising the same command, receives now $4,000. Before 1835, a captain commanding a vessel of 32 guns and upwards, received $100 per month and eight rations per day — being a total of $1,930 per annum ; a cap- tain commanding a vessel of 20 and under 32 guns, received $75 per month and six rations per day — amounting to $1,447 50 per annum. Since 1835, these same captains, when performing these same duties, receive $3,500 ; and when at home, by their firesides, 'waiting orders,' re- ceive $2,500 per annum. Before 1835, a ' mas- ter commanding ' received $60 per month and five rations per day — amounting to $1,176 per annum. Since that time, the same officer, in sea service, receives $2,500 per annum ; at other duty, $2,100 per annum ; and ' waiting orders,' $1,800 per annum. Before 1835, a 'lieutenant commanding ' received $50 per month and four ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 483 rations per day ; which amounted to $965 per annum. Since that time, the same officer re- ceives, for similar services, $1,800 per annum. Before 1835, a lieutenant on other duty received $40 per month, and three rations per day — amounting to $761 per annum. Since that time, for the same services, that same officer has re- ceived $1,500 per annum; and when 'waiting orders,' $1,200 per annum. Before 1835, a mid- shipman received $19 per month and one ration per day — making $319 25 per annum. Since that time, a passed mipshipman on duty received $750 per annum ; if ' waiting orders,' $600 ; a midshipman received, in sea service, $400 ; on other duty, $350; and 'waiting orders,' $300 per annnm. Surgeons, before 1835, received $50 per month and two rations per day — amounting to $787 50 ; they now receive from $1,000 to $2,700 per annum. Before 1835, a ' schoolmaster ' received $25 per month and two rations per day ; now, under the name of a pro- fessor, he receives $1,200 per annum. " Before 1835. a carpenter, boatswain, and gun- ner received $20 per month and two rations per day — making $427 50 each per annum ; they now receive, if employed on a ship-of-the-line, $750, on a frigate $600, on other duty $500, and ' waiting orders ' $360 per annum. A simi- lar increase has been made in the pay of all other officers. The pay of seamen has not been en- larged, and it is proposed to leave it as it is. In several instances, an officer idle, ' waiting orders,' receives more pay now than one of similar grade received during the late war, when he exposed his life in battle in defence of his country. At the navy-yards the pay of officers was greater than at sea. Before 1835, a captain command- ant received for pay, rations, candles, and ser- vants' hire, $3,013 per annum, besides fuel ; the same officer, for the same services, receives now $3,500 per annum. A master commandant re- ceived $1,408 per annum, with fuel ; the same officer now receives $2,100 per annum. A lieu- tenant received $877, with fuel ; the same officer receives now $1,500. At naval stations, before the act of 1835, a captain received $2,660 per annum ; he now receives $3,500 per annum. A lieutenant received $761 per annum, and he now receives $1,500 per annum. Before and since the act of 1835, quarters were furnished the officers at navy yards and stations. Before that time, the pay and emoluments were esti- mated for in dollars and cents, and appropriated for as pay ; and the foregoing statements are taken from the actual ' estimates ' of the navy department, and, as such, show the whole pay and emoluments received by each officer. " The effect of this increase of pay has been re- alized prejudicially in more ways than one. In the year 1824, there were afloat in the navy, 404 guns ; in 1843, 946 guns. The cost of the item of pay alone for each gun, then, was $2,360 ; now the cost is $3,500. " The naval service has become, to a great ex- tent, one of ease and of idleness. The high pay has rendered its offices mostly sinecures ; hence the great effort to increase the number of offi- cers. Every argument has been used, every en- treaty resorted to, to augment that corps. We have seen the effect of this, that in one year (1841) there were added 13 captains, 41 com- manders, 42 lieutenants, and 163 midshipmen, without any possibly conceivable cause for the increase ; and when, at the same time, these ap- pointments were made, there were 20 captains ' waiting orders,' and 6 ' on leave ; ' 26 com- manders 'waiting orders,' and 3 'on leave;' 103 lieutenants ' on leave and waiting orders,' and 16 midshipmen 'on leave and waiting or- ders.' The pay of officers 'waiting orders' amounted, during the year 1841, to $261,000; and now the amount required for the pay of that same idle corps, increased by a useless and un- necessary increase of the navy, is $395,000 ! It is a fact worthy of notice, that, under the old pay in 1824, there were 28 captains, 4 of whom were ' waiting orders,' of 30 commanders, only 7 were ' waiting orders.' Under the new pay, in 1843, there are 68 captains, of whom 38 are ' waiting orders ; ' 97 commanders, of whom 57 are ' waiting orders and on leave.' The item of pay, in 1841, amounted to $2,335,000, and we are asked to appropriate for the next twelve months $3,333,139. To give employment to as many officers as possible, it is proposed to ex- tend greatly our naval force; increasing the number of our vessels in commission largely, and upon every station, notwithstanding our commerce is reduced, and we are at peace with all the world, and have actually purchased our peace from the only nation from which we ap- prehended difficulty. " It was stated somewhere, in some of the re- ports, that the appropriation necessary to defray the expenses of courts-martial in the navy would be, this year $50,000. This was a very large amount, when contrasted with the service. The disorderly conduct of the navy was noto- rious — no one could defend it. The country was losing confidence in it daily, and becoming more unwilling to bear the burdens of taxation to foster or sustain it. A few years since, its expenditures did not exceed four millions and a half: they are now up to near eight millions of dollars. Its expense is greater now than during the late war with England. Notwithstanding the unequivocal declarations of Congress, at the last session, against the increase of the navy, and in favor of its reduction, the Secretary passes all unheeded, and moves on in his bold career of folly and extravagance, without abid- ing for a moment any will but his own. Nothing more can be hoped for, so long as the navy has such a host of backers, urging its in- crease and extravagance— from motives of per- sonal interest too often. The axe should be laid at once to the root of the evil : cut down the pay, and it will not then be sought after so 484 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. much as a convenient resort for idlers, who seek the offices for pay, expecting and intending that but little service shall be rendered in return, be- cause but very little is needed. The salaries are far beyond any compensation paid to any other officer of government, either State or Federal, for corresponding services. A lieutenant re- ceives higher pay than a very large majority of the judges of the highest judicatories known to the States; a commander far surpasses them, and equals the salaries of a majority of the Gov- ernors of the States. Remove the temptation which high pay and no labor present, and you will obviate the evil. Put down the salaries to where they were before the year 1835, and you will have no greater effort after its offices than you had before. So long as the salaries are higher than similar talents can command in civil life, so long will applicants flock to the navy for admission, and the constant tendency will be to increase its expenses. The policy of our government is to keep a very small army and navy during time of peace, and to insure light taxes, and to induce the preponderance of the civil over the military authorities. In time of peace we shall meet with no difficulty in sus- taining an efficient navy, as we always have done. In time of war, patriotism will call forth our people to the service. Those who would not heed this call are not wanted ; for those who fight for pay will, under all circumstances, fight for those who will pay the best. The navy cannot complain of this proposed reduc- tion ; for its pay was increased in view of the increasing value of labor and property through- out the whole country. No other pay was increased ; and why should not this be reduced 'I — not the whole amount actually increased, but only a small portion of the increase ? It is due to the country ; and no one should object. We are now supporting the government on borrowed money. The revenues will not be sufficient to support it hereafter ; and reduction has to take place sooner or later, and upon some one or all of the departments. Upon which ought it to fall more properly than on that which has been defended against the prejudices resulting from the high prices which have recently fallen upon every department of labor and property ? " By the adoption of the amendment proposed, there will be a permanent and annual saving of about $400,000 in the single item of pay. And from the embarrassed condition of the treasury, so large a sum of money might, with the greatest propriety, be saved ; more especially since by the late British treaty concluded at this place, an annual increase is to be made to the navy expenditures of some $600,000, as it is stated, to keep a useless squadron on the coast of Africa. The estimates for pay for the present year greatly exceed those of the last year. We ap- propriated for the last year's service for pay, &c, $2,335,000. The sum asked for the same service this year is $2,953,139. Besides, there is the sum of $380,000 asked for clothing — a new appropriation, never asked for before. The clothing for seamen being paid for by them- selves, so much of the item of pay as was neces- sary had hitherto been expended in clothing for them, which was received by them in lieu of money. Now a separate fund is asked, which is to be used as pay, and will increase that item so much, making a sum-total of $3,333,139 ; which is an excess of $998,139 over and above that appropriated for the like purpose last session. " The Secretary of the Navy says that his plan of keeping the ships sailing over the ocean (where possibly no vessel can or will see them, and where the people with whom we trade can never learn any thing of our greatness, on account of the absence of our ships from their ports, being kept constantly sailing from station to station) will 'require larger squadrons than we have heretofore employed.' He then states that his estimates are prepared for squadrons upon this large and expensive scale. ' This,' he says, ' it is my duty to do, submitting to Congress to de- termine whether, under the circumstances, so large a force can properly be put in commission or not. If the condition of the treasury will warrant it (of which they are the judges), I have no hesitation in recommending the largest force estimated for.' It is well known that the condition of the treasury will not warrant this force. We must fall back upon the force of last year, as the ultimatum that can be sustained. Our appropriations for pay last year were $1,000,000 less than those now asked for. This can be cut off without prejudice to the service ; and with the reduction proposed in the salaries, $1,400,000 can be saved from waste, and applied to sustain a depleted treasury. Increase is now unreasonable and impracticable. " A portion of the home squadron, authorized in September, 1841, has not yet gone to sea for the want of seamen. While our commerce is fail- ing, and our sailors are idle, they will not enter the service. The flag-ship of that squadron is yet in port without her complement of men. Why then only increase officers and build ships, when you cannot get men to man them ? "From 1829 to 1841, the sums paid to officers 'waiting orders,' were, 1829, $197,684 ; in 1830, $156,025; in 1831, $231,378 ; in 1832, $204,290 ; in 1833, $205,233 ; in 1834, $202,914; in 1835, $219,036 ; in 1836, $212,362; in 1837, $250,930; in 1838, $297,000; in 1839, $265,043 ; in 1840, $265,000; in 1841, $252,856. "The honorable member also showed from the report of the chief of the medical depart- ment, that, out of the appropriation for medi- cine there had been purchased in one year 31 blue cloth frock coats with navy buttons and a silver star on them, 31 pairs of blue cassimere pan- taloons, and 31 blue cassimere vests with navy buttons — all for pensioners. He also shows that under the head of medicine there had been purchased out of the same fund, whiskey, coal, ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 485 clothing, spirits, harness, stationery, hay, corn, oats, stoves, beef, mutton, fish, bread, charcoal, &c, to the amount of some $4,000; and, in gene- ral, that purchases of all articles were generally made from particular persons, and double prices paid. Many examples of this were given, among them the purchase of certain surgical instru- ments in Philadelphia from the favored sellers for the sum of $1,224 and 54 cents, which it was proved had been purchased by them from the maker, in the same city, for $669 and 81 cents : and in the same proportion in the pur- chases generally." CHAPTER CXVI. EULOGY ON SENATOR LINN: SPEECHES OF MR. BENTON AND MR. CRITTENDEN. In Senate: Tuesday, December 12, 1843. — The death of Senator Linn. The journal having been read, Mr. Benton rose and said : " Mr. President : — I rise to make to the Senate the formal communication of an event which has occurred during the recess, and has been heard by all with the deepest regret. My colleague and friend, the late Senator Linn, de- parted this life on Tuesday, the 3d day of Octo- ber last, at the early age of forty-eight years, and without the warnings or the sufferings which usually precede our departure from this world. He had laid him down to sleep, and awoke no more. It was to him the sleep of death ! and the only drop of consolation in this sudden and calamitous visitation was, that it took place in his own house, and that his un- conscious remains were immediately surround- ed by his family and friends, and received all the care and aid which love and skill could give. " I discharge a mournful duty, Mr. President, in bringing this deplorable event to the formal notice of the Senate ; in offering the feeble tribute of my applause to the many virtues of my deceased colleague, and in asking for his memory the last honors which the respect and affection of the Senate bestow upon the name of a deceased brother. " Lewis Field Linn, the subject of this an- nunciation, was born in the State of Kentucky, in the year 1795, in the immediate vicinity of Louisville. His grandfather was Colonel Wil- liam Linn, one of the favorite officers of General George Rodgers Clark, and well known for his courage and enterprise in the early settlement of the Great West. At the age of eleven he had fought in the ranks of men, in the defence of a station in western Pennsylvania, and was seen to deliver a deliberate and effective fire. He was one of the first to navigate the Ohio and Mississippi from Pittsburg to New Or- leans, and back again — a daring achievement, which himself and some others accomplished for the public service, and amidst every species of danger, in the year 1776. He was killed by the Indians at an early period ; leaving a family of young children, of whom the worthy Colonel William Pope (father of Governor Pope, and head of the numerous and respectable fami- ly of that name in the West) became the guar- dian. The father of Senator Linn was among these children; and, at an early age, skating upon the ice near Louisville, with three other boys, he was taken prisoner by the Shawanee Indians, carried off, and detained captive for three years, when all four made their escape and returned home, by killing their guard, tra- versing some hundred miles of wilderness, and swimming the Ohio River. The mother of Senator Linn was a Pennsylvanian by birth ; her maiden name Hunter ; born at Carlisle ; and also had heroic blood in her veins. Tradi- tion, if not history, preserves the recollection of her courage and conduct at Fort Jefferson, at the Iron Banks, in 1781, when the Indians at- tacked and were repulsed from that post. Wo- men and boys were men in those days. "The father of Senator Linn died young, leaving this son but eleven years of age. The cares of an elder brother* supplied (as far as such a loss could be supplied) the loss of a fa- ther ; and under his auspices the education of the orphan was conducted. He was intended for the medical profession, and received his edu- cation, scholastic and professional, in the State of his nativity. At an early age he was quali- fied for the practice of medicine, and commenced it in the then territory, now State, of Missouri ; and was immediately amongst the foremost of his profession. Intuitive sagacity supplied in him the place of long experience ; and bound- less benevolence conciliated universal esteem. To all his patients he was the same ; flying with alacrity to every call, attending upon the poor and humble as zealously as on the rich and powerful, on the stranger as readily as on the neighbor, discharging to all the duties of nurse and friend as well as of physician, and wholly regardless of his own interest, or even of his own health, in his zeal to serve and to save others. "The highest professional honors and rewards were before him. Though commencing on a provincial theatre, there was not a capital in Europe or America in which he would not have attained the front rank in physic or surgery. But his fellow-citizens perceived in his varied abilities, capacity and aptitude for service in a different walk. He was called into the politi- cal field by an election to the Senate of his adopted State. Thence he was called to the * General now Senator Henry Dodge. 486 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. performance of judicial duties, by a federal ap- pointment to investigate land titles. Thence he was called to the high station of senator in the Congress of the United States — first by an executive appointment, then by three successive almost unanimous elections. The last of those elections he received but one year ago, and had not commenced his duties under it — had not sworn in under the certificate which attested it — when a sudden and premature death put an end to his earthly career. He entered this body in the year 1833 ; death dissolved his connec- tion with it in 1843. For ten years he was a beloved and distinguished member of this body ; and surely a nobler or a finer character never adorned the chamber of the American Senate. " He was my friend ; but I speak not the lan- guage of friendship when I speak his praise. A debt of justice is all that I can attempt to dis- charge : an imperfect copy of the true man is all that I can attempt to paint. " A sagacious head, and a feeling heart, were the great characteristics of Dr. Linn. He had a judgment which penetrated both men and things, and gave him near and clear views of far distant events. He saw at once the bearing — the remote bearing of great measures, either for good or for evil ; and brought instantly to their support, or opposition, the logic of a prompt and natural eloquence, more beautiful in its delivery, and more effective in its application, than any that art can bestow. He had great fertility of mind, and was himself the author and mover of many great measures — some for the benefit of the whole Union — some for the benefit of the Great West — some for the benefit of his own State — many for the benefit of private indi- viduals. The pages of our legislative history will bear the evidences of these meritorious la- bors to a remote and grateful posterity. " Brilliant as were the qualities of his head, the qualities of his heart still eclipse them. It is to the heart we look for the character of the man ; and what a heart had Lewis Linn ! The kindest, the gentlest, the most feeling, and the most generous that ever beat in the bosom of bearded man ! And yet, when the occasion re- quired it, the bravest and the most daring also. He never beheld a case of human woe without melting before it ; he never encountered an ap- parition of earthly danger without giving it de- fiance. Where is the friend, or even the stran- ger, in danger, or distress, to whose succor he did not fly, and whose sorrowful or perilous case he did not make his own ? When — where — was he ever called upon for a service, or a sacrifice, and rendered not, upon the instant, the one or the other, as the occasion required ? " The senatorial service of this rare man fell upon trying times — high party times — when the collisions of party too often embittered the ar- dent feelings of generous natures ; but who ever knew bitterness, or party animosities in him ? He was, indeed, a party man — as true to his party as to his friend and his country ; but, beyond the line of duty and of principle — beyond the debate and the vote — he knew no party, and saw no opponent. Who among us all, even after the fiercest debate, ever met him without meet- ing the benignant smile and the kind salutation ? Who of us all ever needed a friend without finding one in him ? Who of us all was ever stretched upon the bed of sickness without find- ing him at its side ? Who of us all ever knew of a personal difficulty of which he was not, as far as possible, the kind composer ? ; ' Such was Senator Linr, in high party times, here among us. And what he was here, among us, he was every where, and with every body. At home among his friends and neighbors ; on the high road among casual acquaintances ; in foreign lands among strangers ; in all, and in every of these situations, he was the same thing. He had kindness and sjonpathy for every human being ; and the whole voyage of his life was one continued and benign circumnavigation of all the virtues which adorn and exalt the character of man. Piety, charity, benevolence, generosity, courage, patriotism, fidelity, all shone conspicu- ously in him, and might extort from the be- holder the impressive interrogatory, ' For what place was this man made?'' Was it for the Senate, or the camp ? For public or for private life ? For the bar or the bench ? For the art which heals the diseases of the body, or that which cures the infirmities of the State ? For which of all these was he born ? And the an- swer is, ' For all ! ' He was born to fill the largest and most varied circle of human excel- lence ; and to crown all these advantages, Nature had given him what the great Lord Bacon calls a perpetual letter of recommendation — a coun- tenance, not only good, but sweet and winning — radiant with the virtues of his soul — captivating universal confidence ; and such as no stranger could behold — no traveller, even in the desert, could meet, without stopping to reverence, and saying ' Here is a man in whose hands I could deposit life, liberty, fortune, honor ! ' Alas ! that so much excellence should have perished so soon ! that such a man should have been snatched away at the early age of forty-eight, and while all his faculties were still ripening and developing ! " In the life and character of such a man, so exuberant in all that is grand and beautiful in human nature, it is difficult to particularize ex- cellences or to pick out any one quality, or cir- cumstance, which could claim pre-eminence over all others. If I should attempt it, I should point, among his measures for the benefit of the whole Union, to the Oregon Bill ; among his measures for the benefit of his own State, to the acquisition of the Platte Country ; among his private virtues, to the love and affection which he bore to that brother — the half-brother only — who, only thirteen years older than himself, had been to him the tenderest of fathers. For ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 487 twenty-nine years I had known the depth of that affection, and never saw it burn more brightly than in our last interview, only three weeks before his death. He had just travelled a thousand miles out of his way to see that brother; and his name was still the dearest theme of his conversation — a conversation, strange to tell ! which turned, not upon the empty and fleeting subjects of the day, but upon things solid and eternal — upon friendship, and upon death, and upon the duties of the living to the dead. He spoke of two friends whom it was natural to believe that he should survive, and to whose memories he intended to pay the debt of friendship. Vain calculation ! Vain im- pulsion of generosity and friendship ! One of these two friends now discharges that mournful debt to him : the other* has written me a letter, expressing his ' deep sorrow for the untimely death of our friend, Dr. Linn." Mr. Benton then offered the following reso- lutions : " Resolved unanimously, That the members of the Senate, from sincere desire of showing every mark of respect due to the memory of the Hon. Lewis F. Linn, deceased, late a mem- ber thereof, will go into mourning, by wearing crape on the left arm for thirty days. "Resolved unanimously, That, as an additional mark of respect for the memory of the Hon. Lewis F. Linn, the Senate do now adjourn." " Mr. Crittenden said : I rise, Mr. President, to second the motion of the honorable senator from Missouri, and to express my cordial con- currence in the resolutions he has offered. "The highest tribute of our respect is justly due to the honored name and memory of Sena- tor Linn, and there is not a heart here that does not pay it freely and plenteously. These reso- lutions are but responsive to the general feeling that prevails throughout the land, and will afford to his widow and his orphans the consolatory evidence that their country shares their grief, and mourns for their bereavement. " I am very sensible, Mr. President, that the very appropriate, interesting, and eloquent re- marks of the senator from Missouri [Mr. Ben- ton] have made it difficult to add any thing that will not impair the effect of what he has said ; but I must beg the indulgence of the Senate for a few moments. Senator Linn was by birth a Kentuckian, and my couutryman. I do not dis- pute the claims of Missouri, his adopted State ; but I wish it to be remembered, that I claim for Kentucky the honor of his nativity ; and by the great law that regulates such precious inherit- ances, a portion, at least, of his fame must de- scend to his native land. It is the just ambition and right of Kentucky to gather together the bright names of her children, no matter in what lands their bodies may be buried, and to pre- serve them as her jewels and her crown. The name of Linn is one of her jewels ; and its pure and unsullied lustre shall long remain as one of her richest ornaments. * General Jackson. " The death of such a man is a national ca- lamity. Long a distinguished member of this body, he was continually rewarded with the increasing confidence of the great State he so honorably represented ; and his reputation and usefulness increased at every step of his pro- gress. " In the Senate his death is most sensibly felt. We have lost a colleague and friend, whose noble and amiable qualities bound us to him as with ' hooks of steel.' Who of us that knew him can forget his open, frank, and manly bearing — that smile, that seemed to be the pure, warm sun- shine of the heart, and the thousand courtesies and kindnesses that gave a ' daily beauty to his life?' " He possessed a high order of intellect ; was resolute, courageous, and ardent in all his pur- suits. A decided party man, he participated largely and conspicuously in the business of the Senate and the conflicts of its debates ; but there was a kindliness and benignity about him, that, like polished armor, turned aside all feelings of ill-will or animosity. He had political oppo- nents in the Senate, but not one enemy. ei The good and generous qualities of our na- ture were blended in his character ; " and the elements So mixed in hiin, that Nature might stand up And say to all the world— This was a man.'''' The resolutions were then adopted, and the Senate adjourned. CHAPTER CXVII. THE COAST SURVEY : ATTEMPT TO DIMINISH ITS EXPENSE, AND TO EXPEDITE ITS COMPLETION, BY RESTORING THE WORK TO NAVAL AND MILITARY OFFICERS. Under the British government, not remarkable for its economy, the survey of the coasts is ex- clusively made by naval officers, and the whole service presided by an admiral, of some de- gree — usually among the lowest ; and these officers survey not only the British coasts throughout all their maritime possessions, but the coasts of other countries where they trade, when it has not been done by the local au- thority. The survey of the United States be- gan in the same way, being confined to army and navy officers ; and costing but little : now it is a civil establishment, and the office which conducts it has almost grown up into a depart- ment, under a civil head, and civil assistance, costing a great annual sum. From time to time 488 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. efforts have been made to restore the naval superintendence of this work, as it was when it was commenced under Mr. Jefferson : and as it now is, and always has been, in Great Britain. At the session 1842-3, this effort was renewed ; but with the usual fate of all attempts to put an end to any unnecessary establishment, or ex- penditure. A committee of the House had been sitting on the subject for two sessions, and not being able to agree upon any plan, proposed an amendment to the civil and diplomatic appro- priation bill, by which the legislation, which they could not agree upon, was to be referred to a board of officers ; and their report, when accepted by the President, was to become law, and to be carried into effect by him. Their pro- position was in these words : " That the sum of one hundred thousand dol- lars be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for con- tinuing the survey of the coast of the United States : Provided, That this, and all other ap- propriations hereafter to be made for this work, shall, until otherwise provided by law, be ex- pended in accordance with a plan of re-organiz- ing the mode of executing the survey, to be sub- mitted to the President of the United States by a board of officers which shall be organized by him, to consist of the present superintendent, his two principal assistants, and the two naval officers now in charge of the hydrographical parties, and four from among the principal offi- cers of the corps of topographical engineers ; none of whom shall receive any additional com- pensation whatever for this service, and who shall sit as soon as organized. And the Presi- dent of the United States shall adopt and carry into effect the plan of said board, as agreed upon by a majority of its members ; and the plan of said board shall cause to be employed as many officers of the army and navy of the United States as will be compatible with the successful prosecution of the work ; the officers of the navy to be employed on the hydrographical parts, and the officers of the army on the topographical parts of the work. And no officer of the army or navy shall hereafter receive any extra pay, out of this or any future appropriations, for surveys." In support of this proposition, Mr. Mallory, the mover of it, under the direction of the com- mittee, said : " It would be perceived by the House, that this amendment proposed a total re-organization of the work ; and if it should be carried out in the spirit of that amendment, it would correct many of the abuses which some of them believed to exist and would effect a saving of some $20,000 or $30,000, by dispensing with the services of numerous civil officers, believed not to be necessary, and substituting for them offi- cers of the topographical corps and officers of the navy. The committee had left the plan of the survey to be decided on by a board of offi- cers, and submitted to the President for his ap- proval, as they had not been able to agree among themselves on any detailed plan. He had, to be sure, his own views as to how the work should be carried on ; but as they did not meet the concurrence of a majority of the committee, he could not bring them before the House in the form of a report." This was the explanation of the proposition. Not being able to agree to any act of legislation themselves, they refer it to the President, and a board, to do what they could not, but with an expectation that abuses in the work would be corrected, expense diminished, and naval and military officers substituted, as far as compatible with the successful prosecution of the work. This was a lame way of getting a reform ac- complished. To say nothing of the right to delegate legislative authority to a board and the President, that mode of proceeding was the most objectionable that could have been devised. It is a proverb that these boards are a machine in the hands of the President, in which he and they equally escape responsibility — they shel- tering themselves under his approval — he, un- der their recommendation * and, to make sure of his approval, it is usually obtained before the recommendation is made. This proposed method of effecting a reform was not satisfactory to those who wished to see this branch of the service subjected to an economical administra- tion, and brought to a conclusion within some reasonable time. With that view, Mr. Charles Brown, of Pennsylvania, moved a reduction of the appropriation of more than one half, and a transference of the work from the Treasury de- partment (where it then was) to the navy de- partment where it properly belonged ; and pro- posed the work to be done by army and naval officers. In support of his proposal, he said : " The amendment offered under the instruc- tions of the committee, did not look to the prac- tical reform which the House expected when this subject was last under discussion. He believed, that there was a decided disposition manifested in the House to get clear of the present head of the survey ; yet the amendment of the gentle- man brought him forward as the most prominent member of it. He thought the House decided, ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 489 when the subject was up before, that the survey- should be carried on by the officers of the gen- eral government ; and he wished it to be carried on in that way now. He did not wish to pay some hundred thousand dollars as extra pay for officers taken from private life, when there were so many in the navy and army perfectly com- petent to perform this service. This work had cost nearly a million of dollars ($720,000) by the employment of Mr. Hassler and his civil assistants alone, without taking into considera- tion the pay of the officers of the navy and army who were engaged in it." The work had then been in hand for thirty years, and the average expense of each year would be $22,000 ; but it was now in- creased to a hundred thousand ; and Mr. Brown wished it carried back more than half — a saving to be effected by transferring the work to the Navy Department, where there were so many officers without employment — receiving pay, and nothing to do. In support of his proposal, Mr. Brown went into an examination of the laws on the subject, to show that this work was begun under a law to have it done as he pro- posed ; and he agreed that the army and navy officers (so many of whom were without com- mands), were competent to it ; and that it was absurd to put it under the Treasury Department. " The law of February 10, 1807, created the coast survey, put it in the hands of the Presi- dent, and authorized him to use army and navy officers, navy vessels, astronomers, and other persons. In August, 1816. Mr. Hassler was ap- pointed superintendent. His agreement was to "make the principal triangulation and conse- quent calculations himself; to instruct the engineer and naval officers employed under him ; and he wanted two officers of engineers, topo- graphical or others, and some cadets of said corps, in number according to circumstances. April 14, 1818, that part of the law of 1807 was repealed which authorized the employment of other persons than those belonging to the army and navy. Up to this time over $55,000 were expended in beginning the work and buying instruments, for which purpose Mr. Hassler was in England from August 1811, to 1815. " June 10, 1832, the law of 1807 was revived, and Mr. Hassler was again appointed superin- tendent. The work has been going on ever since. The coast has been triangulated from Point Judith to Cape Henlopen (say about 300 miles) ; but only a part of the off-shore sound- ings have been taken, There are about 3,000 miles of seaboard to the United States. $720,000 have been expended already. It is stated, in Captain Swift's pamphlet, that the survey of the coast was under the Treasury Department, be- cause Mr. Hassler was already engaged under that department, making weights and measures. These are all made now. When the coast sur- vey was begun, the topographical corps existed but in name. In 1838, it was organized and enlarged, and is now an able and useful corps. Last year Congress established a hydrographical bureau in the Navy Department. There are numbers of naval officers capable of doing hy- drographical duties under this bureau. The coast survey is the most important topographi- cal and hydrographical work in the country. We have a topographical and a hydrographical bureau, yet neither of them has any connection with this great national work. Mr. Hassler has just published from the opinion of the Marquis de La Place (Chamber of Peers, session of 181(3-'17),upon the French survey, this valuable suggestion, viz : ' Perhaps even the great num- ber of geographical engineers which our present state of peace allows to employ in this work, to which it is painful to see them strangers, would render an execution more prompt, and less ex- pensive.' " The Florida war is now over ; many works of internal improvement are suspended ; there must be topographical officers enough for the coast survey. The Russian government has employed an able American engineer to perform an important scientific work; but that wise government requires that all the assistants shall come from its corps of engineers, which is com- posed of army and navy officers. If the coast survey is to be a useful public work, let the officers conduct it under their bureaus. The officers would then take a pride in this duty, and do it well, and do it cheap. The supervision of the bureaus would occasion system, fidelity, and entire responsibility. More than $30,000 are now paid annually to citizens, for salary out of the coast survey appropriation. This could be saved by employing officers. Make exclusive use of them, and half the present annual appro- priation would suffice. Can the treasury de- partment manage the survey understandingly ? The Secretary of the Treasury has already enough to do in the line of his duty ; and, as far as the survey is concerned, a clerk in the Treasury Department is the secretary. Can a citizen superintendent, of closet and scientific habits ; or can a clerk in the Treasury Depart- ment, manage, with efficiency and economy, so many land and water parties, officers, men, ves- sels, and boats ? The Navy Department paj^s out of the navy appropriation the officers and men now lent to the Treasury for the survey. The Secretary of the Navy appears to have no control over the expenditures of this part of the naval appropriation. He does not even select the officers detailed for this duty, though he knows his own material best, and those who are most suitable. This navy duty has be- come treasury patronage, with commands, extra pay, &c. 490 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. " The Treasury Department has charge of the vessels; they are bought by the coast-survey appropriation ; the off-shore soundings are only in part taken. There arc not vessels enough, and of the right sort, to take these soundings, and in the right way. Steamers are wanted. The survey appropriation cannot bear the ex- pense ; but if the Navy Department had charge of the hydrography, it could put suitable ves- sels on the coast squadron, and employ them on the coast survey, agreeably to the law of 1807. Last year the vessels did no soundings until about the 1st of June, although the spring opened early. The Treasury had not the means to equip the vessels until the appropriation bill passed Congress. But if the navy had charge of vessels, the few naval stores they wanted might have been furnished from the navy stores, or given from second-hand articles not on charge at the yards. Had good arrangements been made, the Delaware Bay might readily have been finished last fall, and the chart of it got out at once. Now, the topographical corps makes surveys for defences ; the navy officers make charts along the coast ; and the coast sur- vey goes over the same place a third time. If the officers did this work, the army might get the military information, and the navy the hy- drographical knowledge, which the interest of the country requires that each of these branches of the public defence should have ; and this, at the expense of but one survey ; for, at places where defences might be required, the survey could be done with the utmost minuteness. The officers of the army and navy need not clash. The topographical corps (aided by junior navy officers willing to serve under that bureau — and the recent Florida war and the present coast survey system, show that navy officers are willing to serve, for the public good, under other departments than their own) would do the topography and furnish the shore line. The hydrographical officers would receive the shore line, take the soundings, and make the chart. The same principle is now at work, and works well. The navy officers now get the shore line from the citizens in the shore par- ties. The President could direct the War and Navy Secretaries to make such rules, through the bureaus, as would obviate every difficulty. Employing officers would secure for the public, system, economy, and despatch. The informa- tion obtained would be got by the right persons and kept in the right hands. Government would have complete command of the persons employed ; and should the work ever be sus- pended, might, at pleasure, set them to work again on the same duty. The survey he wished to be prosecuted without delay; and all he wanted was to have it under the most efficient management. If it was found that the officers of the navy and army were not competent, it could be remedied hereafter ; but it was due to them to give them a fair trial, before they were condemned. Certainly they ought not to be disgraced and condemned in advance. It was an insult to them to suppose that Mr. Hassler was the only man in the country capable of su- perintending this work ; and that they could not carry on the survey of our coast by trian- gulation. They had been for some time, and were now, surveying the lakes ; and he believed their surveys would be equally correct with Mr. Hassler's. We had a bureau of hydrogra- phy of the navy, and a corps of topographical engineers, which were expressly created to per- form this kind of service ; while there was the military academy at West Point, which quali- fied the officers to perform it. The people would hardly believe that these officers (edu- cated at the expense of the government) were not capable of performing the services for which they were educated ; and if they thought so, they would be for abolishing that institution. They would say that these officers should be dismissed, and others appointed in their places, who were qualified. " He never could acknowledge that there was no other man but Mr. Hassler in the country capable of carrying on the work. This might have been the case when he was first appointed, thirty years ago ; but since that time they had a number of officers educated at the military academy, while many others in the civil walks of life had qualified themselves for scientific employments. He was sure that the officers of the army and navy were competent to per- form this work. There was but little now for the topographical engineers to do ; and he had no doubt that many of them, as well as officers of the navy, would be glad to be employed on the coast survey. Indeed, several officers of the navy had told him that they would like such employment, rather than be idle, as they then were. From the rate the coast survey had thus far proceeded, it would take more than a hun- dred years to complete it. Certainly this was too slow. He hoped, therefore, a change would be made. In the language of the report of Mr. Aycrigg : " We should then have the survey conducted on a system of practical utility, and moving right end foremost." These were wise suggestions, and unanswer- able ; but although they could not be answered, they could be prevented from becoming law. Instead of reform of abuses, reduction of ex- pense, and speedy termination of the work, all the evils intended to be reformed went on and became greater than ever, and all are still kept up upon the same arguments that sustained the former. It is worthy of note to hear the same reason now given for continuing the civilian, Mr. Bache, at the head of this work, which was given for thirty years for retaining Mr. Hassler ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 491 in the same place, namely, that there is no other man in the country that can conduct the work. But that is a tribute which servility and interest will pay to any man who is at the head of a great establishment ; and is always paid more punctually where the establishment ought to be abolished than where it ought to be preserved ; and for the obvious reason, that the better one can stand on its own merits, while the worse needs the support of incessant adulation. Mr. Brown's proposal was rejected — the other adopted ; and the coast survey now costs above five hundred thousand dollars a year in direct appropriations, besides an im- mense amount indirectly in the employment of government vessels and officers : and no pros- pect of its termination. But the friends of this great reform did not abandon their cause with the defeat of Mr. Brown's proposition. Another was offered by Mr. Aycrigg of New Jersey, who moved to discontinue the survey until a report could be made upon it at the next session ; and for this motion there were 75 yeas — a respect- able proportion of the House, but not a majori- ty. The yeas were : " Messrs. Landaff W. Andrews, Sherlock J. Andrews, Thomas D. Arnold, John B. Aycrigg, Alfred Babcock, Henry W. Beeson, Benjamin A. Bidlack, David Bronson, Aaron V. Brown, Milton Brown, Edmund Burke, William B. Campbell, Thomas J. Campbell, Robert L. Caruthers, Zadok Casey, Reuben Chapman, Thomas C. Chittenden, James Cooper, Mark A. Cooper, Benjamin S. Cowen, James H. Cra- vens, John R. J. Daniel, Garrett Davis, Ezra Dean, Edmund Deberry, Andrew W. Doig, John Edwards, John C. Edwards, Joseph Eg- bert, William P. Fessenden, Roger L. Gamble, Thomas W. Gilmer, Willis Green, William Hal- sted, Jacob Houck, jr., Francis James, Cave Johnson, Nathaniel S. Littlefield, Abraham McClellan, James J. McKay, Alfred Marshall, John Mattocks, John P. B. Maxwell, John Maynard, William Medill, Christopher Morgan, William M. Oliver, Bryan Y. Owsley, William W. Payne, Nathaniel G. Pendleton, Francis W. Pickens, John Pope, Joseph F. Randolph, Ken- neth Rayner, Abraham Rencher, John Rey- nolds, Romulus M. Saunders, Tristram Shaw, Augustine H. Shepperd, Benjamin G. Shields, William Slade, Samuel Stokely, Charles C. Stratton, John T. Stuart, John B. Thompson, Philip Triplett. Hopkins L. Turney, David Wallace, Aaron Ward, Edward D. White, Jo- seph L. White, Joseph L. Williams, Thomas Jones Yorke, John Young." The friends of economy in Congress, when once more strong enough to form a party, will have a sacred duty to perform to the country — that of diminishing, by nearly one-half, the present mad expenditures of the government: and the abolition of the present coast-survey establishment should be among the primary ob- jects of retrenchment. It is a reproach to our naval and military officers, and besides untrue in point of fact, to assume them to be incapable of conducting and of performing this work : it is a reproach to Congress to vote annually an immense sum on the civil superintendence and conduct of this work, when there are more idle officers on the pay-roll than could be employed upon it. CHAPTER CXVIII. DEATH OF COMMODORE PORTER, AND NOTICE OF HIS LIFE AND CHARACTER. The naval career of Commodore Porter illus- trates in the highest degree that which almost the whole of our naval officers, each according to his opportunity, illustrated more or less — the benefits of the cruising system in our naval warfare. It was the system followed in the war of the Revolution, in the quasi war with France, and in the war of 1812 — imposed upon us by necessity in each case, not adopted through choice. In neither of these wars did we possess ships-of-the-line and fleets to fight battles for the dominion of the seas ; fortunate- ly, we had not the means to engage in that ex- pensive and fatal folly ; but we had smaller ves- sels (frigates the largest) to penetrate every sea, attack every thing not too much over size, to capture merchantmen, and take shelter when pressed where ships-of-the-line and fleets could not follow. We had the enterprising officers which a system of separate commands so favor- ably developes, and the ardent seamen who looked to the honors of the service for their greatest reward. Wages were low; but re- ward was high when the man before the mast, or the boy in the cabin, could look upon his officer, and see in his past condition what he himself was, and in his present rank what he himself might be. Merit had raised one and might raise the other. 492 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. The ardor for the service was then great; the service itself heroic. A crew for a frigate has been raised in three hours. Instant sailing followed the reception of the order. Distant and dangerous ground was sought, fierce and desperate combat engaged ; and woe to the ene- my that was not too much over size ! Five, ten, twenty minutes would make her a wreck and a prize. Almost every officer that obtained a command showed himself an able commander. Every crew was heroic ; every cruise daring : every combat a victory, where proximate equal- ity rendered it possible. Never did any ser- vice, in any age or country, exhibit so large a proportion of skilful, daring, victorious com- manders, mainly developed by the system of warfare which gave so many a chance to show what they were. Necessity imposed that sys- tem ; judgment should continue it. Economy, efficiency, utility, the impossibility of building a navy to cope with the navies of the great maritime Powers, and the insanity of doing it if we could, all combine to recommend to the United States the system of naval warfare which does the most damage to the enemy with the least expense to ourselves, which avoids the expensive establishments which oppress the finances of other nations, and which ren- ders useless, for want of an antagonist, the great fleets which they support at so much cost. Universally illustrated as the advantages of this system were by almost all our officers in the wars of the Revolution, of '98, and 1812, it was the fortune of Commodore Porter, in the late war with Great Britain, to carry that illus- tration to its highest point, and to show, in the most brilliant manner, what an American cruiser could do. Of course we speak of his cruise in the Pacifie Ocean, prefaced by a little preliminary run to the Grand Banks, which may be considered as part of it — a cruise which the boy at school would read for its romance, the mature man for its history, the statesman for the lesson which it teaches. The Essex, a small frigate of thirty-two guns, chiefly carronades, and but little superior to a first-class sloop-of-war of the present day, with a crew of some three hundred men, had the honor to make this illustrious cruise. Leaving New York in June, soon after the declaration of war, and making some small captures, she ran up towards the Grand Banks, and in the night discovered a fleet steering north, all un- der easy sail and in open order, wide spaces being between the ships. From their numbers and the course they steered Captain Porter judged them to be enemies, and wished to know more about them. Approaching the sternmost vessel and enter- ing into conversation with her, he learnt that the fleet was under the convoy of a frigate, the Minerva, thirty-six guns, and a bomb-vessel, both then ahead ; and that the vessels of the fleet transported one thousand soldiers. He could have cut off this vessel easily, but the in- formation he had received opened a more bril- liant prospect. He determined to pass along through the fleet, the Essex being a good sailer, speaking the different vessels as he quietly passed them, get alongside of the frigate, and carry her by an energetic attack. In execution of this plan he passed on without exciting the least suspicion, and came up with the next ves- sel ; but this second one was more cautious than the first, and, on the Essex's ranging up alongside of her, she took alarm and announced her intention to give the signal of a stranger having joined the fleet. This put an end to disguise and brought on prompt action. The vessel, under penalty of being fired into, was instantly ordered to surrender and haul out of the convoy. This was so quietly done as to be unnoticed by the other ships. On taking pos- session of her she was found to be filled with soldiers, one hundred and fifty of them, and all made prisoners of war. A few days afterwards the Essex fell in with the man-of-war Alert, of twenty guns and a full crew. The Alert began the action. In eight minutes it was finished, and the British ship only saved from sinking by the help of her captors. It was the first British man-of-war taken in this contest, and so easily, that not the slightest injury was done to the Essex, either to the vessel or her crew. Crowded now with prisoners (for the crew of the Alert had to be taken on board, in addition to the one hundred and fifty soldiers and the previous captures), all chafing in their bondage, and ready to embrace the opportunity of the first action to rise, Captain Porter agreed with the commander of the Alert to convert her into a cartel, and send her into port at St. John's, ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 493 with the prisoners, to await their exchange. Continuing her cruise, the Essex twice fell in with the enemy's frigates having other vessels of war in company, so that a fair engagement was impossible. The Essex then returned to the Delaware to replenish her stores, and, sail- ing thence in October, 1812, she fairly com- menced her great cruise. Captain Porter was under orders to proceed to the coast of Brazil, and join Commodore Bainbridge at a given rendezvous, cruising as he went. It was not until after he had run the greater part of the distance, crossing the equa- tor, that he got sight of the first British vessel, a small man-of-war brig, discovered in the after- noon, chased, and come up with in the night, having previously boldly shown her national colors. The two vessels were then within musket shot. Not willing to hurt a foe too weak to fight him, Captain Porter hailed and required the brig to surrender. Instead of complying, the arrogant little man-of-war turned upon its pursuer, attempting to cross the stern of the Essex, with the probable design to give her a raking fire and escape in the dark. Still the captain would not open his guns upon so diminutive a foe until he had tried the effect of musketry upon her. A volley w r as fired into her, killing one man, when she struck. It w r as the British government packet Nocton, ten guns, thirty-one men, and having fifty-five thousand silver dollars on board. Pursuing his cruise south to the point of ren- dezvous, an English merchant vessel was cap- tured, one of a convoy of six which had left Rio the evening before in charge of a man-of- war schooner. The rest of the convoy was out of sight, but. taking its track, a long and fruit- less chase was given ; and the Essex repaired to the point of rendezvous, without meeting with further incident. Commodore Bainbridge had been there, and had left ; and, being now under discretionary orders, Captain Porter de- termined to use the discretion with which he was invested, and took the bold resolution to double Cape Horn, enter the Pacific Ocean, put twenty thousand miles between his vessel and an American port, and try his fortune among British whalers, merchantmen, and ships-of-war in that vast and remote sea. It was a bold enterprise, such as few govern- ments would have ordered, which many would have forbid, and which the undaunted resolu- tion of a bold commander alone could take. He had every thing against him : no depots, no means of repairing or refitting ; only one chart ; the Spanish American States subservient to the British, and unreliable for the impartiality of neutrals, much less for the sympathy of neigh- bors. He was deficient both in provisions and naval stores, but expected to furnish himself from the enemy, whose vessels in that capacious and distant sea, were always well supplied ; and the silver taken from the British govern- ment packet would be a means towards paying wages. In the middle of January, after a most tem- pestuous passage, he had doubled the Cape, en- tered the Pacific, his characteristic motto, Free Trade and Sailors' Rights, at the mast-head, and ran for Valparaiso — the great point of mar- itime resort in the South Pacific. He had ex- pected to find it a Spanish town, as it w r as when he left the United States : he found it Chilian, for Chili, in the meantime, had declared her independence: and this change he had a right to deem favorable, as, in addition to the advantages of conventional neutrality, it was fair to count upon the good feeling of a young and neighboring republic. In this he was not disappointed, being well received, meeting good treatment, obtaining supplies, and acquiring val- uable information. He learnt that the Ameri- can whalers were in great danger, most of them ignorant of the war, cruisers in pursuit of them, and one already taken. He learnt also that the Viceroy of Peru had sent out corsairs against American shipping — a piece of information of the highest moment, as it showed him an ene- my where he expected a neutral, and enabled him to know how to deal with Peruvian ships when he should meet them. This criminality on the part of the viceroy was the result of a conclusion of his own, that as Spain and Great Britain were allies against France, so they would soon be allies against the United States ; and that he, as a good Spanish viceroy should begin without waiting for the orders. This let Captain Porter see that he had two enemies in- stead of one to contend with in the Pacific ; and this information, as it showed increase of dan- ger to American interests, increased his ardor to go to their protection; which he promptly did. 494 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Barely taking time to hurry on board the sup- plies, which six months already at sea rendered indispensable, he was again in pursuit of the enenry, and soon had the good fortune to fall in with an American whale-ship, which gave the important intelligence that a Peruvian corsair had just captured two American whalers off Coquimbo and was making for that place, with a British vessel in company. This was excit- ing information, and presented a three-fold en- terprise to the chivalrous spirit of Porter — to rescue the American, punish the Peruvian, and capture the Englishman. Instantly all sail was set for Coquimbo, the American whaler which had given the information in company, and all hearts beating high with expectation, and with the prospect of performing some generous and gallant deed. In a few hours a strange sail was descried in the distance, with a smaller vessel in company ; and soon the sail was suspected to be a cruiser, disguised as a whaler. Then some pretty play took place, allowable in maritime war, although entirely a game of deception. The stranger showed Spanish colors ; the Essex showed English, and then fired a gun to leeward. The whaler in company with the Essex hoisted the American flag beneath the English jack. All these false indications are allowable to gain ad- vantages before fighting, but not to fight under, when true colors must be shown by the attack- ing ship under the penalty of piracy. Gun signals were then resorted to. The stranger fired a shot ahead of the Essex, as much as to say slop and talk ; the Essex fired a shot over him, signifying come nearer. She came, for the implication was that the next shot would be into her. When nearer, the stranger sent an armed boat to board the Essex ; but the boat was directed to return with an order to the stranger to pass under the frigate's lee (t. e. under her guns), and to send an officer on board to apologise for the shots he had fired at an English man-of-war. The order was promptly complied with. The stranger came under the lee of the Essex and sent her lieu- tenant on board, who, not suspecting where he was, readily told him that his ship was the Nereyda, Peruvian privateer, of fifteen guns and a full crew ; that they were cruising for Americans, and had already taken two (the same menti&ned by the whaler) j and that the smaller vessel in company was one of these. After giving this information he made the apology for the shot, which was that, having put one of their American prizes in charge of a small crew, the English letter-of-marque Nim- rod had fallen in with it and taken it from the crew, and that they were cruising for this Nim- rod with a view to obtain redress, and had mis- taken this frigate for her, and hence the shot ahead of her ; and hoped the explanation would constitute a sufficient apology. It did so ; Capt. Porter was perfectly satisfied with it, and still more so, with the information which accom- panied it. It placed the accomplishment of one of his three objects immediately in his hands, and the one perhaps dearest to his' heait — that of catching the Peruvian corsair which was preying upon American commerce. So, civilly dismissing the lieutenant, he waited until he had got aboard of the Nereyda, then run up the American flag, fired a shot over the corsair, and stood ready to fire into her. The caution was sufficient : the Peruvian surrendered im- mediately, with her prize. Thus was the pirati- cal capture of two American whalers promptly chastised, and one of them released, and the Peruvian informed that he and his countrymen were cruising against Americans in mistake, and would be treated as pirates if they con- tinued the practice. This admonition put an end to Peruvian seizure of American vessels. Believing that the other American whaler captured by the Nereyda, and taken from her prize-crew by the Nimrod would be carried to Lima, Captain Porter immediately bore away for its port (Callao), approached it, hauled off to watch, saw three vessels standing in, prepared to cut them off, and especially the foremost, which he judged to be an American. She was so, and was cut off— the very whaler he was in search of. It was the Barclay ; and the master, crew and all, so rejoiced at their release that they immediately joined their deliverer. The Barclay became the consort of the Essex ; her crew enlisted under Porter ; the master became (what he greatly needed) a pilot for him in the vast and unknown sea he was traversing. There was now a good opportunity to look into this most frequented of Peruvian ports, which Cap- tain Porter did, showing English colors ; and, seeing nothing within that he would have a ANNO 184S. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 495 right to catch when it came out, nor gaining any special information, and finding that nothing had occurred there to make known his arrival in the Pacific, he immediately sailed again, to make the most of his time before the fact of his presence should be known and the alarm spread. He stood across the main towards Chatham Island and Charles Island, approaching which three sail were discovered in the same moment — two in company, the other apart and in a different direction. The one apart was attended to first, pursued, summoned, captured, and proved to be the fine British whaler Montezuma, with four- teen hundred barrels of oil on board. A crew was put on board of her, and chase given to the other two. They had taken the alarm, seeing what was happening to the Montezuma, and were doing their best to escape. The Essex gained upon them ; but when within eight miles it fell calm, dead still — one of those atmospheric stagnations frequent in the South Sea. Sailing ceased ; boats were hoisted out ; the first lieu- tenant, Downes, worthy second to Porter, was put in command. Approached within a quarter of a mile, the two ships showed English colors and fired several guns. Economizing powder and time, the boats only replied with their oars, pulling hard to board quick ; seeing which the two ships struck, each in succession, as the boarders were closing. They proved to be the Georgiana and the Policy, both whalers, the former built for the East India service, pierced for eighteen guns, and having six mounted when taken. Having the reputation of a fast vessel, the captain determined to equip her as a cruiser, which was done with her own guns and those of the Policy — this latter, like the Georgiana, pierced for eighteen guns, but mounting ten. A very proper compliment was paid to Lieut. Downes in giving him the command of this British ship, thus added to the American navy with his good exertions. An armament of 16 guns, and a crew of 41 men, and her approved commander, it was believed would make her an over-match for any English letters of marque, supposed to be cruising among these islands, and justify occasional separate expeditions. By these three captures Capt. Porter was en- abled to consummate the second part of his plan — that of living upon the enemy. He got out of them ample supplies of beeij bread, pork, water, and Gallipagos tortoises. Besides food for the men, many articles were obtained for repairing his own ship: and accordingly the rigging was overhauled and tarred down, many new spars were fitted, new cordage supplied, the Essex repainted — all in the middle of the Pacific, and at the expense of a Power boasting great fleets, formidable against other fleets, but useless against a daring little cruiser. Getting into his field of operation in the month of April, Capt. Porter had already five vessels under his command — the Montezuma, the Georgiana, the Barclay, and the Policy, in addition to the Essex. All cruising together towards the middle of that month, and near sunset in the evening, a sail was perceived in the distant horizon. A night-chase might per- mit her to escape ; a judicious distribution of his little squadron, without alarming, might keep her in view till morning. It was dis- tributed accordingly. At daylight the sail was still in sight, and, being chased, she was soon overtaken and captured. It was the British whaler Atlantic, 355 tons, 24 men, pierced for 20 guns, and carrying 8 18-pounder carronades. While engaged in this chase another sail was discovered, pursued, and taken. It was the Greenwich, of 338 tons, 18 guns, and 25 men ; and like the other was an English letter of marque. In the meanwhile the now little man-of-war, the Georgiana, under Lieut. Downes, made a brief excursion o,f her own among the islands, apart from the Essex, and with brilliant success. He took, without resistance, the British whale ships Catherine, of 270 tons, 8 guns, and 29 men, and Rose, of 220 tons, 8 guns and 21 men; and, after a sharp combat, a third whaler, the Hector, 270 tons, 25 men, pierced for 20 guns and 11 mounted. In this action the lieutenant, after having manned his two prizes, had but 21 men and boys left to manage his ship, fight the Hector, and keep down fifty prisoners. After manning the Hector and taking her crew on board his own vessel, he had but ten men to perform the double duty of working the vessel and guarding seventy-three prisoners; yet he brought all safe to his captain, who then had a little fleet of nine sail under his command, all of his own creation, and created out of the enemy. The class of some of his prizes enabled the 496 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. captain to increase the efficiency of his force by some judicious changes. The Atlantic, being nearly one hundred tons larger than the Georgiana, a faster ship, and every way a better cruiser, was converted into a sloop-of-war, armed with twenty guns, manned by sixty men, named the Essex Junior ; and the intrepid Downes put in command of her. The Green- wich, also armed with guns, but only a crew to work her (for so many prizes to man left their cruisers with their lowest number,) was con- verted into a store-ship, and received all the spare stores of the other ships. A few days afterwards the Sir Andrew Hammond was captured, believed to be about the last of the British whalers in those parts, and among the finest. She was a ship of three hundred and ten tons, twelve guns, and thirty-one men ; and had a large supply of beef, pork, bread, wood, and water — adding sensibly to the supplies of the little fleet. The fourth of July, arrived and was gaily kept, and with the triumph of victorious feel- ings, firing salutes with British guns, charged with British powder. It was a proud celebra- tion, and must have looked like an illusion of the senses to the British prisoners, accustomed to extol their country as the mistress of the seas, and to consider American ships as the impressment ground of the British navy. The celebration over, the little fleet divided ; Essex Junior bound to Valparaiso, with the Hector, Catherine, Policy, and Montezuma, prizes, and the Barclay, re-captured ship, under convoy. The Essex, with the Greenwich and Georgiana, steered for the Gallipagos Islands, and fell in with three sail at once, the whole of which were eventually captured: one, the English whaler Charlton, of 274 tons, ten guns, and 21 men ; another, the largest of the three, the Seringa- patam, of 357 tons, 14 guns, and 40 men ; the smallest of the three, the New Zealander, 260 tons, 8 guns, and 23 men. Here were 900 tons of shipping, 32 guns, and 75 men all taken at once, and, as it were, at a single glance at the sea. The Seringapatam had been built for a cruiser, and, of all the ships in the Pacific, was the most dangerous to American commerce. It had just come out, and had already made a prize. Find- ing that the master had no commission, and that he had commenced cruising in anticipation of one, and thereby subjected himself to be treated as a pirate, Captain Porter had him put in irons, and sent to the United States to be tried for his life. While finding himself encum- bered with prisoners, and his active strength impaired by the guards they required, he re- leased a number on parole, and gave them up one of the captured ships (the Charlton) to proceed to Rio Janeiro. The Georgiana and the New Zealander were despatched to the United States, each laden with the oil taken from the British whalers. Encumbered with prizes, as well as with prisoners, and no American port in which to place them (for the mouth of the Co- lumbia, though claimed by the United States since 1804. and settled under Mr. John Jacob Astor since 1811, had not then been nationally occupied), Captain Porter undertook to provide a place of his own. Repairing to the wild and retired island of Nooaheevah, he selected a se- questered inlet, built a little fort upon it, warped three of his prizes under its guns, left a little garrison of twenty-one men under Lieutenant Gamble to man it, and then went upon another cruise. The story of the remainder of his cruise is briefly told. He had learnt that the British government, thoroughly aroused by his opera- tions in the Pacific, had sent'out a superior force to capture him. Taking the Essex Junior with him, he sailed for Valparaiso, entered the har- bor, and soon a superior British frigate and a sloop of war entered also. Captain Hillyar, for that was the British captain's name, saluted the American frigate courteously, inquiring for the health of Captain Porter ; but the British frigate (the Phoebe) came so near that a collision seemed inevitable, and looked as if intended, her men being at quarters and ready for action. In a moment Captain Porter was equally ready, and that either for boarding or raking, for the ves- sels had got so close that the Phcebe, in hauling off, passed her jib-boom (that spar which runs out from the bowsprit) over the deck of the Essex, and lay with her bow to the broadside of the American. It was a fatal position, and would have subjected her to immediate capture or destruction, justifiable by the undue intimacy of an enemy. Captain Porter might have fired into her ; but, reluctant to attack in a neutral port, he listened to the protestations of the British captain, accepted his declaration of in- ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 497 nocent intentions and accidental contact, and permitted him to haul off from a situation in which he could have been destroyed in a few minutes. Could he have foreseen what was to happen to himself soon after in the same port, he could not have been so forbearing to the foe nor so respectful to the Chilian authorities. For six weeks the hostile vessels watched each other, the British vessel sometimes lying off and on outside of the harbor, and when so at sea the Essex going out and offering to fight her single handed; for the Essex Junior was too light to be of any service in a frigate fight. Other British ships of war being expected at Valparaiso, and no combat to be had with the Phcebe without her attendant sloop, Captain Porter determined to take his opportunity to escape from the harbor — which the superior sailing of the Essex would enable him to do when the British ships were a few miles off, as they often were — Essex Junior escaping at the same time by parting company, as it was certain that both the British ships would follow the American frigate. March 28th, 1813, was a favorable day for the attempt — the wind right, the enemy far enough out, and the Essex in perfect order for fighting or sailing. The attempt was made, and with success, until, doubling a headland which formed part of the harbor, a squall carried away the maintopmast, crippling the ship and greatly dis- abling her. Capt. Porter put back for the har- bor, and though getting within it, and within pistol shot of the shore, and within half a mile from a detached battery, could not reach the usual anchoring ground before the approach of the enemy compelled him to clear for action. A desperate but most unequal combat raged for near three hours — an inferior crippled frigate contending with a frigate and a sloop in perfect order. The crippled mast of the Essex allowed the enemy to choose his distance, which he al- ways did with good regard to his own safety, using his long eighteens at long distances — keeping out of the reach of Porter's carronades, out of the reach of boarding, and only within range of six long twelves which played with such effect that at the end of half an hour both British ships hauled off to repair damages. Having repaired, both returned, and got such a position that not a gun of the crippled Essex could bear upon them. An attempt was made Vol. IL— 32 to close upon them and get near enough to crip- ple the sloop and drive her out of the fight for the remainder of the action ; but the frigate edged away, choosing her distance, and using her long guns with terrible effect upon the Es- sex, which could not send back a single shot. The brave and faithful Downes pulled through the fire of the enemy in an open boat to take the orders of his captain ; but his light guns could be of no service, and he was directed to look to his own ship. Twice more the Essex endeavored to close upon the British frigate, but she edged away each time, keeping the dis tance which was safe to himself and destructive to the Essex. By this time half the whole crew were killed or wounded, and the ship on fire. Capt. Porter then attempted to run her on shore ; but the wind failed when within musket shot of the land. Leave was then given to the crew to save themselves by swimming, which but few would do. At last the surrender be came imperative. The Essex struck, and her heroic commander and surviving men and offi cers became prisoners of war. Thousands ol persons — all Valparaiso — witnessed the combat. The American consul, Mr. Poinsett, witnessed it and claimed the protection of the fort, only to receive evasive answers, as the authorities were now favorable to the British. It was a clear case of violated neutrality, tried by any rule. First, the Essex was within the harbor, though not at the usual anchoring place, which she could not reach ; secondly, she was under the guns of the detached fort, only half a mile dis- tant ; thirdly, she was within the territorial jurisdiction of Chili, whether measured by the league or by the range of cannon, and no dispute about either, as the shore was at hand, and the British balls which missed the Essex hit the land. After the surrender some arrangements were made with Capt. Hillyar. Some prisoners were exchanged upon the spot, part of those made by Capt. Porter being available for an equal number of his own people. Essex Junior be- came a cartel to carry home himself and officers and others of his men on parole ; but this man of daring deeds was not allowed to reach home without another proof of his determined spirit When within thirty miles of New York, Essex Junior was brought to by the British razee Saturn, Capt. Nash, who denied the right of' 498 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Capt. Hillyar to allow the cartel, and ordered her to lie by him during the night. Capt Por- ter put off in a whale-boat, and, though long chased, saved himself by the chance of a fog coming to the aid of hard rowing. And thus ended this unparalleled cruise — ending with a disaster. But the end could not efface the past ; could not undo the captures which had been made ; could not obscure the glory which had been acquired ; cannot impair the lesson which its results impress on the minds of statesmen. It had lasted eighteen months, and during that time the little frigate had done every thing for itself and the country. It had lived and flourished upon the enemy. Not a dollar had been drawn from the public Treasury, either for pay or supplies ; all came from the foe. Money, provisions, munitions, additional arms, spars, cordage, rigging, and vessels to constitute a little fleet, all came from the British. Far more than enough for all pur- poses was taken and much destroyed ; for dam- age as well as protection was an object of the expedition — damage to the British, protection to Americans ; and nobly were both objects ac- complished. Surpluses, as far as possible, were sent home; and, though in part recaptured, these accidents did not diminish the merit of the original capture. The great whale trade of the British in the Pacific was broken up, the supply of oil was stopped, the London lamps were in the condition of those of the " foolish virgins," and a member of Parliament declared in his place that the city had burnt dark for a year. The personal history of Commodore Porter, for such he became, was full of incident and ad- venture, all in keeping with his generous and heroic character. Twice while a lad and serving in merchant vessels in the West Indies, he was impressed by the British, and, by his eourage and conduct made his escape, each time. A third attempt at impressment was repulsed by the bloody defeat of the press-gang. The same at- tempt, renewed with increased numbers, was again repulsed with loss to the British party — young Porter, only sixteen, among the most courageous defenders of the vessel. He was upwards of a year a prisoner at Tripoli, being first lieutenant on board the Philadelphia when she grounded before that city and was captured. He was midshipman with the then Lieutenant Rodgers, when the two young officers and eleven men performed that marvel of endurance, firm- ness, steadiness, and seamanship, in working for three days and nights, without sleep or rest, on the French frigate Insurgent, guarding all the time their 173 prisoners, and conducting the prize safe into port — as related in the notice of Commodore Rodgers. After his return from the Pacific, he was em- ployed in suppressing piracy in the West Indies, which he speedily accomplished ; but for punish- ing an insult to the flag in the island of Porto Rico, he incurred the displeasure of his govern- ment, and the censure of a court martial. His proud spirit would not brook a censure which he deemed undeserved ; and he resigned his commission in the navy, of which he was so brilliant an ornament. TJie writer of this View was a close observer of that trial, and believed the Commodore to have been hardly dealt by, and considered the result a confirmation of his general view of courts martial where the govern- ment interferes — an interference (when it hap- pens) generally for a purpose, either to convict or acquit ; and rarely failing of its object in either case, as the court is appointed by the government, dependent upon it for future honor and favor, acts in secret, and subject to the ap- proval of the Executive. Stung to the quick by such requital of his services, the brave officer resigned his commis- sion, and left the country which he had served so faithfully, and loved so well, and took ser- vice in the Republic of Mexico, then lately be- come independent and desirous to create a navy. But he was not allowed to live and mourn an exile in a foreign land. President Jackson pro- posed to restore him to his place in the navy, but he refused the restoration upon the same ground that he had resigned upon — would not remain in a service under an unreversed sentence of unjust censure. President Jackson then gave him the place of Consul General at Algiers ; and, upon the reduction of that place by the French, appointed him the United States Charge d' Af- faires to the Sublime Porte — a mission after- wards raised to Minister Resident by act of Congress for his special benefit. The Sultan Mahmoud — he who suppressed the Janissaries, introduced European reforms, and so greatly favored Christians and strangers — was then on the throne, and greatly attached to the Com- ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 499 modore, whose conversation and opinions he often sought. He died in this post, and was brought home to be buried in the country which gave him birth, and which no personal wrong could make him cease to love. A national ship of war, the Trux'ton, brought him home — a deli- cate compliment in the selection of the vessel bearing the name of the commander under whom he first served. Humanity was a ruling feature in his charac- ter, and of this he gave constant proof— humane to the enemy as well as to his own people. Of his numerous captures he never made one by bloodshed when milder means could prevail ; always preferring, by his superior seamanship, to place them in predicaments which coerced surrender. Patriotism was a part of his soul. He was modest and unpretentious ; never seem- ing to know that he had done things of which the world talked, and of which posterity would hear. He was a "lion" nowhere but on the quarter-deck, and in battle with the enemies of his country. He was affectionate to his friends and family, just and kind to his men and officers, attaching all to him for life and for death. His crew remaining with him when their terms were expiring in the Pacific, and refusing to quit their commander when authorized to do so at Valpa- raiso, were proofs of their devotion and affec- tion. Detailed history is not the object of this no- tice, but character and instruction — the deeds which show character, and the actions which instruct posterity ; and in this view his career is a lesson for statesmen to study — to study in its humble commencement as well as in its daz- zling and splendid culmination. Schools do not form such commanders; and, if they did, the wisdom of government would not detect the future illustrious captain in the man before the mast, or in the boy in the cabin. Born in Bos- ton, the young Porter came to man's estate in Baltimore, and went to sea at sixteen in the merchant ship commanded by his father — the worthy father of such a son — making many voyages to the West Indies. There he earned his midshipman's warrant, and there he learned the seamanship which made him the worthy second of Rodgers in that marvellous manage- ment of the Insurgent, which faithful history will love to commemorate. Self-made in the beginning, he was self-acting through life, and will continue to act upon posterity, if amenable to the lesson taught by his life : the merchant service, the naval school, cruisers, the naval force, separate commands for young men. With a little 32 gun frigate, all carronades except a half-dozen stern chasers, and they only twelve- pounders, he dominated for a year in the vast Pacific Ocean ; with a 44 and her attendant sloop-of-war, brig, and schooner, he would have dominated there to the end of the war. He was the Paul Jones of the " second war of Inde- pendence," with a more capacious and better regulated mind, and had the felicity to trans- mit as well as to inherit the qualities of a com- mander. The name of Porter is yet borne with honorable promise on the roll of the American navy. CHAPTER CXIX. REFUNDING OF GENERAL JACKSON'S FINE, During his defence of New Orleans in the winter of 1814-'15, General Jackson was ad- judged to have committed a contempt of court, in not producing the body of a citizen in obedi- ence to a writ of habeas corpus, whom he had arrested under martial law which he had pro- claimed and enforced for the defence of the city. He was fined for the contempt, and paid it himself, refusing to permit his friends, and even the ladies of New Orleans who presented the money ($1,000), to pay it for him. He submitted to the judgment of the court, paying the amount before he left the court room, but protesting against it as an illegal exaction, and as involving the imputation of illegality on his conduct. This conveyed a reproach under which he was always sensitive, but to relieve himself from which he would countenance no proceeding while he was still on the theatre of public action, and especially while he was President. His retirement to private life re- moved the obstacle to the action of his friends, and soon thereafter Mr. Linn, a senator from the State of Missouri, brought in a bill for re- funding the fine. This was a quarter of a century after it had been imposed. On getting notice of this proceeding General Jackson wrote 500 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. a letter to Senator Linn, of which the leading paragraphs are here given. "Having observed in the newspapers that you had given notice of your intention to intro- duce a bill to refund to me the fine (principal and interest) imposed by Judge Hall, for the declaration of martial law at New Orleans, it was my determination to address you on the sub- ject ; but the feeble state of my health has here- tofore prevented it. I felt that it was my duty to thank you for this disinterested and voluntary act of justice to my character, and to assure you that it places me under obligations which I shall always acknowledge with gratitude. " It is not the amount of the fine that is im- portant to me : but it is the fact that it was imposed for reasons which were not well founded ; and for the exercise of an authority which was necessary to the successful defence of New Orleans ; and without which, it must be now obvious to all the world, the British would have been in possession, at the close of the war, of that great emporium of the West. In this point of view it seems to me that the country is interested in the passage of the bill ; for exigencies like those which existed at New Orleans may again arise ; and a com- manding-general ought not to be deterred from taking the necessary responsibility by the re- flection that it is in the power of a vindictive judge to impair his private fortune, and place a stain upon his character which cannot be re- moved. I would be the last man on earth to do any act which would invalidate the principle that the military should always be subjected to the civil power ; but I contend, that at New Orleans no measure was taken by me which was at war with this principle, or which, if properly understood, was not necessary to pre- serve it. "When I declared martial law, Judge Hall was in the city ; and he visited me often, when the propriety of its declaration was discussed, and was recommended by the leading and pa- triotic citizens. Judging from his actions, he appeared to approve it. The morning the order was issued he was in my office ; and when it was read, he was heard to exclaim : ' Now the country may be saved : without it, it was lost/ How he came afterwards to unite with the treacherous and disaffected, and, by the exercise of his power, endeavored to paralyze my exer- tions, it is not necessary here to explain. It was enough for me to know, that if I was ex- cusable in the declaration of martial law in order to defend the city when the enemy were besieging it, it was right to continue it until all danger Was over. For full information on this part of the subject, I refer you to my defence under Judge Hall's rule for me to appear and show cause why an attachment should not issue for a contempt of court. This defence is in the appendix to ' Eaton's Life of Jackson.' " There is no truth in the rumor which you notice, that the fine he imposed was paid by others. Every cent of it was paid by myself. When the sentence was pronounced, Mr. Abner L. Duncan (who had been one of my aides-de- camp, and was one of my counsel), hearing me request Major Reed to repair to my quarters and bring the sum — not intending to leave the room until the fine was paid — asked the clerk if he would take his check. The clerk replied in the affirmative, and Mr. Duncan gave the check. I then directed my aide to proceed forth- with, get the money, and meet Mr. Duncan's check at the bank and take it up ; which was done. These are the facts ; and Major Davezac, now in the Assembly of New York, can verify them. " It is true, as I was informed, that the ladies did raise the amount to pay the fine and costs ; but when I heard of it, I advised them to apply it to the relief of the widows and orphans that had been made so by those who had fallen in the defence of the country. It was so applied, as I had every reason to believe ; but Major Davezac can tell you more particularly what was done with it." The refunding of the fine in the sense of a pecuniary retribution, was altogether refused and repulsed both by General Jackson and his friends. He would only have it upon the ground of an illegal exaction — as a wrongful exercise of authority — and as operating a decla- ration that, in declaring martial law, and im- prisoning the citizen under it, and in refusing to produce his body upon a writ of habeas cor- pus, and sending the judge himself out of the city, he was justified by the laws of the land in all that he did. Congress was quite ready, by a general vote, to refund the fine in a way that would not commit members on the point of legality. It was a thing constantly done in the case of officers sued for official acts, and without strict inquiry into the legality of the act where the officer was acting in good faith for the public service. In all such cases Congress readily as- sumed the pecuniary consequences of the act, either paying the fine, or damages awarded, or restoring it after it had been paid. General Jackson might have had his fine refunded in the same way without opposition ; but it was not the money, but release from the impu- tation of illegal conduct that he desired ; and with a view to imply that release the bill was drawn: and that made it the subject of an earnestly contested debate in both Houses. In the Senate, where the bill originated, Mr. Tap- pan of Ohio, vindicated the recourse to martial ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 501 law, and as being necessary for the safety of the city. " I ask you to consider the position in which he was placed ; the city of New Orleans was, from the necessity of the case, his camp ; the British, in superior force, had landed, and were eight or nine miles below the city ; within three hours' march; in his camp were many over whom he had no control, whom he could not prevent (or punish by any process of civil law) from conveying intelligence to the enemy of his numbers, means of defence or offence, as well as of his intended or probable movements ; was not the entire command of his own camp neces- sary to any efficient action ? It seems to me that this cannot be doubted. In time of war, when the enemy's force is near, and a battle is impending, if your general is obliged, by the necessities of his position, and the propriety of his operations, to occupy a city as his camp, he must have the entire command of such city, for the plain reason that it is impossible, without such command, to conduct his operations with that secrecy which is necessary to his success. The neglect, therefore, to take such command, would be to neglect the duty which his country had imposed upon him. I perceive but two ways in which General Jackson could have ob- tained the command of his own camp ; one was by driving all the inhabitants out of the city, the other by declaring martial law. He wisely and humanely chose the latter, and by so doing, saved the city from being sacked and plundered, and its inhabitants from being outraged or de- stroyed by the enemy." But this arrest of a citizen, and refusal to obey a writ of habeas corpus, was after the British had been repulsed, and after a rumor of peace had arrived at the city, but a rumor com- ing through a British commander, and therefore not to be trusted by the American general. He thought the peace a probable, but by no means a certain event : and he could not upon a prob- ability relax the measures which a sense of danger had dictated. The reasons for this were given by the General himself in his answer to show cause why the rule which had been granted should not be made absolute. " The enemy had retired from their position, it is true ; but they were still on the coast, and within a few hours' sail of the city. They had been defeated, and with loss; but that loss was to be repaired by expected reinforcements. Their numbers much more than quadrupled all the regular forces which the respondent could command ; and the term of service of his most efficient militia force was about to expire. Defeat, to a powerful and active enemy, was more likely to operate as an incentive to renewed and increased exertion, than to inspire them with despondency, or to paralyze their efforts. A treaty, it is true, had been probably signed, but yet it might not be ratified. Its contents even had not transpired ; so that no reasonable conjecture could be formed whether it would be acceptable ; and the influence which the ac- count of the signature had on the army was deleterious in the extreme, and showed a neces- sity for increased energy, instead of relaxation of discipline. Men who had shown themselves zealous in the preceding part of the campaign, became lukewarm in the service. Wicked and weak men, who, from their situation in life, ought to have furnished a better example, secretly encouraged the spirit of insubordina- tion. They affected to pity the hardships of those who were kept in the field ; they fomented discontent, by insinuating that the merits of those to whom they addressed themselves, had not been sufficiently noticed or applauded ; and disorder rose to such an alarming height, that at one period only fifteen men and one officer were found out of a whole regiment, stationed to guard the very avenue through which the enemy had penetrated into the country. At another point, equally important, a whole corps, on which the greatest reliance had been placed, operated upon by the acts of a foreign agent, suddenly deserted their post. If, trusting to an uncertain peace, the respondent had revoked his proclamation, or ceased to act under it, the fatal security by which they were lulled, would have destroyed all discipline, dissolved all his force, and left him without any means of defending the country against an enemy instructed by the traitors within our bosom, of the time and place at which he might safely make his attack. In such an event, his life, which would certainly have been offered up, would have been but a feeble expiation for the disgrace and misery into which his criminal negligence would have plunged the country." A newspaper in the city published an inflam- matory article, assuming the peace to be cer- tain, though not communicated by our govern- ment, inveighed against the conduct of the General in keeping up martial law as illegal and tyrannical, incited people to disregard it, and plead the right of volunteers to disband who had engaged to serve during the war. Louallier, a member of the General Assembly, was given up as the author of the article : the General had him arrested and confined : Judge Hall issued a writ of habeas corpus to release his body : General Jackson ordered the Judge out of the city, and sent a guard to conduct him out. All this took place on the 10th and 11th of March : on the 13th authentic news of the 502 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. peace arrived, and the martial law ceased to exist. Judge Hall returned to the city, and Mr. Tappan thus relates what took place : " Instead of uniting with the whole popula- tion, headed by their venerable bishop, in joy and thankfulness for a deliverance almost mi- raculous, achieved by the wisdom and energy of the General and the gallantry of his army, he was brooding over his own imaginary wrongs, and planning some method to repair his wounded dignity. On this day, twenty- seven years ago, he caused a rule of the district court to be served on General Jackson, to ap- pear before him and show cause why an attach- ment should not issue against him for : — 1st. Refusing to obey a writ issued by Judge Hall. 2d. Detaininig an original paper belonging to the court. And 3d, for imprisoning the Judge. The first cause was for the General refusing to obey a writ of habeas corpus in the case of Louallier ; the second for detaining the writ. The whole of these three causes assigned are | founded on the hypothesis, that instead of Gen- j eral Jackson having command of his camp, he exercised a limited authority under the control of the civil magistracy. I trust I have satisfied ! you that martial law did in fact exist, and of \ necessary consequence, that Judge Hall's au- j thority was suspended. If he was injured by I it, surely he was not the proper person to try j General Jackson for that injur} r . The princi- i pal complaint against General Jackson was for | imprisoning the Judge. The imprisonment consisted in sending an officer to escort him out of camp ; and for this, instead of taking the regular legal remedy, by an action for assault and false imprisonment, in the State court, which was open to him as well as every other citizen, he called the General to answer before himself. He went before the Judge and proffered to show cause ; the Judge would not permit him to do this, nor would he allow him to assign his rea- sons in writing for his conduct, but, without trial, without a hearing of his defence, he fined him one thousand dollars. You all know the conduct of the General on that occasion; he saved the Judge from the rising indignation of the people and paid his fine to the United States marshal. These proceedings of Judge Hall were not only exceedingly outrageous, but they were wholly illegal and void ; for, as says an eminent English jurist, ' even an act of parlia- ment cannot make a man a judge in his own cause.' This was truly and wholly the cause of the Judge himself. If a law of Congress had existed which authorized him to sit in judgment upon any man for an injury inflicted upon him- self, such a law would have been a mere dead letter, and the Judge would have been bound to disregard it. It was the violation of this prin- ciple of jurisprudence which aroused the indig- nation of the people and endangered the life of this contemptible judge. I am aware of the law of contempt ; it is the power of self-preserva- tion given to the courts ; it results from neces- sity alone, and extends no further than neces- sity strictly requires ; it has no power to avenge the wrongs and injuries done to the judge, un- less those wrongs obstruct the regular course of justice. I am aware also of the manner in which the law of contempt has been adminis- tered in our courts where no statute law regu- lated it, and it was left to the discretion of the judges to determine what was or was not a contempt. In one case a man was fined for contempt for reviewing the opinion of a judge in a newspaper. This judge was impeached be- fore this body and acquitted, because not quite two-thirds of the Senate voted him guilty. Some senators, thinking probably that as Con- ' gress had neglected to pass a law on the sub- ject of contempt, the judge had nothing to govern his discretion in the matter, and there- fore ought not to be convicted. Congress im- mediately passed such a law, and no contempts have occurred since in the United States courts." The speech of Judge Tappan covered the facts of the case, upon which, and other speeches de- livered,, the Senate made up its mind, and the bill was passed, though upon a good division, and a visible development of party lines. The yeas were : "Messrs. Allen, Bagby, Benton, Buchanan, Calhoun, Cuthbert, Fulton, Graham. Hender- son, King, Linn, McDuffie, McRoberts, Man- gum, Rives, Sevier, Smith of Connecticut, Smith of Indiana, Sprague, Sturgeon, Tallmadge, Tap- pan, Walker, Wilcox, Williams, Woodbury, Wright, Young— 28." The nays were : " Messrs. Archer, Barrow, Bates, Bayard, Ber- rien, Choate, Clayton, Conrad, Crafts, Critten- den, Dayton, Evans, Huntington, Kerr, Merrick, Miller, Morehead, Phelps, White, Woodbridge —20." In the House it was well supported by Mr. Charles Jared Ingersoll, and others, and passed at the ensuing session by a large majority — 158 to 28. This gratifying result took place before the death of General Jackson, so that he had the consolation of seeing the only two acts which impugned the legality of any part of his conduct — the senatorial condemnation for the removal of the deposits, and the proceedings in New Orleans under martial law — both con- demned by the national representation, and the judicial record as well as the Senate journal, left free from imputation upon him. ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 503 CHAPTER CXX. EEPEAL OF THE BANKRUPT ACT: ATTACK OF ME. CUSHING ON ME. CLAY : ITS EEBUKE. This measure was immediately commenced in the House of Representatives, and pressed with vigor to its conclusion. Mr. Everett, of Ver- mont, brought in the repeal bill on leave, and after a strenuous contest from a tenacious mi- nority, it was passed by the unexpected vote of two to one — to be precise — 140 to 72. In the Senate it had the same success, and greater, being passed by nearly three to one — 34 to 13 : and the repealing act being carried to Mr. Ty- ler, he signed it as promptly as he had signed the bankrupt act itself. This was a splendid victory for the minority who had resisted the passage of the bill, and for the people who had condemned it. The same members, sitting in the same chairs, who a year and a half before, passed the act, now repealed it. The same President who had recommended it in a mes- sage, and signed the act as soon as it passed, now signed the act which put an end to its ex- istence. A vicious and criminal law, corruptly passed, and made the means of passing two other odious measures, was itself now brought to judgment, condemned, and struck from the statute-book ; and this great result was the work of the people. All the authorities — legis- lative, executive, and judicial — had sustained the act. Only one judge in the whole United States (R. W. Wells, Esq., United States dis- trict judge for Missouri), condemned it as un- constitutional. All the rest sustained it, and he was overruled. But the intuitive sense of honor and justice in the people revolted at it. They rose against it in masses, and condemned it in every form — in public meetings, in legisla- tive resolves, in the press, in memorials to Con- gress, and in elections. The tables of the two Houses were loaded with petitions and remon- strances, demanding the repeal, and the mem- bers were simply the organs of the people in pronouncing it. Never had the popular voice been more effective — never more meritoriously raised. The odious act was not only repealed, but its authors rebuked, and compelled to pro- nounce the rebuke upon themselves. It was a proud and triumphant instance of the innate, upright sentiment of the people, rising above all the learning and wisdom of the constituted au- thorities. Nor was it the only instance. The bankrupt act of forty years before, though strictly a bankrupt act as known to the legisla- tion of all commercial countries, was repealed within two years after its passage — and that by the democratic administration of Mr. Jefferson : this of 1841, a bankrupt act only in name— an act for the abolition of debts at the will of the debtor in reality— had a still shorter course, and a still more ignominious death. Two such condemnations of acts for getting rid of debts, are honorable to the people, and bespeak a high degree of reverence for the sacred obligations between debtor and creditor ; and while credit is due to many of the party discriminated as federal in 1800, and as whig in 1840 (but al- ways the same), for their assistance in con- demning these acts, yet as party measures, the honor of resisting their passage and conducting their repeal, in both instances, belongs to the democracy. The repeal of this act, though carried by such large majorities, and so fully in accordance with the will of the people, was a bitter mortifica- tion to the administration. It was their mea- sure, and one of their measures of "relief" to the country. Mr. Webster had drawn the bill, and made the main speech for it in the Senate, before he went into the cabinet. Mr. Tyler had recommended it in a special message, and promptly gave it his approving signature. To have to sign a repeal bill, so soon, condemning what he had recommended and approved, was most unpalatable : to see a measure intended for the " relief " of the people repulsed by those it was intended to relieve, was a most unwel- come vision. From the beginning the repeal was resisted, and by a species of argument, not addressed to the merits of the measure, but to the state of parties, the conduct of men, and the means of getting the government carried on. Mr. Caleb Cushing was the organ of the Presi- dent, and of the Secretary of State in the House ; and, identifying himself with these two in his attacks and defences, he presented a sort of triumvirate in which he became the spokes man of the others. In this character he spoke often, and with a zeal which outran discretion, and brought him into much collision with the 504 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. House, and kept him much occupied in defend- ing himself, and the two eminent personages who were not in a position to speak for them- selves. A few passages from these speeches, from both sides, will be given to show the state of men and parties at that time, and how much personal considerations had to do with transact- ing the business of Congress. Thus : " Mr. Cushing, who was entitled to the floor, addresed the House at length, in reply to the remarks made by various gentlemen, during the last three weeks, in relation to the present ad- ministration. He commenced by remarking that the President of the United States was ac- cused of obstructing the passage of whig mea- sures of relief, and was charged with uncertain- ty and vacillation of purpose. As these charges had been made against the President, he felt it to be his duty to ask the country who was chargeable with vacillation and uncertainty of Eurpose, and the destruction of measures of re- ef 1 Who were they who, with sacrilegious hands, were seeking to expunge the last mea- sure of the ' ill-starred ' extra session from the statute-books ? Forty-seven whigs, he an- swered, associated with the democratic party in the House, and formed a coalition to blot out that measure. He repeated it : forty-seven whigs formed a coalition with the democrats to expunge all the remains of the extra session which existed. For three weeks past, there had been constantly poured forth the most elo- quent denunciations of the President, of the Secretary of State, and of himself. He might imagine, as was said by Warren Hastings when such torrents of denunciation were poured out upon him, that there was some foundation for the imputation of the orators. He should in- quire into the merits of the political questions, and into the accusations made against him. He was told that he had thrown a firebrand into the House — that he had brought a tomahawk here. He denied it. He had done no such thing. It was not true that he commenced the debate which was carried on ; and when gen- tlemen said that he had volunteered remarks out of the regular order, in reply to the gentle- man from Tennessee [Mr. Arnold], he told them that they were not judges. His mode of defence was counter-attack, and it was for him to judge of the argument. If he carried the war into the enemy's camp, the responsibility was with those who commenced the attack." Mr. Clay, though retiring from Congress, and not a member of the House of Representatives, was brought into the debate, and accused of setting up a dictatorship, and baffling or con- trolling the constitutional administration : " The position of the two great parties, and those few who stood here to defend the acts of the administration, was peculiar. Our govern- ment was now undergoing a test in a new par- ticular. This was the first time that the ad- ministration of the government had ever de- volved upon the Vice-President. Now, he had called upon the people and the House to adapt themselves to that contingency, and support the constitution ; for with the 'constitutional fact' was associated the party fact ; and whilst the President was not a party chief, there was a party chief of the party in power. The ques- tion was, whether there could be two adminis- trations — one, a constitutional administration, by the President ; and the other a party ad- ministration, exercised by a party chief in the capitol ? With this issue before him — whether the President, or the party leader — the chief in the White House, or the chief in the capitol — should carry on the administration — he felt it to be a duty which he owed to the government of his country to give his aid to the constitu- tional chief. That was the real question which had pervaded all our contests thus far." Such an unparliamentary reference to Mr. Clay, a member of a different House, could not pass without reply in a place where he could not speak for himself, but where his friends were abundant. Mr. Garret Davis, of Ken- tucky, performed that office, and found in the fifteen years' support of Mr. Clay by Mr. Cush- ing (previous to his sudden adhesion to Mr. Tyler at the extra session), matter of personal recrimination : " Mr. Garret Davis replied to the portion of the speech of the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Cushing] relating to the alleged dictation of the ex-senator from Kentucky [Mr. Clay]. The gentleman from Massachusetts declared that there were but two alternatives — one, a constitutional administration, under the lead of the President ; and the other, a faction, under the lead of the senator from Kentucky. Such remarks were no more nor less than calumnies on that distinguished man ; and he would ask the gentleman what principle Mr. Clay had changed, by which he had obtained the ill-will of the gentleman, after having had his support for fifteen years previous to the extra session ? He asked, Did the senator from Kentucky bring forward any new measure at the extra session ? Did he enter upon any untrodden path, in order to embarrass the path of John Tyler ? No, was the answer." Reverting to the attacks on the administra- tion, Mr. Cushing considered them as the im- potent blows of a faction, beating its brains out against the immovable rock of the Tyler gov- ernment : ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 505 " It was now nearly two years since, in ac- cordance with a vote of the people, a change took place in the administration of the govern- ment. Since that time, an internecine war had arisen in the dominant party. The war had now been pursued for about one year and a half; but, in the midst of it, the federal government, with its fixed constitution, had stood, like the god Terminus, defying the progress of those who were rushing against it. The country had seen one party throw itself against the immov- able rock of the constitution. What had been the consequence ? The party thus hurling it- self against the constitutional rock was dashed to atoms." Mr. Cushing did not confine his attempts to gain adherents to Mr. Tyler, to the terrors of denunciations and anathemas : he superadded the seductive arguments of persuasion and en- ticement, and carried his overtures so far as to be charged with putting up the administration favor to auction, and soliciting bidders. He had said : " Now he would suppose a man called to be President of the United States. It mattered not whether he was elected, or whether the office devolved upon him by contingencies con- templated in the constitution. He was Presi- dent. What, then, was his first duty? To consider how to discharge his functions. He (Mr. C.) thought the President was bound to look around at the facts, and see by what circumstances he was supported. Gentlemen might talk of treason ; much had been said on that subject ; but the question for the individual who might happen to be President to consider was, How is the government to be carried out ? By whose aid ? He (Mr. Cushing) would say to that party now having the majority (and whom, on account of that circumstance, it was more important he should address), that if they gave him no aid, it was his duty to seek aid from their adversaries. If the whigs continue to blockade the wheels of the government, he trusted that the democrats would be patriotic enough to carry it on." Up to this point Mr. Cushing had addressed himself to the whigs to come to the support of Mr. Tyler : despairing of success there he now turned to the democracy. This open attempt to turn from one party to the other, and to take whichever he could get, turned upon him a storm of ridicule and reproach* Mr. Thomp- son, of Indiana, said : " The gentleman seemed to have assumed the character of auctioneer for this bankrupt ad- ministration, and he took it that the gentleman would be entitled to a good part of its effects. This was the first time in the history of any civilized country that a government had, through the person of its acknowledged leader — a man doing most of its speaking, and much of its thinking — stalked into a representative assem- bly, and openly put up the administration in the common market to the highest bidder." But Mr. Cushing did not limit himself to se- ductive appliances in turning to the democracy for support to Mr. Tyler : he dealt out denun- ciation to them also, and menaced them with the fate of the shattered whig party if they did not come to the rescue. On this Mr. Thomp- son remarked : " The gentleman also told the minority that they would be dashed to pieces, like their pre- decessors, unless they came into the measures of the President ; but it yet remained to be seen whether he would get a bid. Judging from the expression of opinion by the leading organ of the democratic party, he (Mr. T.) was inclined to think that no bid would be offered by a por- tion of that party. He thought, from givings- oiit, in various quarters, that the President would ultimately have to resort to this ' consti- tutional fact,' to defend himself against a large portion even of that party. Indeed, it was doubtful whether there would be bidders from either side." Mr. Cushing had said that there were per- sons connected with the administration who would yet be heard of for the Presidency, and seemed to present that contingency also as a reason why support should be given it. To this intimation Mr. Thompson made an indig- nant reply : " He recollected well— though he was very young at the time, and not prepared to take part in the political discussions of the day — that, during the administration of the distin- guished and venerable gentleman from Massa- chusetts [Mr. Adams] there arose in this coun- try a party, who, upon the bare supposition (which was dispelled on an examination of the f ac ts )— upon the bare suspicion that there was what was called a bargain, intrigue, and man- agement between the then head of the adminis- tration, and another distinguished citizen who was a member of his cabinet, made it a subject of the most bitter and vindictive denunciation. Yet, notwithstanding that this part of our his- tory was still fresh in the recollection of the gentleman from Massachusetts— when we see, in this age of republican liberty, a gentleman descended from a line of illustrious Revolu- tionary ancestry— coming, too, almost from the very Cradle of Liberty, and acting as the organ of the administration on this floor— boldly, 506 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. shamelessly, and unblushingly offering the spoils of office as a consideration for party sup- port, we may well have cause for alarm. How many clerkships were there in Philadelphia to be disposed of in this manner ? From the col- lector down to the lowest tide-waiter, the power of appointment was to be directed for the pur- pose of operating on the coming presidential contest. Who, now, would charge the whig party with shaping their measures with a view to the elevation of a particular individual, after hearing the bold and open avowal from the gen- tleman that the present administration would shape their measures for the purpose of operat- ing on the coming contest ? But (said Mr. T.) there was something exceedingly ridiculous in the idea of the administration party — and such a party, too ! — coming into the Representative hall, and telling its members that it had the power to dispose of the various candidates for the Presidency at its pleasure, and controlling the votes of nearly three millions of freemen by means of its veto power, and the power of ap- pointment and removal." Mr. Cushing had belonged to the federal party, since called whig, up to the time that he joined Mr. Tyler, and had been all that time a fierce assailant of the democratic party: the energy with which he now attacked that party, and the warmth with which he wooed the other, brought on him many reproaches, some rough and cutting — some tender and depreca- tory ; as this from Mr. Thompson : " The gentleman exulted in the fate of the whig party, and told them with much satisfac- tion that their party was destroyed. Now, let him ask the gentleman, in the utmost sincerity of his heart, whether he did not feel some little mortification and regret when he saw the ban- ner under which he had so often rallied trail- ing in the dust, and trampled under the feet of those against whom he had fought for so many years?" Foremost of the whigs in zeal and activity, Mr. Cushing, as one of the most prominent men of the party was appointed when the presiden- tial vote of 1840 was counted in the House, as one of the committee of two to wait upon Gen- eral Harrison and formally make known to him his election. In two months afterwards Gene- ral Harrison died — Mr. Tyler became President and quit the whigs: Mr. Cushing quit at the same time ; and not content with quitting, threw all the obloquy upon them which, for fifteen years, he had lavished upon the de- mocracy ; and in quitting the whigs he reversed his conduct in all the measures of his life, and without giving a reason for the change in a single instance. Mr. Garret Davis summed up these changes in a scathing peroration, from which some extracts are here given : " The gentleman occupies a strange position, and puts forth extraordinary notions, consider- ing the measures and principles which he al- ways, until the commencement of this adminis- tration, advocated with so much zeal and ability. I had read many of his speeches before I knew him. I admired his talents and attainments ; I approved of the soundness of his views, and was instructed and fortified in my own. But he is wonderfully metamorphosed ; and I think if he will examine the matter deliberately, he will find it to be quite as true, that he has broken his neck politically in jumping his somersets, as that ' the whig party has knocked out its brains against the fixed fact.' He tells us that party is nothing but an association of men struggling for power; and that he con- temns measures — that measures are not princi- ples. The gentleman must have been reading the celebrated treatise, : The Prince,' for such dicta are of the school of Machiavelli ; and his sudden and total abandonment of all the prin- ciples as well as measures, to which he was as strongly pledged as any whig, good and true, proves that he had studied his lesson to some purpose. At the extra session of 1837, he op- posed the sub-treasury in a very elaborate speech, in which we find these passages : 'We are to have a government paper currency, re- cognizable by the government of the United States, and employed in its dealings ; but it is to be irredeemable government paper.' ' If the scheme were not too laughingly absurd to spend time in arguing about it seriously ; if the mis- chiefs of a government paper currency had not had an out-and-out trial both in Europe and America, I might discuss it as a question of po- litical economy. But I will not occupy the committee in this way. I am astounded at the fatuity of any set of men who can think of any such project.' This is what he said of the sub- treasury. Now, he is the unscrupulous advocate of the exchequer, a measure embodying both the sub-treasury and a great organized gov- ernment bank, and fraught with more frightful dangers than his own excited imagination had pictured in the whole three years. " He was one of the stanchest supporters of a United States bank. He characterized 'the refusal of the late President (Jackson) to sign the bill re-chartering the bank, like the removal of the deposits, to be in defiance and violation of the popular will,' and characterized as felicity ous the periods of time when we possessed a national bank, and as calamitous the periods that we were without them, saying — ' Twice for long periods of time, have we tried a national bank, and in each period it has fulfilled its ap- pointed purpose of supplying a safe and equal ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 507 currency, and of regulating and controlling the issues of the State banks. Twice have we tried for a few years to drag on without a national bank, and each of these experiments has been a season of disaster and confusion.' And yet, sir, he has denied that he was ever the supporter of a bank of the United States, and is now one of the most rabid revilers of such an institu- tion. " He was for Mr. Clay's land bill ; and he has abandoned, and now contemns it. No man has been more frequent and unsparing in his de- nunciations of General Jackson ; and now he is the sycophantic eulogist of the old henp. He was the unflinching defender of the constitu- tional rights and powers of Congress. This ad- ministration has not only resorted to the most flagitious abuse of the veto power, but has re- newed every other assault, open or insidious, of Presidents Jackson and Van Buren upon Con- gress, which he, at the time, so indignantly re- buked; and he now justifies them all. He has gone far ahead of the extremest parasites of executive power. John Tyler vetoed four acts of Congress which the gentleman had voted for, and strange, by his subtle sophistry, he defend- ed each of the vetoes ; and most strange, when the House, in conformity to the provisions of the constitution, voted again upon the measures, his vote was recorded in their favor, and to over- rule the very vetoes of which he had just been the venal advocate." This versatility of Mr. Cushing, in the sup- port of vetoes, was one of the striking qualities developed in his present change of parties. He had condemned the exercise of that power in General Jackson in the case of the Bank of the United States, and dealt out upon him unmeas- ured denunciation for that act: now he became the supporter of all the vetoes of Mr. Tyler, even when those vetoes condemned his own votes, and when they condemned the fiscal bank charter which Mr. Tyler himself had devised and arranged for Congress. He became the champion, unrivalled, of Mr. Webster and Mr. Clay, defending them in all things ; but now in attacking Mr. Clay whom he had so long, and until so recently, so closely, followed and loudly applauded, he became obnoxious to the severe denunciations of that gentleman's friends. CHAPTER CXXI* NAVAL EXPENDITURES, AND ADMINISTRATION: ATTEMPTS AT REFORM: ABORTIVE. The annual appropriation for this branch of the service being under consideration, Mr. Parmen- ter, the chairman of the naval committee, pro- posed to limit the whole number of petty offi- cers, seamen, ordinary seamen, landsmen and boys in the service to 7,500 ; and Mr. Slidell moved an amendment to get rid of some 50 or 60 masters' mates who had been illegally ap- pointed by Mr. Secretary Henshaw, during his brief administration of the naval department in the interval between his nomination by Mr. Tyler and his rejection by the Senate. These motions brought on a debate of much interest on the condition of the navy itself, the necessity of a peace establishment, and the reformation of abuses. Mr. Cave Johnson, of Tennessee — " Expressed himself gratified to see the limita- tion proposed by the chairman of the Commit- tee on Naval Affairs ; that he had long believed that we should have a peace establishment for the navy, as well as the army; and that the number of officers and men in each should be limited to the necessities of the public service. Heretofore the navy had been left to the discre- tion of the Secretary, only limited by the ap- propriation bills. He urged upon the chairman of the Naval Committee the propriety of reduc- ing still further. If he did not misunderstand the amendment, it proposed to man the number of vessels required for the next year in the same way that we would do in time of war, as we have heretofore done. He thought there should be a difference in the complement of men re- quired for each ship in war and in peace. He read a table, showing that in the British service, first class men-of-war of 120 guns, in time or peace had on board (officers, men, and marines) 886 men, whilst the same class in our service had on board 1,200, officers, men, and marines — near one-third more officers and men in the American service than were employed in the British. The table showed about the same dif- ference in vessels of inferior size. He thought the number of men and officers should be regu- lated for a peace, and not a war establishment He expressed the hope that the chairman of the Naval Committee would so shape his amend- ment as to fix the number of officers and men for a peace establishment. He was desirous of having a peace establishment, and the expendi- tures properly regulated. This branch of the 508 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. service, together with the army, were the great sources of expenditure. He read-a table, show- ing the expenditures of these branches of the public service from 1821 to 1842, as follows : ($$235,000,000.) He said the country would be astonished to see the immense sums expended on the army and navy; and, as he thought, without any adequate return to the country. He could see no advantage to the country from this immense expenditure — no adequate return. He was aware of the excuse made for it — the pro- tection of our commerce. This was a mere pre- text — an excuse for throwing upon the public treasury an immense number of men, who might be much more profitably to the country employed in other occupations. He alluded to the Medi- terranean squadron and the expenditures for the protection of our commerce on that sea; and expressed the opinion that our expenditures at that station equalled the whole of the commerce east of the Straits of Gibraltar— that it would be better for the country to pay for the com- merce than protect it ; that there was no more need to protect our commerce in the Mediter- ranean than there was in the Chesapeake Bay. Such a thing as pirates in that sea had been scarcely heard of in the last twenty years. He expressed his determination to vote for the amendment, but hoped the chairman would so shape it as to make a regular peace establish- ment." The member from Tennessee was entirely right in his desire for a naval peace establish- ment, but the principle on which such an es- tablishment should be formed, was nowhere de- veloped. It was generally treated as a naval question, dependent upon the number of na- val marine — others a commercial question, de- pendent upon our amount of commerce ; while, in fact, it is a political question, dependent upon the state of the world. Protection of commerce is the reason always alleged : that reason, pur- sued into its constituent parts, would always in- volve two inquiries, and both of them to be an- swered in reference to the amount of commerce, and its dangers in any sea. To measure the amount of a naval peace establishment, and its distribution in different seas, the amount of danger must be considered : and that is con- stantly varying with the changing state of the world. The great seat of danger was formerly in the Mediterranean Sea ; and squadrons pro- portioned to the amount of that danger were sent there : since the extirpation of the pirati- cal powers on the coast of the sea, there is no danger to commerce there, and no need for any protection ; yet larger squadrons are sent there than ever. Formerly there was piracy in the West Indies, and protection was needed there : now there is no piracy, and no protection need- ed, and yet a home squadron must watch those islands. So of other places. There is no danger in many places now in which there was much formerly ; and where we have most commerce there is no danger at all. This protection, the object of a naval peace establishment, is only re- quired against lawless or barbarian powers : such powers require the presence of some ships of war- to restrain their piratical disposition. The great powers which recognize the laws of nations, need no such negotiators as men-of-war. They do not commit depredations to be re- dressed by a broadside into a town : if they do injury to commerce it is either accidental, or in pursuance to some supposed right : and in either case friendly ministers are to negotiate, and the political power to resolve, before cannon are fired. Here then is the measure of a peace establishment : it is in the number and power of the barbarian or half-barbarian powers which are not amenable to the laws of nations, and whose lawless propensities can only be re- strained by the fear of immediate punishment. There are but few of these powers at present — much fewer than there were fifty years ago, and can only be found by going to the extremi- ties of the globe — and are of no force when found, and can be kept in perfect order by cruisers. As for the squadrons kept up in the Mediterranean, the Pacific coast, Brazil, and East Indies, they are there without a reason, and against all reason — have nothing to do but stay abroad three years, and then come home — to be replaced by another for another three years : and so on, until there shall be reform. Better far, if all these squadrons are to be kept up, that they should remain at home, spending their money at home instead of abroad, and just as serviceable to commerce. As for the home squadron, that was established by law, without reason, and should be suppressed without delay : and as for the African squadron, that was estab- lished by treaty to please Great Britain, and ought, in the first place, not to have been estab- lished at all ; and in the second place, should have been suppressed as soon as the five years' obligation to keep it up had expired. Mr. Hamlin, of Maine, spoke to the body of the case, and with knowledge of the subject. ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 509 and a friendly feeling to the navy — but not such a feeling as could wink at its abuses. He said : " He trusted he was the very last person who would detract from the well-merited fame of the navy ; but he had another rule of action : he would endeavor so to vote in relation to this subject, as to check, if possible, what he be- lieved the gross and extravagant expenditure of public money : and he referred gentlemen, in corroboration of this assertion that there was extravagance in the expenditures, to the report of the Committee on Naval Affairs. The facts which stared them in the face from every quar- ter justified him in the assertion that there was gross extravagance. Mr. H. referred to various items of expenditure, in proof of the existence of extravagance." "Mr. Hamlin pointed to the enormous in- crease in the number of officers in the navy, constantly augmenting in a time of peace, in- stead of being diminished as the public good re- quired : " He produced tables, taken from official re- turns, to show that the greater number of these officers were necessarily unemployed, and were spending their time at home in idleness. He had nothing to urge against any officer of the navy ; they could not be blamed for receiving the allowance which the law gave them, whether employed or not ; — but he asked gen- tlemen to examine the great disparity between the number of naval officers, as regulated by statute, and the number now in existence." This was said before the naval school was created : since the establishment of that school, enough are legally appointed to officer a great navy. Two hundred and fifty midshipmen con- stantly there, coming off by annual deliveries, and demanding more ships and commissions than the public service and the public Treasury can bear. Illegal appointments have ceased, but the evil of excessive appointments is greater than ever. Mr. Hamlin produced some items of extrava- gance, one of which he summed up, showing as the result that $2,142 97 was expended at one hospital in liquors for the " sick," and $10,- 288 53 for provisions : and then went on to say : "The amount expended within a period of one year on the coast of Florida by the com- mander of this little squadron, was five hun- dred and four thousand five hundred and eighty dollars ; and yet the gentleman from South Carolina found in this nothing to induce the House to restrict the appropriations. Mr. H. said he would go for the amendment. He would go for any thing to stop the drafts these leeches were making on the Treasury. His principal object, however, in rising, was to call on the members to redeem the pledges of econo- my that they made at the beginning of the ses- sion, and he trusted that now that they had the opportunity they would redeem them. He was from a commercial State, and would be the last man to do any act that would be injurious to commerce ; but he did not understand how commerce could be benefited or protected by suffering this enormous and profligate waste of public money to be continued. By introducing a proper system of economy and accountability, the navy would be more efficient, and the gov- ernment would be able to employ more ships and more guns to protect commerce than they now did." Mr. Hale replied to several members, and went on to speak of abuses in the navy expen- ditures, and the irresponsibility of officers : " There was an old maxim in the navy, that there was no law for a post-captain, and really the adage seemed now to be verified. The navy (said Mr. H.) is utterly without law, and the document just read by the gentleman from Maine [Mr. Hamlin] showing the expenditures of the Florida squadron, proved it. Such con- duct as was described in that document ought to make every American blush ; but what was the result of it ? Why, the officer came forward and demanded of the Secretary of the Navy (Mr. Henshaw) extra compensation as commander of a foreign squadron, and the Secretary paid him from five to seven thousand dollars more. It was to correct a thousand such abuses as this, that had crept into the navy, that he would of- fer the amendment which had been read for the information of the committee. Mr. H. went on to comment on the large amount of money un- necessarily expended for the navy. "We have, said he, twice as many officers as there is any use for, and they receive higher pay than the officers of any navy in the world." Mr. Hale believed we had too many navy- yards, and mentioned the condition of the one nearest his own home, as an exemplification of his opinion, Portsmouth, New Hampshire— "Where were stationed twenty-six officers, at an expense of $30,000 a year, and all to com- mand six seamen and twelve ordinary seamen. This yard was commanded by a post-captain ; and what duties had he to perform '/ Why, just nothing. What had the commander to do ? Why, to help the captain ; and as for the lieu- tenants, they had nothing to do but to give or- ders to the midshipmen." The movement ended without results, and so of all desultory efforts at reform at any time 510 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Abuses in the expenditure of public money are not of a nature to surrender at the first sum- mons, nor to yield to any thing but persevering and powerful efforts. A solitary member, or a few members, can rarely accomplish any thing. The ready and efficient remedy lies with the ad- ministration, but for that purpose a Jefferson is wanted at the head of the government — a man not merely of the right principles, but of admin- istrative talent, to know how to apply his eco- nomical doctrines. Such a President would now find a great field for economy and re- trenchment in reducing our present expendi- tures about the one-half— -from seventy odd millions to thirty odd. Next after an adminis- tration should come some high-spirited and per- severing young men, who would lay hold, each of some great abuse, and pursue it without truce or mercy — year in, and year out — until it was extirpated. Some such may arise — one to take hold of the navy, one of the army, one of the civil and diplomatic — and gain honor for them- selves and good for their country at the same time. CHAPTER CXXII. CHINESE MISSION : ME. CUSHING'S APPOINT- MENT AND NEGOTIATION. Ten days before the end of the session 1842-'3, there was taken up in the House of Represen- tatives a bill reported from the Committee of Foreign Relations, to provide the means of opening future intercourse between the United States and China. The bill was unusually worded, and gave rise to criticism and objec- tion. It ran thus : " That the sum of forty thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated and placed at the disposal of the President of the United States, to enable him to establish the future commercial relations between the United States and the Chinese Empire on terms of national equal reciprocity ; the said sum to be accounted for by the President, under the restrictions and in the manner prescribed by the act of first of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety, entitled ' An act providing the means of inter- course between the United States and foreign nations,' " This bill was unusual, and objectionable in all its features. It appropriated a gross sum to be disposed of for its object as the President pleased, being the first instance in a public act of a departure from the rule of specific appro- priations which Mr. Jefferson introduced as one of the great reforms of the republican or demo- cratic party. It withdrew the settlement of the expenditure of this money from the Treasury officers, governed by law, to the President him- self, governed by his discretion. It was copied from the act of July 1st, 1790, but under cir- cumstances wholly dissimilar, and in violation of the rule which condemned gross, and required specific, appropriations. That act was made in the infancy of our government, and when pre- liminary, informal, and private steps were neces- sary to be taken before public negotiations could be ventured. It was under that act that Mr. Gouverneur Morris was privately authorized by President Washington to have the unofficial in- terviews with the British ministry which opened the way for the public mission which ended in the commercial treaty of 1794. Private ad- vances were necessary with several powers, in order to avoid rebuff in a public refusal to treat with us. Great latitude of discretion was, there- fore, entrusted to the President ; and that Presi- dent was Washington. A gross sum was put into his hands, to be disposed of as he should deem proper for its object, that of intercourse between the United States and foreign nations, and to account for such part of the expenditure of the sum as. in his judgment, might be made public, and he was limited in the sums he might allow to $9,000 outfit, and $9,000 salary to a full minister — to $4,500 per annum to a charge de affaires — and to $1,350 to a secretary of le- gation. This bill for the Chinese mission was framed upon that early act of 1790, and even adopted its mode of accounting for the money by leaving it to the President to suppress the items of the expenditure, when he should judge it proper. The bill was loose and latitudinous enough to shock the democratic side of the House j but not enough so to satisfy its friends ; and accordingly the first movement was to en- large the President's discretion, by striking from the bill the word "restrictions" which applied to his application of the money. Mr, Adams made the motion, and as he informed the House in the course of the discussion at the in- ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 511 stance and according to the wish of the Secre- tary of State (Mr. Webster). This motion gave rise to much objection. Mr. Meriwether, a member of the committee which had reported the bill, spoke first ; and said : "He opposed the amendment. If he under- stood its effect, it would be to leave the mission without any restriction. The bill, as it came from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, placed this mission on the same footing as other mis- sions. The Secretary of State, however, wished the whole sum placed at his own disposal and control — wished it left to him to pay as much as he pleased. He (Mr. M.) did not consider this mission to China as a matter of so much importance as had been claimed for it. He thought it would be difficult to persuade the people of that country to change their polity, give up their aversion to foreigners, and enter into commercial intercourse with other nations. He wished, at any rate, to have this mission placed on the same footing as other missions. He knew not how the whole of this sum of $40,000 was to be expended, although he was a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Our ministers generally receive $9,000 a year salary, and $9,000 outfit. Now, if the amend- ment of the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Adams] should be adopted, it would be in the power of the President to pay the minister who might be sent to China $20,000 outfit, and $20,000 more salary. The minister would be subject to no expense, would go out in a na- tional vessel, and would not be compelled to land until it suited his pleasure. Why make a difference in the case of China ? Was that mis- sion of greater importance than the French? Look at Turkey — a semi-barbarous country — where our minister received $6,000 a year. He thought if $6,000 was enough for the services of Commodore Porter at Constantinople, that sum would be sufficient for any minister that might be sent out to China. When the amend- ment now before the committee should have been disposed of, he should move to place the mission to China upon the same footing with that to Turkey." In these remarks Mr. Meriwether shows it was the sense of the committee to make the ap- propriation in the usual specific form, leaving the accountability to the usual Treasury settle- ment ; but that the bill was changed to its present shape at the instance of the Secretary of State. Some members placed their objec- tions on the ground of no confidence in the ad- ministration that was to expend the money : thus, Mr. J. C. Clark, of New York : " In the British Parliament, it is a legitimate ground of objection to a supply bill, that the objector has no confidence in the ministry. This bill proposes to vest in the President and Secretary of State a large discretion in the ex- penditure of forty thousand dollars ; and I agree with my friend from Georgia [Mr. Meri- wether], that there is good, reason to doubt the propriety of giving to these men the dis- bursement of any money not imperiously called for by the exigencies of the public service. I place my opposition to this bill solely on the ground of an utter want of confidence in the political integrity of the President and some of his official advisers." Mr. Adams replied to these objections : " He did not think it necessary to waste the time of the House in arguing the propriety of a mission to China. The message of the Presi- dent was sufficient on that point. " He then replied to the objections urged against the bill, on the ground that it placed too much confidence in the President, and that the appropriation was to be made without re- striction. The motion which he had submitted, to strike out the restrictions of law, which were applicable to other diplomatic appropriations, was made after a consultation with the Secretary of State, who thought that to impose restric- tions might embarrass the progress of the nego- tiations." Mr. McKeon, of New York, opposed the whole scheme of the mission to China, believing it to be unnecessary, and to be conducted with too much pomp and expense, and to lay the founda- tion for a permanent mission. He said : " There was nothing so very peculiar in the case of China, that Congress should depart from the usual restrictions of law, which applied to diplomatic appropriations generally. He thought it would be better to take the matter quietly, and go about it in a quiet business manner. Should the bill pass as reported by the committee, it would authorize a minister at a salary of $9,000 and $9,000 outfit. Pass it according to the amendment of the gentleman from Massachu- setts [Mr. Adams], and $40,000 would thereby be placed at the disposal of the Executive — more than he (Mr. McK.) was willing to see placed in the hands of any President. He should be as liberal as any man in fixing the salaries of the minister and secretary. But the appropriation was only a beginning. The largest ship in this country (the Pennsylvania) would no doubt be selected to carry out whomsoever should be selected as minister, in order to give as much eclat as possible to our country. Then other vessels would have to be sent to accom- pany this ship, and to sail where her size would not allow her to go. These, and other parapher- nalia, would have to be provided for the minis- ter ; and this $40,000 would be but a beginning 512 THIRTY YEARS' YIEW. of the expense. He concluded by expressing the hope that the motion to strike out the re- strictions contained in the bill, and thereby place the whole appropriation at the disposal of the President, would not prevail." Mr. Bronson, of Maine, expressed it as his conviction, that we should possess more infor- mation before such a measure as that of sending a minister plenipotentiary to China should be adopted. He should prefer having a commer- cial agent for the present. The question was then taken on Mr. Adams's proposed amend- ment, and resulted in its adoption — 80 votes for it ; 55 against it. The previous question being called, the bill was then passed without further debate or amendment — yeas 96 : nays 59. The nays were : " Messrs. — Thomas D. Arnold, Archibald H. Arrington, Charles G. Atherton, Benjamin A. Bidlack, John M. Botts, David Bronson, Milton Brown, Charles Brown, Edmund Burke, Wil- liam 0. Butler, Patrick C. Caldwell, William B. Campbell, Zadock Casey, John C. Clark, Nathan Clifford, Walter Coles, Benjamin S. Cowen, James H. Cravens, George W. Craw- ford, Garrett Davis, Andrew W. Doig, William P. Fessenden, Charles A. Floyd, A. Lawrence Foster, Roger L. Gamble, James Gerry, Wil- liam L. Goggin, William 0. Goode, Willis Green, William A. Harris, John Hastings, Samuel L. Hays, Jacob Houck, jr., Robert M. T. Hunter, John W. Jones, George M. Keim, Nathaniel S. Littlefield. Abraham McClellan, James J. Mc- Kay, John McKeon, Albert G. Marchand, Alfred Marshall, John Maynard, James A. Meriwether, John Moore, Bryan Y. Owsley, Kenneth Rayner, John R. Reding, John Rey- nolds, R. Barnwell Rhett, James Rogers, Wil- liam Smith, John Snyder, James C. Sprigg, Edward Stanley, Lewis Steenrod, Charles C. Stratton, John T. Stuart, Samuel W. Trotti." It was observed that Mr. Cushing, though a member of the committee which reported the bill, and a close friend to the administration, took no part in the proceedings upon this bill — neither speaking nor voting for or against it: a circumstance which strengthened the belief that he was to be the beneficiary of it. It was midnight on the last day of the session when the bill was called up in the Senate. Mr. Wright of New York, desired to know the reason for so large an appropriation in this case. He was answered by Mr. Archer, the senatorial reporter of the bill, who said it was not intended that the salary of the minister, or agent, together with his outfit, should exceed $18,000 per an- num — the amount usually appropriated for such missions. Supposing the mission to occupy two years, and the sum is not too much, and the re- moteness of the country to be negotiated with, justifies the full appropriation in advance. Mr. Wright replied that the explanation was not at all satisfactory to him : the compensation to an agent in China could be voted annually, and ap- plied annually, as conveniently as any other. Mr. Benton objected to any mission at all, and especially to such a one as the bill provided for. He argued that — " There was no necessity for a treaty with China, was proved by the fact that our trade with that country had been going on well with- out one for a century or two, and was now growing and increasing constantly. It was a trade conducted on the simple and elementary principle of 'here is one,'' and ' there is the other ' — all ready-money, and hard money, or good products — no credit system, no paper money. For a long time this trade took nothing but silver dollars. At present it is taking some other articles, and especially a goodly quantity of Missouri lead. This has taken place without a treaty, and without an agent at $40,000 ex- pense. All things are going on well between us and the Chinese. Our relations are purely commercial, conducted on the simplest principles of trade, and unconnected with political views. China has no political connection with us. She is not within the system, or circle, of American policy. She can have no designs upon us, or views in relation to us ; and we have no need of a minister to watch and observe her conduct. Politically and commercially the mission is use- less. By the Constitution, all the ministers are to be appointed by the Senate ; but this minister to China is to be called an agent, and sent out by the President without the consent of the Senate ; and thus, by imposing a false name upon the minister, defraud the Senate of their control over the appointment. The enormity of the sum shows that the mission is to be more expensive than any one ever sent from the United States ; and that it is to be one of the first grade, or of a higher grade than any known in our country. Nine thousand dollars per annum, and the same for an outfit, is the highest compensation known to our service ; yet this $40,000 mission may double that amount, and still the minister be only called an agent, for the purpose of cheating the Senate out of its control over the appointment. The bill is fraudulent in relation to the compensation to be given to this ambassadorial agent. No sum is fixed, but he is to take what he pleases for himself and his suite. He and they are to help themselves j and, from the amount allowed, they may help themselves liberally. In all other cases, salaries and compensations are fixed ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 513 by law. and graduated by time ; here there is no limit of either money or time. This mission goes by the job — $40,000 f or tne job — without regard to time or cost. A sum- mer's work, or a year's work, it is all the same thing : it is a job, and is evidently in- tended to enable a gentleman, who loves to travel in Europe and Asia, to extend his travels to the Celestial Empire at the expense of the United States, and to write a book. The settle- ment of the accounts is a fraud upon the Trea- sury. In all cases of foreign missions, except where secret services are to be performed, and spies and informers to be dealt with, the ac- counts are settled at the Treasury Department, by the proper accounting officers ; when secret services are to be covered, the fund out of which they are paid is then called the contingent foreign intercourse fund ; and are settled at the State Department, upon a simple certificate from the President, that the money has been applied according to its intention. It was in this way that the notorious John Henry obtained his $50,000 during the late war ; and that various other sums have been paid out to secret agents at different times. To this I do not object. Every government, in its foreign intercourse, must have recourse to agents, and have the benefit of some services, which would be de- feated if made public ; and which must, there- fore, be veiled in secrecy, and paid for privately. This must happen in all governments ; but not so in this case of the Chinese mission. Here, secrecy is intended for what our own minister, his secretary, and his whole suite, are to receive. Not only what they may give in bribes to Chinese, but what they may take in pay to themselves, is to be a secret. All is secret and irresponsible ! And it will not do to assimilate this mission to the oldest government in the world, to the anomalous and anonymous mis- sions to revolutionary countries. Such an ana- logy has been attempted in defence of this mission, and South American examples cited ; but the cases are not analogous. Informal agencies, with secret objects, are proper to revo- lutionary governments ; but here is to be a public mission, and an imposing one — the grandest ever sent out from the United States. — To attempt to assimilate such a mission to a John Henry case, or to a South American agency, is absurd and impudent ; and is a fraud upon the system of accountability to which all our missions are subjected. " The sum proposed is the same that is in the act of 1790, upon which the bill is framed. That act appropriated $40,000 : but for what ? For one mission ? one man ? one agent ? one by himself, one ? No. Not at all. That appro- priation of 1790 was for all the missions of the year — all of every kind — public as well as secret: the forty thousand dollars in this bill is for one man. The whole diplomatic appropriation in the time of Washington is now to be given to Yol. II.— 33 one man : and it is known pretty well who it is to be. Forty thousand dollars to enable one of our citizens to get to Peking, and to bump his head nineteen times on the ground, to get the privilege of standing up in the presence of his majesty of the celestial empire. And this is our work in the last night of this Congress. It is now midnight: and, like the midnight which preceded the departure of the elder Adams from the government, the whole time is spent in making and filling offices. Providing for favorites, and feeding out of the public crib, is the only work of those whose brief reign is drawing to a close, and who have been already compelled by public sentiment to undo a part of their work. The bankrupt act is repealed by the Congress that made it ; the distribution act has shared the same fate ; and if they had another session to sit, the mandamus act against the States, the habeas corpus against the States, this Chinese mission, and all the other acts, would be undone. It would be the true realization of the story of the queen who unravelled at night the web that she wove during the day. As it is, enough has been done, and undone, to characterize this Congress — to entitle it to the name of Ulysses' wife — not because (like the virtuous Penelope) it resisted seduction — but because, like her. its own hands unravelled its own work." Mr. Archer replied that the ignominious pros- trations heretofore required of foreign ministers in the Imperial Chinese presence, were all abol- ished by the treaty with Great Britain, and that the Chinese government had expressed a desire to extend to the United States all the benefits of that treaty, and this mission was to conclude the treaty which she wished to make. Mr. Benton replied, so much the less reason for sending this expensive mission. We now have the benefits of the British treaty, and we have traded for generations with China without a treaty, and without a quarrel, and can continue to do so. She extends to us and to all nations the benefits of the British treaty : the consul at Canton, Dr. Parker, or any respectable mer- chant there, can have that treaty copied, and sign it for the United States ; and deem himself well paid to receive the fortieth part of this appropriation. Mr. Woodbury wished to see a limitation placed upon the amount of the annual compensation, and moved an amendment, that not more than nine thousand dollars, exclusive of outfit, be allowed to any one person for his annual compensation. Mr. Archer concurred in the limitation, and it was adopted. Mr. Benton then returned to one of his original objections — 514 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. the design of the bill to cheat the Senate out of its constitutional control over the appointment. He said the language of the bill was studiously ambiguous. Whether the person was to be a minister, a charge, or an agent, was not expressed. He now desired to know whether it was to be understood that the person intended for this mission was to be appointed by the President alone, without asking the advice and consent of the Senate ? Mr. Archer replied that he had no information on the subject. Mr. Conrad of Louisiana, said that he would move an amend- ment that might obviate the difficulty ; he would move that no agent be appointed without the consent of the Senate. This amendment was proposed, and adopted — 31 yeas ; 9 nays. These amendments were agreed to by the House; and, thus limited and qualified, the bill became a law. The expected name did not come. The Sen- ate adjourned, and no appointment could be made until the next session. It was not a va- cancy happening in the recess which the Presi- dent could fill by a temporary appointment, to continue to the end of the next session. It was an original office created during the ses- sion, and must be filled at the session, or wait until the next one. The President did neither. There were two constitutional ways open to him — and he took neither. There was one unconstitutional way — and he took it. In brief, he made the appointment in the recess ; and not only so made it, but sent off" the ap- pointee (Mr. Caleb Cushing) also in the recess. Scarcely had the Senate adjourned when it was known that Mr. Cushing was to go upon this mission as soon as the ships could be got ready to convey him : and in the month of May he de- parted. This was palpably to avoid the action of the Senate, where the nomination of Mr. Cushing would have been certain of rejection. He had already been three times rejected in one day upon a nomination for Secretary of the Treasury— receiving but two votes on the last trial. All the objections which applied to him for the Treasury appointment, were equally in force for the Chinese mission; and others be- sides. It was an original vacancy, and could not be filled during the recess by a temporary appointment. It was not a vacancy " happen- ing " in the recess of the Senate, and therefore to be temporarily filled without the Senate's previous consent, lest the public interest in the meanwhile should suffer. It was an office created, and the emolument fixed, during the time that Mr. Cushing was a member of Con- gress: consequently he was constitutionally inter- dicted from receiving it during the continuance of that term. His term expired on the third of March : he was constitutionally ineligible up to the end of that day : and this upon the words of the constitution. Upon the reasons and mo- tives of the constitution, he was ineligible for ever. The reason was, to prevent corrupt and subservient legislation — to prevent members of Congress from conniving or assisting at the en- actment of laws for their own benefit, and to prevent Presidents from rewarding legislative subservience. Tested upon these reasons Mr. Cushing was ineligible after, as well as before, the expiration of his congressional term : and such had been the practice of all the previous Presidents. Even in the most innocent cases, and where no connivance could possibly be supposed of the member, would any previous President appoint a member to a place after his term expired, which he could not receive before it : as shown in Chapter XXX of the first vol- ume of this View. In the case of Mr. Cushing all the reasons, founded in the motives of the constitutional prohibition, existed to forbid his appointment. He had deserted his party to join Mr. Tyler. He worked for him in and out of the House, and even deserted himself to support him — as in the two tariff bills of the current session ; for both of which he voted, and then voted against them when vetoed : for which he was taunted by Mr. Granger, of New York.* There was besides a special provision in the law under which he was appointed to * " Mr. Granger observed that he had a few words to say to the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Cushing]. When he reflected that that gentleman had voted for every bill that the President had vetoed, and had then defended every veto which the President had sent them, he had been not a little puzzled to know how to defend his position. The gentleman was like a man he saw a short time since in the circus, who came forward ready dressed and equipped to ride any horse that might be brought out for him. First the gentleman from Massachusetts rode the bank pony; and that having run to death, he mounted the veto charger. The second bank road- ster, then the tariff palfrey, and lastly, the stout-limbed tariff hunter, were mounted in their turn ; and the veto animals were as complacently mounted, and were seated with as much self-satisfaction. The gentleman had voted for every bill, and then had justified every veto, and every act of executive en- croachment on this House." ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 515 prevent the appointment from being made with- out the concurrence of the Senate. (The notice of the proceedings in the Senate when the bill which ripened into that law, have shown the terms of that provision, and the reasons of its adoption.) It is no answer to that pregnant amendment to say that the nomination would be sent in at the next session. That session would not come until six months after Mr. Cushing had sailed ! not until he had arrived at his post ! not until he had placed the entire diameter of the terraqueous globe between him- self and the Senate ! and a still greater distance between the Treasury and the $40,000 which he had drawn out of it ! Two squadrons of ships-of-war were put in requisition to attend this minister. The Pacific squadron, then on the coast of South America, was directed to proceed to China, to meet him : a squadron was collected at Norfolk to convey him. This squadron consisted of the new steam frigate, Missouri — the frigate Brandywine, the sloop-of-war Saint Louis, and the brig Perry — carrying altogether near two hundred guns ; a formidable accompaniment for a peace mission, seeking a commercial treaty. Mr. Cushing had a craving to embark at Washington, under a national salute, and the administration gratified him: the magnificent steam frigate, Missouri, was ordered up to receive him. Threading the narrow and crooked channel of the Potomac River, the noble ship ran on an oyster bank, and fifteen of her crew, with a promising young officer, were drowned in getting her off. The minister had a desire to sail down the Mediter- ranean, seeing its coasts, and landing in the an- cient kingdom of the Pharaohs : the administra- tion deferred to his wishes. The Missouri was ordered to proceed to the Mediterranean, which the ill-fated vessel was destined never to enter ; for, arriving at Gibraltar, she took fire and burned up — baptizing the anomalous mission in fire and blood, as well as in enormous expense. The minister proceeded in a British steamer to Egypt, and then by British conveyance to Bom- bay, where the Norfolk squadron had been or- dered to meet him. The Brandywine alone was there, but the minister entered her, and proceeded to the nearest port to Canton, where, reporting his arrival and object, a series of di- plomatic contentions immediately commenced between himself and " Ching, of the celestial dynasty, Governor-general of that part of the Central Flowery Kingdom." Mr. Cushing in- formed this governor that he was on his way to Peking, to deliver a letter from the President of the United States to the Emperor, and to ne- gotiate a treaty of commerce ; and, in the mean time, to take the earliest opportunity to inquire after the health of the august Emperor. To this inquiry Ching answered readily that, " At the present moment the great Emperor is in the enjoyment of happy old age and quiet health, and is at peace with all, both far and near : " but with respect to the intended progress to Peking, he demurs, and informs the minister that the imperial permission must first be ob- tained. "I have examined," he says, "and find that every nation's envoy which has come to the Central Flowery Kingdom with a view of proceeding to Peking, there to be presented to the august Emperor, has ever been required to wait outside of the nearest port on the frontier till the chief magistrate of the province clearly memorialize the Emperor, and request the im- perial will, pointing out whether the interview may be permitted." With respect to the treaty of friendship and commerce, the governor de- clares there is no necessity for it — that China and America have traded together two hundred years in peace and friendship without a treaty — that all nations now had the benefit of the treaty made with Great Britain, which treaty was necessary to establish relations after a war ; and that the United States, having had no war with China, had no need for a treaty. He sup- poses that, having heard of the British treaty, the United States began to want one also, and admits the idea is excellent, but unnecessary, and urges against it : " As to what is stated, of publicly deliberat- ing upon the particulars of perpetual peace, in- asmuch as it relates to discoursing of good faith, peace, and harmony, the idea is excellent ; and it may seem right, because he has heard that England has settled all the particulars of a treaty with China, he may desire to do and manage in the same manner. But the circum- stances of the two nations are not the same, for England had taken up arms against China for several years, and, in beginning to deliberate upon a treaty, these two nations could not avoid suspicion ; therefore, they settled the details of a treaty, in order to confirm their good faith ; but since your honorable nation, from the com- mencement of commercial intercourse with 516 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. China, during a period of two hundred years, all the merchants who have come to Canton, on the one hand, have observed the laws of China without any disagreement, and on the other, there has been no failure of treating them with courtesy, so that there has not been the slightest room for discord; and, since the two nations are at peace, what is the necessity of negotiat- ing a treaty ? In the commencement, England was not at peace with China ; and when after- wards these two nations began to revert to a state of peace, it was indispensable to establish and settle details of a treaty, in order to oppose a barrier to future difficulties. I have now dis- cussed this subject, and desire the honorable plenipotentiary maturely to consider it. Your honorable nation, with France and England, are the three great foreign nations that come to the south of China to trade. But the trade of America and England with China is very great. Now, the law regulating the tariff has changed the old established duties, many of which have been essentially diminished, and the customary expenditures (exactions ?) have been abolished. Your honorable nation is treated in the same manner as England ; and, from the time of this change in the tariff, all kinds of merchandise have flowed through the channels of free trade, among the people, and already has your nation been bedewed with its advantages. The honor- able plenipotentiary ought certainly to look at and consider that the Great Emperor, in his 'eniency to men from afar, has issued edicts commanding the merchants and people peace- ably to trade, which cannot but be beneficial to the nations. It is useless, with lofty, polished, and empty words, to alter these unlimited ad- vantages." In all this alleged extension of the benefits of the British treaty to all nations, Ching was right in what he said. The Emperor had already done it, and the British government had so de- termined it from the beginning. It was a treaty for the commercial world as well as for them- selves, and had been so declared by the young Queen Victoria in her speech communicating the treaty to Parliament. " Throughout the whole course of my negotiations with the government of China, I have uniformly disclaimed the wish for any exclusive advantages. It has been my desire that equal favor should be shown to the industry and commercial enterprise of all na- tions." There was really no necessity for a treaty, which as often begets dissensions as pre- vents them ; and if one was desirable, it might have been had through Dr. Parker, long a resident of China, and now commissioner there, and who was Secretary of Legation and interpreter in Mr. Cushing's mission, and the medium of his communications with the Chinese ; and actually the man of business who did the business in conducting the negotiations. But Mr. Cushing perseveres in his design to go to Peking, alleg- ing that, " He deems himself bound by the in- structions of his government to do so." Ching replies that he has received the imperial order " to stop and soothe him." Ching also informs him that the treaty with Great Britain was ne- gotiated, not at Peking but at Canton, and also its duplicate with Portugal, and that a copy of it was in the hands of the American consul at Canton, for the information and benefit of American merchants. In his anxiety to pre- vent a foreign ship-of-war from approaching Peking, the Chinese governor intimated that, if a treaty was indispensable, a commissioner might come to Canton for that purpose ; and on inquiry from Mr. Cushing how long it would take to send to Peking and get a return, Ching answered, three months — the distance being so great. Mr. Cushing objects to that delay — de- clares he cannot wait so long, as the season for favorable navigation to approach Peking may elapse ; and announces his determination to pro- ceed at once in the Brandywine, without waiting for any permission ; and declares that a refusal to receive him would be a national insult, and a just cause of war. Here is the extract from his letter : "Under these circumstances, inasmuch as your Excellency does not propose to open to me the inland road to Peking, in the event of my waiting here until the favorable monsoon for proceeding to the north by sea shall have passed away, and as I cannot, without disregard of the commands of my government, permit the season to elapse without pursuing the objects of my mission, I shall immediately leave Macao in the Brandywine. I feel the less hesitation in pur- suing this course, in consideration of the tenor of the several communications which I have re- ceived from your Excellency. It is obvious, that if the court had entertained any very par- ticular desire that I should remain here, it would have caused an imperial commissioner to be on the spot, ready to receive me on my arri- val, or, at any rate, instructions would have been forwarded to your Excellency for the re- ception of the legation ; since, in order that no proper act of courtesy towards the Chinese gov- ernment should be left unobserved, notice was duly given last autumn, by the consul of the United States, that my government had ap- pointed a minister to China. The omission of ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 517 the court to take either of these steps seems to indicate expectation, on its part, that I should probably land at some port in the north." That is to say, at some port in the Yellow Sea, or its river nearest to Peking. This must have been a mode of reasoning new to Governor Ching, that an omission to provide for Mr. Cushing at the port where foreigners were re- ceived, should imply a license for him to land where they were not, except on express, imperial permission. Much as Ching must have been as- tonished at this American logic, he must have been still more so at the penalty announced for disregarding it ! nothing less than " national in- sult," and "just cause of war." For the letter continues : "Besides which, your Excellency is well aware, that it is neither the custom in China, nor consistent with the high character of its Sovereign, to decline to receive the embassies of friendly states. To do so, indeed, would among Western States be considered an act of national insult, and a just cause of war." This sentence, as all that relates to Mr. Cush- ing's Chinese mission, is copied from his own offi- cial despatches ; so that, what would be incredi- ble on the relation of others, becomes undenia- ble on his own. National insult and just cause of war, for not allowing him to go to Peking ! Mr. Cushing justifies his refusal to negotiate at Canton as the British envoy had done, and not being governed by the ceremony observed in his case, on the ground that the circum- stances were not analogous — that Great Britain had chastised the Chinese, and taken possession of one of their islands — and that it would be necessary for the United States to do the same to bring him within the rules which were ob- served with Sir Henry Pottinger, the British minister. This intimation, as impertinent as unfeeling, and as offensive as unfounded, was thus expressed: " In regard to the mode and place of deliber- ating upon all things relative to the perpetual peace and friendship of China and the United States, your Excellency refers to the precedent of the late negotiations with the plenipotentiary of Great Britain. The rules of politeness and ceremony observed by Sir Henry Pottinger, were doubtless just and proper in the particu- lar circumstances of the case. But, to render them fully applicable to the United States, it would be necessary for my government, in the first instance, to subject the people of China to all the calamities of war, and especially to take possession of some island on the coast of China as a place of residence for its minister. I can- not suppose that the imperial government wishes the United States to do this. Certainly no such wish is entertained at present by the United States, which, animated with the most amicable sentiments towards China, feels as- sured of being met with corresponding deport- ment on the part of China." The Brandywine during this time was still at Macao, the port outside of the harbor, where for- eign men-of-war are only allowed to come ; but Mr. Cushing, following up the course he had marked out for himself, directed that vessel to enter the inner port, and sail up to Whampoa ; and also to require a salute of twenty-one guns to be fired. Against this entrance the Chinese government remonstrated, as being against the laws and customs of the empire, contrary to what the British had done when they nego- tiated their treaty, and contrary to an article in that treaty which only permitted that entrance to a small vessel with few men and one petty officer : and if the Brandywine had not entered, he forbids her to come ; and if she had, requires her to depart : and as for the salute, he declares he has no means of firing it ; and, besides, it was against their laws. The governor expressed himself with animation and feeling on this sub- ject, at the indignity of violating their laws, and under the pretext of paying him a compli- ment — for that was the only alleged cause of the intrusive entrance of the Brandywine. He wrote : " But it is highly necessary that I should also remark, concerning the man-of-war Brandywine coming up to Whampoa. The Bogue makes an outer portal of Kwang Tung, where an admiral is stationed to control and guard. Heretofore, the men-of-war of foreign nations have only been allowed to cast anchor in the seas without the mouth of the river, and have not been per- mitted to enter within. This is a settled law of the land, made a long time past. Whampoa is the place where merchant ships collect to- gether, not one where men-of-war can anchor. Now, since the whole design of merchantmen is to trade, and men-of-war are prepared to fight, if they enter the river, fright and suspicion will easily arise among the populace, thus causing an obstacle in the way of trade. Furthermore, the two countries are just about deliberating upon peace and good will, and suddenly to have a man-of-war enter the river, while we are speaking of good faith and cultivating good feel- ing, has not a little the aspect of distrust. 518 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Among the articles of the commercial regula- tions it is provided, that an English government vessel shall be allowed to remain at anchor at Whampoa, and that a deputy shall be appointed to control the seamen. The design of this, it was evident, was to put an end to strife, and quell disputes. But this vessel is a small one, containing but few troops, and moreover brings a petty officer, so that it is a matter of but lit- tle consequence, one way or another. If your country's man-of-war Brandywine contains five hundred and more troops, she has also a pro- portionately large number of guns in her, and brings a commodore in her ; she is in truth far different from the government vessel of the British, and it is inexpedient for her to enter the river ; and there are, in the aspect of the affair, many things not agreeable." Nevertheless Mr. dishing required the ship to enter the inner port, to demand a return- salute of twenty-one guns, and permission to the American commodore to make his compli- ments in person to the Chinese governor. This governor then addressed a remonstrance to the American commodore, which runs thus : " When your Excellency first arrived in the Central Flowery Land, you were unacquainted with her laws and prohibitions — that it was against the laws for men-of-war to enter the river. Having previously received the public officer's (Cushing's) communication, I, the act- ing governor, have fully and clearly stated to him that the ship should be detained outside. Your Excellency's present coming up to Blen- heim reach is therefore, no doubt, because the despatch sent previously to his Excellency Cushing had not been made known to you — whence the mistake. Respecting the salute of twenty-one guns, as it is a salute among western nations, it does [not] tally with the customs of China. Your Excellency being now in China, and, moreover, entered the river, it is not the same as if you were in your own country ; and, consequently, it will be inexpedient to have the salute performed here ; also, China has no such salute as firing twenty-one guns ; and how can we imitate your country's custom in the num- ber, and make a corresponding ceremony in re- turn ? It will, indeed, not be easy to act ac- cording to it. When the English admirals Par- ker and Saltoun came up to Canton, they were both in a passage vessel, not in a man-of-war, when they entered the river ; nor was there any salute. This is evidence plain on this matter. " Concerning what is said regarding a perso- nal visit to this officer to pay respects, it is cer- tainly indicative of good intention ; but the laws of the land direct that whenever officers from other countries arrive upon the frontier, the governor and other high officers, not having re- ceived his Majesty's commands, cannot hold any private intercourse with them ; nor can a depu- ty, not having received a special commission from the superior officers, have any private in- tercourse with foreign functionaries. It will consequently be inexpedient that your Excel- lency (whose sentiments are so polite and cor- dial) and I, the acting governor, should have an interview ; for it is against the settled laws of the land." Having thus violated the laws and customs of China in sending the Brandywine, Mr. Cush- ing follows it up with threats and menaces — as- sumes the attitude of an injured and insulted minister of peace — and, for the sake of China, regrets what may happen. In this vein he writes : " It is customary, among all the nations of the West, for the ships of war of one country to visit the ports of another in time of peace, and, in doing so, for the commodore to exchange sa- lutes with the local authorities, and to pay his compliments in person to the principal public functionary. To omit these testimonies of good will is considered as evidence of a hostile, or at least of an unfriendly feeling. But your Excellency says the provincial government has no authority to exchange salutes with Commo- dore Parker, or to receive a visit of ceremony from him. And I deeply regret, for the sake of China, that such is the fact. China will find it very difficult to remain in peace with any of the great States of the West, so long as her pro- vincial governors are prohibited either to give or to receive manifestations of that peace, in the exchange of the ordinary courtesies of national intercourse. And I cannot forbear to express my surprise, that, in the great and powerful province of Kwang Tung, the presence of a sin- gle ship of war should be cause of apprehension to the local government. Least of all, should such apprehension be entertained in reference to any ships of war belonging to the United States, which now feels, and (unless ill-treat- ment of our public agents should produce a change of sentiments) will continue to feel, the most hearty and sincere good will towards China. Coming here, in behalf of my govern- ment, to tender to China the friendship of the greatest of the Powers of America, it is my duty, in the outset, not to omit any of the tokens of respect customary among western na- tions. If these demonstrations are not met in a correspondent manner, it will be the misfor- tune of China, but it will not be the fault of the United States." In these sentences China is threatened with a war with the United States on account of her ill-treatment of the United States' public agents, meaning himself— the ill-treatment con- sisting in not permitting him to trample, with- ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 519 out restraint, upon the laws and customs of the country. In this sense, Ching, the governor, understood it, and answered : " Regarding what is said of the settled usages of western nations — that not to receive a high commissioner from another state is an insult to that state — this certainly, with men, has a war- like bearing. But during the two hundred years of commercial intercourse between China and your country, there has not been the least animosity nor the slightest insult. It is for harmony and good will your Excellency has come ; and your request to proceed to the capi- tal, and to have an audience with the Emperor, is wholly of the same good mind. If, then, in the outset, such pressing language is used, it will destroy the admirable relations." To this Mr. Cushing rejoins, following up the menace of war for the " ill-treatment " he was receiving— justifying it if it comes— reminds China of the five years' hostilities of Great Britain upon her — points to her antiquated customs as having already brought disasters upon her ; and suggests a dismemberment of her empire as a consequence of war with the United States, provoked by ill-treatment of her public agents. Thus: " I can only assure your Excellency, that this is not the way for China to cultivate good will and maintain peace. The late war with Eng- land was caused by the conduct of the authori- ties at Canton, in disregarding the rights of pub- lic officers who represented the English gov- ernment. If, in the face of the experience of the last five years, the Chinese government now reverts to antiquated customs, which have already brought such disasters upon her, it can be regarded in no other light than as evidence that she invites and desires [war with] the other great western Powers. The United States would sincerely regret such a result. We have no desire whatever to dismember the territory of the empire. Our citizens have at all times deported themselves here in a just and respectful manner. The position and policy of the United States enable us to be the most dis- interested and the most valuable of the friends of China. I have flattered myself, therefore, and cannot yet abandon the hope, that the imperial government will see the wisdom of promptly welcoming and of cordially respond- ing to the amicable assurances of the govern- ment of the United States." Quickly following this despatch was another, in which Mr. Cushing rises still higher in his complaints of molestation and ill-treatment — refers to the dissatisfaction which the Ameri- can people will experience — thought they would have done better, having just been whipped by the British— confesses that his exalted opinion of China is undergoing a decline — hopes they will do better— postpones for a while his measures of redress— suspends his re- sentment — and by this forbearance will feel himself the better justified for what he may do if forced to act. But let his own words speak : "I must not conceal from your Excellency the extreme dissatisfaction and disappointment which the people of America will experience when they learn that their Envoy, instead of being promptly and cordially welcomed by the Chinese government, is thus molested and de- layed, on the very threshold of the province of Yuh. The people of America have been accus- tomed to consider China the most refined and the most enlightened of the nations of the East ; and they will demand, how it is possible, if China be thus refined, she should allow herself to be wanting in courtesy to their Envoy ; and, if China be thus enlightened, how it is possible that, having just emerged from a war with Eng- land, and being in the daily expectation of the arrival of the Envoy of the French, she should suffer herself to slight and repel the good will of the United States. And the people of America will be disposed indignantly to draw back the proffered hand of friendship, when they learn how imperfectly the favor is appreciated by the Chinese government. In consenting, therefore, to postpone, for a short time longer, my depar- ture for the North (Peking), and in omitting, for however brief a period, to consider the action of the Chinese government as one of open dis- respect to the United States, and to take due measures Of redress, I incur the hazard of the disapprobation and censure of my government ; for the American government is peculiarly sen- sitive to any act of foreign governments injurious to the honor of the United States. It is the custom of American citizens to demean them- selves respectfully towards the people and au- thorities of any foreign nation in which they may, for the time being, happen to reside. Your Excellency has frankly and truly borne witness to the just and respectful deportment which both scholars and merchants of the United States have at all times manifested in China. But I left America as a messenger of peace. I came into China full of sentiments of respect and friendship towards its sovereign and its people. And notwithstanding what has occur- red, since my arrival here, to chill the warmth of my previous good will towards China, and to bring down the high conceptions I had previously been led to form in regard to the courtesy of its government, I am loth to give these up entirely, and in so doing put an end perhaps to the exist- ing harmonious relations between the United States and China. I have therefore to say to your Excellency, that I accept, for the present 520 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. your assurances of the sincerity and friendship of the Chinese government. I suspend all the resentment which I have just cause to feel on account of the obstructions thrown in the way of the progress of the legation, and other par- ticulars of the action of the Imperial and Pro- vincial governments, in the hope that suitable reparation will be made for these acts in due time. I commit myself, in all this, to the in- tegrity and honor of the Chinese government ; and if, in the sequel, I shall prove to have done this in vain, I shall then consider myself the more amply justified, in the sight of all men, for any determination which, out of regard for the honor of the United States, it may be my duty to adopt under such circumstances." It was now the middle of May, 1844 : the correspondence with Ching had commenced the last of February : the three months had nearly elapsed, within which a return answer was to be had from Peking : and by extraordinary speed the answer arrived. It contained the Emperor's positive refusal to suffer Mr. Cushing to come to Peking — enjoined him to remain where he was — cautioned him not to " agitate disorder " — and informing him that an Imperial commissioner would proceed immediately to Canton, travelling with the greatest celerity, and under orders to make one hundred and thirty-three miles a day, there to draw up the treaty with him. This information took away the excuse for the intrusive journey, or voyage, to Peking, and also showed that a commercial treaty might be had with China, without inflict- ing upon her the calamities of war, or breeding national dissensions out of diplomatic conten- tions. It made a further suspension of his re- sentment, and postponement of the measures which the honor of the United States required him to take for the molestations and ill treat- ment which the federal government had received in his person. These formidable measures, well known to be belligerent, were postponed, not abandoned ; and the visit to Peking, forestalled by the arrival of an imperial commissioner to sign a treaty, was also postponed, not given up — its pretext now diminished, and reduced to the errand of delivering Mr. Tyler's letter to the Emperor. He consents to treat at Canton, but makes an excuse for it in the want of a steamer, and the non-arrival of the other ships of the squadron, which would have enabled him to approach Canton, intimidate the government, and obtain from their fears the concessions which their manners and customs forbid. All this he wrote himself to his government, and he is entitled to the benefit of his own words : " So far as regards the objects of adjusting in a proper manner the commercial relations of the United States and China, nothing could be more advantageous than to negotiate with Tsi- yeng at Canton, instead of running the risk of compromising this great object by having it mixed up at Tien Tsin, or elsewhere at the north, with questions of reception at Court. Add to which the fact that, with the Brandywine alone, without any steamer, and without even the St. Louis and the Perry, it would be idle to repair to the neighborhood of the Pih-ho, in any expec- tation of acting upon the Chinese by intimida- tion, and obtaining from their fears concessions contrary to the feeling and settled wishes of the Imperial government. To remain here, there- fore, and meet Tsiyeng, if not the most desirable thing, is at present the only possible thing. It is understood that Tsiyeng will reach Canton from the 5th to the 10th of June." This commissioner, Tsiyeng, arrived at the time appointed, and fortunately for the peace and honor of the country, as the St. Louis sloop- of-war, and the man-of-war brig Perry, arrived two days after, and put Mr. Cushing in posses- sion of the force necessary to carry out his de- signs upon China. In the joy of receiving this accession to his force, he thus writes home to his government : " It is with great pleasure I inform you that the St. Louis arrived here on the 6th instant, under the command of Lieutenant Keith, Cap- tain Cocke (for what cause I know not, and cannot conceive), after detaining the ship at the Cape of Good Hope three months, having at length relinquished the command to Mr. Keith. And on the same day arrived also the Perry, commanded by Lieutenant Tilton. The arrival of these vessels relieves me from a load of solici- tude in regard to the public business ; for if matters do not go smoothly with Tsiyeng, the legation has now the means of proceeding to and acting at the North." "If matters do not go smoothly with Tsi- yeng ! " and the very first step of Mr. Cushing was an attempt to ruffle that smoothness. The Chinese commissioner announced his arrival at Canton, and made known his readiness to draw up the treaty instantly. In this communica- tion, the name of the United States, as according to Chinese custom with all foreign nations, was written in a lower column than that of the Chinese government — in the language of Mr. ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 521 Cushing, " the name of the Chinese government stood higher in column by one character than that of the United States." At this collocation of the name of his country, Mr. Cushing took fire, and instantly returned the communication to the Imperial commissioner, "even at the hazard (as he informed his government) of at once cutting off all negotiation." Fortunately Tsiyeng was a man of sense, and of elevation of character, and immediately directed his clerk to elevate the name of the United States to the level of the column which contained that of China. By this condescension on the part of the Chinese commissioner, the negotiation was saved for the time, and the cannon and ammuni- tion of our three ships of war prevented from being substituted for goose-quills and ink. The commissioner showed the greatest readiness, amounting to impatience, to draw up and exe- cute the treaty ; which was done in as little time as the forms could be gone through : and the next day the commissioner, taking his for- mal leave of the American legation, departed for Peking — a hint that, the business being finished, Mr. Cushing might depart also for his home. But he was not in such a hurry to re- turn. " His pride and his feelings (to use his own words) had been mortified " at not being permitted to go to Peking — at being in fact stopped at a little island off the coast, where he had to transact all his business ; and his mind still reverted to the cherished idea of going to Peking, though his business would be now limited to the errand of carrying Mr. Tyler's letter to the Emperor. In his despatch, imme- diately after the conclusion of this treaty, he justifies himself for not having gone before the Chinese commissioner arrived, placing the blame on the slow arrival of the St. Louis and the Perry, the non-arrival at all of the Pacific squad- ron, and the want of a steamer. " With these reflections present to my mind, it only needed to consider further whether I should endeavor to force my way to Peking, or at least, by demonstration of force at the mouth of the Pih-ho, attempt to intimidate the Impe- rial government into conceding to me free access to the Court. In regard to this it is to be ob- served, that owing to the extraordinary delays of the St. Louis on her way here, I had no means of making any serious demonstration of force at the north, prior to the time when Tsi- yeng arrived at Canton, on his way to Macao, there to meet me and negotiate a treaty. And with an Imperial commissioner near at hand, ready and willing to treat, would it have been expedient, or even justifiable, to enter upon acts of hostility with China, in order, if possible, to make Peking the place of negotiation ? " The correspondence does not show what was the opinion of the then administration upon this problem of commencing hostilities upon China after the commissioner had arrived to make the treaty ; and especially to commit these hostilities to force a negotiation at Peking, where no treaty with any power had ever been negotiated, and where he expected serious diffi- culties in his presentation at court, as Mr. Cush- ing was determined not to make the prostra- tions (i. e. bumping his head nineteen times against the floor), which the Chinese ceremonial required. " I have never disguised from myself the seri- ous difficulties which I might have to encounter in forcing my way to Peking; and, if volun- tarily admitted there, the difficulties almost equally serious connected with the question of presentation at court; for I had firmly re- solved not to perform the acts of prostration to the Emperor. I struggled with the objections until intelligence was officially communicated to me of the appointment of Tsiyeng as imperial commissioner, and of his being actually on his way to Canton. To have left Macao after re- ceiving this intelligence would have subjected me to the imputation of fleeing from, and, as it were, evading a meeting with Tsiyeng ; and such an imputation would have constituted a serious difficulty (if not an insuperable one) in the way of successful negotiation at the North." The despatch continues : " On the other hand, I did not well see how the United States could make war on China to change the ceremonial of the court. And for this reason, it had always been with me an ob- ject of great solicitude to dispose of all the commercial questions by treaty, before ventur- ing on Peking." "Did not well see how the United States could make war on China to change the cere- monial of the court." This is very cool lan- guage, and implies that Mr. Cushing was ready to make the war— (assuming himself to be the United States, and invested with the war power) —but could not well discover any pretext on which to found it. He then excuses himself for not having done better, and gone on to Peking without stopping at the outer port of Canton, and so giving the Chinese time to send down a negotiator there, and so cutting off the best pre- text for forcing the way to China: and this ex- 522 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. cuse resolves itself into the one so often given — the want of a sufficient squadron to force the way. Thus : " If it should be suggested that it would have been better for me to have proceeded at once to the North (Peking), without stopping at Macao, I reply, that this was impracticable at the time of my arrival, with the Brandywine alone, be- fore the southerly monsoon had set in, and without any steamer ; that if at any time I had gone to the North in the view of negotiating there, I should have been wholly dependent on the Chinese for the means of lodging and sub- sisting on shore, and even for the means of land- ing at the mouth of the Pih-ho ; that only at Macao could I treat independently, and that here, of necessity, must all the pecuniary and other arrangements of the mission be made, and the supplies obtained for the squadron. Such are the considerations and the circumstances which induced me to consent to forego proceed- ing to Peking." So that, after all, it was only the fear of being whipt and starved that prevented Mr. dishing from fighting his way to the foot-stool of power in the Tartar half of the Chinese Empire. The delay of the two smaller vessels, the non-arrival of the Pacific squadron, and the want of a steamer, were fortunate accidents for the peace and honor of the United States ; and even the conflagration of the magnificent steam frigate, Missouri, with all her equipments, was a bless- ing, compared to the use to which she would have been put if Mr. Cushing's desire to see the coasts of the Mediterranean and the banks of the Nile had not induced him to take her to Gib- raltar, instead of doubling the Cape of Good Hope in company with the Brandywine. Finally, he gives the reason for all this craving desire to get to Peking, which was nothing more nor less (and less it could not be) than the gratification of his own feelings of pride and curiosity. Hear him : " And in regard to Peking itself, I have ob- tained the means of direct correspondence be- tween the two governments immediately, and an express engagement, that if hereafter a min- ister of the French, or any other power, should be admitted to the court, the same privilege shall be accorded to the United States. If the conclusion of the whole matter be one less agreeable to my own feelings of pride or curi- osity, it is, at any rate, the most important and useful to my country, and will therefore, I trust, prove satisfactory to the President." It does not appear from any published in- structions of the administration (then con- sisting of Mr. Tyler and his new cabinet after the resignation of all the whig members except Mr. Webster), how far Mr. Cushing was warranted in his belligerent designs upon China ; but the great naval force which was assigned to him, the frankness with which he communicated all his bellicose intentions, the excuse 52 which he made for not having pro- ceeded to hostilities and the dismemberment of the Empire, and the encomiums with which his treaty was communicated to the Senate — all be- speak a consciousness of approbation on the part of the administration, and the existence of an expectation which might experience disap- pointment in his failing to make war upon the Chinese. In justice to Mr. Webster, it must be told that, although still in the cabinet when Mr. Cushing went to China, yet his day of in- fluence was over : he was then in the process of being forced to resign: and Mr. Upshur, then Secretary of the Navy, was then virtually, as he was afterwards actually, Secretary of State, when the negotiations were carried on. The publication of Mr. Cushing's correspond- ence, which was ordered by the Senate, excited astonishment, and attracted the general repro- bation of the country. Their contents were re- volting, and would have been incredible except for his own revelations. Narrated by himself they coerced belief, and bespoke an organization void of the moral sense, and without the know- ledge that any body else possessed it. The con- duct of the negotiator was condemned, his treaty was ratified, and the proceedings on his nomina- tion remain a senatorial secret — the injunction of secrecy having never been removed from them. CHAPTER CXXIII. THE ALLEGED MUTINY, AND THE EXECUTIONS (AS THEY WERE CALLED) ON BOAED THE UNITED STATES MAN-OF-WAR, SOMERS. In the beginning of this year the public mind was suddenly astounded and horrified, at the news of a mutiny on board a national ship-of-war, with a view to convert it into a pirate, and at the same time excited to admiration and grati- tude at the terrible energy with which the commander of the ship had suppressed it — ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 523 hanging three of the ringleaders on the spot without trial, bringing home twelve others in irons — and restraining the rest by the un- daunted front which the officers assumed, and the complete readiness in which they held them- selves to face a revolt. It was a season of pro- found peace, and the astounding news was like claps of thunder in a clear sky. It was an un- precedented event in our navy, where it had been the pride and glory of the seamen to stand by their captain and their ship to the last man, and to die exultingly to save either. Unlike almost all mutinies, it was not a revolt against oppres- sion, real or imagined, and limited to the seizure of the ship and the death or expulsion of the officers, but a vast scheme of maritime depreda- tion, in which the man-of-war, converted into a piratical cruiser, was to roam the seas in quest of blood and plunder, preying upon the com- merce of all nations — robbing property, slaugh- tering men, and violating women. A son of a cabinet minister, and himself an officer, was at the head of the appalling design ; and his name and rank lent it a new aspect of danger. Every ag- gravation seemed to attend it, and the horrify- ing intelligence came out in a way to magnify its terrors, and to startle the imagination as well as to overpower the judgment. The vessel was the bearer of her own news, and arriving on the coast, took a reserve and mystery which lent a terrific force to what leaked out. She stopped oft* the harbor of New York, and remained out- side two days, severely interdicting all communi- cation with the shore. A simple notice of her return was all that was made public. An offi- cer from the vessel, related to the commander, proceeded to Washington city — giving out fear- ful intimations as he went along — and bearing a sealed report to the Secretary of the Navy. The contents of that report went direct into the government official paper, and thence flew resounding through the land. It was the offi- cial and authentic report of the fearful mutiny. The news being spread from the official source, and the public mind prepared for his reception, the commander brought his vessel into port — landed : and landed in such a way as to increase the awe and terror inspired by his naftrative. He went direct, in solemn procession, at the head of his crew to the nearest church, and re- turned thanks to God for a great deliverance. Taken by surprise, the public mind delivered itself up to joy and gratitude for a marvellous escape, applauding the energy which had saved a national ship from mutiny, and the commerce of nations from piratical depredation. The cur- rent was all on one side. Nothing appeared to weaken its force, or stop its course. The dead who had been hanged, and sent to the bottom of the sea, could send up no voice : the twelve ironed prisoners on the deck of the vessel, were silent as the dead : the officers and men at largo, actors in what had taken place, could only con- firm the commander's official report. That re- port, not one word of which would be heard in a court of justice, was received as full evidence at the great tribunal of public opinion. The re- ported confessions which it contained (though the weakest of all testimony in the eye of the law, and utterly repulsed when obtained by force, terror or seduction), were received by the masses as incontestable evidence of guilt. The vessel on which all this took place was the United States man-of-war, Somers — her commander Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, Esq., with a crew of 120 all told, 96 of which were apprentice boys under age. She had gone out on one of those holiday excursions which are now the resource of schools to make seamen. She had crossed the Atlantic and was returning to the United States by way of the West Indies, when this fearful mutiny was discovered. It was communicated by the purser's steward to the purser — by him to the first lieutenant — by him to the commander : and the incredulous manner in which he received it is established by two competent witnesses — the lieutenant who gave it to him, and the commander himself: and it is due to each to give the account of this reception in his own words : and first the lieu- tenant shall speak : "I reported the thing (the intended mutiny) to the commander immediately. He took it very coolly, said the vessel was in a good state of discipline, and expressed his doubts as to the truth of the report." This is the testimony of the lieutenant before the court-martial which afterwards sat upon the case, and two points are to be noted in it— first, that the commander did not believe it; and, secondly, that he declared the vessel to be in a good state of discipline : which was equivalent to saying, there was no danger, even if the in- formation was true. Now for the commander's account of the same scene, taken from his offi- cial report : 524 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. " Such was the purport of the information laid before me by Lieut. Gansevoort, and although he was evidently impressed with the reality of the project, yet it seemed to me so monstrous, so improbable, that I could not forbear treating it with ridicule. I was under the impression that Mr. Spencer had been reading piratical stories, and had amused himself with Mr. Wales " — (the informer). Ridicule was the only answer which the com- mander deemed due to the information, and in that he was justified by the nature of the infor- mation itself. A purser's steward (his name Wales) had told the lieutenant that midship- man Spencer had called him into a safe place the night before, and asked him right off — " Do you fear death ? do you fear a dead man 1 are you afraid to kill a man ? " — and getting satisfac- tory answers to these questions, he immediately unfolded to him his plan of capturing the ship, with a list of four certain and ten doubtful as- sociates, and eighteen nolens volens assistants to be forced into the business ; and then roaming the sea with her as a pirate, first calling at the Isle of Pines (Cuba) for confederates. It was a ridiculous scheme, both as to the force which was to take the ship, and her employ- ment as a buccaneer — the state of the ocean and of navigation being such at that time as to leave a sea-rover, pursued as he would be by the fleets of all nations, without a sea to sail in, without a coast to land on, without a rock or corner to hide in. The whole conception was an impossibility, and the abruptness of its com- munication to Wales was evidence of the design to joke him. As such it appeared to the com- mander at the time. It was at 10 o'clock in the morning of the 26th of November, 1842, ap- proaching the West Indies from the coast of Africa, that this information was given by the lieutenant to the commander. Both agree in their account of the ridicule with which it was received ; but the commander, after the deaths of the implicated, and when making out his official report to the Secretary of the Navy, for- got to add what he said to the lieutenant — that the vessel was in a good state of discipline — equivalent to saying it could not be taken. Further, he not only forgot to add what he said, but remembered to say the contrary: and on his trial undertook to prove that the state of the ship was bad, and had been so for weeks ; and even since they left the coast of Africa. In this omission to report to the Secretary a fact so material, as he had remarked it to his lieu- tenant, and afterwards proving the contrary on his trial, there is room for a pregnant reflection which will suggest itself to every thinking mind — still more when the silence of the log-book upon this " bad " state of the crew, corresponds with the commander's account that it was good. But, take the two accounts in what they agree, and it is seen that at 10 o'clock in the morning Lieutenant Gansevoort's whole report of the con- spiracy and mutiny, as derived from the purser's steward (Wales) was received with ridicule — as the romance of a boy who had been reading piratical stories, and was amusing himself with the steward — a landsman, of whom the com- mander gives a bad account as having bought a double quantity of brandy — twice as much as his orders justified, before leaving New York ; — and afterwards stealing it on the voyage. By five o'clock in the evening of the same day, and without hearing any thing additional, the com- mander became fully impressed with the truth of the whole story, awfully impressed with the danger of the vessel, and fully resolved upon a course of terrible energy to prevent the success of the impending mutiny. Of this great and sudden change in his convictions it becomes the right of the commander to give his own account of its inducing causes : and here they are, taken from his official report : "In the course of the day, Lieut. Gansevoort informed me that Mr. Spencer had been in the wardroom examining a chart of the West Indies, and had asked the assistant surgeon some ques- tions about the Isle of Pines, and the latter had informed him that it was a place much fre- quented by pirates, and drily asked if he had any acquaintances there. — He passed the day rather sullenly in one corner of the steerage, as was his usual custom, engaged in examining a small piece of paper, and writing upon it with his pencil, and occasionally finding relaxation in working with a penknife at the tail of a devil- fish, one of which he had formed into a sliding ring for his cravat. Lieut. Gansevoort also made an excuse of duty to follow him to the foretop, where he found him engaged in having some love device tattooed on his arm by Benja- min F. Green, ordinary seaman, and apprentice. Lieut. Gansevoort also learned that he had been endeavoring for some days to ascertain the rate of the chronometer, by applying to Mid. Rodgers, to whom it was unknown, and who referred him to the master. He had been seen in secret and nightly conferences with the boat- swain's mate, S. Cromwell, and seaman Elisha Small. I also heard that he had given money to several of the crew ; to Elisha Small on the ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 525 twelfth of September, the day before our de- parture from New York ; the same day on which, in reply to Commodore Perry's injunc- tions to reformation, he had made the most solemn promises of amendment ; to Samuel Cromwell on the passage to Madeira ; that he had been in the habit of distributing tobacco extensively among the apprentices, in defiance of the orders of the navy department, and of my own often reiterated ; that he had corrupted the ward-room steward, caused him to steal brandy from the ward-room mess, which he, Mr. Spencer, had drunk himself, occasionally getting drunk when removed from observation, and had also administered to several of the crew ; that, finally, he was in the habit of amus- ing the crew by making music with his jaw. He had the faculty of throwing his jaw out of joint, and by contact of the bones, playing with accuracy and elegance a variety of airs. Servile in his intercourse with me, when among the crew he loaded me with blasphemous vitupera- tion, and proclaimed that it would be a pleasing task to roll me overboard off the round-house. He had some time before drawn a brig with a black flag, and asked one of the midshipmen what he thought of it ; he had repeatedly as- serted in the early part of the cruise, that the brig might easily be taken ; he had quite recently examined the hand of midshipman Rodgers, told his fortune, and predicted for him a speedy and violent death." Surely the historian, as well as the poet may say : To the jealous mind, trifles light as air are confirmations strong as proofs from holy writ. Here are fourteen causes of sus- pected mutiny enumerated, part of which causes are eminently meritorious in a young naval oflicer, as those of studying the chart of the West Indies (whither the vessel was going), and that of learning the rate of the chronome- ter ; another part of which is insignificant, as giving tobacco to the apprentice boys, and giv- ing money to two of the seamen ; others again would show a different passion from that of piracy, as having love devices tattooed on his arm ; others again would bespeak the lassitude of idleness, as whittling at the tail of a devilfish, and making a ring for his cravat, and drawing a brig with a black flag ; others again would indicate playfulness and humor, as examining the palm of young Rodgers' hand, and telling his fortune, which fortune, of course, was to be startling, as a sudden and violent death, albeit this young Rodgers was his favorite, and the only one he asked to see when he was about to be hung up — (a favor which was denied him) ; others again are contradicted by previous statements, as, that Spencer corrupted the purser's steward and made him steal brandy, the commander having before reported that steward for the offence of purchasing a double quantity of brandy before he left New York— a circum- stance which implied a sufficient inclination to use the extra supply he had laid in (of which he had the custody), without being corrupted by Spencer to steal it ; others of these causes again were natural, and incidental to Spencer's social condition in the vessel, as that of talking with the seamen, he being objected to by his four roommates (who were the commander's relations and connections), and considered one too many in their room, and as such attempted to be removed to another ship by the com- mander himself; another, that occasionally he got drunk when removed from observation, a fault rather too common (even when in the presence of observation) to stand for evidence of a design to commit mutiny on board a man- of-war ; another, that blasphemous vituperation of the commander which, although it might be abusive, could neither be blasphemous (which only applies to the abuse of God), nor a sign of a design upon the vessel, but only of contempt for the commander ; finally, as in that marvel- lous fine music with the jaw out of joint, playing with skill and accuracy a variety of elegant airs by the contaction of the luxated ends of the bones. Taken as true, and this musical habit might indicate an innocency of disposition. But it is ridiculously false, and impossible, and as such ridiculous impossibility it was spared the men- tion even of contempt during the whole court- martial proceedings. Still it was one of the facts gravely communicated to the Secretary of the Navy as one of the means used by Spencer to seduce the crew. While ridicule, contempt and scorn are the only proper replies to such absurd presumptions of guilt, there were two of them presented in such a way as to admit of an inquiry into their truth, namely, the fortune- telling and the chronometer : Midshipman Rod- gers testified before the court that this fortune- telling was a steerage amusement, and that he was to die, not only suddenly and violently, but also a gambler; and that as for the examination of the chronometer, it was with a view to a bet between himself and Rodgers as to the time that the vessel would get to St. Thomas— the bet on 526 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Spencer's side, being on eight days. Yet, the diseased mind of the commander could see nothing in those little incidents, but proof of a design to kill Rodgers (with the rest) before the ship got to St. Thomas, and afterwards to run to the Isle of Pines. Preposterous as these fourteen reasons were, they were conclusive with the commander, who forthwith acted upon them, and made the arrest of Spencer." " At evening quarters I ordered through my clerk, 0. H. Perry, doing the duty also of mid- shipman and aid, all the officers to lay aft on the quarter deck, excepting the midshipman stationed on the forecastle. The master was ordered to take the wheel, and those of the crew stationed abaft sent to the mainmast. I approached Mr. Spencer, and said to him, ' I learn, Mr. Spencer, that you aspire to the com- mand of the Somers.' With a deferential, but unmoved and gently smiling expression, he re- plied, 'Oh no, sir.' 'Did you not tell Mr. Wales, sir, that you had a project to kill the commander, the officers, and a considerable por- tion of the crew of this vessel, and to convert her into a pirate ? ' 'I may have told him so, sir, but it was in a joke.' ' You admit then that you told him so ? ' ' Yes, sir, but in joke ! ' ' This, sir, is joking on a forbidden subject — this joke may cost you your life ! ' " This was the answer of innocence : guilt would have denied every thing. Here all the words are admitted, with a promptitude and frankness that shows they were felt to be what they purported — the mere admission of a joke. The captain's reply shows that the life of the young man was already determined upon. It was certainly a punishable joke — a joke upon a forbidden subject : but how punishable ? cer- tainly among the minor offences in the navy, offences prejudicial to discipline ; and to be ex- piated by arrest, trial, condemnation for breach of discipline, and sentence to reprimand, sus- pension ; or some such punishment for incon- siderate offences. But, no. The commander replies upon the spot, ' this joke may cost you your life : ' and in that he was prophetic, being the fulfiller of his own prophecy. The informer Wales had reported a criminal paper to be in the neckcloth of the young man: the next movement of the commander was to get pos- session of that paper : and of that attempt he gives this account : " ' Be pleased to remove your neckhandker- chief.' It was removed and opened, but nothing was found in it. I asked him what he had done with a paper containing an account of his project which he had told Mr. Wales was in the back of his neckhandkerchief. ' It is a paper containing my day's work; and I have destroyed it.' 'It is a singular place to keep day's work in.' ' It is a convenient one,' he replied, with an air of defer- ence and blandness." Balked in finding this confirmation of guilt, the commander yet proceeded with his design, and thus describes the arrest : " I said to him, ' l"ou must have been aware that you could only have compassed your designs by passing over my dead body, and after that the bodies of all the officers. You had given yourself a great deal to do. It will be necessary for me to confine you.' I turned to Lieutenant Gansevoort and said, 'Arrest Mr. Spencer, and put him in double irons.' Mr. Gansevoort stepped forward, and took his sword ; he was ordered to sit down in the stern port, double ironed, and as an additional security handcuffed. I directed Lieut. Gansevoort to watch over his security, to order him to be put to instant death if he was detected speaking to, or holding intelligence in any way, with any of the crew. He was himself made aware of the nature of these orders. I also directed Lieut. Gansevoort to see that he had every comfort which his safe keeping would admit of. In con- fiding this task to Lieut. Gansevoort, his kind- ness and humanity gave me the assurance that it would be zealously attended to ; and through- out the period of Mr. Spencer's confinement, Lieut. Gansevoort, whilst watching his person with an eagle eye, and ready at any moment to take his life should he forfeit that condition of silence on which his safety depended, attended to all his wants, covered him with his own grego when squalls of rain were passing over, and ministered in every way to his comfort with the tenderness of a woman." Double-ironed — handcuffed — bagged (for he was also tied up in a bag), lying under the sun in a tropical clime, and drenched with squalls of rain — silent — instant death for a word or a sign — Lieutenant Gansevoort, armed to the teeth, standing over him, and watching, with " eagle eye," for the sound or motion which was to be the forfeit of life : for six days and nights, his irons examined every half hour to see that all were tight and safe, was this boy (of less than nineteen) thus confined ; only to be roused from it in a way that will be told. But the lieutenant could not stand to his arduous watch during the whole of that time. His ea- gle eye could not resist winking and shutting during all that time. He needed relief— and had it — and in the person of one who showed ANNO 184S. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 527 that he had a stomach for the business — Wales, the informer : who, finding himself elevated from the care of pea-jackets, molasses, and to- bacco, to the rank of sentinel over a United States officer, improved upon the lessons which his superiors had taught him, and stood ready, a cocked revolver in hand, to shoot, not only the prisoners (for by this time there were three), for a thoughtless word or motion, but also to shoot any of the crew that should make a suspicious sign : — such as putting the hand to the chin, or touching a handspike with- in forty feet of the said Mr. Wales. Hear him, as he swears before the court-martial : " I was officer in charge of the prisoners : we were holy-stoning the decks. I noticed those men who missed their muster kept congregat- ing round the stern of the launch, and kept talking in a secret manner. I noticed them making signs to the prisoners by putting their hands up to their chins : Cromwell was lying on the starboard arm-chest : he rose up in his bed. I told him if I saw any more signs passing be- tween them / should put him to death : my orders were to that effect. He laid down in his bed. I then went to the stern of the launch, found Wilson, and a number of small holy- stones collected there, and was endeavoring to pull a gun handspike from the stern of the launch : what his intentions were I dortt know. I cocked a pistol, and ordered him to the lee- gangway to draw water. I told him if I saw him pulling at the handspike I should blow his brains out." This comes from Mr. Wales himself, not from the commander's report, where this handspike- incident is made to play a great part ; thus : " Several times during the night there were symptoms of an intention to strike some blow. Mr. Wales detected Charles A. Wilson attempt- ing to draw out a handspike from under the launch, with an evident purpose of felling him ; and when Mr. Wales cocked his pistol and ap- proached, he could only offer some lame excuse for his presence there. I felt more anxious than I had yet done, and remained continually on deck." Here is a discrepancy. Wales swears before the court that he did not know what Wilson's intentions were in pulling at the handspike: the captain, who did not see the pulling, reports to the Secretary of the Navy that it was done with the evident intent of felling Wales ! while Wales himself, before the court-martial, not only testified to his ignorance of any motive for that act, but admitted upon cross-examination, that the handspike was not drawn at all — only attempted ! and that he himself was forty feet from Wilson at the time ! (but, more of this handspike hereafter.) Still the impression upon the commander's mind was awful. He felt more anxious than ever : he could not rest : he kept continually on deck. Armed to the teeth he watched, listened, interrogated, and patrolled incessantly. Surely the man's crazy terrors would excite compassion were it not for the deeds he committed under their influence. — But the paper that was to have been found in Spencer's cravat, and was not found there : it was found elsewhere, and the commander in his report gives this account of it : " On searching the locker of Mr. Spencer, a small razor-case was found, which he had re- cently drawn, with a razor in it, from the purser. Instead of the razor, the case was found to contain a small paper, rolled in another ; on the inner one were strange charac- ters, which proved to be Greek, with which Mr. Spencer was familiar. It fortunately happened that there was another midshipman on board the Somers who knew Greek — one whose Greek, and every thing else that he possessed, was wholly devoted to his country. The Greek characters, converted by midshipman Henry Rodgers into our own, exhibited well known names among the crew. The certain — the doubtful — those who were to be kept whether they would or not — arranged in separate rows ; those who were to do the work of murder in the various apartments, to take the wheel, to open the arm-chests." The paper had about thirty names upon it : four under the head of " certain : " ten under that of doubtful, and the remainder under the head of nolens volens — which was construed by the Latinists on board to signify men who were to be made to join in the mutiny whether they would or not : and these nolens volens who were to be forced were more numerous than those who were to force them. Eighteen un- willing men to be forced into mutiny and piracy by four willing and ten uncertain ; and of the four willing, one of them the informer himself! and another not in the ship ! and a third Spen- cer ! leaving but one under Spencer to do the work. The names of all were spelt with the Greek alphabet. Of course these nolens volens men could not have been counted in any way among the mutineers; yet they were always counted to make up the thirty, as, of less than that number it would not have been seemly for 528 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. a man-of-war to have been afraid ; yet some of these were brought home in irons. The ten marked doubtful should not have been held to be guilty upon any principle of human justice — the humanity of the law always giving the bene- fit of the doubt to the suspected criminal. This brings the inquiry to the four " certain : " and of these four, it turned out that one of them (An- drews) was a personage not in the vessel ! An- other was the veritable Mr. Wales himself! who was the informer, and the most determined oppo- ser of the mutiny — leaving but two (Spencer and McKinley) to do the work of murder in the va- rious departments : and of this McKinley it will eventually be seen with what justice his name was there. The names of Small and Cromwell, both of whom were hung with Spencer, were neither of them in this certain list — nor that of Cromwell in any : in fact, there was nothing against him, and Small was only included in Wales's information. So that the "certain" mutineers were reduced to two, both of whom were in irons, and bagged, and five others out of the doubtful and nolens volens classes. There was no evidence to show that this was Spencer's razor-case : it was new, and like the rest obtained from the purser. There was no evidence how it got into Spencer's locker : Wales and Gansevoort were the finders. There was no evidence that a single man whose name was in the list, knew it to be there. Justice would have required these points to have been proven ; but with respect to the writing upon this paper it was readily avowed by Spencer to be his — an avowal accompanied by a declaration of its joking character, which the law would re- quire to go with it always, but which was dis- regarded. Small and Cromwell were not arrested with Spencer, but afterwards, and not upon accusa- tions, but upon their looks and attitudes, and accident to the sky-sail-mast, which will be noted at the proper time. The first point is to show the arrestation upon looks and motions ; and of that the commander gave this account in the official report : " The following day being Sunday, the crew were inspected at quarters, ten o'clock. I took my station abaft with the intention of particu- larly observing Cromwell and Small. The third, or master's division, to which they both belonged, always mustered at morning quarters upon the after part of the quarter deck, in con- tinuation of the line formed by the crews of the guns. The persons of both were faultlessly clean. They were determined that their ap- pearance in this respect should provoke no re proof. Cromwell stood up to his full stature, his muscles braced, his battle-axe grasped reso- lutely, his cheek pale, but his eye fixed as if indifferently at the other side. He had a de- termined and dangerous air. Small made a very different figure. His appearance was ghastly ; he shifted his weight from side to side, and his battle-axe passed from one hand to the other ; his eye wandered irresolutely, but never towards mine. I attributed his conduct to fear ; I have since been led to believe that the business upon which he had entered was re- pugnant to his nature, though the love of money and of rum had been too strong for his fidelity." Here were two men adjudged guilty of mu- tiny and piracy upon their looks, and attitude, and these diametrically opposed in each case. One had a dangerous air — the other a ghastly air. One looked resolute — the other irresolute. One held his battle-axe firmly griped — the other shifted his from hand to hand. One stood up steadily on both legs — the other shifted his weight uneasily from leg to leg. In one point only did they agree — in that of faultless cleanliness : a coincidence which the commander's judgment converted into evidence of guilt, as being proof of a determination that, so far as clean clothes went, there should be no cause forjudging them pirates : a conclusion to the benefit of which the whole crew would be entitled, as they were proved on the court- martial to be all "faultlessly clean" at this Sunday inspection — as they always were at such inspection — as the regulations required them to be — and for a fault in which any one of them would have been punished. Yet upon these looks, and attitudes, suspicions were ex- cited, which, added to the incident of a mast broken by the blundering order of the com- mander's nephew, caused the arrest and death of two citizens. After the crew had been inspected, divine service was performed, the crew attending be- fore the time, and behaving well ; and the com- mander again availed himself of the occasion to examine the countenances of the men; and, happily, without finding any thing to give him distrust. He thus describes the scene : " After quarters the church was rigged. The crew mustered up with their prayer-books, and took their seats without waiting for all hands ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 529 to be called, and considerably before five bells, or half-past ten — the usual time of divine ser- vice. The first lieutenant reported all ready, and asked me if he should call all hands to muster. I told him to wait for the accustomed hour. Five bells were at length struck, and all hands called to muster. The crew were unu- sually attentive, and the responses more than commonly audible. The muster succeeded, and I examined very carefully the countenances of the crew, without discovering any thing that gave me distrust." This Sunday then (Nov. 27th) being the first Sunday, and the first day after the arrest of Spencer, had passed half by without any thing discoverable to excite distrust, except the clean- liness, the looks, and the attitudes of Small and Cromwell at the morning inspection. At the second ordeal, that of the church service, the whole crew came out well, and all seemed to be safe and right up to this time — being twenty- four hours after the arrest of Spencer — the event which was expected to rouse his accom- plices to some outbreak for his rescue. But that critical day was not destined to pass away without an event which confirmed all the sus- picions of the commander, and even indicated the particular criminals. Before the sun had gone down, this event occurred ; and as it be- came the turning point in the case, and the point of departure in the subsequent tragic work, the commander shall have the benefit of telling it himself : " In the afternoon, the wind having moderat- ed, skysails and royal studding-sails were set. Tn going large I had always been very particu- lar to have no strain upon the light braces lead- ing forward, as the tendency of such a strain was to carry away the light yards and masts. Whilst Ward M. Gagely, one of the best and most skilful of our apprentices, was yet on the main royal yard, after setting the main skysail, a sudden jerk of the weather main royal brace given by Small and another, whose name I have not discovered, carried the topgallant-mast away in the sheeve hole, sending forward the royal mast with royal skysail, royal studding sail, main- topgallant staysail, and the head of the gaff topsail. Gagely was on the royal yard. I scarcely dared to look on the booms or in the larboard gangways where he should have fallen. For a minute I was in intense agony : in the next I saw the shadow of the boy through the topgallant sail, rising rapidly towards the top- gallant yard, which still remained at the mast head. Presently he rose to view, descended on the after side to the topgallant-mast cap, and began to examine with coolness to see what was Vol. II.— 34 first to be done to clear the wreck. I did not dream at the time that the carrying away of this mast was the work of treachery — but I knew that it was an occasion of this* sort, the loss of a boy overboard, or an accident to a spar, creating confusion and interrupting the regularity of duty, which was likely to be taken advantage of by the conspirators were they still bent on the prosecution of their enterprise." The commander did not dream at the time of treachery : did not dream of it when he saw the mast fall : and well he might not, for he had given the order himself to set the skysails, the ship running " large " at the time, i. e. with a favorable wind, and when a slight press of sail might carry away the elevated, light, and un- supported mast which carried the skysail. He did not dream of treachery when he saw it fall under an order which himself had given : but quickly he had that dream, and he must tell himself how it came to him ; thus : " To my astonishment, all those who were most conspicuously named in the programme of Mr. Spencer, no matter in what part of the vessel they might be stationed, mustered at the main-top masthead — whether animated by some new-born zeal in the service of their country, or collected there for the purpose of conspiring, it was not easy to decide. The coincidence con- firmed the existence of a dangerous conspiracy, suspended, yet perhaps not abandoned." This is the way the dream began, in aston ishment at seeing all those most conspicuously nominated in the razor-case paper, rush to the scene of the disaster. Now, for the misfortune of this paragraph, it came to be proved before the court-martial, and after the men were dead, that the majority of those who ran forward were not named in the paper at all ! and espe- cially that one of the two was not upon it who were presently seized as guilty, and whose haste to perform a duty was the passport to death. The crew ran to the place. This would seem to be the most natural conduct imaginable. They ran to the place where the mast and boy were expected to fall. They flew to the place at which the commander, in his intense agony, did not dare to look. This haste to such a place was proof of guilt, take it either way, either as animated by some new-born zeal to hide past defection, or to collect for a conspira cy. The commander finds it hard to decide be- tween these two purposes ; but take which he might, it was confirmation of a dangerous con- THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. spiracy, and of its suspension, not abandon- ment. The sudden running to the place was the proof of the conspiracy: the jerk which Small, and another whose name has never yet been discovered, gave to the weather main royal brace, pointed out the two eminently guilty. What put the seal upon the confirmation of all this guilt was the strange and stealthy glances which Spencer, in his irons, and his head then out of the bag (for the heads were left out in the day time) cast at it. Hear him : " The eye of Mr. Spencer travelled perpetually to the masthead, and cast thither many of those strange and stealthy glances which I had be- fore noticed." The commander nowhere tells when and how he had previously seen these sinister glances — certainly not before the revelations of Wales, as, up to that time, he was anxious before the court-martial to show that Spencer was kindly regarded by him. But the glances. What more natural than for Spencer to look at such a startling scene ! a boy falling in the wreck of a broken mast, and tumbling shrouds, from fifty feet high: and look he did — a fair and honest look, his eyes steadfastly fixed upon it, as proved by the commander's own witnesses on the court-martial — especially midshipman Hays — who testified to the fixed and steady look ; and this in answer to a question from the commander tending to get a confirmation of his own report. Nor did any one whatever see those strange and furtive glances which the commander beheld. Now to the breaking of the mast. This incident was reviewed at the time by two competent judges — Mr. Fenimore Cooper, the naval historian, and himself an ex- naval officer, and Captain William Sturgis of Boston, one of the best navigators that Boston ever bred (and she has bred as good as the world ever saw). They deemed the breaking of that slender, elevated, unbraced mast the natural result of the order which the commander gave to set the skysail, going as the vessel then was. She was in the trade-winds, running into West Indies from the coast of Africa, and running " large," as the mariners express it ; that is to say, with the wind so crossing her course as to come strong upon her beam or quarter, and send her well before it. With such a wind, these experienced seamen say that the order which the commander gave might well break that mast. It would increase the press of sail on that delicate and exposed mast, able to bear but little at the best, and often breaking with- out a perceptible increase of pressure upon it. But the order which he gave was not the one given to the men. He gave his order to his re- lation, Mr. 0. H. Perry, to have a small pull on one brace ; instead of that the order given to the men was, to haul, that is, pull hard, on another; which was directly contrary to the order he had received — one slacking, the other increasing the press of sail. Under that order the men with alacrity threw their whole weight on the wrong brace ; and the mast cracked, reeled, and fell immediately. The commander himself saw all this — saw the fault his nephew had committed — sent for him — reproved him in the face of the crew — told him it was his fault — the effect of his inattention. All this was fully proved before the court-martial. Perry's own testimony admitted it. Thus — questioned by the judge advocate : " After the mast was carried away were you sent for by the commander ? " Answer : " Yes, sir." " Who came for you ? " A. " I don't recollect the per son." "Was it not McKee?" A. "I don't recollect." " What then occurred between yon and the commander ? " A. " He asked me why I did not attend to my duties better '? and said I must do it better in future." " What was the commander alluding to ? " A. " To my not at- tending to the brace at the time they were hauling on it." "Did he say to you, 'this is all your fault, sir ? ' or words to that effect ? " A. " I don't recollect." " What reply did you make the commander ? " A. " I did not make any. I said, I think, that I understood the or- der to haul on the brace." There was also something else proved there, which, like the other, was not reported in the commander's ac- count of that portentous event, which was the immediate cause of a new and terrible line of conduct. First, there is no mention on the log- book of this rush of the men aft : secondly, there is no mention in it of any suspected de- sign to carry away this topgallant mast. The commander was seeing when he wrote his re- port what the keeper of the log-book did not see at the time it should have happened. And this point is here dismissed with the remark that, in this case (the men coming fast to the work) was the sign of guilt : in other cases, ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 531 coming slow was the same sign : so that, fast or slow, from the time Wales made his revela- tion, to the time of hanging, all motions, how- ever opposite to each other, were equally signs of the same guilt. The account of this incident being given, the report proceeds : " The wreck being cleared, supper was piped down before sending up the new mast. After supper the same persons mustered again at the mast head, and the topgallant mast was fidded. the light yards crossed, and the sails set. By this time it was dark, and quarters had been unavoidably dispensed with : still I thought, under all the circumstances, that it was scarcely safe to leave Cromwell at large during the night. The night was the season of danger. After con- sulting Lieutenant Gansevoort, I determined to arrest Cromwell. The moment he reached the deck, an officer was sent to leeward to guard the lee-rigging ; and the main stays were also thought of, though not watched. As his voice was heard in the top, descending the rigging, I met him at the foot of Jacob's ladder, surrounded by the officers, guided him aft to the quarter- deck, and caused him to sit down. On ques- tioning him as to the secret conversation he had held the night before with Mr. Spencer, he de- nied its being he. He said ; ' It was not me, sir, it was Small ! ' Cromwell was the tallest man on board, and Small the shortest. Crom- well was immediately ironed ; and Small, then pointed out by an associate to increased suspi- cion, was also sent for, interrogated, and ironed. Increased vigilance was now enjoined upon all the officers ; henceforward, all were perpetually armed. Either myself, or the first lieutenant was always on deck ; and, generally, both of us were." Two more were now arrested ; and in giving an account of these arrests, as of all others (fifteen in the whole), the commander forgets to tell that the arrested persons were bagged, as well as double-ironed and handcuffed, and their irons ordered to be examined every half hour day and night — a ceremony which much interfered with sleep and rest. And now for the circumstances which occasioned these ar- rests : and first of Cromwell. There are but two points mentioned ; first, " under all the cir- cumstances." These have been mentioned, and comprise his looks and attitudes at the morning inspection, and his haste in getting to the scene of the wreck when the mast fell. The next was his answer to the question upon his secret conversation with Spencer the night before. This " night before," seems to be a sad blunder in point of time. Spencer was in irons on the larboard arm-chest at that time, a guard over him, and holding his life from minute to minute by the tenure of silence, the absence of signs, and the absence of understanding looks with any person. It does not seem possible that he could have held a conversation, secret or public, with any person during that night, or after his arrest until his death; nor is any such any where else averred : and it is a stupid contradic- tion in itself. If it was secret, it could not be known : if it was open, both the parties would have been shot instantly. Upon its stupid con- tradiction, as well as upon time, the story is falsified. Besides this blunder and extreme im- probability, there is other evidence from the commander himself, to make it quite sure that nobody could have talked with Spencer that night. The men were in their hammocks, and the ship doubly guarded, and the officers pa- trolling the deck with pistols and cutlasses. Of this, the report says : " That night the officers of the watch were armed with cutlasses and pis- tols, and the rounds of both decks made fre- quently, to see that the crew were in their hammocks, and that there were no suspicious collections of individuals about the deck." Un- der these circumstances, it would seem impos- sible that the previous night's conversation could have been held by any person with Mr. Spencer. Next, supposing there was a secret conversation. It might have been innocent or idle ; for its subject is not intimated j and its secret nature precludes all knowledge of it. So much for Cromwell : now for Small. His case stands thus : " Pointed out by an associate to increased suspicion." Here association in guilt is assumed ; a mode of getting at the facts he wanted, almost invariable with the commander, Mackenzie. Well, the answer of Cromwell, "It was not me, it was Small ! " would prove no guilt if it was true ; but it is impossible to have been true. But this was only cause of "in- creased " suspicion : so that there was suspicion before ; and all the causes of this had been de- tailed in the official report. First, there were the causes arising at inspection that morning — faultless cleanliness, shifting his battle-axe from one hand to the other, resting alternately on the legs, and a ghastly look— to wit: a ghostly look. He was interrogated: the report does not say about what : nor does it intimate the character of the answers. But there were per- sons present who heard the questions and the answers, and who told both to the court-martial. 532 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. The questions were as to the conversation with Spencer, which Wales reported ; and the an- swers were, yes — that he had foolish conversa- tions with Spencer, but no mutiny. Still there was a stumbling block in the way of arresting Small. His name was nowhere made out as certain by Spencer. This was a balk : but there was the name of a man in the list who was not in the vessel : and this circumstance of a man too few, suggested an idea that there should be a transaction between these names ; and the man on the list who had no place in the ship, should give place to him who had a place in the ship, and no place on the list : so Small was assumed to be Andrews ; and by that he was arrested, though proved to be Small by all testimony — that of his mother inclusive. The three prisoners were bagged, and how that process was performed upon them, they did not live to tell : but others who had under- gone the same investment, did : and from them the operation will be learnt. With the arrest of these two, the business of Sunday closed ; and Monday opened with much flogging of boys, and a speech from the commander, of which he gives an abstract, and also displays its capital effects : " The effect of this (speech of the 28th) upon the crew was various : it filled many with hor- ror at the idea of what they had escaped from : it inspired others with terror at dangers await- ing them from their connection with the con- spiracy. The thoughts of returning to that home, and those friends from whom it had been intended to cut them off for ever, caused many of them to weep. I now considered the crew tranquillized and the vessel safe." Now, whether this description of the emo- tions excited by the captain's oratory, be reality or fancy, it is still good for one thing : it is good for evidence against himself ! good evidence, at the bar of all courts, and at the high tribunal of public opinion. It shows that the captain, only two days before the hanging, was perfect master of his ship — that the crew was tranquil- lized, and the vessel safe ! and all by the effect of his oratory : and consequently, that he had a power within himself by which he could con- trol the men, and mould them into the emotions which he pleased. The 28th day came. The commander had much flogging done, and again made a speech, but not of such potency as the other. He stopped Spencer's tobacco, and re- ports that, " the day after it was stopped, his spirits gave way entirely. He remained the whole day with his face buried in the gregoe, and when it was raised, it was bathed in tears." So passed the 28th. " On the 29th (continues the report) all hands were again called to wit- ness punishment," and the commander made another speech. But the whole crew was far from being tranquillized. During the night se- ditious cries were heard. Signs of disaffection multiplied. The commander felt more uneasy than he had ever done before. The most se- riously implicated collected in knots. They conferred together in low tones, hushing up, or changing the subject when an officer approached. Some of the petty officers had been sounded by the first lieutenant, and found to be true to their colors : they were under the impression that the vessel was yet far from being safe — that there were many still at liberty that ought to be con- fined — that an outbreak, having for its object the rescue of the prisoners, was seriously con- templated. Several times during the night there were symptoms of an intention to strike some blow. Such are a specimen of the circumstances grouped together under vague and intangible generalities with which the day of the 29th is ushered in, all tending to one point, the danger of a rescue, and the necessity for more arrests. Of these generalities, only one was of a character to be got hold of before the court-martial, and it will take a face, under the process of judicial examination of witnesses, very different from that which it wore in the report. After these generalities, applying to the mass of the crew, come special accusations against four seamen — Wilson, Green, McKee, McKinley : and of these special accusations, a few were got hold of by the judge advocate on the court-martial. Thus : 1. The handspike sign. — "Mr. Wales de- tected Charles A. Wilson attempting to draw out a handspike from under the launch, with an evident purpose of felling him ; and when Wales cocked his pistol, and approached, he could only offer some lame excuse for his pres- ence there." This is the amount of the handspike portent, as reported to the Secretary of the Navy among the signs which indicated the immediate danger of the rising and the rescue. This Wales, of course, was a witness for the commander, and on being put on the stand, delivered his testi- mony in a continued narrative, covering the whole case. In that narrative, he thus intro- duces the handspike incident : ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 533 " T then went to the stem of the launch, found Wilson had a number of small holystones col- lected there, and was endeavoring to pull a gun handspike from the stern of the launch : what his intentions were I don't know. I cocked a pistol, and ordered him in the gangway to draw water. I told him if I saw him pulling on the handspike, I should blow his brains out." u I then went to the stern," &c. This period of time of going to the stern of the launch, was immediately after this Wales had detected per- sons making signs to the prisoners by putting their hands to their chins, and when he told Cromwell if he saw any more signs between them he should put him to death. It was in- stantly after this detection and threat, and of course at a time when this purser's steward was in a good mood to see signs and kill, that he had this vision of the handspike : but he happens to swear that he does not know with what in- tent the attempt to pull it out was made. Far from seeing, as the commander did when he wrote the report, that the design to fell him was evident, he does not know what the design was at all ; but he gives us a glimpse at the in- side of his own heart, when he swears that he would blow out the brains of Wilson if he saw him again attempting to pull out the handspike, when he did not know what it was for. Here is a murderous design attributed to Wilson on an incident with Wales, in which Wales himself saw no design of any kind ; and thus, upon his direct examination, and in the narrative of his testimony, he convicts the commander of a cruel and groundless misstatement. But proceed to the cross-examination : the judge advocate re- quired him to tell the distance between himself and Wilson when the handspike was being pulled by Wilson? He answered forty feet, more or less ! and so this witness who had gone to the stern of the launch, was forty feet from that stern when he got there. 2. Missing their muster. — " M cKinley, Green, and others, missed their musters. Others of the implicated also missed their musters. I could not contemplate this growth of disaffec- tion without serious uneasiness. Where was this thing to end? Each new arrest of prisoners seemed to bring a fresh set of conspirators for- ward to occupy the first place." The point of this is the missing the musters ; and of these the men themselves give this ac- count, in reply to questions from the judge ad- vocate • " It was after the arrest (of Spencer), me and McKee (it is McKinlcy speaks) turned in and out with one another when the watch was called : we made a bargain in the first of the cruise to wake one another up when the watches were called. I came up on deck, awaked by the noise of relieving guards, 15 minutes too late, and asked McKee why he did not call me ? He told me that the officer would not let him stir : that they were ordered to lie down on the deck, and when he lay down he fell asleep, and did not wake up : that was why I missed my muster, being used to be waked up by one an- other." Such is the natural account, veracious upon its face, which McKinley gives for missing, by 15 minutes, his midnight muster, and which the commander characterized as a lame excuse, fol- lowed by immediate punishment, and a con- firmed suspicion of mutiny and piracy. All the others who missed masters had their ex- cuses, true on their face, good in their nature, and only varying as arising from the different conditions of the men at the time. 3. The African knife sign. — " In his sail-bag (Wilson's) was found an African knife of an ex- traordinary shape — short, and gradually expand- ding in breadth, sharp on both sides. It was of no use for any honest purpose. It was only fit to kill. It had been secretly sharpened, by his own confession, the day before with a file to a perfect edge." The history of this knife, as brought out be- fore the court-martial was this (McKinley, the witness) : " I was ashore on the coast of Africa, — I be- lieve it was at Monrovia that I went ashore, I having no knife at the time. I went ashore there, and saw one of the natives with a knife. I spoke to Mr. Heiskill (the purser) about buying it for me. He sent me aboard the brig (Somers) with some things in the second cutter. When I came back Warner had bought the knife I looked at, and Mr. Heiskill bought an African dirk instead of that, and gave it to me. I came on board with the knife, and wore it for two or three days. Wilson saw it, and said he wanted to buy it as a curiosity to take to New York. I would not let him have it then. I went up on the topgallant yard, and it nearly threw me off. It caught in some of the rigging. When I came down, I told Wilson he might have it for one dollar. He promised to give a dollar out of the first grog money, or the first dollar he could get." So much for this secret and formidable wea- pon in the history of its introduction to the ship— coming through the purser Heiskill, one 534 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. of the supporters of Commander Mackenzie in all the affairs of these hangings — given as a present to McKinley, a cot-boy, i. e. who made up the cots for the officers, who had been a waiter at Howard's Hotel (N. Y.), and who was a favorite in the ship's crew. As for the uses to which it could only be put — no honest use, and only fit to kill — it was proved to be in cur- rent use as a knife, cutting holes in hammocks, shifting their numbers, &c. 4. The battle-axe alarm. — "He had begun also to sharpen his battle-axe with the same as- sistant (the file) : one part of it he had brought to an edge." The proof was the knife and the battle-axe were publicly sharpened as often as needed, and that battle-axes, like all other arms, were re- quired to be kept in perfect order; and that, sharp and shining was their desired condition. Every specified sign of guilt was cleared up be- fore the court-martial — one only excepted ; and the mention of that was equally eschewed by each party. It was the sign of music from the luxated jaw ! Both parties refrained from al- luding to that sign on the trial — one side from shame, the other from pityi Yet it was gravely reported to the Secretary of the Navy as fact, and as a means of seducing the crew. Returning to generalities, the informer Wales, presents himself prominently on this day — this 29th of November, memorable for its resolves ; and groups a picture which was to justify all that was to be done in two days more, and of which the initiation and preliminary steps were then taken. " The crew still continued very much dissatis- fied, grumbling the whole time. The master- at-arms was sick at the time, and I attended to his duties, and had charge of the berth deck. Their manner was so insulting that I had to bring three or four up for punishment (with the cat-and-nine-tails.) The dissatisfaction con- tinued to increase (this was the 30th I think), and continued till the execution took place, when I noticed a marked change in their man- ner : those who were the most unruly and in- solent were the first to run and obey an order : they seemed to anticipate an order." — " Before that, an order had to be given two or three times before it was executed, and when they did execute it, they would go growling along, as though they did not care whether it was done or not. They went slow." This swearing of Wales tallies with the report of the commander in bringing the mutiny up to the bursting point on the 29th of November. That was a point necessary to be reached, as it will be seen hereafter, and to be reached on that day. There was one other point necessary to be made out, and that was, the mutiny was to break forth before they arrived at the island of St. Thomas, as at that place the mutineers could be landed, or transhipped, and so the whole thing evaporate. They were now within less than four days of that island. Spencer had bet just before they would be there in eight days — a bet which seemed to say that he had no thought of preventing her from arriving there. But it was now necessary to have the mutiny to take place before they got to that island; and this essential point was established by Wales, by an addition to his previous testimony, fixing that point. This addition to his testi- mony caused an inquiry to be put to him by the judge advocate before the court : " When did you first swear that Mr. Spencer told you that the mutiny would break out shortly before your arrival at St. Thomas ? " Answer : " At the ex- amination of officers, and of men by the officers. I forget what day, but I think it was on the 30th of November." This was corroborated in the view of the commander by the fortune-tell- ing of the young Rodgers' fate — to die suddenly, i. e. in the mutiny before they got to St. Thomas, without adding the remainder of the prediction, that he was to die a gambler ; and without add- ing the essential fact, that Spencer had a bet that she would arrive there by a given day. On the 30th day of November, at nine o'clock in the morning, a letter was delivered by the commander to Lieutenant Gansevoort, Surgeon Leecock and Purser Heiskill, and four midship- men, stating the dangers of the ship, and calling upon them to enlighten the commander with their opinion as to what should be done with Spencer, Small and Cromwell. The letter was not addressed to any of the acting midshipmen, the reason why being thus stated : " Though they had done men's duty in the late transac- tion, they were still boys : their opinion could add but little force to that of the other offi- cers : it would have been hard, at their early age, to call upon them to say whether three of their fellow-creatures should live or die." So reasoned the commander with respect to the acting midshipmen. It would seem that the same reasoning should have excused the four midshipmen on whom this hard task was im- The letter was delivered at 9 o'clock in ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 535 the morning: the nominated officers met in (what was called) a council : and proceeded im- mediately to take, what they called testimony, to be able to give the required opinion. Thirteen seamen were examined, under oath — an extra-ju- dicial oath of no validity in law, and themselves punishable at common law for administering it : and this testimony written down in pencil on loose and separate slips of paper — the three persons whose lives were to be passed upon, having no knowledge of what was going on. Purser Heiskill being asked on the court-mar- tial, why, on so important occasion pen and ink was not used, answered, he did not know — " that there were no lawyers there : " as if lawyers were necessary to have pen and ink used. The whole thirteen, headed by Wales, swore to a pattern : and such swearing was certainly never heard before, not even in the smallest magis- trate's court, and where the value of a cow and calf was at stake : hearsays, beliefs, opinions ; preposterous conclusions from innocent or frivo- lous actions : gratuitous assumptions of any fact wanted : and total disregard of every maxim which would govern the admissibility of evi- dence. Thus : Henry King : " Believed the vessel was in danger of being taken by them : thinks Crom- well the head man : thinks they have been en- gaged in it ever since they left New York : thinks if they could get adrift, there would be danger of the vessel being taken : thinks Spen- cer, Small, Cromwell and Wilson were the lead- ers: thinks if Golderman and Sullivan could get a party among the crew now that they would release the prisoners and take the vessel, and that they are not to be trusted." — Charles Stewart : " Have seen Cromwell and Spencer talking together often — talking low : don't think the vessel safe with these prisoners on board : this is my deliberate opinion from what I've heard King, the gunner's mate, say (that is) that he had heard the boys say that there were spies about: I think the prisoners have friends on board who would release them if they got a chance. I can't give my opinion as to Crom- well's character : I have seen him at the galley getting a cup of coffee now and then." — Charles Rogers : " I believe Spencer gave Cromwell 15 dollars on the passage to Madeira — Cromwell showed it to me and said Spencer had given it to him. If we get into hard weather I think it will be hard to look out for all the prisoners : I believe if there are any concerned in the plot, it would not be safe to go on our coast in cold or bad weather with the prisoners : I think they would rise and take the vessel : I think if Cromwell, Small, and Spencer were disposed of, our lives would be much safer. Cromwell and Small un- derstand navigation : these two are the only ones among the prisoners capable of taking charge of the vessel." — Andrew Anderson : " Have seen Spencer and Cromwell often speak- ing together on the forecastle, in a private way : never took much notice : I think it's plain proof they were plotting to take this vessel out of the hands of her officers : from the first night Spen- cer was confined, and from what I heard from my shipmates, I suspected that they were plot- ting to take the vessel : I think they are safe from here to Saint Thomas (West Indies), but from thence home I think there is great danger on account of the kind of weather on the coast, and squalls." — Oliver B. Browning : " I would not like to be on board the brig if he (Crom- well) was at large : I do not bear him any ill will : I do not know that he bears me any ill will : I do not think it safe to have Cromwell, Spencer and Small on board : I believe that if the men were at their stations taking care of the vessel in bad weather, or any other time when they could get a chance, they would try and capture the vessel if they could get a chance : to tell you God Almighty's truth, I believe some of the cooks about the galley, I think they are the main backers." — H. M. Garty : " Believes Spencer, Small and Cromwell were determined on taking the brig : he supposes to turn pirates or retake slavers: on or about the 11th of Oc- tober heard Spencer say the brig could be taken with six men : I think there are some persons at large who would voluntarily assist the pris- oners if they had an opportunity : thinks if the prisoners were at large the brig would certainly be in great danger: thinks there are persons adrift yet who would, if any opportunity offered, rescue the prisoners : thinks the vessel would be safer if Cromwell, Spencer, and Small were put to death." — George W. Warner : " Have seen Cromwell and Spencer sitting together fre- quently: have heard Spencer ask Cromwell what sort of a slaver this vessel would make ? he replied, he thought she would make a nice slaver : have no doubt he had joined Spencer iD the project of taking this vessel : thinks Crom- well would have taken the vessel to the north west coast : Cromwell was in a slaver and taken a year since at Cuba: has seen Spencer give Cromwell cigars : thinks Cromwell deserves to be hung : thinks he is the most dangerous man in the ship : if I had my way I would hang him."— Van Velson : "A good while since Spencer said he would like to have a ship to go to the north-west coast: Cromwell and him was thick: should think Cromwell meant to join Spencer to take this vessel: Spencer thought he could raise money to get a ship. My reason for thinking that Cromwell meant to join Spencer in taking this vessel, is because I have frequently seen them in close conversation." The drift of all this swearing was to show that the men ought not only to be put. to death, but immediately, to prevent a rescue, and before 536 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. they got to St. Thomas, and to make an excuse for not bringing them to the United States, pleading the difficulty to guard them in bad weather on the coast of the United States. (Among the persons examined, and one of those who '• thinks the vessel would be safer if Crom- well, Spencer, and Small were put to death," was one Garty — Sergeant Michael H. Garty — who will be especially noticed hereafter.) The examination of these persons, though com- menced immediately on receiving the com- mander's letter, was not finished until nine o'clock of the next morning, December the first ; and then upon the pressing application of Gansevoort (who was absent much of the time), and telling the council that the com- mander was waiting for it. The answer was soon prepared, and delivered, declaring Spencer, Cromwell, and Small to be guilty of mutiny ac- cording to the evidence which had come to their knowledge, and that they were leagued with others still at large ; and then goes on to say — " We are convinced that it would be im- possible to carry them to the United States, and that the safety of the public property, the lives of ourselves, and of those committed to our charge, require that (giving them sufficient time to prepare) they should be put to death in a man- ner best calculated to make a beneficial impres- sion upon the disaffected." And this recom- mendation was signed by the whole seven to whom the commander's letter had been ad- dressed — among them two names illustrious in the annals of our navy. The heart grieves over that view, but draws a veil over the names, and absolves the boys from the guilt of the transac- tion. We know the power of the quarter deck. The midshipman must be born a Cato, or a Macon (and such men are only born once in ages) to be able to stand up against the irresisti- ble will of that deck. History refuses to see these boys as agents in the transaction. Mac- kenzie, Gansevoort, Leecock and Heiskill, are the persons with whom she deals. The narrative, thus far following the com- mander's report, is here suspended for the pur- pose of bringing in some circumstances not re- lated in that report, and which came out before the court-martial ; and the relation of which is due to the truth of history. 1. That the three persons whose lives were thus passed upon were, during this whole time, lying on the deck in their multiplied irons, and tied up in strong tarpaulin bags, wholly unconscious of any pro- ceeding against them, and free from fear of death, as they had been made to understand by the commander that they were to be brought home to the United States for trial ; and who reported that to have been his first intention. 2. While this examination was going on, and during the first day of it, Gansevoort (the head of the council) went to Spencer (telling him nothing of his object), for the purpose of getting proofs of his guilt, to be used against him. whereof he got none ; and thus tells his errand in answer to a question before the court-mar- tial : " I am under the impression it was the 30th (of November), for the purpose of his proving more clearly his guilt. I took him the paper (razor-case paper), that he might translate it so I could understand it. My object was to obtain from him an acknowledgment of his guilt." 3. That it had been agreed among the upper officers two days before that, if any more prisoners were made, the three first taken should suffer immediate death on account of the impos- sibility of guarding more than they had. This dire conclusion came out upon question and answer, from one of the midshipmen who was in the council. " Had you any discussion on the 28th of November, as to putting the three prisoners to death?" Answer: "I don't re- collect what day Gansevoort asked me my opinion, if it became necessary to make more prisoners, if we should be able to guard them ? I told him no." " Did you then give it as your opinion that Cromwell, Small, and Spencer should be put to death ? " Answer : " Yes, sir." Four more officers of the council were ascertained to have been similarly consulted at the same time, and to have answered in the same way : so that the deaths of the three men were resolved upon two days before the council was established to examine witnesses, and en- lighten the commander with their opinions. 4. That it had been resolved that, if more prison- ers were taken, the three already in the bags must be put to death ; and, accordingly, while the council was sitting, and in the evening of their session, and before they had reported an opinion, four more arrests were made: so that the condition became absolute upon which the three were to die before the council had finished their examination. This is, perhaps, the first instance in the an- nals of military or naval courts, in which the ANNO 1843 JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 537 commander fixed a condition on which prison- ers were to be put to death — which condition was to be an act of his own, unknown to the prisoners, but known to the court, and agreed to be acted upon before it was done : and which was done and acted upon ! These are four essential circumstances, over- looked by the commander in his report, but brought out upon interrogatories before the court. The new arrests are duly reported by the com- mander. They were : Wilson, Green, McKin- ley, McKee. The commander tells how the ar- rests were made. " These individuals were made to sit down as they were taken, and when they were ironed, I walked deliberately round the battery, followed by the first lieutenant ; and we made together a very careful inspection of the crew. Those who (though known to be very guilty) were considered to be the least dangerous, were called out and interrogated : care was taken not to awaken the suspicions of such as from courage and energy were really formidable, unless it were intended to arrest them. Our prisoners now amounted to seven, filling up the quarter deck, and rendering it very difficult to keep them from communicating with each other, interfering essentially with the management of the vessel." This is the com- mander's account of the new arrests, but he omits to add that he bagged them as fast as taken and ironed ; and as that bagging was an investment which all the prisoners underwent, and an un- usual and picturesque (though ugly) feature in the transaction, an account will be given of it in the person of one of the four, which will stand for all. It is McKinley who gives it, and who was bagged quite home to New York, and became qualified, to give his experience of these tarpaulin sacks, both in the hot region of the tropics and the cold blasts of the New York latitude in the dead of winter. Question by the judge advocate : " When were you put in the bags ? " Answer : " After the examination and before we got to St. Thomas." " How were the bags put on you ? " Answer : " They were laid on deck, and we got into them as well as we could, feet foremost." " Was your bag ever put over your head ? " Answer : " Yes, sir. The first night it was tied over my head." " Who was the person who superintended, and did it ? " Answer : " Sergeant Garty was always there when we were put into the bags. I could not see. I could not say who tied it over my head. He (Garty) was there then." " Did you complain of it? " Answer : " After a while the bag got very hot. Whoever was the officer I don't know. I told him I«was smothering. I could not breathe. He came back with the order that I could not have it un- tied. I turned myself round r s well as I could, and got my mouth to the opening of the bag, and staid so till morning." Question by a mem- ber of the court : " Did you find the bag com- fortable when not tied over your head? " Ans- wer : " No, sir. It was warm weather : it was uncomfortable. On the coast (of the United States in December) they would get full of rain water, nearly up to my knees." Catching at this idea of comfort in irons and a bag, Com- mander Mackenzie undertook to prove them so ; and put a leading question, to get an affirmative answer to his own assertion that this bagging was done for the "comfort" of the prisoners — a new conception, for which he seemed to be en- tirely indebted to this hint from one of the court. The mode of McKinley's arrest, also gives an insight into the manner in which that act was performed on board a United States man- of-war; and is thus described by McKinley himself. To the question, when he was arrested, and how, he answers : " On the 30th of Novem- ber, at morning quarters I was arrested. The commander put Wilson into irons. When he was put in irons the commander cried, ' Send McKinley aft.' I went aft. The commander and Gansevoort held pistols at my head, and told me to sit down. Mr. Gansevoort told King, the gunner, to stand by to knock out their brains if they should make a false motion. [ was put in irons then. He ordered Green and McKee aft : he put them in irons also. Mr. Gansevoort ordered me to get on all fours, and creep round to the larboard side, as I could not walk." And that is the way it was done ! The three men were thus doomed to death, without trial, without hearing, without know- ledge of what was going on against them ; and without a hint of what had been done. One of the officiating officers who had sat in the council, being asked before the court if any suggestion, or motion, was made to apprise the prisoners of what was going on, and give them a hearing, answered that there was not. When Governor Wall was on trial at the Old Bailey for causing the death of a soldier twenty years before at Goree, in Africa, for imputed mutiny, he plead 538 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. the sentence of a drum-head court-martial for his justification. The evidence proved that the men so tried (and there were just three of them) were not before that court, and had no knowledge of its proceedings, though on the ground some forty feet distant — about as far off as were the three prisoners on board the Somers, with the difference that the British soldiers could see the court (which was only a little council of officers), while the American prison- ers could not see their judges. This sort of a court which tried people without hearing them, struck the British judges ; and when the wit- ness (a foot soldier) told how he saw the Governor speaking to the officers, and saw them speaking to one another for a minute or two, and then turning to the Governor, who ordered the man to be called out of the ranks to be tied on a cannon for punishment : when the wit- ness told that, the Lord Chief Baron McDonald called out — " Repeat that." The witness re- peated it. Then the Chief Baron inquired into the constitution of these drum-head courts, and to know if it was their course to try soldiers without hearing them : and put a question to that effect to the witness. Surprised at the question, the soldier, instead of answering it di- rect, yes or no, looked up at the judge, and said : " My Lord, I thought an Englishman had that privilege every where." And so thought the judge, who charged the jury accordingly, and that even if there was a mutiny ; and so thought the jury, who immediately brought in a verdict for murder; and so thought the King (George III.), who refused to pardon the Governor, or to respite him for longer than eight days, or to remit the anatomization of his dead body. There was law then in England against the oppressors of the humble, and judges to execute it, and a king to back them. The narrative will now be resumed at the point at which it was suspended, and Com- mander Mackenzie's official report will still be followed for the order of the incidents, and his account of them. It was nine o'clock on the morning of the first of December, that Gansevoort went into the ward-room to hurry the completion of the letter which the council of officers was drawing up, and which, under the stimulating remark that the commander was waiting for it, was soon ready. Purser Heiskill, who had been the pencil scribe of the proceedings, carriod the letter, and read it to the commander. In what manner he received it, himself will teU : " I at once concurred in the justice of their opinion, and in the necessity of carrying its re- commendation into immediate effect. There were two others of the conspirators almost as guilty, so far as the intention was concerned, as the three ringleaders who had been first confined, and to whose cases the attention of the officers had been invited. But they could be kept in confinement without extreme danger to the ulti- mate safety of the vessel. The three chief con- spirators alone were capable of navigating and sailing her. By their removal the motive to a rescue, a capture, and a carrying out of their original design of piracy was at once taken away. Their lives were justly forfeited to the country which they had betrayed ; and the in- terests of that country and the honor and se- curity of its flag required that the sacrifice, how- ever painful, should be made. In the necessities of my position I found my law, and in them also I must trust to find my justification." The promptitude of this concurrence pre- cludes the possibility of deliberation, for which there was no necessity, as the deaths had been resolved upon two days before the council met, and as Gansevoort communicated with the com- mander the whole time. There was no need for deliberation, and there was none ; and the rapidity of the advancing events proves there was no time for it. And in this haste one of the true reasons for hanging Small and Crom- well broke forth. They were the only two of all the accused (Spencer excepted) who could sail or navigate a vessel ! and a mutiny to take a ship, and run her as a roving pirate, without any one but the chief to sail and navigate her, would have been a solecism too gross even for the silliest apprehension. Mr. M. C. Perry ad- mitted upon his cross-examination that this knowledge was " one of the small reasons " for hanging them — meaning among the lesser rea- sons. Besides, three at least, may have been deemed necessary to make a mutiny. Governor Wall took that number ; and riots, routs, and unlawful assemblies require it : so that in hav- ing three for a mutiny, the commander was taking the lowest number which parity of cases, though of infinitely lower degree, would allow. The report goes on to show the commander's preparations for the sacrifice; which prepara- tions, from his own showing, took place before the assembling of the council, and in which he showed his skill and acumen. " I had for a day or two been disposed to arm ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 539 the petty officers. On this subject alone the first lieutenant differed from me in opinion, in- fluenced in some degree by the opinions of some of the petty officers themselves, who thought that in the peculiar state of the vessel the commander and officers could not tell whom to trust, and therefore had better trust no one. I had made up my own mind, reasoning more from the proba- bilities of the case than from my knowledge of their characters, which was necessarily less inti- mate than that of the first lieutenant, that they could be trusted, and determined to arm them. I directed the first lieutenant to muster them on the quarter deck, to issue to each a cutlass, pistol and cartridge-box, and to report to me when they were armed. I then addressed them as follows : ' My lads ! you are to look to me — to obey my orders, and to see my orders obeyed ! Go forward ! ' " This paragraph shows that the arming of the petty officers for the crisis of the hangings had been meditated for a day or two — that it had been the subject of consultation with the lieu- tenant, and also of him with some of the petty officers ; and it was doubtless on this occasion that he took the opinions of the officers (as proved on the court-martial trial) on the subject of hanging the three prisoners immediately if any more arrests were made. The commander and his lieutenant differed on the question of arming these petty officers — the only instance of a difference of opinion between them: but the commander's calculation of probabilities led him to overrule the lieutenant — to make up his own mind in favor of arming : and to have it done. The command at the conclusion is emi- nently concise, and precise, and entirely military ; and the ending words remind us of the French infantry charging command : " En avant, mes enfans ! " in English — " Forward, my children." The reception of the council recommendation, and the order for carrying it into effect, were simultaneous: and carried into effect it was with horrible rapidity, and to the utmost letter — all except in one particular — which forms a dreadful exception. The council had given the recommendation with the Christian reservation of allowing the doomed and helpless victims "sufficient time to prepare" — meaning, of course, preparation for appearance at the throne of God. That reservation was disregarded. Immediate execution was the word ! and the annunciation of the death decree, and the order for putting it in force, were both made known to the prisoners in the same moment, and in the midst of the awful preparations for death. " I gave orders to make immediate preparation for hanging the three principal criminals at the mainyard arms. All hands were now called to witness the punishment. The afterguard and idlers of both watches were mustered on the quarterdeck at the whip (the halter) intended for Mr. Spencer : forecastle-men and foretop- men at that of Cromwell, to whose corruption they had been chieily exposed. The maintop of both watches, at that intended for Small, who, for a month, had filled the situation of captain of the maintop. The officers were stationed about the decks, according to the watch bill I had made out the night before, and the pett}^ officers were similarly distributed, with orders to cut down whoever should let go the whip (the rope) with even one hand ; or fail to haul on (pull at the rope) when ordered." Here it is unwittingly told that the guard stations at the hangings were all made out the night before. For the information of the unlearned in nautical language, it may be told that what is called the whip at sea, is not an instrument of flagellation, but of elevation — a small tackle with a single rope, used to hoist light bodies ; and so called from one of the meanings of the word whip, used as a verb, then signifying to snatch up suddenly. It is to be hoped that the sailors appointed to haul on this tackle had been made acquainted (though the commander's report does not say so) with the penalty which awaited them if they failed to pull at the word, or let go, even with one hand. The considerate arrangement for hanging each one at the spot of his imputed worst conduct, and under an appropriate watch, shows there had been deliberation on that part of the subject — deliberation which requires time — and for which there was no time after the re- ception of the council's answer ; and which the report itself, so far as the watch is concerned, shows was made out the night before. The re- port continues : " The ensign and pennant being bent on, and ready for hoisting, I now put on my full uni- form, and proceeded to execute the most pain- ful duty that has ever devolved on an Ameri- can commander — that of announcing to the criminals their fate." It has been before seen that these victims had no knowledge of the proceedings against them, while the seven officers were examining, in a room below, the thirteen seamen whose answers to questions (or rather, whose thought*,) were to justify the fate which was now to be an- nounced to them. They had no knowledge of 540 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. it at the time, nor afterwards, until standing in the midst of the completed arrangements for their immediate death. They were brought into the presence of death before they knew that any proceedings had been had against them, and while under the belief, authorized by the com- mander himself, that they were to be brought home for trial. Their fate was staring them in the face before they knew it had been doomed. The full uniform of a commander in the Ameri- can navy had been put on for the occasion, with what view is not expressed ; and, in this im- posing costume, — feathers and chapeau, gold lace and embroidery, sword and epaulettes — the commander proceeded to announce their fate to men in irons — double irons on the legs, and iron cuffs on the hands — and surrounded by guards to cut them down on the least attempt to avoid the gallows which stood before them. In what terms this annunciation, or rather, these annunciations (for there was a separate address to each victim, and each address adapted to its subject) were made, the captain himself will tell. " I informed Mr. Spencer that when he had been about to take my life, and to dishonor me as an officer when in the execution of my right- ful duty, without cause of offence to him, on speculation, it had been his intention to remove me suddenly from the world, in the darkness of the night, without a moment to utter one mur- mur of affection to my wife and children — one prayer for their welfare. His life was now for- feited to his couutry ; and the necessities of the case growing out of his corruption of the crew, compelled me to take it. I would not, however, imitate his intended example. If there yet re- mained one feeling true to nature, it should be gratified. If he had any word to send to his parents, it should berecorded, and faithfully de- livered. Ten minutes should be granted him for this purpose ; and Midshipman Egbert Thompson was called to note the time, and inform me when the ten minutes had elapsed." Subsequent events require this appeal to Spencer, and promise to him, to be noted. He is invoked, in the name of 1 Nature, to speak to his parents, and his words promised delivery. History will have to deal with that invocation, and promise. This is the autographic account of the annun- ciation to Spencer ; and if there is a parallel to it in Christendom, this writer has yet to learn the instance. The vilest malefactors, convicts of the greatest crimes, are allowed an interval for themselves when standing between time and eternity ; and during that time they are left, undisturbed, to their own thoughts. Even pirates allow that much to vanquished and subdued men. The ship had religious exercises upon it, and had multiplied their performance since the mutiny had been discovered. The commander was a devout attendant at these exercises, and harangued the crew morally and piously daily, and in this crisis twice or thrice a day. He might have been of some consolation to the desolate youth in this supreme moment. He might have spoken to him some words of pity and of hope : he might at least have refrained from reproaches : he might have omitted the comparison in which he assumed to himself such a superiority over Spencer in the manner of taking life. It was the Pharisee that thanked God he was not like other men, nor like that Publican. But the Pharisee did not take the Publican's life, nor charge him with crimes. Besides, the comparison was not true, admitting that Spencer intended to kill him in his sleep. There is no difference of time between one minute and ten minutes in the business of killing ; and the most sudden death — a bullet through the heart in sleep — would be mercy compared to the ten minutes' reprieve allowed Spencer: and that time taken up (as the event proved) in harass- ing the mind, enraging the feelings, and in de- stroying the character of the young man before he destroyed his body. It is to be hoped that the greater part of what the commander says he said to Spencer, was not said : it would be less discreditable to make a false report in such cases than to have said what was alleged ; and there were so many errors in the commander's report that disbelief of it becomes easy, and even obli- gatory. It is often variant or improbable in itself, and sometimes impossible ; and almost entirely contradicted by the testimony. In the vital — really vital — case of holding the watch, he is con- tradicted. He says Midshipman Thompson was called to note the time, and to report its expira- tion. Mr. 0. H. Perry swore in the court that the order was given to him— that he reported it — and that the commander said, " very well." This was clear and positive : but Mr. Thompson was ex- amined to the same point, and testified thus : " That he heard him (the commander) say some- thing about ten minutes — that he told Mr. Perry, he thinks, to note the time — that Perry and him- self both noted it — thinks he reported it — don't recollect what the commander said — is under an ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 541 impression he said " very good." So that Mr. Perry was called to note the time, and did it, and reported it, and did not know that Thomp- son had done it. To the question, " What did Mr. Thompson say when he came back from re- porting the time ? " the answer is : " I did not know that he reported it." At best, Mr. Thompson was a volunteer in the business, and too indifferent to it to know what he did. Mr. 0. H. Perry is the one that had the order, and did the duty. Now it is quite immaterial which had the order : but it is very material that the commander should remember the true man. — The manner in which the young man received this dreadful intelligence, is thus reported : "This intimation quite overpowered him. He fell upon his knees, and said he was not fit to die." " Was not fit to die ! " that is to say, was not in a condition to appear before his God. The quick perishing of the body was not the thought that came to his mind, but the perishing of his soul, and his sudden appearance before his Maker, unpurged of the sins of this life. Virtue was not dead in the heart which could forget itself and the world in that dread moment, and only think of his fitness to appear at the throne of Heaven. Deeply affecting as this expression was — am not fit to die — it was still more so as actually spoken, and truly stated by competent witnesses before the court. "When he told him he was to die in ten minutes, Spencer told him he was not fit to die — that he wished to live longer to get ready. The commander said, I know you are not, but I cannot help it." — A remark which was wicked in telling him he knew he was not fit to die, and false, in saying he could not help it. So far from not being able to help it, he was the only man that could pre- vent the preparation for fitness. The answer then Was, an exclamation of unfitness to die, and a wish to live longer to get ready. But what can be thought of the heart which was dead to such an appeal ? and which, in return, could occupy itself with reproaches to the desolate sinner ; and could deliver exhortations to the trembling fleeting shadow that was before him, to study looks and attitudes, and set an example of decorous dying to his two compan- ions in death? for that was the conduct of Mackenzie : and here is his account of it : " I repeated to him his own catechism, and begged him at least to let the officer set to the men he had corrupted and seduced, the example of dying with decorum." " The men whom he had corrupted and se- duced," — outrageous words, and which the com- mander says, "immediately restored him to entire self-possession." But they did not turn away his heart from the only thing that occu- pied his mind — that of fitting himself, as well as he could, to appear before his God. He com- menced praying with great fervor, and begging from Heaven that mercy for his soul which was denied on earth to his body. The commander then went off to make the same annunciation to the other two victims, and returning when the ten minutes was about half out — when the boy had but five minutes to live. as he was made to believe — he soon made ap- parent the true reason which all this sudden announcement of death in ten minutes was in reality intended for. It was to get confessions ! it was to make up a record against him ! to ex- cite him against Small and Cromwell ! to take advantage of terror and resentment to get something from him for justification in taking his life ! and in that work he spent near two hours, making up a record against himself of revolting atrocity, aggravated and made still worse by the evidence before the court. The first movement was to make him believe that Cromwell and Small had informed upon him, and thus induce him to break out upon them, or to confess, or to throw the blame upon the others. He says : " I returned to Mr. Spencer. I explained to him how Cromwell had made use of him. I told him that remarks had been made about the two, and not very flattering to him, and which he might not care to hear ; and which showed the relative share ascribed to each of them in the contemplated transaction. He expressed great anxiety to hear what was said." It is to be borne in mind that Spencer was in prayer, with but five minutes to go upon, when Mackenzie interrupts him with an intimation of what Small and Cromwell had said of him, and piques his curiosity to learn it by adding, " which he might not care to hear "—artfully exciting his curiosity to know what it was. The desire thus excited, he goes on to tell him that one had called him a damn fool, and the other had con- sidered him Cromwell's tool : thus : 542 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. " One had told the first lieutenant : ' In my opinion, sir, you have the damned fool on the larboard arm-chest, and the damned villain on the starboard.' And another had remarked, that after the vessel should have been captured by Spencer, Cromwell might allow him to live, pro- vided he made himself useful ; he would pro- bably make him his secretary." Spencer was on the larboard arm-chest ; Cromwell on the starboard : so that Small was the speaker, and the damned fool applied to Spen- cer, and the damned villain to Cromwell : and Spencer, who had all along been the chief, was now to be treated as an instrument, only escaping with his life if successful in taking the vessel, and, that upon condition of making himself useful; and then to have no higher post on the pirate than that of Cromwell's secretary. This was a hint to Spencer to turn States' evidence against Cromwell, and throw the whole blame on him. The commander con- tinues, still addressing himself to Spencer — " / think this would not have suited your temper." This remark, inquisitively made, and evidently to draw out something against Cromwell, failed of its object. It drew no remark from Spencer ; it merely acted upon his looks and spirit, according to the commander — who proceeds in this strain : " This effectually aroused him, and his coun- tenance assumed a demoniacal expression. He said no more of the innocence of Cromwell. Subsequent circumstances too surely confirmed his admission of his guilt. He might perhaps have wished to save him, in fulfilment of some mutual oath." This passage requires some explanation. Spen- cer had always declared his total ignorance of Cromwell, and of his visionary schemes : he re- peated it earnestly as Mackenzie turned off to go and announce his fate to him. Having en- raged him against the man, he says he now said no more about Cromwell's innocence ; and catch- ing up that silence as an admission of his guilt, he quotes it as such ; but remembering how often Spencer had absolved him from all know- ledge even of his foolish joking, he supposes he wished to save him — in fulfilment of some mutual oath. This imagined cause for saving him is shamefully gratuitous, unwarranted by a word from any delator, not inferrible from any premises, and atrociously wicked. In fact this whole story after the commander re- turned from Small and Cromwell, is without warrant from any thing tangible. Mackenzie got it from Gansevoort ; and Gansevoort got one half from one, and the other half from an- other, without telling which, or when — and it was provably not then ; and considering the atrocity of such a communication to Spencer at such time, it is certainly less infamous to the captain and lieutenant to consider it a falsehood of their own invention, to accomplish their own design. ^.lackenzie's telling it, however, was in- fernal. The commander then goes on with a batch of gratuitous assumptions, which shows he had no limit in such assumptions but in his capacity at invention. Hear them ! " He (Spencer) more probably hoped that he might yet get possession of the vessel, and carry out the scheme of murder and outrage matured between them. It was in Cromwell that he had apparently trusted, in fulfilment of some agree- ment for a rescue ; and he eloquently plead to Lieutenant Gansevoort when Cromwell was ironed, for his release, as altogether ignorant of his designs, and innocent. He had endeavored to make of Elisha Andrews appearing on the list of the " certain," an alias for Small, though his name as Small appeared also in the list of those to effect the murder in the cabin, by falsely asserting that Small was a feigned name, when he had evidence in a letter addressed by Small's mother to him that Small was her name as well as his." Assumptions without foundations, inferences without premises, beliefs without knowledge, thoughts without knowing why, suspicions without reasons — are all a species of inventions, but little removed from direct falsehood, and leaves the person who indulges in them without credit for any thing he may say. This was pre- eminently the case with the commander Slidfell Mackenzie, and with all his informers; and here is a fine specimen of it in himself. First : the presumed probability that Spencer yet hoped to get possession of the vessel, and carry out the scheme of murder and piracy which he had matured. What a presumption in such a case ! the case of men, ironed, bagged and helpless, — standing under the gallows in the midst of armed men to shoot and stab for a motion or a sign — and a presumption, not only without a shadow to rest upon, but contradicted by the entire current of all that was sworn — even by Garty and Wales. " Fulfilment of secret agree- ment for rescue." Secret ! Yes ! very secret ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 543 indeed ! There was not a man on board the vessel that ever heard such a word as rescue pro- nounced until after the arrests ! The crazy misgivings of a terrified imagination could alone have invented such a scheme of rescue. The name of Small was a sad stumbling block in the road to his sacrifice, as that of Andrews to the truth of the razor case paper. One was not in the list, and the other was not in the ship : and all these forced assumptions were to reconcile these contradictions ; and so the idea of an alias dictns was fallen upon, though no one had ever heard Small called Edward Andrews, and his mother, in her letter, gave her own name as her son's, as Small. Having now succeeded in get- ting Spencer enraged against his two companions in death, the commander takes himself to his real work — that of getting confessions — or get- ting up something which could be recorded as confessions, under the pretext of writing to his father and mother : and to obtain which all this refined aggravation of the terrors of death had been contrived. But here recourse must be had to the testimony before the court to supply de- tails on which the report is silent, or erroneous, and in which what was omitted must be brought forward to be able to get at the truth. McKinley swears that he was six or eight feet from Spen- cer when the commander asked him if he wished to write. Spencer answered that he did. An ap- prentice named Dunn was then ordered to fetch paper and campstool out of the cabin. Spencer took the pen in his hand, and said — " I cannot write." " The commander spoke to him in a low tone. I do not know what he then said. I saw the commander writing. Whether Mr. Spencer asked him to write for him or not, I can't say." — Mr. Oliver H. Perry swears : " Saw the commander order Dunn to bring him paper and ink : saw the commander write : was four or five feet from him while writing : heard no part of the conversation between the commander and Spencer : was writing ten or fifteen min- utes." — Other witnesses guess at the time as high as half an hour. The essential parts of this testimony, a,re—jirst, That Spencer's hands were ironed, and that he could not write : sec- ondly, that the commander, instead of releasing his hands, took the pen and wrote himself: thirdly, that he carried on all his conversation with Spencer in so low a voice that those within four or five feet of him (and in the deathlike stillness which then prevailed, and the breathless anxiety of every one) heard not a word of what passed between them ! neither what Mac- kenzie said to Spencer, nor Spencer said to him. Now the report of the commander is silent upon this lowness of tone which could not be heard four or five feet — silent upon the handcuffs of Spencer — silent upon the answer of Spencer that he could not write ; and for which he sub- stituted on the court-martial the answer that he " declined to write " — a substitution which gave rise to a conversation between the judge advo- cate and Mackenzie, which the judge advocate reported to the court in writing ; and which all felt to be a false substitution both upon the tes- timony, and the facts of the case. A man in iron handcuffs cannot write ! but it was neces- sary to show him " declining " in order to give him a recording secretary ! And it is silent upon the great fact that he sat on the arm-chest with Spencer, and whispering so low that not a human being could hear what passed : and, con sequently, that Mackenzie chose that he himself should be the recording secretary on that occa- sion, and that no one could know whether the record was true or false. The declaration in the report that Spencer read what was written down, and agreed to it, will be attended to here- after. The point at present is the secrecy, and the fact that the man the most interested in the world in getting confessions from Spencer, was the recorder of these confessions, without a witness ! without even Wales, Gansevoort, Gar- ty ; or any one of his familiars. For the rest, it becomes a fair question, which every person can solve for themselves, whether it is possible for two persons to talk so low to one another for, from a quarter to half an hour, in such profound stillness, and amidst so much excited expecta- tion, and no one in arm's length able to hear one word. If this is deemed impossible, it may be a reasonable belief that nothing material was said between them — that Mackenzie wrote with- out dictation from Spencer; and wrote what the necessity of his condition required— confes- sions to supply the place of tutal want of proof —admissions of guilt— acknowledgments that he deserved to die— begging forgiveness. And so large a part of what he reported was proved to be false, that this reasonable belief of a fab- ricated dialogue becomes almost a certainty. The commander, now become sole witness of 544 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Spencer's last words — words spoken if at all — after his time on earth was out — after the an- nouncement in his presence that the ten minutes were out — and hearing the commander's re- sponse to the notification, " Very well : " this commander thus proceeds with his report : " I asked him if he had no message to send to his friends ? He answered none that they would wish to receive. When urged still further to send some words of consolation in so great an affliction, he said, ' Tell them I die wishing them every blessing and happiness. I deserve death for this and many other crimes — there are few crimes I have not committed. I feel sincerely penitent, and my only fear of death is that my repentance may come too late.' " — This is what the commander reports to the Secretary of the Navy, and which no human witness could gain- say, because no human being was allowed to witness what was said at the time ; but there is another kind of testimony, independent of human eyes and ears, and furnished by the evil-doer himself, often in the very effort to conceal his guilt, and more convincing than the oath of any witness, and which fate, or accident, often brings to light for the relief of the innocent and the confusion of the guilty. And so it was in this case with Commander Alexander Slidell Mac- kenzie. That original record made out upon in- audible whispers on the camp-stool ! It still existed — and was produced in court — and here is the part which corresponds (should corres- pond) with this quoted part of the report, and constituting the first part of the confession : " When asked if he had any message to send : none that they would wish to receive. After- wards, that you die wishing them every bless- ing and happiness ; deserved death for this and other sins ; that you felt sincerely penitent, and only fear of death was that your repentance might be too late" — Compared together, and it is seen that the words " other sins," in the third sentence, is changed into " many other crimes," — words of revoltingly different import — going beyond what the occasion required — and evi- dently substituted as an introduction to the further gratuitous confession : " There are few crimes which I have not committed." Great consolation in this for those parents for whom the record was made, and who never saw it ex- cept as promulgated through the public press. In any court of justice the entire report would be discredited upon this view of flagrant and wicked falsifications. For the rest, there is proof that the first sentence is a fabrication. It is to be recollected that this inquiry as to Spencer's wishes to communicate with his parents was made publicly, and before the pen, ink and pa- per was sent for, and that the answer was the inducement to send for those writing materials. That public answer was heard by those around, and was thus proved before the court-martial — McKinley the witness: " The commander asked him if he wished to write ? Mr. Spen- cer said he did. The commander ordered Dunn to fetch paper and campstool out of the cabin. Spencer took the pen in his hand — he said, : I cannot write.' The commander spoke to him in a low tone : I do not know what he then said. I saw the commander writing." This testimony contradicts the made-up report, in showing that Spencer was asked to write him- self, instead of sending a message : that the de- claration, "nothing that they would wish to hear" is a fabricated addition to what he did say — and that he was prevented from writing, not from disinclination and declining, as the commander attempted to make out, but because upon trial — after taking the pen in his hand — he could not with his handcuffs on. Certainly this was understood beforehand. Men do not write in iron handcuffs. They were left on to permit the commander to become his secretary, and to send a message for him : which message he never sent ! the promise to do so being a mere contrivance to get a chance of writing for the Secretary of the Navy, and the public. The official report continues : " I asked him if there was any one he had injured, to whom he could yet make reparation — any one suffering ob- loquy for crimes which he had committed. He made no answer ; but soon after continued : ' I have wronged many persons, but chiefly my pa- rents.' He said ' this will kill my poor mother.' I was not before aware that he had a mother." The corresponding sentences in the original, run thus : " Many that he had wronged, but did not know how reparation could be made to them. Your parents most wronged .... himself by saying he had entertained same idea in John Adams and Potomac, but had not ripened into . . . . Do you not think that such a mania should .... certainly. Objected to manner of death." The dots in place of ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 545 words indicate the places where the writing was illegible. The remarkable variations between the report and the original in these sentences is, that the original leaves out all those crimes which he had committed, and which were bring- ing obloquy upon others, and to which he made no answer, but shows that he did make answer as to having wronged persons, and that answer was, that he did not know how reparation could be made. There is no mention of mother in this part of the original — it comes in long after. Then the John Adams and the Potomac, which are here mentioned in the twelfth line of the original, only appear in the fifty-sixth in the re- port — and the long gap filled up with things not in the original — and the word " idea," as attributed to Spencer, substituted by " mania." The report continues (and here it is told once for all, that the quotations both from the report and the original, of which it should be a copy, follow each in its place in consecutive order, leaving no gap between each quoted part and what preceded it) : (l when recovered from the pain of this announcement {the effect upon his mother), I asked him if it would not have been still more dreadful had he succeeded in his at- tempt, murdered the officers and the greater part of the crew of the vessel, and run that career of crime which, with so much satisfaction he had marked out for himself: he replied after a pause ; ' I do not know what would have be- come of me if I had succeeded.' I told him Cromwell would soon have made way with him, and McKinley would probably have cleared the whole of them from his path." The cor- responding part of the original runs thus: " Objected to manner of death : requested to be shot. Could not make any distinction between him and those he had seduced. Justifiable de- sire at first to ... . The last words he had to say, and hoped they would be believed, that Cromwell was innocent .... Crom- well. Admitted it was just that no distinction should be made." — This is the consecutive part in the original, beginning in utter variance with what should be its counterpart — hardly touch- ing the same points — leaving out all the cruel reproaches which the official report heaps upon Spencer — ending with the introduction of Crom- well, but without the innocence which the original contains, with the substitution of Cromwell's destruction of him, and with the Vol. II.— 35 addition of McKinley 's destruction of them all, and ultimate attainment of the chief place in that long career of piracy which was to be ran — and ran in that state of the world in which no pirate could live at all. What was actually said about Cromwell's innocence by Spencer and by McKinley as coming from Cromwell " to stir up the devil between them," as the historian Cooper remarked, was said before this writing commenced ! said w T hen Mackenzie returned from announcing the ten minutes lease of life to him and Small ! which Mackenzie himself had re- ported in a previous part of his report, before the writing materials were sent for : and now, strange enough, introduced again in an after place, but with such alterations and additions as barely to leave their identity discoverable. The official report proceeds : "' I fear, said he, this may injure my father.' I told him it was too late to think of that — that had he succeeded in his w r ishes it would have injured his father much more — that had it been possible to have taken him home as I intended to do, it was not in nature that his father should not have interfered to save him — that for those who have friends or money in America there was no punishment for the worst of crimes — that though this had nothing to do with my determi- nation, which had been forced upon me in spite of every effort I had made to avert it, I, on this account the less regretted the dilemma in which I was placed : it would injure his father a great deal more if he got home alive, should he be condemned and yet escape. The best and only service which he could do his father was to die." — Now from the original, beginning at the end of the last quotation : " Asked that his face might be covered. Granted. When he found that his repentance might not be in season, I referred him to the story of the penitent thief. Tried to find it. Could not. Read the Bible, the prayer-book. Did not know what would have become of him if he had succeeded. Makes no objection to death, but objects to time. Reasons —God would understand of him offences . . . many crimes. Dies, praying God to bless and preserve .... I am afraid this will injure my father."— The quotation from the re- port opens with apprehended fear of injury to his father : it concludes with commending him to die, as the only service he could render that parent : and the whole is taken up with that 546 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. topic, and crowned with the assertion that, for those who have friends or money in America there is no punishment for the worst of crimes — a sweeping reproach upon the American judiciary ; and, however unfounded in his broad denuncia- tion, may he not himself have counted on the benefit of the laxity of justice which he de- nounced? and — more — did he not receive it? The rest of the paragraph is only remarkable for the declaration of the intention to have brought his prisoners home, and of the change, of which intention they had no notice until placed in the presence of the completed prepa- rations for death, and told they had but ten minutes, by the watch, to live. — Turning to the original of this paragraph, and it will be seen that it opens with preparations for death — goes on in the same spirit — barely mentions his father — and ends with his death — " dies pray- ing God to bless and preserve " . . . . This is evidently the termination of the whole scene. It carries him through the last prepara- tions, and ends his life — sees him die praying to God. Now does the report give any of these circumstances? None. Does the report stop there ? It does not. Does it go on ? Yes : two hundred and thirty lines further. And the original record go on further ? Yes : sixty lines further — which was just double the distance it had come. Here was a puzzle. The man to be talking double as much after his death as before it. This solecism required a solution — and re- ceived it before the court-martial: and the solution was that this double quantity was written after hanging — how long, not stated — but after it. Before the court Mackenzie de- livered in a written and sworn statement, that his record embracing what was taken down from the lips of Spencer finished at the sentence — " / am afraid this will injure my father : " and that the remainder was written shortly afterwards. Now the part written before the death was thirty-three lines : the part written shortly after it, is above fifty. This solecism explained, another difficulty immediately arises. The commander reported that, " he (Spencer) read over what he (Mackenzie) had written down" and agreed to it all, with one exception — which was corrected. New he could not have read the fifty odd lines which were written after his death. (All the lines here mentioned are the short ones in the double column pages of the published, "Official Proceedings of the Naval Court Martial.) " These fifty odd lines could not have been read by Spencer. That is certain. The previous thirty-three it is morally certain he never read. They are in some places illegible — in others unintelligible ; and are printed in the official report with blanks because there were parts which could not be read. No witness says they were read by Spencer. The additional fifty odd lines, expanded by additions and variations into about two hundred in the official report, requires but a brief notice, parts of it being amplifications and aggravations of what had been previously noted, and addi- tional insults to Spencer ; with an accumulation of acknowledgments of guilt, of willingness to die, of obligations to the commander, and en- treaties for his forgiveness. One part of the reported scene was even more than usually in- human. Spencer said to him : " But are you not going too far ? are you not too fast ? does the law entirely justify you ? " To this the commander represents himself as replying : " That he (Spencer) had not consulted him in his arrangements — that his opinion could not be an unprejudiced one — that I had consulted all his brother officers, his messmates included, ex- cept the boys ; and I placed before him their opinion. He stated that it was just — that he deserved death." For the honor of human na- ture it is to be hoped that Mackenzie reports himself falsely here — which is probable, both on its face, and because it is not in the original record. The commander says that he begged for one hour to prepare himself for death, say- ing the time is so short, asking if there was time for repentance, and if he could be changed so soon (from sin to grace). To the request for the hour, the commander says no answer was given : to the other parts he reminded him of the thief on the cross, who was pardoned by our Saviour, and that for the rest, God would understand the difficulties of his situation and be merciful. The commander also represents himself as recapitulating to Spencer the arts he had used to seduce the crew. The commander says upwards of an hour elapsed before the hanging : he might have said two hours : for the doom of the prisoners was announced at about eleven, and they were hung at one. But no part of this delay was for their benefit, as he would make believe, but for his own, to get con- ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 547 fessions under the agonies of terror. No part of it — not even the whole ten minutes — was allowed to Spencer to make his peace with God ; but continually interrupted, questioned, out- raged, inflamed against his companions in death, he had his devotions broken in upon, and him- self deprived of one peaceful moment to com- mune with God. The report of the confessions is false upon its face : it is also invalidated by other matter within itself, showing that Mackenzie had two opposite ways of speaking of the same person, and of the same incident, before and after the design upon Spencer's life. I speak of the at- tempt, and of the reasons given for it, to get the young man transferred to another vessel before sailing from New York. According to the ac- count given first of these reasons, and at the time, the desire to get him out of the Somers was entirely occasioned by the crowded state of the midshipmen's room — seven, where only five could be accommodated. Thus : " When we were on the eve of sailing, two midshipmen who had been with me before, and in whom I had confidence, joined the vessel. This carried to seven, the number to occupy a space capable of accommodating only five. I had heard that Mr. Spencer had expressed a wil- lingness to be transferred from the Somers to the Grampus. I directed Lieut. Gansevoort to say to him that if he would apply to Commodore Perry to detach him (there was no time to com- municate with the Navy Department), I would second the application. He made the applica- tion ; I seconded it, earnestly' urging that it should be granted on the score of the comfort of the young officers. The commodore declined detaching Mr. Spencer, but offered to detach midshipman Henry Rodgers, who had been last ordered. I could not consent to part with Mid- shipman Rodgers, whom I knew to be a seaman, an officer, a gentleman ; a young man of high attainments within his profession and beyond it. The Somers sailed with seven in her steer- age. They could not all sit together round the table. The two oldest and most useful had no lockers to put their clothes in, and have slept during the cruise on the steerage deck, the camp- stools, the booms, in the tops, or in the quarter boats." Nothing can be clearer than this statement. It was to relieve the steerage room where the young midshipmen congregated, that the trans- fer of Spencer was requested; and this was after Captain Mackenzie had been informed that the young man had been dismissed from the Brazilian squadron, for drunkenness. ''And this fact," he said, " made me very desirous of his removal from the vessel, chiefly on account of the young men who were to mess and be associated with him, the rather that two of them were connected with me by blood and two by marriage ; and all four intrusted to my especial care." After the deaths he wrote of the same incident in these words : " The circumstance of Mr. Spencer's being the son of a high officer of the government, by en- hancing his baseness in my estimation, made me more desirous to be rid of him. On this point I beg that I may not be misunderstood. I revere authority. I recognize, in the exercise of its higher functions in this free country, the evi- dences of genius, intelligence, and virtue ; but I have no respect for the base son of an honored father ; on the contrary, I consider that he who, by misconduct sullies the lustre of an honorable name, is more culpable than the unfriended in- dividual whose disgrace falls only on himself. I wish, however, to have nothing to do with baseness in any shape ; the navy is not the place for it. On these accounts I readily sought the first opportunity of getting rid of Mr. Spencer." Here the word base, as applicable to the young Spencer, occurs three times in a brief paragraph, and this baseness is given as the reason for wishing to get the young man, not out of the ship, but out of the navy ! And this sentiment was so strong, that reverence for Spencer's father could not control it. He could have no- thing to do with baseness. The navy is not the place for it. Now all this was written after the young man was dead, and when it was necessary to make out a case of justification for putting him, not out of the ship, nor even out of the navy, but out of the world. This was an altered state Of the case, and the captain's report accommo- dated itself to this alteration. The reasons now given go to the baseness of the young man : those which existed at the time, went to the comfort of the four midshipmen, connected by blood and alliance with the captain, and com- mitted to his special care :— as if all in the ship were not committed to his special care, and that by the laws of the land— and without preference to relations. The captain even goes into an ac- count of his own high moral feelings at the time, and disregard of persons high in power, in show- ing that he then acted upon a sense of Spencers baseness, maugre the reverence he had for his 548 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. father and his cabinet position. Every body sees that these are contradictions — that all this talk about baseness is after-talk — that all these fine sentiments are of subsequent conception : in fact, that the first reasons were those of the time, before he expected to put the young man to death, and the next after he had done it ! and when the deed exacted a justification, and that at any cost of invention and fabrication. The two accounts are sufficient to establish one of those errors of fact which the law considers as discrediting a witness in all that he says. But it is not all the proof of erroneous state- ment which the double relation of this incident affords : there is another, equally flagrant. The captain, in his after account, repulses associa- tion with baseness, that is with Spencer, in any shape : his elaborate report superabounds with expressions of the regard with which he had treated him during the voyage, and even ex- acts acknowledgment of his kindness while endeavoring to torture out of him confessions of guilt. The case of Spencer was now over : the cases of Small and Cromwell were briefly despatched. The commander contrived to make the three victims meet in a narrow way going to the sac- rifice, all manacled and hobbling along, helped along, for they could not walk, by persons appointed to that duty. Gansevoort helped Spencer— a place to which he had entitled him- self by the zeal with which he had pursued him. The object of the meeting was seen in the use that was made of it. It was to have a scene of crimination and recrimination between the prisoners, in which mutual accusations were to help out the miserable testimony and the im- puted confessions. They are all made to stop together. Spencer is made to ask the pardon of Small for having seduced him : Small is made to answer, and with a look of horror — " No, by God ! " an answer very little in keeping with the lowly and Christian character of Small, and rebutted by ample negative testimony : for this took place after the secret whispering was over, and in the presence of many. Even Gan- sevoort, in giving a minute account of this in- terview, reports nothing like it, nor any thing on which it could be founded. Small really seems to have been a gentle and mild man, im- bued with kind and pious feelings, and no part of his conduct corresponds with the brutal an- swer to Spencer attributed to him. When asked if he had any message to send, he answered : " I have nobody to care for me but a poor old mother, and I had rather she did not know how I died." In his Bible was found a letter from his mother, filled with affectionate expressions. In that letter the mother had rejoiced that her son was contented and happy, as he had in- formed her; upon which the commander ma- liciously remarked, in his report, " that was be- fore his acquaintance with Spencer." There was nothing against him, but in the story of the informer, Wales. He instantly admitted his " foolish conversations " with Spencer when ar- rested, but said it was no mutiny. When standing under the ship gallows (yard-arm) he began a speech to his shipmates, declar- ing his innocence, saying " I am no pirate : I never murdered any body ! " At these words Mackenzie sung out to Gansevoort, "Is that right?" meaning, ought he to be allowed to speak so ? He was soon stopped, and Ganse- voort swears he said " he deserved his punish- ment." Cromwell protested his innocence to the last, and with evident truth. When ar- rested, he declared he knew nothing about the mutiny, and the commander told him he was to be carried home with Spencer to be tried ; to which he answered, "I assure you I know nothing about it." His name was not on the razor-case paper. Spencer had declared his ignorance of all his talk, when the commander commenced his efforts, under the ten minutes' reprieve, to get confessions, and when Spencer said to him, as he turned off to go to Small and Cromwell with the ten minutes' news — the first they heard of it : " As these are the last words I have to say, I trust they will be believed : Crom- well is innocent." When told his doom, he (Cromwell) exclaimed, " God of the Universe look down upon me ; I am innocent ! Tell my wife — tell Lieutenant Morris I die innocent ! " The last time that Mackenzie had spoken to him before was to tell him he would be carried to the United States for trial. The meeting of the three victims was crowned by reporting them, not only as confessing, and admitting the justice of their deaths, but even praising it, as to the honor of the flag, and — penitently beg- ging pardon and forgiveness from the com- mander and his lieutenant ! — and they merci- fully granting the pardon and forgiveness ! ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 549 The original record says there were no " hang- men " on board the ship : but that made no balk. The death signal, and command, were given by the commander and his lieutenant — the former firing the signal gun himself— the other singing out " whip ! " at which word the three wretched men went up with a violent jerk to the yard-arm. There is something unintel- ligible about Cromwell in the last words of this original " record." It says : " S. Small stept up. Cromwell overboard, rose dipping to yard-arm." Upon which the editor remarks: "The above paper of Commander Mackenzie is so illegible, as not to be correctly written " (copied). Yet it was this paper that Spencer is officially re- ported to have read while waiting to be jerked up, and to have agreed to its correctness — and near two-thirds of which were not written until after his death ! The men were dead, and died innocent, as history will tell and show. Why such conduct towards them — not only the killing, but the cruel aggravations ? The historian Cooper, in solving this question, says that such was the obliquity of intellect shown by Mackenzie in the whole affair, that no analysis of his motives can be made on any consistent principle of human action. This writer looks upon personal re- sentment as having been the cause of the deaths ; and terror, and a desire to create terror, the cause of the aggravations. Both Spencer and Cromwell had indulged in language which must have been peculiarly offensive to a man of the commander's temperament, and opinion of him- self—an author, an orator, a fine officer. They habitually spoke of him before the crew, as " the old humbug — the old fool ; " graceless epithets, plentifully garnished with the prefix of " damned ; " and which were so reported to the captain (after the discovery of the mutiny- never before) as to appear to him to be " blas- phemous vituperation." This is the only tan- gible cause for hanging Spencer and Cromwell, and as for poor Small, it would seem that his knowledge of navigation, and the necessity of having three mutineers, decided his fate : for his name is on neither of the three lists (though on the distribution list), and he frankly told the commander of Spencer's foolish conversations — always adding, it was no mutiny. These are the only tangible, or visible causes for putting the men to death. The reason for doing it at the time it was done, was for fear of losing the excuse to do it. The vessel was within a day and a half of St. Thomas, where she was or- dered to go — within less time of many other islands to which she might go — in a place to meet vessels at any time, one of which she saw nearly in her course, and would not go to it. The ex- cuse for not going to these near islands, or join- ing the vessel seen, was that it was disgraceful to a man-of-war to seek protection from foreign- ers! as if it was more honorable to murder than to take such protection. But the excuse was proved to be false ; for it was admitted the ves- sel seen was too far off to know her national character : therefore, she was not avoided as a foreigner, but for fear she might be American. The same of the islands : American vessels were sure to be at them, and therefore these islands were not gone to. It was therefore indispensable to do the work before they got to St. Thomas, and all the machinery of new arrests, and rescue was to justify that consummation. And as for not being able to carry the ship to St. Thomas, with an obedient crew of 100 men, it was a story not to be told in a service where Lieutenant John Rodgers and Midshipman Porter, with 11 men, conducted a French frigate with 173 French prisoners, three days and nights, into safe port. The three men having hung until they ceased to give signs of life, and still hanging up, the crew were piped down to dinner, and to hear a speech from the commander, and to celebrate divine service — of which several performances the commander gives this account in his official report : " The crew were now piped down from wit- nessing punishment, and all hands called to cheer ship. I gave the order, ' stand by to give three hearty cheers for the flag of our country ! ' Never were three heartier cheers given. In that electric moment I do not doubt that the patriot- ism of even the worst of the conspirators for an instant broke forth. I felt that I was once more completely commander of the vessel which had been entrusted to me; equal to do with her whatever the honor of my country might re- quire. The crew were now piped down and piped to dinner. I noticed with pain that many of the boys, as they looked to the yard-arm, in- dulged in laughter and derision." He also gives an impressive account of the religious service which was performed, the punc- tuality and devotion with which it was attend- ed, and the appropriate prayer — that of thanks 550 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. to God for deliverance from a great danger — with which it was concluded. "The service was then read, the responses audibly and devoutly made by the officers and crew, and the bodies consigned to the deep. This service was closed with that prayer so ap- propriate to our situation, appointed to be read in our ships of war, ' Preserve us from the dan- gers of the sea, and from the violence of ene- mies ; that we may be a safeguard to the United States of America, and a security for such as pass on the seas upon their lawful occasions; that the inhabitants of our land may in peace and quietude serve thee our God ; and that we may return in safety to enjoy the blessings of our land, with the fruits of our labor, with a thankful remembrance of thy mercies, to praise and glorify thy holy name through Jesus Christ our Lord.' " This religious celebration concluded, and the prayer read, the commander indulges in a re- mark upon their escape from a danger plotted before the ship left the United States, as unfeel- ing, inhuman and impious at the time, as it was afterwards proved to be false and wicked. After the arrest of Spencer, the delators discovered that he had meditated these crimes before he left the United States, and had let his intention become known at a house in the Bowery at New York. In reference to that early inception of the plot, now just found out by the commander, he thus remarks : " In reading this (prayer) and in recollecting the uses to which the Somers had been destined, as I now find, before she quitted the waters of the United States, I could not but humbly hope that divine sanction would not be wanting to the deed of that day." Here it is assumed for certain that piratical uses were intended for the vessel by Spencer before he left New York; and upon that as- sumption the favor of Heaven was humbly hoped for in looking down upon the deed of that day. Now what should be the look of Heaven if all this early plotting should be a false im- putation — a mere invention — as it was proved to be. Before the court-martial it was proved that the sailor boarding-house remark about this danger to the Somers, was made by an- other person, and before Spencer joined the ves- sel — and from which vessel the commander knew he had endeavored to get transferred to the Grampus, after he had come into her — the commander himself being the organ of his wishes. Foiled before the court in attaching this boarding-house remark to Spencer, the de- lators before the court undertook to fasten it upon Cromwell: there again the same fate befell them : the remark was proved to have been made by a man of the name of Phelps, and be- fore Cromwell had joined the vessel : and so ended this last false and foul insinuation in his report. The commander then made a speech, whereof he incorporates a synopsis in his report ; and of which, with its capital effects upon the crew, he gives this account : "The crew were now ordered aft, and I addressed them from the trunk, on which I was standing. I called their attention first to the fate of the unfortunate young man, whose ill-regulated ambition, directed to the most in- famous ends, had been the exciting cause of the tragedy they had just witnessed. I spoke of his honored parents, of his distinguished father, whose talents and character had raised him to one of the highest stations in the land, to be one of the six appointed counsellors of the repre- sentative of our national sovereignty. I spoke of the distinguished social position to which this young man had been born; of the ad- vantages of every sort that attended the outset of his career, and of the professional honors to which a long, steady, and faithful perseverance in the course of duty might ultimately have raised him. After a few months' service at sea, most wretchedly employed, so far as the acquisi- tion of professional knowledge was concerned, he had aspired to supplant me in a command which I had only reached after nearly 30 years of faithful servitude ; and for what object I had already explained to them. I told them that their future fortunes were in their own control : they had advantages of every sort and in an eminent degree for the attainment of professional knowledge. The situations of warrant officers and of masters in the navy were open to them. They might rise to commands in the merchant . service, to respectability, to competence, and to fortune ; but they must advance regularly, and step by step ; every step to be sure, must be guided by truth, honor, and fidelity. I called their attention to Cromwell's case. He must have received an excellent education, his hand- writing was even elegant. But he had also fallen through brutish sensuality and the greedy thirst for gold." But there was another speech on the Sunday following, of which the commander furnishes no report, but of which some parts were re- membered by hearers — as thus by McKee: — (the judge advocate having put the question to him whether he had heard the commander's ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 551 addresess to the crew after the execution). An- swer : " I heard him on the Sunday after the execution: he read Mr. Spencer's letters: he said he was satisfied the young man had been lying to him for half an hour before his death." Another witness swore to the same words, with the addition, " that he died with a lie in his mouth." Another witness (Green) gives a fur- ther view into this letter-reading, and affords a glimpse of the object of such a piece of brutality. In answer to the same question, if he heard the commander's speech the Sunday after the exe- cution ? He answered, " Yes, sir. I heard him read over Mr. Spencer's letter, and pass a good many remarks on it. He said that Cromwell had been very cruel to the boys : that he had called him aft, and spoke to him about it seve- ral times. To the question, Did he say any thing of Mr. Spencer ? he answered — " Yes, sir. He said he left his friends, lost all his clothes, and shipped in a whaling vessel." To the ques- tion whether any thing was said about Mr. Spencer's truth or falsehood? he answered: " I heard the commander say, this young man died with a lie in his mouth ; but do not know whether he meant Mr. Spencer, or some one else." It is certain the commander was making a base use of these letters, as he makes no mention of them any where, and they seem to have been used solely to excite the crew against Cromwell and Spencer. In finding the mother's letter in Small's bible, the captain finds occasion to make two innuendos against the dead Spencer, then still hanging up. He says : " She expressed the joy with which she had learned from him that he was so happy on board the Somers (at that time Mr. Spencer had not joined her) ; that no grog was served on board of her. Within the folds of this sacred volume he had preserved a copy of verses taken from the Sailor's Magazine, enforcing the value of the bible to seamen. I read these verses to the crew. Small had evidently valued his bible, but could not resist temptation." This happiness of Small is discriminated from his acquaintance with Spencer: it was before the time that Spencer joined the ship ! as if his misery began from that time ! when it only commenced from the time he was seized and ironed for mutiny. Then the temptation which he could not resist, innuendo, tempted by Spen- cer — of which there was not even a tangible hear- say, and no temptation necessary. Poor Small was an habitual drunkard, and drank all that he could get— his only fault, as it seems. But this bible of Small's gave occasion to another speech, and moral and religious harangue, of which the captain gave a report, too long to be noticed here except for its characteristics, and which go to elucidate the temper and state of mind in which things were done : " I urged upon the youthful sailors to cherish their bibles with a more entire love than Small had done; to value their prayer books also; they would find in them a prayer for every ne- cessity, however great; a medicine for every ailment of the mind. I endeavored to call to their recollection the terror with which the three malefactors had found themselves sudden- ly called to enter the presence of an offended God. No one who had witnessed that scene could for a moment believe even in the existence of such a feeling as honest Atheism : a disbelief in the existence of a God. They should also remember that scene. They should also remem- ber that Mr. Spencer, in his last moments, had said that 'he had wronged many people, but chiefly his parents.' From these two circum- stances they might draw two useful lessons : a lesson of filial piety, and of piety toward God. With these two principles for their guides they could never go astray." This speech was concluded with giving cheers to God, not by actual shouting, but by singing the hundredth psalm, and cheering again — all for deliverance from the hands of the pirates. Thus: " In conclusion, I told them that they had shown that they could give cheers for their country ; they should now give cheers to their God, for they would do this when they sung praises to his name. The colors were now hoisted, and above the American ensign, the only banner to which it may give place, the banner of the cross. The hundredth psalm was now sung by all the officers and crew. After which, the usual service followed ; when it was over, I could not avoid contrasting the spectacle pre- sented on that day by the Somers, with what it would have been in pirates' hands." During all this time the four other men in irons sat manacled behind the captain, and he exults in telling the fine effects of his speaking on these "deeply guilty," as well as upon all the rest of the ship's crew. " But on this subject I forbear to enlarge. I would not have described the scene at all, so different from the ordinary topics of an official communication, but for the unwonted circum- stances in which we were placed, and the marked 552 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. effect which it produced on the ship's company, even on those deeply guilty members of it who sat manacled behind me, and that it was con- sidered to have done much towards restoring the allegiance of the crew." Of these deeply guilty, swelled to twelve be- fore the ship got home, three appeared before the court-martial, and gave in their experience of that day's work. McKee, the first one, testi- fies that he had so little suspicion of what was going on, that, when he saw the commander come upon deck in full uniform, he supposed that some ship was seen, and that it was the in- tention to visit or speak her. To the question, what passed between yourself and the com- mander, after the execution? he answered: " He said he could find nothing against any of the four that were then in irons — if he had found any proof our fate would have been the same ; and if he could find any excuse for not taking them home in irons, he would do so. I understood him to mean he would release them from their irons." Green, another of them, in answer to the question whether the commander spoke to him after hanging, answered — "Yes, sir. He said he could not find any thing against us ; if he could, our fate would have been the same as the other three. He asked me if I was satisfied with it ? " McKinley was the third, and to the same question, whether the com- mander spoke to him on the day of the execu- tions ? he answered — " He did while the men were hanging at the yard arm, but not before. He came to me, and said, ' McKinley. did you hear what I said to those other young men 1 ' I told him, ' No, sir.' ' Well,' said he, ' it is the general opinion of the officers that you are a pretty good boy, but I shall have to take you home in irons, to see what the Secretary of the Navy can do for you.' He said: 'In risking your life for other persons (or something to that effect) is all that saves you.' He left me then, and I spoke to Mr. Gansevoort — I asked him if he thought the commander thought I was guilty of any thing of the kind. He said : ' No, I assure you if he did, he would have strung you up.' " Wilson, the fourth of the arrested, was not examined before the court; but the evidence of three of them, with McKenzie's re- fusal to proceed against them in New York, and the attempt to tamper with one of them, is proof enough that he had no accusation against these four men : that they were arrested to ful- fil the condition on which the first three were to be hanged, and to be brought home in irons with eight others, to keep up the idea of mutiny. The report having finished the history of the mutiny — its detection, suppression, execu tion of the ringleaders, and seizure of the rest (twelve in all) to be brought home in bags and irons — goes on, like a military report after a great victory, to point out for the notice and favor of the government, the different officers and men who had distinguished themselves in the affair, and to demand suitable rewards for each one according to his station and merits. This concluding part opened thus : " In closing this report, a pleasing, yet solemn duty devolves upon me, which I feel unable ade- quately to fulfil — to do justice to the noble con- duct of every one of the officers of the Somers, from the first lieutenant to the commander's clerk, who has also, since her equipment, per- formed the duty of midshipman. Throughout the whole duration of the difficulties in which we have been involved, their conduct has been courageous, determined, calm, self-possessed — animated and upheld always by a lofty and chivalrous patriotism, perpetually armed by day and by night, waking and sleeping, with pistols often cocked for hours together." The commander, after this general encomium, brings forward the distinguished, one by one, beginning of course with his first lieutenant : " I cannot forbear to speak particularly of Lieutenant Gansevoort. Next to me in rank on board the Somers, he was my equal in every re- spect to protect and defend her. The perfect harmony of our opinions, and of our views of what should be done, on each new development of the dangers which menaced the integrity of command, gave us a unity of action that added materially to our strength. Never since the existence of our navy has a commanding officer been more ably and zealously seconded by his lieutenant." Leaving out every thing minor, and depend- ent upon the oaths of others, there are some things sworn to by Gansevoort himself which derogate from his chivalrous patriotism. First, going round to the officers who were to sit in council upon the three prisoners, and taking their agreement to execute the three on hand if more arrests were made.' Secondly, encourag- ing and making those arrests on which the lives of the three depended. Thirdly, going out of the council to obtain from Spencer further proofs of his guilt — Spencer not knowing for ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 553 what purpose he was thus interrogated. Fourthly, his calmness and self-possession were shown in the fire of his pistol while assisting to arrest Cromwell, and in that consternation inspired in him at the running towards where he was of a cluster of the apprentice bo} r s, scampering on to avoid the boatswain's colt — a slender cord to whip them over the clothes, like a switch. Midshipman Rodgers had gone aft, or forward, as the case may be, to drive a parcel of these boys to their duty, taking the boatswain along to apply his colt to all the hindmost. Of course the boys scampered brisk- ly to escape the colt. The lieutenant heard them coming — thought they were the mutineers — sung out, God ! they are coming — levelled his revolver, and was only prevented from giving them the contents of the six barrels, had they not sung out " It is me — it is me ; " for that is what the witnesses stated. But the richness of the scene can only be fully seen from the lieutenant's own account of it, which he gave before the court with evident self-satisfaction : " The commander and myself were standing on the larboard side of the quarter deck, at the after end of the trunk: we were in conversa- tion : it was dark at the time. I heard an un- usual noise — a rushing aft toward the quarter deck : I said to the commander, ' G od ! I be- lieve they are coming.' I had one of Colt's pistols, which I immediately drew and cocked : the commander said his pistols were below. I jumped on the trunk, and ran forward to meet them. As I was going along I sung out to them not to come aft. I told them I would blow the first man's brains out who would put his foot on the quarter deck. I held my pistol pointed at the tallest man that I saw in the starboard gangway, and I think Mr. Rodgers sung out to me, that he was sending the men aft to the mast rope. I then told them they must have no such unusual movements on board the vessel : what they did, they must do in their usual manner : they knew the state of the ves- sel, and might get their brains blown out before they were aware of it. Some other short re- marks, I do not recollect at this time what they were, and ordered them to come aft and man the mast rope: to move quietly." To finish this view of Mr. Gansevoort's self-possession, and the value of his " beliefs," it is only neces- sary to know that, besides letting off his pistol when Cromwell was arrested, he swore before the court that, "I had an idea that he (Crom- well) meant to take me overboard with him," when they shook hands under the gallows yard arm, and under that idea, " turned my arm to get clear of his grasp." The two non-combatants, purser Heiskill and assistant surgeon Leecock, come in for high ap- plause, although for the low business of watch- ing the crew and guarding the prisoners. The report thus brings them forward : " Where all, without exception, have behaved admirably, it might seem invidious to particu- larize : yet I cannot refrain calling your atten- tion to the noble conduct of purser II. W. Heis- kill, and passed assistant surgeon Leecock, for the services which they so freely yielded be- yond the sphere of their immediate duties." The only specification of this noble conduct, and of these services beyond their proper sphere, which is given in the report, is con- tained in this sentence : " Both he and Mr. Heiskill cheerfully obeyed my orders to go perpetually armed, to keep a regular watch, to guard the prisoners : the worst w r eather could not drive them from their posts, or draw from their lips a murmur." To these specifications of noble conduct, and extra service, might have been added those of eaves-dropping and delation — capacity to find the same symptoms of guilt in opposite words and acts — sitting in council to judge three men whom they had agreed with Ganscvoort two days before to hang if necessary to make more arrests, and which arrests, four in num- ber, were made with their concurrence and full approbation. Finally, he might have told that this Heiskill was a link in the chain of the reve- lation of the mutinous and piratical plot. He was the purser of whom Wales was the stew- ard, and to whom Wales revealed the plot — ho then revealing to Gansevoort — and Gansevoort to Mackenzie. It was, then, through his subor- dinate (and who was then stealing his liquor) and himself that the plot was detected. A general presentation of government thanks to all the officers, is next requested by the lieu- tenant : " I respectfully request that the thanks of the Navy Department may be presented to all the officers of the Somers, for their exertions in the critical situation in which she has been placed. It is true they have but performed their duty, but they have performed it with fidelity and zeal." 554 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. The purser's steward, Wales, is then special- ly and encomiastically presented, and a specific high reward solicited for him : " I respectfully submit, that Mr. J. W. Wales, by his coolness, his presence of mind, and his fidelity, has rendered to the American navy a memorable service. I had a trifling difficulty with him, not discreditable to his character, on the previous cruise to Porto Rico — on that ac- count he was sought out, and tampered with. But he was honest, patriotic, humane ; he re- sisted temptation, was faithful to his flag, and was instrumental in saving it from dishonor. A pursership in the navy, or a handsome pecu- niary reward, would after all be an inconsider- able recompense, compared with the magnitude of his services." Of this individual the commander had pre- viously reported a contrivance to make a mis- take in doubling the allowed quantity of brandy carried out on the cruise, saying : " By accident, as it was thought at the time, but subsequent developments would rather go to prove by de- sign, he (Wales) had contrived to make a mis- take, and the supply of brandy was ordered from two different groceries ; thus doubling the quantity intended to be taken." Of this dou- ble supply of brandy thus contrived to be taken out, the commander reports Wales for continual "stealing" of it — always adding that he was seduced into these "thefts" by Spencer. Be- ing a temperance man, the commander eschews the use of this brandy on board, except furtive- ly for the corruption of the crew by Spencer through the seduction of the steward : thus : " None of the brandy was used in the mess, and all of it is still on board except what was stolen by the steward at the request of Mr. Spencer, and drank by him, and those he endeavored to corrupt." By his own story this Wales comes under the terms of Lord Hale's idea of a " des- perate villain " — a fellow who joins in a crime, gets the confidence of accomplices, then informs upon them, gets them hanged, and receives a reward. This was the conduct of Wales upon his own showing : and of such informers the pious and mild Lord Hale judicially declared his abhorrence — held their swearing unworthy of credit unless corroborated — said that they had done more mischief in getting innocent peo- ple punished than they had ever done good in bringing criminals to justice. Upon this view of his conduct, then, this Wales comes under the legal idea of a desperate villain. Legal pre- sumptions would leave him in this category ; but the steward and the commander have not left it there. They have lifted a corner of the curtain which conceals an unmentionable trans- action, to which these two persons were parties — which was heard of, but not understood by the crew — which was hugger-muggered into a settlement between them about the time of Spencer's arrest, though originating the pre- ceding cruise — which neither would explain — which no one could name — and of which Heis- kill, the intermediate between his steward and the commander, could know nothing except that it was of a "delicate nature," and that it had been settled between them. The first hint of this mysterious transaction was in the com- mander's report — in his proud commendation of this steward for a pursership in the United States Navy — and evidently to rehabilitate his witness, and to get a new lick at Spencer. The hint runs thus : " I had a trifling difficulty, not discreditable to his character, on the previous cruise to Porto Rico." On the trial the purser Heiskill was interrogated as to the nature of this difficulty between his subordinate and his superior. To the question — " Did he know any thing, and what, about a misunderstanding be- tween the steward and the commander at Por- to Rico ? " he answered, " he knew there was a misunderstanding, which Wales told him was explained to the satisfaction of the commander." To the further question, " Was it of a delicate nature ? " the answer was, " yes, sir." To the further question, as to the time when this mis- understanding was settled ? the purser an- swered : " I do not know — some time since, I believe." Asked if it was before the arrest? he answers : " I think Mr. Wales spoke of this matter before the arrest." Pressed to tell, if it was shortly before the arrest, the purser would neither give a long nor a short time, but ignored the inquiry with the declaration, " I won't pre- tend to fix upon a time." Wales himself inter- rogated before the court, as to the fact of this misunderstanding, and also as to what it was ? admitted the fact, but refused its disclosure. His answer, as it stands in the official report of the trial is : "I had a difficulty, but decline to explain it." And the obliging court submitted to the contempt of this answer. Left without information in a case so myste- rious, and denied explanation from those who could give it, history can only deal with the ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 555 facts as known, and with the inferences fairly resulting from them ; and, therefore, can only- say, that there was an old affair between the commander and the purser's steward, originat- ing in a previous voyage, and settled in this one, and settled before the arrest of midship- man Spencer ; and secondly, that the affair was of so delicate a nature as to avoid explanation from either party. Now the word " delicate " in this connection, implies something which can- not be discussed without danger — something which will not bear handling, or exposure — and in which silence and reserve are the only es- capes from a detection worse than any suspi- cion. And thus stands before history the in- former upon the young Spencer — the thief of brandies, the desperate villain according to Lord Hale's classification, and the culprit of unmentionable crime, according to his own im- plied admission. Yet this man is recommended for a pursership in the United States navy, or a handsome pecuniary reward; while any court in Christendom would have committed him for perjury, on his own showing, in his swearing before the court-martial. Sergeant Michael H. Garty is then brought forward ; thus : " Of the conduct of Sergeant Michael H. Gar- ty (of the marines) I will only say it was wor- thy of the noble corps to which he has the honor to belong. Confined to his hammock by a malady which threatened to be dangerous, at the moment when the conspiracy was dis- covered, he rose upon his feet a well man. Throughout the whole period, from the day of Mr. Spencer's arrest to the day after our arrival, and until the removal of the mutineers, his con- duct was calm, steady, and soldierlike. But when his duty was done, and health was no longer indispensable to its performance, his malady returned upon him. and he is still in his hammock. In view of this fine conduct, I re- spectfully recommend that Sergeant Garty be promoted to a second lieutenancy in the ma- rine corps. Should I pass without dishonor through the ordeal which probably awaits me, and attain in due time to the command of a vessel entitled to a marine officer, I ask no bet- ter fortune than to have the services of Ser- geant Garty in that capacity." Now here is something like a miracle. A bedridden man to rise up a well man the mo- ment his country needed his services, and to remain a well man to the last moment those services required, and then to fall down a bed- ridden man again. Such a miracle implies a divine interposition which could only be bot- tomed on a full knowledge of the intended crime, and a special care to prevent it. It is quite improbable in itself and its verity entire- ly marred by answers of this sergeant to cer- tain questions before the court-martial. Thus : " When were you on the sick list in the last cruise ? " Answer : " I was twice on the list : the last time about two days." Now these two days must be that hammock confinement from the return of the malady which immediately ensued on the removal of the mutineers (the twelve from the Somers to the North Carolina guardship at New York), and which seemed as chronic and permanent as it was before the arrest. Questioned further, whether he "re- mained in his hammock the evening of Spen- cer's arrest ? " the answer is, " Yes, sir : I was in and out of it all that night." So that the rising up a well man does not seem to have been so instantaneous as the commander's re- port would imply. The sergeant gives no ac- count of this malady which confined him to his hammock in the marvellous way the commander reports. He never mentioned it until it was dragged out of him on cross-examination. He was on the sick list. That does not imply bed- ridden. Men are put on the sick list for a slight indisposition : in fact, to save them from sickness. Truth is, this Garty seems to have been one of the class of which every service contains some specimens — scamps who have a pain, and get on the sick list when duty runs hard ; and who have no pain, and get on the well list, as soon as there is something pleasant to do. In this case the sergeant seems to have had a pleasant occupation from the alacrity with which he fulfilled it, and from the happy relief which it procured him from his malady as long as it lasted. That occupation was su- perintendent of the bagging business. It was he who attended to the wearing and fitting of the bags— seeing that they were punctually put on when a prisoner was made, tightly tied over the head of nights, and snugly drawn round the neck during the day. To this was added eaves- dropping and delating, and swearing before all the courts, and in this style before the council of officers : " Thinks there are some persons at large that would voluntarily assist the prisoners if they had an opportunity."-" Thinks if the prisoners were at large the brig would certainly be in great danger."-" Thinks there are per- 556 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. sons adrift yet, who. if opportunity offered, would rescue the prisoners." — " Thinks the vessel would be safer if Cromwell, Spencer, and Small were put to death." — K Thinks Cromwell a desperate fellow." — " Thinks their object (that of Cromwell and Spencer), in taking slavers, would be to convert them to their own use, and not to suppress the slave trade." All this was swearing like a sensible witness, who knew what was wanted, and would furnish it. It covered all the desired points. More arrests were wanted at that time to justify the hanging of the prisoners on hand : he thinks more arrests ought to be made. The fear of a rescue was wanted : he thinks there will be a rescue attempted. The execution of the pris- oners is wanted : he thinks the vessel would be safer if they were all three put to death. And it was for these noble services — bagging pris- oners, eavesdropping, delating, swearing to what was wanted — that this sergeant had his marvel- lous rise-up from a hammock, and was now recommended for an officer of marines. His- tory repulses the marvel which the commander reports. A kind Providence may interpose for the safety of men and ships, but not through an agent who is to bag and suffocate innocent men — to eaves-drop and delate — to swear in all places, and just what was wanted — all by thoughts, and without any thing to bottom a thought upon. Certainly this Sergeant Garty, from his stomach for swearing, must have some- thing in common, besides nativity, with Mr. Jommy O'Brien ; and, from his alacrity and diligence in taking care of prisoners, would seem to have come from the school of the fa- mous Major Sirr, of Irish rebellion memory. Mr. 0. H. Perry, the commander's clerk and nephew, the same whose blunder in giving the order about the mast, occasioned it to break ; and, in breaking, to become a sign of the plot- ting, mutiny, and piracy; and the same that held the watch to mark the ten minutes that Spencer was to live : this young gentleman was not forgotten, but came in liberally for praise and spoil — the spoil of the young man whose messmate he had been, against whom he had testified, and whose minutes he had counted, and proclaimed when out : " If I shall be deemed by the Navy Depart- ment to have had any merit in preserving the Somers from those treasonable toils by which she had been surrounded since and before her departure from the United States, I respectfully request that it may accrue without reservation for my nephew 0. H. Perry, now clerk on board the Somers, and that his name may be placed on the register in the name left vacant by the treason of Mr. Spencer. I think, under the pe- culiar circumstances of the case, an act of Con- gress, if necessary, might be obtained to au- thorize the appointment." All these recommendations for reward and promotion, bespeak an obliquity of mental vision, equivalent to an aberration of the mind ; and this last one, obliquitous as any, superadds an extinction of the moral sense in demanding the spoil of the slain for the reward of a nephew who had promoted the death of which he was claiming the benefit. The request was revolt- ing ! and, what is equally revolting, it was granted. But worse still. An act of Congress at that time forbid the appointment of more midshipmen, of which there were then too many, unless to fill vacancies : hence the re- quest of the commander, that his nephew's name may take the place in the Navy Register of the name left vacant by the " treason " of Mr. Spencer ! The commander, through all his witnesses, had multiplied proofs on the attempts of Spen- cer to corrupt the crew by largesses lavished upon them — such as tobacco, segars, nuts, six- pences thrown among the boys, and two bank- notes given to Cromwell on the coast of Africa to send home to his wife before the bank failed. Now what were the temptations on the other side ? What the inducements to the witnesses and actors in this foul business to swear up to the mark which Mackenzie's acquittal and their promotion required f i The remarks of Mr. Fen- imore Cooper, the historian, here present them- selves as those of an experienced man speaking with knowledge of the subject, and acquaintance with human nature : " While on this point we will show the ex- tent of the temptations that were thus incon- siderately placed before the minds of these men — what preferment they had reason to hope would be* accorded to them should Mackenzie's conduct be approved, viz. : Garty, from the ranks, to be an officer, with twenty-five dollars per month, and fifty cents per diem rations : and the prospect of promotion. Wales, from purser's steward, at eighteen dollars a month, to quarter-deck rank, and fifteen hundred dol- lars per annum. Browning, Collins, and Stew- art, petty officers, at nineteen dollars a month, to be boatswains, with seven hundred dollars ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 557 per annum. King, Anderson, and Rogers, pet- ty officers, at nineteen dollars a month, to be gunners, at seven hundred dollars per annum. Dickinson, petty officer, at nineteen dollars a month, to be carpenter, with seven hundred dollars per annum." Such was the list of temptations placed before the witnesses by Commander Mackenzie, and which it is not in human nature to suppose were without their influence on most of the persons to whom they were addressed. The commander could not close his list of recommendations for reward without saying something of himself. He asked for nothing specifically, but expected approbation, and looked forward to regular promotion, while gratified at the promotions which his subordi- nates should receive, and which would redound to his own honor. He did not ask for a court of inquiry, or a court-martial, but seemed to ap- prehend, and to deprecate them. The Secreta- ry of the Navy immediately ordered a court of inquiry — a court of three officers to report upon the facts of the case, and to give their opinion. There was no propriety in this proceeding. The facts were admitted, and the law fixed their character. Three prisoners had been hanged without trial, and the law holds that to be murder until reduced by a judicial trial to a lower degree of offence — to manslaughter, ex- cusable, or justifiable homicide. The finding of the court was strongly in favor of the com- mander; and unless this finding and opinion were disapproved by the President, no further military proceeding should be had — no court- martial ordered — the object of the inquiry be- ing to ascertain whether there was necessity for one. The necessity being negatived, and that opinion approved by the President, there was no military rule of action which could go on to a court-martial : to the general astonish- ment such a court was immediately ordered — and assembled with such precipitation that the judge advocate was in no condition to go on with the trial ; and, up to the third day of its sitting, was without the means of proceeding with the prosecution; and for his justification in not being able to go on, and in asking some delay, the judge advocate, Win. H. Norris, Esq., of Baltimore, submitted to the court this state- ment in writing : " The judge advocate states to the court that he has not been furnished by the department, as yet, with any list of witnesses on the part of the government : that he has had no oppor- tunity of conversing with any of the witnesses, of whose names he is even entirely ignorant, except by rumor in respect to a few of them ; and that, therefore, he would need time to pre- pare the case by conversation with the officers and crew of the brig Somers, before he can com- mence the case on the part of the government. The judge advocate has issued two subpoenas, duces tecum, for the record in the case of the court of inquiry into the alleged mutiny, which have not yet been returned, and by which re- cord he could have been notified of the wit- nesses and facts to constitute the case of the government." The judge advocate then begged a delay, which was granted, until eleven o'clock the next day. Here then was a precipitation, un- heard of in judicial proceedings, and wholly in- compatible with the idea of any real prosecu- tion. The cause of this precipitancy becomes a matter of public inquiry, as the public interest requires the administration of justice to be fair and impartial. The cause of it then was this : The widow of Cromwell, to whom he had sent his last dying message, that he was innocent, undertook to have Mackenzie prosecuted before the civil tribunals for the murder of her hus- band. She made three attempts, all in vain. One judge, to whom an application for a war- rant was made, declined to grant it, on the ground that he was too much occupied with other matters to attend to that case — giving a written answer to that effect. A commissioner of the United States, appointed to issue war- rants in all criminal cases, refused one in this case, because, as he alleged, he had no authori- ty to act in a military case. The attempt was then made in the United States district court, New York, to get the Grand Jury to find an indictment : the court instructed the jury that it was not competent for a civil tribunal to in- terfere with matters which were depending be- fore a naval tribunal : in consequence of which instruction the bill was ignored. Upon this instruction of the court the historian, Cooper, well remarks : " That after examining the sub- ject at some length, we are of opinion that the case belonged exclusively to the civil tribunals." Here, then, is the reason why Mackenzie was run so precipitately before the court-martial. It was to shelter him by an acquittal there : and so apprehensive was he of being got hold of by some civil tribunal, before the court-mar- 558 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. tial could be organized, that he passed the in- tervening days between the two courts " in a bailiwick where the ordinary criminal process could not reach him." — (Cooper's Review of the Trial.) When the trial actually came on, the judge advocate was about as bad off as he was the first day. He had a list of witnesses. They were Mackenzie's officers — and refused to converse with him on the nature of their testi- mony. He stated their refusal to the court — declared himself without knowledge to conduct the case — and likened himself to a new comer in a house, having a bunch of keys given to him, without information of the lock to which each belonged — so that he must try every lock with every key before he could find out the right one. The hurried assemblage of the court being shown, its composition becomes a fair subject of inquiry. The record shows that three offi- cers were excused from serving on their own application after being detailed as members of the court ; and the information of the day made known that another was excused before he was officially detailed. The same history of the day informs that these four avoided the service be- cause they had opinions against the accused. That was all right in them. Mackenzie was entitled to an impartial trial, although he al- lowed his victims no trial at all. But how was it on the other side ? any one excused there for opinions in favor of the accused ? None ! and history said there were members on the court strongly in favor of him — as the proceedings on the trial too visibly prove. Engaged in the case without a knowledge of it, the judge advo- cate confined himself to the testimony of one witness, merely proving the hanging without trial ; and then left the field to the accused. It was occupied in great force — a great number of witnesses, all the reports of Mackenzie himself, all the statements before the council of officers — all sorts of illegal, irrelevant, impertinent or frivolous testimony — every thing that could be found against the dead since their death, in ad- dition to all before — assumption or assertion of any fact or inference wanted — questions put not only leading to the answer wanted, but affirming the fact wanted — all the persons served as wit- nesses who had been agents or instruments in the murders — Mackenzie himself submitting his own statements before the court : such was the trial ! and the issue was conformable to such a farrago of illegalities, absurdities, frivolities, im- pertinences and wickednesses. He was acquit- ted ; but in the lowest form of acquittal known to court-martial proceedings. "Not proven," was the equivocal mode of saying " not guilty : " three members of the court were in favor of conviction for murder. The finding was barely permitted to stand by the President. To ap- prove, or disprove court-martial proceedings is the regular course : the President did neither. The official promulgation of the proceedings wound up with this unusual and equivocal sanc- tion : " As these charges involved the life of the accused, and as the finding is in Ins favor, he is entitled to the benefit of it, as in the analogous case of a verdict of not guilty before a civil court, and there is no power which can consti- tutionally deprive him of that benefit. The finding, therefore, is simply confirmed, and car- ried into effect without any expression of appro- bation or disapprobation on the part of the President : no such expression being necessary." No acquittal could be of lower order, or less honorable. The trial continued two months ; and that long time was chiefly monopolized hy the defence, which became in fact a trial of the dead — who, having no trial while alive, had an ample one of sixty days after their deaths. Of course they were convicted — the dead and the absent being always in the wrong. At the commencement of the trial, two eminent coun- sel of New York — Messrs. Benjamin F. Butler and Charles O'Connor, Esqs., — applied to the court at the instance of the father of the young Spencer to be allowed to sit by, and put ques- tions approved by the court ; and offer sugges- tions and comments on the testimony when it was concluded. This request was entered on the minutes, and refused. So that at the long post mortem trial which was given to the boy after his death, the father was not allowed to ask one question in favor of his son. And here two remarks require to be made — — first, as to that faithful promise of the Com- mander Mackenzie to send to his parents the dying message of the young Spencer: not a word was ever sent ! all was sent to the Navy Department and the newspapers ! and the " faithful promise," and the moving appeal to the " feelings of nature," turn out to have been a mere device to get a chance to make a report to the Secretary of the Navy of confessions to justify the previous condemnation and the pre- ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 559 determined hanging. Secondly : That the Sec- retary despatched a man-of-war immediately on the return of Mackenzie to the Isle of Pines, to capture the confederate pirates (according to "Wales's testimony), who were waiting there for the young Spencer and the Somers. A bootless errand. The island was found, and the pines ; but no pirates ! nor news of any for near twenty years ! Thus failed the indispensable point in the whole piratical plot : but without balking in the least degree the raging current of universal belief. The trial of Mackenzie being over, and he acquitted, the trial of the rest of the implicated crew — the twelve mutineers in irons — would naturally come on ; and the court remained in sessiou for that purpose. The Secretary of the Navy had written to the judge advocate to pro- ceed against such of them as he thought proper : the judge advocate referred that question to Mac- kenzie, giving him the option to choose any one he pleased to carry on the prosecutions. He chose Theodore Sedgwick, Esq., who had been his own counsel on his trial. Mackenzie was acquitted on the 28th of March : the court re- mained in session until the 1st of April: the judge advocate heard nothing from Mackenzie with respect to the prosecutions. On that day Mackenzie not being present, he was sent for. He was not to be found ! and the provost mar- shal ascertained that he had gone to his resi- dence in the country, thirty miles off. This was an abandonment of the prosecutions, and in a very unmilitary way — by running away from them, and saying nothing to any body. The court was then dissolved — the prisoners re- leased — and the innocence of the twelve stood confessed by the recreancy of their fugitive pro- secutor. It was a confession of the innocence of Spencer, Small, and Cromwell ; for he was tried for the three murders together. The trial of Mackenzie had been their acquittal in the eyes of persons accustomed to analyze evidence, and to detect perjuries in made-up stories. But the masses could form no such analysis. With them the confessions were conclusive, though invalidated by contradictions, and obtained, if obtained at all, under a refinement of terror and oppression which has no parallel on the deck of a pirate. When has such a machinery of terror been contrived to shock and torture a helpless victim ? Sudden annunciation of death in the midst of preparations to take life : ten minutes allowed to live, and these ten minutes taken up with interruptions. An imp of darkness in the shape of a naval officer in full uniform, squat down at his side, writing and whispering ; and evidently making out a tale which was to mur- der the character in order to justify the murder of the body. Commander Mackenzie had once lived a year in Spain, and wrote a book upon its manners and customs, as a " Young American." He must have read of the manner in which con- fessions were obtained in the dungeons of the Inquisition. If he had, he showed himself an apt scholar ; if not, he showed a genius for the business from which the familiars of the Holy Office might have taken instruction. Spencer's real design was clearly deducible even from the tenors of the vile swearing against him. He meant to quit the navy when he re- turned to New York, obtain a vessel in some way, and go to the northwest coast of America — to lead some wild life there ; but not pirati- cal, as there is neither prey nor shelter for pirates in that quarter. This he was often say- ing to the crew, and to this his list of names re- ferred — mixed up with foolish and even vicious talk about piracy. His first and his last answer was the same — that it was all a joke. The an- swer of Small was the same when he was ar- rested ; and it was well brought out by the judge advocate in incessant questions during the two months' trial, that there was not a sin- gle soul of the crew, except Wales, that ever heard Spencer mention one word about mutiny ! and not one, inclusive of Wales, that ever heard one man of the vessel speak of a rescue of the prisoners. Remaining long in command of the vessel as Mackenzie did, and with all his power to punish or reward, and allowed as he was to bring forward all that he was able to find since the deaths of the men, yet he could not find one man to swear to these essential points ; so that in a crew steeped in mutiny, there was not a soul that had heard of it ! in a crew determined upon a rescue of prisoners, there was not one that ever heard the word pronounced. The state of the brig, after the arrests, was that of crazy cowardice and insane suspicion on the part of the officers— of alarm and consterna- tion on the part of the crew. Armed with revolvers, cutlasses and swords, the officers prowled through the vessel, ready to shoot any one that gave them a fright— the weapon gene- rally cocked for instant work. Besides the offi- 5.60 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. cers, low wretches, as "Wales and Garty, were armed in the same way, with the same sum- mary power over the lives and deaths of the crew. The vessel was turned into a laboratory of spies, informers, eavesdroppers and delators. Every word, look, sign, movement, on the part of the crew, was equally a proof of guilt. If the men were quick about their duty, it was to cover up their guilt : if slow, it was to defy the officers. If they talked loud, it was insolence : if low, it was plotting. If collected in knots, it was to be ready to make a rush at the vessel : if keeping single and silent, it was because, knowing their guilt, they feigned aversion to escape suspicion. Belief was all that was wanted from any delator. Belief, without a circumstance to found it upon, and even con- trary to circumstances, was accepted as full legal evidence. Arrests were multiplied, to ex- cite terror, and to justify murder. The awe- stricken crew, consisting four-fifths of apprentice boys, was paralyzed into dead silence and ab- ject submission. Every arrest was made with- out a murmur. The prisoners were ironed and bagged as mere animals. No one could show pity, much less friendship. No one could extend a comfort, much less give assistance. Armed sentries stood over them, day and night, to shoot both parties for the slightest sign of in- telligence — and always to shoot the prisoner first. What Paris was in the last days of the Reign of Terror, the United States brig Somers was during the terrible week from the arrest to the hanging of Spencer. Analogous to the case of Commander Mac- kenzie was that of Lieutenant Colonel Wall, of the British service, Governor of Goree on the coast of Africa — the circumstances quite paral- lel, and where they differ, the difference in favor of Wall — but the conclusion widely different. Governor Wall fancied there was a mutiny in the garrison, the one half (of 150) engaged in it, and one Armstrong and two others, leaders in it. He ordered the "long roll" to be beat — which brings the men, without arms, into line on the parade. He conversed/a few minutes with the officers, out of hearing of the men, then ordered the line to form circle, a cannon to be placed in the middle of it, the three men tied upon it, and receive 800 blows each with an inch thick rope. It was not his intent to kill them, and the surgeon of the garrison, as in all cases of severe punishment, was ordered to at- tend, and observe it : which he did, saying no- thing : the three men died within a week. This was in the year 1782. Wall came home — was arrested (by the civil authority), broke custody and fled — was gone twenty years, and seized again by the civil authority on his return to England. The trial took place at the Old Bailey, and the prisoner easily proved up a complete case of mutiny, seventy or eighty men, assembled in open day before the governor's quar- ters, defying authority, clamoring for supposed rights, and cursing and damning. The full case was sworn up, and by many witnesses; but the attorney-general, Sir Edward Law (afterwards Lord Ellenborough), and the solicitor-general, Mr. Percival (afterwards First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer), easily took the made-up stories to pieces, and left the governor nakedly exposed, a false ac- cuser of the dead, after having been the foul murderer of the innocent. It was to no purpose that he plead, that the punishment was not intended to kill : it was answered that it was sufficient that it was likely to kill, and did kill. To no purpose that he proved by the surgeon that he stood by, as the regulations required, to judge the punishment, and said nothing: the eminent counsel proved upon him, out of his own mouth, that he was a young booby, too silly to know the difference between a cat-o'-nine-tails, which cut the skin, and an inch rope, which bruised to the vitals. The Lord Chief Baron McDonald, charged the jury that if there was no mutiny, it was murder ; and if there was mutiny, and no trial, it was murder. On this latter point, he said to the jury: " If you are of opinion that there was a mutiny, you are then to consider the degree of it, and whether there was as much attention paid to the interest of the person accused as the circumstances of the case would admit, by properly advising- him, and giving him an opportunity of justifying himself if he couldP The governor was only tried in one case, found guilty, hanged within eight days, and his body, like that of any other murderer, delivered up to the surgeons for dissection — the King on appli- cation, first for pardon, then for longer respite, and last for remission of the anatomization, re- fusing any favor, upon the ground that it was worse than any common murder — being done by a man in authority, far from the eye of the government, on helpless people subject to his ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 561 power, and whom he was bound to protect, and to defend from oppression. It is a case — a com- mon one in England since the judges became in- dependent of the crown — which does honor to British administration of justice: and, if any- one wishes to view the extremes of judicial ex- hibitions — legality, regularity, impartiality, knowledge, of the law, promptitude on one hand, and the reverse of it all on the other — let them look at the proceedings of the one-day trial of Governor Wall before a British civil court, and the two months' trial of Commander Mackenzie before an American naval court-martial. But the comparison would not be entirely fair. Courts- martial, both of army and navy, since the trial of Admiral Byng in England to Commodore Porter, Commander Mackenzie, and Lieutenant-colonel Fremont in the United States, have been ma- chines in the hands of the government (where it took an interest in the event), to acquit, or convict : and has rarely disappointed the inten- tion. Cooper proposes, in view of the unfitness of the military courts for judicial investigation, that they be stripped of all jurisdiction in such cases : and his opinion strongly addresses itself to the legislative authority. Commander Mackenzie had been acquitted by the authorities : he had been complimented by a body of eminent merchants : he had been ap- plauded by the press : he had been encomiasti- cally reviewed in a high literary periodical. The loud public voice was for him : but there was a small inward monitor, whose still and sinister whisperings went cutting through the soul. The acquitted and applauded man withdrew to a lonely retreat, oppressed with gloom and melan- cholly, visible only to a few, and was only roused from his depression to give signs of a diseased mind. It was five years after the event, and during the war with Mexico. The administra- tion had conceived the idea of procuring peace through the instrumentality of Santa Anna — then an exile at Havana ; and who was to be returned to his country upon some arrangement of the American government. This writer going to see the President (Mr. Polk) some day about this time, mentioned to him a visit from Com- mander Slidell Mackenzie to this exiled chief. The President was startled, and asked how this came to be known to me. I told him I read it in the Spanish newspapers. He said it was all a profound secret, confined to his cabinet. The Vol. II.--36 case was this : a secret mission to Santa Anna was resolved upon : and the facile Mr. Buchan- an, Secretary of State, dominated by the re- presentative Slidell (brother to the commander), accepted this brother for the place. Now the views of the two parties were diametrically op- posite. One wanted secrecy — the other noto- riety. Restoration of Santa Anna to his coun- try, upon an agreement, and without being seen in the transaction, was the object of the govern- ment ; and that required secrecy : removal from under a cloud, restoration to public view, re- habilitation by some mark of public distinction, was the object of the Slidells ; and that required notoriety : and the game being in their hands, they played it accordingly. Arriving at Ha- vana, the secret minister put on the full uni- form of an American naval officer, entered an open volante, and driving through the principal streets at high, noon, proceeded to the suburban residence of the exiled dictator. Admitted to a private interview (for he spoke Spanish, learnt in Spain), the plumed and decorated officer made known his secret business. Santa Anna was amazed, but not disconcerted. He saw the folly and the danger of the proceeding, eschewed blunt overture, and got rid of his queer visitor in the shortest time, and the civilest phrases which Spanish decorum would admit. The repelled minister gone, Santa Anna called back his secre- tary, exclaiming as he entered — " Porque el Presidente me ha enviado este tonto ? " (Why has the President sent me this fool?) It was not until afterwards, and through the instrumentality of a sounder head, that the mode of the dictator's return was arranged : and the folly which Mackenzie exhibited on this occasion was of a piece with his crazy and preposterous conceptions on board the Somers. Fourteen years have elapsed since this tragedy of the Somers. The chief in that black and bloody drama (unless Wales is to be considered the master-spirit, and the commander and lieu- tenant only his instruments) has gone to his long account. Some others, concerned with him, have passed away. The vessel itself, bear- ing a name illustrious in the navy annals, has gone to the bottom of the sea— foundering un- seen — and going down with all on board ; the circling waves closing over the heads of the doomed mass, and hiding all from the light of Heaven before they were dead. And the mind 562 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. of seamen, prone to belief in portents, prodigies, signs and judgments, refer the hapless fate of the vessel to the innocent blood which had been shed upon her. History feels it to be a debt of duty to examine this transaction to the bottom, and to judge it closely — not with a view to affect individuals, but to relieve national character from a foul im- putation. It was the crime of individuals: it was made national. The protection of the gov- ernment, the lenity of the court, the evasions of the judiciary, and the general approving voice, made a nation's offence out of the conduct of some individuals, and brought reproach upon the American name. All Christendom recoiled with horror from the atrocious deed : all friends to America beheld with grief and amazement the national assumption of such a crime. Co- temporary with the event, and its close ob- server, the writer of this View finds confirmed now, upon the fullest examination, the severe judgment which he formed upon it at the time. The naval historian, Fenimore Cooper (who himself had been a naval officer), wrote a clear exposure of all the delusion, falsehood, and wickedness of this imputed mutiny, and of the mockery of the court-martial trial of Macken- zie : but unavailing in the then condition of the public mind, and impotent against the vast ma- chinery of the public press which was brought to bear on the dead. From that publication, and the official record of the trial, this view of the transaction is made up. CHAPTER CXXIY. RETIREMENT OF MR. WEBSTER FROM MR. TY- LERS CABINET. Mr. Tyler's cabinet, as adopted from President Harrison, in April 1841, had broken up, as be- fore related, in September of the same year — Mr. Webster having been prevailed upon to re- main, although he had agreed to go out with the rest, and his friends thought he should have done so. His remaining was an object of the greatest importance with Mr. Tyler, abandoned by all the rest, and for such reasons as they published. He had remained with Mr. Tyler until tho spring of the year 1843, when the progress of the Texas annexation scheme, car- ried on privately, not to say clandestinely, had reached a point to take an official form, and to become the subject of government negotiation, though still secret. Mr. Webster, Secretary of State, was an obstacle to that negotiation. He could not even be trusted with the secret, much less with the conduct of the negotiations. How to get rid of him was a question of some deli- cacy. Abrupt dismission would have revolted his friends. Voluntary resignation was not to be expected, for he liked the place of Secretary of State, and had remained in it against the wishes of his friends. Still he must be got rid of. A middle course was fallen upon — the same which had been practised with others in 1841 — that of compelling a resignation. Mr. Tyler became reserved and indifferent to him. Mr. Gilmer and Mr. Upshur, with whom he had but few affinities, took but little pains to conceal their distaste to him. It was evident to him when the cabinet met, that he was one too many ; and reserve and distrust was visible both in the President and the Virginia part of his cabinet. Mr. Webster felt it, and named it to some friends. They said, resign ! He did so ; and the resignation was accepted with an alacrity which showed that it was waited for. Mr. Upshur took his place, and quickly the Texas negotiation became official, though still private ; and in this appointment, and imme- diate opening of the Texas negotiation, stood confessed, the true reason for getting rid of Mr. Webster. CHAPTER CXXV. DEATH OF WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD. He was among the few men of fame that I have seen, that aggrandized on the approach — that having the reputation of a great man, became greater, as he was more closely examined. There was every thing about him to impress the beholder favorably and grandly — in stature, " a head and shoulders " above the common race of men, justly proportioned, open countenance, manly features, ready and impressive conversa- tion, frank and cordial manners. 1 saw him for the first time in 1820, when he was a member ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 563 of Mr. Monroe's cabinet — when the array of eminent men was thick — when historic names of the expiring generation were still on the pub- lic theatre, and many of the new generation (to become historic) were entering upon it : and he seemed to compare favorably with the foremost. And that was the judgment of others. For a long time he was deferred to generally, by pub- lic opinion, as the first of the new men who were to become President. Mr. Monroe, the last of the revolutionary stock, was passing off: Mr. Crawford was his assumed successor. Had the election come on one term sooner, he would have been the selected man : but his very emi- nence became fatal to him. He was formidable to all the candidates, and all combined against him. He was pulled down in 1824 ; but at an age, with an energy, a will, a talent and force of character, which would have brought him up within a few years, if a foe more potent than political combinations had not fallen upon him : he was struck with paralysis before the canvass was over, but still received an honorable vote, and among such competitors as Jackson, Adams, and Clay. But his career was closed as a na- tional man, and State appointments only at- tended him during the remaining years of his life. Mr. Crawford served in the Senate during Mr. Madison's administration, and was the con- spicuous mark in that body, then pre-eminent for its able men. He had a copious, ready and powerful elocution — spoke forcibly and to the point — was the Ajax of the administration, and as such, had constantly on his hands the splen- did array of federal gentlemen who then held divided empire in the Senate chamber. Sena- torial debate was of high order then — a rival- ship of courtesy, as well as of talent : and the feeling of respect for him was not less in the embattled phalanx of opposition, than in the admiring ranks of his own party. He was in- valuable in the Senate, but the state of Europe — then convulsed with the approaching downfall of the Great Emperor — our own war with Great Britain, and the uncertainty of the new combi- nations which might be formed — all required a man of head and nerve — of mind and will, to represent the United States at the French Court : and Mr. Crawford was selected for the arduous post. He told Mr. Madison that the Senate would be lost if he left it (and it was) ; but a proper representative in France in that critical juncture of Europe, was an overpowering con- sideration—and he went. Great events took place while he was there. The Great Emperor fell : the Bourbons came up, and fell. The Emperor reappeared, and fell again. But the interests of the United States were kept unen- tangled in European politics ; and the American minister was the only one that could remain at his post in all these sudden changes. At the marvellous return from Elba, he was the sole foreign representative remaining in Paris. Per- sonating the neutrality of his country with de- corum and firmness, he succeeded in command- ing the respect of all, giving offence to none. From this high critical post he was called by Mr. Monroe, at his first election, to be Secretary of the Treasury ; and, by public expectation, was marked for the presidency. There was a desire to take him up at the close of Mr. Mon- roe's first term ; but a generous and honorable feeling would not allow him to become the com- petitor of his friend ; and before the second term was out, the combinations had become too strong for him. He was the last candidate nominated by a Congress caucus, then fallen into great disrepute, but immeasurably prefer- able, as an organ of public opinion, to the con- ventions of the present day. He was the daunt- less foe of nullification ; and, while he lived, that heresy could not root in the patriotic soil of Geor^'a. CHAPTER CXXVI. FIRST SESSION OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH CON- GRESS : LIST OF MEMBERS : ORGANIZATION OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Senate. Maine.— John Fairfield, George Evans. New Hampshire.— Levi Woodbury, Charles G. Atherton., Vermont.— Samuel Phelps, William C. Up- ham. Massachusetts. — Rufus Choate, Isaac C. Bates. Rhode Island. — William Sprague, James F. Simmons. Connecticut.— J. W. Huntington, John M. Niles. New York.— N. P. Tallmadge, Silas Wright. New Jersey.— W. L. Dayton, Jacob W. Miller. 564 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Pennsylvania. — D. W. Sturgeon, James Bu- chanan. Delaware. — R. H. Bayard, Thomas Clayton. Maryland. — William D. Merrick, Reverdy Johnson. Virginia. — Wm. C. Rives, Wm. S. Archer. North Carolina. — Willie P. Mangum, Wm. H. Haywood, jr. South Carolina. — Daniel E. Huger, George McDuffie. Georgia. — John M. Berrien, Walter T. Col- quitt. Alabama. — William R. King, Arthur P. Bagby. Mississippi. — John Henderson, Robert J. Walker. Louisiana. — Alexander Barrow, Alexander Porter. Tennessee. — E. H. Foster, Spencer Jar- nagan. Kentucky. — John T. Morehead, John J. Crittenden. Ohio. — Benjamin Tappan, William Allen. Indiana. — Albert S. White, Ed. A. Hanne- gan. Illinois. — James Semple, Sidney Breese. Missouri. — T. H. Benton, D. R. Atchison. Arkansas. — Wm. S. Fulton, A. H. Sevier. Michigan. — A. S. Porter, W. Woodbridge. House of Representatives. Maine. — Joshua Herrick, Robert P. Dunlap, Luther Severance, Hannibal Hamlin. Massachusetts. — Robert C. Winthrop, Dan- iel P. King, William Parmenter, Charles Hud- son, (Vacancy), John Quincy Adams, Henry Williams, Joseph Grinnel. New Hampshire. — Edmund Burke, John R. Reding, John P. Hale, Moses Norris, jr. Rhode Island. — Henry Y. Cranston, Elisha R. Potter. Connecticut. — Thomas H. Seymour, John Stewart, George S. Catlin, Samuel Simons. Vermont. — Solomon Foot, Jacob Collamer, George P. Marsh, Paul Dillingham, jr. New York. — Selah B. Strong, Henry C. Mur- phy, J. Philips Phoenix, William B. Maclay, Moses G. Leonard, Hamilton Fish, Jos. H. An- derson, R. D. Davis, Jas. G. Clinton, Jeremiah Russell, Zadoc Pratt, David L. Seymour, Daniel D. Barnard, Wm. G. Hunter, Lemuel Stetson, Chesselden Ellis, Charles S. Benton, Preston King, Orville Hungerford, Samuel Beardsley, J. E. Cary, S. M. Purdy, Orville Robinson, Horace Wheaton, George Rathbun, Amasa Dana, By ram Green, Thos. J. Patterson, Charles H. Carroll, Wm, S. Hubbell, Asher Tyler, Wm. A. Moseley, Albert Smith, Washington Hunt. New Jersey. — Lucius Q. C. Elmer, George Sykes, Isaac G. Farlee, Littleton Kirkpatrick, Wm. Wright. Pennsylvania. — Edward J. Morris, Joseph R. Ingersoll, John T. Smith, Charles J. Inger- soll, Jacob S. Yost, Michael H. Jenks, Abrah. R. Mcllvaine, Henry Nes, James Black, James Irvin, Andrew Stewart, Henry D. Foster, Jere- miah Brown, John Ritter, Rich. Brodhead, jr., Benj. A. Bidlack, Almond H. Read, Henry Frick, Alexander Ramsey, John Dickey, William Wil- kins, Samuel Hays, Charles M. Read, Joseph Buffington. Delaware. — George B. Rodney. Maryland. — J. M. S. Causin, F. Brengle, J. Withered, J. P. Kennedy, Dr. Preston, Thomas A. Spence. Virginia. — Archibald Atkinson, Geo. C. Dromgoole, Walter Coles, Edmund Hubard, Thomas W. Gilmer, John W. Jones, Henry A. Wise, Willoughby Newton, Samuel Chilton, William F. Lucas, William Taylor, A. A. Chap- man, Geo. W. Hopkins, Geo. W. Summers, Lewis Steenrod. North Carolina. — Thomas J. Clingman, D. M. Barringer, David S. Reid, Edmund Deberry, R. M. Saunders, James J. McKay, J. R. Daniel, A. H. Arlington, Kenneth Rayner. South Carolina. — James A. Black, Richard F. Simpson, Joseph A. Woodward, John Camp- bell, Artemas Burt, Isaac E. Holmes, R. Barn- well Rhett. Georgia. — E. J. Black, H. A. Haralson, J. H. Lumpkin, Howell Cobb, Wm. H. Stiles, Alexander H. Stevens, A. H. Chappell. Kentucky. — Linn Boyd, Willis Green, Henry Grider, George A. Caldwell, James Stone, John White, William P. Thompson, Garrett Davis, Richard French, J. W. Tibbatts. Tennessee. — Andrew Johnson, William T. Senter, Julius W. Blackwell, Alvan Cullom, George W. Jones, Aaron V. Brown, David W. Dickinson, James H. Pej^ton, Cave Johnson, John B. Ashe, Milton Brown. Ohio. — Alexander Duncan, John B. Weller, Robt. C. Schenck, Joseph Vance, Emery D. Pot- ter, Joseph J. McDowell, John I. Vanmeter, Elias Florence, Heman A. Moore, Jacob Brink- erhoff, Samuel F. Vinton, Perley B. Johnson, Alexander Harper, Joseph Morris, James Mathews, Wm. C. McCauslin, Ezra Dean, Daniel R. Tilden, Joshua R. Giddings, H. R. Brinker- hoff. Louisiana. — John Slidell, Alcee Labranche, John B. Dawson, P. E. Bossier. Indiana. — Robt. Dale Owen, Thomas J. Hen- ley, Thomas Smith, Caleb B. Smith, Wm. J. Brown, John W. Davis, Joseph A. Wright, John Pettit, Samuel C. Sample, Andrew Kennedy. Illinois. — Robert Smith, John A. McCler- nand, Orlando B. Ficklin, John Wentworth, Stephen A. Douglass, Joseph P. Hoge, J. J. Hardin. Alabama. — James Dellet, James E. Belser, Dixon H. Lewis, William W. Payne, George S. Houston, Reuben Chapman, Felix McConnell. Mississippi. — Wm. H. Hammett, Robert W. Roberts, Jacob Thompson, Tilghman M. Tucker. Missouri. — James M. Hughes, James H. Relfe, Gustavus B. Bower, James B. Bowliu, John Jameson. ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 565 Arkansas. — Edward Cross. Michigan. — Robert McClelland, Lucius Lyon, James B. Hunt. Territorial Delegates. Florida. — David Levy. Wisconsin. — Henry Dodge. Iowa. — Augustus C. Dodge. The election of Speaker was the first busi- ness on the assembling of the Congress, and its result was the authentic exposition of the state of parties. Mr. John W. Jones, of Vir- ginia, the democratic candidate, received 128 votes on the first ballot, and was elected — the whig candidate (Mr. John White, late Speaker) receiving 59. An adverse majority of more than two to one was the result to the whig part3 r at the first election after the extra session of 1841 — at the first election after that " log-cabin, hard-cider and coon-skin " campaign in which the whigs had carried the presidential election by 234 electoral votes against 60 : so truly had the democratic senators foreseen the destruction of the party in the contests of the extra session of 1841. The Tyler party was "nowhere" — Mr. Wise alone being classified as such — the rest, so few in number as to have been called the "corporal's guard," had been left out of Congress by their constituents, or had received office from Mr. Tyler, and gone off. Mr. Caleb McNulty, of Ohio, also democratic, was elected clerk of the House, and by a vote of two to one, thus ousting an experienced and capable whig officer, in the person of Mr. Mat- thew St. Clair Clarke — a change which turned out to be unfortunate for the friends of the House, and mortifying to those who did it — the new clerk becoming a subject of indictment for embezzlement before his service was over. CHAPTER CXXVII. ME. TYLER'S SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE. The prominent topics of the message were the state of our affairs with Great Britain and Mex- ico — with the former in relation to Oregon, the latter in relation to Texas. In the same breath in which the President announced the happy re- sults of the Ashburton treaty, he was forced to go on and show the improvidence of that treaty on our part, in not exacting a settlement of the questions which concerned the interests of the United States, while settling those which lay near to the interests of Great Britain. The Oregon territorial boundary was one of these omitted American subjects ; but though passed over by the government in the negotiations, it was forced upon its attention by the people. A stream of emigration was pouring into that territory, and their presence on the banks of the Columbia caused the attention of both gov- ernments to be drawn to the question of titles and boundaries ; and Mr. Tyler introduced it ac- cordingly to Congress. " A question of much importance still remains to be adjusted between them. The territorial limits of the two countries in relation to what is commonly known as the Oregon Territory, still remains in dispute. The United States would be at all times indisposed to aggrandize themselves at the expense of any other nation ; but while they would be restrained by princi- ples of honor, which should govern the conduct of nations as well as that of individuals, from setting up a demand for territory which does not belong to them, they would as unwillingly consent to a surrender of their rights. After the most rigid, and, as far as practicable, unbiassed examination of the subject, the United States have always contended that their rights appertain to the entire region of country lying on the Pacific, and embraced within 42° and 54° 40' of north latitude. This claim being controverted by Great Britain, those who have preceded the present Executive — actuated, no doubt, by an earnest desire to adjust the matter upon terms mutually satisfactory to both countries — have caused to be submitted to the British Govern- ment propositions for settlement and final ad- justment, which, however, have not proved heretofore acceptable to it. Our Minister at London has, under instructions, again brought the subject to the consideration of that Govern- ment ; and while nothing will be done to com- promit the rights or honor of the United States, every proper expedient will be resorted to, in order to bring the negotiation now in the pro- gress of resumption to a speedy and happy ter- mination." This passage, while letting it be seen that we were already engaged in a serious controversy with Great Britain— engaged in it almost before the ink was dry which had celebrated the peace mission which was to settle all questions— also committed a serious mistake in point of fact, and which being taken up as a party watchword, be- came a difficult and delicate point of manage- ment at home : it was the line of 54 degrees 40 566 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. minutes north for our northern boundary on the Pacific. The message says that the United States have always contended for that line. That is an error. From the beginning of the dispute, the United States government had pro- posed the parallel of 49 degrees, as being the continuation of the dividing line on this side of the Rocky Mountains, and governed by the same law — the decision of the commissaries ap- pointed by the British and French under the tenth article of the treaty of Utrecht to estab- lish boundaries between them on the continent of North America. President Jefferson offered that line in 1807 — which was immediately after the return of Messrs. Lewis and Clark from their meritorious expedition, and as soon as it was seen that a question of boundary was to arise in that quarter with Great Britain. Presi- dent Monroe made the same offer in 1818, and also in 1824. Mr. Adams renewed it in 1826 : so that, so far from having always claimed to 54-40, the United States had always offered the parallel of 49. As to 54-40, no American statesman had ever thought of originating a title there. It was a Russian point of demarca- tion on the coast and islands — not a continental line at all — first assigned to the Russian Fur Company by the Emperor Paul, and afterwards yielded to Russia by the United States and Great Britain, separately, in separating their respective claims on the north-west of America. She was allowed to come south to that point on the coast and islands, not penetrating the in- terior of the continent — leaving the rest for Great Britain and the United States to settle as they could. It was proposed at the time that the three powers should settle together — in a tripartite treaty : but the Emperor Alexander, like a wise man, contented himself with settling his own boundary, without mixing himself in the dispute between the United States and Great Britain. This he did about the year 1820 : and it was long afterwards, and by those who knew but little of this establishment of a southern limit for the Russian Fur Com- pany, that this point established in their charter, and afterwards agreed to by the United States and Great Britain, was taken up as the northern boundary for the United States. It was a great error in Mr. Tyler to put this Russian limit in his message for our line ; and, being taken up by party spirit, and put into one of those mush- room political creeds, called " platforms " (wherewith this latter generation has been so plentifully cursed), it came near involving the United States in war. The prospective war with Mexico on the sub- ject of Texas was thus shadowed forth : " I communicate herewith certain despatches received from our Minister at Mexico, and also a correspondence which has recently occurred between the envoy from that republic and the Secretary of State. It must be regarded as not a little extraordinary that the government of Mexico, in anticipation of a public discussion, which it has been pleased to infer, from news- paper publications, as likely to take place in Congress, relating to the annexation of Texas to the United States, should have so far antici- pated the result of such discussion as to have announced its determination to visit any such anticipated decision by a formal declaration of war against the United States. If designed to prevent Congress from introducing that question as a fit subject for its calm delibera- tion and final judgment, the Executive has no reason to doubt that it will entirely fail of its object. The representatives of a brave and patriotic people will suffer no apprehension of future consequences to embarrass them in the course of their proposed deliberations. Nor will the Executive Department of the govern- ment fail, for any such cause, to discharge its whole duty to the country." At the time of communicating this informa- tion to Congress, the President was far advanced in a treaty with Texas for her annexation to the United States — an event which would be war itself with Mexico, without any declaration on her part, or our part — she being then at war with Texas as a revolted province, and en- deavoring to reclaim her to her former subjec- tion. Still prepossessed with his idea of a na- tional currency of paper money, in preference to gold and silver, the President recurs to his previous recommendation for an Exchequer bank — regrets its rejection by Congress, — vaunts its utility — and thinks that it would still aid, in a modified form, in restoring the currency to a sound and healthy state. " In view of the disordered condition of the currency at the time, and the high rates of ex- change between different parts of the country, I felt it to be incumbent on me to present to the consideration of your predecessors a propo- sition conflicting in no degree with the consti- tution or the rights of the States, and having the sanction — not in detail, but in principle — of some of the eminent men who had preceded me in the executive office. That proposition con- templated the issuing of treasury notes of de- nominations not less than five, nor more than ANNO 1843. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 567 one hundred dollars, to be employed in payment of the obligations of the government in lieu of gold and silver, at the option of the public creditor, and to an amount not exceeding $15,000,000. It was proposed to make them receivable every where, and to establish at various points depositories of gold and silver, to be held in trust for the redemption of such notes, so as to insure their convertibility into specie. No doubt was entertained that such notes would have maintained a par value with gold and silver — thus furnishing a paper cur- rency of equal value over the Union, thereby meeting the just expectations of the people, and fulfilling the duties of a parental govern- ment. Whether the depositories should be permitted to sell or purchase bills under very limited restrictions, together with all its other details, was submitted to the wisdom of Con- gress, and was regarded as of secondary impor- tance. I thought then, and think now, that such an arrangement would have been attended with the happiest results. The whole matter of the currency would have been placed where, by the constitution, it Was designed to be placed — under the immediate supervision and control of Congress. The action of the government would have been independent of all corporations ; and the same eye which rests unceasingly on the specie currency, and guards it against adul- teration, would also have rested on the paper currency, to control and regulate its issues, and protect it against depreciation. Under all the responsibilities attached to the station which I occupy, and in redemption of a pledge given to the last Congress, at the close of its first session, I submitted the suggestion to its consideration at two consecutive sessions. The recommendation, however, met with no favor at its hands. While I am free to admit that the necessities of the times have since become greatly ameliorated, and that there is good reason to hope that the country is safely and rapidly emerging from the difficulties and em- barrassments which every where surrounded it in 1841, yet I cannot but think that its restora- tion to a sound and healthy condition would be greatly expedited by a resort to the expedient in a modified form." Such were still the sighings and longings of Mr. Tyler for a national currency of paper money. They were his valedictory to that de- lusive cheat. Before he had an opportunity to present another annual message, the Indepen- dent Treasury System, and the revived gold currency had done their office — had given ease and safety to the government finances, had re- stored prosperity and confidence to the commu- nity, and placed the country in a condition to dispense with all small money paper currency — all under twenty dollars — if it only had the wisdom to do so. CHAPTER CXXVIII. EXPLOSION OF THE GREAT GUN ON BOARD THE PRINCETON MAN-OF-WAR: THE KILLED AND WOUNDED. On the morning of the 28th of February, a company of some hundred guests, invited by Commodore Stockton, including the President of the United States, his cabinet, members of both Houses of Congress, citizens and strangers, with a great number of ladies, headed by Mrs. Madison, ex-presidentess, repaired on board the steamer man-of-war Princeton, then lying in the river below the city, to witness the working of her machinery (a screw propeller), and to ob- serve the fire of her two great guns — throwing balls of 225 pounds each. The vessel was the pride and pet of the commodore, and having undergone all the trials necessary to prove her machinery and her guns, was brought round to Washington for exhibition to the public authori- ties. The day was pleasant — the company nu- merous and gay. On the way down to the vessel a person whispered in my ear that Nicho- las Biddle was dead. It was my first informa- tion of that event, and heard not without re- flections on the instability and shadowy fleet- ingness of the pursuits and contests of this life. Mr. Biddle had been a Power in the State, and for years had baffled or balanced the power of the government. He had now vanished, and the news of his death came in a whisper, not announced in a tumult of voices ; and those who had contended with him might see their own sudden and silent evanescence in his. It was a lesson upon human instability, and felt as such ; but without a thought or presentiment that, before the sun should go down, many of that high and gay company should vanish from earth — and the one so seriously impressed barely fail to be of the number. The vessel had proceeded down the river be- low the grave of Washington— below Mount Vernon— and was on her return, the machinery working beautifully, the guns firing well, and the exhibition of the day happily over. It was four-o'clock in the evening, and a sumptuous collation had refreshed and enlivened the guests. They were still at the table, when word was 568 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. brought down that one of the guns was to be fired again ; and immediately the company rose to go on deck and observe the fire — the long and vacant stretch in the river giving full room for the utmost range of the ball. The President and his cabinet went foremost, this writer among them, conversing with Mr. Gilmer, Secretary of the Navy. The President was called back: the others went on, and took their places on the left of the gun — pointing down the river. The commodore was with this group, which made a cluster near the gun, with a crowd behind, and many all around. I had con- tinued my place by the side of Mr. Gilmer, and of course was in the front of the mass which crowded up to the gun. The lieutenant of the vessel, Mr. Hunt, came and whispered in my ear that I would see the range of the ball better from the breech ; and proposed to change my place. It was a tribute to my business habits, being indebted for this attention to the interest which I had taken all day in the work- ing of the ship, and the firing of her great guns. The lieutenant placed me on a carronade car- riage, some six feet in the rear of the gun, and in the line of her range. Senator Phelps had stopped on my left, with a young lady of Mary- land (Miss Sommerville) on his arm. I asked them to get on the carriage to my right (not choosing to lose my point of observation : which they did — the young lady between us, and supported by us both, with the usual civil phrases, that we would take care of her. The lieutenant caused the gun to be worked, to show the ease and precision with which her direction could be changed, and then pointed down the river to make the fire — himself and the gunners standing near the breech on the right. I opened my mouth wide to receive the concussion on the inside as well as on the out- side of the head and ears, so as to lessen the force of the external shock. I saw the hammer prilled back — heard a tap — saw a flash — felt a blast in the face, and knew that my hat was gone : and that was the last that I knew of the world, or of myself, for a time, of which I can give no account. The first that I knew of my- self, or of any thing afterwards, was rising up at the breech of the gun, seeing the gun itself split open — two seamen, the blood oozing from their ears and nostrils, rising and reefing near me — Commodore Stockton, hat gone, and face blackened, standing bolt upright, staring fixedly upon the shattered gun. I had heard no noise — no more than the dead. I only knew that the gun had bursted from seeing its fragments. I felt no injury, and put my arm under the head of a seaman, endeavoring to rise, and falling back. By that time friends had ran up, and led me to the bow — telling me afterwards that there was a supernatural whiteness in the face and hands — all the blood in fact having been driven from the surface. I saw none of the killed: they had been removed before consciousness returned. All that were on the left had been killed, the gun bursting on that side, and throwing a large fragment, some tons weight, on the cluster from which I had been removed, crushing the front rank with its force and weight. Mr. Upshur, Secretary of State ; Mr. Gilmer, Secretary of the Navy ; Commodore Kennon, of the navy ; Mr. Virgil Maxey, late United States charge at the Hague ; Mr. Gardiner of New York, father- in-law that would have been to Mr. Tyler — were the dead. Eleven seamen were injured — two mortally. Commodore Stockton was scorched by the burning powder, and stunned by the concussion ; but not further injured. I had the tympanum of the left ear bursted through, the warm air from the lungs issuing from it at every breathing. Senator Phelps and the young lady on my right, had fallen inwards towards the gun, but got up without injury. We all three had fallen inwards, as into a vacuum. The President's servant who was next me on the left was killed. Twenty feet of the vessels bulwark immediately behind me was blown away. Several of the killed had members of their family on board — to be deluded for a little while, by the care of friends, with the belief that those so dear to them were only hurt. Several were prevented from being in the crushed cluster by the merest accidents — Mr. Tyler being called back — Mr. Seaton not finding his hat in time — myself taken out of it the moment before the catastrophe. Fortunately there were physicians on board to do what was right for the injured, and to prevent blood-letting, so ready to be called for by the uninformed, and so fatal when the powers of life were all on the retreat. Gloomily and sad the gay company of the morning re- turned to the city, and the calamitous intelli- gence flew over the land. For myself, I had gone through the experience of a sudden death, ANNO 1844. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 560 as if from lightning, which extinguishes know- ledge and sensation, and takes one out of the world without thought or feeling. I think I know what it is to die without knowing it — and that such a death is nothing to him that revives. The rapid and lucid working of the mind to the instant of extinction, is the marvel that still astonishes me. I heard the tap— saw the flash — felt the blast — and knew nothing of the ex- plosion. I was cut off in that inappreciable point of time which intervened between the flash and the fire — between the burning of the powder in the touch-hole, and the burning of it in the barrel of the gun. No mind can seize that point of time — no thought can measure it ; yet to me it was distinctly marked, divided life from death — the life that sees, and feels, and knows— from death (for such it was for the time), which annihilates self and the world. And now is credible to me, or rather compre- hensible, what persons have told me of the rapid and clear working of the mind in sudden and dreadful catastrophes — as in steamboat explo- sions, and being blown into the air, and have the events of their lives pass in review before them, and even speculate upon the chances of falling on the deck, and being crushed, or falling on the water and swimming : and persons re- covered from drowning, and running their whole lives over in the interval between losing hope and losing: consciousness. CHAPTER CXXIX. RECONSTRUCTION OF MR. TYLER'S CABINET. This was the second event of the kind during the administration of Mr. Tyler — the first in- duced by the resignation of Messrs. Ewing, Crittenden, Bell, and Badger, in 1841; the second, by the deaths of Messrs. Upshur and Gilmer by the explosion of the Princeton gun. Mr. Calhoun was appointed Secretary of State ; John C. Spencer of New York, Secretary of the Treasury ; William Wilkins of Pennsylvania, Secretary at War j John Y. Mason, of Virginia, Secretary of the Navy ; Charles A. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, Postmaster General ; John Nel- son, of Maryland, Attorney General. The resignation of Mr. Spencer in a short time made a vacancy in the Treasury, which was filled by the appointment of George M. Bibb, of Kentucky. CHAPTER CXXX. DEATH OF SENATOR PORTER, OF LOUISIANA: EULOGIUM OF MR. BENTON. Mr. Benton. I rise to second the motion which has been made to render the last honors of this chamber to our deceased brother sena- tor, whose death has been so feelingly an- nounced ; and in doing so, I comply with an obligation of friendship, as well as conform to the usage of the Senate. I am the oldest per- sonal friend which the illustrious deceased could have upon this floor, and amongst the oldest which he could have in the United States. It is now, sir, more than the period of a genera- tion — more than the third of a century — since the then emigrant Irish boy, Alexander Por- ter, and myself, met on the banks of the Cum- berland River, at Nashville, in the State of Ten- nessee ; when commenced a friendship which death only dissolved on his part. We belonged to a circle of young lawyers and students at law, who had the world before them, and nothing but their exertions to depend upon. First a clerk in his uncle's store, then a student at law, and always a lover of books, the young Porter was one of that circle, and it was the custom of all that belonged to it to spend their leisure hours in the delightful occupation of reading. History, poetry, elocution, biography, the ennobling speeches of the living and the dead, were our social recreation ; and the youngest member of the circle was one of our favorite readers. He read well, because he comprehended clearly, felt strongly, remarked beautifully upon striking passages, and gave a new charm to the whole with his rich, mel- lifluous Irish accent. It was then that I be- came acquainted with Ireland and her children, read the ample story of her wrongs, learnt the long list of her martyred patriots' names, sym- pathized in their fate, and imbibed the feelings for a noble and oppressed people which the ex- tinction of my own life can alone extinguish. 570 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Time and events dispersed that circle. The young Porter, his law license signed, went to the Lower Mississippi ; I to the Upper. And, years afterwards, we met on this floor, senators from different parts of that vast Louisiana which was not even a part of the American Union at the time that he and I were born. We met here in the session of 1833-'34 — high party times, and on opposite sides of the great party line ; but we met as we had parted years before. We met as friends ; and, though often our part to reply to each other in the ardent debate, yet never did we do it with other feel- ings than those with which we were wont to discuss our subjects of recreation on the banks of the Cumberland. I mention these circumstances, Mr. President, because, while they are honorable to the de- ceased, they are also justificatory to myself for appearing as the second to the motion which has been made. A personal friendship of al- most forty years gives me a right to appear as a friend to the deceased on this occasion, and to perform the office which the rules and the usage of the Senate permit, and which so many other senators would so cordially and so faithfully perform. In performing this office, I have, literally, but little less to do but to second the motion of the senator from Louisiana (Mr. Barrow). The mover has done ample justice to his great sub- ject. He also had the advantage of long ac- quaintance and intimate personal friendship with the deceased. He also knew him on the banks of the Cumberland, though too young to belong to the circle of young lawyers and law students, of which the junior member — the young Alexander Porter — was the chief orna- ment and delight. But he knew him — long and intimately — and has given evidence of that knowledge in the just, the feeling, the cordial, and impressive eulogium which he has just de- livered on the life and character of his deceased friend and colleague. He has presented to you the matured man, as developed in his ripe and meridian age: he has presented to you the finished scholar — the eminent lawyer — the pro- found judge — the distinguished senator — the firm patriot — the constant friend — the honor- able man — the brilliant converser — the social, cheerful, witty companion. He has presented to you the ripe fruit, of which I saw the early blossom, and of which I felt the assurance more than thirty years ago, that it would ripen into the golden fruit which we have all beheld. Mr. President, this is no vain or empty cere- monial in which the Senate is now engaged. Honors to the illustrious dead go beyond the discharge of a debt of justice to them, and the rendition of consolation to their friends : they become lessons and examples for the living. The story of their humble beginning and noble conclusion, is an example to be followed, and an excitement to be felt. And where shall we find an example more worthy of imitation, or more full of encouragement, than in the life and char- acter" oj" Alexander Porter? — a lad of tender age — an orphan with a widowed mother and younger children — the father martyred in the cause of freedom — an exile before he was ten years old — an ocean to be crossed, and a strange land to be seen, and a wilderness of a thousand miles to be penetrated before he could find a resting-place for the sole of his foot : then edu- cation to be acquired, support to be earned, and even citizenship to be gained, before he could make his own talents available to his support : conquering all these difficulties by his own ex- ertions, and the aid of an affectionate uncle — (I will name him, for the benefactor of youth de- serves to be named, and named with honor in the highest places) — with no other aid but that of an uncle's kindness, Mr. Alexander Porter, sen., merchant of Nashville, also an emigrant from Ireland, and full of the generous qualities which belong to the children of that soil : this lad, an exile and an orphan from the Old World, thus starting in the New World, with every thing to gain before it could be enjoyed, soon attained every earthly object, either brilliant or substantial, for which we live and struggle in this life — honors, fortune, friends ; the highest professional and political distinction ; long a supreme judge in his adopted State ; twice a senator in the Congress of the United States — wearing all his honors fresh and glowing to the last moment of his life — and the announcement of his death followed by the adjournment of the two Houses of the American Congress 1 What a noble and crowning conclusion to a be- ginning so humble, and so apparently hopeless ! Honors to such a life — the honors which we now pay to the memory of Senator Porter — are not mere offerings to the dead, or mere consola- ANNO 1844. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 571 tions to the feelings of surviving friends and re- lations ; they go further, and become incentives and inducements to the ingenuous youth of the present and succeeding generations, encouraging their hopes, and firing their spirits with a gen- erous emulation. Nor do the benefits of these honors stop with individuals, nor even with masses, or genera- tions of men. They are not confined to per- sons, but rise to institutions — to the noble re- publican institutions under which such things can be ! Republican government itself — that government which holds man together in the proud state of equality and liberty — this gov- ernment is benefited by the exhibition of the examples such as we now celebrate, and by the rendition of the honors such as we now pay. Our deceased brother senator has honored and benefited our free republican institutions by the manner in which he has advanced himself under them ; and we make manifest that bene- fit by the honors which we pay him. He has given a practical illustration of the working of our free, and equal, and elective form of govern- ment ; and our honors proclaim the nature of that working. What is done in this chamber is not done in a corner, but on a lofty eminence, seen of all people. Europe, as well as Ameri- ca, will see how our form of government has worked in the person of an orphan exiled boy, seeking refuge in the land which gives to virtue and talent all that they will ever ask — the free use of their own exertions for their own ad- vancement. Our deceased brother was not an American citizen by accident of birth ; he became so by the choice of his own will, and by the operation of our laws. The events of his life, and the business of this day, shows this title to citizen- ship to be as valid in our America as it was in the great republic of antiquity. I borrow the thought, not the language of Cicero, in his pleading for the poet Archias, when I place the citizen who becomes so by law and choice on an equal footing with the citizen who becomes so by chance. And, in the instance before us, we may say that our adopted citizen has repaid us for the liberality of our laws ; that he has add- ed to the stock of our national character by the contributions which he has brought to it in the purity of his private life, the eminence of his public services, the ardor of his patriotism, and the elegant productions of his mind. And here let me say— and I say it with pride and satisfaction— our deceased brother senator loved and admired his adopted country, with a love and admiration increasing with his age, and with his better knowledge of the countries of the Old World. A few years ago, and after he had obtained great honor and fortune in this country, he returned on a visit to his native land, and to the continent of Europe. It was an occasion of honest exultation for the orphan emigrant boy to return to the land of his fa- thers, rich in the goods of this life, and clothed with the honors of the American Senate. But the visit was a melancholy one to him. His soul sickened at the state of his fellow man in the Old World (I had it from his own lips), and he returned from that visit with stronger feel- ings than ever in favor of his adopted country. New honor awaited him here — that of a second election to the American Senate. But of this he was not permitted to taste ; and the pro- ceedings of this day announce his second brief elevation to this body, and his departure from it through the gloomy portals of death, and the radiant temple of enduring fame. CHAPTER CXXXI. NAVAL ACADEMY, AND NAVAL POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES. By scraps of laws, regulations, and departmental instructions, a Naval Academy has grown up, and a naval policy become established for the United States, without the legislative wisdom of the country having passed upon that policy, and contrary to its previous policy, and against its interest and welfare. A Naval Academy, with 250 pupils, and annually coming off in scores, makes perpetual demand for ships and commissions ; and these must be furnished, whether required by the public service or not j and thus the idea of a limited navy, or of a na- val peace establishment, is extinguished ; and a perpetual war establishment in time of peace is growing up upon our hands. Prone to imitate 572 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. every thing that was English, there was a party among us from the beginning which wished to make the Union, like Great Britain, a great na- val power, without considering that England was an island, with foreign possessions ; which made a navy a necessity of her position and her policy, while we were a continent, without foreign possessions, to whom a navy would be an expensive and idle encumbrance ; without con- sidering that England is often by her policy re- quired to be aggressive, the United States never ; without considering that England is a part of the European system, and subject to wars (to her always maritime) in which she has no interest, while the United States, in the isolation of their geographical position, and the independence of their policy, can have no wars but her own ; and those defensive. On the other hand, there was a large party, and dominant after the presi- dential election of 1800, which saw great evil in emulating Great Britain as a naval power, and made head against that emulation in all the modes of acting on the public mind : speeches and votes in Congress, essays, legislative decla- rations. The most authoritative, and best con- sidered declaration of the principles of this party, was made some fifty years ago, in the General Assembly of Virginia, in the era of her greatest men ; and when the minds of these men, themselves fathers of the State, was most profoundly turned to the nature, policy, and working of our government. All have heard of the Virginia resolutions of 1798-'99, to restrain the unconstitutional and unwise action of the federal government : there were certain other co- temporaneous resolutions from the same source in relation to a navy, of which but little has been known ; and which, for forty years, and now, are of more practical importance than the former. In the session of her legislature, 1799- 1800, in their " Instructions to Senators," that General Assembly said : " "With respect to the navy, it may be proper to remind you, that whatever may be the pro- posed object of its establishment, or whatever may be the prospect of temporary advantages resulting therefrom, it is demonstrated by the experience of all nations, which have ventured far into naval policy, that such prospect is ulti- mately delusive ; and that a navy has ever, in practice, been known more as an instrument of power, a source of expense, and an occasion of collisions and of wars with other nations, than as an instrument of defence, of economy, or of protection to commerce. Nor is there any na- tion, in the judgment of this General Assembly, to whose circumstances these remarks are more applicable than to the United States." Such was the voice of the great men of Vir- ginia, some fifty years ago — the voice of reason and judgment then ; and more just, judicious, and applicable, now, than then. Since that time the electro-magnetic telegraph, and the steam-car, have been invented — realizing for de- fensive war, the idea of the whole art of war, as conceived and expressed by the greatest of generals — diffusion for subsistence : concen- tration for action. That was the language of the Great Emperor : and none but himself could have so conceived and expressed that idea. And now the ordinary commander can practise that whole art of war, and without ever hav- ing read a book upon war. He would know what to have done, and the country would do it. Play the telegraph at the approach of an invader, and summon the volunteer citizens to meet him at the water's edge. They would be found at home, diffused for subsistence : they would concentrate for action, and at the rate of 500 miles a day, or more if need be. In two days they would come from the Mississippi to the Atlantic. It would be the mere business of the accumulation of masses upon a given point, augmenting continually, and attacking incessantly. Grand tactics, and the " nineteen manoeuvres," would be unheard of : plain and direct killing would be the only work. No amount of invading force could sustain itself a fortnight on any part of our coast. If hundreds of thousands were not enough to cut them up, millions would come — arms, munitions, provi- sions, arriving at the same time. With this de- fence — cheap, ready, omnipotent — who, outside of an insane hospital, would think of building and keeping up eternal fleets to meet the invader and fight him at sea ? The idea would be sense- less, if practicable ; but it would be impracti- cable. There will never be another naval action fought for the command of the seas. There has been none such fought since the French and British fleets met off Ouessant, in 1793. That is the last instance of a naval action fought upon consent : all the rest have been mere catching, and whipping : and there will never be another. Fleets must approach equality before they can ANNO 1844. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 573 fight; and with her five hundred men-of-war on hand, Great Britain is too far ahead to be overtaken by any nation, even if any one was senseless enough to incur her debt and taxes for the purpose. Look at Russia ! building ships from the time of Peter the Great ; and the first day they were wanted, all useless and a burden ! only to be saved by the strongest fortifications in the world, filled with the strongest armies of the world ! and all burnt, or sunk, that could not be so protected. Great Britain is compelled by the necessities of her position, to keep up great fleets : the only way to make head against them is to avoid swelling their numbers with the fleets of other nations — avoid the Trafalgars, Aboukirs, Copenhagens, St. Vincents— and prey upon her with cruisers and privateers. It is the profound observation of Alison, the English historian of the wars of the French revolution that the American cruisers did the British more mischief in their two years' war of 1812, than all the fleets of France did during their twenty years' war. What a blessing to our country, if American statesmen could only learn that one little sentence in Alison. The war of 1812 taught American statesmen a great lesson ; but they read it backwards, and understood it the reverse of its teaching. It taught the efficacy of cruising — the inefficacy of fleets. American cruisers, and privateers, did immense mischief to British commerce and shipping : British fleets did no mischief to America. Their cruisers did some mischief— their fleets none. And that is the way to read the lesson taught by the naval operations of the war of 1812. Cruisers, to be built when they are needed for use : not fleets to rot down in peace, while waiting for war. Yet, for forty years we have been building great ships — frigates equal to ships of the line : liners, nearly double the old size — 120 guns instead of seventy-fours. Eleven of these great liners have been built, merely to rot ! at enormous cost in the building, and great continual cost to delay the rotting ; which, nevertheless, goes on with the regularity and certainty of time. A judicious administrative economy would have them all broken up (to say nothing of others), and the serviceable parts all preserved, to be built into smaller vessels when there shall be need for them. It is forty years since this sys- tem of building vessels for which there was no use, took its commencement, and the cry for more is greater now than it was in the be- ginning j and must continue. A history of each ship built in that time— what the building cost? what the repairs? what the alterations? what the equipment ? what the crew ? and how many shot she fired at an enemy ? would be a history which ought to be instructive; for it would show an incredible amount of money as effec- tually wasted as if it had been thrown into the sea. Great as this building and rotting has been for forty years past, it must continue to become greater. The Naval Academy is a fruit- ful mother, bearing 250 embryo officers in her womb at a time, and all the time ; and most of them powerfully connected : and they must have ships and commissions, when they leave the mother's breast. They are the children of the country, and must be provided for — they and their children after them. This academy commits the government to a great navy, as the Military Academy commits it to a great army. It is no longer the wants of the country, but of the eleves of the institution which must be provided for ; and routine officers are to take all the places. Officers are now to be made in schools, whether they have any vocation for the profession or not ; and slender is the chance of the government to get one that would ever have gained a commission by his own exertions. This writer was not a senator for thirty years, and the channel of incessant applications for cadet and midshipman places, without knowing the motives on which such applications were made ; and these motives may be found in three classes. First, and most honorable would be the case of a father, who would say — " I have a son, a bright boy, that I have been educating for a profession, but his soul is on fire for the army, or navy, and I have yielded to his wishes, though against my own, and believe if he gets the place, that he will not dishonor his country's flag." One of the next class would say — " I have a son, and he is not a bright boy (meaning that he is a booby), and cannot take a profession, but he would do very well in the army or navy." Of the third class, an unhappy father would say—" I have a son, a smart boy, but wild (meaning he was vicious), and I want to get him in the army or navy, where he could be disciplined." These, and the hereditary class (those whose fathers and grandfathers have been in the service) are 574 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. the descriptions of applicants for these appoint- ments ; so that, it may be seen, the chances are three or four to one against getting a suitable subject for an officer; and of those who are suitable, many resign soon after they have got educated at public expense, and go into civil life. Routine officers are, therefore, what may be expected from these schools — officers whom nature has not licensed, and who keep out of the service those whom she has. The finest naval officers that the world ever saw, were bred in the merchant service; and of that England, Holland, France, Genoa, and Venice, are proofs ; and none more so than our own country. The world never saw a larger proportion of able commanders than our little navy of the Revolu- tion, and of the Algerine and Tripolitan wars, and the war of 1812, produced. They all came (but few exceptions) from the merchant ser- vice ; and showed an ability and zeal which no school-house officers will ever equal. Great Britain keeps up squadrons in time of peace, and which is a necessity of her insular position, and of her remote possessions: we must have squadrons also, though no use for them abroad, and infinitely better to remain in our own ports, and spend the millions at home which are now spent abroad. There is not a sea in which our commerce is subject to any danger of a kind which a man-of-war would prevent, or punish, in which a cruiser would not be suffi- cient. All our squadrons are anomalies, and the squadron system should be broken up. The Home should never have existed, and owes its origin to the least commendable period of our existence; the same of the African, con- ceived at the same time, put upon us by treaty, under the insidious clause that we could get rid of it in five years, and which has already con- tinued near three times five ; and which timidity and conservatism will combine to perpetuate — that timidity which is the child of temporization, and sees danger in every change. As for the Mediterranean, the Brazil, the Pacific, the East India squadron, they are mere British imitations without a reason for the copy, and a pretext for saying the ships are at sea. The fact is, they are in comfortable stations, doing nothing, and had far better be at home, and in ordinary. One hundred and forty court-martials, many dismissions without courts, and two hundred eliminations at a single dash, proclaim the fact that our navy is idle ! and that this idleness gives rise to dissipation, to dissensions, to insub- ordination, to quarrels, to accusations, to court- martials. The body of naval officers are as good as any other citizens, but idleness is a de- stroyer which no body of men can stand. "VVe have no use for a navy, and never shall have ; yet we continue building ships and breeding officers — the ships to rot — the officers to be- come " the cankers of a calm world and a long peace." The Virginia resolves of 1799-1800 on the subject of a navy, contain the right doctrine for the United States, even if the state of the world had remained what it was — even if the telegraph and the steam-car had not introduced a new era in the art of defensive war. It is the most ex- pensive and inefficient of all modes of warfare. Its cost is enormous : its results nothing. A naval victory decides nothing but which shall have the other's ships. In the twenty years of the wars of the French revolution, Great Britain whipped all the inimical fleets she could catch. She got all their ships ; and nothing but their ships. Not one of her naval victories had the least effect upon the fate of the wars : land battles alone decided the fate of countries, and commanded the issues of peace or war. Concluding no war, they are one of the fruitful sources of beginning wars. Only employed (by those who possess them) at long intervals, they must be kept tip the whole time. Enormously expensive, the expense is eternal. Armies can be disbanded — navies must be kept up. Long lists of officers must be receiving pay when doing nothing. Pensions are inseparable from the system. Go- ing to sea in time of peace is nothing but visit- ing foreign countries at the expense of the gov- ernment. The annual expense of our navy now (all the heads of expense incident to the establishment included) is some fifteen millions of dollars : the number of men employed, is some 10,000 — being at a cost of $1,500 a man, and they nothing to do. The whole number of guns afloat is some 2,000 — which is at the rate of some $9,000 a gun ; and they nothing in the world to shoot at. The expense of a navy is ' enormous. The protection of commerce is a phrase incessantly repeated, and of no applica- tion. Commerce wants no protection from men- of-war except against piratical nations ; and ANNO 1844. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 575 they are fewer now than they were fifty years ago ; and some cruisers were then sufficient. The Mediterranean, which was then the great seat of piracy, is now as free from it as the Chesapeake Bay is. We have no naval policy — no S} r stem adapted by the legislative wisdom — no peace establishment — no understood princi- ciple of action in relation to a navy. All goes by fits and starts. A rumor of war is started : more ships are demanded : a combined interest supports the demand — officers, contractors, poli- ticians. The war does not come, but the ships are built, and rot : and so on in a circle without end. CHAPTER CXXXII. THE HOME SQUADRON : ITS INUTILITY AND EXPENSE. Early in the session of '43-'44, Mr. Hale, of New Hampshire, brought into the House a reso- lution of inquiry into the origin, use, and ex- pense of the home squadron : to which Mr. Hamlin, of Maine, proposed the further inquiry to know what service that squadron had per- formed since it had been created. In support of his proposition, Mr. Hale said : " He believed they were indebted to this ad- ministration for the home squadron. The whole sixteen vessels which composed that squadron were said to be necessary to protect the coasting trade ; and though the portion of the country from which he came was deeply concerned in the coasting trade, yet he himself was convinced that many of those vessels might be dispensed with. If this information were laid before the House, they would have something tangible on which to lay their hands, in the way of retrench- ment and reform. He wanted this information for the purpose of pointing out to the House where an enormous expense might be cut down, without endangering any of the interests of the country. Gentlemen had talked about being prepared with a sufficient navy to meet and con- tend with the naval power of Great Britain ; but had they any idea of the outlay which was required to support such a navy ? The expense of the navy of Great Britain amounted to be- tween eighty and a hundred millions of dollars annually. We were not in want of such a great naval establishment to make ourselves respected at home or abroad. General Jackson alone had produced an impression upon one of the oldest nations of Europe, which it would 1* impossible for this administration to do with the assistance of all the navies in the world." Mr. Jared Ingersoll was in favor of retrench- ment and economy, but thought the process ought to begin in the civil and diplomatic de- partment — in the Congress itself, and in the ex- penses it allowed for multiplied missions abroad and incessant changes in the incumbents. With respect to abuses in the naval expenditures, he said : — " He had no knowledge of his own on this subject ; but he had learned from a distinguished officer of the navy, that in the navy-yards, in the equipment of ships, by the waste and extrava- gance caused by allowing officers to rebuild ships when they pleased, and the loss on the provisions of ships just returned from sea, which have been taken or thrown away, the greatest abuses have been practised, which have assisted in swelling up the naval expenditures to their present enormous amount." Mr. Adams differed from Mr. Ingersoll in the scheme of beginning retrenchment on the civil list, and presented the army and the navy as the two great objects of wasteful expenditure, and the points at which reform ought to begin, and especially with retrenching this home squad- ron, for which he had voted in 1841, but now condemned. He said : " The gentleman gave the House, undoubtedly, a great deal of instruction as to the manner in which it should carry out retrenchment and re- form, and finally elect a President ; but his re- marks did not happen to apply to the motion of the gentleman from New Hampshire ; for he led them away from that motion, and told them, in substance, that it was not the nine million of dollars asked for by the Secretary of the Navy — and he did not know how much asked for the army — that was to be retrenched. Oh, no! The army and the navy were not the great ex- penses of this nation ; it was not by curtailing the military and naval expenditures that econo- my was to be obtained ; but by beginning with the two Houses of Congress. And what was the comparison, to come to dollars and cents, be- tween the expenses of that House and the Navy Department ? Why, the gentleman, with all his exaggerating eloquence, had made the executive, legislative, and judicial powers of the country, to cost at least two millions of dollars ; while the estimates for the navy were nine millions, to enable our ships to go abroad and display the stripes and stars. And for what purpose was it necessary to have this home squadron ? Was the great maritime power of the earth in such a position towards us as to authorize us to expect 576 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. a hostile British squadron on our coasts ? No ; he believed not. Then what was this nine mil- lions of dollars wanted for ? There was a state- ment, two years ago, in the report of the Secre- tary of the Navy, in which they were told that our present navy, in comparison with that of Great Britain, was only as one to eight — that is, that the British navy was eight times as large as ours. Now, in that year eight millions of dollars was asked for for the navy ; the re- port of the present year asks for nine millions. This report contained the principle that we must go on to increase our navy until it is at least one-half as large as that of Great Britain ; and what, then, was the proportion of additional ex- pense we must incur to arrive at that result ? Why, four times eight are thirty-two ; so that it will take an annual expenditure of thirty-two millions to give us a navy half as large as that of Great Britain. If, however, gentlemen were to go on in this way, $32,000,000— nay, $50,000,000 would not be enough to pay the expense of their navy. He expressed his ap- proval of the resolution of the gentleman from New Hampshire, and his gratification that it had come from such a quarter — a quarter which was so deeply interested in having a due protection for their mercantile navy and their coasting trade, by the establishment of a home squadron. At the time the home squadron was first pro- posed, he was, himself, in favor of it, and it was adopted with but very little opposition ; and the reason was, because the House did not un- derstand it at that time. It looked to a war with Great Britain. It looked more particularly to a war with Great Britain (the honorable gen- tleman was understood to say), provided she took the island of Cuba. He saw no necessity for a large navy, unless it was to insult other nations, by taking possession of their territory in time of peace. What was the good, he asked, of a navy which cost the country $9,000,000 a year, compared with what was done there in the legislative department of the nation ? He ex- pressed his ardent hope that the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Cave Johnson], and the gen- tleman from North Carolina [Mr. McKay] — now the chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means — would persevere in the same spirit that marked their conduct during the last Con- gress, and still advocate reductions in the army and the navy." Mr. Hale replied to the several gentlemen who, without offering a word in favor of the utility of this domestic squadron, were endeavor- ing to keep it up ; and who, without denying the great abuse and extravagance in the naval disbursements, were endeavoring to prevent their correction by starting smaller game — and that smaller game not to be pursued, and bagged, but merely started to prevent the pursuit of the great monster which was ravaging the fields. Thus :— " He believed that the greatest abuses ex- isted in every department of the government, and that the extravagances of all required cor- rection. Look at the army of 8,000 men only, kept up at an expense to the nation of $1,000 for each man, Was not this a crying abuse that ought to be corrected ? Why, if the proposition had succeeded to increase the army to 20,000 men, the expenditure at this rate would have been twenty millions annually. If any gentleman knew of the existence of abuses, let him bring them to the notice of the House, and he would vote not only for the proper inquiry into them, but to apply the remedy. In regard to this home squadron, he begged leave to disclaim any of the suspicions entertained by the gentleman from Massachusetts. In offering his resolution he had no reference to Cuba, or any thing else suggested by the gentleman. He wanted the House and the country to look at it as the Secretary of the Navy presented it to their view. As to the pretence that it was intended for the protection of the coasting trade, it was a most idle one. He wished the gentlemen from Maine (the State most largely interested in that trade) to say whether they needed any such protection. He would answer for them, and say that they did not. He himself lived among those who were extensively engaged in the coasting trade, and part ofShis property was invested in it. He could, therefore, speak with some knowledge on the subject ; and he hesitated not to say, that the idea of keeping up this squadron for its protection was a most prepos- terous and idle one. Sir, said he, the navy has been the pet child of the nation, and, like all other pet children, has run away with the whole patri- monial estate. If it were found that the best interest of the country required the maintenance of the home squadron, then he would go for it ; but if it were found to be utterly useless, as he believed, then he was decidedly against it. But he would give this further notice ; that he did not mean to stop here ; that when the appro- priations should come up, he intended to pro- pose to limit those appropriations to a sum sufficient only to support the squadron stationed in the Mediterranean. It was entirely useless for this country to endeavor to contend with monarchies in keeping up the pageantry of a naval establishment." The proposed inquiry produced no result, only ending in demonstrating what was well known to the older members, namely, the difficulty, and almost impossibility of introducing any reform, or economy into the administration of any department of the government unless the Executive takes the lead. And of this truth a striking instance occurred at this session, and ANNO 1844. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 577 upon this subject. The executive government, that is to say, the President and his Secretary of the Navy had made a lawless expenditure of about $700,000 during the recess of Congress ; and Congress under a moral duress, was com- pelled to adopt that expenditure as its own, and make it good. When the clause in the naval appropriation bill for covering this item, was under consideration, Mr. Ezra Dean, of Ohio, stood up and said : " It was nothing less than a bill making ap- propriations to the amount of $750,000 which had been expended by the department in virtue of its own will and pleasure, and without the sanction of any law whatever; and the House was called on to approve this proceeding. He had supposed that any department which took upon itself the power of expending the public money, without authority of law, would have been sub- jected to the severest rebuke of Congress. He had supposed that this would have been a re- form Congress, and that all the abuses of this administration would be ferreted out and cor- rected ; but in this he had been grievously dis- appointed. He had endeavored to get the con- sent of the House to take up the navy retrench- ment bill, which would correct all these abuses, but he had been mistaken; and so far from being able to get the bill before the House, he had been unable even to get the yeas and nays on the question of taking it up. There was great reason for this. This Navy Depart- ment had been for the last two years the great vortex which had swallowed up two-thirds of the revenues of the government. In 1840, a law was passed that no money should be ex- pended for the building of ships without the express sanction of Congress ; and yet, in de- fiance of this law, the Navy Department had gone on to build an iron steamship at Pitts- burg, and six sloops-of-war ; and he was told that part of the appropriations in this bill were to complete these vessels. Mr. D. then spoke of the utter uselessness of these steamships on the western waters, and referred to the number of ships that were now rotting for want of use, both on the stocks and laid up in ordinary; and particularly referred to the magnificent ship Delaware, which had just returned from a cruise, and was dismantled, and laid up to rot at Nor- folk, while the department was clamorous for building more ships. There were not only more ships now built and building than could be used, but there were three times as many officers as could be employed. There were 9G commanders, with salaries of $3,500 a-year, while there was only employment for 38 of them ; and there were 68 captains, while there was only employment for but 18. He then re- ferred to the number of officers waiting orders, and on leave of absence, and said that the Vol II.— 37 country would be astonished to learn, that for ± 7 t CrS ' thG Tl ltr 'V VaS now paying !JM8d,7Ul) a year; and that, by referring to the recorHs of the Navy Department, it would be found that for the last twenty years, more than half of the officers of the navy were drawing their pay and emoluments while at home, on leave of absence, or waiting orders. Mr. D. spoke ol many other abuses in the navy, which he said required correction, and expressed his great re- gret that he had not been able to get the House to act on his navy retrenchment bill." Mr. McKay, of North Carolina, who was the chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, whose duty it became to present this item in the appropriation bill, fully admitted its illegality and wastefulness ; but plead the necessity of providing for its payment, as the money had been earned by work and labor done on the faith of the government, and to withhold pay- ment would be a wrong to laborers, and no pun- ishment to the officers who had occasioned the illegal expenditure. A high officer had done this wrong. He was ready to join in a vote of censure upon him : but to repudiate the debt, and leave laboring people without pay for their work and materials was what he could not do. And thus ended the session with sanction- ing an abuse of $700,000 in one item in the navy, which session had opened with a manly attempt to correct some of its extravagances. And thus have ended all similar attempts since. A powerful combined interest pushes forward an augmented navy, without regard to any ob- ject but their own interest in it. First, the politicians who raise a clamor of war at the re- turn of each presidential canvass, and a cry for ships to carry it on. Next, the naval officers, who are always in favor of more ships to give more commands. And, thirdly, the contractors who are to build these ships, and get rich upon their contracts. These three parties combine to build ships, and Congress becomes a helpless instrument in their hands. The friends of economy, and of a wise national policy, which prefers cruisers and privateers to ships of the line, may deliver their complaints in vain. Ship building, and ship rotting, goes on unchecked, and even with accelerated speed; and must continue to so go on until the enormity of the abuse produces a revulsion which, in curing the abuse may nearly kill the navy itself. 578 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. CHAPTER CXXXIII. PEOFESSOR MOESE: HIS ELECTEO-MAGNETIO TELEGEAPH. Communication of intelligence by concerted signals is as old as the human race, and by all, except the white race, remains where it was six thousand years ago. The smokes raised on suc- cessive hills to give warning of the approach of strangers, or enemies, were found to be the same by Fremont in his western explorations which were described by Herodotus as used for the same purpose by the barbarian nations of his time : the white race alone has made ad- vances upon that rude and imperfect mode of communication, and brought the art to a mar- vellous perfection, but only after the interven- tion of thousands of years. It was not until the siege of Vienna by the Turks, that the very limited intelligence between the besieged in a city and their friends outside, was established by the telegraph : and it was not until the break- ing out of the French revolution that that mode of intelligence was applied to the centre and to the circumference of a country : and at that point it was stationary for fifty years. It was reserved for our own day, and our own country to make the improvement which annihilates distance, which disregards weather and dark- ness, and which rivals the tongue and the pen in the precision and infinitude of its messages. Dr. Franklin first broached the idea of using electricity for communicating intelligence : Professor Morse gave practical application to his idea. This gentleman was a portrait painter by profession, and had been to Europe to per- fect himself in his art. Returning in the au- tumn of 1832, and while making the voyage, the recent discoveries and experiments in electro- magnetism, and the affinity of electricity to magnetism, or rather their probable identity, became a subject of casual conversation between himself and a few of the passengers. It had recently been discovered that an electric spark could be obtained from a magnet, and this dis- covery had introduced a new branch of science, to wit: magneto-electricity. Dr. Franklin's experiments on the velocity of electricity, ex- ceeding that of light, and exceeding 180,000 miles in a moment, the feasibility of making electricity the means of telegraphic intercourse, that is to say of writing at a distance, struck him with great force, and became the absorbing subject of his meditations. The idea of tele- graphing by electricity was new to him. For- tunately he did not know that some eminent philosophers had before conceived the same idea, but without inventing a plan by which the thought could be realized. Knowing nothing of their ideas, he was not embarrassed or im- peded by the false lights of their mistakes. As the idea was original with him, so was his plan. All previous modes of telegraphing had been by evanescent signs : the distinctive feature of Morse's plan was the self-recording property of the apparatus, with its ordinarily inseparable characteristic of audible clicks, answering the purposes of speech; for, in impressing the characters, the sounds emitted by the machi- nery gave notice of each that was struck, as well understood by the practised ear as the re- corded language was by the eye. In this he became the inventor of a new art — the art of telegraphic recording, or imprinting characters telegraphically. Mr. Morse then had his invention complete in his head, and his labor then begun to con- struct the machinery and types to reduce it to practice, in which having succeeded to the entire satisfaction of a limited number of observers in the years 1836 and '37, he laid it before Con- gress in the year 1838, made an exhibit of its working before a committee, and received a fa- vorable report. Much time was then lost in vain efforts to procure patents in England and France, and returning to Congress in 1842. an appropriation of $30,000 was asked for to en- able the inventor to test his discovery on a line of forty miles, between Washington and Balti- more. The appropriation was granted — the preparations completed by the spring of 1844, and messages exchanged instantaneously be- tween the two points. The line was soon ex- tended to New York, and since so multiplied, that the Morse electro-magnetic telegraph now works over 80,000 miles in America and 50,000 in Europe. It is one of the marvellous results of science, putting people who are thousands of miles apart in instant communication with the accuracy of a face to face conversation. Its ANNO 1844. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 579 wonderful advantages are felt in social, political, commercial and military communications, and, in conjunction with the steam car, is destined to work a total revolution in the art of defensive warfare. It puts an end to defensive war on the ocean, to the necessity of fortifications, ex- cept to delay for a few days the bombardment of a city. The approach of invaders upon any point, telegraphed through the country, brings down in the flying cars myriads of citizen sol- diers, arms in hand and provisions in abundance, to overwhelm with numbers any possible invad- ing force. It will dispense with fleets and stand- ing armies, and all the vast, cumbrous, and ex- pensive machinery of a modern army. Far from dreading an invasion, the telegraph and the car may defy and dare it — may invite any number of foreign troops to land — and assure the whole of them of death or captivity, from myriads of volunteers launched upon them hourly from the first moment of landing until the last invader is a corpse or a prisoner. CHAPTER CXXXIY. FREMONT'S SECOND EXPEDITION. " The government deserves credit for the zeal with which it has pursued geographical dis- covery." Such is the remark which a leading paper made upon the discoveries of Fremont, on his return from his second expedition to the Great West ; and such is the remark which all writers will make upon all his discoveries who write history from public documents and out- side views. "With all such writers the expedi- tions of Fremont will be credited to the zeal of the government for the promotion of science ; as if the government under which he acted had conceived and planned these expeditions, as Mr. Jefferson did that of Lewis and Clark, and then selected this young officer to carry into effect the instructions delivered to him. How far such history would be true in relation to the first ex- pedition, which terminated in the Rocky Moun- tains, has been seen in the account which has been given of the origin of that undertaking, and which leaves the government innocent of its conception ; and, therefore, not entitled to the credit of its authorship, but only to the merit of permitting it. In the second, and greater ex- pedition, from which great political as well as scientific results have flowed, their merit is still less ; for, while equally innocent of its con- ception, they were not equally passive to its performance— countermanding the expedition after it had begun ; and lavishing censure upon the adventurous young explorer for his manner of undertaking it. The fact was, that his first expedition barely finished, Mr. Fremont sought and obtained orders for a second one, and was on the frontier of Missouri with his command when orders arrived at St. Louis to stop him, on the ground that he had made a military equipment which the peaceful nature of his geo- graphical pursuit did not require ! as if Indians did not kill and rob scientific men as well as others if not in a condition to defend themselves. The particular point of complaint was that he had taken a small mountain howitzer, in addi- tion to his rifles : and which, he was informed, was charged to him, although it had been fur- nished upon a regular requisition on the com- mandant of the Arsenal at St. Louis, approved by the commander of the military department (Colonel, afterwards General Kearney). Mr. Fremont had left St. Louis, and was at the frontier, Mrs. Fremont being requested to ex- amine the letters that came after him, and for- ward those which he ought to receive. She read the countermanding orders, and detained them ! and Fremont knew nothing of their ex- istence until after he had returned from one of the most marvellous and eventful expeditions of modern times — one to which the United States are indebted (among other things) for the pre- sent ownership of California, instead of seeing it a British possession. The writer of this View, who was then in St. Louis, approved of the course which his daughter had taken (for she had stopped the orders before he knew of it) ; and he wrote a letter to the department con- demning the recall, repulsing the reprimand which had been lavished upon Fremont, and de- manding a court-martial for him when he should return. The Secretary at War was then Mr. James Madison Porter, of Pennsylvania ; the chief of the Topographical corps the same as now (Colonel Aberts), himself an office man, surrounded by West Point officers, to whose pursuit of easy service Fremont's adventurous 580 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. expeditions was a reproach ; and in conformity to whose opinions the secretary seemed to have acted. On Fremont's return, upwards of a year afterwards, Mr. William Wilkins, of Pennsyl- vania, was Secretary at "War, and received the young explorer with all honor and friendship, and obtained for him the brevet of captain from President Tyler. And such is the inside view of this piece of history — very different from what documentary evidence would make it. To complete his survey across the continent, on the line of travel between the State of Mis- souri and the tide-water region of the Columbia, was Fremont's object in this expedition ; and it was all that he had obtained orders for doing ; but only a small part, and to his mind, an insig- nificant part, of what he proposed doing. Peo- ple had been to the mouth of the Columbia be- fore, and his ambition was not limited to making tracks where others had made them before him. There was a vast region beyond the Rocky Mountains — the whole western slope of our continent — of which but little was known ; and of that little, nothing with the accuracy of science. All that vast region, more than seven hundred miles square — equal to a great king- dom in Europe — was an unknown land — a sealed book, which he longed to open, and t to read. Leaving the frontier of Missouri in May, 1843, and often diverging from his route for the sake of expanding his field of observation, he had arrived in the tide- water region of Colum- bia in the month of November ; and had then completed the whole service which his orders embraced. He might then have returned upon his tracks, or been brought home by sea, or hunted the most pleasant path for getting back ; and if he had been a routine officer, satisfied with fulfilling an order, he would have done so. Not so the young explorer who held his diploma from Nature, and not from the United States' Military Academy. He was at Fort Vancouver, guest of the hospitable Dr. McLaughlin, Governor of the British Hudson Bay Fur Company; and obtained from him all possible information upon his intended line of return — faithfully given, but which proved to be disastrously erroneous in its leading and governing feature. A southeast route to cross the great unknown region diago- nally through its heart (making a line from the Lower Columbia to the Upper Colorado of the Gulf of Calfornia), was his line of return: twenty-five men (the same who had come with him from the United States^ and a hundred horses, were his equipment ; and the commence- ment of winter the time of starting — all with- out a guide, relying upon their guns for sup- port ; and, in the last resort, upon their horses — such as should give out ! for one that could carry a man, or a pack, could not be spared for food. All the maps up to that time had shown this region traversed from east to west — from the base of the Rocky Mountains to the Bay of San Francisco — by a great river called the Buena Ventura : which may be translated, the Good Chance. Governor McLaughlin believed in the existence of this river, and made out a conjec- tural manuscript map to show its place and course. Fremont believed in it, and his plan was to reach it before the dead of winter, and then hybernate upon it. As a great river, he knew that it must have some rich bottoms ; covered with wood and grass, where the wild animals would collect and shelter, when the snows and freezing winds drove them from the plains : and with these animals to live on, and grass for the horses, and wood for fires, he ex- pected to avoid suffering, if not to enjoy com- fort, during his solitary sojourn in that remote and profound wilderness. He proceeded — soon encountered deep snows which impeded pro- gress upon the high lands — descended into a low country to the left (afterwards known to be the Great Basin, from which no water issues to any sea) — skirted an enormous chain of mountain on the right, luminous with glittering white snow — saw strange Indians, who mostly fled — found a desert — no Buena Ventura : and death from cold and famine staring him in the face. The failure to find the river, or tidings of it, and the possibility of its existence seeming to be forbid by the structure of the country, and hybernation in the inhospitable desert being impossible, and the question being that of life and death, some new plan of conduct became in- dispensable. His celestial observations told him that he was in the latitude of the Bay of San Francisco, and only seventy miles from it. But what miles! up and down that snowy moun- tain which the Indians told him no men could cross in the winter — which would have snow upon it as deep as the trees, and places where people would slip off, and fall half a mile at a ANNO 1844. JOHN T TYLER, PRESIDENT. 581 time; — a fate which actually befell a mule, packed with the precious burden of botanical specimens, collected along a travel of two thou- sand miles. No reward could induce an Indian to become a guide in the perilous adventure of crossing this mountain. All recoiled and fled from the adventure. It was attempted without a guide — in the dead of winter — accomplished in forty days — the men and surviving horses — a woful procession, crawling along one by one : skeleton men leading skeleton horses — and ar- riving at Suter's Settlement in the beautiful val- ley of the Sacramento; and where a genial warmth, and budding flowers, and trees in foli- age, and grassy ground, and flowing streams, and comfortable food, made a fairy contrast with the famine and freezing they had en- countered, and the lofty Sierra Nevada which they had climbed. Here he rested and recruited ; and from this point, and by way of Monterey, the first tidings were heard of the party since leaving Fort Vancouver. Another long progress to the south, skirting the western base of the Sierra Nevada, made him acquainted with the noble valley of the San Joaquin, counterpart to that of the Sacramento ; when crossing through a gap, and turning to the left, he skirted the Great Basin ; and, by many deviations from the right line home, levied incessant contributions to science from expanded lands, not described before. In this eventful exploration all the great features of the western slope of our continent were brought to light — the Great Salt Lake, the Utah Lake, the Little Salt Lake; at all which places, then desert, the Mormons now are ; the Sierra Nevada, then solitary in the snow, now crowded with Ameri- cans, digging gold from its flanks ; the beauti- ful valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, then alive with wild horses, elk, deer, and wild fowls, now smiling with American cultivation ; the Great Basin itself, and its contents ; the Three Parks ; the approximation of the great rivers which, rising together in the central region of the Rocky Mountains, go off east and west, towards the rising and the setting sun : — all these, and other strange features of a new region, more Asiatic than American, were brought to light, and revealed to public "view in the results of this exploration. Eleven months he was never out of sight of snow; and sometimes, freezing with cold, would look down upon a sunny valley, warm with genial heat;— some- times panting with the summer's heat, would look up at the eternal snows which crowned the neighboring mountain. But it was not then that California was secured to the Union — to the greatest power of the New World— to which it of right belonged : but it was the first step towards the acquisition, and the one that led to it. That second expedition led to a third, just in time to snatch tho golden California from the hands of the British, ready to clutch it. But of this hereafter. Fremont's second expedition was now over. He had left the United States a fugitive from his government, and returned with a name that went over Europe and America, and with discoveries bearing fruit which the civilized world is now enjoying. CHAPTER CXXXV. TEXAS ANNEXATION: SECRET ORIGIN; BOLD INTRIGUE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. In the winter of 1842-'3, nearly two years before the presidential election, there appeared in a Baltimore newspaper an elaborately composed letter on the annexation of Texas, written by Mr. Gilmer, a member of Congress from Vir- ginia, urging the immediate annexation, as ne- cessary to forestall the designs of Great Britain upon that young country. These designs, it was alleged, aimed at a political and military dom- ination on our south-western border, with a view to abolition and hostile movements against us ; and the practical part of the letter was an earnest appeal to the American people to annex the Texas republic immediately, as the only means of preventing such great calamities. This letter was a clap of thunder in a clear sky. There was nothing in the political horizon to announce or portend it Great Britain had given no symptom of any disposition to war upon us, or to excite insurrection among our slaves. Texas and Mexico were at war, and to annex the country was to adopt the war: far from hastening annexation, an event desirable in itself when it could be honestly done, a prema- ture and ill-judged attempt, upon groundless pretexts, could only clog and delay it. There was nothing in the position of Mr. Gilmer to 582 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. make him a prime mover in the annexation scheme ; and there was much in his connections with Mr. Calhoun to make him the reflector of that gentleman's opinions. The letter itself was a counterpart of the movement made by Mr. Calhoun in the Senate, in 1836, to bring the Texas question into the presidential election of that year ; its arguments were the amplification of the seminal ideas then presented by that gen- tleman : and it was his known habit to operate through others. Mr. Gilmer was a close politi- cal friend, and known as a promulgator of his doctrines — having been the first to advocate nullification in Virginia. Putting all these circumstances together, I be- lieved, the moment I saw it, that I discerned the finger of Mr. Calhoun in that letter, and that an enterprise of some kind was on foot for the next presidential election — though still so far off. I therefore put an eye on the movement, and by observing the progress of the letter, the papers in which it was republished, their comments, the encomiums which it received, and the public meetings in which it was commended, I became satisfied that there was no mistake in referring its origin to that gentleman ; and became convinced that this movement was the resumption of the premature and abortive attempt of 1836. In the course of the summer of 1843, it had been taken up generally in the circle of Mr. Cal- houn's friends, and with the zeal and pertinacity which betrayed the spirit of a presidential can- vass. Coincident with these symptoms, and in- dicative of a determined movement on the Texas question, was a pregnant circumstance in the ex- ecutive branch of the government. Mr. Web- ster, who had been prevailed upon to remain in Mr. Tyler's cabinet when all his colleagues of 1841 left their places, now resigned his place, also — induced, as it was well known, by the altered deportment of the President towards him ; and was succeeded first by Mr. Legare, of South Carolina, and, on his early death, by Mr. Upshur, of Virginia. Mr. Webster was inflexibly opposed to the Texas annexation, and also to the presidential elevation of Mr. Calhoun ; the two gentlemen, his successors, were both favorable to annexa- tion, and one (Mr. Upshur) extremely so to Mr. Calhoun ; so that, here were two steps taken in the suspected direction — an obstacle removed and a facility substituted. This change in the head of the State Department, upon whatever motive produced, was indispensable to the suc- cess of the Texas movement, and could only have been made for some great cause never yet explained, seeing the service which Mr. Web- ster did Mr. Tyler in remaining with him when the other ministers withdrew. Another sign appeared in the conduct of the President him- self. He was undergoing another change. Long a democrat, and successful in getting office at that, he had become a whig, and with still greater success. Democracy had carried him to the Senate; whiggism elevated him to the vice-presidency ; and, with the help of an acci- dent, to the presidency. He was now settling back, as shown in a previous chapter, towards his original party, but that wing of it which had gone off with Mr. Calhoun in the nullification war — a natural line of retrogression on his part, as he had travelled it in his transit from the dem- ocratic to the whig camp. The papers in his in- terest became rampant for Texas; and in the course of the autumn, the rumor became current and steady that negotiations were in progress for the annexation, and that success was certain. Arriving at Washington at the commencement of the session of 1843-'44, and descending the steps of the Capitol in a throng of members on the evening of the first day's sitting, I was ac- costed by Mr. Aaron V. Brown, a representative from Tennessee, with expressions of great grati- fication at meeting with me so soon ; and who immediately showed the cause of his gratifica- tion to be the opportunity it afforded him to speak to me on the subject of the Texas annex- ation. He spoke of it as an impending and pro- bable event — complimented me on my early op- position to the relinquishment of that country, and my subsequent efforts to get it back, and did me the honor to say that, as such original enemy to its loss and early advocate of its re- covery, I was a proper person to take a promi- nent part in now getting it back. All this was very civil and quite reasonable, and, at another time and under other circumstances, would have been entirely agreeable to me ; but, preoccupied as my mind was with the idea of an intrigue for the presidency, and a land and scrip speculation which I saw mixing itself up with it, and feel- ing as if I was to be made an instrument in these schemes, I took fire at his words, and an- swered abruptly and hotly: That it was. on ANNO 1844. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 583 the part of some, an intrigue for the presi- dency and a plot to dissolve the Union — on the part of -others, a Texas scrip and land specu- lation ; and that I was against it. This answer went into the newspapers, and was much noticed at the time, and immediately set up a high wall between me and the annexa- tion party. I had no thought at the time that Mr. Brown had been moved by anybody to sound me, and presently regretted the warmth with which I had replied to him — especially as no part of what I said was intended to apply to him. The occurrence gave rise to some sharp words at one another afterwards, which, so far as they were sharp on my part, I have since con- demned, and do not now repeat. Some three months afterwards there appeared in the Richmond Enquirer a letter from Gene- ral Jackson to Mr. Brown, in answer to one from Mr. Brown to the general, covering a copy of Mr. Gilmer's Texas letter, and asking the favor of his (the general's) opinion upon it: which he promptly and decidedly gave, and fully in favor of its object. Here was a revela- tion and a coincidence which struck me, and put my mind to thinking, and opened up a new vein of exploration, into which I went to work, and worked on until I obtained the secret history of the famous " Jackson Texas letter" (as it came to be called), and which played so large a part in the Texas annexation question, and in the presidential election of 1844 ; and which drew so much applause upon the general from many who had so lately and so bitterly condemned him. This history I now propose to give, con- fining the narrative to the intrigue for the pres- idential nomination, leaving the history of the attempted annexation (treaty of 1844) for a separate chapter, or rather chapters ; for it was an enterprise of many aspects, according to the taste of different actors — presidential, disunion, speculation. The outline of this history — that of the let- ter — is brief and authentic ; and, although well covered up at the time, was known to too many to remain covered up long. It was partly made known to me at the time, and fully since. It runs thus : Mr. Calhoun, in 1841-'2, had resumed his design (intermitted in 1840) to stand for the presidency, and determined to make the annex- ation of Texas —immediate annexation — the con- trolling issue in the election. The death of President Harrison in 1841, and the retreat of his whig ministers, and the accession of his friends to power in the person of Mr. Tyler (then settling back to his old love), and in the persons of some of his cabinet, opened up to his view the prospect of a successful enterprise in that direction ; and he fully embraced it, and without discouragement from the similar bud- ding hopes of Mr. Tyler himself, which it was known would be without fruit, except what Mr. Calhoun would gather— the ascendant of his genius assuring him the mastery when he should choose to assume it. His real competitors (fore- seen to be Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Clay) were sure to be against it — immediate annexation — and they would have a heavy current to en- counter, all the South and West being for the annexation, and a strong interest, also, in other parts of the Union. There was a basis to build upon in the honest feelings of the people, and inflammatory arguments to excite them ; and if the opinion of General Jackson could be ob- tained in its favor, the election of the annexation candidate was deemed certain. With this view the Gilmer letter was com- posed and published, and sent to him — and was admirably conceived for his purpose. It took the veteran patriot on the side of his strong feelings — love of country and the Union — dis- trust of Great Britain — and a southern suscep- tibility to the dangers of a servile insurrection. It carried him back to the theatre of his glory — the Lower Mississippi — and awakened his ap- prehensions for the safety of that most vulnera- ble point of our frontier. Justly and truly, but with a refinement of artifice in this case, it pre- sented annexation as a strengthening plaster to the Union, while really intended to sectionalize it, and to effect disunion if the annexation failed. This idea of strengthening the Union had, and in itself deserved to have, an invincible charm for the veteran patriot. Besides, the re- covery of Texas was in the line of his policy, pursued by him as a favorite object during his administration ; and this desire to get back that country,* patriotic in itself, was entirely com- patible with his acquiescence in its relinquish- ment as a temporary sacrifice in 1819 ; an ac- quiescence induced by the " domestic " reason communicated to him by Mr. Monroe. The great point in sending the Gilmer letter to him, with its portents of danger from British designs, was to obtain from him the expression 584 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. of an opinion in favor of " immediate " annexa- tion. No other opinion would do any good. A future annexation, no matter how soon after 1844, would carry the question beyond the presidential election, and would fall in with the known opinions of Mr. Yan Buren and Mr. Clay, and most other American statesmen, the com- mon sentiment being for annexation, when it could be honestly accomplished. Such annexa- tion would make no issue at all. It would throw Texas out of the canvass. Immediate was, therefore, the game ; and to bring General Jackson to that point was the object. To do that, the danger of British occupation was pre- sented as being so imminent as to admit of no delay, and so disastrous in its consequences as to preclude all consideration of present objec- tions. It was a bold conception, and of critical execution. Jackson was one of the last men in the world to be tampered with — one of the last to be used against a friend or for a foe — the very last to be willing to see Mr. Calhoun President — and the very first in favor of Mr. Van Buren. To turn him against his nature and his feelings in all these particulars was a perilous enterprise : but it was attempted — and accomplished. It has already been shown that the letter of Mr. Gilmer was skilfully composed for its pur- pose : all the accessories of its publication and transmission to General Jackson were equally skilfully contrived. It was addressed to a friend in Maryland, which was in the opposite direc- tion from the locus of its origin. It was drawn out upon the call of a friend : that is the tech- nical way of getting a private letter before the public. It was published in Baltimore — a city where its writer did not live. The name of the friend in Maryland who drew it out, was con- cealed; and that was necessary to the success of the scheme, as the name of this suspected friend (Mr. Duff Green) would have fastened its origin on Mr. Calhoun. And thus the accessories of the publication were complete, and left the mind without suspicion that the letter had germinated in a warm southern lati- tude. It was then ready to start on its mission to General Jackson ; but how to get it there, without exciting suspicion, was the question. Certainly Mr. Gilmer would have been the natural agent for the transmission of his own letter ; but he stood too close to Mr. Calhoun — was too much his friend and intimate — to make that a safe adventure. A medium was wanted, which would be a conductor of the letter and a non-conductor of suspicion ; and it was found in the person of Mr. Aaron V. Brown. But he was the friend of Mr. Van Buren, and it was necessary to approach him through a medium also, and one was found in one of Mr. Gilmer's colleagues — believed to be Mr. Hopkins, of the House, who came from near the Tennessee line ; and through him the letter reached Mr. Brown. And thus, conceived by one, written by an- other, published by a third, and transmitted through two successive mediums, the missive went upon its destination, and arrived safely in the hands of General Jackson. It had a com- plete success. He answered it promptly, warm- ly, decidedly, affirmatively. So fully did it put him up to the point of " immediate " annexation, that his impatience outstripped expectation. He counselled haste — considered the present the accepted time — and urged the seizure of the " golden opportunity " which, if lost now, might never return. The answer was dated at the Hermitage, March 12th, 1843, and was received at Washington as soon as the mail could fetch it. Of course it came to Mr. Brown, to whom it belonged, and to whom it was addressed ; but I did not hear of it in his hands. My first information of it was in the hands of Mr. Gil- mer, in the hall of the House, immediately after its arrival — he, crossing the hall with the letter in his hand, greatly elated, and showing it to a confidential friend, with many expres- sions of now confident triumph over Mr. Van Buren. The friend was permitted to read the letter, but with the understanding that nothing was to be said about it at that time. I Mr. Gilmer then explained to his friend 'the purpose for which this letter had been writ- ten and sent to General Jackson, and the use that was intended to be made of his answer (if favorable to the design of the authors), which use was this : It was to be produced in the nominating- convention, to overthrow Mr. Van Buren, and give Mr. Calhoun the nomi- nation, both of whom were to be interrogated beforehand ; and as it was well known what the answers would be — Calhoun for and Van Buren against immediate annexation — and Jackson's answer coinciding with Calhoun's, would turn the scale in his favor, " and blow .Van Buren sky high?' This was the plan, and this the state of the game, at the end of February, 1843 ; but a great ANNO 18-14. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 585 deal remained to be done to perfect the scheme. The sentiment of the democratic party was nearly unanimous for Mr. Van Buren, and time was wanted to undermine that sentiment. Pub- lic opinion was not yet ripe for immediate an- nexation, and time was wanted to cultivate that opinion. There was no evidence of any British domination or abolition plot in Texas, and time was wanted to import one from London. All these operations required time — more of it than intervened before the customary period for the meeting of the convention. That period had been the month of December preceding the year of the election, and Baltimore the place for these assemblages since Congress presidential cau- cuses had been broken down — that near position to Washington being chosen for the convenient attendance of that part of the members of Con- gress who charged themselves with these elec- tions. If December remained the period for the meeting, there would be no time for the large operations which required to be performed; for, to get the delegates there in time, they must be elected beforehand, during the summer — so that the working season of the intriguers would be reduced to a few months, when up- wards of a year was required. To gain that time was the first object, and a squad of mem- bers, some in the interest of Mr. Calhoun, some professing friendship to Mr. Van Buren, but se- cretly hostile to him, sat privately in the Capi- tol, almost nightly, corresponding with all parts of the country, to get the convention postponed. All sorts of patriotic motives were assigned for this desired postponement, as that it would be more convenient for the delegates to attend — nearer to the time of election — more time for public opinion to mature ; and most favorable to deliberate decision. But another device was fallen upon to obtain delay, the secret of which was not put into the letters, nor confided to the body of the nightly committee. It had so hap- pened that the opposite party — the whigs — since the rout of the Congress presidential caucuses, had also taken the same time and place for their conventions — December, and Baltimore — and doubtless for the same reason, that of the more convenient attending of the President-making members of Congress ; and this led to an in- trigue with the whigs, the knowledge of which was confined to a very few. It was believed that the democratic convention could be the more readily put off if the wliigs would do the like — and do it first. There was a committee within the committee — a little nest of head managers — who under- took this collusive arrangement with the whigs. They proposed it to them, professing to act in the interest of Mr. Calhoun, though in fact against him, as well as against Mr. Van Buren. The whigs readily agreed to this proposal, be- cause, being themselves then unanimous for Mr. Clay, it made no difference at what time he should be nominated ; and believing they could more. easily defeat Mr. Calhoun than Mr. Van Buren, they preferred him for an antagonist They therefore agreed to the delay, and both conventions were put off (and the whigs first, to enable the democrats to plead it) from De- cember, 1843, to May, 1844. Time for opera- ting having now been gained, the night squad in the Capitol redoubled their activity to work upon the people. Letter writers and newspa- pers were secured. Good, easy members, were plied with specious reasons — slippery ones were directly approached. Visitors from the States were beset and indoctrinated. Men were picked out to operate on the selfish, and the calculating ; and myriads of letters were sent to the States, to editors, and politicians. All these agents worked to a pattern, the primary object being to undo public sentiment in favor of Mr. Van Buren, and to manufacture one, ostensibly in favor of Mr. Calhoun, but in reality without being for him — they being for any one of four (Mr. Cass. Mr. Buchanan, Colonel Johnson, Mr. Tyler), in preference to either of them. They were for neither, and the only difference was that Mr. Calhoun believed they were for him : Mr. Van Buren knew they were against him. They professed friendship for him ; and that was necessary to enable them to undermine him. The stress of the argument against hira was that he could not be elected, and the efTort was to make good that assertion. Now, or never, was the word with respect to Texas. Some of the squad sympathized with the specu- lators in Texas land and scrip; and to these Mr. Calhoun was no more palatable than Mr. Van Buren. They were both above plunder. Some wanted office, and knew that neither of these gentlemen would give it to them. They had a difficult as well as tortuous part to play. Professing democracy, they colluded with wliigs. 586 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. Professing friendship to Mr. Van Buren, they co-operated with Mr. Calhoun's friends to de- feat him. Co-operating with Mr. Calhoun's friends, they were against his election. They were for any body in preference to either, and especially for men of easy temperaments, whose principles were not entrenched behind strong wills. To undo public sentiment in favor of Mr. Van Buren was their labor; to get un- pledged and uninstructed delegates into conven- tion, and to get those released who had been appointed under instructions, was the consum- mation of their policy. A convention untram- melled by instructions, independent of the peo- ple, and open to the machinations of a few poli- ticians, was what was wanted. The efforts to accomplish these purposes were prodigious, and constituted the absorbing night and day work of the members engaged in it. After all, they had but indifferent success — more with poli- ticians and editors than with the people. Mr. Van Buren was almost universally preferred. Delegates were generally instructed to support his nomination. Even' in the Southern States, in direct question between himself and Mr. Cal- houn, he was preferred — as in Alabama and Mississippi. No delegates were released from their instructions by any competent authority, and only a few in any, by clusters of local poli- ticians, convenient to the machinations of the committee in the Capitol — as at Shockoe Hill, Richmond, Virginia, where Mr. Ritchie, editor of the Enquirer (whose proclivity to be de- ceived in a crisis was generally equivalent in its effects to positive treachery), led the way — him- self impelled by others. The labors of the committee, though intended to be secret, and confined to a small circle, and chiefly carried on in the night, were subject to be discovered ; and were so ; and the discovery led to some public denunciations. The two senators from Ohio, Messrs. William Allen, and Tappan, and ten of the representatives from that State, published a card in the Globe newspaper, denouncing it as a conspiracy to defeat the will of the people. The whole delegation from South Carolina (Messrs. McDuffie and Huger, senators, and the seven representatives), fearing that they might be suspected on account of their friend- ship for Mr. Calhoun, published a card denying all connection with the committee ; an unneces- sary precaution, as their characters were above that suspicion. Many other members published cards, denying their participation in these* meet- ings ; and some, admitting the participation, de- nied the intrigue, and truly, as it concerned themselves ; for all the disreputable part was kept secret from them — especially the collusion with the whigs, and all the mysteries of the Gilmer letter. Many of them were sincere friends of Mr. Van Buren, but deceived and cheated themselves, while made the instrument of deceiving and cheating others. It was prob- ably one of the most elaborate pieces of political cheatery that has ever been performed in a free country, and well worthy to be studied by all who would wish to extend their knowledge of the manner in which presidential elections may be managed, and who would wish to see the purity of elections preserved and vindicated. About this time came an occurrence well cal- culated to make a pause, if any thing could make a pause, in the working of political ambi- tion. The explosion of the great gun on board the Princeton steamer took place, killing, among others, two of Mr. Tyler's cabinet (Mr. Upshur and Mr. Gilmer), both deeply engaged in the Texas project — barely failing to kill Mr. Tyler, who was called back in the critical moment, and who had embraced the Texas scheme with more than vicarious zeal ; and also barely failing to kill the writer of this View, who was standing at the breech Of the gun, closely observing its working, as well as that of the Texas game, and who fell among the killed and stunned, fortu- nately to rise again. Commodore Kennon, Mr. Virgil Maxcy, Mr. Gardiner, of New York, father- in-law (that was to be) of the President, were also killed ; a dozen seamen were wounded, and Commodore Stockton burnt and scorched as he stood at the side of the gun. Such an occur- rence was well calculated to impress upon the survivors the truth of the divine admonition : "What shadows we are — what shadows we pursue." But it had no effect upon the pursuit of the presidential shadow. Instantly Mr. Cal- houn was invited to take Mr. Upshur's place in the Department of State, and took it with an alacrity, and with a patronizing declaration, which showed his zeal for the Texas movement, and as good as avowed its paternity. He declared he took the place for the Texas negotiation alone, and would quit it as soon as that negotiation should be finished. In brief, the negotiation, in- ANNO 1844 JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 587 stead of pausing in the presence of so awful a catastrophe, seemed to derive new life from it, and to go forward with accelerated impetuosity. Mr. Calhoun put his eager activity into it: politicians became more vehement — newspapers more clamorous: the interested classes (land and scrip speculators) swarmed at Washington ; and Mr. Tyler embraced the scheme with a fer- vor which induced the suspicion that he had adopted the game for his own, and intended to stand a cast of the presidential die upon it. The machinations of the committee, though greatly successful with individuals, and with the politicians with whom they could commu- nicate, did not reach the masses, who remained firm to Mr. Yan Buren ; and it became neces- sary to fall upon some new means of acting upon them. This led to a different use of the Jackson Texas letter from what had been in- tended. It was intended to have been kept in the background, a secret in the hands of its pos- sessors, until the meeting of the convention — then suddenly produced to turn the scale be- tween Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Van Buren; and this design had been adhered to for about the space of a year, and the letter kept close : it was then recurred to as a means of rousing the masses. Jackson's name was potential with the peo- ple, and it was deemed indispensable to bring it to bear upon them. The publication of the let- ter was resolved upon, and the Globe newspa- per selected for the purpose, and Mr. Aaron V. Brown to have it done. All this was judicious and regular. The Globe had been the organ of General Jackson, and was therefore the most pro- per paper to bring his sentiments before the pub- lic. It was the advocate of Mr. Van Buren's elec- tion, and therefore would prevent the suspicion of sinistrous design upon him. Mr. Brown was the legal owner of the letter, and a professing friend of Mr. Van Buren, and, therefore, the proper person to carry it for publication. He did so ; but the editor, Mr. Blair, seeing no good that it could do Mr. Van Buren, but, on the contrary, harm, and being sincerely his friend, declined to publish it ; and, after exam- ination, delivered it back to Mr. Brown. Short- ly thereafter, to wit, on the 22d of March, 1844, it appeared in the Richmond Enquirer^ post- dated, that is to say, the date of 1843 changed into 1844 — whether by design or accident is not known; but the post-date gave the letter a fresher appearance, and a more vigorous appli- cation to the Texas question. The fact that this letter had got back to Mr. Brown, after having been given up to Mr. Gilmer, proved that the letter travelled in a circle while kept secret, and went from hand to hand among the initiated, as needed for use. The time had now come for the interrogation of the candidates, and it was done with all the tact which the delicate function required. The choice of the interrogator was the first point. He must be a friend, ostensible if not real, to the party interrogated. If real, he must him- self be deceived, and made to believe that he was performing a kindly service ; if not, he must still have the appearance. And for Mr. Van Buren's benefit a suitable performer was found in the person of Mr. Harnett, a represen- tative in Congress from Mississippi, whose let- ter was a model for the occasion, and, in fact, has been pretty well followed since. It abound- ed in professions of friendship to Mr. Van Bu- ren — approached him for his own good — sought his opinion from the best of motives ; and urged a categorical reply, for or against, immediate annexation. The sagacious Mr. Van Buren was no dupe of this contrivance, but took coun- sel from what was due to himself; and an- swered with candor, decorum and dignity. He was against immediate annexation, because it was war with Mexico, but for it when it could be done peaceably and honorably : and he was able to present a very fair record, having been in favor of getting back the country (in a way to avoid difficulties with Mexico) when Secre- tary of State, under President Jackson. His letter was sent to a small circle of friends at Washington before it was delivered to its ad- dress ; but to be delivered immediately ; which was done, and soon went into the papers. Mr. Calhoun had superseded the necessity of interrogation in his letter of acceptance of the State Department : he was a hot annexationist, although there was an ugly record to be exhi- bited against him. In his almost thirty years of public life he had never touched Texas, ex- cept for his own purposes. In 1819, as one of Mr. Monroe's cabinet, he had concurred in giv- ing it away, in order to conciliate the antisla- very interest in the Northeast by curtailing slave territory in the Southwest. In 183C he moved her immature annexation, in order to bring the question into the presidential election of that 588 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. year, to the prejudice of Mr. Van Buren ; and urged instant action, because delay was dan- gerous. Having joined Mr. Van Buren after his election, and expecting to become his suc- cessor, he dropped the annexation for which he had been so impatient, and let the election of 1840 pass by without bringing it into the can- vass ; and now revived it for the overthrow of Mr. Van Buren, and for the excitement of a sec- tional controversy, by placing the annexation on strong sectional grounds. And now, at the approach of the election in 1844, after years of silence, he becomes the head advocate of an- nexation ; and with all this forbidding record against him, by help of General Jackson's let- ter, and the general sentiment in favor of an- nexation, and the fictitious alarm of British abolition and hostile designs, he was able to ap- pear as a champion of Texas annexation, baf- fling the old and consistent friends of the mea- sure with the new form which had been given to the question. Mr. Clay was of this class. Of all the public men he was able to present the best and fairest Texas record. He was opposed to the loss of the province in 1819, and offered resolutions in the House of Representatives, supported by an ardent speech, in which he condemned the treaty which gave it away. As Secretary of State, under Mr. Adams, he had advised the recovery of the province, and opened negotiations to that effect, and wrote the in- structions under which Mr. Poinsett, the United States minister, made the attempt. As a west- ern man, he was the natural champion of a great western interest — pre-eminently western, while also national. He was interrogated according to the programme, and answered with firmness that, although an ancient and steadfast friend to the recovery of the country, he was opposed to immediate annexation, as adopting the war with Mexico, and making that war by treaty, when the war-making power belonged to Congress. There were several other democratic candidates, the whole of whom were interrogated, and an- swered promptly in favor of immediate annexa- tion — some of them improving their letters, as advised, before publication. Mr. Tyler, also, now appeared above the horizon as a presiden- tial candidate, and needed no interrogatories to bring out his declaration for immediate annexa- tion, although he had voted against Mr. Clay's resolution condemning the sacrifice of the prov- ince. In a word, the Texas hobby was multi- tudinously mounted, and violently ridden, and most violently by those who had been most in- different to it before. Mr. Clay and Mr. Cal- houn were the only candidates that answered like statesmen, and they were both distanced. The time was approaching for the convention to meet, and, consequently, for the conclusion of the treaty of annexation, which was to be a touchstone in it. It was signed the 12th of April, and was to have been sent to the Senate immediately, but was delayed by a circumstance which created alarm — made a balk — and re- quired a new turn to be taken. Mr. Van Bu- ren had not yet answered the interrogatories put to him through Mr. Harnett, or rather his answer had not yet been published. Uneasi- ness began to be felt, lest, like so many others, he should fall into the current, and answer in a way that would enable him to swim with it. To relieve this uncertainty, Mr. Blair was ap- plied to by Mr. Robert J. Walker to write to him, and get his answer. This was a very proper channel to apply through. Mr. Blair, as the fast friend of Mr. Van Buren, had the privilege to solicit him. Mr. Calhoun, as the political adversary of Mr. Van Buren, could not ask Mr. Blair to do it. Mr. Walker stood in a relation to be ready for the work all round ; as a professing friend of Mr. Van Buren, though co-operating with Mr. Calhoun and all the rest against him, he could speak with Mr. Blair on a point which seemed to be for Mr. Van Bu- ren's benefit. As co-operating with Mr. Cal- houn, he could help him against an adversary, though intending to give him the go-by in the end. As being in all the Texas mysteries, he was a natural person to ferret out information on every side. He it was, then, to whose part it fell to hasten the desired answer from Mr. Van Buren, and through the instrumentality of Mr. Blair. Mr. Blair wrote as solicited, not seeing any trap in it ; but had received no answer up to the time that the treaty was to go to the Senate. Ardent for Texas, and believing in the danger of delay, he wrote and published in the Globe a glowing article in favor of immediate an- nexation. That article was a poser and a dumb- founder to the confederates. It threw the treaty all aback. Considering Mr. Blair's friendship for Mr. Van Buren, and their confidential rela- tions, it was concluded that this article could not have been published without his consent — that it spoke his sentiments — and was in fact his ANNO 184S. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT. 589 answer to the letter which had been sent to him. Here was an ugly balk. It seemed as if the long intrigue had miscarried— as if the plot was going to work out the contrary way, and elevate the man it was intended to put down. In this unexpected conjuncture a new turn became in- dispensable — and was promptly taken. Mention has been made in the forepart of this chapter, of the necessity which was felt to ob- tain something from London to bolster up the accusation of that formidable abolition plot which Great Britain was hatching in Texas, and on the alleged existence of which the whole argument for immediate annexation reposed. The desired testimony had been got, and oracu- larly given to the public, as being derived from a "private letter from a citizen of Maryland, then in London." The name of this Maryland citizen was not given, but his respectability and reliability were fully vouched ; and the testi- mony passed for true. It was to the point in charging upon the British government, with names and circumstances, all that had been al- leged ; and adding that her abolition machina- tions were then in full progress. This went back to London, immediately transmitted there by the British minister at Washington, Sir Richard Pakenham ; and being known to be false, and felt to be scandalous, drew from the British Secretary of State (Lord Aberdeen) an indignant, prompt, and peremptory contradic- tion. This contradiction was given in a de- spatch, dated December 26th, 1843. It was communicated by Sir Richard Pakenham to Mr. Upshur, the United States Secretary of State, on the 26th day of February, 1844— a few days before the lamentable death of that gentleman by the bursting of the Princeton gun. This despatch, having no object but to contradict an unfounded imputation, required no answer — and received none. It lay in 'the Department of State unacknowledged until af- ter the treaty had been signed, and until the day of the appearance of that redoubtable arti- cle in the Globe, which had been supposed to be Mr. Yan Buren's answer to the problem of immediate annexation. Then it was taken up, and, on the 18th day of April, was elaborately answered by Mr. Calhoun in a despatch to the British minister — not to argue the point of the truth of the Maryland citizen's private letter — but to argue quite off upon a new text. It so happened that Lord Aberdeen — after the fullest contradiction of the imputed design, and the strongest assurances of non-interference with any slavery policy either of the United States or of Texas— did not stop there ; but, like many able men who are not fully aware of the virtue of stopping when they are done, went on to add something more, of no necessary connection or practical application to the subject— a mere general abstract declaration on the subject of slavery ; on which Mr. Calhoun took position, and erected a superstructure of alarm which did more to embarrass the opponents of the trea- ty and to inflame the country, than all other matters put together. This cause for this new alarm was found in the superfluous declaration, l; That Great Britain desires, and is con- stantly exerting herself to procure the general abolition of slavery throughout the world." This general declaration, although preceded and followed by reiterated assurances of non-inter- ference with slavery in the United States, and no desire for any dominant influence in Texas, were seized upon as an open avowal of a design to abolish slavery every where. These assur- ances were all disregarded. Our secretary es- tablished himself upon the naked declaration, stripped of all qualifications and denials. He saw in them the means of making to a northern man (Mr. Yan Buren) just as perilous the sup- port as the opposition of immediate annexation. So, making the declaration of Lord Aberdeen the text of a most elaborate reply, he took up the opposite ground (support and propagation of slavery), arguing it generally in relation to the world, and specially in relation to the United States and Texas ; and placing the an- nexation so fully upon that ground, that all its supporters must be committed to it. Here was a new turn, induced by Mr. Blair's article in the Globe, and by which the support of the treaty would be as obnoxious in the North as opposition to it would be in the South. It must have been a strange despatch for a British minister to receive — an argument in fa- vor of slavery propagandism — supported by comparative statements taken from the United States census, between the numbers of deal; dumb, blind, idiotic, insane, criminal, and pau- pers among the free and the slave negroes- showing a large disproportion against the free negroes ; and thence deducing a conclusion in favor of slavery. It was a strange diplomatic despatch, and incomprehensible except with a 590 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. knowledge of the circumstances in which it was written. It must have been complete mystifi- cation to Lord Aberdeen ; but it was not writ- ten for him, though addressed to him, and was sent to those for whom it was intended long be- fore he saw it. The use that was made of it showed for whom it was written. Two days after its date, and before it had commenced its maritime voyage to London, it was in the Amer- ican Senate — sent in with the treaty, with the negotiation of which it had no connection, be- ing written a week after its signature, and after the time that the treaty would have been sent in had it not been for the appearance of the ar- ticle (supposed to speak Mr. Van Buren's sen- timents) in the Globe. It was no embarrass- ment to Mr. Van Buren, whose letter in answer to the interrogatories had been written, and was soon after published. It was an embarrassment j to others. It made the annexation a sectional and a slavery question, and insured the rejec- tion of the treaty. It disgusted northern sena- tors; and that was one of the objects with which it had been written. For the whole an- nexation business had been conducted with a double aspect — one looking to the presidency, the other to disunion ; and the latter the alter- native, to the furtherance of which the rejec- tion of the treaty by northern votes was an auxiliary step. And while the whole negotiation bore that for one of its aspects from the beginning, this ex post facto despatch, written after the treaty was signed, and given to the American public before it got to the British Secretary of State, became the distinct revelation of what had been before dimly shadowed forth. All hope of the j presidency from the Texas intrigue had now | failed — the alternative aspect had become the absolute one ; and a separate republic, consist- ing of Texas and some Southern States, had be- come the object. Neither the exposure of this object nor the history of the attempted annexa- tion belong to this chapter. A separate chap- ter is required for each. And this incident of the Maryland citizen's private letter from Lon- don, Lord Aberdeen's contradiction, and the strange despatch of Mr. Calhoun to him, are only mentioned here as links in the chain of the presidential intrigue; and will be dismissed with the remark that the Maryland citizen was afterwards found out, and was discovered to be a citizen better known as an inhabitant of Washington than of Maryland ; and that the private letter was intended to be for public use, and paid for out of the contingent fund of the State Department ; and the writer, a person whose name was the synonym of subserviency to Mr. Calhoun ; namely, Mr. Duff Green. All this was afterwards brought out under a call from the United States Senate, moved by the writer of this View, who had been put upon the track by some really private information : and when the Presidential Message was read in the Senate, disclosing all these facts, he used an expression taken from a Spanish proverb which had some currency at the time : " At last the devil is pulled from under the blanket." The time was approaching for the meeting of the democratic presidential convention, post- poned by collusion with the whigs (the mana- gers in each party), from the month of Decem- ber to the month of May — the 27th day of it. .It was now May, and every sign was not only auspicious to Mr. Van Buren, but ominous to his opponents. The delegates almost univer- sally remained under instructions to support ;him. General Jackson, seeing how his letter to Mr. Brown had been used, though ignorant of the artifice by which it had been got from him, and justly indignant at finding himself used for a foe and against a friend, and especial- ly when he deemed that foe dangerous to the Union — wrote a second Texas letter, addressed to the public, in which, while still adhering to his immediate annexation opinions, also adhered to Mr. Van Buren as his candidate for the presidency ; and this second letter was a wet blanket upon the fires of the first one. The friends of Mr. Calhoun, seeing that he would have no chance in the Baltimore convention, had started a project to hold a third one in New York ; a project which expired as soon as it got to the air ; and in connection with which Mr. Cass deemed it necessary to make an au- thoritative contradiction of a statement made by Mr. Duff Green, who undertook to convince him, in spite of his denials, that he had agreed to it. In proportion as Mr. Calhoun was dis- appearing from this presidential canvass, Mr. Tyler was appearing in it ; and eventually be- came fully developed as a candidate, intrusively on the democratic side ; but his friends, seeing no chance for him in the democratic national convention, he got up an individual or collateral ANNO 1844. JOHN TYLER, PRESIDENT 591 one for himself— to meet at the same time and place ; but of this hereafter. This chapter be- longs to the intrigue against Mr. Van Buren. CHAPTER CXXXVI. DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION FOR THE NOMINA- TION OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES. The Convention met — a motley assemblage, called democratic — many self-appointed, or ap- pointed upon management or solicitation- many alternative substitutes — many members of Congress, in violation of the principle which condemned the Congress presidential caucuses in 1824 — some nullifiers ; and an immense out- side concourse. Texas land and scrip specu- lators were largely in it, and more largely on the outside. A considerable number were in favor of no particular candidate, but in pursuit of office for themselves — inflexible against any one from whom they thought they would not get it, and ready to go for any one from whom they thought they could. Almost all were un- der instructions for Mr. Van Buren, and could not have been appointed where such instruc- tions were given, except in the belief that they would be obeyed. The business of undoing in- structions had been attended with but poor suc- cess — in no instance having been done by the instructing body, or its equivalent. Two hun- dred and sixty-six delegates were present — South Carolina absent ; and it was immediately seen that after all the packing and intriguing, the majority was still for Mr. Van Buren. It was seen that he would be nominated on the first ballot, if the majority was to govern. To prevent that, a movement was necessary, and was made. In the morning of the first day, be- fore the verification of the authority of the dele- gates — before organization — before prayers — and with only a temporary chairman — a motion was made to adopt the two-thirds rule, that is to say, the rule which required a concurrence of two-thirds to effect a nomination. That rule had been used in the two previous nominating conventions — not to thwart a majority, but to strengthen it ; the argument being that the re- sult would be the same, the convention being nearly unanimous; that the two-thirds would be cumulative, and give more weight to the nom- ination. The precedent was claimed, though the reason had failed ; and the effect might now be to defeat the majority instead of adding to its voice. Men of reflection and foresight objected to this rule when previously used, as being in vio- lation of a fundamental principle— opening the door for the minority to rule— encouraging in- trigue and combination— and leading to corrupt practices whenever there should be a design to defeat the popular will. These objections were urged in 1832 and in 183C, and answered by the reply that the rule was only adopted by each convention for itself, and made no odds in the result: and now they were answered with " precedents." A strenuous contest took place over the adoption of this rule — all seeing that the fate of the nomination depended upon it. Mr. Romulus M. Saunders of North Carolina, was its mover. Messrs. Robert J. Walker, and Hopkins of Virginia, its most active supporters : and precedent the stress of their argument. Messrs. Morton of Massachusetts, Clifford of Maine, Dickinson and Butler of New York, Medary of Ohio, and Alexander Kayscr of Mis- souri, were its principal opponents : their argu- ments w r ere those of principle, and the inappli- cability of precedents founded on cases where the two-thirds vote did not defeat, but strength- ened the majority. Mr. Morton of Massachu- setts, spoke the democratic sentiment when he said: " He was in the habit of advancing his opin- ions in strong and plain language, and he hoped that no exception would be taken to any thing that he might say. He thought the majority principle was the true one of the democratic party. The views which had been advanced on the other side of the question were mainly based upon precedent. He did not think that they properly applied here. We were in danger of relying too much upon precedent — let us go upon principle. He had endeavored, when at school, to understand the true principles of re- publicanism. He well recollected the nomina- tions of Jefferson and others, and the majority principle had always ruled. In fact it was re- cognized in all the different ramifications of so- ciety. The State, county and township conven- tions were all governed by this rule." Mr. Benjamin F. Butler, of New York, en- forced the majority principle as the one which lay at the foundation of our government — which 592 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. prevailed at the adoption of every clause in the Declaration of Independence — every clause in the constitution — all the legislation, and all the elections, both State and federal ; and he totally denied the applicability of the precedents cited. He then went on to expose the tricks of a cau- cus within a caucus — a sub and secret caucus — plotting and combining to betray their instruc- tions through the instrumentality and under the cover of the two-thirds rule. Thus : " He made allusion to certain caucusing and contriving, by which it was hoped to avert the well-ascertained disposition of the majority of the democracy. He had been appointed a dele- gate to the convention, and accepted his cre- dentials, as did his colleagues, with instructions to support and do all in their power to secure the nomination of a certain person (V. B.). By consenting to the adoption of the two-thirds rule, he, with them, would prove unfaithful to their trust and their honor. He knew well that in voting by simple majority, the friend he was pledged to support would receive ten to fifteen majority, and, consequently, the nomina- tion. If two-thirds should be required to make a choice, that friend must inevitably be defeated, and that defeat caused by the action of States which could not be claimed as democratic." This last remark of Mr. Butler should sink deep into the mind of every friend to the elec- tive system. These conventions admitted dele- gations from anti-democratic States — States which could not give a democratic vote in the election, and yet could control the nomination. This is one of the most unfair features in the convention system. The rule was adopted, and by the help of delegates instructed to vote for Mr. Van Buren, and who took that method of betraying their trust while affecting to fulfil it. The body then organized and the balloting commenced, all the States present except South Carolina, who stood off, although she had come into it at the preceding convention, and cast her vote for Mr. Van Buren. Two hundred and sixty-six elec- toral votes were represented, of which 134 would be the majority, and 177 the two-thirds. Mr. Van Buren received 151 on the first ballot, gradually decreasing at each successive vote until the seventh, when it stood at 99 ; probably about the true number that remained faithful to their constituents and their pledges. Of those who fell off it was seen that they chiefly con- sisted of those professing friends who had sup- ported the two-thirds rule, and who now got an excuse for their intended desertion and pre- meditated violation of instructions, in being able to allege the impossibility of electing the man to whom they were pledged. At this stage of the voting, a member from Ohio (Mr. Miller) moved a resolve, that Mr. Van Buren. having received a majority of the votes on the Jirst ballot, was duly nominated, and shoidd be so declared. This motion was an unexpected step, and put delegates under the necessity of voting direct on the majority principle, which lies at the foundation of all popular elections, and at the foundation of the presidential election itself, as prescribed by the constitution. That instrument only requires a majority of the electoral votes to make an elec- tion of President ; this intriguing rule requires him to get two-thirds before he is competent to receive that majority. The motion raised a storm. It gave rise to a violent, disorderly, furious and tumultuary discussion — a faint idea of which may be formed from some brief ex- tracts from the speeches : Mr. Brewster, of Pennsylvania. — " They (the delegation from this State) had then been solemnly instructed to vote for Martin Van Buren first, and to remain firm to that vote as long as there was any hope of his success. He had been asked by gentlemen of the convention why the delegation of Pennsylvania were so divided in their vote. He would answer that it was because some gentlemen of the delegation did not think proper to abide by the solemn instructions given them, but rather chose to violate those instructions. Pennsylvania had come there to vote for Martin Van Buren, and she would not desert him until New York had abandoned him. The delegation had entered into a solemn pledge to do so ; and he warned gentle- men that if they persisted in violating that pledge, they would be held to a strict account by their constituency, before whom, on their return home, they would have to hang their heads with shame. Sorry would he be to see them return, after having violated their pledge." Mr. Hickman, of Pennsylvania. — u He charged that the delegation from the ' Keystone State ' had violated the solemn pledge taken be- fore they were entitled to seats on the floor. He asserted on the floor of this convention, and would assert it every where, that the delegation from Pennsylvania came to the convention instructed to vote for, and to use every means to obtain the nomination of Martin Van Buren for President, and Kichard M. Johnson for ANNO 1844. JOHX TYLER, PRESIDENT. 593 Vice President ; and } r et a portion of the dele- gation, among whom was his colleague who had just preceded him, had voted against the very proposition upon which the fate of Martin Van Buren hung. He continued his remarks in favor of the inviolability of instructions and in rebuke of those of the Pennsylvania delegation, who had voted for the two-thirds rule, knowing, as they did, that it would defeat Mr. Van Buren's nomination." Mr. Bredon, of Pennsylvania. — " He had voted against the two-thirds rule. He had been instructed, he said, and he believed had fulfilled those instructions, although he differed from some of his colleagues. His opinion was, that they were bound by instructions only so long as they were likely to be available, and then every member was at liberty to consult his own judgment. He had stood by Mr. Van Buren,; and would continue to do so until the New York' and Ohio delegates flew the track." Mr. Frazer, of Pennsylvania, "replied to the remarks of his colleagues, and amidst much and constantly increasing confusion, explained his motives for having deserted Mr. Van Buren. On the last ballot he had voted for James K. Polk, and would do so on the next, despite the threat that had been thrown out, that those who had not voted for Mr. Van Buren would be ashamed to show their faces before their constituents. He threw back the imputation with indignation. He denied that he had vio- lated his pledge ; that he had voted for Mr. Van Buren on three ballots, but finding that Mr. Van Buren was not the choice of the conven- tion, he had voted for Mr. Buchanan. Finding that Mr. Buchanan could not succeed, he had cast his vote for James K. Polk, the bosom friend of General Jackson, and a pure, whole- hogged democrat, the known enemy of banks, distribution, &c. He had carried out his in- structions as he understood them, and others would do the same." Mr. Young, of New York, " said it had been intimated, that New York desired perti- naciously to force a candidate upon the conven- tion. This he denied. Mr. Van Buren had been recommended by sixteen States to this convention for their suffrages before New York had spoken on the subject, and when she did speak it was with a unanimous voice, and, if an expression of opinion on the part of these people could now be had, it would be found that they had not changed. (As Mr. Y pro- ceeded the noise and confusion increased.) It was true, he said, that a firebrand had been thrown into their camp by the ' Mongrel admin- istration at Washington,' and this was the motive seized upon as a pretext for a change on the part of some gentlemen. That firebrand was the abominable Texas question, but that question, like a fever, would wear itself out or kill the patient. It was one that should have no effect ; and some of those who were now Vol. II.— 38 laboring to get up an excitement on a subject foreign to the political contest before them, would be surprised, six months hence, that they had permitted their equanimity to be disturbed by it. Nero had fiddled while Rome was burn- ing, and he believed that this question had been put in agitation for the especial purpose of ad- vancing the aspiring ambition of a man, who, he doubted not, like Nero, ' was probably fid- dling while Rome was falling.' " The crimination and recrimination in the Pennsylvania delegation, arose from division among the delegates : in some other delegations the disregard of instructions was unanimous, and there was no one to censure another, as in Mis- sissippi. The Pennsylvania delegation, may be said to have decided the nomination. They were instructed to vote for Mr. Van Buren, and did so. but they divided on the two-thirds rule, and gave a majority of their votes for it, that is to say, 13 votes ; but as 13 was not a majority of 26, one delegate was got to stand aside : and then the vote stood 13 to 12. The Virginia delegation, headed by the most respectable William II. Roane (with a few exceptions), remained faith- ful — disregarding the attempt to release them at Shockoe Hill, and voting steadily for Mr. Van Buren, as well on all the ballotings as on the two-thirds question — which was the real one. Some members of the Capitol nocturnal commit- tee were in the convention, and among its most active managers — and the most zealous against Mr. Van Buren. In that profusion of letters with which they covered the country to under- mine him, they placed the objection on the ground of the impossibility of electing him: now it was seen that the impossibility was on the other side— that it was impossible to defeat him, except by betraying trusts, violating in- structions, combining the odds and ends of all factions; and then getting a rule adopted by which a minority was to govern. The motion of Mr. Miller was not voted upon. It was summarily disposed of. without the re- sponsibility of a direct vote. The enemies of Mr.j Van Buren having secured the presiding officer at the start, all motions were decided against them ; and after a long session of storm and rage, intermitted during the night for sleep and intrigue, and resumed in the morning, an eighth ballot was taken: and without hope for Mr. Van Buren. As his vote went down, that for Messrs. Cass, Buchanan, and R. M. Johnson 594 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. rose ; but without ever carrying either of them to a majority, much less two-thirds. SeeiDg the combination against him, the friends of Mr. Van Buren withdrew his name, and the party was then without a candidate known to the people. Having killed off the one chosen by the people, the convention remained masters of the field, and ready to supply one of its own. The intrigue, commenced in 1842, in the Gilmer letter, had succeeded one-half. It had put down one man, but another was to be put up ; and there were enough of Mr. Van Buren's friends to defeat that part of the scheme. They de- termined to render their country that service, and therefore withdrew Mr. Van Buren, that they might go in a body for a new man. Among the candidates for the vice-presidency was Mr. James K. Polk, of Tennessee. His interest as a vice-presidential candidate lay with Mr. Van Buren, and they had been much associated in the minds of each other's friends. It was an easy step for them to support for the first office, on the loss of their first choice, the citizen whom they intended for the second. "Without public announcements, he was slightly developed as a presidential candidate on the eighth ballot ; on the ninth he was unanimously nominated, all the president-makers who had been voting for others — for Cass, Buchanan, Johnson — tak- ing the current the instant they saw which way it was going, in order that they might claim the merit of conducting it. " You bring but seven captives to my tent, but thousands of you took them," was the sarcastic remark of a king of antiquity at seeing the multitude that came to claim honors and rewards for taking a few f prisoners. Mr. Polk might have made the same exclamation in relation to the multitude that assumed to have nominated him. Their name was legion : for, besides the unanimous conven- tion, there was a host of outside operators, each I of whom claimed the merit of having governed the vote of some delegate. Never was such a • multitude seen claiming the merit, and demand- f ing the reward, for having done what had been done before they heard of it. The nomination was a surprise and a marvel to the country. No voice in favor of it had been heard ; no visible sign in the political horizon had announced it. Two small symptoms — small in themselves and equivocal in their import, and which would never have been remembered ex- cept for the event — doubtfully foreshadowed it. One was a paragraph in a Nashville newspaper, hypothetically suggesting that Mr. Polk should be taken up if Mr. Van Buren should be aban- doned ; the other, the ominous circumstance that the Tennessee State nominating convention made a recommendation (Mr. Polk) for the second office, and none for the first ; and Tennes- see being considered a Van Buren State, this omission was significant, seeming to leave open the door for his ejection, and for the admission of some other person. And so the delegates from that State seemed to understand it, voting steadily against him, until he was withdrawn. » The ostensible objection to the last against Mr. Van Buren, was his opposition to immediate ^annexation. The shallowness of that objection was immediately shown in the unanimous nomi- nation of his bosom friend, Mr. Silas Wright, identified with him in all that related to the