Newspapers / The Times-Democrat (Charlotte, N.C.) / May 19, 1854, edition 1 / Page 1
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A FAMILY PAPER DEVOTED TO POLITICS, LITERATURE, AGRICULTURE, MANUFACTURES, JNING,NDJWS PRICE $2 PER YEAR In Advance. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. $ KVFDS M. HEBRON, Publisher. hi Itutrs Uistinrt us tFjt SSillom, but one as tbr ra." ROBERT P. WARING, Editor. NO. 43. CHARLOTTE, N. C, FRIDAY MORNING, MAY 19, 1854. VOL. 2. finstitfss Curbs, &r. S. IP. WARHMG, . ttlornt if at i.ttic. Office in Titwrgtm'i Brick Building, 2nd floor. i n A K LOTTB, II. C. RBETT A- ROBStN, FACTORS & COMMISSION MERGHANTS, Ndk. 1 mit. 2 Atlantic H ', CHARLESTON, S. C. tlr Liberal advances ma'.'e on Consignments. 1 1 Sin-rial attent'oii iven to the sale of Flour, Corn, IRc . ami from o r 1 mijj experience in the Mmm, we eel confident of j;ivin;j salistac'ion. March I i , I "i I. J l-Oiii Dry Goods in Charleston, So. Ca. BROWN irtt; A LENAIV, IMPORTERS OF DRY GOODS, Nos. 2UD ami SI 1 King btrect, corner of Market Street. CHARLESTON, S. C. Plant ition Widens. Blanket, &e.. Carpeting and "uitain Material. Silks and Kich Dress (.nods', Cloaks, Uititillis and Shawls. Terms ( as.li. One Price Onlv. Muck 17, IS54 34-ly RANKIN. PULLIAM & CO., Importers and Wholesale Dealers in foreiun and domestic staple ami fancy BK2 ' "'YD D',ryEP'j no. 1 :n xekti. street, ' j .... , .... . .,. P(,Tnv r, 1 ff; ;,- 2 ;"UU'Ml)A' u I f so ng m mMa&m & o&., M mfactgWII and Dialers in I PANAMA, LEGHORN, FUR, SILK 6t WOOL! OPPOSITE CM A R LKSTUN HOTEL, sept ',3, 53 l y CH RLESTON, S. C. . A.COUK.N. LEOPOLD roJIX. N. A. COIIEir & COHN, ISPnSTEKa AND DEALERS I.N rOISKICN AM) DOMESTIC DRY GOODS, SO. 17") EAST HAY, (10-ly.) CHARLESTON, S. C. JW AIDL.4W, n to.tti:u &. I5i i:mih . AND CO M M I S S I O N M ERCHA NTS, NORTH ATLANTIC WHARF, CHARLESTON, S. C. tTT" Omnia ss"on lor se'lmg Coiton Fifty cents icr Hale. Sept 23, IS53. 10-ly. RAMSEY'S PIANO STORE. MUSIC AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. N UNNS R CO.-S Patent Diagonal Crand PIANOS; Mallet Iavis & Co.'s Patent Suspension Bridga PIANOS; bickerings, Tra vers and other best makers' Pianos, at 1 'tii riiS.irv r rices. Columbia, S. C, Sept. 33. 1853. 10-ly. ATTORNEY AT LAW, - . . .... 1 iTTILL practice iu Meeklenbnrg and the adjoinins count in and profteeute Bounty Land and Pension laims. .Oih.-e in Johnston s brick UniMing, between Ik. err's Hotel and the Fost Olhce, upstairs. March 18, 1853. la -ly BY JENNINGS B . KERR. 4 hartotlc, Jt. V. January 23, I (353. 28tf Mrs. A. W. ItHEALAK, a Residence, on Main St net, 3 doors south of Sadler's Hotel,) CHARLOTTE. N. C. Pieses cut and made by the celebrated A. B.C. method, and warranted to it. Orders solicited and ro r.ptly attended to. S-pt. :, Is-.";." 8-1 y. I . L KAll.li: V B. II HER I . '21!) K1N; STREKT, CHARLESTON, S. C, I MPOUTF.rxS it DEALERS in Koyal Velvet, Tapes- T I tn- 1. 1 - I it ... v lii.rr.iiii ana : . ! CARPETINGS; India. Rasa and Spanish MATTINGS, Ktii. Poor .Mats, fcc. lie. Oil. CLOTHS, of all widths, rut for rooms or entries. IRISH LIN KNS, SHIRTINGS, DAMASKS, Dialers, .on Lawns, Towels, Napkins, Doylias, Re. Ac extensive assortment ol Window CL'RTAIXS, rORKICES. inc., Re. C7" Merchants still da well to examine our stock Sept. 2i, U353 10-ly The American Hotel, CHARLOTTE, N. C. r a I BEG to announce lo my Iri. niis, the puhlic.and pres. physical disease, to extreme destitution. If Con .nt natrons of laoabovc Hotel, that 1 have Rased the ..J ...k. , r, ;,u r nasso lor term ol years from the 1st of January next. kites which time, the entire property will be thorough- ly repaired and renovated, and the house kept in irst cia stvle. Tins Ilatel isn.-..r the Deiiot. .-md til.TK.-int. - - e -- 111. I l:l lit,-. 1 , si !i4..-i . ri inii i in., it a . i, .n;ii i..,,,... -.- .... D 'o 10. isr.n. 22i c. M R V V Baltimore Piano Forte Manufactory. I J. WISE R BROTHER, Manufacturers of Bowdoir t) , Urand and Bsjaars riANOS. Th..se wisbine a good and substantial Piano th it w ill lat an age, at a lair price, may rely on getting such by addressing the saaauuetarer, bv mail or otherwise. We have the , ........ j ,M .. ri it .1 i: r.Ii rri.m , . . I t .. t i r. I . I i i I . i . ... ,1... H. ...... . - . e ... -"- 1 ."J. ...r. ...... Kate. In no case ia rftsappuiotmcnl suff, rab'e. The Manufaclurcrs, also, refer to a host of their (eUoW cili- ,c" , J. J. WISE R BROTHER, Ivb 3, 185-1 1 -.ti Baltimore, Md. MARCH A: SHARP, AUCTIONEERS am COMMISSION MERCHANTS, COLIMBIA, S. C, VT 71LL attend to the sale of all kinds of Merchandise, V Produce, fccc. Also, Keal and Personal Property. Or purchase and sell Slaves, &c, on Commission. Sales Ro-No. 12 I Richardson street, and imme diately opposite the United States Hotel. eb j, l's.'it THUS. II. HABCa. J. M. E. SHARP. Livery and Sales Stable, BY S. II. RCA. AT the tand tornicrly occupied by R. Morrison, in XX harlotte. Horses Rd. hired and sold. Good ac e naaodsU mm f.,r Bsosata. Tnc custom of his friends and the public feaerallj solicited. Eebraarj !7. 30. v Veto Jlessage. Message from the President of the United States, Returning to the Senate the bill entitled " An act ma king a grant of public lands to 'he several States for the benefit of indigent insane persons," with a state mentofthe objections which have required him to withhold from it his approval. To the Senate of the United States : Tlie bill, entitled " An act making a grant of public lands lo the several States for the benefit of indigent insnne persons." which was presented to mcon the 27th ultimo, has been maturely consid ered, and is returned to the Senate, the house in which it originated, with a statement of objections which have required mc to withhold from it my approval. In the performance of thisdutv, prescribed by the Constitution, I have been compelled to resist the deep sympathies of my heart in lavor of the hu mane purpose sought to he accomplished, and to overcome the reluctance with which I dissent from the conclusions of the two houses of Congress, and present my own opinions in opposition lo the action of a co-oruiuaie branch of the government which possesses so lully my confidence and res pec?. If, in presenting my objections to this bill, I should say more than strictly belongs to the meas ure, or is required for ihe discharge of my official obligation, let it be attributed to a sincere desire to justify my net before those whose good opinion 1 80 h'S,,!y hje, nd to that earnestness which 'F V de,ibcra'e) co" that a strict adherence to the terms and purposes of the feder- al compact offers the best, if not the only, securi which rict ly for the preservation of our blessed inheritance I of representative liberty. i he bill provides, in substance : First. That ten millions of acres of land be granted to the several States, to be apportioned among them in the compound ratio of the geogra phical area, and representation of said States in 1 the House of Representative!. ; Second. That wherever there are public lands I in a Slate sulj"ct to sale at the regular price of ! private entry, the, proportion of said ten millions , ol acres falling to such State shall be selected from such public binds, land scrip shall be issued to ; die amount of their distributive shares, respective 1 ly ; aid scrip not to be entered by said States, but to be sold by them, and subject to entry by their assignees, provided that none of it shall be sold at ! less than one dollar per acre, under penalty of ' forfeiture of the same to the United Slates, j Third. That the expenses of the management and superintendence of said lands, and of the mon eys received therefrom, shall be paid by the States to which they may belong, out of the treasury of said State. Fourth. That the gross proceeds ol the sales of such lands, or land-scrip so granted, shall be in vested by the several States in safe stocks, to con siilute a perpetual fund, the principal of which shall remain forever undiminished, and the inter est to be appropriated to the maintenance of the indigent insane within the several Stales. 1 Fifth. That annual returns of lands or scrip sold shall be made by the States to the Secretary 1 of the Interior, and the whole grant be subject to certain conditions und limitations prescribed in the bill, to be assented to by legislative acts of said Qlnln. ; This bill, therefore, proposes that the federal government shall make provision to the amount of I the value of ten millions of acres of land, for an eleemosynary object within the several States, to be administered by the political authority of the same ; and it presents, at the threshold, the ques tion, w hether any such ;.ct on the part of the feder al government, is warranted and sanctioned by the constitution, the provisions and principles of w hich are to be protected and tustained as a first and paramount duty. It cannot he questioned that if Congress have power to m ike provision for the indigent insane I without the limits of this District, it has the same I power to provide for th- indigent w ho are not in sane, and thus to transfer to the federal government the charge ol all the poor in all the States. It has i the same power to provide hospitals and other lo cal establishments for the care and cure of everv species of human infirmity, and thus to assume all that duty of either public philanthropy, or public necessiiy, to the dependent, the orphan, the sick, or the needy, which is now discharged by the i States themselves, or by corporate institutions, or private endowments existing under the legislation I of the Stales. The whole field of public henefi- ! ceucr is thrown op- n to the care and culture of the federal govci nintif. Generous impulses no j longer encounter the limitations and control of our ! i imperious fundamental law; for. however worthy j may be the present object in itself, it is only one of j a class. It is not exclusively worthy of benevo- j j lent regard. Whatever considerations dictate I sympathy for this particular object, apply, in like . manner, if not in the same decree, to idiotcv. to : . ' . ' . . lUc 0,Jf'c's. " m.V "d ought in provide for ihem , a"' ',u' lt uf! done in this caso, what answer : shall be ffiven w hen Cnni'rp shall hp mlhil niton. :. , i.,i :u i . i it tinuuiicsa win ut', hi pursue a similar course of legislation in the others? It will, obviously, be vain to reply that the object is worthy, but that the application has taken a wrong direction. The power will have been deliberately, assum ed, the general obligation WtH, by this act, have been acknowledged, and :n' question of means and expediency will alone be led for consideration. i The decision upon the principle, in any one case. determines it for the whole class. The question presented, therefore, clearly is upon the constitu- ! Itonality and propriety of the federal government . assuming to enter into a novel and vast field of .ogtalation namely, that of providing for the care ; and support of all those, among the people of the j United Slates who, by any form of calamity, be coma fit objects of public philanthropy. I readily, and. I trust, feelingly, acknowledge the duty incumbent on us all, as men and citizens, and ns among the highest and holies of our duties, ; to provide (or those who, in th mysterious order j of Providence, are subject to wont and to disease ! of body or mind, but I cannot fir.d any authority j in the constitution for making the federal govern meal the great almoner of public charity through out the United States. To do so would, in my judgment, be contrary to the letter and spirit of the! I constitution, and subversive of the whole theory I upon w hich the union of these States is founded. And if it were admissible to contemplate the ex ! ercise of this power for any object whatever, I can ; not avoid ibe belief that it would, in the end, be i prejudical, rather than beneficial, to the nobie offi I cea of charity to have the charge of them trans- ferred from the States to the federal government. Are we not too prone to forget that the iedsral Union is the creature of the States, not they of the federal Union ? We were the inhabitants of colon- j ies distinct in local government one from the other before the revolution. Uy that revolution the colon- ieseach becamean independentState. Theyachiev j ed that independence, and secured its recognition M&r the agency of a consulting body, which from : being an assembly of the ministers of distinct sov ! ereignties, instructed to agree to no form of govern- ment which did not leave the domestic concerns . of each State to itself, was appropriately dr nomi- nated a Congress. When having tried the expe j riment of the confederation, they resolved to change that for the present federal Union; and thus to confer on the federal government more am i pie authority, they scrupulously measured such of the functions of iheir cherished sovereignty as they chose to delegate to the general government. Willi this aim, and to this end. the fathers of the republic framed the constitution, in and by w hich the independent and sovereign States united them selves, for certain specified objects and purposes, and fur those only, leaving all powers not therein set forth as conferred on one or another of the three great departments, the legislative, the execu tive, and the judicial, indubitably with the States. Anil when the people ol the several States had, in their Sta'e conventions, arid thus alone, given ef fect and force to the constitution, not content that any doubt should in future arise as to the scope and character of this act, they ingrafted thereon the ex plicit declaration that "The powers not delegat- j ed to the United States by the constitution, nor pro j hi bi ted by it to the Slates, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." ('nu it be contro veried that the great mass of the business of government that involved, in the social relations, the infernal arrangements of the body politic ; the mental and moral culture of men ; the development of local resources of wealth ; the pun ishment of crimes in general ; the preservation of order ; the relief of the needy, or otherwise unfor tunate members of society, did, in practice, remain with the States ; that none of these objects of local concern are, by the constitution, expressly or im pliedly prohibited to the States, nd that none of tbetn are, by any express language of the consti tuiiori, transferred to the United Siates? Can it be claimed that any of these functions of local admin istration and legislation are vested in the federal government by any implication? I have never found anything in the constiiution which is sus ceptible of such a construction. No one of the enumerated power touches the subject, or has even a remote analogy to it. The powers conferred upon the United States have reference to federal relations or to the means of accomplishing or exe cuting things of federal relation. So, also, of the same character are the powers taken away from ti e Slates by enumeration. In either case, the powers granted and the powers restricted were so granted or so restricted only where it was requisite for the maintenance of peace and harmony between the States, or lor the purpose of protecting their common interests, and defending their common sovereignty, against aggression from abroad or in surrection at home. shall not discuss the question of power some times claimed for the general government, under the clause of the eighth section of the constitution, which gives Congress the power 4,to lay and col lect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay debts, and provida for the common defence and general welfare of the United States," because if it has not already been settled upon sound reason and authority, it never will bp. 1 take the received and just construction of that article, as if written lo lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and ex cises, in order to pay the debts, and in order to provide for the common defence and general wel fare. It is not a substantive general power to pro vide for the welfare of the United States, but is a limitation on the grant of power to raise money by taxes, duties , and imposts. If it were other wise, all the rest of the constitution, consisting of carefully enumerated and cautiously guarded grants of specific powers, would have been useless, if not delusive. It would be impossible, in that view, to escape from the conclusion that these were inserted only to mislead for the present, and, in stead of enlightening and defining the pathway of the future, to involve its action in the mazes of doubtful construction. Such a conclusion the char acter of the men who framed that sacred instru ment w ill never permit us to form. Indeed, to sup pose it susceptible of any other construction would be to consign ail the rights of the States, and of the people of the Stales, to the mere discretion of Congress, and thus o clothe the federal govern ment w iih authority to control ."he sovereign States, by which the States would have been dwarfed into provinces or departments, and all sovereignty ves ted in an absolute consolidated central power, against which the spirit of liberty has so often, and in so many countries, struggled in vain. In my judgment, you cannot, by tributes to humanity, make any adequate compensation for the wrong you would inflict hy removing the sources of power and political action from those who are to be there by affected. If the time shall ever arrive when, for an object appealing however strongly to our sympathies, the dignity of the States shall bow to the dictation of Congress, by conforming their legislation thereto, when the power, and majesty, and honor of those who created shall become sub ordinate to the thing of their creation, I bui feeblv utter my apprehensions when I express my firm conviction that wo shall see "the beginning of the end." Fortunately, we are not left in doubt as to the purpose of the constitution any morn than as to its express language; for, although the history of its formation, as recorded in the Madison Papers, shows that the federal government, in its present form emerged from the conflict of opposing influ ences, which have continued lo divide statesmen from that day to this, yet the rule of clearly de fined powers; and of strict construction, presided over the actual conclusion and subsequent adoption of the constitution. President Madison, in the Federalist, savs : "The powers delegated by the proposed constitution to ihe federal government are lew and defined. Those which are lo remain in the Slate govern- ments are numerous and indefinite. "Its" (the general government's) "jurisdiction extends to cer tain enumerated objects only, and leaves to the several States a residuary and inviolable sovereign ty over all other objects." In the same spirit. President Jefferson invokes "the support of the Slate governments in all their rights as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwark against anti-republican tendencies;" and President Jackson said that our true strength and wisdom are net promoted by invasions of the rights and powers of the several States, but that, on the con trary, they consist "not in binding the States more closely to the centre, but in leaving each more un obstructed in its proper orbit." The ramers of the constitution, in refusing to confer on the federal government any jurisdiction over these purely local objects, in my judgment manifested a wise forecast and broad comprehen sion of the true interests of these objects them selves. It is clear that public charities within the Slatescan be efficiently administered only by their authority. The bill before me concedes this, for it does not commit the funds it provides to the ad ministration of any other authority. I crnnot but repeat what 1 have before ex pressed, that if the several Slates, many of which have rlready laid the foundation of munificent es tablishments of local beneficence, and nearly all o( wheh aie proceeding to establish them, shall be led to suppose, as they will be should this bill become a law, that Congress is to make provision for su?h objects, the fountains of charity will be ariedtip at home, and the several States, instead of bestow ing their own means on fhe social wants of their own people, may themselves, through the stronj temptation, which appeals to Slates as to individuals, become humble suppliants for the bounty of the federal government, reversing their true relation to this Union. Having stated my views of the limitation of the powers conferred by the eighth section of the first article of the constitution, I deem it proper to call attention to the third section of the fourth article, and to the provisions of ihe sixth article, bearing directly upon ihe question under considera'ion ; w hich, instead of aiding the claim to power exer cised in this case, lend, it is believed, strongly to illustrate and explain positions which, even without such support, 1 cannot regard as questionable. The third section of the fourth article of the con stitution is in the following terms : "The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all need ful rules and regulations respecting, the territory or other property belonging to the United States ; and nothing in this constitution shall be so con strued as to prejudice any claim of the United States, or any particular State." The sixth article is us follows, to wit, that "All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against the United Stales under this constitution as under the con federation." For a correct understanding of the terms used in the third section of the fourth article, above quoted, reference should be had to the history of the times in which the constitution was formed nr.d adopted. It was decided upon in Convention, on the 17th September, 1737, and by it Congress was empowered to "dispose of," &e., "the territory or other property belonging to the United States." The only territory then belonging to the United Stales was that then recently ceded by the several States, lo wit : by New York in 1781, by Virginia in 1784, by Massachusetts in 1785, and by South Carolina in August, 17S7, only the month before the formation of the constitution. The cession from Virginia contained the following provision : 'That all the lands within the territory so ceded iO the United Stales, and not reserve lor or appro priated to any of the before-mentioned purposes, or disposed of in bounties to the officers and soldiers of ihe American army, shall be considered a com mon fund for the use and benefit of such of the United States as have become or shall become members of ihe confederation or federal alliance of the said States, Virginia included, according to their usual respective propositions, in the general charge and expenditure, and shall be faithfully and bona fide disposed of for that purpose, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever." Here the object for which these lands are to be disposed of is clearly set forth, and the power to dispose of them, granted by the third section of the fourth article of the constitution, clearly con templates such disposition only. If such be the fact, and in my mind there can be no doubt of ', then you have again not only no implication in favor of the contemplated grant, but the strongest authority against it. Furthermore, this bill is in violation of the faith of the Government, pledged in ihs act of January 28, 1847. The 19th section of that act declares. "That, for the payment of the stock which may be created under the provisions of this act, ihe sales of the public lands are hereby pledged ; and it is hereby made the duty of the Secreiary of (he Treasury to use and apply all moneys which may be received into the treasury for the sales of the public lands after the first day of January, 1848, first to pay the interest on all stocks issued by virtue of this act ; and, secondly, lo use the balance of said receipts, after paying the interest aforesaid, in the purchase of said stocks at iheir market value," &c. The debts then contracted have not been liquidated, and the language of this section, and ibe obligations of the U. States under it, are too plain to need comment. I have been unable to discover any distinction, on constitutional grounds, or grounds of expedi ency, between an appropriation of $10,000,000 directly from the money in the treasury, for the object contemplated, and the appropriation of lands presented for my sanction. And yet, I cannot doubt that, if the bill proposed ten millions of dollars from the treasury of the United States for the support of indigent insane in the several States, the constitutional question involved in the act would have attracted forcibly the attention of Congress. I respectfully submit that, in a constitutional point of view, it is wholly immaterial whether the appropriation be in money or in land. The public domain is the common property of the Union just as much as the surplus proceeds of j that, and of duties on imports remaining unex pended in the treasury. As such it has been i pledged, is now pledged, and may need to be so pledged again tor public indebtedness. As properly, it is distinguished from actual mo ney chiefly in this respect: that its profitable management sometimes requires that portions ol it be appropriated to local objects, in ihe Slates wherein it may happen to lie, as would be done by any prudent proprietor to enhance the sale value of his private domain. All such grants of land are, in fact, a disposal of it for value received; but they afford no precedent or constitutional reason for giving away ihe public lands. Still less do they give sanction to appropriations for ob jects which have not been intrusted to the federal government and therefore belong exclusively to the States. To assume that the public lands are applicable to ordinary State objects, whether of public struc tures, police, charily, or expenses of State ad ministration, would be to disregard, to the amount of the value of the public lands, al! the limitations of '.he constiiution, and confound, to that extent, all distinctions between the rights and powers of the States, and those of the United States ; for, if the public lands may be applied to the support of the poor, whether sane or insane, if the disposal of them and their proceeds be not subject to the ordinary limitations of the constitution, then Con gress possesses unqualified power to provide for expenditures in the Stales by means of the public lands, even to the degree of defraying the salaries of governors, judges, and all other expenses of ihe government, and internal administration wiihin the several States. 1 ne conclusion from the gen eral survey of ihe whole subjict is, to my mind, irresistible, and closes the question, both of right and of expediency, so far as regards the principle of ihe appropriation proposed in this bill. Would not the admission of such a power in Congress to dispose of the public domain work the practical abrogation of some of ihe most important provis ions of the constitution? If the systematic reser vation of a definhe portion of the public lands (the sixteenth section) in tho States, for the purpose of education and occasional grants for similar purposes be cited as contradicting these conclu sions, the answer as it appears to me, is obvious and satisfactory. Such reservations and grants, besides being a part of the conditions on which the proprietary right of the United States is main tained, along with ihe eminent domain of a partic ular State, and by which the public land remains free from taxation in the State in which it lies, and as long as it remains the property of the Uni ted States, are the acts of a mere land owner, dis posing of a small share of his property in a way to augment the value of the residue, and in this mode to encourage the early occupation of it by the industrious and intelligent pioneer. The great example of apparent donation of lands to the States, likely to be relied upon as sustaining the principles of this bill, is the relin quishment of swamp lands to the States in which they are situated ; but this, also, like other grants already referred to, was based expressly upon grounds clearly distinguishable in principle from any which can be assumed for tho bill herewith returned, viz : upon the interest and duty of the proprietor. They were charged, and not without reason, to be a nuisance to ibe inhabitants of the surrounding country. The measure was predi cated, not only upon the ground of the disease inflicted upon the people of ihe States which the United States could not justify, as a just and hon est proprietor, but also upon an express limita tion of the application of the proceeds, in the first instance, to purposes of levees and drains, thus protecting the health of the inhabitants, and, nt the same time, enhancing the value of the remain ing lands belonging to the general government. It is not to be denied that Congress, wnile admin istering the public lands as a proprietor, within the principle distinctly announced in my annual message, may sometimes have failed to distinguish accurately between objects which are and which are not within its constitutional powers. After the most careful examination, I find but two examples in the acts of Congress which fur nish any precedent for the present bill, and those examples will, in my opinion, serve rather as a warning than as an inducement to tread in the same path. The first is ihe act of March 3d, 1819, grant ing a township of land to the Connecticut asylum for the education of the deaf and dumb. The second, lhat of April 5th, 1826, making a similar grant of land to the Kentucky asylum for teaching the deaf and dumb. The first more than thirty years after the adop tion of the constitution, and the second more than a quarter of a century ago. These acts were unimportant as to the amount appropriated, and, so far as I can ascertain, were passed on two grounds : first, that the object was a charitable one; and, secondly, lhat it was na tional. To say that it was a charitable object, is only to say that it was an object of expenditure proper for the competent authority ; but it no more tended to show that it was a proper object of expenditure by (he United States than is any other purely local object, appealing to the best sympathies of the human heart in any of the States. And the suggestion that a school for the mental culture of the deaf and dumb in Connecti cut or Kentucky, is a national object only shows how loosely this expression has been used when the purpose was to procure appropriations by Congress. It is not perceived how a school of tins character is otherwise national than is any establishment of religious or moral instruction. All the pursuits of industry, everything which promotes the material or intellectual well-being Of the race, every oar of corn or boll of cotton which grows, is national in the same sense; for each one of these things goes to swell the aggre gate of national prosperity and happiness of the United Slates; but it confounds all meaning of language to say that these things are " national," as equivalent to " federal," so as to come within any of the classes of appropriation for which Congress is authorized by the Constitution to legislate. It is a marked point in the history of the con stitution that when it was proposed to empower Congress to establish a university, the proposition was confined to the district intended for the future seat of government of the United States, and that even that proposed clause was omitted in consid eration of the exclusive powers conferred on Congress to legislate for that district. Could a more decisive indication of the true construction and the spirit of the constitution in regard to oil matters of this nature have been given ? It proves that such objects were considered by the convention as appertaining to local legislation only, that they were not comprehended, either expressly or by implication, in the grant of gen eral power to Congress, and that, consequently, they remained with the several States. The general result at which I have arrived is the necessary consequence of those views ol tho relative rights, powers and duliea of States and of the federal government which I have long en tertnined, and often expressed, and in referenco to which my convictions do but increase in force with time and experience. I have thus discharged the unwelcome duty of fully stating my objections to this bill, with which I cheerfully submit the whole subject to the wis dom of Congress. FRANKLIN PIERCE. Washington, May 3, 1854. From the Richmond Enquirer. The Veto Message. Without hesitation or delay, the President has put the executive veto on the Lunatic Land Bill. There was never any cause of apprehonsion in re gard to the course of the Administration on this and kindred measures. As a disciple of ihe school of Jefferson and Jackson, Mr. Pierce has been con sistently opposed to every scheme for diverting the public lands from iheir legitimate use, no matter whether the appropriation be for the succor of lunatics, the benefit of individuals of souna mind but improvident habits, or the aggrandizement of grasping corporations. But, even if such wero not the inclination of ihe Administration, the plat form of principle on which they stand, strictly and emphatically forbids any secularization ol tho public lands to uses not authorized by the consti iution. The Baltimore Convention put i'8 veto in advance upon every measure for the distrihuiion of the public lands, which contemplates any object besides ihe payment of the national debt und tho equal benefit of ihe several States. The veto of the Lunatic Bill is a memorable step in the progress of ihe Democratic parly. The alarming increase of Federal power nnd ihe gradual oblivion of State right and strict construction principles, furnished a controlling motive to the nomination of Mr. Pierce. We wanted a man of right principle and of genuine courage, fo arrest the tendency to federal corruption and aggrandise ment, and to bring back ihe Government to the legitimate sphere of its powers and its duties. In the statesman of New Hampshire the Democracy found the man for their purpose. The event justi fies their choice. President Pierce has availed himself of ihe first opportunity to testify his devo tion to the strict-construction creed, and to inflict a staggering blow on the corrupt monster of Federalism. In the veto of the Lunatic Pill, the country has a pledge of the future policy of his Administration. Neither timid nor reserved in justifying his conduct, he lays down principles which comprehend oil similar measures. The death warrunt of the Homestead is s;gned in ad vance, and the thousand other schemes for ihe pil lage of the public lands are laid prostrate at one blow. We cherish the hope that Congress will not disregard ihe hint, nor persist in its piratical forays on the public domain. Perhaps, however, it may serve the purpose of demagoguism to press these various schemes through Congress, with the positive assurance in advance tint they will meet the untimely fate of the Lunatic Bill. The most skillful pilot is embarrassed by tho shoals, narrows and sudden lacks of creek -navi-gation ; once upon the broad ocean and the ship springs forward in its career with an assurance of safety. 7'he administration of Mr. Pierce has been embarrassed by a multitude of pretty annoyances and difficulties, which were as inevitable as ihey were difficult to manage. The distribution of the patronage among an army of expectants awakened some jealousies and provoked some resentment. The cotii se of the Administration was obstructed by the clamors of the disappointed and the oppo sition of the factious, and for a time confusion and delay subjected I lie President lo suspicion and re proach. These difficulties ha ve been surmounted, and the Administration may now pursue their course, free from (he obstruction which beset their early path. They may rally the Democratic party on a common ground, by an appeal which tho Democracy can understhnd and to which they will respond. The veto of the Lunatic Bill enunciates a principle which the Democratic part will ap prove and support, and in battling for it they will lose the recollection of their discreditable feuds. Advantages of paying for a Newspaper in Advance. One of ihe facts put in evidence at the trial in the supreme court, lo sustain the will of the late William Russell, wan, that only a few days before he had made the will, ho culled at the office of the Democrat and payed for his paper n year in advance, thereby saving fifty cents. This fact was dwelt upon at length by counsel, and commented upon by ihe Judge in his charge-, as one of great importance. The verdict of the jury would seem to sustain the position, that a man who has mind and memory enough to pay for a newspaper in advance, is competent to mako hi will. Franklin Dcm. Movements of Matt. Ward. We have al ready noticed the arrival of Matt. Ward and broth er at Cannelton, Ind. They had been in the town but a short time before, as we learn from tho Hawesville Eagle, a committee of citizens waited upon them and desired them to leavo the place. Thereupon they went to Judge Huntington's some distance in the country ; and afterwards took pa sage on the Eclipse for Arkansas. When the steamer reached Henderson a large crowd collec ted on the wharf and ordered the captain to be off with his boat and cargo. A Curious Exhibition. It is said that one of the most interesting departments of the Crystal Palace exhibition is that which is assigned to lost articles picked up by tho police. Among iheso there are about three hundred uc cambric hand kerchiefs, some valued nt $50. There are also about as many veils, a large stock of gloves, and stockings, and some hundred articles of jewelry, pieces of which range as high as 8100 in value. Locks of false hair are interspersed with other wearing apparel, and a bottle of brandy occupies a conspicuous position. Specimen of almost everything which is capable ol being lost may be seen there.
The Times-Democrat (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 19, 1854, edition 1
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