Newspapers / Mecklenburg Jeffersonian (Charlotte, N.C.) / May 24, 1842, edition 1 / Page 2
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his intenJcJ praise aivl pracliiin iljonn not nii cooQding-/’ but ihour^fh-Itss and credulo^is. If he will permit me t> tn ko an allusion to one of his lofty fiighl5, Ml \v!i .1 he speaks of Rc ’/obab and iiis imp?, th.- rcpi- atation of hi:; poliiijal oppo ncnts, aui th^ i.t 'i^ht as picturing forth the Whigs. I \V‘/>uid say that if Belzebub hirnseh' was made Presidi’ut by the voice of the people of this country, ani our ri.i^ wasjarnished, our honor in sulted or our rights invadrd. 1 \v5uld still pj:css to the standard, loosing- all the bitterness of party dis- uncucns iu the more expansive emotions uf aii | A’nerican citizen. in tter who presides over this nation,ev'cry name that 1 cherish, all ihe bonds of i) ;tural love that I revere are fjun I within its b u-dcrs. Every s.aisaiion of my inlcllectual life, cv -ry cnn jbhtig' thought, all aiaration of tho God of uaturc an i every thi:ig lovtdy, that malces this mor tal spirit teei tiie joy and greatness of its future be ing. walics up in niy soul attachments for the coun try that sliall cause me to for£ret the feuds and strifes partv. u’hcncvcr her riijhts are in- a:id bittorncss o vaded. 1 he gpntlemin from Xorlii Carolina filled his speech with nothing but abuse upon the President’s JrienJs in this House and the Democrats, which last he dfnounced as his bitterest foes. Five minutes of a tiiree hours’ specch was o': mucli as he devoted to any t.'iing else. 1 beg pardon—1 had forgotten the ('ulogy he pas,'::i upon the Honorable Senator from K' ntuciv}', (Mr. Clay.) v.hose timely advent into the H tll inspired tlie orator ^vith sounding praise,— I would n,)t ii 1 could j)luoIc a laruel from that statesman s brow; but may I ask the gentleman v/licn iie learned this ksson of admiration ? long since you discovereii the extraordinary quali ties, and shining political virtues of your hero?— "V\'as it i.'i 1803 and ’31, when you were ready to buciclc on your knapsack, and shoulder your mus- k'^t. in order to rid the country of the tariff 182S? AV as it t’nn you l-'arnt’d to lau 1, to love, and admire taf"* / itii. r of th'.Vmerican svsLem ? "i^ou say you \.’cre a nulliiier; but surely a change has come over tiie spirit of your dream. You are now the eulo- gist^ot the man whose odious doctrmes you thought j tains of the great deep broken up s Jliich;nt to warrant resistance, li needful, by force ' deared him to home and country Mr. Clay is stal the same Hank and Tarifl'man he swallowed in one vastdeluo-cof cor was thiMi, both which. I tlimk, the gentleman oi)po How uflbrded us the true .‘^ays. ••beer!use he w has this haj)pened? i^erhaps ho has ‘:ey to unlock the secret. He ■;s a State-Kights man ho w'as lieat;ai in his County.'’ 15ut—but—he did not choose 13 Stay boat; and liere lies the .secret. I wonder it !i i not occur to him that Mr. Clay w'ould have felt himself much more complimented by the praises, to say tiio least of it. ni older nicn. Hid he imagine ];!s eu]ogy \vouId elevate ihe Senator from Kentuc- icy .i I’ell the truth, was it not ihe vanity' of the I ltd-3 sparrow, when he hangs to the feathers of’the ! ‘'agio, that he may bo borne aloft to a fieigfit his ' focbie wings could never rcach ? 'I’ficro was one part of this eulogy I fiincied the Senator himself did not rc-hsh. After smoothing his way down from public life to the calm vale of retirement, he left him in Asiii.nrJ tj dio. and afterwards wove an iinperish- Jible wreath aroun 1 his memory. I thought of Fal- stafl; wiien i^rince Hal was striving ta string up his cowardly nerves to courage in battle, by represent ing the victorious honors ho would wear if he should • ome froni the battle held alive, and then if he should die, that roses would be thrown on his grave, and laurels be twined around his tomb. “ Flumph, liumph, ’ said l-’alitaftj what good will that do me, I would prefer them while I am living.” So 1.sup pose 1 that leavin:r ''.[i-, clay in retirement at Ash land, without bivl.ling him ‘-come up higher,” and I'ro'.vning him wit'i a halo of glory after he was dead, was a little unexpected and mortifying, I’ho gf'ntleman from Indiana (Mr. Lane) not on- pur.«:ued the couse of debate adopted by the gen- tiuman from North Carolina, by abusing .Tohn Tv- I t, but with him the entire (,’abinet. I must say t’lal this speech was well delivered, and from the scraps of poetry svith v.-liich ii was interlarded, we :night w..‘l! suppose he was recently from the tem- ])iO of Apollo. I have never listened to a more >iudiv’l virago of vituperation and abuse. To use an old expression, ‘-he spoke like a book.’’ He was up in the ‘‘pictures” all the wiiile, and ho will par don me when I say his spcech was pins in high flown abuse, r.nd minus in every thing else.” Ho was most eloquent in his attack on the Secretary of State, (All. Webster.) He read out kis votes against the war—his refusing supplies to our suffering sol- iliers—his kindling blue-lights along our coast to guile the enemy, &c., See.; but last of all, his refusing to aid r;-building the Capitol, when burned down by a Ikiiiih soldiery. This part of his speech was so • doquent t!i:ti one of my colleagues (Mr. Cooper) whisport d in my ear, - what a pity we had not had him d 'liv(.r that specch in Cxeorgia during the can vass of the })eople might have believed him, as he is a Widg, tiiough they refused to believe us. wh-n we r. f'',rroti to ih‘ sun^ things,” .A.nd so much was it like the Democratic spe chesoi 1310 *hr;t niy friend f om Tenn-ssee (Mr. Watterson) conclu ded tiie gentleman had, by som- accident, stumbled upon his uld notrs, from which ho used to address the people of Tennessee in his district. 'J'hc gen- ticman said ho was only anxious to speak that the people of Indiana miglit learn tlie state of thino-s here. I bethouqht me that this pretty speech, made f^or the people of Indiana would reach its place of destination before the gentleman would get there. 1 then supposed it might happen that some of' his con stituents, sontc old man, calm and thoughtful.that lov ed party, that was honest and scorned hypocrisy micrjit meet the gentleman upon his return, and say : t ■“ ^ have read yotir speech delivered on the ^7th day of March ; the styio is very creditable to you; and you certainly prove that Mr' Webster wa«? one of the blue-light Federalists; that I have always leareuto trust; but when were those votes given ? Were they recorded agaiu';! him upwards of twen- ty^years ago? I heard the Democrats say so 1840; they charged him with these same ‘th but our boys (the Whigs) nailed all locofoco lies to the counter, Webster’s speech made in Richmond, Virginia, and proved that he was a first rate Jeffersonian Demo crat. Now I want to know, when his character in mgs; such stuff as and published Mr }y j party :nca selected by themselves, as the most ta- le ! lented and worthy among them, are so treacherous and faUe. so easily sedtced, that none of the rest can be trusted ? You intend to puff and recommend ot-ku's ; but wdl not the thoughtful and llDnest say to you. you yourselves being judges—you have been dect ved, and cheated us; v.o will have no more of your boasted champions? I would notify gentle men that all their ridiculous subterfuges, to escape public odium, will be unavailing. Tiie people are iionest; they have no motive to be otherwise; you have duped the.m once, and it will be many a long year before you can fool them again. 'I’hese remarks have been made to expose this un just quarrel among the Whigs, and save, as far as practicable, the honor of the nation, though it be at tlie cost of that party. The Democratic party has been abused for their apathy, and they have been exhorted by the Whigs to support the Administration. We have supported, and are still ready to support every measure, wheth er proposed by the majority of this House or by those termed the peculiar friends of the President, that we believe just, and calculated to promote the interest of the country. We are responsible for our votes ; we are powerless, and can neither carry or arrest any measure; and because we have usuaHy cast those votes in silence; we have been charo-ed with looking in ti iumph at the divisions of the Whfgs, while the country suffers. Sir, we have not refus ed to lend a helping hand ; but the most we can do is to mingle our sympathies with those who mourn over wrecked and butchered hopes falsely beo-oiten by the dominant party. ‘U'is true w’e are calm and How linn; and clustering around the Constitution, we are determined to support it through the storm, or be buried under its ruins. That we feel encouraged and triumphant, is but the evidence that the skies indicate that the storm has spent its force, and that we will survive. Think you that the heart of the man of (xod did not beat with hope when the dove re turned to the arkj bearing the evidence that the wa ters were subsiding Do not, then, scoff at the patri ot, whose painful task has been to witness the foun- and all that cn- threatoncd to be _ ruption and ruin : that now, while he watches the yielding wave and sees in the distance the proud Arrarat swelling above the flood, that his bosom beats with joyful, though mournful exultation, at the prospcct of his country’s safe deliverance. 'There is one thing in which we all seem to agree ; that the present cnsis is big with importance and pregnant with difOculties. °From the manifest determination upon the part of this House to pass the Loan bill at this tinv>, ivr. ar.j cj understand that its passage will the Treasu ry and save Uie croJ/t of the country. 1 will very briefly offer the conmiitteo the views I entertain up on this important measure. During the extra ses sion of Congress, a loan w'as authorized for twelve millions of dollars, which the officers of this Govern ment have not been enabled to have’ half taken. The propositon novv is to lengthen the time and in crease the loan. In favor of extending the time to twenty years, gentlemen assert that the shortness of tl:€ tiirie has been the cause of failure in it having been obtained. The time may possibly have had some influence upon the minds of capitalists to ma king this negotiation, but I trust 1 may be pardon ed not to credit these naked assertions of the fact with out anjf evidence whatever to support them, if they are not directly in contradiction of the testimony.— If the time had been the only difficulty, would not the Secretary of the Treasury have given us that information? Would it not have been his duty to have said to this House, that, in the efibrts made to negotiate the loan, capitalistsujbjected to the’ shortness of the period, and if that objection is removed, the money can instantly be obtained? If this had been the cause of failure, we should without doubt have been informed. But, instead of receiv ing that information, we are told by the Secretary in his communication read a few days since by the Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, that in order to get the money, we must put the bonds in market for wdiatever they will brinf>-. The flourishes made in speeches here about this great nation, the fertility of its soil, its immense re- sourctsand extensive credit, holding these things up as a sure guarantee for borrowing money, do not tal ly well with the fact that we have an empty Treas ury ; and that for many months after straining eve ry nerve, we have not been enabled to borrow twelve millions. It is doubtless true that we have an ex tensive and fruitful country, blessed with every va riety of climateand product; but public credit is by no means based exclusively upon these! If it wore, the bonds of no State in this Union w’ould have suffered much depreciation. If the credit of their bonds depended upon the wealth within their limit, then would their bond^ have ever remained at par! The argument is fallacious, and we must seek for other means to sustain public credit. So far as the credit of this Government was concerned, it was good (notwithstanding all the clamor raised against the Domociacy.) when this administration came in to power. How then has it been so soon impair- ed, and public faith violated? In tlic first place by lenealing the Sub-Treasury and thereby unsettlino' the currency. ?so man who reflects upon this case, but must come to the conclusion, that the bonds of a Government put into market, wliich has a fluc tuating or depreciated currency will feel its influ ence. The very act of repealing the Sub Treasu ry was a formal notice to the world, that we intend ed to change our standard of value—that we intended to adopt some scheme of finance that u’ould augment the currency, and thereby diminish its va lue. It will not be'denied that no capitalists would have asked any better currency than was secured to public creditors before the meeting of the extra ecs sion of Congress Indeed so far as their interests 'A ere concerned, it could not have been better, and any alteration w’as likely to prove directly or indirectly injurious. The next difTiculty which proved a the credit of the Government in market before \yc have provided ^he means to support it? Can we hope for better success ? Every step taken, every act passed of a public character at the extra session of Congress, tended to impair the credit of the Go vernment. ■ ri’C available resources of the Treasury from the proceeds of the public lands were £riven away— the financial scheme unfixed, and left in a boubtful. public debt. Anxious as I am that no vote of in shall in any wise fetter the operations of the Go vernment, I will not give this bill my support, but ;’.s. shall oppose it at every step—unless the tarifi bill 11. is first adjusted, and the public lands reclaimed. I sli^hi will not pernut myself forced to support a loan, i damenlu while eyery question remains open and unseulcd, f tHe counti which is calculated to affect materially the interest |.cant phrase, and credit of the nation. Neither sectional interests i not make so n. perp.exmg, and exciu'ng condition—the Revenue nor party jealousies, should prevent a union of r k t I 1 O A# t .1 I - II t • • bill unsettled, and a furious war waged upon the President and his Cabinet by the very men who brought him into power. Having ’vitnesscd the disastrous consequences of such conduct and such le gislation, it was the ir/sperious duty of this Congress to have rectified without party disputations, the er rors then committed. The revenue bill should have passed, some scheme of finance settled, the pub lic lands reclaimed, affording the guaranty to capi talists of and ceitain payment In good funds, before this loan bill should have been urged for pas sage. The whole country; yea, almost the whole world, is in a stale of monetary commotion. At such a time moneyed men, who are usually cautious and timid, will ‘ lot include Uiegrea- • agricultural 'ntwhenwehca, aciiva^ ' Congress i clotii. ■'5S to h '■r hearts and hands, in an effort to strengthen ihal credit, and protect the honor and character of the coantry. Let not pride of opinion, directed and controlled by party-organizatior>, drive you onward in a policy which is deepening and widening the gulf that is threatening to swallow up national cred it, and with it uational prosperit}*. Husband all your resources—let nothing be given or thrown away, without just scrutiny—curtail every unneces sary expenditure iu each branch and department of the Government—abolish every sinccurc oflice— stop your ears to the thousand unjust applications made to legislate money out of the Treasury, to . - - ] • r • satisfy the cravings of individual cupidity. Let ani tmiiu, will keep their funds close and take care | these things be done, and whether in peace or in of tfiem oven at the expense of their interest. To t 'var, you will find that we have a public spirited lie, you must afford them the advantageous pros pect of an exorbitant speculation, or give them the sure and obvious guaranty of prompt and punctual /•/icA payments. Sensible of these truths' in the him as he w’isi. viakc the farmer pu self and family. i profit as much as he Uv ing made by him, and make farmers and all oth». ! ready-made clothing. Pern docs not make a satisfactory int, and his forges, and forthwith he ^ to make farmers pay higher prices and hoes, his axes and crowbars, his s, chains, his sickles and his scyi^s, his u and hinges, his knives and forks, his pots ties, and every item of iron or steel used by his business. Perhaps the owners of a Jafire ufacturing establishment do not make saiisfaci^ I profits on their business; and forthwith they petj;, cash entire absence of any legislation to W'arrant a faith ful conipliancc v/ith our engagements, the Secreta ry of the Treasury has recommended that the bonds bo sold to the highest bidder. For this recommen dation he has been abused, and the proposition con-; demned. 1 am likewise opposed to this mode of I supplying the 7’reasury; and yet, if wo foice our credit into muket without first providing the ways • and means for discharging our obligations, there can be^no doubt that this recommendation is indis pensable to any assurance that the funds will be procured. "Vye are told that plighting the faith of this gieat nation is enough, and that capitalists will have confidence that means will be provided: So might the I»,epresentativ'es in the State Legislatures of the respective States have declared whose depre ciated bonds cannot now find a market. These States are component parts of this nation ; their citi zens as honest, just and honorable, and yet they have failed to provide means fora prompt discharge of their obligations. I^ct the means be provided so that capitalists may judge 9I sulliciency before you ask a loan '-I’tia tariff bill is the only source ,0 uie majority of this Ilonse turn their ryes for the payment of the loan, and for defraying the cui rent expenses of the (. government. ^ a pure devotion, who, in the midst of deepest dis- j his coat and waiscoat, for his pantaloons, for hisiS tresb, will throw their all, from the widow’s raite” j clothes and table cloths, for the clothing of his«-;f to t le miser s hoarded plenty, into the public Trea- | ahd childern, for every yard of cotton, woollen 'ir sui}, I needfui, to rescue the nation from either ru- j on, hempen, or silk-goods purchased for iheitcQm, in or ishouor. But while you retain hanging j fort, or used in his family. Perhaps the glass-tai arouna the neck of your Treasury, swarms of pen- i ker wishes to increase his profits; and forthwithK ■while you are giving away your j petitions Congress to make every body pay a hicrV a few thousand ' ’ - - . J j saving with you found out Did you know it when you used to make speeches to the hoosiers before the Presiden- tial election . It you did you ought to have told us of It ihen—for the concealer you know is as bad as the (hief-and it' you did not know it, you rahf irarnt smart enough to goto Concrrcss” I now ask the gentleman, what political sin has Mr Webs or committed since he came into office-2- Does he complam of his statesman-like communica tion apon the vTeole r.'ise in which he sacrifices hi^ sectional interests and local prejudices for the honor of his country ? If not. he does not even intimate another offence, except that Mr. Webster would not resign and abandon his post to dictatorial bidding — bhamc, shame upon such double-dealing and party duplicity. Does the gentleman and his party ima- gmethatthe people of this country will ever trust them again, when they are found assailing, without mercy, the very men who were placed at the head of their party—men pufied and recommended by tnem to the American people as worthy of ail confi dence . W ih not the lutelligem people of this coun- frv conclude tha» if the very best men of the Whio-1 W’as barrier to effect a loan upon reasonable terms, the failure upon the part of Congress to enact any scheme of finance, leaving capitalists in a state of conjectural uncertainty, as to its ultimate result. It would have been next to impossible for them to have determined, considering the state of parties and the condition of the country, upon what terms they could take the loan. Any scheme of finance whether good or bad, had one been adopted, would have enabled moneyed men to have made calcula tions accordingly. I will not pursue this ar^^u- mcnt farther to show that the credit of this or a'liy other Government must depend greatly upon the regulation of its finances. This Congress should then, in my opinion, before it placed the credit of the Government again in market, have acted upon the report of the Finance Committee, and have settled that question. Another important consider ation which has been neglected, and whicli ouo-ht to have been in advance of the Loan bill, is the Hevenue act. A loan is but the sale by Govern ment of a certain amount of annuities charged up on the income of the nation, and its value in the market must be, to a considerable'extent, regu/ated by the annual receipts of the Treasury. Why Uien has this bill been urged upon the House, be- fore considering the report of the Finance Commit- tcc ? Why are -ve -•ailed upon once moro to hawk This whole procedure is part and parcel of the high tariff policy. The clamor for money, money, upon the part of the Government, is the first step; next the Loan bill is put in advancc of tiie Kevenue bill thereby prostrating public credit, in order to afford the more plausible pretext for a hirrh tariff. I say pretext, for it surely does not follow that a high tariff at this time would increase the re venue; for I verily believe, th.u if duties are raised higher than twenty per cent., it will have a contrary effect, and dimmish rather than increase it. In a prosperous state of the country with a people free from debt, and revelling in luxury, an increase of duties might well argue an increase of revenue - but now, when almost every State in the l .^nion is’tax ing its citizens, to the ut.uiost point of endurance to sustain their own credit, and carry on their half completed works of internal improvement; when the whole enterprise of the country is paraiized—the list of insolvents and bankrupts daily multiplying an incrca.S'i of duties wiJl, m my opinion, diminish the revenue. lii proportion to the protection it af fords homo manufactories, will the revenue be inju red ; and if the tariff bo made sufficiently hi^rh to afford complete protection, then must the revenue from imports be utterly destroyed. If we were re- piesenting the interest of manufacturers and stock jobbers only, and prepared to sacritice every other interest for theirs, the policy we pursue w’ould be the one most likely selected. I have confidence to believe, that sooner or later this Ciovernment will provide means for defraying its expenses, and dis charging its debts. But'by selling stocks or bonds, before this is done, while ouv credit is at its lowest point, we shall afford the stockjobber the opportu nity of an enormous speculation at public expense. Suppose you pass this bill, and stock be sold at a discount of twenty or thirty per cent., and before Congress adjourns we adopt an accejitable system of finance, provide ample means to ensure a prompt discharge of public obligations, is it not apparent that Go\eriimcnt stock woTild instantly rise, and that, by our wretched, miserable legislation, we should afford to stock-jobbers an immense specula tion, at the expense of the nation ? This bill provides for pledging a certain portion of the revenue to secure this loan. This is truly a comfortable suggestion. With nn income already too short, by several millions, to meet the current expenses, you propose to re.sort to the expedient of providing for present necessities, by increasinrr \vith certainty future liabilities. In other wor(6. we adopt the lovely system of paying our debts, by plunging deeper in. Your public debt, by this means, must be annually increast-d, in order to meet the increasing necessities of the Government.— Whatever amount your annual receipts fall short of tlie current expenses of the year, must bo supplied by new loans which, added to the increasing debt interest and discounts, will soon burthen us with a debt that will baffle all expedients. Like a ball of snow, gathering as it rolls, it will soon attain an overwhelming magnitude; like the petrifying mass, it Will suind m the way of all improvemei-it, and spread the chilling miseries of poverty throuo-h the land. In order to remedy this evil in part, tdie Pre sident has recoinmended a suspension of the provis- bencath the head of the dying, in order to satisfy the demand of some unrelenting creditor—when the clouds of wretchedness and ruin hang in thick folds oyer the path of labor and industry—when the cries ^ of miscrj^ and woe are heard in city and forest, in r the mountains and on the coast;—shall we, by pass- And if Government may rightfully take one man’s property and give it to another, way they not, by the same right, make an eqii il distribution^ IMULCCIIVU aysLeui. i w Jii cail t)5- j rpi • • i • .1 . pecially upon those of my colleagues who served | j at the extra session, not to permit party fetters to bind them to a policy so unjust to the whole coun try, and so much at war with the interest of our immediate constituents. Pause and remember, that though you may oppose the tariff by pen. vote, and speech, it will afford you no apology, while you aid in forcing upon the country this boasted pretext for its speedy enactment. Expiate, while you may, j the faults and blunders of an evciting period w'hich I will always boar the stigmatizing mark of party > faction and political servitude. IjCt us act together, by all means; repeal the Distribution bill, and provide the necessary means to meet the dues of the Government. Let us en deavor to dispel the cloud, the threatening cloud in the extent to which it is carried. Reflection and an examination into facts will sat isfy the reader that the word protection ” is misap plied when used in this sense. Taxation of •• home industry ” would be a more appropriate phrase; for the industry of all is taxed to build up the fort-jnoi of the few. Onuno'usf—Thc Columbia “South Carolinian ’ calls the attention of its readers to Mr. Calhpjf.'s able speech on Mr. Clay’s Resolutions, in rdatioi> to the Protective Policy, the Compromise, v.tc.—and then throws forth the lollou'ing ominous reiuarks u: its own: “ The false and treacherous policy by v.diich tlieir that hangs over our head ; to scatter the doom I interests are as?ailed, is strikingly devel- nistn- ! ® prtitended adherence to the Com- which sheds terror into tlie heart of the administra tion, and, by united action, .^struggle to prevent the shame with which the violation of our national en gagements must forever stain the birth-right of free dom. TARIFF—PllOTECTlXG HOME INDUS TRY, &c. We find the following in the Saratoga (N. Y.) Sentinel, the editor of which says it is from the pen of one of the ablest writers in the Union. Home Industry I a Captivating Name I—Who is^ not in favor of protecting “home industry?” Not one. It is our highest boast that we are in fa vor of protecting “home industry.” In what docs ‘‘home industry” really consist? Look abroad over our thousand hills and boundless plains. See the emigrant cutting down the trees, building his log cabin, and turning up the prairie, where golden harvests have slept ever sim 3 the flood. There is “ home industry.” Look at the farmer, improving his worn-out fields, feeding his cattle, and taking his crops to market. There is home industry.” Look at his wif'e and daughters cooking his food, making his clothes, doing every thing to save what he has earned, and giving comfort to his habitation. Here is “ home industry.” This class exceeds all others in society, both in numbers and importance. It is they who give va lue to a country. Without them, our wide spread and fertile lands would be as valueless as the deserts of Arabia. Not a house would be built, did they not feed the builders. Not a city or village would spring into existence, or continue to exist, did they not draw' substance and wealth from the farmers around them. Not a ship floats w’hose freight is promise, at the very moment that he is preparing to violate almost every provision ot it, and render those j designed for the benefit ot the South, utterly valiic- I less. So far the advantages of it have been wholly on the sioc of the Tariffites; and now, just wheu they are about to accrue to us, they set the obliga tions of it on their part, utterly at nought, and pre pare to renew upon us the vile system of legis/ativc robbery now about to terminate. And have they the blind hardihood to suppose that the Soutti will tamely submit to this?—that after complying with all our obligation.s, and submitting to aJJ* the burthens of tlie Compromise, we will permit them to violate theirs^ deprive us of all its benefits, and force upon us new- burthens, as unconstitutional, op pressive and tyrannical as those about to terminate ? Can outrage go farther than this, and is it not an insult to the Southern people, to presume thus upon their submission to it ? Come what may, /South Car- otina icill resist it, at all hazards: Pass the uncon stitutional law they may, but it will be no law in South Carolina, and soon declared so. The resist ance generally, too, will be a very different matter to what it was in Are the Madcaps at Washington prepared io ■ raise up another storm in the South ? Will they j violate the Compromise—and raise the TaritT, be- I fore they give back the Public Lands to supply the I wants of an impoverished Treasury? Will they I go on to multiply futhor and grievous and sensitive ■ questions upon the States—as, for example, the pro posed feature in the apportionment bill, \vhich a?' sumes the new power of forcing the State Legisla tures to district their States, for the purpose of elect ing members of the House of Representatives. We shall republish some of the speeches in the House, for the purpose of showing, that the power reserv ed in the Constitution to Congress, of regulating the time and manner of electing Representatives, 10ns of the bill distributing the proceeds of the pub lic land. I hail this recommendation as an earn est, upon his part, that he will not permit precon ceived opinions, when found to conflict with public interest and policy, to drive him onward to a sacri fice of both. I have heard that it was po'=sible for those who are in the habit of telling marvellous sto ries, to repeat them so often, that altliourrh they knew them false when first related, that'^findin^r marveilous believers, they at length became believ ers themselves. The Whigs have made an illus tration of this saying. They talked so loudly and often of restormg public credit and confidence, upon heir coming into power, that they seem finally to have believed that all was actually accomplished upon their success; yea, worse—to have concluded that then resources w'ere too ample, that national credit was too h.gh, and that like alcohol, above proof, needed diluting;—and with all possible speed domain^^^^^*^^‘^^^ success, gave away the public Now when there has been time for reason once more to take the helm, the folly and madness of an excited hour should without hesitancy be corrected ' f •1^“!’ *'^, be reclaimed; this one act he for ! loan, ensure its procurement upon better terms, and provide means for terest. and reducing annually the principal,”anc!*thu «.vo -ho country from the corlain'v of incrajta navies cannot exist, and the w’orld would be surrendered to a few wandering savages. His is tlie “home industry'* w’hich, above all not, in the first instance, the product of his toil, or intended to be used only in the case, where the of the labor of those whom he feeds. The lawyer. I States neglected or refused to discharge their duties, the doctor, the divine, the mechanic, the seaman! ' prevented by any cause, from passing a the soldier, the public officer, the merchant, the 1 regulate the manner for themselves. Yet banker, the broker, the poet, the painter, the idler. ! ^^^caps are hurrying on to create new hoart- and the knave, are all fed from his hand, clothed by | on the part of certain States—and produc- his toil. The w'ealth of the Girards and the As-1 contentions between them and the United tors is the accumulation of his industry • it is he j Congress can, in ordinary cases, direct who fills the treasuries of states and nations builds i territory, they may take and supports armies. W^ithout him society I step, and undertake to lay off the districts - - ’ - • themselves. If they may regulate the manner in one waj”, why should they hesitate to regulate it in another w'ay ? others, merits “ protection.” But what protec-i he ayes and noes upon the District Clause oi tion/' does it obtain or ask; or what is it possible 1 ‘'''= character of the pariies by whom for Government to give ? Does the emigrant ex pect or ask the Government to cut down the tree for him or build hi^ cabin, and plough up the prai rie ? Does the farmer ask or expect the Govern ment to build his fences, cultivate his fields, or co ver them w’ith manure? Does he go to his Go vernment and say, “ My land is poor ; I can scarcely get a living; I beg you for protection— I beg you io impose a tax on the produce of my 7ieighbor'‘s more productive lands that my crops may sell higher, and 1 may get rich If he were to approach Congress or the State Legislature with such a petition, he would be laughed to scorn. He would be told that he had himself chosen his occupation, and selected his home ; that he must en counter the hazard.-? of the one, and the inconven- the clause was supported or opposed. The clause was carried by two majority only. Of the 101 ayes, 93 w^ere Federal W^higs—2 Republicans on ly, and Mr. Cushing, whom the Correspondent of the New Y’ork American calls a Tyler man. Of the 90 nays, 82 were Republicans, 14 Whigs, and Messrs. Wise, Proffit and Irwin. Thus it is, as it alwa3^s is, the Federalists, with rare exceptions, going for a strong Federal Govern ment, at the expense of the States, whilst the Dem ocrats, with very rare exceptions, are in favor of a strict construction of the Constitution, and, as Mr. Hous ton of Alabama says, they are for “ restraining the action of Congress within narrow and prudent lim its, and confining its legislation to but few objects. But the obnox'ous innovation is not yet fastened upon the States. The Senate has not yet passed r er price for glass. So of every other'class' of mar., ufacturers and mechanics who meet in our markets competition from aboard. To increase the profiij of the salt-maker, every farmer must pay a highc price ior the salt he puts upon his meat or gives tj his cattle. To increase the profits of a few sugar, planters in a single State, the whole Union is rnads sioned plunderers- treasure by millions, the saving dollars, though you accompany that the loud cry of retrenchment, you will neither kin dle nor brighten a beam of confidence or hope in the dispirited hearts of your suffering country men. While we have it in our power to adopt other means for carrying on the Government, at a time like the present, to impose additional burthens to pay a higher price for sugar, on vhe laboring taxpaying people, is not only impo- And this is called '‘'protecting home indutni’'' itic and unjust, but it is cruel. Now, when the The industry of is taxed to swell tho in- oorsofjrour most thrifty merchants are closed by come of one: but the thousands are forgotten and rnisfortune—when commerce is paralysed—when | the one only Teiuembercd! Because the one in the mechanic has quitted his w'ork-bencb, and saun-1 being enabled by law’ to appropriate to himself in ters about the streets begging for employment—! part the fruits of'the industry of thousands, n'ci^ when the ploughman has ceased to whistle his mer- j a protective tariff; incidental and direct, is hailed as ry notes, m anticipation of a fruitful harvest—when la happy measure, all-important to the country, the officer of the law stands watching the hut of po ^ verty and disease, to snatch the humble pallet from There are few men in society u'ho advocate an equal distribution of property through the inslru- nientulity of law, and these are stigmatized as Qfrra- rians atvi levellers. Bui is not a protective tariff so called, foutided on the same principle? When! the law steps in and compels me to paj more for ii hat than I should otherwise be obliged to pay, does ing this bill in advance of e'very other, create the I '"V pfopf'.v and give it to the necessity for imposing upon them additional taxes ! I u, r compels the farmer to give five I call upon the advocates of an economical adminis- \ ^ ^ u" goods which he could other- tration of the Governmerit, to arrest this bill, until i purchase for four, does it not take from hiaa means are prepared to meet its exactions. I call j ta the manufactu- upon the anti-tariff members of Congress to aid in ' '' ^ the arrest of this incipient movement to fasten upon the country the protective system. I will call es- iences of the other; that it would be as unjust to , -r -i tax his neighbor's crops, io enable him io sell his j thunderbolt of the Presioeni may^ ncrt?35ing goodi a- highp.r pricc, as it v:m\d bv. (o take hi^ i ytt dash it in piccrs—Richmond Enquirer.
Mecklenburg Jeffersonian (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 24, 1842, edition 1
2
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