M 'J K
Tar bore ugh, ( Edgecombe Coun ty,X. C ) bdhirdayXtn nury 18,: iS-lo -
Vol. XVI fro 3
The Tarborough Press,
BY G KOn3 E li0WA!!D,
13 published weekly at Two Dollars andF'fhjy
vents per year, if paid m aavance or
oar at the expiration of the subscription year.
For an j period les than a ypar, Ttosily-JiM
Cents per month. Subscribers are at liberty to
discontinue at anr time, on giving notice thereof
and paying arrears those reaidm at a distance
must invariably pay i advance, or givearespon-
T,iree
sioie reierence in una viv,iiiivy.
Advertisements nut excesdinfr a srpiare will be
inserted at One Dollar the first insertion, and 25.
cents for every continuance. Longer adverti ie
ments in like proportion. Court Orders and Ju
dicial advertisements '25 per cent, higher. Ad
vertisements must be marked the number of in
sertions required, or they will be continued until
otherwise ordered and charged accordingly.
Letters addressed to the' Editor must be post
paid or they may not be attended to.
REMARKS OF MR. BYNUM,
Of North Carolina,
In the House of Representatives, Decem
ber 24, 1839 On the resolution of Mr.
Dawson of Georgia to suspend the order
of the House to go into an election of
Printer to the House of Representatives
for the Twenty-sixth Congress.
Mr. BYNUM s Tid, if the liaise would
co into an election of Printer at this time.
hn w.vihl forbear making anv remarks. If
not, he would go on and say what lie was
;iVU! !o s;iy. Cries of '-Go on." Sir,
.VII'
Mr. B. if tht Am nean people could
e assembled in this hall, and oul I
e wi ;e-ed the proceedings of this.
:i?e for th" last three weeks, they, with
. h o:'a s?"j2;'e nan e, would have
V e h :
CXCi .!::
O- Vi'f, 4
' ...
J'ttrf ?
S i !:
t,M-. .'.!.;.. i
ii.tio'u h
spcakii:i
rv. If
I .pni o o' the Komaii
; tu::!em )buiere Co-
occ
:. : he read
in the quo-
ielVC
o,
when
01
tne t'ataiiiw;ii
t on-pl'a-
v.priran r 0"!e had been
Trp.sf-nt in o m eai!( ries Sieee tne CO
en-
menem. nt of our ss-io ihev i!i!ht
ry this qiiola'i. n, and sa , how long 0!
Whig nn:':, will y-u com nine to abue our
natiem e? How loi g shall our madness
outbrave our justice, and eontmu' to insult
our undcrs'auciings. and prooratin ate this j
i.'te lei'a'e, at an expanse ot hundreds ol j the prtntingof the Houe upon the joint re
1:i s;n is of d.)ll us to the Government; at j solution of 1S19, until the first Monday in
i -criiice of every interest that is near j December next."
and s.ear 10 us as American freemen. This was a direct proposition, but it
Why. .sir, I would be willing to stake alljcould not be carried, because some gentle-
Ih -vein this world, ay, sir, 1 would
be
be
as j
willing to take my salvation, that theic h
been more money .-pentby the paity which
nrofesses to desire a retrenchment in the
expenses of the public printing, in idle,
unnecessary debate, and in motions after
motions to delay, procrastinate, and em
barrass the business of this House this ses
sion, than the whole profits of the printing
of Congress will be in the next five years.
These debates have already cost the people
of this country more than 100,000, if not
S500,000. We are here in the fourth
week of the session of the Twenty-sixth
Congress, and there has not yet been lb;? j
first step taken towards proceeding to the
discharge of the high duties for which we
assembled. The House has as yet been
but partially organized. Wre have not jet
elected a Printer, and the .standing commit
tees have not yet been appointed; and, sir,
whose fault is it that this has not been done?
What party in this House has prevented
the action and organization of the body?
What is it that has been struggling, day
after day, to stave off the action of this
House upon the matters which the majority
desired to decide? And who is it that h.s
introduced propositions time and again,
which the House had previously decided,
and called upon the House again lo decide
these questions? These questions will all be
examined into by the people, and they will
be able to point to the party which has oc
casioned all this delay and embarrassment
to the business of the nation. Do gentlemen
suppose that the people are to be duped and
misled? Do they suppose that the freemen
of this country are too ignorant to discov
er who it is lhat. has piled motion upon
motion in this House, in order and out of
order, and consumed week aficr week in
useless debate, when the business of the
country was left untouched and the public
service suffering? Do gentlemen suppose
that by their superior talents they can
dupe and impose upon the people of this
country by their, cry of retrenchment,
while they are thus squandering the pub
lie money in worse than useless debate,
and leaving the public business untouch
ed? Does the gentleman from Ohio, the
gentleman from Chillicothe district, I mean
Mr. Bond, suppose that the people of
this country are so easily imposed upon?
Sir, even the people of that unfortunate
district cannot be imposed upon by that
gentlemen long, for the Administration b
last gaining ground even there; and if the
r.vv, wi viio.1, Mismv-t. iuuoi oe longer i
imposed upon, how can the gentleman ex- Are gentlemen so deluded as to ihinkfor
pect lo deceive the people at large? No ! a moment that these thingv are incompre
snflemcn of understanding ran take aj h'uisble lo the people, or that the great
. . . . . i r i . t.. i i a. j u
view 01 una wiiuie irauM-uun,!
and compare it with what has heretolorei
taken place, without pronouncing it one of
the most farcical and ludicrous exhibitions
ever attempted to be played offon the A mc
ri"a p"0-)le. I am not here permitted to
speak of the motives of gentlemen, because
. . . . . . r u.
it is not m order: nut u u wa, i miii
say that we would bear none of this cry of
retrenchment, if the election of this omcer
was to benelit a certain press, owned by a
monster Bunk, which is o vaed, in a gre.it
degree, by foreign capitalist, and which ha
always been hostile to the i n teres' s and
rights of the people of this country. The
course of honorable gentlemen might be
very different on this occasion, if we are to
judge from what his transpired on a previ
ous occasion of a similar mture. It has
been again and again decided by the Ame
rican people that this Biithh Rank was of
the mos deadly hos ility to the rights and
the liberties of the people of this country,
and the people have elected a majority of
Representatives to this House at cwryj
session forinmy )Tears, who were opposed
to this Bank; yet for the last two years,
that Bmk has had the benefit of the
printing of this House, through its agents
Messrs Gjles and Sca'on. In fact, strange
as it may appear, the Bank of the United
Slates was the Printer of this House for
the last t wo years; and no man could deny
i his assertion, so far as its emoluments ate
concerned.
Sir, the p?ople have been humbugged
too much on this subject to borrow a f t
vorite expression fiom the Opposition
and it i time that they knew the whoe
truth in relation to this matter. Whi.-n fue
e Section of Public Printer vas about to
take place two years ago, the United;
States Bank was not strong enough to ob
tain the work without o'her aid, and a
combination was filtered into here to se
cure to it the benelit of this election. In
the first phice, a resolution was submitted
by a genilemau, whose name I will not
! mention, as my relations with that gentle-
ti:an are of a delicate character, showing the
va-Combination on its -face. The resolution
was as fid lows:
"Hesolved, That the Clerk ofthe House
be, and he is hereby, authorized to employ
the editois of the Intelligencer, and the ed-
itor of the Madisonian, equally, toexecute
men were ahaid tiiev might be called to
men were afraid they might be called
account by their consiituents for voting
for
such a proposition; yet precisely the Mime
proposition was carried by a secret agi ce
ment between these parlies, as every body
thooght at the time. The Whigs and Con
servatives, at the time, in cons-que.'tce of
this agreement, united upon one Thomas
Allen, and he was el c ed, nominally, pub
lic Printer, for that Congress. I stated to
this House then, that it would require an
ou day of sonic thirty orfoity thousand dol
lars to prepare a printing establishment to
do the m inting of this House; and 1 stated
further, thnt Mr. Alien, being a young
m.-.n just, commencing business, was uti
aide to purchase an e-tabli-l-me.it to do
this printing, and ii was a i idicui.u pro
position to elect him principal Printer
for the House, lie, howevr r, as elected,
and the people were deceived. The peo
ple understood that a ceit.u'n Thomas
Allen w.s elected, and was to do the
printing of Congress. Well did he do
it? No, sir, be never did the first
page of printing for this House, virtu
ally. It was all done by Messrs. Gales
ami Scaton, with an establishment notori
ously belonging to ihe United States Bank.
I hese gentlemen cottid not he elected, be
cause certain gentlemen could not vote for
them and represent the wishes of their
constituents; yet by an agreement, or, as
the old story is, by whipping the devil
around the stump, they enjoyed the benefit
ot the punting ot the list Congress;
while the people were in 'need to believe
that Mr. Allen alone enjoyed the benefits
and profits arising Irom the printing of
Congress. Yes, sir, the whole history of
that transaction is without a parallel in
the proceedings of any legislative body in
this nation, if not in the world. A bargain,
proposed, consummated, and executed here
in this body, toeffect the grossest! mposjtion
on the Amerricxn people that ..had ever
been attempted before to be perpetrated in
this country; by which means the Bank ol
the United States was made virtually the
Printer to the American Congress, with
all its foreign affinities and hostilities to the
free institutions of our country; & this, too
done by a party who have the boldness, I
had like to have said effrontery, to stand
stand op here dqw, and speak of corrup-
tion. ' . : ?
Offered by Mr. Wise of Virginia.
See the iourr.als of the Exlra session of
repeaien.j
jwii, na uuv .uu'u v.ii$,
to retain a just recollection ol the nistory
of these transactions? And is it toactover
ibis di reputable transaction to elect the
Bank of the United States printer of thi
Coigress, that this mo3t extraordinary
coursi has b. -en resorted to by the Oppo
sition to embarrass and delay the indispen
sable business-of this country.
I shall now read a few extracts from the
journals of the proceedings of the House
in relation to that election, for the benefit
of the gentleman from Ohio and some
other gentlemen on this floor. If I under
stand the motion now before the House
correctly, it is a motion of the honorable
gent eman from Georgia Mr. Dawson lo
suspend the election of a public Printer at
the pres.-nf time, for the purpose of ins'i
tuting an inquiry in relation to the prices
of printing; and 1 intend to show what that
gentleman's course was at the last session,
when a similar motion was made. On
the second day of the extra session of Con
gers, two years ago, "Mr Ration of Vir
ginia moved a resolution lhat the House
proceed to the election of a public Printer
for the Twent y -sixth Congi ess, which was
agreed to. The. House then proceeded to
ballot, aifd after five or six ballots were ta
ken, it was found that there was no elec
tion. Tha? House then adjourned to the
next day, ( Wednesd ay,) when Mr. Bronson
a gintlem m whose De nocracy had never
been doubted in this House moved the fol
lowing resolution:
"That the further balloting under the
resolution of the preceding day ...should be
suspended until the third Monday in De
cemher, and that the Clerk be directed to
employ some person or persons to . do the
necessary printing of the House on the
same terms it had been done at former ses
sions. "
A motion was made by Mr. Grennell
to l.y Mr. Bronson's resolution on the
table, and very fortunately the yeas and
nays happen to be recorded on that subject;
and how do they stand? Why, sir, we
find recorded, in favor of laying this resolu
tion on the table, Mr. B. rtading from
the journal. the names of Messrs. Adams,
Allen, Aycrigg, Bond, Hoffman, Mason
of Ohio, Dawson, &.c. It went through
the whole Whig alphabet, from John
Quincy Adams to Thomas Jones Yorke.
Now, sir, (said Mr. B.) the resolution that
I have just read, introduced by Mr. Bron
son, a member from New York, was in
substance identically such a resolution as
is now proposed by the honoroble member
from Georgia, Mr. Dawson. whose patriot
ism has been so inflamed upon this occasion,
and which has been advocated with so
much warmth by his honorable friend from
Ohio, Mr. Bond, against which stands
recorded the names, for all time to come,
of these two most honorable and consistent
gfii'lemen. But, sir, why should they
alone be rebuked, When, their names
are accompanied with nine-tenths of their
piry?
Yes sir, the resolution of Mr. Bronson,
identically the same in substance as Mr.
Daf'vsonV, was voted down by a unanimous
W hig vote; but Mr. Dawson's is now, by
the same party, to be voted up under simi
lar, if not precisely the same circumstances;
displaying an inconsistency, the inevitable
result of all parlies lhat act wihoutthe least
regard to principle. These things should
not be. No party C3n or should long
endure, that would thus attempt to prac
tise on the credulity of mankind.
At that time,' Whig and Conservative
parties in this House were thirsting for
some of the spoils, as they now call it, and
voteii to get nu oi every resolution or
proposition to suspend the election of a pub
lic Printer for any period. Now, however,
the times are changed, and gentlemen ne
cesarily change their action with them.
If thee gentlemen had the same prospect,
by any combination, of electing their
Printer, which they had at the last Con
gress, they would be the last men to post
pone orth wart an election of public Printer;
but now lhat there was a probability lhat
another Printer would be elected, they used
every means within their power to stave
off the question by distracting and embar
rassing the business of the House by every
means that ingenuity could invent. But,
sir, there was another favorite proposition
of these gentlemen; submitted at the time
Mr. Bronson's resolution was under consid
eration. Mr. Pickens at that time moved
an amendment, "that the printing of the
House be given out by contract,", and on
this proposition the names of the gentle
man from Massachusetts, Mr. Adams,
and of the gentleman from New York,
f Mr. . Hoffmanl were recorded in the neg
ative,, and others, now of the Opposition.
fMr. Hoffman explained that he had
voted againsl this amendment because he
believed then as he now believed, that the
House could notgtveout their printing by
contract uniil the resolution of 1819 was
Mr. BYNUM. The gentleman's expla -
nill.in ia i-kiai-funi f ' :r u"...t
........ ia j;cucui) Ul ISIJC'Ory Olll llUv
was it with .regard tosime ten or a dozin
of his friends who voted in the same wlv
with M r. John C. Clark at their bead? I ad
mit th:t a majority; of the Administration
pa- ty voted with, these gentlemen,1 and they
did so because they b' lbved it impractica
ble to enter into an inve.s ligation" of so im-i
portint a matter;1 while'- the)'-' were in the
act of balloting for a' PrihterJ and when
the important business for which" they had
been called together was pressing upon
them. This was a matter which required
time and careful scrutiny,- and the House
was then unprepared to go into it, as it is
now unprepared to do so. It was impos
sible for the House how, after it had spent
a month of the session in idle, useless de
bate, to go into this matter and put off the
important business ofthe country for anoth
er month; ana it gentlemen are serious l
regard to this matter, let them wait until
thy House is organized in the regular and
u Midway, and ihe elections gone through
with, and then introduce this matter in the
sh ipe of a resolution or bill direct - It is
a question which requires time for investi
gation and reflection. 1 myself am not now
prep ired to say how I sh'outd vore on this
question when it is properly brought up
Several years ago, I voted for Mr. Pick
ens's resolulion. 1 offered a similar one the
other day, arid I did it as a kind of peaci
ofi'ering. 1 would now, after the election is
gone into, and carried out, renew that reso
lution honestly and in good faith. As at pre
sent impressed, 1 think I should vote for a
separation of ihe Government from the poli
tical press; but I have not examined the mat
ter sufficiently in detail to enabie me to
speak positively onlhe subject. Butl want
a coo!, deliberate, an J honest investigation
of the subject; and if it can be discovered
that good will result from a separation ol
the Government from the political press,
1 will go for it. But, sir, I do not desire lo
intermix trilling with serious matter,
because, not having the talents of some
gentlemen on this floor, I am unable effec
tually to mystify these questions before the
public &.the world; and if I was to attempt
to do so, I should be exposed, as I ought
to be, to the indignant frowns of an honest
people. Sir, my constituents are too honest
and discerning to tolerate for a moment
such an attempt.
I shall now say a few words in reply to
the gentleman from Ohio, Mr. Bond,
with regard to the petition of Francis P.
Blair. On that subject too, if I am not
egregiously mistsken, I think I shall be
able to show the most reckless want of ali
regard for consistency, I will not say prin
ciple, by that honorable member and his
consistency-loving party. I will show lhat
the Liter part of tne resoluiion, now pro
posed by the honorable member Irom
Ueoigia, was then en
131 t'ilniil nrrriTV'inrr
out of the petiiiou of Mr.
Blair, and a
motion for a select committee, for a icfer
eiice ef ihe whole matter, was rcsis;ed
almost unanimously by the self-same party ;
and 1 think that the journals will show that!
these same gentlemen then resisted the
reference of this House. He would read
the ieso!utionas it was finally referred.
i L' . solved, 'l hat so much of the memo
rial of Francis P. Blair, as invites scruti
ny of all his accounts for work executed
jfor Congress and the public offices, be re
ferred lo a select committee, with instruc
tions to inquire into the manner in which
the public printing for Congiess and the
Executive Department has been executed;
whether the same has been done conform
ably to law, and whether any, and what,
change can he made for the public good."
That subject came before this House, not
in a questionable shape, as the gentleman
from Ohio would have it, but in the shape
of a petition; and the humblest American
free citizen, he trusted, would ever have
the right to petition this body for a redress
of grievance s, and to ask for such measures
of legislation as would do ihem justice if
they weie wronged. And would the gen
tleman from Ohio spurn the right of peti
tion on this floor, in the capitoi of this
free Republic, and in defence of oneself
for personal wrongs? But lo the votes
upon the presentation of 'this memorial of
Mr. Blair. A motion was made by the
gentleman from North Carolina Mr.
McKay to refer this n emorial,, together
with a resoluiion to go into an examination
ofthe whole matter of public printing,
and alihough ihe yeasand nays' were not
called on that question, all gentleman' on
this floor that were hereMhen, knew that
the Whigs voted againlt .this reference.
The question was afterwards taken by yeas
and nays directly on the reference of this
petition to a select committee: we find the
Democratic members voting for the refer
ence, and the Whig members againstit.
Yes, sir, we find recorded in trie negative
on this question Mr. B here read from
the journals the.names of ''Messrs. Ad
ams, Allen, Bond, Dawson," &c. This
was the course of these gentlemenat-.the
last session, who are now so anxious mr an
examination into the subject of the printing
of the House and so desirous to have it
Uivn out by contract. Oh, consistency,
whit a jewel!"
Wiih regard to this ma'ter of giving out
the printing by contract, 1 beg gendemen to
r collect this one fact," that there are but
two establishments in this ciiy at present
which could possibly" do the. piimihg of
this Uou-e. It required, as he- had been
informed, an expenditure of some thirty or
forty thousand dollars to prepare a printing
establishment to do the printing, of the
House, anil no establishment can do ihe
priming uf the House but one of the two
extensive establishments in this city ; either
it must be done by Messrs. Blair and
Rivis, or by Messrs. Gales and Seaten,
and he hoped in God the Bank of the
United Stales would not again have ihe
benefit" of Ihe printing of i his House. It
was idle to talk in good faith of electing oth
ers at Ibis time, whatever might be our feel
ings of friendship towards them.
If g nt lemon were disposed to go into
ibis inve-tigition in good faith, after the
House was organized, he was willing to
go with them; but when he toured them
turning and twisting about as they had
been, he was unwilling to tru-t them. Their
course has been so refractory and in practi
cable, not to say fractious, lhat i cannot
now think of acting with them. Their ef
forts ali seem lo have "been to resist the
majority ofthe House, and set at nought
the Well established principle in this coun
try that the majority shall rule. The princi
ple lhat the majority shall rule is a well es
tablished principle in this country; and I
warn gentlemen not to carry too far their
violent resistance to this principle. Sir, if
gent Jensen carry out their resistance to this
principle too far, they will find that the
people will rise in their strength, and resist
them. Tlie people will not, and cannot
much longer bear ibis resistance of the ex
press will ofthe majority ofthe nation, as
we have daily witmsstd. But why this
struggle for the existence of the U. States
BdhK? .Dues the party with which it is
identified depend upon ibis election-of
Prinier of the House of Representatives, to
sustain their dying, sinking fortunes? No,
no, gentlemen, this would avail you but lit
tle; your doom is fixed.
Sir, there is another matter which I desire
to notice. An appeal has been made lo a
party in this House, called the Nullifiers.
The W7higsare now under the necessity of
appealing to that party, and their cry is,
"help us, Cassius, or we sink." Sir, I
make no appeal lo any high minded and
honorable men, as 1 know the members
of this party of Nullifiers to be, for I know
they will treat with scorn and contempt
ail such appeals to them. Tknow them
to be a high minded and honorable set of
men, and all these appeals are but instills
to their understanding. I know the char
acter ofthe constituents lhal they, repre
sent, and their feelings would revolt at ihe
idea of giving countenance to such appeals;
they know their duty, and will dare do it.
I he gentleman from Ohio has said that the
petition of. Mr. Blair came into this
House in a very questionable shape. In
reply to this, 1 may say that this proposi
tion of the Opposition has come into ibis
House in a very questionable shape. Let us
sir, go into a history of this thing. What
has been the history of this country for
the last two years? Have we not heard
it proclaimed in every quarter of this
Union, that the party denominated the
Whig party, have been anticipating a tri
umphant victory? Sir, have we noi seen
thai for several years that party had a tri
umphant majority in the Sena'e of the
United States; yet during all lhat lime
they never brought forward any of those
measures just now attacked by the parly
here. Sir, why did they not support these
measures two years ago, when they were
brought to the notice of this House? Why,
they did net support them, because they all
knew that, by a union of the Whigs nd
Conservatives, vtheir party would have a
majority in this House, and they could elect
their favorite public Printer. If there war
now the same chance of etecting the Uni
ted States Bank, through its agents,
Messrs. Gales and Seaton, Printer cf this
House, you Would not hear, doubtless, ihe
first whisper from them of ritrenrhment
aud reform in this department, if. we are
to judge from their conduct for the last two
years. If there was a chance, by any com
bination that ihey could eftect, to elect
their candidates, all this loud vociferation
Would be hushed up, and you would hear
no more from them ol retrenchment in the
expenditures with regard to the public
printing. I julge so, sir, from wdiat has
taken place here, before our eyes, within
the last two years.
Sir, I call the the attention oftheAmrr
ican people to the condition of this Con
gress and to the proceedings which have
taken place here during ihe present s
tion: Let ihe people examine for them
selves', and see who it is that h:s delayed'
the business of Congress by a ihoufand
litle motions to stave off the public busi
ness. Let the people 'examine, and see.
who it is that has made motion after mo
tion for adjournment, and repealed motions