; 3SIp. BAYNEUj of IV. Carolina,
On -'Me Bill proposing to distribute annually ,
. among the .several States, the. proceeds of
' the Sales of jfAe Public Lands; delivered
m in the JIouselofJtepresentMvesjof th&U.
States, July th, 1841 ' ; .y
" -, j ; j, V j ' :' j :
' ; i.l CONTINUED ; n : ' '
- The gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. Wise,)
V took the ground, in His argument, on yester
day, that the General Government had never
yet been reimbursed by the sale of theselands,
for the expense incurred in their purchase,
surrey, and sale : and that, including the
expense of Indian wars, the land fund was?
:? many millions of dollars in debt to the Gov
ernment. Now, sir, jis this a fair standard,
by which to estimate the relative benefits
and burthens, ; which! the purchase of the
western territory has entailed on this Gov
ernment! What was the motive, which In
duced the General Government to purchase
Louisiana and Florida 1 Was it one of pe
cuniary train? Was it for the purpose of
securing a lund to supply revenue s as u
with a view to! lessen the burthens arising
frnm tho 1nlias nn ffro(tn' i rnnrrtntinns ?
Does any one I believe does the gentleman
from; Virginia believe--that such an idea
ever entered threads of those, who conceiv
ed and executed th0 project of purchasing
Louisiana and Florida 1 j
Mr. Wise.
1 do say, that one of the main
objects which
induced' to the purchase of
tms territory, was its vaiue, in a pecuniary
. .- . ..; 1 : :
' point of view.- ; j, ; , t .
. 1 Mr. R. Then I can only express my sur
;k prisep'that on who Usually takes such liber
r al and comprehe' nsive views df great ques
, : tions of national policy, as the gentleman
from j Virginia, shou Id. look ,atj this in such a
, narrow and contracted Hgbt-aS a mere mat
ter, of pecuniary speculation. No, sir ; no
such sordid calculating motive actuated those
who .'administered njae,ijravernment, wnen
this vast territory was purchased. They
were stimulated by far higher and more pat
riotic considerations National safety, na-
tional honor, national glory was the aim.
Here was an immense frontier, extending
from the source to the mouth of the Missis
sippi, dividing us from' numberless tribes of
nosuie lruiians. tierej was a nmu piaceu 10
our power and civilization. Here was a
foothold, from f which the enemies of our
country and our institutions might forever
harass and annov usi Here was an obstruc
tion to the corhmerce of the great valley of
the Mississippi Here was the free and ex
clusive navigation of the great father of
' waters, not only denied us, but likely toprovc
a source of endless litigation. Here was a
flourishing colony on our south western bord
er, belonging to-one of the mightiest powers
of Europe,'andiW governed by the great cap
tain of modern jimes who threatened to sub
jugate the world to his dominion. By the pur
chase of Louisiana, all the dangers likely to
result from these difficulties were averted
free scope given to the progress of our power,
our institutions, and our glory, as far west as
the Pacific; and an eiiduring fountain of pros
perity, wealth, and comfort, opened to our
enjoyment. These blessings cannot be es
timated by dollars and cents. They can
only be measured by: national glory, which
is beyond value and beyond price. As re
marked by myffriend from Maryland, (Mr.
Johnson,) if this extensive territory had
been as barren' a3 Sahara's vast desert yet,
if the soil had been firm enough to bear the
feet of an enemy, a hundred millions would
, not have been too gteat a price for its ac-
quisition. ; j j
i If-then the object! of the General Govern
ment, in the purchase of the western territo
ry, was not pecuniary gain as it certainly
, was not ; if it has been more than a hundred
fold compensated fori in the dost, in thg ac
quisition of strength, power, safety, and
glory, as well as other endless sources of
revenue ; why will you continue to talk
about the cost of these lands, in dollars and
cents ? Why will you insist upon " dispos
ing'' of these lands in such a way as will
reimburse the Government, in a pecuniary
point of view, for. the expense incurred in
the purchase ? j This argument is based on
the ground, thajt this Government, in all its
, great national movements, should be actuat
ed by the sordid selfishness and exactness
of calculation, of a broker at his counter, or
a merchant on Change; ; : .
If you wish to know Whether this Govern
ment is reimbursed for the expense of the
" purchase of the 'western territory, go to the
west, and behold the hundreds of steamboats,
richly freighted with. the commerce of a
thousand streams, pouring .their treasures
into the great depot at tbemouth of the Mis
sissippi. Behold the mansions of elegance
and comfort, gracing the margin of that no-
ble stream. Bejbold the -hands of civiliza
tion and enterprise, diffusing the blessitigs
of comfort and of ease among thousands of
our kindred freejinen. Cross the great river,
and behold your national banner floating
from the spires pf St. Louis. Listen .to the
anthems of our religion chaunted, where the
nomad tribes that sweep the prairies, would
have 4njnojd usj with Jheir godless -iforiys
Behold your power and your civilization
tending westward your laws and your j in-
- stitutions scattering quiet and contentment
in their progress! ISoi sir, you need not go
to the west ; cast yourjeye around this hall,
i and behold the rpembers. from the extreme
west, from distadt Missouri, from the burn
ing clime of Louisiana, and the cold region
of Maine, mingling in council, with their
brethren of the Atlantic coast. Look at this,
I say, ajid then je, if you can find in your
hearts, to calculate all these considerations
by a standard of dollars land cents. Then
ask yourselves, )f you will continue to talk
about this land lund still being in debt to
this Government. ; ;!!'."
The gentle maii from . Maine read to us a
calculation, which he says, was prepared at
the Treasury Department from which it ap-
; pears$ that, taking into; account all the ex
pense of purchase, survev and sale of these,
lands, together iwith tne.-cost of Indian
treaties and other Indian1 relations, there is a.
balance due the General Government of
some fourteen millions of dollars after strik
ing balance between this sum total of ex
pense, and the whole amount received from
the sales of these lands. Now, I have at
tempted to show, that the original purchase
money should not be taken into account j
tnat the object of the purchase was not pe4
cuniary gain ; that it was national safety!
national convenience, national power arid
character ; and that the Government has, i
these respects, been compensated beyond
the power of money to bestow. Neithjr
ought the amount of the purchase-money
paid to the Indians, to be included in stat
ing this account. The object of- these puts.
chases froin the Indians, was not solely to
obtain their lands : much of it was paid for
the purchase of peace, for the purpose' of re
storing safety and quiet on our. frontiers.-r-Much
of it was paid to arrest the uplifted
tomahawk ; for affording to the pioneer the
comfort of his home ; for securing to infan
cy the quiet of its slumber ; for arresting
the starting tear in the anxious mother's eye.
These are also beyond all price, and cannot
be estimated by dollars and cents. The
item of Indian relations, such as treaties;,
pensions, agencies, &c, ought not to have
been included in this computation. Are
the expenses attending these, in consequence
of either the cession or purchase of western
lands? Certainly not, sir. If the old States
had never ceded one foot of land, and all
that vast territory were a waste wildernessi
still we should have had a frontier extendi
ing from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of Mexi
co, with tribes of hostile Indians congrega
ted on our border, requiring, at all times,
. a . " . i i
ine anxious attention oi tnis uovernmeni.-
Suppose this Government had never purchas-)
ed Louisiana and Florida, why we should
still have had a frontier extending from the
Lake of the Woods to the mouth of the St.
Marys. We must still have maintained the
same policy towards the Indian tribes ; ne
gotiated for their trade and friendship by
treaty j purchased their qutet by presents
and pensions ; dealt with them by agencies,
&c. So that, if we had never acquired the
western domain, either by cession or pur
chase, this item of Indian relations would
have been, to this day, a permanent annual
charge upon the Treasury.
But if gentlemen will state the account,
by an estimate of dollars and cents, let them
do it correctly. Whilst the land fund is
charged with many items of expense improp
erly, which never grew out of either cession
or purchase, but which, as I have attempted
to show, would have existed in the absence
of either, pne large item with which it
should be credited, has been omitted alto
gether I mean the bounties-to our Revolu
tionary soldiers, and to the families of those
who fell in the last war. These bounties,
arising from our gratitude and justice, if not
paid from these lands, must have been satis
fied from some other sources of revenue, and,
to that extent, have saved the Treasury from
a drain of I know not exactly how much--but
an amount of many millions. The cal
culation of the gentlemen from Maine and
Virginia is entirely fallacious. It is based
upon the idea, that every great question of
national policy and .national honor is to be
measured by a standard of money of dollars
and cents. Their estimate savors too much
of the counting-bouse, to receive countenance
in the Representative Hall of the nation. 1
wish to take a .njpre eXevated view of this
subject ; I wish to look at it in connexion
with the motives to that' policy in our early
history, which has led to our present great
ness ; and also in connexion with the results
that are likely to flow froni it, in time to
come. - ;
The gentleman from Maine insists, that
the power to dispose of the public lands,
means the power to dispose of them by sale,
for the purpose of raising a revenue to sup
port the Government. Where docs he get
such a rule of construction from X Does he
derive it from any other clause of the Con
stitution? If so, where is it ? Webster, in
his dictionary, defines " to dispose" as mean
ing " to apply to a particular purpose i to
give; to place; to bestow ; to part with ;
to alienate; to part with to smother; to put
into another's hand or possession." The
gentleman's construction must then be en
tirely arbitrary assumed merely to answer
an especial purpose. He says this property
belongs to the Government, and not the Fed
eral Union. The gentlemen is correct, so
far as relates to the lands acquired by pur
chase. They do belong to the Government,
free of all incumbrance ; and the Govern
ment being authorized by the Constitution
to dispose of them, has the undoubted right,
according to the definition of Webster, to
" give, .bestow, or part with" them to the
States.
(Continued on 2d page.)
Itate of North Carolina Burke County
Court of Pleas and-Quarter Sessions, July Term,
1841.
William M. Carson, and Jonathan L. Carson,
Alim'rs. with the Will annexed of John Carson, dec.
and George M. Carson.
versus
Joseph McD. Carson, Charles Carson, Rebecca Carson,
Sidney 3. Erwin and wife Caroline, James Smith
and wife Emily, James and Samuel Carson, Sarah
Robinson, Sarah Smith, Rebecca JtfcEn tire, James
r Wilson, Ruth Wilson, Mary WUson and Matilda
Wilson. !
An application to prove the last Will and Testament
'of John Carson, dec,d. in due and solemn form.
It appearing to the satisfaction of the Court in this
case, that the Defendants Sidney S. Erwin and-wife
Caroline, James Smith and wife Emily, James Carson,
Samuel Carson, Sarah Robinson, Sarah Smith,
James Wilson, Ruth Wilson, Mary Wilson and Ma
tilda Wilson are non-residents and live without the ju
risdiction of this Court : It is therefore ordered, ad-j
judged and decreed that publication be made for six!
weeks in the Weekly Raleigh Register, published at
Raleigh; North Carolina, andln the Highland Mes
senger, published at Ashevillej North Carolina, sum
moning the said Defendants to appear at the next Court
of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, to be opened and held
for the County of Burke, at the Court-house in Mor
ganton, on the, third Monday after the fourth Monday
in September next, to see proceeding touching the
probate of the last Will add Testament of John Carson,
deceased, in solemn form. j
Witness, J. J. Eawix, Clerk of our said Court, at
Office, on the third Monday in July, 1841 , and in the
sixty-sixth year of American Independence. j
Test, J.J. ERWIN, Clerk.
August 24. Tr. Ad. $6 50. 70
CONGRESSIONAL WHIG MEETING.
At a meeting of the Wmo momtwra rf rh
feenate and House of Representatives' of the
27th Cdngress of the United States held id
me yity ol Washington, on the ll&of Sep-
The Hon: Nathax I Dixon, of Rhode
Island, on tho part of the Senate, and the
Hon. Jekbhiah Mohrow, of . Ohio, on the
part of the House, wero called to theGhair,
aad Kenneth Rayner, of Nortkarolina,
Christopher Morgan, of New Yojfc; and
Richaed W. Thompson, of Indiana, were
appointed Secretaries. i
Mr. Mangtjm, of North Carolina offered
the following resolutions:
Resolved That it is expedient for the Whigs qf the
Senate and House of Representatives of the Ubited
States to publish an Address to the People of the Uni
ted States, containing a succinct exposition of theipro
minerk proceedings of the Extra Session of Congteas,
of the measures that have been adopted, and tho in
which they have failed, and the causes of such raflfre;
together with such other matters as may exhibit tjply
the condition of the Whig party and W hig prospec.
Resolved, That a Committee of three on the part
of the Senate, and five on the part of the House, be
appointed to prepare such Address, and submit it toa
meeting ot the W lugs on Monday morning next, the
1 3th instant, at half-past eight o'clock.
And the question being taken on said re
solutions, they were unanimously adopted.
Whereupon the following gentlemen were
appointed said Committee : Messrs. Berrienf
of Georgia, Tallmadge, of New York, anii
Smith, of Indiana, on the part of theJ5enatet;
and Messrs. Everett, of yermonvteson of
Ohio, Kennedy of Maryland, John C. Clark,
of New York, and Rayner, of1 North Carolina,
on the part of the House.
Monday, September 13, 1841.
The meeting assembled, pursuant to ad
journment. I Mr. Kennedy, of Maryland, from the com
mittee appointed or that purpose, reported
the following Address :
Fellow-Citizens : The Extra Session of
Congress has, at length, been brought to
a close. The incidents which belong to the
history of this Session, and especially those
which have marked its termination, are of a
nature to make so strong an impression up
on the country, and to excite so much inter
est in the future action and relations of the
Whig party, that the Whig Representatives
in both Houses of Congress have thought it
theirduty, before separating, to address their
constituents with a brief expositioir of the
circumstances in which they conceive them
selves to be placed by the events which have
recently transpired.
This Session of Congress was called as al
most the first measure of that illustrious and
lamented citizen whose election to the Pre
sidency was no less significant of the gener
al sentiment of condemnation of the acts of
the preceding Administration, than it was ex
pressive of a wish for an immediate and rad
ical change in the public policy. The im
providence of those who had just been expell
ed froin power, had rendered it inevitable ;
and the country hailed the meeting of a new
Congress as the sure pledge of relief from
all those evils which the disastrous incompe
tency of the men at the head of affairs had
brought upon it.
' The People desired the early adoption of
the policy which had been promised them by
the Whig partyvjTbat policy bd been brought
to the consideration of the country through
out a contest of nearly twelve years' dura
tion, maintained with unexampled devotion ;
and its principles were illustrated by the pre
cepts and practice of the most eminent and
patriotic of our citizens in every form by
which they were able to address themselves
to the intelligence of the People. No one
misapprehended these principles ; they were
identified with the labors of that, great party
whose unparalelled success was both the to
ken and the reward of the general confidence
of the nation. They promised reform
1st. In the restraint of Executive power
and patronage ; i
2d. In the wholesome regulation of the
currency and the advancement of the inter
ests of industry ; and
3d. In the establishment of an economical
administration of the finances.
They proposed to accomplish the first of
these objooto try limiting uie service qi ine
President to a single term; by forbidding
all officers of the Government from interfer
ing in elections ; and by a voluntary self
denial, on the part of the Chief Magistrate,
inthatexcessive use of the Veto power which
had recently become so offensive to the coun
try as an instrument of party supremacy.
They hoped t6 achieve their next object
by the establishment of a National Bank ;
by an adjustment of the system of duties up
on a moderate and permanent scale, adapted
as nearly as practicable to the interest, and
conformable with the views of every portion
of the Union ; by the establishment of a u
niform system of bankruptcy ; and by the
distribution of the proceeds of the public
lands amongst the States a measure recom
mended not only by considerations of jus
tice to the States themselves, but also by a
sad experience of the embarrassment produ
ced in the currency resulting from the ad
ministration of afundof such variableamount
as an item in the ordinary reverrafof the
Government. The establishment of an eco
nomical administration of the finances they
expected to attain by cutting down all use
less offices; by enforcing a strict accounta
bility of the public agents; and, more con
spicuously, by making exact and adequate
, provision for the ascertainment and eventual
liquidation of that public debt which the
past Administration had created by permit
tins; their expenditures to overrun their re
eipts, and which they had concealed from
public pbservation by the easy device of re
peated issues of Government notes.
i These were the prominent points to which
the policy of the Whig party had been di
rected, and which constituted the great is
sues before the country in the recent Presi
dential election. We are aware that our ad
versaries in that contest now deny these is
ues, founding their denial chjefly upon the
fact that no formal manifesto was put forth
to declare the terms upon wnicn we msjstea.
We chose rather to appeal to tire tetydif-
used knowledge
of our principles Wucn had
been impressed -upon e very man's mind in
that long struggle of years gone by ; with
which one party bad been identified, and of
which its very name was an exponent.
It need not be said that, in a representa
tion spread over a territory of such extenl
as that comprehended by our Union, and ex
hibiting interests sj diversified, what might
be called the characteristic principles of the
Whig party, throughout this wide sphere,
should be subjec, to occasional modifica
tions, dependent upon local influences; and
that it was incumbent, therefore, upon the
party to move together in a spirit of mutual
concession and accommodation of sectional
differences of opinion. It .need not be told
that, in the system of measures which we
have enumerated, conflicting, views might
naturally exist between the Representatives
of distant portions of our Republic, and that
only by the yielding of minor interests to
the establishment of the general good, entire
harmony was to be obtained in the action of
Congress. fc This was natural, and to be ex-,
pected. But we felt a proud consciousness
that in the patriotism of the party all such
difficulties would vanish, and that the de
mands of aa enlarged welfare; would be met
and fulfilled, through the virtue of that spirit
of compromise and forbearance, that liberal
and comprehensive sentiment of self-denial
and concession, which rests at the heart of
our confederacy, and which constitutes tfr
living principle of our union. Before the
appointed day arrived for the meeting of
vongress, ana at me expiration t but oej
snort month irom the date ot his inausrura-
tion, our beloved President was snatched
from us by the grasp of death : too soon for
the happiness of his country, but not too
soon to awaken in our bosoms a deep and
awful sense of the irreparable loss which we
have sustained in the deprivation of a great
and good man not too soon to convince us
how long and how bitterly our country is
doomed to deplore this heavy misfortune.
In this our calamity, we hoped to find con
solation in the character and principles of
him whom the Constitution had designated
to fill the office of the departed chief. It is
true, that towards that individual, even at
the moment of his selection for the Vice
Presidency, no very earnest public attention
had been directed ; and it is equally true
that but a passing regard was bestowed upon
the Current of his previous life and opinions.
We only knew him as one professing to be a
member of the Whig party, and as seeking
to identify himself with those great leaders
of that party whose opinions and princi
pies were deeply engraved in the most con
spicuous acts of our political history, and
were read and understood by every citizen
in the land. In this connection, where he
had sought to be prominent, we ascertained
what we conceived, and what doubtless he
meant, to be a pledge of faithful adherence
to the cardinal doctrines for which we strug
gled, and with which the hopes of the coun
try were indissolubly bound up. We hoped
to find consolation also in the fact that his
accession to the Presidency brought him
into communion and intimate political fel
lowship with the chosen vanguard of the
Whig party the first selection made By
General Harrison of a Cabinet, distinguished
for its paramount ability, integrity, and fidel
ity to the glorious cause in which we had
conquered a Cabinet eminently crowned
with the public confidence, in whom all men
trusted as in the very embodiment of the j
principles of the party to which they belong
ed: who were inseparably associated with its
glory, and in whose. generous and honorable
relation to the President we had the security
of wise and prosperous counsels, and he the
pledge of a co-operation which should enable
him to accomplish all that the nation desired.
These hopes were still further enlivened by
the encouraging tone in which the President
referred, in his first address to the nation,
to the " ever glorious example" afforded him
by the Fathers of the great Republican
school, and the declaration of his determina
tion to walk in the way they pointed out.
In the indulgence of these hopes, Congress
entered upon its labors. But adopting rules
for the despatch of business conformable to
the emergency of an extra session, and in
view of the great amount of legislation which
the times required, we have been enabled
to have acnlevedrall, and even more than all,
that our constituents could have demanded
at our hands. The leading and great mea
sures of this session have been under discus
sion, in Congress and out of it, for many
years past, and little remained to be said
beyond a repetition of former debates.
There was nothing in the circumstances or
position of either party in Congress to re
quire, or even to justify, protracted discus
sions ; and the majority, therefore, felt them
selves entitled to give to the extra session
the character of a Congress of action and de
cision, rather than one of debate ; and we
feel assured that in this effort we have done
no more than respond to the just expectations
of the People.
First in urgency amongst the bills passed
during the session, and that to which the
public command most imperatively drew the
notice of Congress, was the repeal of the
sub-Treasury Law. Our next care was the
enactment of the Land Bill. This was fol
lowed by an act converting the Debt which
the preceding Administration had entailed
upon the country into a Loan of twelve mil
lions of dollars, which is limited tor its. re
demption to a period of three years, Associ
ated with this measure was the Revenue Bill,
rendered necessary not only not as a provi
lion towards the extinguishment of the loan,
but also as indispensable for the supply of
means to meet the ordinary and necessary
appropriations of the year. The Bankrupt
Act, so earnestly and so long solicited by a
large and meritorious class of our citizens,
has been passed under circumstances which
cannot but reflect the highest honor upon
the Representatives of many sections of the
country. As a measure standing alone,
it
might perhaps have been destined to a furth
er delay ; but being Brought, as it was, into
that senes of measures which were supposes
to embrace the scheme of relief whk-h h
nation at large required, it met from a W lug
Congress that support of which the chief ar-
gumentsand highest vaiue are derived from the
respect wbieh every ope felt to be due to a
comprehensive policy,1 whose scope should
include every interest iftlthe nation It is a
trial (or the benefit of the country, and re
mains to be altered, or improved, as the pub
lic: wants may hereafter be found to require.
The importance, in the present posture of
our affairs,of attending to he national defen
ces suggested the; measures of 'establishing
a Home Squadron, of repairing and arming
the Fortifications; of - providing for the de
fence of the Lakes ; and pf bringing the" na
tion at large into a state of readiness against
hostile aggression- in regard to which mea
sures, as great unanimity! prevailed in Con
gress, we may. safely assure ourselves they
will meet the undivided approbation of our
constituents throughout the whole Union.
This rapid review, fellow-citizens, will ex
hibit what we have done. What we have
failed to do remains to be told.
' It is with profound and poignant regret that
we find ourselves called upon to invoke your
attention to this point. Upon the great and
leading measure touching this question our
anxious endeavors to respond to the earnest
prayer of the nation have been frustrated by
an act as unlooked-for as it is to be lamented.
We grieve to say- to you that, by the exer
cise of that power in the Constitution which
has ever been regarded with suspicion,
and often with odium, by the People a
power which we had hoped was never to be
exhibited, on this subject, by a Whig Pre
sidentwe have been defeated in two at
tempts to create a Fiscal Agent, which the
wants of the country had demonstrated to
us, in the most absolute form of proof, to be
eminently necessary and proper in the pres
ent emergency. Twice have we, with the
utmost diligence and deliberation, matured
a plan for the collection, safe-keeping, and
disbursing of the public moneys through the
agency of a corporation adapted to that end,
and twice has it been our fate to encounter
the opposition of the President, through the
application of the veto power. The charac
ter of that veto in each case, the circum
stances in which was administered, and the
grounds upen which it has met the decided
disapprobation of our friends in Congress,
are sufficiently apparent in the public docu
ments and the debates relating to it. This
subject has acquired a painful interest with
us, and will doubtless acquire it with you,
from the unhappy developments with which
it is accompanied. We are constrained to
say that we find no ground to justify us in
the conviction that the veto of the President
has been interposed on this question solely
upon conscientious and well-considered op
inions of constitutional scruple as to his
duty in the case presented. On the contra
ry, too many proofs have been forced upon
our observation to leave us free from the ap
prehension that the President has permitted
himself to be beguiled into an opinion that,
by this exhibition of his prerogative, he
might be able to divert the policy of his
Administration into a channel which should
lead to new political combinations, and ac
complish results yhich must overthrow the
present divisions of party iri the country,
and finally produce a state of things which
those who elected him, at least, have never
contemplated. We have seeri, from an early
period of the session, that the Whig party did
not enjoy the confidence of the President.
With, mortification we have observed that
his associations more sedulously aimed at a
free communion with those who have been
busy to prostrate our purposes, rather than
those whose principles seemed to be most
dentified with the power by which he was
elected. We have reason to beiieye that he
has permitted himself to b&; approached,
counselled, and influenced by those who
have manifested least interest in the success
of Whig measures. What were represented
to be his opinions and designs have been
reely, and even insolently put forth in cer
ain portions, and those not the most reputa
ble, of the public press, in a manner that
ought to be deemed offensive to his honor,
as it certainly was to the feelings of those
who were believed to his friends. In the
earnest endeavor manifested by the members
of the Whig party in Congress to ascertain
specially the President s notions in reference
to the details of such a bill relating to a
Fiscal Agent as would be likely to meet his
approbation, -trie lrcquent changes ot his op
inion and the singular want of consistency
in his views have baffled his; best friends,
and rendered the hope of adjustment with
him impossible.
Congress, early in the session, called upon
the Secretary of the Treasury for the plan of
a Fiscal Agent. The result of this Call was a
bill which was reported in detail, with an ar
gument in its favor, and it was, as we had
a right to regard it, received by all as the
bill of the President. In fact, it was known
to contain provisions, in reference to the
assent of the States, which corresponded
with the private opinion of no member of
the Cabinet. This bill the President had
even informed more than one member of
the House he would be willing to sign if
passed by Congress: yet it contained pro
vision for local discounting, in j regard to
which his veto Message affirms his objec
tion to be altogether insuperable. The
plan of an Exchange Bank, such as was re
ported after the first Veto, the President is
understood bv more than one member of
Congress to whom he expressed his opinion,
to have regarded as a favorite measure. It
was in view of this opinion, suggested as it
is in his first Veto, and after using every
DroDer effort to ascertain his precise views
upon it, that the Committee of the House of
Representatives reported their second bill.
it madft nroviaion for a bank without the
Drivilege of local discounting, and was adapt
ol 99 rlnsp.lv as nossible. to that class of
VVJ J J- --'-
mercantile operations which the first Veto
Message describes with approbation, and
which that paper specifically illustrates by
reference to the "dealings in the exchanges
of the Bank of the United States in 1833,
7h;h trm President affirms "amounted to
upwards of one hundred millions of dollars."
Yet this plan, wheri it was, submitted to him,
was objected to on a new ground. The last
Veto has narrowed the question of a bank
down to the basisof the sub-Treasury scheme,
and it is obvious from the opinions of that
message, that tne cpuntryns not to jexpect
any thing better than the exploded sufc-Tri
sury, or some measured the sitoe character,
from Mr. Tyler. .
In the midst of all these varieties ofipih-
ion, an impenetrable mystery seemed to "hang
over the whole question. There was no
such frank interchange of sentimont as ought
to characterize the intercourse of a. Presi
dent and his friends, and the last persons in ,
the Government who would seem to have
been entrusted with his confidence on those
embarrassing topics were the constitutional
advisers which tho laws had provided for
him. ..'
? Tn tKta C lL. 'a' . ...
---- ci.iuu iihw nuicti
the late events have thrown the Whig par
ty, it is with profound sorrow we look to the
course pursued by the President. He has
wrested from us one of the best fruits of
long and painful struggle, and the consum
mation of a glorious victory : he has nvpn
perhaps thrown us once more upon the field
oi political stnle? riot weakened in numbers,
nor shorn of the support of the country, but
stripped of the arms which success had pla
ced in our hands, and left again to rely upon
that high patriotism which for twelve years
sustained us in a conflict of unequalled as
perity, and which finally brought us to the
fulfilment of those brilliant hopes which ho
nas done so much to destroy.
In this state of things, the Whigs will nat
urally look with anxiety to the future, and
inquire what are the actual relations be
tween the President and those wbolbrought
him into power ; and what in the opinion of
their friends in Con gres should be their
course hereafter. On bjh of these quesV
tions, we feel it to be out duty to address
you in perfect frankness and without re
serve, but, at the same time, with due res
pect to others.
hf regard to the first, we are constrained
to say, that the President, by the course he
has adopted in respect to the application of
the veto power to two successive bank char
ters, each of which there was just reason to
believe would meet his approbation ; by his
withdrawal of confidence fromljis real friends
in Congress and from the members of his
Cabinet ; by his bestowal of it upon others
notwithstanding their notorious opposition
to leading measures of his Administration,
has voluntarily separated himself from those
by whose exertions and suffrages he was
elevated to that office through which he
reached his present exalted situation. The
existence of this unnatural relation is as ex
traordinary as the annunciation of it is paid- "
ful and mortifying. What are the conse
quences and duties which grow out of it 1
lhe hrst consequence is, that those who
brought the President into power can be no
onger, in any manner or degree, justly held
responsible or blamed for the administration
of the Executive branch of the Government :
and that the President and his advisers
tr-
should be exclusively hereafter deemed ac
countable. But, as by the joint acts of Provi
dence and the People he is constitutionally
invested with the powers of Chief Magis-
trate, whilst he remains in office he should be
treated with perfect respect by-all. And it
will be the duty of the Whigs, in and out of
Congress, to give to his official acts and
measures fair and full consideration, approv
ing them and co-operating in their support
where they can, and differing from and. op-'
posing any of them' only from a high sense
of public duty. " '
The more important question remains to
be touched. What ought to be the future
ine of conduct of the Whig party in. the ,
extraordinary emergency which now exists?'
J hey came into power to accomplish great
and patriotic objects. By the zeal and per- .
severance of the majorities in Congress,
some of the most important of those objects
have been carried at the . extra sessions-
Others yet remain to be effected. The con
duct of the President 'has occasioned bitter
mortification and deep regret. Shall the
party, therefore, yielding to the sentiments
of despair, abandon its duty, and submit to
defeat and disgrace I Far from suffering -
such dishonorable consequences, the very
disappointment which it has unfortunately
experienced should serve only to redouble
its exertions, and to inspire it with fresh
courage to persevere with a spirit unsubdued
and a resolution unshaken, until the prosper
ity pf the country is fully re-established, and
its liberties firmly secured against all danger
from the abuses, encroachments, pr usurpa
tions of the Lxccutive department of the
Government.
At the head of the duties which remain
for the Whigs to perform towards their coun
try stands conspicuously and pre-eminently
above all others
First, A reduction of the Executive pow
er, by a turtner limitation ol the veto, so as
to secure obedience to the public will, as
that shall be expressed by the immediate
Representatives of the. People and the'
Slates with no other control than that which
is indispensable to avert hasty or unconsti
tutional legislation. 4,
By the adoption of a sihgle term for the
By a separation of the Purse from . the
Sword, and with that view to place the ap-
pointmcnt of the Head of the Treasury in
Congress ; and
By subjecting tbe pqtrer of d'rsmtssaj
from office to just restrictions, so as ta ren
der the President amenable for its exercise.
Second. The establishment by Congress
of a fiscal agent competent to collect, safely
keep, and disburse the public moneys, t6
restore the currency, and to equalize the
exchanges of the country ; and n -
Third. The introduction of economy hi
the administration of the Government, apd'
the discontinuance of all sinecures and use
less offices.
To the effectuation of these objeets ought
the exertions of the Whigs hereafter to b0
directed. Those only should be chosen
members of Congress who. ate willing cordi
ally to co-operate in the accomplishment of
them. Instead of striking our nag, Jet it be
reared still higher, withTa firmer band, bear
ing upon its folds in conspicuous letters;
"The Will of the Nation, .uncontroll
ed BY THE WILL OF OjN E MAN: ONB
Presidential term, a frugal GQyERtf-
KENT, AND NO SUB-TREASURY, OPEN OR CO
VERTj lN 8UESTANCE jQJl IN FACT I NO Gov
Concluded on firjt page.)