The Congressional Globe, Volume 13, Part 1: Twenty-Eighth Congress, First Session Page: 200
xxiv, 696 p. ; 25 cm.View a full description of this book.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
SESSIONAL GLO:
that the route on which.the improvement was
to be made, was one connecting the lake country
with the regions, of the upper Mississippi—that it
had been used by the French many years ago as a
great thoroughfare from Cluebec to the Mississippi
country. He maintained that the constructing of
the canal by the plan proposed in the bill would not
cost the government a- cent. He alluded also to a
misprint in some paper, not mentioned, of his re-
marks touching the qualifications of the topograph-
ical bureau to take charge of that work. He had
been made to say that, if that corps were to take
charge of the work, they would be regardless of
the expensp. He did not say so. What he did say,
in substance, was: he believed that as scientific men,
there were among those constituting that corps, some
greater even than those which any nation in Europe
could boast—some who would not lose by a com-
parison with those to be found in the celebrated
Polytechnic institution of Prance; and in connection
with this, that he had no doubt that if any fault
could hereafter be found with the management of
the works by that corps, it would not be as to the
manner in which it was executed, hut on the score
of expense; for that, with them, ought to be a second-
ary consideration, though he believed all the econ-
omy would be used that was possible, and at the
same time to have the work well executed.
The question was then put, and the votes were
reconsidered.
The question then recurring on striking out the
last clause of the 1st section, it was decided in the
negative.#
The question now being on striking out the 3d
section of the bill—.
Mr. HAYWOOD rose for the purpose of renew-
ing his motion for the indefinite postponement of the
bill. He said he was of opinion that the fur-
ther consideration of this bill should be postponed;
and he would give the Senate his reasons, in a very
few words, for being of that opinion. The princi-
pal clause in this bill provides that two sections of
land, of a certain width or depth, on each side of
the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, and the lakes and
canals from one end of the stream to the other, shall
be placed at the sole disposal of Congress, for the
purpose of covering, by sale thereof, the expenses of
the improvements proposed to be effected by this
bill; and that, where any part or parts of the lands
contained or lying within those sections shall have
been previously sold, then other public lands shall
be given in lieu thereof, on application to and under
the immediate direction of the Secretary of the
Treasury. He did not know the distance from the
the mouths of cither the Wisconsin or Fox rivers to
that spot where the connexion with the canal was to
take place; but, as far as he could judge from the
scale of a map, which he examined with some care,
it could not be much less than two hundred miles.
The proposition, therefore, was to improve, and in-
crease the value of the public lands, to the extent of
one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles; and, on
the pretence alone of making those lands more valu-
able, could the Senate give their sanction to it. But
this pretence would not hold good if the fact was—
and lie, believed it to be so—that all the valuable
lands in those sections were already granted, and
were at this day the property, and in the possession
of land speculators. The bill would, therefore, le-
gislate for their benefit, and not for the benefit of
the country. There was not, he was informed and
believed, a township on either side of the two rivers,
lakes, or canal, from one extreme to the other, worth
$2 50 per acre, that was not at this moment en-
tered on, and the property of private individuals.
The bill that the Senate was called on to pass was
one to improve an extent, of one hundred and fifty
or two hundred miles of the public lands; but if the
greater and really valuable portion of those lands
were :n the hands of land speculators or private in-
dividuals, then the benefit of the bill to the public-
was limited to the extent of those lands now unoc-
cupied. He again stated, though his information
was only on hearsay, that there was not an acre of
those lands, worth two dollars and a half, that was not
already bought up. He maintained that the bill
was nothing more or less than an unqualified dona-
tion to the Territory of Wisconsin; and, if the Sen-
ate felt disposed to be generous to that Territory, it
should be done manfully and openly, and not under
the pretext of public improvement.
He had not an opportunity to seek, nor was he
clothed with authority to demand, such official in-
formation as he considered wanting on the subject;
but he would tell the Senate, on information as au-
thentio, in his opinion, as if it had been official, that
there was not a township now vacant, in any of
those sections, that was not of a mountainous and
sterile nature—in fact, the worst description, and
wholly valueless. If, as he said before, the Senate
was inclined to the policy of ceding to the Territory
of Wisconsin, letit be done openly and above-board;
but if not, and that these improvements are to be
made, let another course" be adopted—let a proper
scheme be devised, an appropriation made, and the
work be effected; but let not this canal be cut at the
expense of the United States, nominally for the
public good, but really for the benefit of land spec-
ulators and jobbers.
Mr. TALLMADGE did not wish to prolong the
the discussion upon this subject. If the alternate
sections reserved to the United States were to have
any increased value, it was to be by means of the
proposed improvements. If the other sections were
not improved, the increased value would not accrue
to the general government. As to the allusion of
the gentleman, [Mr. Haywood,] that this was a
"smothered cession," for the special benefit of land-
holders in the Territory, if the gentleman had been
a little more familiar with these things, he would
have found that this clause had obtained in every
instance on legislative record. It was so in every
instance he (Mr. Taljlmadge) had ever read of, and
had been known to Congress in questions like this.
It was a universal provision kept in view in the
wording of this bill, in accordance with the lan-
guage adopted in all cases of a similar description.
He had nothing more to say on this subject, only
to express the hope that the gentleman's motion
for indefinite postponement would not prevail.
Mr. WOODBRIDGE was understood to read
from a report from the War Department, upon the
subject of this improvement, showing that the lands
in that section of country were still m the control of
the government.
Mr. WOODBURY said, the fact could be ascer-
tained whether these lands were entered, by applica-
tion to the land office. If a large portion of the lands
were entered, certainly one of the advantages would
not be obtained—that to the government; therefore,
it was better for all concerned, that final action
should be delayed upon the bill until they could as-
certain to a certainty the condition in which the
lands were.
Mr. IIAYWOOD said that all he could do, was to
protest against the Senate acting upon private infor-
mation. He had offered the information which he
had obtained, with the view of calling attention to
the subject. It was not official. He had not offered
it as such; but be had it from good authority, that
there was not a township on the Wisconsin river,
in which some sections had not been entered. He
did not undertake to investigate the matter then; but
he hoped what he had said was enough to put a
prudent Senate 011 its guard. While up, he hoped
he would be allowed to say a word in regard to his
manner, which, from the peculiar state of his health,
had perhaps more the appearance of excitement in
it/than was really intended. When he made use of
the word "smothered," he. did not apply it to the
bill itself, but to the mode of legislation by which
"smothered cessions" were put forth in the shape of
grants.
Mr. KING- said he was very anxious that some
revision should be made by which this work might
je, carried into operation; but he confessed that the
arguments made use of by the friends of the bill
were very much weakened by the arguments of the
senator from North Carolina, [Mr. Haywood.] The
senator M'as correct in regard to the work. That
was not the most important consideration. If all
the lands, which it was proposed the canal should
run through, were already sold, or the greater part
of them entered, there was nothing to operate upon.
It had been reiterated in the Senate that the alternate
sections of land, which the bill proposed to set apart
for the use of the government, would bring more
money into the treasury than the whole would, if 110
improvements were made. Now, he would like to
know whether most of these lands had not actually
been disposed of? If so, how could the government
derive advantage by any reservation? If it was
to be at the expense of the work, it would
be much better that so much land should be set apart
for these improvements. The best policy would be
to make a grant at once.
He would, therefore, suggest to the gentlemen
who were in favor of passing the bill, that, in order
to understand precisely what they were doing, it
should be suffered to lie over, in order that they
E
might obtain information from the land office as to
the quantity of lands sold or remaining unsold, on
the whole range through which the canal is to run,
and the rivers to be improved. He was unwilling
to vote on the proposition of the honorable senator
from North Carolinaf [Mr. Hatwood,] being in
favor of some action which would carry into opera-
tion the contemplated work. He trusted his friend
from North Carolina would withdraw his motion
for indefinite postponement, till the Senator from
New York [Mr. Tallmadge] should have an op-
portunity of obtaining the necessary information in
relation to the sale of these lands.
Mr. HAYWOOD withdrew his motion; and, on
motion of Mr. KING, the further consideration of
the bill was postponed till to-morrow.
THE COMPROMISE ACT.
Mr. McDUFFIE addressed the Senate during
two hours and a half in reply to Mr. Evans's re-
marks of Monday and Tuesday last. He stated
that in addressing the Senate a second time on this
great question, he could give the most sincere assur-
ance that no consideration but that of its acknowl-
edged magnitude, and the deep interest which a large
portion of the people of the United States felt in it,
together with his own profound sense of the respon-
sibility of the station which he now occupied, and
the duty which he owed to his constituents, could
have induced him to trespass thus far on the time and
patience of the Senate. He regretted the necessity
imposed upon him, for many considerations; among
which he admitted was the embarrassing one in
allusion to which the Senator from Maine
had laid down the maxim that truth is eter-
nal; that the same truths are involved in this
question now that were twenty years ago; and that
it was impossible for any human mind, however
gifted, to present new arguments, where the argu-
ments which preceded had been exhibited in such
a variety of forms. He felt the embarrassment
growing out of this state of things; for he could
with the utmost sincerity say, that if there were any
one thing more disagreeable to him than another, it
was, in addition to the repetition of his own ideas,
to be obliged to repeat the ideas of another person.
And he knew that he could say nothing now
that he had not repeatedly said ten years ago,
in the other branch of legislation, as well as
out of it. He- was, therefore, conscious that
whatever he might say, would revolve on the
Senate like a twice-told tale, vexing the ear of a
drowsy man. He would, however, endeavor to ad-
dress the Senate with as much brevity as was con-
sistent with the great interests involved in this ques-
tion. Mr. McD. then proceeded to review tli& re-
marks of the Senator from Maine in the order in
which they were presented. He regretted that when
that senator had laid down for his rule of argument
the inductive process of reasoning by which Lord
Bacon superseded the syllogistic system of the an-
cient philosophers, he did not adhere more closely
to it in the progress of his remarks. Had the senator
studied more attentively the inductive system, he
would have found that its aims and object were to
collect from all ages and all climates such an
amount of facts as would enable the true
philosopher to lay down laws of eternal truth with
regard to things within the compass of human
knowledge, as immutable as those by which the
great universe was governed by the great fountain
of truth and justice. Lord Bacon had laid the foun-
dation of that system of political economy which,
some hundred and fifty years after his time,
was matured and given to the world by a very cele-
brated Scoth philosopher, Adam Smith. The great
principles of political economy;, established by the
latter, had, for the last fifty or sixty years, undergone
the most rigid examination of philosophers and
statesmen, and yet remained unchanged and un-
changeable. It was upon these principles that
he (Mr. McDuffte) had rested his assertions,
(so slightingly alluded to as "theories" by the sen-
ator from Maine,) that what you add in duty to
an imported article enhances its price; and that it is
no more the interest of. a nation than of an individ-
ual to make for itself everything it consumes, to the
exclusion of all exchanges with other nations; re-
ferring to Adam Smith's illustration of every man
being his own laborer, mechanic, artisan, &c.; the
result of which would be that he must become "Jack
of all trades, and good at none." The doctrine laid
down by Adam Smith for nations was drawn from
that which was best for individuals; and that was
for every man to sell all that he could make or pro-
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This book can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Book.
United States. Congress. The Congressional Globe, Volume 13, Part 1: Twenty-Eighth Congress, First Session, book, 1844; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2367/m1/224/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.