The Congressional Globe, Volume 14: Twenty-Eighth Congress, Second Session Page: 80
This legislative document is part of the collection entitled: Congressional Globe and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
§0
CONGRESSIONAL ©LOBE.
lation to the appropriations for the formation"
of the Cumberland road, For which he had voted,
then believing it to be an exception to the general
*ul|, he had since come to the conviction that no
(|u# power was vested by the constitution in the
fcpnenw fcarernment.
jgr-"HANN.EGAN declared that, if the bill in its
- pjft|(o?e,pr9viiiions, or tendency, had any squinting
towards the assumption of State debts, it was far,
very: far., from his intention or that of his colleague.
They acted on the conviction that a work which
TOS. to form the only continuous communication
between the navigable waters of the North and
East and the South and "West of this extensive
"Unipn, was a great national work, and not
ft mere local State improvement. And what
really. was the proposition of the bill? That
the, general government should donate to the
State <jf Indiana, the better to enable her to com-
plete, this national chain of water communication,
eertjun portions of the public domain which have
been forty years in the market without being in de-
rnand; the result of such donation being perfectly ob-
vious that, in consequence of the effect it will have, the
remainder of these public lands, now perfectly valu-
tas and unsaleable, will be at once rendered valua-
ble and availabl# to the public treasury by being
brought into the market under the most favorable
circumstances. If this work were not in existence,
the whole of these lands, in all probability, would
- remain unproductive to the general government.
. 3i$.encour«ge its completion, and they become at
once a productive source of revenue. It was not on
this.ground alone that the friends of the bill urged
it Sipon Cpngress. They advocated it as a measure
essentially national in its character. Its object was
to unite trie navigable .waters of the North and the
South. In the event of a war with any foreign
power, its utility to the general government in the
transport of troops and munitions of war, in safety,
by internal navigation, would be incalculable. In
' this respect alone, it would repay many fold the
valu£ of the grant required.
- Mr. WOCHDBRIDGE remarked that the policy
of the bill before the Senate rested upon a basis al-
' together different from that alluded to by the hon-
orable senator from Connecticut, [Mr. Niles.] It
was apparent that this government had placed itself
jn the situation of a great landholder. Millions of
-tees of the public domain were within its control,
and, for what purpose? That it might be made
. Available as a source of revenue. In what way
could it best be made available to that end? Was it
. by-letting it lie unimproved, as all the public lands
within the Vincennes district were? The officers of
-the government had declared many years ago that
it was no't at all fit for cultivation. It has been forty
* years, in the market every day, and yet not a pur-
chaser has appeared. How, then, is it to be made
available? There is an intrinsic value in all your
lands—that value which is imparted to it by run-
ning through it roads, railways, and the growing up
of towns and villages—a value imparted to it by
the industry of those who surround it. With the
good policy of the State under whose auspices this
great public work grew up, before us, was it just
Sat those who desire benefit from it should pay not
a cent' If you own a lot in the city of New York,
and it should be deemed proper by the council of
.that city that the sidewalks should be improved
and the streets paved, are you not compelled to pay
y6ur proportion of the expenses, when your own
property becomes doubly or trebly valuable in con-
sequence of those improvements? It is a principle
founded upon natural justice—founded upon the
usages of society, and applicable to all the real es-
tate throughout the United States.
Now, he would ask, what object was to be gained
by refusing to appropriate to a useful purpose land
of this description? Did it make it more valuable?
It was proposed that the State of Indiana should
have this public land, which could not otherwise be
made available, for the purpose of excavating a
canal. By whose labor and industry was this im-
parted value to be given to it? Not by the general
government. But was it just and right that Con-
gress should remain with arms folded, and look on,
and derive all the benefits of the hard labor, without
offering its aid in the manner proposed? It was not
just. The only wise policy in regard to this land
was to dispose of it in such a way as to make it
•most valuable. What is its condition at present?
It is reported by officers of the government that it
is not worth one cent. All that the people of In-
is, that you will transfer a portion of it
to them; and for what purpose' That they may
run a canal through it, which will impart to it a char-
acter and a value that it will never have without
that improvement. Will the government refuse to
increase the value of its own land?—increase its own
finds, by pursing this policy—a policy which will,
at the same time, contribute to the prosperity and
happiness of those around.
It was upon these principles that the policy of the
bill was founded; and he trusted it would receive
the sanction of the Senate.
Mr. BENTON conceived there would be little
hesitation about this matter, if the Senate was ac-
quainted with the nature and history of the Vin-
cennes tract of the public lands, a portion of which
he understood was to be appropriated by this bill.
Vincennes was settled by the French, in 1680; since
which great inducements to occupy and improve
those lands had been held out by three governments,
but without effect, so worthless have they always
been considered in their primitive condition. The
government of France, the government of England,
and since the revolution that of the United States,
had invited settlers on these lands; but they are still
a wilderness. The judgnent of one hundred and
fifty years had been pronounced upon them as un-
profitable; and if they now can be at last rendered
available by the proposed work of improvement, he
considered it sound policy to afford that work the
required facility.
' Mr. NILES said his two main objections had not
been removed by anything yet urged upon the sub-
ject, One was, that this was not a national,
but a local work of internal improvement.
The other, that Congress possessed no Con-
stitutional power to make such donations. That
it is a local State measure, is incontrovertable
from the fact that the control and benefits of the
' work are to be vested in the State government. He
denied that there was force enough in the argument
of the length of time in which the lands had been
in market, to affect the principle that they could be
donated by the general government for State pur-
poses. The progressive increase of population
would, in time, materially produce a demand
for them, and they would then become valu-
able and profitable to the general government.
How far the United States were to be Benefited by
this work remained yet to be proved. He consid-
ered it the duty of every State to carry on its own
necessary improvements with its own funds. He
demanded the yeas and nays on the passage of this
bill.
Mr. CRITTENDEN considered the work for
which this donation was asked, as one of the great-
est importance in many respects, and particularly in
regard to the connection it would accomplish of the
great water navigation of remote sections of the
Union. If this were not a national work, he should
really feel at a loss to discover how it was to be dis-
tinguished from one; for every public work like it
wa3, to a certain extent, at once local and national,
differing only in degree; and the degree in which
this work was national was conspicuously eminent.
He should give his vote for the bill with great pleas-
ure, because he rejoiced in seizing every opportuni-
ty of making such appropriations to the States for
national improvements. He was only surprised to
find those who so tenaciously held on to the doc-
trine of reducing and graduating the price of the
public lands, so averse to this mode of disposing of
them. It was certainly far more advisable than the
wasteful scheme of reduction and graduation of the
price of the public lands, every day ur°red and brought
forward in Congress. He hoped this bill would receive
the support of a large ma jority in the Senate. Who-
ever looks to the map of' the United States must see
that the work to be completed by the aid of this do-
nation is essentially and predominantly national in
its character. He should always be ready to vote
for any appropriation to improve even the naviga-
tion of the Wabash river. This land, and much
more, ought to be given freely to the State of In-
diana, to enable her to accomplish the great works
of internal improvement which she has yet unfin-
ished.
Mr. BAGBY gave his reasons why he could not
vote for the bill. He had listened attentively to all
that had been urged in its favor by the friends of
the measure, and particularly the chairman of the
, Committee on Public Lands. But these arguments
left untouched the main principle which should
govern Congress in this matter. If ever any one
que^Kon had been settled by the democracy of this
country it was, that the general government ought
not to engage in schemes of internal improvement.
The honorable senator from Kentucky thinks it im-
possible to draw the line between works of internal
improvement of a national character and of a local
character. Now, according to his (Mr. Bagby's)
corception, the line of demarcation was perfectly
clear and obvious. Works of a national character
should be conducted and controlled by-the general
government exclusively; and those belonging to
any State, by its own State, government.- It is na-
tional when the general government undertakes it
for its own purposes, and with its own means, It is
local when the State government undertakes it, con-
trols it, and appropriates to itself its benefits. Where
was the power to be found in the constitution of giv-
ing to a State the means, control, and benefit of any
work of internal improvement? This bill calls on
the general government to advance to the State of
Indiana the means of completing one of its public
works. It was not the general government that
called for this work, or originated it. It was the
State government of Indiana, for its own purposes
and benefit. If the general government wanted it
for national purposes, it would have originated it
and carried it on by its own officers, and with its
own means.
It was very true that the graduation and reduction
of the price of the public lands were cherished ob-
jects in many of the States; but how could this be
promoted by such grants as that now proposed, .if
the effect was to be such as the chairman of the
Committee on Public Lands anticipated—that of en-
hancing the price of the alternate sections in the
hands of the government to $2 50 per acre, instead
of the present minimum price of $1 25? The irile
object of the friends of reduction and graduation was
to give to every man a home upon the cheapest
terms possible—to enable every man to secure him-
self the independence of a home. This was far, far
better than schemes of engaging the general govern-
ment in gigantic schemes of internal improvement.
He never could consent to making the general gov-
ernment a mere instrument of the States for carry-
ing on their own speculations in works of internal
improvement.
Mr. BREESE was very much surprised at the
objections urged by the senator from .Connecticut,
[Mr. Niles,] and no less surprised at the remarks
of the senator from Alabama, [Mr. Bagby;] both of
whom seemed to look upon this work as a mere
local measure of internal improvement, and nothing
else. Now, he and his colleague supported and ad-
vocated the bill on the express ground that the work
to which it applied was pre-eminently national in its
character and design. This work is not at all of
that class of works of internal improvement which
are local and for State purposes. The very first
section showed that the bill contemplated the com-
pletion of a great national work, the effect of which
would be not to take means from the treasury, but
to supply and enhance its resources. Mr. B. here
adverted to an instance in point, wherein an eighty-
acre fraction of land in Illinois, not worth more than
$1 25 per acre, (being a mere sand bank,) was, by
a public work, aided~by a similar donation of land,
rendered so valuable that it yielded ultimately to the
treasury upwards of $90,000.
The yeas and nays being ordered, were taken on
the passage of the bill, and resulted—yeas 31, nays
8, as follows:
YEAS—Messrs. Allen, Ashley, Atchison, Barrow, Bates,
Bayard, Benton, Berrien, Breese, Buchanan, Clayton, Crit-
tenden, Dayton, Lvans. Fairfield, Foster of Tennessee,
Francis, Hannegan, Huntington, Johnson, Merrick, More-
head, Foiter, Se.nple, St-vitii, Simmons, Sturgeon, Tapj.an,
Uphft-n, Vv'hite, and V^oodbridtre— 31.
N A VS—Messrs Archer. Aihc-rton Kasliy, Foi-ter of New
York. Haywood, hugcr, MoWutjie and .Niles—b
Mr. MERRICK, on have, introduced a bill au-
thorizing the making of contracts for transporting
the mail of' the United States on railroads; which
was read twice, and referred to the Committee on
the Post Office and Post Roads.
On motion, it was ordered that when the Senate
adjourn it will adjourn till Monday next.
On motion by Mr. BERRIEN, the Senate pro-
ceeded to the consideration of executive business;
and, after some time spent therein, adjourned.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Thursday, January 2, 1845.
Mr. TIBBATTS asked leave to introduce-the bill
for the admission of Texas into the Union, of which
he gave notice on Tuesday, and which will be found
in that. day's paper.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This document 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 Legislative Document.
United States. Congress. The Congressional Globe, Volume 14: Twenty-Eighth Congress, Second Session, legislative document, 1845; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2366/m1/96/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.