The Congressional Globe, Volume 13, Part 1: Twenty-Eighth Congress, First Session Page: 151
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state that, when the proper bill came before the
House, he would offer an amendment, making
such appropriations for the Western waters as
would be proper and necessary.
Mr. BOWLIN made a few more remarks in op-
position to the reconsideration; after which
Mr. ANDREW STEWART said he would sub-
mit to the mover of the resolution a modification
that would accomplish the object so much de-
sired by Western gentlemen. It was to strike out
"Committee of Ways and Means," and insert
"Committee on Roads and Canals;" which, in his
opinion, was the most appropriate committee, as
being favorable to the objects of the resolution.
The Committee of Ways and Means had declined
to report any bill for internal improvements; and
why? It was because two-thirds of that committee
belonged to the same political party of which the
gentleman from Missouri was a member, and de-
nied the power of this Government to make inter-
nal improvements. Mr. Van Buren himself said
that this power was not conferred by the Constitu-
tion; and added another qualification—which was,
that the consent of the States through which these
improvemeuts passed would not confer the power;
but that an amendment of the Constitution was in-
dispensable to confer it. So that, if gentlemen were
to pass a bill of this nature in his presidency, he
would be bound by his oath to veto it.
The gentleman from Missouri said that he denied
the power of the Government to make internal im-
provements for local purposes; but that it was con-
stitutional to make appropriations for the Mississip-
pi river. Now, he should like the gentleman to take
up the Constitution, and show him on what princi-
ples he drew a distinction between one river and an-
other. Was it the size of the river, or was it the
length of the river, that made appropriations for it
constitutional? The idea of making such distinc-
tions could not be sustained for a moment.
The gentleman talked about the tariff, and said
that it must be brought down to the revenue stand-
ard. Why, there was a revenue tariff but a few
years ago; and what did it bring into the treasury?
Only fifteen millions. Congress, at the last ses-
sion, made a tariff which was giving prosperity
to the country from one end to the other; and it had
already increased the revenue four millions. He
would here remark that it was a protective tariff
and a revenue tariff combined that paid off one hun-
dred and twenty-five millions of public debt.
Mr. CAVE JOHNSON appealed to the Chair to
know if this debate was in order.
The SPEAKER thought it was not, and request-
ed the gentleman to confine his remarks to the ques-
tion before the House.
Mr. STEWART said he was replying to the
remark made by^pte gentleman from Missouri, in
relation to the tariff. The gentleman asked where
the money was to come from to make these im-
provements; and he thought he had a right to
answer him, and to show where it was to come
from. He wanted to show him that there was rev-
enue in abundance. If gentlemen would examine,
they would find that the revenue received in 1841,
before the late tariff act was passed, amounted to
fifteen million nine hundred and fifty-two thousand
dollars; and that in 1843, under the operations of
this tariff, it was $20,605,000, being an increase of
over four millions. Now he would go to work, and
retrench some six or seven millions of expenditure
from the ^flteites of the Secretary of the Treasury,
and from «HPrmy and the navy, and fortifications.
He would "BOfi tend that these internal improvements
were better calculated for the defence of the country,
than all the army, navy, and fortifications put to-
gether. Mr. S. was going on with his remarks,
when
Mr. CAVE JOHNSON called him to order for
irrelevancy; and
The SPEAKER having decided that he was out
of order—
Mr. BROWN of Indiana moved that he be per-
mitted toproceed in order; which motion prevailing—
Mr. STEWART continued, and went into an ex-
amination of the powers of the Federal Government to
make internal improvements, contending that such
power was conferred by the clause in relation to the
common defence and general welfare, by the clause
giving the power to regulate commerce, and by the
power to provide for the transportation of the public
mails.
He attacked the veto of General Jackson, of the
Maysville road bill, and charged upon that act that
it struck down the prosperity of the country. He
then said he would proceed to notice the effect of
the doctrine that the power to make these improve-
ments did not reside in the General Government.
Mr. HOLMES, who was alluded to by the gen-
tleman from Pennsylvania, said he admitted the
ppwer of this Government to improve the Missis-
•sippi.
Mr. STEWART said that an appropriation had
been made for the Wabash, and it was vetoed on
•theground that there was no constitutional power
in this Government to make such improvements;
and if such a doctrine were the true one, the peo-
ple of the interior would be made ever hewers of
wood and drawers of water. The interior would
be doomed to pay everything, and receive noth-
ing. The expenditures of the Government would
go to the Atlantic States, or abroad, and the interi-
or would never participate in the expenditures of
the public money. He said Mr. Van Buren denied
that the Government possessed the power to make
internal improvements. The suiplus revenue had,
in consequence, been given to the States; and to
this he attributed the $200,000,000 indebtedness of
the States. If the General Government had expend-
ed the surplus revenue in improving the rivers of
the country, they might all have been now im-
proved, and not a dollar been owing by the States.
He contended that the General Government did
possess this power, and that it would Save been
promotive of the good of the country if it had been
exercised, and much evil would have been thereby
avoided.
In reply to a remark made by Mr. Jameson of
Missouri, that Mr. Van Buren had never refused to
sign a bill for internal improvements, he said that
Mr. Van Buren had caused the estimates to be with-
held from the House.
Mr. JAMESON said, if the gentleman would look
back, he would find that, in the first year of Mr.
Van Buren's administration, he furnished such
estimates.
Mr. STEWART said the gentleman was right as
far as he went; but Mr. Van Buren, in 1838, aid as
he had described; and while he was doing this, he
increased the expenditures of the Government.
Mr. McCONNELL was very desirous to obtain
the floor to make some explanatory remarks to set
the gentleman from Pennsylvania right in many of
the positions which he had assumed, but the gentle-
man from Pennsylvania refused to yield the floor.
Mr. STEWART proceeded with his remarks;
and amongst other subjects embraced in them, spoke
of the tariff.
The SPEAKER informed the gentleman that
such a latitude of debate was not in order.
Mr. J. R. INGERSOLL said he was in favor of
the motion to reconsider; and he would take the lib-
erty of moving to amend the original resolution,
whenever it should be reconsidered, by substituting
something of this sort:
"And that the committee be instructed to report a
bill, making due and economical appropriations for
all such improvements upon the lakes, rivers, bays,
and coasts, as the good of the country requires, and
the Constitution permits."
He wanted to draw the line of distinction between
the exclusive spirit of the resolution which was to
be reconsidered, and the catholic spirit of.the resolu-
tion which he should offer as a substitute. His ob-
ject was to bring the House to a decisive vote, which
would show whether they were prepared to go for
universal improvements, whenever they might be
necessary, or whether a sectional spirit would limit
those improvements to particular States.
Mr. KENNEDY said that, being a Western
man, he desired not to be misunderstood upon this
question of Western improvement. The grant of a
few thousands of dollars for the improvement of the
Mississippi and the Ohio rivers might be considered
by some gentlemen as a mess of pottage for the
purchase of their birthright; but he, for one, was rea-
dy to declare that he would never enter into such a
bargain.
Western people, who had been accustomed to labor
from the rising of the sun until the going down
thereof, to fill the coffers of the national treasury
from their hard earnings, had learned enough to
know that when the Government distributed to
them a bounty, it was a bounty which their own
industry supplied. They had learned that of all
hard masters this Government was the worst. How
long would the laboring portion of the community
have to be borne down to the earth, if this Govern-
ment opened all the sources of taxation within her
power? Relief to be afforded toth^Wesfbyij
of the taxation of the West, was such reiiefia-'
did not desire; and it was what "he,,a$ ^
man, could never assent td. They werenowgi
itig under the load of taxation which Was
upon them, for the purpose of paying the JjjitS!-
the moneys already borrowed by the GoverhMeiif.
He took shame to himself in common with Western
Representatives, on account of things which;'ti&jr';
existed; and why? Because they had not had the
courage to stand up and assert their rights. If ^:
man will not take care of his own iiiterpsts, hecan
hardly expect his neighbors to take care of them.
But notwithstanding they believed t|gy had been'
neglected; notwithstanding they thought theyougfct
to have appropriations made for their benefit;; yet •
they were not going, in order to procure thbsefap-
propriations, to open the flood-gates of [lie Govern-
ment to all appropriations that might ,be proposed.
Never would he consent to anything of the land; - '
He would make another declaration here, wh icli
he wished should be perfectly understood; he would '
never consent to vote an appropriation, however small,
for the benefit of his own particular section of the
country or any other, in case the money had to be
borrowed. He was as ready as any man to econ-
omize; he would lop off all the leeches which were
draining from the Government its life blood.
When he heard gentlemen talking about the
Western people having received abundance of lands
from the General Government, it reminded him of a
passage in the Scriptures where the Devil is repre-
sented as having conducted our Saviour to the top of
a high mountain; and displaying to him the kingdoms
of the earth, told him that he would bestow them
all \ipon him^provided he would fall down and wor-
ship him. The Devil, in that case, had ^bout as
much right to the kingdoms of the earth as this Gov-
ernment had to the lands of the West.
He was not going to set up a system of exclusive'
ness, and say that he would receive no aid for the
West from the General Government; but this! Ke
would say, that unless they could receive the aid
they desired upon constitutional grounds,,such as
would commend themselves to every man, he would
not receive it at all.
One word more, and he had done. The time waa
when money could be filched out of the poeketS ;of;-
the Western people; but, great fools as thfrf tvfefe^
it could no longer be done. They now know that *
every dollar you take out of their pockets by your
tariff is not only so much money gone, but with an
accumulation of interest upon it; and not only so,
but where you get one dollar in the treasury, you
take five out of their pockets. It was too late for
this Government to pursue any such policy; it
would not go down with the people of the West.
Mr. HOLMES, on rising, observed that he would'
not detain the House on any of the topics that had
occupied their attention, save the one that was
regularly before them. Hgj^ould not say one word
on the tariff; neither wounHfcdlude to the courting
between the South anJfHHf—his object being to
show, by a legal argumentfthat the right and duty
did appertain to the Government of the United States
of improving the navigation of the Mississippi river;
and he called the attention of his friends who had
joined with him in resisting the pastsystem of internal
improvements, which embraced every section and
every interest, to the particular proposition which he
now advanced. The proposition was this: Thgt'the
Government had the right to extend" its jurisdic-
tion to facilitate the carrying of commercial articles
down the Mississippi river; which proposition
he proved by reference to the ordinance of 1787.
This ordinance provided that that river should be
a common highway, and be free to all the citizens
of the United States and of the States that should
thereafter come into the Union, and should not be
molested or interfered with by any particular States.
Now, if the Government could not improve this ■
river, one of two things followed; either that the ju-
risdiction which it had in consequence of the ordi-
nance did not extend to the improvement of the river,
or that the ordinance was unconstitutional. What
was the ordinance' It was a compact made by the
State of Virginia with the United States, then
consisting of thirteen States; and all the essentials
to a valid compact were embraced in it, viz:
the subject contracted for, the condition, and the
power of the parties to contract. Nobody doubted
the power of the parties to contract; and in that
view, the compact was legal.
He supposed that no man would dispute that it
was lawful for the Unite$ States to contract with
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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/m1/175/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.