The Congressional Globe, Volume 13, Part 1: Twenty-Eighth Congress, First Session Page: 44
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44
Congressional globe.
, Mr. BIDLACK begged to correct an error into
which the gentleman from Mississippi, and some
other gentlemen, had fallen. The motion before the
House did not propose to print the message of the
President and the accompanying documents in the
German language; but merely the message and the
reports of the three Secretaries and the Postmaster
General, comprising but a small" portion of the ac-
companying documents. The message of the Pres-
ident,and all the accompanying documents,as the ven-
erabie gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Adams]
had said, would make 600 or 700 pages; but the mes-
sage, and the documents which the resolution em-
braced, would not made more than 50 pages.
Mr. THOMPSON said, when the resolution re-
ferred to the report of the Secretary of War, it re-
ferred to all his report; which embraced all the mat-
ter which had been received from him as his report.
Mr. BIDLACK said his colleague [Mr. Ramsey]
had declared expressly that he meant the bare re- •
ports of the heads of the departments, and not the
documents appended to those reports.
Mr. THOMPSON said he did not believe the
resolution, as it stood before the House, would bear
that construction; nor would the printers so under-
stand it.
Mr. BIDLACK was sorry (here was so much
time lost on this subject, and he would not consume
any more than to make a few observations; for he
believed there would be as much lost to the Govern-
ment by a protracted debate as would suffice to print
all the documents that were asked for.
But he would remark that his colleague had re-
ferred to the fact that there were coming among us
a large class of the population of the Germanic
States, who are emigrating to this country and set-
tling amongst us; they were, as was remarked by
the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. J. Brjnkerhoff] who
represented himself as a Knickerbocker, a class of
which he had not known a solitary individual, who
was unwilling to swear allegiance to this Govern-
ment, and renounce allegiance to all others;
they, in fact, were ready to do this in advance,
and the Government should give them such informa-
tion, in the tongue which they alone understood, as
would enable them rightly to discharge the duties of
citizenship. If, however, the House should refuse to
pass tins resolution, he thought that refusal would
be calculated to prejudice that class of the popula-
tion against the Government in which they had
shown a disposition to repose such entire confi-
dence. With respect to the objection of the gentle-
man from Mississippi, [Mr. Thompson,] that the
motion was made too late, he begged to remark, that
his colleague had again and again attempted to get
the floor, for the purpose of pressing this motion;
but on every occasion he had been either unsuccess-
ful, or anticipated by other business. He would
remark, in conclusion, that he had received a
letter from a German emigrant in his State, in
forming him that there had been formed a mili-
tary company of Germans, and tendering their ser-
vices to the Government of the United States in any
just war m which it might be engaged. Now, he
asked whether, when they hud such a class of men
amongst them, they should not send them these
documents in a language which they could under-
stand; that, if a war should arise, they might know
whether it was a just or an unjust war? (Laughter.)
Mr. BARNARD expressed a hope that the reso-
lution would not be adopted. We are an Anglo-
Saxon race, and Anglo-Americans; and he did not
desire a separate and distinct organization, or sepa-
rate and distinct feelings, views, or opinions. He
hoped all our citizens that were capable of voting
would be such as were capable of reading the Eng-
ligli language; and he held it to be the duty of every
American citizen who may have had the misfor-
tunc to be born in any country but this, and edu-
cated in any other land, when he comes here and
takes upon himself American citizenship, to devote
himself to learning the English language. He de-
sired to see the people of this country a homoge-
neous people from one end of the land to the other;
and he could not agree with the learned and able
gentleman from Pennsylvania, [Mr. C.J. Ingersoll,]
that we were to become a homogeneous people by
preserving distinctions of race.
He next objected to the printing of 7,000 copies
for those of other tongues, when, for those who
spoke the English language, but 10,000 were print-
ed. He denied that the classes stood in these rela-
tive proportions to each other, and that the former
were as two-thirds of the latter. But, if it was right
and proper to print for them any part of the accom-
panying documents, it was equally right and proper
to print for them the whole. The President's mes-
sage was an important document, but by no means
the most important. He trusted, however, this ex-
ample would not be sfet: let them keep to the Eng-
lish language in all their proceedings. Gentlemen
sEud they had many constituents that were German:
well, be it so; and those Germans might hereafter
(Meet a German to be a member of this House who
might be unable to read the English language; and
should the House now set an example, to be follow-
ed hereafter, which would lead to the transaction of
the business of this House in the German language?
There was no reason why the business of this
House should be transacted in more than one lan-
guage; and it was their duty to do all that lay in
their power to make this people homogenous—
speaking one language—the noble English language,
and no other.
Mr. WISE moved to lay the entire subject on the
table.
Mr. RAMSEY called for the yeas and nays, and
they were ordered; and, being taken, resulted thus:
ayes 86, noes 86.
YEAS—Messrs. Adams, Anderson, Ashe, Barnard, Beards
ley, Belser, Benton, Blackwell, Boyd, Aaron Y. Brown,
Milton Brown, Burt, Caldwell, Campbell, Cary, Catlin,
Reuben Chapman, Cobb, Coles, Collamer, Cranston, Dana,
Daniel, Garrett Davis, Richard D. Davis, Deberry, Dellet,
Dickinson, Dunlap, Ellis, Elmer, Farlee, Fish, Florence,
French, Byram Green, Grinnell, Grider, Hale, Hamlin, Her-
rick, Houston, Hubard, Hubbell, Hudson, Hungerford, Cave
Johnson, Preston King, Darnel P. King, Kirkpatrick, Maclay,
McKay, Murphy, Newton, Norris, Parmenter, Patterson,
Peyton, Phcenix, Elislia R. Potter, Pratt, Purdy, Rothbun,
Reding, Itliett, Russell, Saunders, Senter, Thomas H. Sey-
mour, David L. Seymour, Simpson, John T. Smith, John
Stewart, Stone, Sykes, Thompson, Tyler, Vance, Vanmeter,
Vinton, Wheaton. Williams, Winthrop, Wise, Woodward,
and William "Wright—86.
NAYS—Messrs. Barringer, Bidlack, Edward J. Black,
James Black, James A. Black, Bossier, Bowlin, Jacob Brink-
erhoff, Bodhead, William J. Brown, Jeremiah Brown, Buf-
lington, Carroll, Augustus A. Chapman, Chilton, Clingman,
Clinton, Cullom, Dean, Dickey, Dillingham, Douglass, Dun-
can, Ficklm, Foot, Foster, Fnck, Hardin, Harper, Hays,
Henley, Hopkins, Hughes, Charles J. Ingersoll, Joseph R.
Ingersoll, Irvin, Jameson, Jenks, Peiiey B. Johnson, An-
drew Johnson, George W. Jones, Kennedy, Labranch, Lew-
is, Lucas, McCauslen, McClellan, McClemand, McConnell,
McDowell, Mcllvaine, Mathews, Moore. Edward J. Morris,
Joseph Morris, Moseley, Nes, Owen, Pettit, Emery D. Pot-
ter, Ramsey, Charles M Read, David S. Reid, Reltfe, Ritter,
Robinson, St. John, Sample, Simons, Slidell, Thomas Smith,
Robert Smith, Steenrod, Stephens, Stetson, Andrew Stew-
art, Taylor, Thomasson, Tibbatts, Tilden, Weller, Went-
worth, White, Wilkins, Joseph A. Wright, and Yost—86.
The SPEAKER gave his casting vote in the af-
firmative; and the motion to lay on the table pre-
vailed.
Mr. BROWN of Indiana gave notice of his in-
tention to ask leave hereafter to introduce a bill, the
object of which was not distinctly heard.
THE TARIFF.
Mr. RHETT rose to offer a resolution.
The SPEAKER informed him there was other
business that was entitled to precedence; and, there-
fore, resolutions were not then in order.
Mr. RHETT moved a suspension of the rules,
that he might get in his resolution, which was as
follows:
Rcsohed, That the Committee of Ways and Means do in-
quire-, as soon as practicable, into the expediencv of report-
ing a bill repealing the tariff act passed in the" year 1842,
and in lieu thercol imposing a maximum rate of duty of
20 per eont. ad valorem on imports, discriminating below
this maximum in the duties imposed on the principle of
producing revenue only.
He remarked, that he offered this resolution at
this time m consequence of the action of the House
on the resolution of the gentleman from Pennsylvania,
[Mr. J. R. Ingersoll,] which he supposed was in
response to the recommendation of the Executive
to tax tea and coffee.
[The resolution of Mr. J. R. Ingersoll,to which
the gentleman from South Carolina referred, was
offered and acted on on Friday last, and was in the
following terms:
Resolved, That the Committee of Ways and Means lie in-
structed to inquire into the expediency of introducing a
bill to levy duties upon the importation of tea and cofiee.J
Mr. ADAMS presented a mass of papers in rela-
tion to one of the cases of contested elections.
Mr. RHETT called for the yeas and nays on his
motion to suspend the rules, and they were or-
dered ; and being taken, resulted—yeas 77, nays
108, as follows: 3
YEAS—Messrs. Ashe, Atkinson, Belser, Edw ard J. Black
James A. Black, Blackwell, Bower, Bowlin, Boyd, Jacob
Brinkerhoft; Aaron V. Brown, William J. Brown, Burke
Burt, Campbell, Reuben Chapman, Augustus A. Chapman,
Cobb, Cross, Cullom, Daniel, Garrett Davis, John W. Davis
Dean, Deberry, Dickinson, Douglass, Punoan, Dunlap,
Ficklin, Haralson, Henley, Herrick, Holmes, Hoge, Hous-
ton, Hubard, Hughes, James B. Hunt, Jameson, Cave John-
son Andrew Johnson, George W. Jones, Kennedy, Lewia,
Lucas, Lumpkin, Maclay, McClellan, McClemand, McDow-
ell McKay, Mathews, Moore, Murphy, Norris,Owen, Pettit,
David S. Reid, Reding, Rliett, St. John, Saunders, Thomas
H Seymour, Simpson, Thomas Smith, Robert Smith, Steen-
rod, Stiles, Stone, Strong, Taylor, Thompson, Weller,W^nt-
worth, Wise, and Woodward—77.
NAYS—Messrs. Adams, Anderson, Barringer, Barnard,
Beardsley, Benton, Bidlack, James Black, Bossier, Brod-
head Milton Brown, Jeremiah Brown, Buffington, Caldwell,
Cary, Carroll, Catlm, Chappell, Chilton, Clingman, Clinton,
Collamer, Cranston, Dana, Richard D. Davis, Dellet, Dickey,
Dillingham, Ellis, Elmer, Farlee, Fish, Florence, Foot, Fos-
ter, French, Frick, Willis Green, Byram Green, Grinnell
Grider, Hamlm, Hardin, Harper, Hays, Hopkins, Hubbell
Hudson, Hungerford, Washington Hunt, Charles J. Inger-
soll, Joseph R. Ingersoll, Irvin, Jenks, Perley B. Johnson,
Preston King, Daniel P. King, Kirkpatrick, Labranch,
McCauslen, Mcllvaine, Edward J. Morris, Joseph Morris,
Moseley, Nes, Newton, Parmenter, Patterson, Peyton, Phoe-
nix, Elisha R. Potter, Emery D. Potter, Pratt, Purdy, Ram-
sey, Rathbun, Charles M. Read, Relfe, Ritter, Robinson,
Russell, Sample, Senter, David L. Seymour, Simons, Slidell,
Albert Smith, John T. Smith, Stephens, Stetson, Andrew
Stewart, John Stewart, Sykes, Thomasson, Tibbatts, Tilden,
Tyler, Vance, Vanmeter, Vinton, Wheaton, White, Wil-
liams, Wilkins, Winthrop, William Wright, Joseph A.—
Wright, and Yost—108. Jj
Mr. BELSER gave notice, that on to-morrow, or
some future day, he would ask leave of the House
to introduce a bill to refund to the State of Ala
bama a certain sum of money therein named, due by
the General Government to the said State, on account
of expenditures for her troops, called into service in
the late Creek and Seminole wars.
Mr. LEVY gave notice that he would, on Mon-
day, ask leave to introduce bills of the following
titles:
A bill authorizing, in certain cases, the relinquish-
ment of the sixteenth sections granted for the use of
schools; and the substitution of other lands.
A bill to amend the existing laws in relation to
pre-emption.
A bill to amend an act entitled "An act for the
armed occupation of the peninsula of Florida."
A bill for the relief of the sufferers by Indian hos-
tilities in Florida.
A bill to authorize the present location, by the Ter-
ritories, of the lands they will be entitled to upon
their admission as States of the Federal Union, un-
der the provisions of the section of the act
of .
A bill to extend further the political franchise of
the people of the Territories.
A bill to provide for the completion of the public
buildings in Florida.
A bill for the establishment of post-routes and
mail facilities in the peninsula of Florida.
A bill for the survey and examination of a route
for a railroad across the peninsula of Florida.
A bill for the construction of fortifications on the
island of Key West.
A bill for the erection of marine hosoitals at the
ports of Key West and Apalachicola.
A bill for the relief of certain inhabitants of West
Florida.
A bill for the improvement of the navigation of
certain rivers in Florida.
A bill amendatory of the several acts organizing a
Territorial Government in Florida.
After some conversation on the order of business,
the House proceeded to the consideration of the fol-
lowing resolution, heretofore offered by Mr. G.
Davis:
"Resolved, That the Committee of Elections do inquire
and report whether or not Messrs. Edmund Burke, John R.
Reding. Moses Norris, jr., and John P. Hale, members of
this House from the State of New Hampshire, Hugh A.
Haralson, Absalom Chappell, John H. Lumpkin, Howell
Cobb, William H. Stiles, Alex. H. Stephens, and Edward J.
Black, members of this House from the State of Georgia;
John Jameson, Gustavns M. Bower, James B. Bowlin, James
H. Relte, and James M. Hughes, members of this House
from the State of Missouri; and Jacob Thompson, a member
of this House from the State of Mississippi, have been elect-
ed in conformity to the Constitution and the law, and
whether they are entitled to retain their seats as members
of this House for the 23tll Congress."'
Which resolution Mr. Steenrod had moved to
amend, by striking out the words "Committee of
Elections," and substituting therefor the words "se-
lect committee."
Which amendment Mr. Jameson had moved to
amend, by substituting for the words "select com-
mittee" the words "Committee of the Whole on the
state of the Union."
And the pending question was on the amendment
to the amendment.
Mr. TIBBATTS sent to the Chair a proposition,
which (not being now in order) was read for informa-
tion, and which he desired might be accepted as a nw4-
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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/m1/68/: accessed March 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.