- v --.-.'- V- ; .. -.' - - r S 1 J- '"' .. ' - ' " - ---'- .- - . .. ; ",.. ,- OH yyu i r TWO . DOLLARS PER .ANNUM, ? HAJ-r-YEAKLV IN- ADVANCE. 5 S IF NOT PAID WITHIN THE YEAR. 1 i 50 W1IJ. DE CHANGED. PRINTED AND; PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY li J 0 :N IT II A "N: II O W SOMERSET, SOMERSET COUNTY, PA. seiv Serics.3 TUSSDAl?, r?lAH.CH , 26,;, 1847,- Vol. 5. No. 1 Ocissn J : :-- ' SPEECH OF 1 '. ?IR. STEWART, OF PC.VVA, , ON THE . THREE MILLION APPROPRIATION BILL A5D THE - ' ' MEXICAN WAR. silvered in the House nf Representatives of tlu ,;;... U. S., February 13, 1S17. ': ' The House being in. Committee of the "Whole on the state of the Union on the Three Million" Appropriation bill Mr, STEWAUT said he. proposed, in the first place, to inquire, briefly into the true purposes and objects of this bill; for it seemed to biin that, in the course of the present debate, almost every thing else had been discussed but the bill itself. .This hill grants the President what he demands,- three millions of dollars to riske a treaty with .Mexico, and authori ze him to pay the money before the tren v is submitted to cr . approved by the JSenate; ami the Senate are lhus required .to ratify this' treaty before they see it, or know what it is. Js it not in effect a ra tification cf the treat' beforehand? How can the Senate .object to the treaty, no mailer what is its character or provisions, after having authorized : the payment of the three millions in advance? If they do, the money will be lost, and lost by their "act, in authorizing its previous payment. Jle contended therefore, that any treaty, which the President might choose to make fjr the acquisition of- .Mexican, ter ritory, would in effect' be at once binding upon this Government., Let this bill once be passed, and I say that neither this House, nor the Senate, can, with any ' consistency, object to the. treaty. The ..appropriating power is the only control this House "can exert over the Executive in the making and executing, of treaties. This it is proposed to exercise before hand, and thus surrender to the President the whole control of the treaty-making power. By this act we tic our hands and Beal our lips. We have no right to 'object to any thing the President may do, "and Ibis is manifestly the ' object and de pign'of this bill. In originating the pre sent war - without, consulting Congress, then in session, the whole war power of this' Government has been practically .usurped by the President. He has car ried it out ia fact. He has made w ar .while Consrress. "was in session, without , submitting the causes to their considera tion, or asking cr obtaining their concur rence. '. He did not ask lis to declare war, but ordered the. army to advance and "bring on the war, and then called upon us to-"recognise its existence,' and ap propriate money and men for its prosecu tion. Having thus seized upon the war . making power, he now -wants us to sur . render, lo him the treaty-making power rlso. As he began the war without the consent of Congress so now: he wants the means of. making a peace without the aid or concurrence oteither the. House or the Senate. ; "I ' . " By this law we, authorize him lo"pay "Santa Anna, or any body else, three mil lions to nurchase a peace, which lie has failed to conquer.' "And, if the Senate ihall refuse tp ratify it, the : three millions T.re tone: This bid empowers the Presi- deut to make a treaty when, how, and Viih vhouvhe' pleases. If "he1 shall be pleased to jnakc a. treaty exchanging Ore gon for ' California, to give northern ' for , southern territory, to surrender free terri tory for the acquisition of slave territory, ami give these three." millions to' boot as earnest money, what right lias the Senate to object? If they do, may not the Presi dent ' say "what, do you object to' the treaty? Did you not authorize me by law ;to make a treaty that should put an end to this war, and did you not give me three "millions 15 do it? I made the treaty; Mex ico has ratified .it.,. I have paid her the threeV millions, and sho has paid it to her army, and now, if you refuse to ratify it. the money is 3 dead loss,, and worse," it has gone to "aid and comfort the ene- .my. ; .;.. ; - r To obviate this objection, I 'have moved ,zn amend mcnt in he, 1 1th, Jin6 of the 2d feciion of the bill, inserting after "ratified W Mexico," the words "and the United States.'' This will, if adopted keep" the .money ia our owu hands 'till the treaty has been approved by the Senate. But, if the iimeiidmcnt be adopted, the real in- , tent and objrct of this bill will be defeat , d. For , if you postpone, as you ought clearly to Wo, the. payment of the money , till the treaty is ratified by the. Senate, what is tlic esc of passing. this bill? Can't .Congress appropriate the money simulta neously, w ii!v die approval and ratitication of: the treaty? Certainly. " -. My. object ion to this bill is, that, having ,f nrrendered the war power .to the Presi- .dwit having given up . to him both the p'.irs? and the s word, I, caunct consent, to .give him the trcuty-inaking power also, thua enabling him to impose on Congress and the country just such a . treaty as suits . hirosc'.f. rl this ti be tolerated? I trust not,"nle?s it is resolved by w the majority ben? to convert this free Government into a despotism, and 8ieriGeerour liberties on the a!i:r of .arbitrary power. ; . I Invc voted, -and 1 intend to vote, for "11 ihe men, money, and measures1,- that rnry be necessary, iii my judgment; to bring lUw unhappy war to a speedy end an honorable conclusion; but this bill ffoes t f - - T t -j T U - 4 ' iw.wr., am icauv iu. ou; Hiiaicfer is . proper and. necessary . to strengthen . the Executive arm in maintaining , the honor f and interests of the countrjibiit this bill; proposes a surrender of more power. into ", the hands ol the Executive than I can. consent 10 grant. , po.inucii lor the Dili , and its objects 7 1 7 . I .. j And now, in regard to this "Wilmot pro- viso. 1 What is it? . It is a proposition to" prohibit the extension of "slavery ; in the . new territory we may acquire with these three millions f of dollars, antl which is ..ii. T f F 1 - . 1 now free terrilon-. Where 'can be . the;, objection; to an object like this?. GenUe- - . men say that this is not the lime; that this is not the place, that it is a mere abstrac-i tion,' and will have no practical operation'., But I say it will have - a practical and! "most salutarv operation, as I shall show operation, directly. But even if it were an abstrac- , for the proviso tlierefore,' because it will tion, if it were merely a declaratory reso-: bring us peace. Impose this restriction, lution, saying"that Congress is in favor of and Mr. Polk will say he wants no lerri liberty and opposed to slavery, how would tory the South will say they want hone; gentlemen vote? , Shall this American we say, agreed,' we. want hone. "SThen, if Congress, which claims to represent the Mexico is to lose no territory, she will be freest people on earth, dwelling in the for peace; and if we are to acquire none, home, the citadel, tlie. cherished land of liberty, vote' that we are in favor of. sla- very? Let the South so vote, if thcyi; cauusi;, lie uiu nut t.iiiitj suuiuci 11 uiiu for maintaininff their own . side . of the question; but let northern men beware.- For his own part, while he would faith fully abide by all the compromises of the Constitution, while he would not invade, in the slightest degree',' any of the consti tutional, rights - of the South, he would never extend, by any vote of his, slavery over one foot of territory now. frce.v I will, then, vote for this proviso, not only because I think it right in itself, but be cause I belitve it will have a more power ful effect in restoring peace than any oth er measure that can- be adoptedpeace si broad and peace at home, l.bcg gentle men to recollect that the acquisition of territory was the original design, arid is now the declared object and purpose, of this war! :The acquisition of New Mcx- ico and California is, we are now told on all sides, the object of this appropriation It was for this purpose' liiat::Jamcs, K Polk brought the war on the first instance.' It was a scheme, a notable scheme, for the acquisition of territory by conquest; but that object was to be concealed, and therefore he began the, war without say inir a word to Congress about it. lie feared they would not sanction his scheme, and bring on a war for such a purpose. Here was the great error committed by the President,: "a blunder worse than a crime.'' When Mexico refused to recog nise our minister, the President instead of sending his army to the Rio. Grande to bring on the war, should have sent : his message, to Congress, setting forth the causes, and recommending, if he chose, a declaration of war; and then, if Congress, had declared war, it would have been con stitutionally declared by the people's rep resentatives, and they would have cheer fully sustained it. " But, instead of adop-; ting this course, though Congress was in session at the lime, he ordered the army to march from Corpus Cliristi (where he himself says it had been posted for more than six months, without objection or mo lestation from Mexico) to the Rio Gran de; into the disputed terriVoTy, directly op posite ' to Matamoras; a Mexican town, blockading the river, .cutting 01T their sup plies: and erecting a battery. within gun shot of the city itself -an act of war, and producing war as a necessary and inevita ble consequence. It did produce war. Battles were fought; Our brave little ar my was cut off from its supplies; and, when his plot had 'thus succeeded, then lie called on ns "to recognise the existence of the war," and provide men and money for its prosecution. And w hy did he not send us his message, and leave it to us to judge whether the nation had good cause of war or not? Because he was afraid to trust the House with the' question. He knew that it never . would sanction a , war for the acquisition of territory, and that "was the reason why he took upon him to send his armv to bully Mexico into a war. - Mr.M.imyr of Tennessee, here in terposed to inquire, whether war had not been declared against us by" Mexico as .early as April? 4 ,'.-V ' T Mr. fy. No, sir, no; she did not. No declaration "of war was ever ; made" by Mexico against the United States, or by .the United States - against Mexico. It is an Executive war- a war brought on by your President, without a declaration of war on either side. ; - Mexico, ' wishiug to avoid hostilities, sent, by her : General in commonder command, a-notice to our (General Tavlor) not to cross the Colora do, otherwise they would regard it as an act of war, and an invasion of Mexico. They were not only willing to leave our army undisturbed at Corpus Christi; but were -willing, we should march lo.lho Col orado without rcsietancc. No, sir, tho Mexican Congress never declared war a-i gainst is, and the President did not give ns the chance to declare war against them; sel admitted the charge, but undertook to I tell the gentleman from Tennessee, Mr! ! justify lie; came; into .'court with his Martin,) i;who represents .' .Mr. '.Polk ' on ?,plea, something like the message in length this floor, that this is a war made by his ! containing twenty-four distinct grounds of President, and,' for all the consequences ' defence, f To ' tfie terror.of "the' court he of winch he is responsible to,' and will he j opened bis volume, and commenced rea held responsible by, the American pco i"g: "If the court please our" first ground ple..: Peacc 'is the - trueDolicvof -this .-It. ' r couniry; war, anu especially wars 01 con- quest ana invasion, are - dangerous to the 4 character, this "Union sent ant proviso I r . . trie acquisition ;ot southern territory, as j long as there "i a -; hbpe of accomplishing ; this object, there will be fio peace.--Tut aif end to this hope, arid you at once put .' an end to the war, by defeating its object, j The moment the President finds this pro- j viso accomnanvinr- this frani of monev. ' n - . r , he will be for making peace; and so will i all the South. - They , want ho restricted ! territory. - It the restriction is imposed, and the territory acquired" is to be Jrec, j from that moment the President-would j pay Mexico to keep her territory,' rather ! than bring it in on such conditions; ; I am what are we fighliiifr lor? Then, impose j 'this 'restriction, and the war will be 1 promptly ended, to the great benefit and Juj .'t uuui iiuuiit-. But this restriction . would not only ter minate the war, but it will promote peace at home, xlomcstic: peace. It will avoid civil; 'and perhaps, ia the end, servile wars.;. ' ' i;- . v C ' The acquisition of unrestricted territo ry will be an "apple' of discord" to the Slates of this Union. New questions, will at once spring up -new lines of par ty distinction will be drawn, and the old ones obliterated. . We shall be uo longer divided as Whigs and Democrats." , As long as "our party distinctions are founded on abstract principles, and measures of in ternal policy, they never will divide this Union- never; but as soon as you make a geographical division -a free party and a slave party , a northern party and a southern party you at once strike a fatal blow' at the integrity of this Union. I want to shun all these dangers- dangers which, I belleve,"can bo avoidcd'or.ly by. keeping out foreign territory. But the President tells us, in his Message, that this war was not commenced, and is not prosecuted, for conquest. ; Sir, I am sor ry he has said so." I am sorry for the credit and character of my country; for what man is there so blind as not to see that conquest is the whole and sole end and object of this war! Whether we look to the manner of its commencement,' or the manner of its prosecution, every one must see that territory, the acquisi tion of territory, was the first and last, the cherished and darling object of the President. But the Presidcnttclls us that Mexico began this war; that vshe struck first; that she invaded our territory, and "shed American blood on American sofi." If this be true, if is suflicient.--Then why go back twenty years to give what the President calls "a history of the causes that led to this war." r "Led who to this war? - That led him to make it of course. Why rake up and cite, in order, this long string of old grievances and can ses of quarrel, long since settled by trea ty? Why dwell on Mexican outrages, and what Mexico owes us? She has ac knowledged the debt, and has agreed to pay it; and did pay as long as she had the means. But will war bring the mo ney? Or will it not rather destroy both the ability and disposition of Mexico to pay? Suppose a man living ju Texas or Florida owes Ir. Polk, not $3,000,000, but $3,000; he sends a man over there to collect the money. The man acknowled ges the debt, but says he can't pay, , Mr. Polk flies into a passion, ..and says, "I'll make him pay." He, hires a hundred men, agrees to pay them. $10 per .month, gives them 160 acres of land, finds them horses, borrows 50,000 lo ' pay expen ses, and avay he goes. The man col lects his neighbors, they have a fight; Mr. Polk, with, the loss of half his men gains a glorious victory; he .burns the man's barn; he sets t his stacks on fire; destroys his cattle, and kills his wife and children; and what is the .result? Mr. Polk has ruined the man, and ruined him self; the debt is lost, and Mr. Polk's pro perty is sold by the sheriff to pay , the ex penses of his folly, and that -is the end of it. Such a course would be just as reasonable as this war upon IN lex ico to collect what she owes" us. But who be lieves Mr. Polk to be in earnest? Who does not know, that this is only the osten sible motive, the pretext, for the war, and tt the true, thecal object is, and was trom tnc oegmnmg, me acquisition ot ter ritory?;"; -V"' :s'.;-;; "'v'- ' But tlie President insists," that Mexico struck first. . Is this true? If so, that is enouhV why assign twenty . other insuf ficient reasons for this war? " The course of the President puts me in "mind , of a case of outrageous assault and battery t tried iri the WestV The defendant s coun- imci-ruy, auu uesi uucresis vi, ijo niuic. . "aye, oui, sum uib uwyn, sui-uuie, win soon oe mouarcilV - in FORM not Ililr. one d-tv mv nut ih-it hn h.-ul ' As a friend "of peace,' pre- i "un fortunately ' for my client, thatV just ! as wtll as in fact. But, sir. the lav is discovered a plan to p-et rid of !vs tax?- 1 prospective, I am 1st favor of this ; wh3t we can't proved". "Then, why did, now dawning in the East. ; The clouds his neighbors, who had a fcdlow-feelinc .' l he "obiect'.of this war beimr ;.vou put it ml .-. I o save appearances, ; and darkness that overshadow us are fast on this subiert, fWfc,! i .-, ,! ,, of- defence is the prosecutor, .strcck ..-, ,, 'J.L first. 'viop, . saia me couri,."asui r. that s enougtiprove that, and we want . m n,your honors please." Just? so in uus case -"To save appearancest' the Presi- dent says, .Mexico "struck first;" hut, not .! being able to prove it, he goes buck twen- to-odd .years to give, what he callsi "a" history of the causes that led to the war," instead -of rnvinor the true causes in a . r-t - . word, by saying, "first, the annexation of - Tcxas: second, ;the acquisition of Call- Jbrnia." r -A,; :, r-. i: .. . . , - But gentlemen dwell much upoir the ldry"of . this war.' Glorvf -is there any irlorv to be 'rrbt br the'eonauest of thP-.tniPiiW Uui rtnwW.frn.1. thesfr miserable demi-savage, down-trod den, and distracted Mexicans? : Is it glo- I'ry for an elephant to kill an ant, oir a lion to murder a' mouse? Glory? No, sir; that won't" do. There would be- more tme glory in exercising generosity, mag nanimity, and forbearance towards poor Mexico, than in killing- her people, and robbing her of her tprritorv - A -war with Mexico can be glorious in no event, it may be disgraceful; victory over such an enemy is not glorious, ' while defeat would be the deepest disgrace. - Individ uals have acquired and may acquire glory bv brilliant ' achievements and deeds of i noble tlaring, but national gloiiy is out of the question. -v" Now, sir, though I disapprove of lliis war, in its origin and in its objects; though I condemn' both the manner of its com mencement and the manner of its prose cution, yet I have voted both the men and money asked for by the President to bring it to a speedy and honorable termi nation, And why? Because we had no cst3pe. The President had plunged us into the war without our consent. Our brave little army was cut off from its supplies, and in danger of utter destruc tion. We were obliged to rescue them by sending speedy succor. But 1 never voted to prosecute th's war for the pur pose of acquiring additional territory by conquest. No, .sir, never. If we ha'I succeed in getting this territory, what shall wc do with it? Shall we hold itby military occupation? By -sending an ar my there, and keeping it there forever, with all its appendages and oppressive burdens of taxation, crushing the people of this country' to the earth? ' Or shall we incorporate it into the' Union? " And, if we do, are those semi-barbarian, half blood, negro, and mulatto Mexicans fit for freedom? Are they " capable of being free? ' Can ' yon force them to be free? No,'; sir; you know you cannot. But, even if you could, have you'any; right tot force freedom upon these unwilling meii? Arc we to Vo and brin: them in by force drair these resisting people into our Uniou by. the hair of their ;head? : But, even if witling to come, what preparation have they? Are they qualified to exercise the rights of American citizens?' But,1 more than that, they are in a state of the highest exasperation " against us. Sir, I would as soon bring a den of exasperated rattlesnakes into the midst of my, family, as attempt to force these treacherous Mexicans into political union with our selvesunwilling and- exasperated "a? they are. 'Phe result would be discord, strife, civil war, and, ultimately, and per haps at no distant day, the- dissolution of this now happy and glorious Union. I cannot sanction this appropriation for an other reason. -To do so would be to sanction the doctrine soboldly&: unblush- ingly avowed here by 'the gentleman from Indiana, over the way, (Mr. Wick,) who says, that we are here simply to give the Executive what Axe wants; and that, if we are not willing to grant it, and in the form iti which he asks it, we ought to go home, and let the people send here those who are. That is the rule he prescribes i for himself and all good Democrats. Yes, that i3 the doctrine openly preached on iht3. floor the floor of an American Congress by the gentleman from India nil, who' assumes to be "Sir Orac!a" the official whipoer-in of the Democraiie party the grand sheriff and head consta ble, set up and authorized to bring the Democracy to order. And has it come to" this? : ; Is "this your modern progressive Democrcy, that the President must have not only whatever he wants but in the form lc wanis it? .The purse and the sword he already lias, and this bill adds the treaty-making power. A more despi cably slavish creed never was taught un der the dasrsrer and the cord in tho most grinding despotisms that ever has outraged the rights of man. "What does.it inako of the representatives of rtfrce people? The poorest; meanest, most sycophantic, subservient, and crawling slaves that ever licked the foot of arbitrary power. We must give the President all he askst. In deed! what business, then, have w e here? Why not - go home, and - save.: expsnse? Oxe man is ail we want. : And yet that is modern Democracy,: promulgated by a self-styled- political , philosopher, - who prides himself gre-atly on his wisdom, but more on his transcendental Democracy. This is not Democracy; it is the reverse hich ll belonged, and still belong;-it U . the con - centration of all nower -in t!jf PMnt . - me one-man . power; monarchv- 1 111 f.ctv .and, 11 not- checked and rebuked by die , disappearing. . 1 he decree has gone forth. jThe lime is at hand w!i n the people will redeem themselves from the doings and ' lfiR doctrines of this dsstruttive Dcmocra- cy. T , . . Sir. I here venture to sa) that if - Jas. it p.. it- u m;.ifn.nniMi'' i,,r 1 - , inn. i.i i(i i 411 i lit vjf - wvj i v.i i iiu set himself down, in the Cabinet council, tn svstpm ftf 'mpwnm t, 4h. trov first his country, and next his par-( ty, he coidd not have contrived a system j ie democratic party had carried out all better calculated to achieve the object than I lls measures, and the results would con tlie one he has 'adoptt-d and carried out. i trast favorably with those of the Whigs. As to its.efiect upon the party, look at ' 1 an' 'to hear this admission. They tho jtfPnp.. nf this; mnrnin-r-!ooL- th. ch.es3 that their, system of measures is scenes that daily surround us the divi sious, dissention.T, quarrels, and fights, that are daily occurring on this floor, be tween the belligerent divisions and rcH menls:of the "harmonious Democracy." Ask the Democrats from Pennsylvania. New York, and Ohio, what turned them out last fall, and they will tell you, and tell you truly, "it was Polk and his po!i- cy mat done it. As to its ctli.ct.upon the countrv, look at its condition when he came,inio power, and look at it now. Who could have ' believed that such a change could have been effected in so short a time? Then the country was in the enjoyment of peace and prosperity, already both are destroyed. Then the national industry was protected and pros perous, and the revenue abundant under the tariff of '42; now our national indus try and our revenue have hc?.n both put down tojether bv the infamous 'British taritT of '46. Tru?, sir, Providence has, to some extent, counteracted tho destruc tive effects of the Polk policy," by visiting with a famine, a failure of the potato crop in Ireland, and of the wheal crop throh out Europe, while we have been blessed with an uinsual, a superabundant crop, to supply this deficiency. 'Phis has grca' ly increased our imports, and sustained, to so'me extent, the revenue; but this will be temporary;' Yet,' notwithstanding all these favorable circumstances, look atone great and undeniable fact: when Mri Polk came in to power the U. States stock stood $116 for 100; now it is down to $08 This fact speaks volumes as to -the disas trous effects of his policy on the public credit, at home and abroad. .-.Polk found the country with a sound enrrenev. now we have the Subtreasnry and Treasury note bills. The one says we. will" take nothing hut specie, the others we will PAy nothing bin-paper.' Treasury notes are in fact the paper issues of a suspend ed non-specie - paying bunk It is a na tional bank without specie in its vaults it is this, and nothing else. " The Subtreasnry and Treasury notes arc inseparable; they have always come and went together. They crime in with Van Buren, and they went out with Van Buren.. They have come in .with' Polk and lh.y will go out with Polk. . It is .a contrivance to get money after the Trea sury is exhausted, to feed and fatten die hundreds and thousands of hungry parti zaus with oflk-es and salaries, . good con tracts and jobs, at the expense of the hon est, hard working, and tax-paying far mers and laborers of the country; and, to eover their extravagance, they get up a war, no metier with whom, what for, or how. . Van Buren made a war something like the present in its origin and objects, to rob a few Indians in Fioridi " of their land, because they would uot sell it at his price.; but this war has cost the people more than forty millions of dollars, and we are now supporting these Indians be- yond the .Mississippi, at an c nearly a million a vear. .-Well following in the foois.ep3 of his illustrious predecessor, has nude war upon Mexico, with the same object in view, to acquire tprri'nrv nnd wive fat iobs. Contracts, and ollices to his partiznns, at the expense of j 1 1 . 1 1 11 tlie people; out wneii, v acre, ami now, the Polk war is to end, God only knows. What it is to the nation is being involved in debt at the rate of forty or fifty mil lions a year, without anyjneasnre of rev enue proposed to discharge the. debt, or even to pay the interest. Why uot meet the crisis you h ivc created like m?:i? Why shriok and skulk from the responsi bility? Two months after the dcc'ira lion of the war with Greu .Britain, Con gress: promptly, an-. I wiiIio-.it hesitati-m passed an actiod nibb tin duties 0:1 for eign goods, and impojsd shortly after ward., internal duties to meet the expen ses of the war; but now nothing ca:i be done but pas enormous appropriation bi'ls. issue I rcasury notes, ami divide tne nrocceo.. amon-r orenov nnrtiz-ii.?. wu. "1 ' . - , ' .- -... stand with open mouths to seize the oread and bones distributed at the White House. The democratic plan seems to be to pass appropriation bills, take the money, and leave the Whigs .to foot the bill, asm 1810- The on! v legacy they will leave us When thev die will be their debts,wr.h die privilege" of imposing taxes to pay them. The Democrats it seems, have discovered Mr. Law's plan of getting ----- - 0 j t clear of taxation. Someyears ago, when ? taxes were very high ii this city, my old fnpnd ThrmW T.iw fhthr nf T or t Ellenborough,) who was. very heavily .. . .. taxed for tworoJuctive property on Can- . : what his plan was; after reat deal of : importunity, "the old gentleman at last said, well friend?, if you raust know, I , am going to die." ; J Now, Uie ' DemocraU have found out at lney are going to die soon, and ther i are determined to ret nil tnv .-,n w't,;i'A their.time lasts, and leave the Whigs to impose the taxes, and to oav them. . 1 r - "v 1 vuti n iiiiu But we were told the other d.y, that jiu iuu anu successiui operation, and Uicy all can see the. beautiful results. I will avail myself of the occasion which is thus presented to me, and will follow out tha contrast a little farther. But I must go back a little, and I mean to inquire what has been the effect of Whig policy on ; the prosperity, the char acter, and the credit of the country; and then what " has been the result of the op posite? In this inquiry-! shall deal with factj I mean to speak from the record, and I challenge contradiction. Then I suite, in the first, place, that the average expen ditures of the Government, during the four years of Mr. Adam's Administra tion, was but twelve millions and a half a year, and part of litis was to cover the ex penses of an extensive system of internal improvements; and during the same four years, there were paid forty-five milUons of the public debt, out of twenty-five million., of revenue. Mr. Adams wa3 turned out for his extravagance, and Lo nofoco economy substituted. Mr.' Van Buren came in as a personal embodiment of Locofoco principles, and what was the annual expenditure during his four years? The average instead of twelve and a half was twenty-eight millions; (in one year the expenditure reached ' thirty -seven mil lions.) Twelve and a half millions un der Mr. Adams, twenty-eight million under Mr. Van Buren; this is the differ ence between Whig and Iocofoco policy. With a revenue cf more than 30 millions, they paid, not one dollar . of the publia debt, but increased it, in eficcf, thirty-one millions; the expenditure? having exceed ed the revenue during his term by tlut a mount. Mr. Van Buren foucd in the Treasury "a surplus of 45 millions; jt this, 28 millions were deposited with the States, leaving 10 millions cf tvaikble revenue, and to this add the proceeds of the sale of the Government bank stock,' 81 millions,' making a surplus of'-Mj mil lions, the whole of this, with all the reve nues of the Government, was expended during Mr. Van Buren's four years, and a large debt .left to the Whigs upon the accession of General Harrison to the Pre sidency in 1811. Wiicm the Whigs came into power, they found in the Treasury, not a surplus of 13 millions, as did Mr. Van Buren, but they found, on the contrary, a large debt, nd the revenue run down to less than half the amount of the expenditures. In 1810, the net reveuue was but $10,150, 330. When the .Whigs came, in, they passed the Tariff of '-12, (that tariff lavf which we, in our wisdom, repealed last winier,)nnd what did that bw accomplish! It. raised the net revenue to S25,718,I0G in 18 li it restored the credit of the na tion it raised up and protected the na tional industry, and made the nation pros perous. It paid otf, in four year of its ! operation, (lb 12 inclusive,) 34 m:ihons ft " i 01 Hie put. tic dear, and ieit, m isio, a oai ! ance of G mil!io:i3 in the. Treasury: and 1 : 1 .u .. r..-. i 1. n a year. This Whi Administration was turn eJ out by frauds and deceptions of the gross est character. James K. Polk came in. Locofoco doctrine was aiin in t:ie a.een dtnt. The tariff of 1812 was repealed, and that of 1815 substituted, Texas an nexed, and then. ;i3 was predicted, came war, with all its unhappy and disastrous consequences. Ilrre are the fruits of Lo cofoco policy. What h the condition of the count- now? It i3 worse than it ; was even reirn of M.irti t under tne ruinous . . Van Uuren. whom oeon'e turned out u..f 1 ITr. Van Buren spent for us 23 millions a renr; and how much is James K. Polk spenu- iiv? God only know-:. Just what he pleases to ask for forty or fifty millions al least. We have given him men and ifji.cn him mony millions upon millions ivirnn.-.its upon regiments treasurv I.n. 1 note--, lo? n. i he .sks, and as fast as li3 a-ks; yet his friends here complain daily that the President 13 "not sustained" in his patriotic pnr.jore!' What have v;a refused him? We gra'n'pd him ten mil lions of dollars and fifty thousand of toJ nntpcrs. . who nrorrntiy tendered their - t - - r - i services, and he h- not called out much more tha:i half ol them. What b-.ve wc not done? . And, after all, what has Mr. Polk done? Has ho prosecuted this war as he ought to have done? No. lie hid (Stt Faue: ief) Tf "t il
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