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The whole art vok Government consists in the art of beinq honest. Jefferson.
VOL 9.
STROUDSBURG, xWONROEjCOUNTY, jPA., THURSDAY, AUGt'ST 10, 184$.
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AT THE OFFICE OF THE f
JTcffcrsotiian Republican.
HON. ANDREW STEWART
Upon the Presidential CaiiVass.
Delivered in the House of Representatives, June
26M, 1848.
The House being in Committee of the Whole
on the bill making appropriations for the civil
and diplomatic service, and Mr. Featheraion
having addressed the committee, (as already
published)
Mr. Stewart, in rising, said he did noi pro
pose to answer the remark just made by ihe
gentleman from Mississippi, (Mr. Featherston,)
upon the subject of slavery a subject on which
he never had made, and perhapi never would
make a speech on this door. It was an evil,
and an evil without a remedy, in that portion
of the country where it existed ; but it was an
evil which he was opposed extending to any
country or territory now free. He thought the
discussion of this question had the tendency to
give rise 10 " geograjiiral line.,'1" which would
divide the great parties of the country, and
might in the end subvert our happy Union.
He regretted the drawing of such lines ; he
thought them dangerous to the harmony and
perhaps ihe integrity of this great confederacy.
They were divisions against which we were
warned by thai great and good man, the Father
, r. , tt :. j o. . - li 1.
jjcujuc ui i ue -uuiieu oiaies ; wnose voice ue
could never hear with indifference, and to which
he trusted the people of this country would
never Jurn a .deaf ear.
There had., tbowever, been introduced into
the present discussion another great 'question
.1 tj t:j . I . - - -f r I
me sr fcs4utiuii uucaiiDii : a qiiesuun wuiciii
icsiiuii which,
he regarded at this time as more ii
e regarded at this time as more important than
any question of .the kind which ha
id ever been -
presented to the decision of the American peo
ple, involving nomentous conseqences io the
welfare of the country, present and prospective
It involved thi question, among others
Whether, under the Government as it was now
administered, all .power was to he concentrated
1 in the hands of one man, or whether, under
cither auspices, under the administration of an
other illustrious man, whose name w before
"he country, we wre to be brought back to the
purer and better principles and policy of the
&'her8 of the republic ! It was a question
tw'hei'heT.all power the power of the purse and
"word, ihe Bower of neace and war, was to be
exercised 'fay be President; whether villi 'heJv
jWto power in his Ibarra, he was to becou
.preice in ihis. country, anwre arbitrary and Je
potic thaa zny crowned Irca'd in Europe, save
Nicholas of Russia, and Congress and ihe peo
ple were ta dwindle ite perfect insignificance;
or whether, under the .policy of that other great
and good man, Gen. Txylor, the people and
Congress were to be retired to their legitimate
powers, just riglits and proper influence; wheth
er ihe voice -of ihe people was to be heard, and
they to be "treated with respect, or whether we
were to be controlled and governed by 4 one
fon" Was it to be tolerated that, when a
ctoss the waters, in Europe, the old world wa
Engaged in putting down the 4 one-man power,"
o were to be putting u up here, by giving all
wer to the Executive ; and that, "whilst u
"ope was engaged in building up and establUh
,ng republics, we were to be employed in tear
ing down our neighboring republics of the South?
Ho trusted that we should take a different
course ; that, under ihe auspice of that illus
trious man whom the Whig parjy had presen
ted to the country, we should give an example
to the world not of war and of conquest, but of
peace of a people united, prosperous, peace
ful, happy. Thai was ihe example we owed,
to the world, and that was the example which
-u wuuiu soon si in ir,0 word( un(er a dilTT
cnt Administration from ihu. Rut uniup on.
as we now were, under the lead of the
one-
man power party, we musi M)on become a
warlike people, going on conquering and to
conquer. JW only Yiipalarr and Cuba, but
,nada. too, and all other territory we abonld
hlPMn to fix our avaricious eye tijibri; wutt'tfe'
vnnuef&d and 44 swallowed" under iliat' great
cluefiam ?)j,m the ProgressivbDernocracy
Hd selected a5 their leader.
Was this the policy which was 10 bejsustained
by tlie people ? No, never ! , A. different, re-
sun was approaching ; the misnamed Deraoc
raev had selected a leader, and so had the
Whigs : the former, a general that always sur
renders, the latter a general lhatf never surren
ders.,. Under suchjeaders could the result .be
doubted 1 ho, it was certain : the contest had
in fact, been given up. .The Union, the organ
of ihe Administration, Fat.her Richie himself
had given it up. What did the Union tell us ?
It headed a recent article with " .Wjll the peo
pie endure the cheat .?" He went .on through
nan a coiumn, telling now they were cheated
ny me. Whigs ; .and, in oilier columns it was
cheated, cheated, cheated ! Now he would
like to know what man or party ever cried
" cheaied that was not beaten,?1 44 Cheat"
meant 44 beat." In 1840, when ihe Whiga beat
the Lipcos, ihey cried, out cheated ;" in 844,
whenvthe Loco$ beai, that was the. cry of the
Whigs ; srid so wfeen the Union. cried " cheat
ed," it admitted they were beaten. . Cheated"
was the language of the loser, never of the win-
Mr. Hammons wished to propound a ques
tion to tjie gentleman, but , t . .
Mr. Sieward declined to yield.. for want of
time. He, proceeded, to read from one of the
arndes, referred to in the Union-in w'tnch h
was said that it; was unfair for ihe sWhigs.to
take Taylor. If tjiey, had Jaken.Clay, Web
ster,. Scott, McLean, or any other known. Whig,
he would have been satisfied ; but 'they had
.selected Old Zack, a 44 no-party man," and they
(the Democracy) could not keep their, men 'in
the ranks ; i)iai ihey would not stand fire ; .that
like the Mexicans they were not .only retreat
ing, but going over io Taylor, in companies
and regiments ; that they had not only Barn
burners in the North, but, Barnburners in the
South : the Van Buren men, aid the Yancey
men, ihe Alabama platform- m,en" and the
44 New York platform men;" North,,. quth,
East, and West their men were 44 bolting "
bolting, bolting. Now this, Mr. Richie said,
was not fair; it was a palpable cheat ;" the
Whigs ought to have nominated Mr. Claya
man they had often defeated, and could, he sup.
posed, defeat again. This would have been
lair ; but to take up 44 Old Zack," 44 a no-party
man," the very man who had fought their bat
tles and saved their Administration from infa
my and disgrace, how could ihe Whigs vote.
,or htm Democrats could do so with
propri
ety. Yes, (said Mr. S) and that is exactly
what they are going to do. Democrats would
vole for him, because he was an honest, true,
patriotic, faithfu(old man, who had risked his
lile in fighting ihe batiles of ihe country. The
i hrtiiPof iinfiiinhtitirotarl nonnU iU n 1 . . .
1 "ii.ivoii.u iieuuic. Iiuv l lie UIMII1
. , t . -e
. . ---r r 4, ;..
r; ,, , -A t Xva J1 rSi.i z.-i; 2 a..u; Ic
,:,,. j ..j' ' r,.,,.
Casjk, and the 6arty in the, House, who pay
him with kicksand cuffs ; we are honest men;
we will pay our honest, debts ; w,e have no
money, but wc will pay hjq in paper ; we have
a liule tbjt.uf a picket whiqh we will deposit at
the polls for him in November next. We don't
care what you say Mr. Richie, or, what you
politicians, sayio ihe contrary ; he has served
hjs country long and faithfully ; and we are
going toalfank him, and'jliat, too, .without Mr.
bass s disgraceful proviso attached tojs vote
of thanks for his glorious victoryat Monterev."
You might as well attempt to stop the .Mi8sjs-;
ippi river as to stop these honest men from
oung for. Gen. I aMor
But prudence is ihe better part of valor.
Mr. Richie is noi going Mo wart to be shot ;
he starts in time. He knows Old Zack and
Capt. Bragg are sharp shooters, and he no doubt
fees a little like Crocket's, coon, t who from the
top of a tree seeing a well-known marksman
raising his unerring rifle, said : ,44 Is lhat you
Capt. Scott ? If it is, don', shoot ; I'll come
down" So said Mr. Richie : Is (hat you,
Old Zack ? If it is, don't shoot ; I'll come
down." Much laughter.
But, to make bad worse, the next day after,
this candid confession and surrender, out, comes
his old friend Van Buren against Mr. Cass.
Horrible 44 et tu Brute I his rendered the
old gentleman quite frantic, and in hia next pa
per we may expect to see him address Mr.
Polk in the language of a certain celebrated
song, lately applied lo a distinguished Senator
from New York :
44 Q, carry me back to Old Virginny,
To Old Yirginny's shore,"
and 1 never, never will come back' to this place
anymore! (Laughter.) That was the kind
of musicthat he expected soon to hear on the
organ, now so villainously out of tune. But
enough of this.
Sir, we have been Repeatedly told, during
this debate, that the Democrats, in their don
vention at Baltimore, had laid down a platform,
and they complained that the Whigs had adop
ted no platform whatever. Butj4he would tell
jjentjepien the Whigs had a platform, and they
had it in General Taylor's Allison letter, of the
22nd , April ;' and he would proudly contrast
mat oroaa, nome. Ainerjcau piauorm, fiiR me
narrow, coiiirnctwd, party platform, 'adopted at
Baltimore. Couiw', ir, tbVue ' plfoWt
Ourst like its author, great and national ; theirs
strictly in character, a miserable pany concern.
How did Mr. Stevenson,. the President of the
Baltimore Convention, himself characterize
I this platformy in ;his letter conveying to Gen.
Cass the notice of. his nomination ? He. said :
The platform, we present you is broad enough
to, hold ali Democrats', but -narrdw -enough io
exclude all; others. It was broad enough for
the Lpco Focos broad enough for the party
It w.as a party platform, and nothing! else, and
so represented and jbo accepted by Gen. Lass
whq pledged himself to carry it out. 'But, luuk
at Old Zack s platform ; it was broad- enough
for the whole country. , He nobly says:: 44I go
lor the whole country ; for the wh.ole people
I submit to no pledges ; 1 .make no bargains
I submit to no party dictation ; if elected, I mi!
administer the Government for the; benefit -qf
the whole American people." And, sir, if he
could be induced to come down from that high.
noble, patriotic and national platform, to this
contracted, degraded, miserable platform of par
ly, he woiiljl sink, greatly sink in my esteem,
and would justly forluJt the support of thousands
and lens ol thousands ofhe patriotic and honest
men of all-parties, who were now rallying io his
standard. No; Gen. Taylor wouldfnever come
down to such a miserable narrow platform of par
ty as thai laid down by ihe BaliimoreConvention;
but would honestly and faithfully administer the
Government for the benefit of the whole peo-
ple,;and according.io the principles of the Con
stitution', as. construed sand, .administered by the
early Presidents-of the Republic,,. The first
hing they, put forth in the. Baltimore, platform
was democracy ;" they had theiname,, with
out one of .the principles. Gen. Cassand the
whole 'of them,, talk about r44Jeffersonian'.domoc
racy;" and, while ihey talked about democracy
and .about 1 nomas Jefferson while they .re
tained tJie name,-ihey repudiated and trampled
underfoot every .principle of Jefferson,every
principle adopted and. practised uptjn all the
early Presidents every one of them,, wjthout
an exception. They preach one thing, and
practice the .opposite. Their democracy the
Jeffersoniaa-.democracy ! Why, they went for
the veto power the great- conservative power
of putting down the wilhof the people, and put
ting up the will of the President. This one
man power that which,.as had been well said,
was intended as 44theiexir.enie medicine of the
Constitution" had now,become the daily-bread
tbe-Prestdent feeds upon.. Thomas Jefferson
and his illustrious compeers never. exercised
the-yeto ; he never, exercised it in -a. single
instance .in. the eighljiyears -of his Administra
tion. -During th&jfirs't .iwenty. years of- the
administration ihia, Government there-never
was a veto except- in. one, or two. unimportant
cases by Gen. Washington ; but vetoes, ve
toes, had now hecome; the order of the day.
We were now governed by vetoes,' and nothing
but vetoes. At the last session, . Congress pai
sed,,iie, rjver and harbor bill, and sennit to the
President ti wrjtf, afraid ,Jo veioJt, putji in his
breeches pocket ; but, ,atrihis .session, be sent
it back vyiih hia reasons. .against i, and this
House had voteddpwu.iho.se reasonsby a vole
of 138 to 54 a votef.thir.iy more than two
thirds! And yet it wan no.law; it was defeated
by the will of one man. And this was the pow
er Gen. Cass and his pany advocated !
What was Gen. Taylor's position in this re
spect ? He held, like a true republican, .that
with regard to questions of domestic policy it
was for the people and the people's represen
tatives tp. prescribe the law, and it. was ihe do
ty of the President to respect their will , and
I cajry it into ellect. . Ihia was the dpctripe ol
TOeu. Tayjpr that k was wilh ihe people, the
democratic, people, to govern themselves. Yet,
although Gen.; Qass and his party in pracjice
sustained and applauded, this despotic power
- w
of 4,pne man to defeat jhe .will of the people s
representatives Tajrly expressed, jhey talked
abnut, "democracy',' whjle,jhey ,were riveting
chains on ,jhe .people ; t.Hey talked ahojjt ,lhe
beauties pf economy, whi,le they, were daubling
and trebling the expenses of Government ; they
talked loudly rabout the capability of the peifple,
for,self-goyernment, nd Mr. Cass undertook to
say. that ij. was a, great dividing line between
themselves, and the Whjgsp That wa,s,a part
of the "platform," andtheir profession, !,was di
rectly contradicted by their practice: ; i,hey prac
tically denied the competency of the people
for self-government by the arbitrary exercise
of the veto power. What did this 4pJajform"
further say f That velo power had saved .the
people from a system of internal improvements.
Thai it had saved the peopleI rom t what ?
From themselves ; from caryingpui tlujir own
legislation i' from, usiyg their own money. fpr
their own benefit, for the improvement qf iheir
own country. .. 1 hey (the President and party;
could take $60,000,000 a year ipto Mexico ;
they could' go all over the worldand .spend
the money of ihe people,, but ihey, would syf-
er no part of the money to he-expended utjder,
the direction of the people's representatives
44for the people's benefit."v They denied tljie
power to Congress to spend the people's mon
ey for the rieoole's betifit in the iniprovemetil of
tneir country, nut c. Rimea ana exercieo
power looppre!s,'i8X, burden the people. That
was the practicaj construction which this party
placed upon the con9titution.Mbat' the. veto
was to save the people from themselves : and
yet'in their, platform they said that ''the people's
money ought to be carefully guarded, for the
people s benefit. A small mistake theyshould
have said 4,Jhe party's benefit"--7a variation
merely of theory ; from , practicle ; for, while
they talked about guarding the people's money
for the people's benefit, they were actually ap
plying 110 'ihe.benefit? nf themselves; and
while they isaid. that they were opposed to le
gislating for- "the benefit of the few ajt'the ex
pense of the: many," yet this was precisely
what they were doing. They were legislating
the money from the-people's pockets into their
own ; legislating entirely for the henifit of the
few .at the expense of the many. iTheirwhole
system, in the very face of ihe eyes of: iheir
theory, was to enrich the; few at the expense of
the many ; and this he would soon show was
a game well .understood by their great leader
Genera Gass.A ' t .
? They talked about ''.economy." and preached it
in their platform. They were great economists1
the real Thomas Jefferson economists, while, as
he had stated; they proscribed and trampled under
foot every one'of hiV principle's. ' Thomas Jeffer
son was the enemy of a national' debt." " Look at
our national debt now,-created by this "Democrat
ic" Administration. 'Mr. Adams administered the
Government for 'twelve and a half millions a year,
on the average-of his whole term; this sutn :cover-
lng the entire:expenses of his Administration, ex
cept what was applied to the public debt. .Mr.'
Adams was. denounced and put out for his extrav
agdnce. Mr. Yan Buren .came in this? lover of
economy, this admirer of Thomas Jefferson and
the expenses of the Government during his Admin
istration ran up to twenty-eight and half millions,
instead of twelve and a half. Gentlemen smiled
he defied them to deny it; he challenged them to
the records. They might promise to answer, as
they 'had done before, butthey would never do.it
never; because they could not, and the least said
the better, v ' ? j
Mr. Thompson, of Mississippi, (Mr. S. yieldinff
the floor with'sorae hesitation for one question,),
asked if the-gentleman did not now stand side by
"m I. - wu?i -a u -i nV '
Mr, Stewart. What ! side by side with Martin -
Van Buren-T A laugh. Thank pod, I have nothJ
side with Mr-. Van BurenT
ing to do with Martin Van Buren, and n.ever- will
have. I would ask' if the gentlemen himself,
who was formerly so ardent a supporter of Iti
Van Buren, was for Van Buren now ? Was he
now his candidate 1 Was he for Van Buren or
Cass ? ' i
Mr. Thompson's reply was not heard. .
'Mr. Stewart, continued. ,fle said the expenses
of the Governments had now run up under Mr.'
Polk to!60,000,000-a year. They had increased
rom $12,500,000 under Mr. Adams to $28,500,000
under Van Buren, and now to $50,000,000 or 860,
000,000,. under the'present "economical-'Admin-
lstratiori ! J his was thejr boasted Jeffsrsomnn
'economy;'' this was their oposition to a "nation
al debt. Why, they had done nothing but make:
national' debts. Mr. Van.Burenihad found some
540,000,000 surplus in the Treasury : he-had left-
souie $40,000 ofnational debt, after selling seven
or eight, millions of bank stock. . Mr. Uf Ik had
ound some $17,000,000 of deptyand hadTnow-run
it up-to -one hundred millions -of dollars ofover !
1 his was "Democratic consistency!. ThQpeo
pie wouia marK.it at the next election. 1 nomas,
1 it 1 . 1 -i - mi
Jenerson. was opposed -io a standing army to a 1
great navy ; yet- the gentleman - from North Car
olina (Mi. McKay) had told the House that the
appropriations- for the naval service tfa;d fun up
within a few years from $3,000,000 to $11,000,000 !
And this under this beautiful Jeflersonian Admin
istration, which went by the rule of contrary, look
ing one way, apd rowing the others 1
He always thought Mr. Jefferson was the friend.
of peace-. What was Gen. Cass v For war, war,-
war ! . First with England -he was for "fifty-four
lorty or tight then ha-was for Mexico, fur swal
lowing" (to use;. his own, language) the whole of -
Mexico ; next for Yuaatan ; and then he might be
lor Canada.- Wow, hero was the practice ofttir
gentlemen over the way, and of their leader, vy10
talked so loudly abQpt Mr. Jefferson's principles 1
War was a barbarism in this enlightened age and
country, ikwas an absurdity, a crime, and i'c was
considered, s,o by Gen. Taylor. .1 : " 1 .
But a little more of the history. of Gr., Cass.
He had. been on all sides of all question. There
was. not a question of public policy. o t he countiy
upon which Gen. Cass had not occupied apposi
tion on both sides. Once a Federalist, now a
"Democrat;" when the questioa p.f the annexa
tion of Texas first(came up he wr decidedly; op
posed to it ; vyheru it was said . that the British
were going to take Texas, "let them' have- it,"
saia ne,, " .w do not want it.1' But a little before
the, nomination, on the 10th oCMay, 1844, he wrote
ajetter to,.Mr. Hannegan', in. which he was for im
mediate annexation and foe slavery too. He was
agajnst annexation, and, .for annexation : against
the proviso and for the proviso'; -against protection
and. for protection ;, against internal imnrovement
anu ior uiiernai improvements. With reference
1' 1 - - 7 .
tplhe Wiimot prpvSQ.Genr, Cass was decidedly.
ipr 11 at nrst; he was a oreat Droviao man :..and
then at the. next sessiop of Congress, jwhep he
found it would rjot do for a certain, section, he
turnea.agairis the provisp and in his letter to Mr.
Nicholson s?Ad 44 a change has bead, going on in
ray ,mind,",and when the slaveholders demanded
tp betallo,ved to, carry their, slayesto new territo
ry,, he says it would greatly jraprove the comfort
an5 condition of the slaves if they were scattered
ivam ...I.. r . , 1 - ... i
mwic icrMipryana ne'was now a pieai sia
protective tariff; but now opposed to all protection
Tha 'Uu.. r V r.. : . i
if Yua wueii vjeu. uusa iuibu jut uuurpai
improvements : but he wrote.an answer to a let-
tor of invjtatidji to attgpd the Ch'icagb Convention
very man ; aqdthe, gentleman from Mississippi
(Mr.,Fen1therston,)ihacl just iaid he was pledged
to. veto the.Wilnifit irnvisn 'Ha W&S onno Ihr a
in his neighborhood a letter of four lines, stating
that he could not. ailend ; nd at Cleveland the
djher day when asked for his opinions op internal
improvements and the proviso, he said there was
such a crowd he was. afraid :he, could not-he hearri.
arid therefore he spbke on other subjects I Now;
the Baltimore Convention declared-that Internal
improvements were unconstituttanal, and Cen,
Cass said;Amen ; he agreed to evsry word iu
that platform. HenVas a man who 'had been oit
all sides'of all questions ; a man of no principle,
no consistency, bui a time-serving, vacillating,
weather-cock candidate, and that had secured
his nomination for; -the. Presidency. Bui he (Mr.
S.') thought his party1, now felt very much as Fa
ther Ritchie did very much like giving it up.
Had 4he Whig 'candidate ever vacillated, ever
changed his position; his principles! No. They
were laiddown in?'the Allison letter, andwern
fixed asfthe. everlasting hills, having their founda
tion in justice 'and truth based ion the constitu
tion of 'the country, and upon popular rights xha
emanatioif of a sound: head and ao'ure heart.' it
was impossible that they could be wrong, or could
change. - - ' " n
;jGeh. Cass was once'a great lover of volunteers.
He was a volunteer himself, and was sometime
called the 4,old volunteer."' But now it was on
the-records of Congress, and there was no escapex
from it4f-he put it to .gentlemen on the other fcidtr
of the House, that at this session of Congress; an
Decemher2Uth, in the Senate of the: United Statesf
Gen. Cass introduced a bill reducing the pajr.f
the volunteers for commutation for their cloiiiin
one third J :
Mr. Wick interposed ; but ' - ;Vi
' Mr. Stewart declined to yield tHe floor, as-' hii.
hour tfas fast running away. B wouldi' shave
gentlemen the bill; here-it was, as it appeased o:a
the records of the Senaie,: .
44 In the Senate of: the United States..
December 29, 1847. , ,p f
" Mr. Case, from theCommittee on Miliary Afc
fairs, reported the following bill, which was-
read and passed to a secofid reading.":
44 A Bill to. provide clothing for volunteera in tha
service of the United" States.
;. 44 Be it' enacted, c. That in lieu of the ry.nny:
which, -under existing laws, is 'allowed to volun
teers as a commutation for clothing, the President,
b& and he is hereby authorized, to: cause tb a vcui
teers to be furnished with clothing in kiod, ai'tha
same rates, according to grades, as i. pruAiit&S
for xhe lro JS wfthe J ht ami f
.. The biU proVided that in liei of tha
" clothing in kind" be furnisheito the i-o-luntees'
at the .same rates according Upgrade a.s
vided for the regular army. Now he re was a let
ter which he had received from the 'idjutapt' Gen
eral, stating what the allowance to. the regulars
was : - -
Apjutantt Ge.ve r.al's Office,
, . 44 Washington., June j6, 1848.
" Sm In reply tri your er, qUjrv of the 15th in
stant, 1 respectfully inform y(,u that the' average
allowance, of clothing per rr.. jnth i0 the soldiers of
the regular army is about f. 0.35. enclose here-,
with a copy of'4 General Order No. 10.'.' current
series, in which ypu-will ',ind specified the.articlea
of clothing, and-their vf.'lUe f0-r each year of the
term of enlistment. 4 Respectfully, " .
m TT " k R- JONES, Adj. Gen.
To the Hon. A. c thwart, . ..
"House pf Rerp resentatives, Washington."
This $2,35 was ,0 all grades, dragoons, artillery
men, &c..;.ibut jy examination of the "general
orders" refered. to hv t1iR Ariintant nnRral. h
. J J
lound that1 tru whole amount of cloth in a- for
infantry for fve years was $114,55. 1-2, which by-
compuiation, n would he seen, gave $1,91, per
month to it' & infaniry, and no more. Thus ij ao
peared tbh.t ihis 'bill of'Gen. Cass reduced the al
ktwance 10 infantry volunteers for clothing from
$3,50, Stowed by "the act .-of 1846, to $1,91, the
amou'n'f allowed to the infantry of the regular ar
may. "The "Union." it was true, and Mr. Came
ron said the volunteers could have thejr option ;
b'ut the languague of the-bill was express ; n)bdoy
ould mistake it; it was that this "clothing in
k.ind" should be; ftirnished "zn lieu of tlie money
. . 1 . .
which under existing laws is allowed." Now,
could yPu find any option there ? The hill provi
ded that clothing, which cost $.9l per month,
should be inrnised irc.ieu of the $3,50 allowed un
der previous laws. ?
Mr.- McClelland interposed, and w,as under
stood to speak of the construction put upon the
law by the Adjutant General ; but what he' said
wds not caught by the Reporter.
Mr. ' Stewart declined, to yield, and said he
caredmot what construction the Adjutant General
had been induced to giva to the law by Gen. Cass
or a'nob'ody else ; there was the law as it was re
ported by Gen.rCass, and as it passed. He knew
it-was said that. Gen. Cass had s'een the Adjutant
General and goti him or the Pres'ident fo nullify
by construction, br veto it ex post Jacto ; he migh't
have found, it would not do to strip the volunteers
.of their clothing; hanging .and burning in effigy
might; have been unpleasant ; and the Adjutant
General .might have been induced to construe this
law. of General Cass directly contrary to its pro
visions ; still there was the law as introduced by
General Cass and pass'edV which expressly provi
ded for this change, and that $l.!)l, "clothim; in
kind" should be fu rinsed' "in lieu'' of the amount
previously allowed, which was $3,50. If it was
intended to give them their election, ais is how pre-
tended, why did hot Gen. Cass say so in his bill ;
why not say tha't the volunteers should be allowed
fa draw $1,91, the amount of clot King allowed to
regulars, which should be deducted out of the
$3,50 to .which they were entitle!!, tyid not as the
law de6lares "in lieu" of the 3,50. The $1,91
was xb to? be in pan, but in full. The' hi W was
too plain. "Ingenuity could I not (hystffy it h was
not only outrageously unjusu oui 11 was nearly
uncohstftutional and void. What right had Gen-
Cass to report and pass a law 'imjtfiiririg the ob.
ligation, of contracts!" The Government had
contracted to pay the voluritefe'fs $8 ber month and
$3.50 ftrclotninir: He.voluhn eM had agreed fo
take it, and had gone io Mexico. Vlrauight7j.hen,
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