sum which had been deposited with the States, a portion, amounting to between two and three millions, would have to be refunded. The Secretary held out language of this kind, when he acknowledged that the income of the year would be $24,000,000. Mr. C. said he would be glad to see the administration, with such an income, venture to call upon the States to pay back the moneys they had received. No administration would venture the call, except in the case of a foreign war, in which case these deposites would prove a timely and precious resource. With proper management, they would enable the Government to avoid the necessity, at the commencement of a war, of resorting to war taxes and loans. Ail those gentlemen, and he saw several of them around him, who were here at the commencement of the last war, would well remember the difficulty and embarrassment which attended the operation of raising the revenue from a peace to a war establishment.

Assuming, then, that there would be a surplus, the question presented itself as to what should be done with it. That question Mr. C. would not now attempt to argue. The discussion of it at this time would be premature and out of place. He proposed to himself a more Imited object, which was to state the points connected with this subject, which he considered as established; and to point out what was the real issue at present. One point was perfectly established by the proceedings of the last session-that, when there was an unavoidable surplus, it ought not to be left in the Treasury, or in the deposite banks, but should be deposited with the States. it was not only the most safe, but the most just, that the States should have the use of the money in preference to the banks. This, in fact, was the great and leading principle which lay at the foundation of the act of last session an act that would forever distinguish the 24th Congress-an act which will go down with honor to posterity, as it had obtained the almost unanimous approbation of the present day. The passage had inspired the country with new hopes. It had been beheld abroad as a matter of wonder, a phenomenon in the fiscal world, such as could have sprung out of no institutions but curs, and which went in a powerful and impressive manner to illustrate the genius of our Government.

He considered it not less fully established that there ought to be no surplus, if it could be avoided. The money belonged to those who made it, and Government had no right to exact it unless necessary. What, then, was the true question at issue? It was this: Can you reduce the revenue to the wants of the people?he meant in a large political sense. Could the reduction be made without an injury that would more than countervail the benefit? The President thought it could be done; and Mr. C. hoped he was correct in that opinion. If it be practicable, then, beyond all question, it was the proper and natural course to be adopted. It was under this impression that he had moved to refer this part of the President's message to the Committee on Finance. He not only considered that as the appropriate committee, but there were other reasons that governed him in making the reference. A majority of that committee were known to be hostile to the deposite bill, and would, therefore, do all in their power to avoid the possibility of having a surplus. If, then, that committee could not effect a reduction, then it might be safely assumed as impracticable. If they could agree on a reduction, the Senate no doubt would readily concur with them.

There was one point on which the committee need have no apprehension: that any reduction they might propose to make would be considered by the South as a breach of the compromise act. Her interest in that act is not against the reduction, but the increase of duties. If it be the pleasure of other sections to reduce, she will certainly not complain.

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[SENATE.

Mr. C. said he would take this occasion to define with exactness the position he occupied in regard to the compromise. He stood, personally, without pledge or plighted faith, as far as that at was concerned. He clearly foresaw, at the time that bill passed, that there would be a surplus of revenue in the Treasury. He knew that result to be unavoidable, unless by a reduction so sudden as to overthrow our manufacturing establishmentsa catastrophe which he sincerely desired to avoid. Whatever might be thought to the contrary, he had always been the friend of those establishments. He thought at the time that the reduction provided for in the bill had not been made to take place as fast as it might have been. But the terms of the bill formed the only ground on which the opposing interests could agree; and he, as representing in part one of the Southern States, had accepted it, believing it, on the whole, to be the best arrangement which could be effected; yet he saw (it did not, indeed, require much of a prophetic spirit) that there were those who were then ready to collect the tariff at the point of the bayonet, rather than yield an inch, who, when the injurious effects of the surplus should be felt, would throw the responsibility on those who supported the bill. Seeing this, Mr. C. had determined that it should not be thrown upon him. He had, therefore, risen in his place, and, after calling on the stenographers to note his words, he had declared that he voted for that bill in the same manner, and no other, that he did for all other bills, and that he held himself no further personally pledged in its passage than in any other. Mr. C. was therefore at perfect liberty to select his position, which he would now state. We of the South had derived incalculable advantage from that act; and, as one belonging to that section, he claimed all those advantages to the very last letter. That act had reduced the income of the Government greatly. Few, he believed, were fully aware of the extent to which it had operated. It was a fact, which the documents would show, that the act of 1828 arrested at the customhouse one half in value of the amount of the imports. The imports at that time, deducting reshipments, were about sixty-five millions of dollars in value, out of which the Government collected about thirty-two millions in the gross. The imports of the last year, deducting reshipments, amounted to $120,000,000, which, if the tariff of 1828 had not been reduced, would have given an increase of $60,000,000, instead of something upwards of $21,000,000. He claimed not the whole difference for the compromise, but upwards of $20,000,000 may be fairly carried to its credit. Under this great reductior, we of the South began to revive. Our business began to thrive and to look up. But the compromise act had not yet fully discharged its functions. Its operation would continue until the revenue should be brought down till no duty should exceed 20 per cent. ad valorem, and the revenue be reduced to the actual wants of the Government. But, while he claimed for the South all these very important advantages, Mr. C. trusted he was too honest, as well as too proud, while he claimed those benefits on her part, to withhold whatever advantage the North may derive from the compromise. His position, then, on the question of reduction, was to follow, and not to lead; and such he believed to be the true position of the South. If it be the wish of other sections to reduce, she will cheerfully follow; but I trust she will be the last to disturb the present state of things.

Having thus clearly defined his own position, Mr. C. said he would venture a suggestion. If the manufactu ring interests would listen to the voice of one who had never been their enemy, he would venture to advise them to a course which he should consider as wise on all sides.

It is well known, said Mr. C., that the compromise act

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[DEC. 21, 1836.

Mr. C. observed that, had not this been the short session of Congress, he should have postponed the introduction of the present bill, and awaited the action of the Committee on Finance. But it was possible that committee might find it impracticable to reduce the revenue, and as there were but about two months of the session left, if something were not effected in the mean time, a large surplus might be left in the Treasury, or rather in the deposite banks-left there to disturb and disorder the currency of the country; to cherish and foster a spirit of wild and boundless speculation, and to be wielded for electioneering purposes. A standing surplus in the deposite banks was almost universally condemned. The President himself had announced it in his message, and Mr. C. heartily agreed with him in every word he had said on that subject.

Before sending the bill to the Chair, be would take the liberty of expressing his hope that the subject would be discussed in the same spirit of moderation as had characterized the debates upon it last year. It was a noble example, and he hoped it would be followed. Let the subject be argued on great public grounds, and let all party spirit be sacrificed on this great question to the good of the country. Yet, he would say to the friends of the administration, that it was not from any fear, on party ground, that he uttered this sentiment; for he believed there was no subject which, in the hands of a skilful opposition, would be more fatal to power.

The bill was, by consent, read twice; when Mr. CALHOUN moved that it be made the order of the day for Monday next. He saw no necessity for its commitment. Mr. CLAY was extremely unwilling to interrupt for a moment (and he would only interrupt for a moment) the progress of the debate expected to proceed to day. But, from the numerous indications which had been given of a purpose to disturb the compromise act, and from the direct allusion to the subject which had just been made, he felt himself called upon to say one word. Considering the circumstances under which that act passed, the manner through this body, the acclamation with which it ran through the House, the cordial reception with which it was greeted by every part and every interest in the country, he did not think that it ought to be lightly touched. In faith of adherence to the provisions of that act, large investments have been made, and under its beneficent operation every interest has prospered, the manufacturing not less than other great interests. The whole country has looked to the inviolability of the act: the messages of the President; the reports from the Secretary of the Treasury; the declarations of members of Congress, upon this floor and that of the other House, all heretofore have united in stamping upon it that character. Strictly speaking, he was aware that Congress possessed the power to repeal or modify the act; but in his opinion it could not be done, without something like a violation of the public faith. He had foreseen, at the period of the passage of the act, the probability of a large surplus beyond the wants of the Government, economically administered, and he had endeavored, simul

Mr. C. said that he well knew that the preservation of the compromise act did not depend upon him. He well knew that its fate was in the hands of a majority of the Senate, as now constituted, and a majority of the House; and if they chose to repeal it, or to make any essential alteration in the measure of protection secured by that act, he could only deeply regret the reopening of wounds which bad been so happily healed. He could co-operate in no such object, but should, for himself, steadily oppose any material change of the provisions of the act, and insist upon that efficacious and complete remedy for a surplus which is to be found in the land bill, or upon some other competent remedy, which would not unsettle all the great business of the country.

Mr. WALKER moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Finance; and, in supporting his motion, observed that he had been one of those who voted against what was now openly avowed to be a distribution bill. Since the money had been distributed, some of the largest States had already come forward and applied to Congress for the repeal of that section of the bill which provided for the refunding of the money by the States, when it should be needed by the General Government. He would remind the Senate that the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts, [Mr. WEBSTER,] who had been one of the authors and advocates of this measure, did expressly tell the Senate that it would be but a single operation; and when the Senate were warned that that bill would be only a precedent for the distribution policy in future, the distinguished Senator had assured them of the contrary, and had insisted that it was a single and solitary measure, intended only to meet a contingency. Yet, what was the Senate now asked to do? To create a surplus for the purpose of future distribution. Mr. W. really thought that such a proposition demanded examination by some committee, and he hoped that the Senate would not consent to take a leap in the dark. The honorable gentleman from South Carolina had presented, as one ground of his opposition to letting the public money remain in the deposite banks, a desire to prevent the public land from passing into the hands of speculators. But the gentleman's remedy had not met the evil. The distribution bill had not prevented the monopoly of the public lands by speculators, nor would it ever prevent it. If the gentleman did really desire to obviate that evil, let him join in recommending that part of the President's message which proposed to limit the sale of the public lands to actual settlers. Should this recommendation be adopted, there would remain no surplus to be distributed. For how was the surplus created? By referring to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, it would be found that, in the first three quarters of the last year, twenty millions of dollars had been paid into the Treasury for the public lands, which was at the rate of about twenty-five millions a year. Yet, what portion of this amount was needed for actual settlers? Not more than $5,000,000; or, according to an estimate made by the chairman of the Committee on Public Lands, not over $8,000,000. Thus there would be a reduction in the receipt of $16,000,000, being double the amount of the surplus predicted by the hon

DEC. 21, 1836.}

[SENATE.

reached him. He had then been in a foreign country. The enemies of liberty throughout the world were all looking to this country with anxious eyes, and with hopes highly raised, that this last experiment in favor of human freedom would prove to be a failure. The most exag

Mr. W. called upon the Senate and upon the country to remark that they were now invoked by the gentleman from South Carolina to create a surplus for the purpose of distribution.

Mr. CALHOUN, in reply, complained of having been entirely misstated by the Senator from Mississippi. He had not invoked the Senate to any such act, nor had he said any thing like it. But he had said that no administration could honestly plead any necessity for demanding back the deposites from the States, unless in the contingency of a foreign war. So far from having expressed a desire to create and distribute a surplus, he had, on the contrary, expressly declared that he should greatly prefer a reduction of the revenue, if it could be safely effected; and he had expressed his willingness to send the bill to a committee opposed to his own views, that, if possible, this might be effected. Yet the gentleman accused him of a design to create a surplus.

The gentleman had again said that one of the arguments urged by him in favor of the distribution bill had been, that the deposite of the public money in banks was a great instrument of fraud and speculation. This was a great mistake. He had said no such thing. The Presideat, however, had undertaken to legislate on the subject, and had issued an order, which was much more like an act of Congress than an executive measure. The President deemed the evil so great, and the remedy so specific, that he had ventured on a great stretch of power to realize the object. Now, after what the President had said on this subject, any man who should vote to leave the public money in deposite banks stood openly convicted of being in favor of speculators.

Mr. C. hoped the Senator would not persist in his motion to refer the bill to a committee which he knew to be utterly opposed to it. Nothing could be more unparliamentary. He hoped the gentleman would at least indulge him with a special committee.

Mr. BUCHANAN, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the bill, was in favor of its commitment. The subject extended itself into so many ramifications, was so complex and so extensive, that no leading measure ought to be adopted in relation to it without its previously undergoing the careful investigation of a committee. There were two counter projects now before the Senate, which were essentially incompatible with each other. One had been reported by the Senator from Kentucky, [Mr. CLAY,] which proposed to distribute the proceeds of the public lands among the States on certain conditions; the other to deposite the surplus that might accrue, under the provisions of the bill of the last session. Both these plans, it was obvious, could not prevail; while the President had recommended the sale of the public domain to actual settlers only. On this matter Mr. B. expressed no opinion, but should be guided in a great measure by the wishes and opinions of gentlemen coming from the new States.

Should the President's recommendation be adopted, there would probably be no surplus. He should like to see a responsible report from the Committee on Finance. On the question whether there would or would not be a surplus on the 1st of January next he expressed no opinion.

While up, he would add one word on the subject of what was commonly called the compromise act. Never should he forget the impression made upon his own mind when the news of the passage of that act first

try, on the subject of the tariff, were spread throughout Europe, and the expectation appeared to be general that our Union would be dissolved, and the republic expire. In such circumstances, when he heard that a compromise had been effected, his bosom had been pervaded by a feeling such as he had never known before. With out being acquainted with the particulars of the bill, he was prepared to approve of it in advance. On further examination, however, he could not say whether he should have supported the bill or not, but the country had received it; the great manufacturing and agricultural interests had welcomed it, and to this moment relied upon it as, in some sense, the charter of their hopes. Other prevailing interests of the country shared in the feeling, and never would Mr. B. give his vote in favor of touching one of its provisions. That could not be done without extensively and injuriously affecting, not only the agricultural and manufacturing, but another great interest of his own State. He referred to the mining interest. On the whole, he hoped that they should have a report from a committee; and should it even be adverse to the bill, yet, such were the wellknown zeal, perseverance, and talents, of the honorable gentleman from South Carolina, that he would still find ways and means to bring the merits of his project fully before the minds of the Senate.

Mr. WALKER said that the Senator from South Carolina had appealed to him to indulge him with a special committee. But that gentleman would do well to remember that, when on a former occasion he (Mr. W.) had introduced a bill of great importance to Mississippi, and asked its reference to a select committee, that gentleman had opposed the motion, and had sent the bill to the Committee on Public Lands, which he well knew to be opposed to every one of its provisions. In insisting, therefore, on his original motion to refer this bill to the Committee on Finance, he had only followed an example which the gentleman had set him.

Mr. W. then went into some explanations to show that he had not misunderstood or misrepresented the objects of the Senator from South Carolina. If that gentleman should oppose the President's recommendation in regard to selling the public lands to actual settlers only, it would, in effect, be equivalent to voting to create a surplus. Mr. W. said he had no wish to alarm the manufacturing interest, toward which he entertained no hostility; but he would now tell that interest throughout this country, that if they wished to preserve the compromise bill, the mode was to prevent an exorbitant sale of the public lands. If this were permitted to continue, a surplus revenue could not be prevented without touching the compromise bill. Mr. W. had, on the last session, offered a resolution calling on the Secretary of the Treasury to ascertain and report to Congress what reduction in the tariff and in the price of the public lands would be necessary to bring down the revenue to the wants of the Government, but in such a manner as not to infringe on the compromise. The Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. WEBSTER] had moved to lay that resolution on the table; not because he was particularly hostile to it, but because he wished to press some other subject which was before the Senate; and afterward there had been no opportunity to call it up. Mr. W. should not now depart from the spirit of that resolution. He had no wish to violate the compromise, but desired that the reduction should be in conformity with the 6th section of that bill, (which he read.)