The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1804-12-11

In ant,yer 20 the complaint of an honorable
gentleman from Eiitx, that Secretary Pickering
had been Rardered lnd pe,f,cutei, through
Virginia Influence, Mr. 3. obierved that fan
der and political periecution were not peculiar
to any Rate or party; and that, if the Virsini-
ans hat! 0Ppoled Mr.. Pickering, they could not
De charged with his removal from Office, which,
whether ceniurable or mertorious, was the aGf
OF an eatcrn gentleman of high refptctability !;
but It was fablect not II all connected with
the merits of the que;tion under confederation.
MIR. 3. alto thought the Impeachment and re-
moval OF Judge Pickering, an aIane man, as he
had been defcribcd by the gentleman from Ell
lex, bat as he might have been called, 4 To-,
from an Office requiring the exercife OF found
memc:y and iober ienies, was not queftion
between toe fouth and the north; although he
was forry to be obliged 20 acknowledge ,ha.
fone northern members of Consrefs voted to
retain that mailman in Office.
In reply to tho:e gentlemen, who had dcclar-
ed they !hou!d not have been in favor of this
propolition for an amendment, had not Il late
amendment been procured by the fouthern in
teref, Mr.. B. fld that the late amendment, re-
ipeeting the mode of voting for Prefdcnt and
Nice-Prefident, originated in the northern and
eaitern hates; that it was firit propoied by
New. IIampihire, and scceded to BY this Com
nonwealth; then propofed by Vermont, and
again concuned by this fate and moved in
Congreis, by our eafefn members, before It
was fuggeted from the fouth. 1t was true A
majority OF this rate, or rather of the lcg;nature
afterwards changed theiropinion, and oppofed
the amendment. Here one of the gentlemen,
who had uicd this argument, explained that he
meant that part of the late amendment which
reduced the numbers, from which the houfe of
representatives are TO make Election, in cafe
of no choice by the electors, from to 8, which
it,t,, l
explanation, MIR. B. replied that, in his opinion,
that was mere subordinate modification of the
amendment; and it was introduced, not bv the
houte OF representatives, to whole apportion-
nent the gentleman objects, but BY the fenate.
in which the itates have equal votes; and it
was alto fairly within the inftructions originally
given by the eaitern itates to their members of
CougrclS, 20 agree to inch notifications, as
nnSnt be found neceHary 20 entire their main
ohett, determination of electoral votes.
The anxiety expreiIed in the preamble, LEFT
the fnali ttates illoud be injured by the late A.
amendment, appeared to MIR. b. to come with
very III grace from this large fate; it looked
inhncere; it was addrcaed to fate ealouies
and prtjudices, and was uncivil, offcious and
a.frontive-it was, in effect, telling the fnall
Rates, which were generally in favour of that
amendment You are fools and dupes,: You
don't know your own interehs 60 we'll AS we do.
We will, therefore, condefcend to become Your
guardians, and fave you from yourfcIves. This,
he conceived, was the plain Englh of that part
of The preamble; and it ought accordingly to
be truck out.
Mr. B. admitted it TO be true, as had been
aiierted in the debate, that larger portion of
the national debt was due to inhabitants of the
eattern, thar to thofe of the fouthcrn fates,
our eattern ipsculators having been peculiarly
fortunate and feaionable in their purchafi. of
public fecurites. Thele ftates ought, there
fore, he inferred, to be the lait to adopt a mea-
fure calcuiatedto excite fouthern iealouty, and
dlturb that union and national harmony, on
which the punctual payment of this debt 10 eff
fentlally depends. This fact he further argued
furniihed an eulogium upon the magnanirntv
OF our iouthern brethren, and the iuitce and po-
hey of the pretent administration, in making
tuch provihOn, more ample and eRcSfual than
had ever before been made, for the honorable
dichafge of this debt, although it was pecu-
arly for our benefit, and though they had orr
gnaUy diiapproved of iome Of the principles of
the funding fyftem. The preftnt aufpicious
administration, he faid, notwithstanding the
ditcontinuance of the direct tax and the repeal
otthe exciies on manufactures, had been ena-
Died bythe!rGconOmy, TO make permanent ap-
preparation, at firf of feven millions three hun
dred thoufand dollars, and afterwards Of feven
hundred thout1nd dollars more, amounting in
the whole, to eight millions of dollars 4
year, to the payment of tire intereA and the
gradual extioguiihment Of the principal of the
public debt, beides defraying the current ex-
Pences of government in confequence of
which appropriation, in two years and half
ron the frtt quartcr-day under the prelent adj
minitration, that is between April IN, 1901.
and ott0ber # 1903, the Debt, 70 far from
encreaiing at the averag rate of about
a million OF dollars year, as It did under the
former administration, was actually reduced
9,92f,oof dollars rs appeared by the official
report OF the iecretary Of the trcafnry. And
the iime lftem, ifiupportedand purified, would
qciore The year 1918, difcharge the whole of
our old debt and in legs thar two Years thereaf
ter pay the price of the purchafc Of Louifana.
y was therefore the nteref, as well as the du
ty, OF every citizen of the union, particularly
o. The eaOeru itates, Ito whom the greatell part
oithedebtii due togiVe acDrdial, itcdfilpport
20 the pr:ient administration, whole ambition
and pride, rs well az their moral principles and
political maGins, arc al pledged forthcir perfe-
verance in the prefsnt wife f,itc;n Of ECONOMY.
peace, civil and religious freedom, by which
they'have already fecGfed the attachment of A
great and incrsahrg majority OF the nation, aud
by which, as be confidently believed, they will
eventually extort even the thanks of thof,
who, from party fpirt, aud on mlaaken
grounds, have hitherto been in the oDDofiti-