Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1812-01-20


Mr.. Gr,.nay said II he had been opposed to
the bill from the Senate, hc shoald BE- in favor
.! rCccdinS from these amendments. Though
At - the business oi this House 10 originate mo
n-y-bi!ls, the gentleman f.cyn Ceorg;. had car
RED has ideas on this sI..;est too FAR. Ne, as
the immediate representatives. OF tie people,
are supposed ~ be t.r hcsl judges OF what is
proper in t..is respect; .4s II does rot follow,
that the Other branch of the Legislature shall
rOt or.;, rate any 81; which may call FOR money
from the T:e9snry. They have this right, ami
VIC i..Ne tie right - act upon such bills when
they com. teio,e usts We think proper.
let us c.,anIne, said ..r. G. whether the Sem
ate have not acted properly in rejecting thes.
amendments, and whether true economy will
rot DC consulted by agreeing to the present mo-
cn We had determined that less than one
hSit the officers should he appointed nj present,
ana afterwards, when certain portion OF the
riSn shall be raised, the balance. II We shall
Ic engaged in war, is it believed that twenty
i've thousand men viii be too many Ger
taiat net Would il not, then, be consulting
ccontmv and dispatch, to raise suffcicncy Of
men ~ once. Fer, ii You send force to Cans
ia, IA must leave part of your men to guard
Your posts at home. The force ought to he
rally 3'ihiclent; If il were not, defeat might
bc the consequence
This biz, said Mr.. G. came from the Senate
we have amcndc'! it, they disagree to our ~
>to not, a verbal war is Ia be carried on between
the two Houses. Rather than this should take
Place, he would he for now yielding little on
the score of numbers, and insure the pas
sage OF che bill, which might otherwise be en-
dangcreH. Besides, this disagreement between
The two Houses wonld exhibit us in an tirf.,-
rorab.c Light, not only to our own constituents,
but TO foreign countries. &. Britain would be
ready to say, Republican america can never
go to war--thcir Congress wou!d rather hold n
verbal conflict among themselves, than engage
IN war With any nation whatever"
Nr. Sni!ie hoped the House would not recedc
from tier amendments. Tic gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Wright) had said the object is
greats and VIC ought rot TO talk about the sx-
pence. He knew as well as that gentleman.
that war could not be carried on without cx-
pence. Ihi; is not the question. The Questi-
on is, whether we Will submit 10 an unneccssa-
ry expence The gentleman frern Tennessee
(Mr. Grundy) has told Us we ought to agree
w.ih the Senate, lest VIC hazard the loss of the
hiii Il his should be the case, on whom will
the responsibility rest Where it ought to
rest Have NE not shewn every disposition to
accommodate the Senate, at the same time that
We entieav3rcd 10 guard against unnecessary
eypence How viii the bill stand, ifthe amend
mcnts be stricken out Il will he an excellent
bin for officers, but not for men. There will be
an army OF officers without men Would il
He thought not. He had doubts whether the
1000 men for sax regiments would be raised in
twelve months from this timc--and all this time
the nation would DC satldled with the expence
ct the officers for all the thirteen regiments.
ii tins were ecoromy, he did not understand it.
IL viii be remembered, SAID Mr. S. that all pow
er rests with the people. Their opinion sup
ports those in power; and when that changes,
they will chuse those whose opinions CORES
pond with their owp.
Mr.. S. said, when he looked forward to the
day when we should have to call upon the reo-
pie tor taxes 10 support this cxpence, or al
least to pay the interest of it-for he hoped il
was not intended to borrow money TO pay the
interest as wei! as principal--he expected great
;nurmuring. For We must have internal taxes,
no one bought Of any other source All goes
on vers smoothly at present; but the trying
time will be when the supplies come to be raj
sed. He was wiling to enter into his war; but
he was unwilingto cxpend one shilling unne-
ss1rily.
hlr. Troup was in favor of rcceding, because,
IN doing so, he believed the raising of the
troops would be expedited Cor if 200 officers
could raise 10000 men, in given time, 400
officers could raise $4,000 in the same time
lie could not help replying to a rema, of the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr SMILEY
that gentleman was all for economy Mr. T.
vas not Tor war of economy; but war of
vlgOur. All wars are necessarily EXPENSIVE
tbs more feeble and protracted they arc, the
greater viii be the eXpence-and the cxpencc
Is less IN proportion rs they short and vi
gorous. II we are not TO have an energetic war
let us have no war. He believed the resour-
ces OF this country are adequate to any war.
Compare the situation of the country with what
1t was in l775. Our population now consists of
seven millions Of active. enterprising individuals,
carrying on commerce second only to one ma
ton IN the world then our population was on
~ three millions, with feeble colonial COM
Inercc, az. the miserably poor in every thing bu,
IN the spirit OF liberty. What did they do /!
II gentlemen win recur TO the Journals Of that
Gay, they wili discover, that when Congress
had a formidable army ready to march, they had
not a dollar OF revenue, and the people was too
indIgent TO raise money; Congress had to IS
sue bills OF credit TO tie amount of two milf.
ons OF dollars If it be thought VIC cannot raise
the necessary supplies, We had better do at
once, what perhaps, We shall find it necessary
to DO, If We refuse to reccde from these amend.
nents, submit
Dir. WidgeFy said, had not these amendments
been made u Ike biil, the minority on its pas
sage would have been much larger than IL vas
Until gentlemen shall come forward and offer
some good reason for agreeing 10 the present
motion, lie should be opposed to it, believing
thiS House to be as good judges Of villa; was
right as the other. Indeed If there be SAFETY in
mHitiiudc OF counsellors, We have The adyan
tage: He did not believe the loss Of the bill
would be hazardcd by refusing TO fccede-;t
would bring on conference. lie was willing
70 go as tar as was necessary in raising troops.
but be wished to avoid all unnecessary ex-
pence.
MIR. Roberts said, the question had now re-
solved itself into the shape in which he wish
cd to have had it before, when the bill was
under discussion. The vote will now be whe-
ther we will agree 70 raise an army of u.s.