Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1824-02-26

pretty case nf constructive treason. as a ,ati-
tudinarian Judge could desire TO see on cum
mer's day, to alter a post roai. From IN.
doctrines now advanced on this aoor, il fol-
lows, that every mile that "a post route is
! changed, whether for the better ar worse, the
powers Of government are impngncd and
(nulfum tempus oceurrit reei) we do not know
| what mass of criminality may not have
been incurred, and very innocently INCURRED,
because never, till now, had omr peopl. pre-
crptor learned enough To instruct them in the
true meaning of the word establish"
After shoit pause, Mr.. II. said, il was to
him a matter of painful reflection how utterly
inadequate he felt himself TO say ,chat he in
tended to have said, and still mere rs he in
tended Ia say it. But, before l sit down, said
Mr.. *. permit me to put il to the candor
even ofthose Members of this House who
differ from nae respecting the CONSTITUTIONAL
~ of the power now claimed, 10 say what
there IS in the state of this nation, at this
particular juncture, that calls for the immedi
ate exercise of this power, supposing it to be
possessed.
The honorable gentleman from Delaware
tells us We have power In purchase stock, and
thus promote objects OF internal improve
neDt, where they are commenced by the
states or by individual enterprise. Sir, il we
have money TO spare, let me advise the gen
tlrman, who is chairman Of the Committee
of Ways and Means, to begin with buying our
own stock. We can do nothing better with
our money than buy our own bonds.-
l have known many spectators leave
their own debts unpaid, to purchase the
property OF others ; but I never knew one
of them TO come to good. Let us dis
charge our war debt, ard no longer put ofl
| Ia fnfst kx,, IL,
pretence OF change of stock. Individuals
not inferior to any in thu country. and some
OF the great states too. also entertain serious
doubts ofthe power Of Congress To pass this
bill. should wish, in the course Of future
discussion that some gentleman could show
| the urgency OF the occasion to make the
| plunge at this moment. Are there not al
ready CAUSES enough Of jealousy and discord
existing among us Is this the most auspiciouu
time to set up new construction of the Con
stitution ? Is this the most suspicious time
for the exercise of the assumption of power
which the gentleman from New York, with
MS usual persyicacity. so clearly sees we pos
sess, but which Thomas Jefferson, ard James
Madison, and others of AT least equal authority
with the gentleman from New York, as clearly
see we do not possess Is this time to in
crease those jealousies between different
quarters OF the country, already sufficiently
apparent?
| intended, said Mr.. X. To have managed
this subject in a different manner; but the ex-
haustion of both bodily and mental powers
calls on me to do what ought 10 have don.
long aeo--to draw these remarks to close.
BUTT is too late in the day for me To speak
| for reputation. Whatever is 10 be the fate Of
This bill-whether this splendid project shall
| or shall not go into operation now, or be re-
q fha
| which is hailed with so much pleasure, nv
place mnstb be either in the ohscuriy Of private
life, or in the thankless and proftless EN-
ployment OF attempting to uphold the rights
OF the States, and of the People, so long as
can stand-more especially OF the rights of
my native State, the land of my sires, which.
although be among the least worthy or least
| favored OF her sons, and although she may
allot to me step-son's portioh-I will uphold,
so long as live.
Let US then, repeat, Mr.. Chairman, pay
our debts, personal and public let us leave
the profits Of labor in the pockets of the peo
pie, to rid them of that private embarrass-
ment under which they so extensively labor.
and apply every shilling of the revenue, not
indispensable To the exigencies of the govern
ment, 10 the faithful discharge of IN. public
debt, before we engage in any new schemes
| OF lavish expenditure. Sir, we have already
| paid more interest on the per cent. stock.
than the amount Of the whole principal of thai
| debt at nominal par.
Should this bill pass, one more measure onlv
requires to be consummated and then we
VINO heioDg to that unfortunate portion ofthis
coniedefacy which - south of Mason and
Dixon's line, and east ofthe Allegheny Nom
tains, have to make up our mind TO perish
like so many mice in receiver of mephitic
gas, under the experiments of a set of new
political chemists or we must resort to the
measures, which we first opposed Ia British
| agressons and usurpations-to ma ntsin that
independence which the valor Of our fathers
acquired, but which is every day sliding from
under our feet. beseech all those gentlemen
| who come from that portion OF the Union. 10
take into serious consideration, whether they
are not, by the passage of this bill, precipitate-
", at least without urgent occasion, now
arrnlng the General Government with powers
hitherto unkDows-ubdrr which we shall
become, what the miserable proprietors Of
Barbados are TO their English Mortgages.
mere stewards -sentineIs-mansgers OF slave
lsbor-we ourselves retaining, on footing
with the slave of the West Indies, Just enough
OF the product of our estates to support life.
while all the profits go with the course 0f the
Gulf stream. Sir, this is state of things that
cannot last. fit continue with accumulated
pressure, we must oppose 10 it associations,
and every other means short Of actual insl,r-
reetion. We must begin to coDstr,,e the Con
ititution like those who treat il as a bill of in
dictment, IN which they are anxious to pick a
haw-we shall keep on the windward side Of
ireason-but we must combine to resist, and
that effectUaity, these encroachments, or the
little upon which we now barely subsist will he
taken from us. With these obspr, ations MIR.
r. abandoned the question to its fate.
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