Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1830-02-22
THF UNITED STATES SHIP HORNET
-. Il

HOUSE OF bEfhEoENiaiA'NS F|A So
The bill for the relief Of the surviving Iela.
,iyes Of the officers and crew Of this vessel,
which had been ordered TO be engrossea Tor
third reading, was then 'aken up.
Mr. CLAIBORNE said he could no, vote Tor
This bill, if the words brothers and sisters were
retained When man fell in the service OF
his county, he had no objection to make rea.
xonabIe provision for his wife and children, II
h. had such: bu. 10 extend it further was
DANGEROUS precedent; and he felt no hes''a-
ton in saving he would not, and could not.
,ustain IT, If we could make donations 10 The
rslstions of officers, who have persisted IN The
service Of their couniry--to brothers and SIS,
,ers-Whers! at what point shall we stop
Have we entered into any agreement to provide
tor all the relatives Of our officers now in ser
vice. in case Of their death? II such engage
men, has been entered into, hope il will be
produced. The system Of pensions, sinecure
and donation, name il what you please, is, IN
general, most dangerous. Ii has been sustain
ed in the first instance, in most countries where
il is now permanently enthroned, by passionate
appeals to the hberai,y, the magnanimous
generosity Of the nation. Those appeals have
been also too successful. They have pro
duced bitter and appalling fruit In the old
world nlaces have been built, estates purchss
ed for Distinguished individuals, with money
drawn by a rigorous, aud cruel, and oppres
sive taxation from the poorest classes OF the
community ] say the poorest classes OF thr
community. for while many fa,ten upon 'axl
ton, there is, in all countries, thai class who
feel It's burdens only Sir, ! don't like the
term generosiiy-we have no right 10 be gene
rous and charitable with the money OF the pc"
pie We can give pensions 10 The widows
and children Of those who perish in the ser
vice OF the country-fo. we have every reason
TO believe that they have thereby been deprived
of the means oil suppor;. Go beyond this IN
your pensioring system, and you are in great
danger The is,hmus which separates acts
which are generous, from these which are se-
nal, is very narrow; and we must be cautious
or we may pass i, and be involved in all
the consequences that an over grown sys-
tenn OF peusioning has brough about in some
Of The more sacient nations Of the earth.-
Our system has gone nearly as FAR as that OF
Grea, Britsin, except that we have as yet no
no civil pensioners. Let in civil pensioners
and then you have the British system. A sys-
tenn that has entaiIed an enormous debt upon
the nation jecteG their people 10 the h"r
rors Of heavy tgxstion, and reduced large
portion Of the British population if their own
writer's are % o. bell. ,ed) to p.nury. Such
have been the ,ffec Is Of pensions and sinecures,
ahU OONdslpNS ih W SOuU
When you have equaiIed them in The extent of
your pensioniug system, you may witness here,
what is daily Witnessed there fcr nature is not
the partisan Of either a els or a trans a,lnti,
world My alarm is the greater, because no
one pretends To know any thing OF the cnnii
ton Of the brothers and sisters Of those dereJs
ed officers. They who aGsoCse this bill. no
deubl presume they are poor, ii so ana
sorry for l.; may, with the same prnprie,y,
assume that they are rich. The officers OF The
navy aud army, are most generally connected
with the weal,hes, families IN The nation
lie, one suppose that venerate the deeds
OF The navy less than he does-I esteem the
navy as highly as any NANNY willingness TO
provide for reasonable time, for the wife ard
chid,,n Of every officer and ST smen WHO Ter
ishes 10 The service Of his country, is proof OF
il. The amour, is not grea, that is depending
on this question; but, Sir, il is question of
pfiuciple-yes il is i great principle that will
hereafter il settled in the bill contained lead
TO the expenditure Of millions, Tha, is he
reason enter. against is passage, my protest
Il will deiain you no longer,
Mr. TucKsR, Of South Carolina, asked for
the yeas aud nays upon the question Of the pas
sage Of The bill /; and the call being sustained
by suffi lent number, they were accordingly
ordered.
Mr.. TEST moved the recommtment Of the
bill 10 the Gommi' e. on Naval Affairs, with
instructions 10 strike out that part Of it grant.
ing the gra,uity proposed by the bill to the
brothers aud sisters OF the sufferers.
Mr.. Dorsey addressed the House in reply
TO the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. CLa1-
BORNE. He said that the bill could no, be re.
garded. on due consideration of us cause and
purposes, as bearing any rela ion 10 wha, The
honorable member had called The Pension Sys
TEN. In the 6rs, place, the calamity which
they all deplored was not IN event OF ordinary
occurrence; but, at the same time, the bill
which had been reported in reference 10 i, was
no, unprecedented. In three several ius' ances,
antecedear 10 ,he loss Of the Hornet. similar in.
vacations had been made TO the humanity OF
Congress, and he need not say, had been
promptly responded to. Upon tsose coca.
sion,, pills had been passed precisely similar to
the onr then under consideration; and would
the House, he asked. by he rel ction Of tha'
particular claus. in the present bill, draw an