Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1830-12-10

-.sfaua ur1uIH0s y NrfC way d GutIuiETatlUItr |lrttaI-
70 10 r. snhjret Which you'd render q d. parture. TO sone
Zen, from the ruie Of enrtr bafosa. proper Nor Is IL
abrolutrl5 neessssry that the has. Of dsstrihosion be conf
~ ,o ooe grs1nd IL may. IL. IN the Judgment Of those
whose right Il is TO tx iL. IL be deemed polite and icT 70
r;,r 4 that character. have regard TO several
In my first message, 4 stated il to be my
opinion that st is not probable that any ad
iustment Of the tariff upon principles salts
factory to the people of the Union, will I'M
til a remote period, If ever, leave the Gov.
ernment without a considerable surplus in
the treasury beyond what may De required
for its current service" I have had no
cause to change that opinion, but much TO
confirm il. Should these expectations be
realized, a suitable fund would thus be pro-
duced for the plan under consideration to
operate upon and If there be no such fund,
lis adoption viii, in nv opinion, work no in
jury to any Interest,"; for ] cannot assent to
the business Of the Apprehension that the es-
tabiishmeht Of the proposed system would
tend to the encouragement OF improvident
Legislation OF the character supposed
Whatever the proper authority, in the eyer
else of constitutional power, shall, at any
time hereafter, decide TO be for the general
good. will, in that as in other respects, de-
serve and receive the acquiescence and sup
port Of the whole country; and We have am
pie security that every abuse Of power in
that regard, by the agents of the people,
will receive a speedy and e~ffectual correc-
tive at their hands. The views which l take
of the future. founded on the obvious aud
increasing Improvement of all classes of our
fellow-citizens. in intelligence, and in pub
lie and private virtue, leave me without
much apprehension on that head.
l do not doubt that those who come after
us will be as much alive as we are to the OBJ
legation upon all the trustees o political pow
or to exempt those for whom they act from
all unnecessary burdens; and as sensible of
the great truth, that the resources of the ma
ton. beyond those required for the immedi-
ate and necessary purposes of Government,
can no where be SO well deposited as in the
pockets Of the people.
1t may sometimes happen that the inter-
ests OF particular States would not be deem
ed to coincide with the general interest in
relation to improvement within such States
But, if the danger to be apprehended from
this source is sufficient tosrsauire it, a dis
erection might be reserved / congress to di
rect, to such Improvements Of a genera
character as the States concerned might not
be disposed to unite in, the application o.
the quotas of those States, under the restric
w S&SAh % NV n H&t1
ture of its appropriate quota. 1t may, how
ever be assumed as a safe general rule, tina
such Improvements as serve to increase the
prosperity of the respective States in which
they are made, by giving new facilities t.
trade, and thereby augmenting the wealth
and comfort of their inhabitants, constitpt,
the surest mode Of comforting permanent ans
substantial advantages upob the whole. TIL,
strength, as well as the true glory, of the
confederacy, is mainly founded on the pros
perity and power Of the several Independent
sovereignties of which it is composed, ant
the certainty with which they can be bro
into successful, active cooperation, through
the agency of the Federal Government.
1t is, moreover, within the knowledge O
such AS are at all conversant with public at
fairs, that schemes Of internal improvement
have, from time TO time, been proposed
which, from their extent and seeming mag
niicence, were regarded as of national con
%cernment, but which upon fuller considera
ton and further experience, would now be
rejected with great unanimity.
That the plan unde consideration would
derive important advantages from its Ger
tainty, and that the moneys set apart fol
these purposes would be more judiciously
applied and economically expended undel
the directions of the State Legislatures, ir
which every part of each State is immediate
~ represented, cannot, l think, be doubted
In the new States particularly, where a com
paratively small population is scattered oveI
an extensive surface, and the representation
in Congress consequently very limited, it is
natural to expect that the appropriation
made by the Federal Government would be
more likely to be expended in the vicinity
ofthese members through whose immediate
agency they were obtained, than if the fund:
were placed under the control Of the Legis
fature, in which every county OF the State
has its own representative. This SUPPOSE
ton does not necessarily impugn the mo
tives of such Congressional representatives,
nor is il so intended. We are all sensible oil
the bias to which the strongest minds ane
purest hearts are, under such circumstances,
liable. In respect to the last objection, it.
probable effect upon the dignity and indie
pendence of the State Governments, it ap
pears to me only necessary TO state the case
as 1t is, and as it would be ifthe measure pro
posed were adopted, to show that the opc
ration is most likely to be the very reverse
of that which the objection supposes.
10 the one case, the State would receive
Its quota of the national revenue for domestic
USE, upon a fixed principle. as a matter o.
right, and from a fund to the creation o.
which il had itself contributed its fair pro-
portion. Surely there could be nothing de
rogatory in that. As matters now stand. the
States themselves, in their sovereign charac.
ter, are not u~nfrequently petitioners at the
bar of the Federal Legislature for such al
lowances out of the national treasury as il
may comport with their pleasure or sense o