Litchfield enquirer., 1830-02-18

therefore, SIT, me pOIICy Ot cFeHtIDS great , permanent National Treasury, whether tO be derived from public lands or from any other source. If had sir the powers of magi-
 clan, and could by wave of my hand con vert this Capitol into gold for such purpose, I I would not do it. If could by mere act of my will, put at the disposal of the Federal Government any amount of treasure which l
 might thlnk proper to name, should limit the amount to the means necessary for the legiti-
 mate purposes of the Government. Sir. an
 immense national Treasury would he fund ] for corruption. It would enable Congress and the Executive to exercise a control over l States, as well as over great interests in the
 country, nay, even over corporations and ln-
 dividuals. utterly destructive of the purity,
 and fatal to the duration of our institutions.
 It would be equally fatal to the sovereignty
 and independence of the States. Sir, l am
 one of those who believe that the very life of our system is the independence Cf the States and that there is no evil more to be depreca- 1 ted than the consolidation of this government l It is only by strict adherence to the limita- tions imposed by the Constitution on the Federal goyernment-that this system works well, and can answer the great ends for which l it was instituted. am opposed, therefore, in any shape, to all unnecessary extension of the powers or influence of the Legislature or Executive of the Union over the States. or l the People of the States. and most of all am opposed to those partial distributions of favors whether by legislation or appropriation, which has a direct and powerful tendency to { spread corruption through the Iand-tO create an abject spirit of dependence-to SOW the seeds of dissolution-to produce jealousy a.
 mong the different portions of the Union, and
 finally to sap the very foundations of the 1 Government itself.
 But, Sir, there is another purpose to which { it has been supposed the public lands can be applied still more objectionable. Imean that ] suggested in a report from the Treasury De- pertinent under the late administration, of SO regulating the disposition of the public lands l as to create and preserve in certain quarters of the Union, population suitable for con- ] ducting great manufacturing establishments. 1t is supposed, Sir, by the advocates of the
 American System, that the great obstacle to 1 the progress of manufactures in this country.
 is the want of that low and degraded popula- ton which infest the cities and towns of Flu
 rope, who, having no other means of subsist-
 ence, will work for the lowest wages, and be
 satisfied with the smallest possible share of human enjoyment. And this difficulty it is proposed to overcome, by SO regulating and
 limiting the sales of the public lands, as to
 prevent the drawing off this portion of the
 population from the manufacturing States. Sir, it is bad enough, that Government should presume to regulate the industry of man-it
 is sufficiently monstrous that they should at.
 tempt by arbitrary legislation, artifcially to , adjust and balance the various pursuits of So- c:ety, and to "organize the whole labor! aud
 capitol of the country" But what shall we ? say of the resort to such means for these pur- f poses? What create roanufactory of pau. %r nsmh of wOollen and cotton manufactures to amass . wealth From the bottom of my soul do l
 abhor and detest the idea, that the powers of the Federal Government should ever be pros-
 tituted for such purpose. Sir, hope we
 shal act on more just and liberal system of policy. The people of America, are, and
 ought to be for a century to come essentially
 an agricultural People, and can conceive of
 no policy that can possibly be pursued in re-
 lation to the public lands, none that would be
 more "for the common benefit of all the
 States" than to use them as the means of l furnishing a secure asylum to that class of our
 fellow citizens who in any portion of the country, may find themselves unable to pro-
 cure a comfortable subsistence by the means immediately within their reach. l would by just and liberal system convert into great
 and fOurishng communities, that entire class . of persons who would otherwise be paupers in your streets, and outcasts in society, and !, by so doing, you will but fulfil the great trust
 which has been confded to your care.
 MT. Hayne said there was another scheme to distribute the public lands among the States in ratio hereafter to be settled this he thought objectionable for powerful reasons not then necessary to be given. He next took
 up the claims of the West to the whole lands, cOntending that by the very terms of their acquisition, the fee of them was, and must
 remain in the U. s. unless disposed of by
 them. He next noticed the continual appli-
 cations for grants of portions of these lands
 for special purposes by the Western States,
 maintaining, that while constantly seeking fla
 vOrs of this kind, they could not enjoy inde-
 pendence. He would not say what the fu-
 ture policy of the Government ought to be,
 but the public debt must first be paid the faith of the Union was pledged to it's credit ! ors; when that was done, which probably
 would be the case in three or four years, the
 question would be open. He suggested
 whether it would not be proper to cede to the
 respective new States all the lands within
 their limits on such terms as should indemni.
 " government for prime cost and expenses i;
 whenever the States should have made res-
 pectively certain advances in population and
 settlement-Ohio had probably reached that condition. Mr. Hayne concluded by saying,
 "In short. Mir. President, our whole policy in
 relation to the public lands may perhaps be | summed up in the declaration with which !