Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1832-01-10
To which the following amendmen, had been moved by


ed 10 inquire into the Justice and eNpcdcncy Of approp-
a,ng onchd of the proceeds Of the future sales Of the
Public Lands TO objects OF Internal lmproye mens within
the States in which said lands sod and that the same
Committee inquire into the cxpcdency appropriang af
ter tho national debt Is pad) onc-thrd oi the projects
SAID land sales Tor the construction OF roads and canals from
The Mississippi to the Ohio, the Lakes and the ST Law
renee TO the commercial cities the Atlantic, and Of APP
propriadng the remaining third o said proceeds for pr-
poses OF education, the works objects of improvements
10 be designated or approved by Congress, and the money
said improvements nlade' -A le
And the following amendment of the amendment had
been moved by MIR. Mitchell of South Caroina;
Resoired That Select Committee appointed 10 in
qure into the cNpedicncy of selling tho public lands
TO the States in which they lie, moderate price and
ahbcral credit aud into the mode of apporionng tho
gregate value of the said sales the States, according
TO the terms of the several deeds of ceSSion.
Mr. Mercer of Virginia, who had possession the floor
when the debate suspended Friday remarked that
when he the other day he did do with the i
enon of going into discussion OF the merits of the propo-
sion before The House He merely wished TO express
his desire that the subject might be taken up under more
favorable circumstances than motion FOR reference.
Any debate under such circumstances must in his opinion
be altogether improbable.
Mr. Vnton of Ohio, expressed his regret that the pro-
position had given rise much debate He hoped the
subject would not take the direction moved by the gentle
man from New York, (Mr. Taylor He had never known
resolution OF this characer-for inquiry mcrely-to go
into the Committee OF The Whole the the Unon
This resolution contains definite instructions give
direction to the debate; there is no bill TO act upon and
tho whole subject is aoat before that committee 1t was
IN his opinion too important to be ted with longer de-
orred IL has been presented this House year
",
at the end OF the session. In his opinion this the
proper mode OF treating great question, which involved
ono OF the FIRST interests in the whole community. And il
the House would upon this great and deeply interest
ing question diSpassonatey it be acted on speedily
The day Is probably at hand when this House will
not have in its 10 act upon it, The pledge of
public lands security for the payment of the national
debt has heretofore acted upon the system like balance
wheel The Secretary of the Treasury has made propo
stion' the subjcctOthc gentlemen have offered pro
positions on the subject 1t would be conceded all
hands he presumed that there would shortly be no further
vs. from
the sale OF the public lands.
The Speaker suggested to Mr. V. that the subject be-
fore the House was only question of reference
Mr. Vinton resumed his remarks, by saying that the
oJect oil his observations show that the subject
took tho course proposed by the gentleman from New
forS Cir Tayio) it would not probably be definitely
acted on during the present session.Supposo, Sir said
he the national debt 10 be discharged the payment of
which these lands pledged. Money will then flow into
inc treasury Tar beyond our expenditures. Will you be
, u9Gr sueh circumstances, to preserve the present
system OF land laws Already in many parts the west
orn country strong desire is felt break down this ys
tenn The ground has heen distinctly akcn and strongly
asserted, that this domain belongs to the which
1t is situated We should remember that in the region
where tho present system of land laws operates there are
now between two and hrco millions people-morc than
there were in the whole country the breaking
Revolutionary war. Througbout that country there
is hardly single individual who does not see from thc
door OF his cabin some tract of the national domains which
no Is anxious TO possess The time not distant when
man who wishes Tor seat in this Iouscor who wishes
10 place himself I'm the mansion at The other end of
the Avenue, may say 10 these indivduals--'Sir, do
You want yonder tract of land, Ayes, but / am not
want the pay-it ought 10 belong to the people -
Flow long under tho operation OF such circumstances
would elapsc before people, living in such situation
would consider the whole system of land laws
IN the highest degroc? We consider that this subject
among the population OF the west, is of tho exciting
character Sir he said you might well suppress
eruption Of Vesuvius of Etna keep down this OK
element Our course is TO make it the interest of the
people In the west TO acqucsce in When
inc present pledge upon the Public Lands, the Ma
uonal Debt, IL paid Off must impose some other
pledge for the benefit of the people upon it, By this
something OF that kind adopted we may have not
only new measures, but men in the management of
affairs At another session of this body, the ground may
remble beneath feet Sir, this is perhap, the ONLY
occasion this House enjoy TO take up this subject Ell
ctualIy If the House goes into the Committee of the
Whole the state of the Union without any helm to di-
the discussion no one can foretcl its course We
have seen writ OF right brought before this House
half of the State Of New York against the State of Vr-
gina, for half the Continent. In Committee of the
cd on the part OF that venerable Commonwealth
The argument we have beard, the part Of New York
was certainly very able and highly mpo,ing-but tie
whoie matter was altogether foreign to the present nqu
ry Should this House go into Committee OF the Whole
without any report or bill before it, upon subject invov
ing public and private interest of such would
he impossible to oree the results large portion of gen
uemcn arc new members very few of them are acqant-
ca WIN inc system OF Land Laws, which fills code
oil thousand pages and is familiar TO a small number of
the members of this House 1t is therefore important
that the subject be referred i'm order thai rcDor of facts
may be brought before the House upon which it NAV be
larry discussed In its present stage he persuaded
discussion was useless. He therefore hoped that some
gentleman would the previous question: After bav
ing expressed himself fully, it would be very uurra
clous IN him it, as it might betray desire on
ms part that no gentleman who had taken different view
OF inc subject should have the opportunity of gansayne
his remarks
Mr.. Wicklilc, of Ky said he wished some member
from tse new States would reply 10 the observations made
ny the gentleman, dcrogatory TO the patriotism of those
States Believing, he said that this subject in its whole
extent was now before the Committee on Public Lands
which, as he had reason to believe, would seasonably make
report embracing the whole matter both in its general
principles and particular details, he would with view of
ascerainng whether the House wished spend any fur
ther time on debate that to him seemed Improbable
move TO lay the whole subject on the table.
On this question Mr. Blair OF Tennessee requested the
yeas and nays to he takcnwhch ordered and were
follows:
Yeas'-Mcssrs Adams, Adair, Alexander Anderson An
GEL Bobcock, Banks, j. S. Barbour, Barnwen, Barstow
j. bates Bergen, Bethunc, JAS Blair Boon, Bouck Bould
m Branch, j. Brodhead, j. c. Brodhead, Billiard, Cam
brcleng Carr, Carson Chandler Chnn Choatc Claiborne
Clay, Coke Collier, Conner, Cooper, Davenport W r.
Davis, Dayan, Dcwart, Drayton, Dickson, Doubleday
Hail. liammons, Harper Hester, Hogan, Holland How
ard Hubbard, lbrie Irwin, Jarvis, Jencr, Jewcu r. NJ
Johnson, G. johnson, G.. c. Johnston Kavanach King
j. King, II. King, Lamar Lansing Lecomptc Lent ~.
on, Mann, Mardis, McCary, Mason, W. Mccoy, McDuf-
ha, Mclntire, Mitchell, Muhlcnburg, Newman MUG
kolls, Patton Pcarcc, Penllcon Person Pitcher Plum
mer, Polk, Potts, Randolph f. c. Reed. Roanc RUSSELL
Sghth, Soule Southland Speight, Stephens p. Thomas
w: hompson, Tracy, Vcrplanck, Wayne f. WhuIescy
"ickliife, Wilde, Wortlingon-109.
.Ndys-Mcssrs &. Allan, II. Alien, Allison AppIcton
Armstrong, Arnold, N. Barber, John Bell John Blair
buggs, Bucher, Bur CahOOn, l.. COndict, S. Condi f.