State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1831-1836, 1836-06-28


weakness of the States, and the too great
and absorbing power Of the General Gov
crnmcnt; but now, forsooth, we are Eek
horted, in the holy names of Republican,
ism and Democracy, not to distribute to
the States, surplus revenue which the
General Government does not need, and
cannot use, for fear of cndangering the
system, by strengthening the power of the
States Sir, this objection, like the other,
taxes my democracy too heavily. | can't
go it.
MIR Chairman, an objection has been
raised against the bill on your table, because
it proposes 10 give the new states some ten
per cent. Oh the amount of the sales of the
lands within their respective limits, for the
purposes of internal improvement, bcl IRE
the general distribution is made; and, for
this reason, it is said, the distribution is
UNEQUAL and unjust to the old States. Sir,
this objection is not only answered by the
uniform practice Of the Government hich
| have before stated, to make, as Il means
of enhancing the value and Increasing the
sales of the residue of the lands, grants of
lands for such purposes; but by the fact
that the additional ten per cent may I've
deemed necessary to place the new States
Oh an equality with the old, for the reason
that the former have increased with much
more rapidity in population, Since the last
census, than the latter; OF which increase
in the new States the amount Of their re-
spectiye land sales is the best practical
admcasurenent. But the objection is con-
radictcd and ovcrthrown by another, still
more extraordinary. Sir, in public docu-
ment,s where ! find this objection most
strongly u,ged, and most laboriousy insist
cd on, the final views of the author are
summed up in the following language-I
give it Uerbdtjm q litcrutim: al do not
doubt that it is the real interest ofeach and
all the States in the Union and particularly
of the new States, that the price of these
lands shall he reduced and graduated and
that after they have been offered for u GER
tain number Of gears, the refuse, remaining
unsold, shall BE- abandoned to the States"
Yes, sir, we are told that it is unconslitu-
tional, violation of compact, and unjust to
the old States, to allow the new States, in n
measure of general distribution, a small
per centage OIL the amount of the sales and
yet, that, after few thousand acres more
are sold, it will be perfectly constitutional,
in clear conformity with compact, and per-
teCtiy Just to the old States, TO cede the
whole of the lands TO the new. Sir, was
there ever any public measure which met
with such unacoumtable, such extraordinary
lis it too much to say, absurd = objecti.ns?
And what, sir, is the object of this war
upon reason and )mmOn sense? Why,
sir, no other, that can discover, than to
enable the persons who are carrying on
the war to reap rich harvest of patronage,
by controlling and directing the use of the
money, whose distribution they oppose
And this brings me to the consideration of
another objection which has been made,
and the last one which | shall notice. 1t
is said that we have no security that the
States irW make lOiSe use of THIS money.
| will ask, sir, what security have the peo-
pie that zoe shall make u wise use of it !?
Have they not the strongest possible reas-
ons 10 believe that, if it remains undisturb-
ed, we shall use it wastefully and IMPROVE
IDENTITY. they are not already sensible of
it, they have read but poorly the signs of
the times,-have watched but carelessy
the movements Of their representatives.
Sir will not at this time go into this sub
ject more fully than have already done.
But | would ask if there is man here
who seriously and truly believes that the
States could not and would not make a
much better use of this money than we
should? 1t is notorious that tile States use
their funds much more economically than
we do--tlat any State can accomplish Il
given object with half the amount of mo-
ney that we can. Their agents are nearer
to the People, and feel much deeper and
stronger responsibility. The people them
l,n nI,
of a State character than in those OF the
General Government, and watch the agents
more closely. And what is this objection,
after all, but an insult to the understandings
and integrity of the people? Gentlemen
talk here as If they supposed all the virtue
and all the wisdom Of the nation were
congrcga:ed in these Halls, and that moth
ing could be well done unless zoe do it,
Sir, have no such belief believe that
Virginia, and Maryland, and Pennsylvania
ny, and Vermont too-and every other
State in the Union, would appropriate their
respective shares in this fund TO much
better purposes than we should. And, sir,
have 10 fears of its cOrrupting the States.
1t is when money is collected in large
masses, where it cannot he properly used,
that the danger of corruption exists. That
is the precise situation of the surplus rev
enue in reference to the General Govern
ment. We have no proper objects TO
which we can apply it, and therefore we
must expect that it will naturally be used
for improper and corrupt purposes. The
condition of the States is wholly different,
The great objects of internal Improvement
and education, which come within the pc
cnliar province of State legislation, will
furnish ample and highly beneficial uses
for the application Of the proceeds of the
public lands for years TO come and so
long as those objects require the fostering
care of the State authorities, there is no
possible danger that the fund will corrupt
them. Appropriated under The wise legis-
l. IL. ID j ,. L.. y