South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1836-06-25

sition Which could be made of the sur
plus reyenue, ,could Be ITS ssapporfi0n
ment among the several States, aceor-
| ding to the ratio Of representation"
Il This proposition has reference to q
t state Of things which now actually ex.
lists, with the exception of the amount
| Of money thus TO be disposed of--for
it could not have been anticipated by
! the President that the surplus above
the real wants or convenient expendi,
lures of the Government would be-
| come so large, as that retaining it in
the Treasury would so much diminish
the circulating medium as greatly to
embarrass the business of the country.
| What other disposition can be
| made of it with view TO get into i'm
mediate circulation but 10 place it in
| the hands of the State authorities , So
great is the amount, and so rapidly is
it increasing, that it could not be ex-
pended for very considerable time
on the comparatively few objects to
which i, could be appropriated by the
General Government bu. the desired
distributions amongst the People could
be Immediately effected by the States,
from the infinite variety of ways in
which it might be employed by them.
BY them it might be loaned to their
own banking institutions,or even to in
dividuals-a mode of distribution by
the General Government which sin,
cerely hope is 10 the contemplation Of
no friend TO his country.
! I'd. Whilst have always broadly
| admitted that the public lands were
the common property Of all the States,
l have been the advocate Of that mode
Of disposing of them which would Gre.
ate the greatest number of freeholders,
and conceived that 10 this way the
interests OF all would be aa well secur-
ed as by any other disposition bu,
since, by the small sizs of the tracts in
which the lands are now laid out, and
the reduction Of the price, this desira-
| BILE situation ia easily attainable by a.
| ny person OF tolerable indestry, am
perfectly reconeiled to the distribution
Of the proceeds Of the sales as provid>
ed for by the bill Introduced into the
| Senate by Mr.. Clay the interest OF
all seems to be well provided for BY
this bill /; and as from the opposition
which has hitherto been made to the
| disposition of the lands heretofore con-
templated by the representatives Of the
new States, there is no probability Of
its being adopted, think it ought no
longer to be insisted on.
i sd. AS | believe that no money
should be taken from the Treasury Of
the United States to be expended on
internal improvements but for those
which are strictly national the answer
to this question would be easy but from
the difficulty Of determining which oil
those that are from time proposed
would be of this description. This cir
cumstance, the excitement which has
already been produced by approPria-
tons OF this kind, and the jealousies
which it will no doubt continue TO pro-
duce if persisted in, give additional
claims to the mode ofapproprialing all
the surplus revenue of the U. States
10 the manner above suggested. Each
State will then have the mssns of ac-
complishing its own schemes of inter-
nal Improvement. Sill there will De
particular cases when contemplated
Improvement will be OF great advan.
tage to the Unon generally, aud some
particular States, than TO that ia which
il is TO be made. 10 such cases, as
well as those in the new States, where
the value of the public domain will be
greatly enhanced by an improvement
in the means of communication, the
General Government should certain~
ly largely contribute. To appropria-
lions Of the latter character there has
never been any very warm opposition.
Upon the whole, the the distribution
of the surplus revenue amongst the
; States seems likely TO remove most, il
, not all, the causes OF dissention OF
. which the internal improvement sys-
T tsm has beea the fruitful source. There
is noihiDg,in my opinion, more sacred
ly incumbent upon those who are con
! cerned in the administration of our
government than that Of preserving
: harmony between the states. Fron,
the construction of our system there
has been, and probably ever will be,
! more or less jealousy between the gs-
: neral and state governments; but there
: is nothing 10 the constitution = nothing
| ia The character OF the relation which
the states bear 10 each other which
I can create anV nnfriendlY feeling. i