The Arkansas advocate., 1837-03-17

printed in inae that ts provisions might have beoi
 better understood He was very suse, from what hat been said by inc Senator from Pennsylvania, MT
 BUcHANAN,) that that gentleman had I1isapprahendet the nature of the bill It did uo propose, he seem ed 10 imagine, to give away the pubic lands to any bo dy, but pointed out a way in which the General tsoy ernmen would get clear of all tie embarrassment con knected with those lands, ard would realize thfy-hfef aad third per Cent. of their entire value Il was proposition very different from those which had prece ded t, and il was the only measure which we0Id gqt full and final satisfaction 10 the people ftha Vest There spirit there which even the bill now before tie Senate could never satisfy They wanted the con
 fe ot the soil within their own limits. aud with nothing short of this could they eye rest content They did net cone here and demand right, bu they earn esiy desired l. aHd would heartily rejoice should any mode be devised by which they could lawfully ob- tam t. They freemen, and desired Inc exercse Of sovereignty over their soil. This was the ob-
 ect they before hem and for Mr. 5. should ne yer cease to exert himself ong he retained seat on that floor. What did he amendment propose !- To throw away the public lands? By means.- Bat b get clear of ali the cumbersome machinery and complicated and expensive sysem which al present lsted. and which had been accompanied with 50 much gexaion and dspate ia both Houses of Congress, and to give ID the aua, fer fair equivalent, the States within which lay that they might dispose of t fer themselves, and in their own way. They would 0. course be concerned to see that tho land brought q good price, for they iu themselves 10 realize tWo- thirds of the proceeds. The remaining third they to pay te Government, in clear money and it would be more than the Government had ever netteG since they held the domain.
 The amendment proposed that which had long been a favorie subject with his constituents He referred 10 the principle of graduation. This system had first been started by the honorable Senator from Missouri {Mf. BENToE.1 To that gentleman belonged the hon. of having first proposed t; for having done so, Mir s. hero returned 10 him his most hsartfeacknowlsdge- ments. It had endeared that Senator to maldades in the Vest. They called their counties after him. they called their towns after him; they give his name to teir children and if had secured to him an influence vkich nothing else could have obtained for him. The Western People had gazed upon bis proposition with admiration and delight. They had the terms of t by heart. But the measure proposed went even beyond this. The Senator from Mississippi, however was ap- prehensige that i would endanger the bill. To Blf. S this no very formidable objection But he would here say to that Senao that if, when proposal tds kind was brought forward, the the est refused put their shoulders the wheel, they never need ex peet 10 get the benefit, especially when h was brought
 forward y those who represented the older States They had surely rightto calculate tae votes ci the States in is iayor Come from what quarter ii might he, for one, stood ready to advocate t. Il
 as as gaos for the Geuefa Government as il was Tor
 the West. Il got that Government at once clear of all its difficulties with tho Indans and forever delivered t from squatters, preemption rights, and all Ii the
 terms of this arrangement, when thev should become known 10 the American People, would not be found acceptable well 10 the People of the old as the new States, he was greatly mistaken, indeed. He vas for lthe amendment Let who would gote against t, he would vote for 1t.
 Mr. Benton made some remarks, which were very
 mpeecty heard at cur Reporters satlon in the Cham her- He was, however, understood to say that he had brought forward proposition Of this general character some years ago and t appeared, from what had just been saied that the population of the West approved oi tae exertions he had made carry ii through; and
 there any votes voices more decidedly against t than the rest il he vote and voice of the gen. tleman from Soeth Carolina. We were now within less than three years of he period for taking the Dew census, and adf that time the State of Arkansas would enjoy three or our times her present weghtin the coun elis the naton. By that time We should probably have three new States two on tke hllsslssippi and one on the Calf of Mexico; while the representation ofhe States already in the Union would be great y enlarged. 1.-the Senator from Arkansas would but restrain his impatenee until that period should arrive lhe West would settle this question of the public lands just as it pleased. They would settle this matter as they would settle the Presidency And the older States must 'ook to them toi bdit lie was nol eoing 10 sur render advantages ike Ihese for thy years 10 come, Tor the sake ot the proposition now advanced. Ife
 He who had introduced hs measure; he who had orig
 mated t he who had fought up, was not going to suffer himself to be oresaed by any thirty years bar gam In three years more they could write their own
 terms and lay them the fabie Of the Senate They would be bd for, and bid deeply for by every candi- date for the Presdency and no gentleman by east
 ing reproaches on him, shoHd cause him, in the least degree, 10 swerve from his eourse He had thus far been able to make himself ineIligble to his own peo pie, and he hoped still to be able to do SO; and he should reia'n his position in patience, until Missouri,
 instead ot having two, would have fourteen members in the other House.
 1ir SEVER said that, fl he could get better terms