Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1838-12-20
CONGRESS-.
I" s'As"sfoa cs,rsPe~de~es ef aAs Bsif. .is.eries.
THURSDAY, Dec. H.

morning introduced the important propo.
sition to postpone the paw ment of The
fourth insislment Of the surplus revenue.
The pos,Ponement was intended 10 be in /.
definite.
MIR. Clay, with some few remark.
moved TO amend Mr.. wrights propos:.
ZION oy limiting the posiponement To the
hrst OF January. Isi0. when the money
should De pad, unless \ pos,poncmcn a,
was made - 4 day beyond.
Mr.. Niles. OF Connecticut. wasin favor
OF the proposition a, reported from the
COMMITTED OF Finance. and spoke at some
length IN favor G: bis opinion.
Mr.. BENTON followed and smoke for
thirty minutes. Tie said he had opposed
the Distribution Bill or Deposiie Bill in
all its forms. He had always considered
u more Of Q distribution than a depo.;,.
Bill. The States now claimed n a, I.
debt due them from the Government and
u sas clear they considered It rs a dona.
tion. lie knew all this. and in season
nsd iorctoid the consequences Of giving
,ne states the money they had received.
" was proposed now. he said. 10 hold out
we idea that the fourth instalnt at should
be paid to the States. AID the Treasury
was to be made bankrupt to bring about
THIS Jesuit The tariff Was to be revived
duties increased instead oi diminished.
Mr. Renioa here drew a dark p,cture
OF the condiiion OF the Treasury. Looh
10 toe Secretary report said he. and
YOU viii see that the revenues are barely
equal to the cxpendiiures-ha suGi.
Gent fof even the ordinary expenditures
oi GoSernmeni. and now At N as proposed
by extraordinary means 10 paw vast
sum 10 the States. Sir. Benton. in con.
elus'on. SAID that he was against a post.
ponement 20 next year or year after
lie was IN favor OF IAN eternal. and n
perpetual and an everlasting POSTPONE.
rneut.'
Mr.. Preston followed Mr.. Benton, and
SAID that he was willing TO acknowledge
That he had heen IN some measure mis,a.
Ken ~ TO the Deposit Act and its effects
on the country. The operations OF the
Deposite Bill he considered disastrous in
some respects. and one cause Of the ca
ias'rophe under which the country had
Tor two years past suffered. But the
great cause OF the public disaster. IN the
business OF the country was not owing 10
this law. We had gone speedily from a
surplus Of $50 .000, 900 10 an appropria-
iion Of SI0,O00, O0Osin one wear. when
the government was compelled uncon.
additionally to issue bills OF credit 10 sus
tain The sinking condition OF its affairs -
We were prodigal when we knew we
were poor. This was fault. and one
prominent cause Of our pubic calamity.
We increased our expenditures after APP
Propna,ing our surplus, and this had
made the Treasury bankrupt. All the
money collected was expended. and be-
yond the amount OF receipis-so much
beyond that we were obliged TO become
borrowers.
Mr.. Tallmadge followed lie was in
favor Of Mr.. Clay's amendment, aud said
that he was about 10 Introduce such an
amendment himself. He alluded TO the
past, aud said iha, Gen. Jackson had three
tunes. twice m las annual messages and
once IN veto message-proposed the
distribution OF the surplus among the
States Of The Union By and by il va,
whispered that distribution was uncon.
sttuuonal, aud even then Gen. Jackson.
TO carry out what was with hun a favorite
measure. proposed an amendmen, OF the
Constitution. But by and by. again new
objections were raised and distribution
was Objectionable for other than uncon-
stitutional reasons. Those other reason.
came at the same moment Nth the grea,
surplus OF sixty millions Of dollars We
had not heard OF them before. Aeains'
distribution was the party cry, and &c
oppose distribution was the party doc.
tTine.
We who advocated the Distribution
Bill or Opposite Bill. were denounced by
some for the commission Of the very act
which Gen. Jackson had earnestly and
zealousiy fecomme Mr.. Ta.lmadsc
said. IN conclusion. that he had not re-
GREETED the distribution Of the surplus re-
venue among the several States. Hi,
own State had invested her portion in
her common school fund AMI it was
much better there than 1t was in the
BRICK and mortar system OF ior,ific alton,
which bad been proposed by the Senator
from Missouri.
Mr.. Calhoun spoke next lie va,
ready Tor postponemcnt for year-post
ponement Tor eveT--Or repeal OF lhe
Deposite law altogether. lie believed
there would be no more sorpluwcs, Al
least for several years TO come and va.
ready TO give bic vote for a repeal. think
ing IT the best deposition OF the subject
The Opposite Bill he thought had per.
formed noble function. lie replied Ia
Mr. Preston, his colleague poiatedly and
designedly, as 10 the idea advanced by
Mr.. r. tina, the Deposiie Act bad proved
either deceptive or delusive. II there
had been s'y deception. he was the de
ceiyer. aud deception. all would admit
was not an act ~ hts life. The late pub.
lic calamity. he vas willing TO acknow
ledge had IN some measure been brought
about by the operation Of the Deposite
Act aud by the Treasury Order Of July
1896 Still the Deposite Ae, wss one oI
the wisest and best measures that had
ever been brought before Congress. We
had the the money, and we're bound 10