Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1839-02-21
Political.
PUBLIC LANDS.
IN SENATE.

graduating Ms price ofpublic lands.
Mr. Calhoun said: have no desire, Mr..
President, to re:ard,in the smallest degree.
the final arion Of the Senate on this bill:
and in order to avoid unnecessary con-
sumption ollime, intend to Stale, as con
riSeIy as possible, my views of the proper
pdlicv 10 he pursued in reference to the
public lands living within the limits of the
new States; and my reasons for voting
against the cngrossment Of thi" bill.
shall begin with promising that am
under strong conviction, both from obser-
vation and reflection. that we have arrived
at the period when an entire revolution Of
our land system, as far as il is applicable
to those States, is unavoidable. They
have, in fact, outgrown the system. Since
! its first adoption, they have come inlo ex-
istence. have passed through IA STATE of in
fancy, and have now arrived AT manhood.
The >vsien, which was wise and just at
hrSr, is neither wise nor just applied 10
them in their changed condition.
We nave heard much, MIR. President, in
the present discussion about the growth Of
the new States, but, if may Judge from
! the various measures proposed on the
present occasion. we have neither realized
its rapiditv, nor the unavoidable changes
IN our land system which must follow in
IFS Iraiu. Their wonderful growth is. in
deed one of those realities almost beyond
the grasp of imagination. When | 20
back twenty ty-seven years, to the period
when first BECAME member Of the other
House. and compare what the new States
then were, to what they now are, am lost
in wonder and a,naze,nent. Their growth
is without example. There is nothing
like il in history. Al that Tune there was
but single new State, (Ohio.) excuh"
Kentucky, Tennessee aud Maine. all oI
which have been admitted since he adDp-
lion of The Constitution, aud limit my re
marks to those which have since sprung
up TN The public domain.
Ohio then had but one Representative
in the other House. jeremiah Morrow. an
honest aud sensible man. who was AT that
time a, the head of the Committee on Pub
lie Lands, and mad the confidence Of the
House so completely, thai his voice was
the law on all subjects connected with
| tlICIl- uOlC "CiC tNCu tIlHly lNO kDtHd-
tors in all, Of which, Ohio had, of course,
two; that is, the one sixteenth Of The whole.
In the electoral college she had three votes,
which made her weight about the jOlh
i'll that body-a wright scarcely felt or es
tilnted in the political movements of the
day.
Such, al that time, was the infant and
| T.nI,l,. ,,F Il,,. ~
then, in IA period bu' litle exceeding that
allotted 10 sing r Seneraiioa, to pass over
the stage of life, how wonderful the change!
Instead OF one, as then, there are now 9
new States; and in the place of two Sena-
tors in lhirty-,w0, we now have eighteen
in iiity-two; making, instead of one-six-
leenth, more than third M the whole; and
already three Territories, Florida, WiscGi1-
sin and ii3wa, are struggling for admission,
When admitted, which must be shortly.
there will :hen he twelve new STATES, with
twcnty-fonr Senators in ffy-six, which
will Increase their relative weight in this
Dody 10 three sevenths of the whole.
But as wonderful as has been the in
crease in this body, it will be still more so.
J oitCi wv litH' SCJSUS III OlllCl. IL VIII
he taken next year, and a new apporrion-
nenl of the members will be made under
The Constitutions; when, instead Of a single
member,beins less than one in hundred,
as Was the case twenty seven years ago,
the representation Of the new States will
then stand To tho old, at least as forty To
sixty, or Two ifihs ofthe whole. as caicu-
laled by a friend familiar with the subject,
and IN whose accuracy have cntirc conf
dence. The new States having, as they
will then, three sevenths in this, and two
6iths in the other House, Yll, of course.
have relative weight in the electoral
college, or :he same thing inIhe choice of
President, compounded of the two. that is
five twcllths Of the Whole. so much for
the past.
Now if we turn TO the future, we shall
find The cause Of this amazing growth so
far from being exhausted or weakened, is
acting with increased force, ard urging for
ward the growth of these STATES with ac-
celcraIed, instead Ola decreasing, velocity;
so much so, that the past changes in the
last weD:y-scven years will appear as
nothing. compared with what will take
place in the next twenty seven, unless
some unforeseen occur, uce should inter-
vcne TO relard their progress. If my me-
mory serves me right, our population, 81
years ago, was about seven millions; and
our annual Increase thon, that is, the ex-
cess OF births over deaths, including emf
grafton, about two hundl ed thousand, cs.
timailns our growth al three per cent com-
pound. Since then, our population has
Increased not less Than nine millions, ma
king the present probably about sixteen;
which Oh the same data, will make our an
nual increase at this time but little short of
half million, The greater parl of which
will find their homes in the new States.