The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1840-03-19

| DC called assumption or guaranty.
for one, mr. r. said he quite willing himself 10
go mus at ouI he wished to guard sgainsl saying or
appearing TO say, tha, loan or deposte Of surplus
revenue or distribution Of the proceeds Of the pub
lie lands, among all the States, though part Of them
might happen % be in debt, and nigh. apply the money,
wnen 'ecevee 10 the payment OF their debts, was
assumption, safireey, Of State debts He was unwil-
hing togo, tsappear to CO. to such extent: and be
wishea 20 AVOID the use Of any which might sd-
mt Of such M Interpretation. He wished TO be def
nate precise exact He wished pu, the resolution
not only IN fern explicit as would enable them
clearly to sec AID understand its meaning and s whole
meaning then, but in form so guarded AZ would sc.
cure H. eHect,aliy secure H. against all misconsruc-
Ton IN oil time 10 come They should recollect that
they were aypI down fundamental principles, that they
were making declaration Of constit uonal law; and
when engaged such grave employment, every
preston, every word ought be maturey, ought TO
be cautiously weighed AID considered.
MIR. r, SAID he would repeat that he wished TO d.
YES. inc resolution Of every thing vague or equivocai.
In order that he might upon it without embansss-
ment and hchd mot well how the chairman Of the
commtice could refuse to accept amendment, which
carried opt bis declared meaning precisely and fully,
and at the same tine removed all ambiguity IT. how
ever, the amendment should be rejected Mr.. p. would
not feel himself at liberty especially under the explain
alton which had been given by the chairman, to vote
against The resolution
Mr. +. said be had sothing further to say upon the
proposed amendment, lie would, however, add word
upon at much length n The report Of the committee,
and had been much discussed in the debate he meant
the power OF Congress distribute among the States
the proceeds Of the public snds He did intend to
enter into any labored argument upon the subject The
view he had taken OF 1t short one, and yet he
hoped was comprehensive enough embrace all that
was material to the question. At that late hour, he
should content himself with doing rlle than
ly 10 state it.
The question depended (Mr p said) upon the terms
~ dppdz Of ectad,r
OF the Constitution to which he should have occasion
to advert He would ask attention to the terms OF only
ore Of the deeds the leading and most important one
The deed from Virginia declared that the lands ceded
shall be considered fund.- for the use and
benefit Of such Of the United States as have become
or shall become, members Of the confederation or fede
raj alliance OF said States, Frgina incfusipe accord
ing to the usual respective proportions the general
charge and expenditure and shall be faithfully bona
de disposed Of for that purpose, and for no other
or purpose whatsoever.
Now, Mr. p. asked. not this clause, the clause
he had Just read, PLAIN, unequvoca declaration VI
trust in behalf Of the several States composing the Con-
federation Was it not declared, IN many words,
that the cession grant to the of the eveal
States What other meaning, he would ask, could be
given to the words for the and Jenef Of such Of
the United States, &c, Vvginla inclus,De?"
But this was not all The not only declared
to the States as States but the proportion in which the
States should share ID the also declared. "Ac-
codns the usual respeefpe proportions The gene
raj charge and expenditure" Here rule Of ap-
portlonment gven-a rule for apportionlng the fund
among The States. And did not the very declaration Of
rule of apportonment necessarily imply several, se-
parate interest in the States in the fund They
to share respectively in the fund that is, each
State was to have It's proportion, It's distnbuve share
according to the ratio prescribed
II Continued Mr. p it intended to the be-
ne6cisl well the title 10 the States their
confedera,ed capacity alone. be applied only to gene
raj joint purposes why not the made simply
to The United States, the and style of the Con-
federation Why the words added, for the
and benefit Of such Of the United States, &c, Trgina
incnsipe according 10 the usual respective proportions
in the general charge and expenditure !" Upon any
other supposon than that Of trust, these words
without meaning and wholly nugatory
The plain aud obvious was, that the cession
was grant the Confederation by one member Of it,
for the and benefit Of itself aud the several other
members of it, Respectively TO be shared by them in
the proportions specified Looking the terms Of the
cession the and structure Of the Confedera-
ton, and the relation the States bore each other
der it, it appeared Mr. P. that doubt could be
terained that the cesson trust, and that the bene
fetal interest vested in the States not in their
united, but in their separate character .'
Mr. p said If he right saying that the cession
originally trust he would ask, had It ceased TO
be so Had the substitution Of the present CoDsttu-
tion and Government, in the place OF the Coniedera-
ton, effected any change in the rights of the States to
the fund What said The CONSTITUTIONS
"The Congress shall have power to dispose Of and
make all neediu rules and regulations respecting the
territory or other property belonging to the United
States and nothing 10 this Constitution shall be so
construed to prejudice any claims OF the United
States or Of any particular State
"All debts contracted and engagements entered in
to- before the adoption Of this Constitution, shall be as
valid against the United States under this Constitution
as under the Confederation"
It was evident MIR p. said, from these provisions of
he hat W /
any degree the obligation Of the compacts oil cessIon,
but to preserve entire all the preexistng rights grow
ing out OF them The Constitution superseded
the old Confederation, but the beneficial interest III the
lands remained as before, IN the States
But il was said that the mode OF raising revenue was
changed; that instead of making assessments, accord
ing TO an established ratio upon the States formerly
the revenue was now collected by taxes, direct nd
rect upon the People, and that in consequence Of this
had become impractcable execute the trust in the
manner prescribed by the deeds of cesslon. Admit
this to be So did follow that the trust therefore
ext.pushedl What the rule in such case it
was the rule in courts Of equity, and 1t rule OF
law and of ustice that If the trust could not be exc
cued in the precise prescribed should BIO ex'
ecuted nearly that manner as was practicable, or IN
such other way would give effect to the trust u
they could apportion the fund among the States 10
the mode specified in the deed Of cesslon, they were
bound to adopt such other would approximate
in its results the nearest 10 that mode This was the
principle which prevailed in the Of law and equ
", and it was the principle which would prevail wherev
er a sense Of right and justice prevailed.
Mr. p said he had one further remark to make. 1t
had been said that the United States the owners
of the lands and that being they had power 10
dispose Of the lands in any way and for any purpose
they choose. He denied that any such unlimited pow
err over the lands existed in the General Government
II the United States were owners they were owners
in trust and Congress restricted and ,ied down by
the terms and conditions Of the deeds OF cession.
disposal of the lands for any other purposes than those