The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1840-03-19
TWENTY-sIxTH CONGRESS.
FIRST SESSION.
I'm SENATE,
FRIDAY, March 6. 1910.

FRIDAY, march y, 1910.
ASSUMPTION OF STATE DEBTS
The Senate proceeded to the consideration Of the re
port Of the select committee; when
Mr.. DAVIS rose, and spoke in vindicaiion OF him
self from the charge Of misconceivng or nisconstru
ing the arguments Of Mr. Buchanan.
Mr. BUCHANAN rejoined When
Mr.. DAVIS again replied, and was followed by
Mr.. BUCHANAN When
Mr. PRESTON made some few remarks, and wa,
| answered BY Mr.. KING, when general discussion
ensued, in which Messrs CLAY, KING. PRESTON
CALHOUN, BUCHANAN, BROWN, and others
participated,
Mr. WEBSTER moved an adjournment He though
Il better TO vote on the propositions as, from
amendments moved, and substitutes offered
the subject had become involved in difficulties
The motion lost, and the VICE PRESIDENT
stated the question he understood il to be-
The Senator from Pennsylvania, Mr.. Buchanan, hat
moved amend the resolutions Of the committee b,
adding the following:
Rssoiped That the debts of the several States fa
they known to the Senate, have been contracted
in the exercise Of the undouhsd right and constitutional
power OF said States respectively, and that there
ground TO any doubt Of the ability disposition
Of those States to fulfil their contracts
For which amendment, Mr.. Norve offered the fol-
lowing as substitute:
Resoised That while the Senate OF the United States
is fully impressed with the Importance and correctness
Of the principles contained in the foregoing resolutions
II ID not intended thereby create any doubt Of the
constitutional right Of the States contract debts nor
Of their resources, disposition, ability fulfil the
gagemens which they have contracted for purposes OF
internal improvement, we'll for other objects within
the range Of their reserved powers
Tho question then taken on Mr.. Norvell's sub
slitute and carried by Of % yeas to ls nays
II was, however. suspended by unanimous consent,
or rather considered Withdrawn for the present. and
the question then reverted to the motion Of Mr.. Crit
tenden to strike all Of tho resolutions submitted by
the committee, and insert the following resolutions:
Resoiped That the debts OF the several States far
they known the Senate have been contracted
in the exercise Of the undoub,ed right and constitutional
power Of said States respectively and that there is
ground to warrant any doubt Of the ability DISPOSE
ton Of those States to fulfil their contracts.
Resolved That would be Just and proper to distr
bnte the proceeds Of the sales Of the public lands among
the several States in fair and rateablc proportions, and
that the condition Of such Of the States have
tracted debts in such, at the present moment Of
and difficulty, to render such distribution espe
cally expedient and important.
On this question, Mr.. TAPPAN demanded the yeas
and nays
Mr.. SMITH, Of Indiana. said he should take part
in the discussions upon the amendments, as he should
vote against the whole Of the resolutions, whether
amended or not for the he had given at large
a previous occasion. He should vote upon amendments
as they might arise u preference between pro
positions and without, in any vote he might give, in
tending to express any opinion upon the merits Of the
voted he could by no act Of his give any
sanction or countenance to these proceedings.
The vote then taken, when there appeared for it
IL, against it %, as follows:
YEAS--Messrs. Belts, Clay Of Ky, Crtenden,
Davis, Dixon, Knight, Merrck, Phelps. Porter. Prem
tiss, Rugges, Smith, Of Indiana, Southland, Spence,
Tallmadge, Webster, White-l7.
NAYS-Mcssrs Allen, Anderson, Benton, Brown,
Calhoun, Clay, of Ala, Cu,hbert, Fulton, Grundy.
Henderson, Hubbard, King, Linn Lumpkn, Mouton.
Nicholas, .NorvelI, Pierce, Preston Roane Robinson,
Sewer, Strange, Sturgeon, TaPpan, Wall, Williams,
Wright-2S
Mr.. PRESTON then moved to amend the resolu-
tons Of the committee by striking out all after the
word !" Resolved" and inserting the following
Resolued That the debts Of the several States so far
Al thew are known to the Senate, have been contracted
in the exercise Of the undoub,ed right and constitution
al power of said States respectively and that there is
no ground to warrant any doubt Of the ability dispo
sition OF those States to fulfil their contracts
After some remarks by Messrs. WEBSTER and
KING,
Mr.. NORvELL said that the amendment offered by
him, and voted on by the Senate, had been Withdrawn
with the general understanding that no other amend
ment should be offered until vote was taken on the
resolutions of the committee. TIE course taken by the
Senator from South Carolina would compel hun TO
move the proposition which he had withdrawn, as a
substitute for the Senator's amendment and he accord
ingly made that motion
MIR PRESTON then withdrew his motion to amend
The first resolution Of the Select Committee was
then read as follows:
/ Resoired That the assumption, directly indi-
recy, by the General Government, of the debts which
have BEEN may be- contracted by the States for local
objects State purposes would be unjust, both to the
States and to the people.
Mr. PRENTISS moved to strike out the words
"duccay or indirectly" and insert in lieu thereof the
words :" or guarantee"
Mr. PRENTIss said that his object in moving the
amendment to enable him to act understandingly.
He wished to reduce the resolution TO simple definite
proposition, so that no Misrepresentation whatever might
exist to its import and meaning, He wished TO know,
with certainty the length and breadth of what he
to affirm dsairm by his vote, and for that purpose,
and that purpose alone, he proposed to strike out the
words directly indirectly, and insert words OF more
spec al and definite import
They all understood none Of them could mistake,
ssd Mr. p, what meant by assumption OF the
debts Of the States. In legitimate sense, it compre-
hended the forms Of taking the debts upon the
General Government, by paying them presently by I'M
dertakng absolutely to pay them at future day. or, as
he thought by guarantying their payment ultimately
and this he learnt from the chairman, all that was
intended by the committee If the words directly or
indirectly did were incapable of being con
strued TO mean something beyond that TO be sure they
entirely harmless II they did mean, might be
construed to mean something different from, or more
than that, they created the very ambiguity and
tainty which it important TO avoid and for that
reason and very sufficient it was they ought
to be stricken out, and less equivoca words substi-
tuted
In laying down abstract doctrines, il they do so,
in matter Of so much importance, it became them, MIR.
p said to be more than ordinarily crcumspect the
language they employed. They had record in.
stance and memorable instance too Of the effects Of
want OF sufficient carefulness in this respect The
meaning of the famous Virginia resolutions Of 90,
though drawn up by very mature scholar as well as