, 1840-03-14

~ "It'hA-oSo 'S "'NfS ~
and By oHr State IA particular. Upon them,
he gave tlrM his solemn sanction in his III
augural address, in presence OF thousands OF
witnesses. had been twice elected after
my opin!on; were well known upon this sub
ject, and npS, when | endeavor faithfully TO
carry them out, 10 be HaJHGlifediy conlcmn-
cd FOR doing 50, and that by those who then
ywnfeSsed to think as | sincerely did, was
what | did not anticipate. / am sure that,
upon this u ject, my practice has correspond
ed with my professions. Still, should feel
degraded if | were to pronounce any old as
sociate a traitor, or liken him to Benedict
Arnold, because at this time he disagrees
with me in opinion.
q. They are greatly mistaken who suppose
the object of this bill was to take from this
class of officers any right whatever. Pre-
cisely the reverse was the intention. 1t was
TO emancipate them from the slareiSh bon
dage in which they were held. 1t was to
enable every man of them to vote according
to the dictates of his own judgment, and to
absolve them from the painful alternative of
being compelled to, not only vote. hut to
e,ectioneer for candidates not Of their choice
but of the President, on pain of dismissal
from office.
The great object was TO prevent the Presi-
dent from controlling The people in the choice
of their officers, State and Federal. This
class of officers, whose daily bread for their
families, depended on Executive favor. were
constrained, as a part Of their official duty,
not only TO vote as the President uished, but
to endeavor to Influence others TO do so like
wise. If they did not perform this duty they
were dismissed, and with their families left
to starve. An enlightened statesman once
called them "enlisted soldiers of the Presi-
dent"
A politician, who knows as well as any
other man the motives by which men are
influenced in relation to elections, says
"IphenevcT he sees an office hOlier inter fcring
IN elections, he concludes he is thinking Of
lis salary and his bread and is a rery unfit
adriser Of the people," By the passage oil
this bill it was hoped the instruments for
misleading the people would be taken from
the President, that these "enlisted soldiers"
would be discharged from electioneering du-
ties and yet receive their pay: and tina; If
they performed the duties of their Offices
faithfully, they might safely vote according
10 the dictates of their own judgment, and
yet be secure in "their salaries and their dali
ly bread"
By your fourth resolution, as one Of your
Senator's. | am instructed to "vote against
the measure heretofore brought before Con-
gress, which had for its object the distribu-
tion among the States of the proceeds OF
the sales of the Public Lands"
In justice to myself, as well as to my con-
stituents, | must be permitted TO state the
manner in which my mind has operated on
this subject at different times, and under
different circumstances.
~ When a bill was first. introduced, having
such distribution as that spoken of for its
object, / voted against its passage, and in "a
vor of the veto Of the Chief Magistrate, on
the ground that no such distribution ought to
be made until The public debt uas all paid.
Upon looking into the deeds, by which
those lands were coded to the United States,
by the respective States, / found that they
were conveyed in trust, to pay out of the
proceeds OF their sales, our public debt then
owing by the United States, and that the reis-
due should be for the joint benefit of each
ofthe several States including those making
the c~essions.
"A0 pottion vi inc fuOllC ueS-
was unpaid, and | deem it improper to dis
tribute any part Of this fund until the debt
wds fully discharged, that being the primary
object of the donor.
When a like bill was afterw lrds introduc- |
ed not only voted for it, but gave it such
support as my feeble abilities enabled me.
By this time the public debt had been fully
paid and we had a very large sum in the
Treasury beyond the necessary wants of
the Federal Government. ],
1could not doubt the power of Congress
to make the distribution, because there was
an express trust that this fund should be for
the use of the respective States; we had a.
sum on hand which l thought, in hon. 7.
esty, belonged to the States, and the proper
ton belonging to Tennessee, l believed,
would, be highly useful in enabling her to
make internal improvements, and in provid-
ing n system for the education of those who :,
might be unable to bear the expenses of ed. :
themselves. In addition to these :
considerations, l perceived if this large sum .
not distributed, il would encourage a .
system of extravagant expenditure incon-