The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1841-08-17
CONGRESSIONAL.
DEBATE ON THE REVENUE BILL.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,,
WEDNESDAY, July %, ls4I


WEDNESDAY,, July y, 1871.
The House being in Committee of the Whole on
the state OF the Union, and having under eonsdera-
tion the bill in relation TO duties and drawbacks
Mr.. WINTHROP said he rose for no purpose Of
defamation display il he were at any time, capa
be of either lie would take up no time in comment
ing the extraordinary discovery which had ust
been proclaimed by the gentleman from New York,
Mr., Mckeon THE democracy Of direct tdrdtiOH.--
Nor had he any hope OF being able 90 far into the
consideration Of the Compromise act though, il the
memorable hour which must come alike 10 all in this
House, should not come TO him too suddenly, and cut
him of prematurely In his remarks he should be glad
to notice OF the singular constructions which had
been put upon that act by gentlemen from South Caro-
lima and Virginia. His main purpose 10 addressing
the House was to offer few practical suggestions in
relation 10 the bill under consideration He felt bound
TO offer them, as the Representative of great com
meIcial community-a community deeply interested in
ma nutactures also, and whose business of all kinds
might be seriously affected by such of legis
latlon lie desired more especially, 10 explain his
views without further delay, il was his misfortune
from many Of those with whom he usually acted, and
with whom he always desired to agree.
Unquestionably, said Mr. w. this House ought not
to adjourn without making some new provision for
supplying the wants of the Government Nothing
could be more evident to any one who bestowed even
the most cursory examination upon the condition Of
the Treasury than that much larger amount Of Ieve-
nue. was needed for the public service than could be
raised by existing laws. The clear and able statement
of the Chairman of the Committee of Ways and
Means at the opening OF this bill and the no less u
minous exposition of his honorable friend who had
Just taken his seat, (MT Barnard must have been
sufficient to convince the most strenuous oppo-
nents of this position. Here and there indeed there
might be found somebody to dispute it--somebody To
serve an illustration of the old Hudibrastic coup
let
He that's convinced against his will
Is OF the same opinion still
But the great majority of the House he presumed
however they nigh differ to the time when the
in which they should be raised must be ready
to admit that the Government could not 90 on much
longer without fresh supplies,
We were already largely in debt. The IMPROVE
dence of past. Admin stration had already driven
to the necessity of borrowing twelve millions Of dol
lars, and we had promised, somewhat rashly he
thought, TO repay the debt Tin three years. Meantime
our resources, under existing laws, were rapidly d.
minishing. We had seventeen millions OF surplus
moneys to fall back upon predecessors had at
the commencement OF 1881 They had spent II all.
We had no nine millions OF bonds of the Bank of
the United States, and interest public deposits
and debts from other banks, coming due whiting the
next four years, Mr. Van Buren, had when he en-
tered on his disastrous administration Every thing
Of this kind, he had collected and expended. We
had not even the proceeds of the public lands TO rely
tation received not less than twenty millions of dol
lars in their four years These proceeds lon
ger under our CONTROL unless indeed the bill dstrl-
buting them among the States should un fortunately
be defeated deferred in the other bfanch-unforiu
nateyi he would say In spite OF all the lam citations
over the land bill which had been uttered here and
elsewhere. In the exercise of high and, as he held,
an unquestionable discretion, this House had appro.
priated those proceeds in quite well cal
culaed promote the public good and to preserve the
national honor ne hey had bpen retained
the ordinary revenues of the country. Retained IN.
deed they could not have been much longer The
decree had gone forth many years ago, and from one
who rarely issued an order to his followers in vain,
General Jackson,) that the public lands should
practicable To be source OF revenue
Yes: and that all the people should be taxed (i gen
temen would have II SOY 10 supply the vacuum IN the
Treasury. The only question was, whether, after
being held little longer 10 be traded with and gam
BLEED upon by Specializing politicians, they should he
coded TO few whether they should at once be dis
trbuted among the many The Representatives of
the People had decided that question and he heartily
hoped their decision would not be reversed It's
execution be delayed by others. AT any rate, 50 far
this House concerned, the proceeds of the pub
lie lands Were gone and they could not therefore, at
the present moment, be made element in any cacu-
laon as 10 the future resources of the nation. We
thus brought down To single source of supply
The receipts from customs-upon which, as the ho
norable gentleman from Maryland Mr. Johnson) had
truly said the other day, the trainers of the Consu
ton always intended should rely for the support Of
the public scrvice-were now our only reliance.
There was, indeed an item standing on the Trea-
snry books to which il seemed to have been thought
in some quarters, that the Government might in some
emergency resort We were reminded rather omi-
nousIy by Mr.. Van Buren, in his last annual mes
sage, that the amount of Treasury notes then out
standing " less lay twenty three millions OF dol
lars than the United States hare in deposit Nth The
States" And the then Secretary of the Treasury,
(Mr. Woodbury. went good deal fu ther in the
thn al ,tn .,t
the finances he not only included this sum in his
exhibit of the general balance on the Ireasurers
books, but expressly suggested the expedlency OF re-
calling those deposits IN anticipation OF deficiency
in the Treasury, and a more eligible than
a loan The idea, he said /" that such deficiency
in time of peace ought TO be supplied by Treasury
notes by loan, has never been entertained by the
Undersigned it be countenanced by any sound
principles Their Of finance or political economy. The
inquiry then recurs What other mode would be more
eligible When we possessed an extraordinary sur
plus, it considered prudent by Congress To make
deposits with the States Nth riem TO be returned
in erigency rather than TO invest portion OF II
safely and oductlvely to be realized in such an
e,ent 1t would therefore be considered consistent
with such arrangement To recall in S3i such part
of the surplus may be needed. That course, how
Slice iha former power given to this Department to
recall those deposits has been taken away by Con
gress"
There seemed to be something more than an init
nation here that il the power had not been taken
Aav from the Secretary the Secretary been turned
out of power, those deposits would have been fecaea
in 1912 And perhaps one of the designs of the friends
of the late Administration should they ever succeed
in regaining their lost supremacy was unite recall
of these deposits with the repeal OF Z e Bank, the an
rogaon of the land bill the re-estabshmcnt OF me
Sud-ireasury, and the other measures when they
more openly avowed 1t would certainly be an ap,
propriae element in such system MI W hopeu
tina the party in authority would do whai they
might 10 defeat any such movement by passing pi,
at the next session to remit release and forever qu'
claim to the States all the right title and interest OF
the General Goyernmen NJ in aud to the aforesaid uepo
sits 1t would remove deceptive entry from 'he
Treasury books; II would relieve the States rom
yexaions liability and il would take from thc nalloh