Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1840-1842, 1841-02-03
Mr.. Cay on The suajee. Of he Public Land,

+'a''onai lntellgencer OF Monday furnishe.
a condensed outline of Mr.. Claws great nroum.n,
N favour OF distribution Of the Public Lands I,
appears 10 us to meet and scatter all the obiee,;op
upon constitutional or other grounds. which bsv.
Oeeh brought against distribution, and we ,,e e,.-
tihed TO VI derstand that no antagonist svs,sr %
DC carried through the present Congress. II would
indeed, 6e the extremity of indeicoev and ;mn,o'
Prle'y, II an Administration just going out and II,
u'Jorites In the two Houses ascertaned and known
NOT 10 represent majority Of the States and the
eopie' were TO avail themselves of the last hours
VI 'her power TO NIX an odious measure upon the
country. II would be another midnight iudc.s
case IL may safely be assumed, that nothing per-
manent will be done with the Public Lands AZ mi,
session OF Congress 1t is equally certain, tina, nj
the next session, when Wing maiorities wi eome
into play in both Houses, the plan of dis,r;b,,;on
Will be adopted. The debates now in proo,ss.
may be valuable for enightenins the publir mind
ou' they Will lead to no present results.
From The -NaiiOnai Iateiligenetr Of .gondav.
DEBATE ON THE LAND QUESTION
AS II Will be some days before the Speech Of Sem
a'or Clay OF KY, on the Land question will bs
reached in the due course OF publication of the De.
bate upon that subject, our readers will. we d,r.
say considering MIR CIays particular relation 10 Ibis
question, be obliged to for n brief sketch Of M.
course OF his remarks upon some Of the chief ton;c
which he brought into review.
Amongst other points in his speech, the rolowins
were successfully touched upon:
Mr Clay quoted all apprehensions of an appliea
'ion oil the principle of distribution of the land fund
70 the imposition Of taxes for the purpose of snbe
que;. division among the States. The tax mower
and the land power the sreued) stand on totally
different ground. Congress is invested with poser
10 lay and collect taxes duties, imposts, and e1.
clses' 70 pay the debts and provide for the common
defence and general welfare Of the United States
The purposes Of the revenue thus derived nre an.
cihcaly defined; and distribution is not anon, N.
Speeihed purposes. Congress, therefore. eanno,
eonsttutionaily impose taxes for distribution. A.
TO the praise "geueral welfare" MIR @. said il WA,
now perfectly settled that that conveyed 10 povre,
but simply designated the object orthe revenue. II
was Otherwise with the land power. Congress wa.
empowered TO dispose Of" the territory or othe.
property ofthe United States. The grant was un
qualihed, and without restriction.
There was one view which MIR. c. presented
and dwet upon with powerful effect Power. in
this country, he said, was divided between tho
State Governments and the General Governmon,
This complex machinery acted uron the same peo.
pie. in administering il, each Of these ,wo ,e.D,,
Of the people, within its sphere should so e.s,c.s
It's trust as 10 do the most good and the l.as,
TO The People. Now, the States had no no,ver -.
lay any impost or duties But revenus vvas ...;,,,
collected IN that form Of assessment. No Stat.
can tax Injuries; the General Goyernmeo, a.,
pusht we not, then, 10 pay the debt (Cor Mr.. e.
argued and, we think, proved that, under the terms
Of the deeds Of eession. il was a debu wbieh 10.
Owe TO the States for their dislributiys share NJ H.
public lands7 If we Withhold il. what IL ~. go
sequenee7 Take the case, for eSsmpl.. or IlI;noi,
Her annual portion would be about sIoI 600. n
We pay That to her. will relieve the people Of that
state from slOl 600 Of direct taxaton-ebi.av
land taz-the most burdensome ofall taxes oueb,
not The General Government, then, to assign 10 n.
States ,he lend fund, and resort 10 that povs, which
i has, and which the States have not, TO suppv the
wants Of the Treasury from foreign fuIuri,s1
Mr. Clay denied that there ever existed any pur.
pose Of assuming State debts. IL could No, T..
done. The inequality Of the amount Of those
debs, and the total freedom Of many Of the States
from oil debt, rendered such proposition wholly
untsnnble. lie conceived ihnt the psvmsn, NJ /,
debt which we owed Them, was widely different
from IN assumption other debts.
lie condemned in stron terms the n,gafir, pron.
oson introduced at the last session against the az
sumption. TWAS gratuitous, wanton, end unn.c
s''ary' u had injured beyond all doubt the cred.
Ho' the States at moment when several Of them
were struggling under untHampled difficulties
brought upon them in the laudable iFort 10 mprovo
their respective territories.
Mr.. CLAY showed how disadvan,aeeouslv 20.
now carry on trade with France. Our impor,,
according TO the last commercial return, exceeded
our exports Of native produce TO France sl,ou, -.
yenieen nillionsl We import lurures. vb;i., al,
export ofgreatsg value s a raw material. W. r,
eeiVe her lurunes free, and sbo lsyies dotv a
twenty francs 10 the hundred kilogramm,. an ',o,,
eottopj that iS, nearly two cents Der pound a, A.,
present price ofeoltooi
Mr. q. said he Wns friendly To trad. with F,.rc..
was athi' instance that determination had b,en
introduced in favor Of the silks Of Franc. sg.io.,
those Of China. Bot he wished 70 see the trade on
some footing Of more reciprocity.
In passing, Mr. CLlE paid high eomplipen. 10
Lou" PHILIPPE. lie had seen with regret an in.
umaon Of doubt e TO the validity Of MS title 10 the
'hrone Of France, by venerable and distinguished
eoun'rymsn Of ours. Aa,r the Revolution ofissO,
I'm which our immortal ,ispd L.VATsrrE bore
'saeh an eminent Pan| by'whleh LOWS PHrLIprs