Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1841-02-20

still some prospect mat the MINI dt lam
be employed In one thing however, cannot De ms
,Len md that is that if gold has been found very NJ
lie Of it has been brought to the mint to be Gomez,
~ The last few years. have no right TO dount tne
statement OF the gentleman, and | should reJolee u
rold would descend in showers from above upon ueo
9i, as it formerly did upon Dana 1t makes no o'et.
ance however for my present purpose, whether th's
h necessary or not. 1t is certain, at least that
~. Va, Burcn was not even President when 1t was es-
,ahi;sbed nor is his Administration responsible for
.t.t onnears TO me to be the useless expense whch
has been thus incurred
If this were the proper OCCASION, ni'sh' "uu GNU
.nv arguments to prove that no more Than one MINT
onbt 10 cr;st in this country although acknowledge
III, srony reasons nav be urged in favor Of ofanch
=, Nsw Orleans. Whatever gold may be founa IN Inc
vicinity of Dahonega and Charlotte might oe :,
of as profably to the finders as u 'hey GU ~
these minis for coinage The other senator i,o NIL
tuckv mir. Claw will bear witness that s'ena'y
followed the lead of himself and my friend Governor
Hill of New Hampshire, from first TO last IN oPPosi'o"
10 the establishment of these branch mn's. =
have thus gone over the four specifications Oh ny
friend from Kentucky, and happy indeed am 70 llu
that these the only SPECIFIC charges Of
which have been made against the present Admins
,ration This very fact is IN itself, their most triumph
ant vindication Indeed, am almost sorry, for lhe
sake of the gentleman, that lie could not nave DISCO,
vered some charges little more plausible man any y
these, on which he might have rested an argument
If Congress- then, have determined that tle eN-
oencies Of the country absolutely demanded the e2-
nend;tnre Of one hundred and thirty millions WITHIN
the last four years and if the Senator and ms irienus
have concured in this necessity, and have unitea WIN
in making appropriations 10 that amount WIN "na
Justice can they now blame the President LOT lis eA
pendilure' 1t cannot be pretended either that ne
created this necessity for a large expenditure, or mat
he souandercd the public money in accomplishing any
of The objects designated by Congress Away, then'
with such charges Of cxravagance II any deot ms
been created in consequence Of these large e1penu
lures directed b. Congress, whose fault ut Ger
tainly no; his He bad no control over the matter
undertake to predict, that should the Secretary OF
the Treasury prove be correct all other respects
as he is in his estimate Of to be derived from
customs during the present year. we SHALL al the emu
of it, be entirely clear of debt J have no doubt but
that the revenue from this w al the very least
amount TO from eighteen 10 twenty million Of dollars
Should this be the case, then the Secretary o! opinion
that the revenue OF the country during the year, Will
be sufficient meet its expenditures, provided Con-
nress shall not exceed his estimates their appropria
tons and WILL in addition, discharge the amount OF the
outstanding Treasury notes. Bot are willing. ne
vcrtheless, 10 provide five millions more to meet any
unforeseen contingencies which may arse at tho com
mencement Of a new Administration
| have now answered the remarks OF tie Senator
from Kentucky. The facts which have stated IN re-
gard 10 his four specifications OF extravaganza have
Of course been communicated TO me by the proper
ledge but have doubt they are all substantially
correct.
Mr.. CRITTENDEN replied at some length to MIR.
Buchanan.
Mr. BUCHANAN again rose in reply to Mr.. Critten.
Srn and said he had considered tins proud day tor Tie
retiring Administration. IL presented moral spccta-
Gle on which the world might gaze with wonder. In
an expenditure OF hundred and thirty millions OF
dollars during the period Of four years the Senator
from Kentucky had only been able TO enumerate four
items Of cxtayagance and each one OF these had been
fully explained Had The world ever hclied nation
in which such spectacle could be presented: Look
over the Kingdoms Of Europe; lock over the vast con-
tinent If America examine the abuses under every
other form of Government and where, except IN tins
Republic Of ours, you find such an example. One
hundred and thirty millions had been expended and
the only complaints Of extravaganza were, that three
hundred troops from Missouri had been employed III the
Florida war; that five hundred thousand dollars worth
of provisions had been collected TO snbss army IN
the Cherokee country, all Of which vas fortunately not
required for that purpose that two hundred Florida MI
lilia had been called into service or kind OF duty
which did meet the appreciation Of the Senator; and
that three branch minis had leen unnecessarily es-
two years before the present Administration
came into power, And this was the sum total-thesc
were the entire chargcs-whlch the honorable Scna-
tor could urge against the Administration. This was,
then the only foundation for the statements winch
had been made in every portion OF the country swell
inc the extravaganza Of this Administration TO nun
dreds of millions The vindcation of the old Admit
nis.ration now triumphant against the charges
which had every where been urged and reiterated by
the friends of the Administration. lie and his
friend from Missouri (Alr Bcntonl had challenged
the gentlemen Of the Opposition in May last, t. point
out the items Of that extravagance Of winch they
complained in the aggregate THIS challenge had
not then been accepted They remained silent. The
Senator from Kentucky, had now come forth with
his specifications and what their character; They
tl,a. fIp m n0
publican Administration had been admirable. Indeed,
no Administration in this country could sGnanter the
peoples money without detection, because the people
always keep yigiant eye over their public servants
Republican Administration would not il il could,
as il could not il It would, be guilty of extravaganza.
Their high principles would condemn and forbid
the act There possibility, under the Cons,l;u-
ton of our Republic, that any Administration could
be guilty Of expendng money on useless and extrava-
giant objects, without the previous authority OF Con-
press And here he about 10 say, that the ho-
norabe Senator had treated portion of his argu-
mcnt unfairly; but he would not apply such term,
he had ne YER met with unarness from that The
Senator had stated that he (Alr. b. had maintained
that the President could not he held responsible for the
extravaganza of officers acting under hrs authority
Heaven forbid that he (Nlr 3D. should ever have
terained such an idea. Far, very far from it, The
Presidents task was an arduous one. Whist i was
the most honorable il was also tic most responsible
station earth He had The selection Of his own
agents, ana lnclr improper dcts must di"iys atdch
odium TO him. If his station were high, responsibility
was and ought to be great.
Now, Tor what had he (Mr. b. commended lie had
taken up triumphant report of the Secretary OF the
Treasury report which could not be mct--and had
presented from it the expenditures Of the Admnstra
ton under their appropriate heads, and demanded
whether any man could complain Of them as furnish
inr evidence Of Executive extravaganza. What was
the nature Of Executive estimates: Did the Executive
ever send estimates Of expenditures to Congress which
were not demanded by prc-ex sung laws: 1t was his
duty 90 through the statute book and furnish est
mates OF the amount required TO execute existing acts
of Congress and whilst he confined himself TO the
performance Of his duty, he was under no response
by whatever. Congress, and not the President,
were then responsible. That was the point. The
President stood upon the laws Of the land, and had con-
fined his estimates strictly to what they enoIncd lie
could not repeal any law. On the contrary, he was
bound TO carry every law into execution.
There was, he had expressly admitted class Of cases
in which President ought TO be held responsible for
extravaganza: and this when he recommended un-
wise aud unnecessary objects ofcxPense 10 Congress.