The spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1840-1844, 1841-11-26
ij.-AN ACT, to apporlion Senators in the Stat
LegslnluIe
THE STATES CANANNUL the DlSTRI-
BUTTON ACT.

we insert IN this mornings paper the proceed
lngS Of large Democratic mn"iinn ~ N"h;lo ";oi
contain II pointed and strong dehunciation of III,
Distribution Act, as unconstitutional, impoluic
uneqpGl in operation and corrUpiing in iendenc,
and affirming, that il ought 10 he dnd must be re.
FfaiM True Democratic doctrine every sylIa.
bic of IT, But if the Bill is all This, we ought tt
look upon It's enactment with the utmost alarm
for it Is "coriupiag in lis iend,hcu" and who
knows but tie dug once taken Will poison the
whole system, ulc,ng moral stupor upnn the
peop'c and rendering Us hencciorlh VIVA, The pro.
"clorS Of this scheme intended to make US. the
passive and dcbased victims of gigantic sys,en
of usurpa,Ion founded on bribery The constitu.
ton inyad,d--ihc Federal Government assuming
the right of t0IiDg the State legislatures into il,
pry--,he highest sovereign prercgaive of ,h,
States, that of eyclrsiyeI, controlling their ow,
revenue system inyuded-whpn such n scheme i
put forth in the form Of an act Of Congress is it no
time for the States 10 rouse ihcmsel. es-Io ask g"
we suffer such law to 70 into operation, how
long will there be such thing as State Govern
men,s,"
The idea that South Carolina wonld refuse tc
take her portion Of the plumber Of the United
states Treasury under the Distribution Act, ha,
been made the suhJcc, Of sneer and ridculc hy the
Cha. papers They say that South Carolina To-, @.
money ~ well ne other States, q. q. tha, she car
he Doughty aud that though the Distribution be in
her Judgment usurpa'on on the part Of the Fed
eral Government, a dangerous invasion OF the in.
dependence oG the States, monstrous absurdl,
considered rs a method VI raising revenue, doub.
W dangerous to the exporting States MS step tow.
ards accommodating all the burdens of the General
and local Governments upon commerce in the
lolm Of rnnOus Turl--yct such i the fascination
ct heap of money, that the proud State of South
Carolina would nnhesiialingly stoop her pride,
Danish her srruples, and give her sanction to a
system Of plumber for the sake Of huggng her poor
share of the spoil. Such is the opinion Mr. Clay
has. The people he proposes tc buy up-und il /,
III the Faith that money Is Il temptation superior 10
all moral principle stronger than patriotism than,
love ct liberty, than State pride than vencraon
Tor the constitutional is on the firm belief ,ba,
every man has his price" that he and his friends
bold 1t ridiculous bonhast TO suggest the possihi,i-
~ of any State rejecting her share ofhe proceeds
Of The public lands. Is this just estimate of the
people! Is there in reality nothing better than
money! Is not liberty-is not the preservation OF
the balances Of our system of Government, with
out which liberty cannot exist in our counlry-a
higher aud mDIc powerful consideration, than the
brine held out IN the distribution schem a? We
believe that South Carolina will reject this bride,
and wan remarkable rnnninly There are two
powerful reasons for This course-frst, with the
convictions We entertain Of the character of This
scheme, II would be disgrace(ul to receive the
money. Second-to reject it would he n, once TO
raise The strongest argument for the repeal Of the
measure. and give US the power Of using that mr.
gulfent with the most decisive effect.
Bnt Mr. Clay and his o gans say further, that if
South Carolina should he 30 insane us to prefer
her honor to S,o0, 0C0 per annum, doed out TO her
Iion the Federal Treasury, nobody would cure
she would only he laughed at and her share smil-
iagny porkled BY the rest Of the States But sup
pose the proud people Of Georgia shond hold State
Sovereignty at the same high price and irample on
the bribe--suppose Virginia shonld spurn the bar.
g1in- Alabama -Arkansus-Nli.souri; Illinois
Penns, lvaniaN. Hampshire Maine; how would
the distribution Bill work then,
We have alluded only to those States in which
MI branches of The Government are bv priEcple
10 treat the distribution of money out of the Fed
eral Treasury to the State Legislatures as uncon-
dangerous, corrupiing, and, ns reve-
nue. measure. in the last degree absurd But we
have mighier power over IFS operation than the
in!l rejection Of it by the States above mentioned
7hf Ti1r'hvtior measure nu,t be s7sctiorei ~