Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1842-08-25

the passage OF the bill. 81 most respect.
fully submit (says the messoge) whe.he,
i ibls is a Time TO gre cfray The proceeds Of
the land sales, when the public lands con.
stltuie iund which OF oil Others may no
made most useful in sustaining the public
lcredit." And how could il be made Tins
useful Precisely by giving them arog
By giving them away forever For e
the principle be once established tina, tho
proceeds of the sales of the public lands
shall be substituted in the place Of rev,
nue. by taxation to delray the ordinary
annual expenses OF the National Gove,n-
men., never more will the people of nnv
State in this Union have the benefit If
one dollar from this richest OF mines If
ineahaustible wealth, bestowed upon them
| by their bountiiul Creator or the IN.
provemen, Of their own condiiian. Blu,
giren aray--yes, to the last cent girea a.
| lcag, forever, TO pamper the reckless ex.
4 travagance of Government forever
preaching retrencbment and economy,
and forever heapiug million upon million
of annual expenditures 'to sucklc armies
and dry nurse the land"
The committee submit to the House
their unhr stating opinion that The appro.
priatlon Of any part Of the proceeds ofthe
sales Of the public lands to the ordinary
annual expenditures would be the only
eiiectual and irretricvable giriag aroy Of
that great and inestimable inheritance of
the American People. That, if once that
growing aud inexhaustible fund shall be
doomed to form the whole or any part Of
the rags and means for the annual esti-
mates Of the receipts and expenditures Of
the National Government, the People may
bid farewell, q long farewell, TO every
hope Of ever receiving dollars useful
Improvement from that gift Of God to
them, thus cruelty and pefhdlously wFess.
ed from their hands.
Nineteen of the States of this Union, in
the ardent. perhaps, in some cases, iscon.
sderably ardent, pursuit Of this improve
ment of this own condition, have become
involved, some Of them heavily involved,
in debt. The greatest portion OF this
debts has been contracted for the accom-
plishment of stupendous works TO expedite
and facilitate the intercourse OF travel
and OF trade between the remotest ex-
tremes of this great Republic, swarming
from year to year, with rebuilding mil
lions of population. 1t is no exaggerated
estimate Of the value of these works to
say, that the saving Of time, Of labor and
of expense to individual citizens of the
Uniol, enjoying the benefit Of these pub
lie works, more than repays, in every sim
gle year, the whole cost Of their construc.
ton.
But, while these immense benefits have
community of individuals, the States
which have authorized them have con
tracted burden Of liabilities heavier than
they are able TO bear. They need tho
assistance Of friendly and powerful
hand, and where should they find it bu, in
the sympathes Of the National Govern
ment 7 in their fidelity 10 the trust COM
mitted TO their charge in this immense
and almost boundess public domain -
The application Of the proceeds of the
public lands to alleviate the burden Of
these debts pressing upon the people Of
almost all the States, is, il not the only,
the most unexceptiCnable mode Of extend
ing the mighty arm of the Union TO re.
| leve the People of the States from the
pressure of the burden bearing upon them
"a relief consisting only of The dlstribu-
ton among them Of their own property
a relief furnishing them the means Of pay.
ing to The United States themselves no in
considerable portion Of the debts due from
the States TO them; SO that by one and
the same operation the People of the
States will be relieved from the ntolers.
bic pressure Of their debt, and the CON-
mon Treasury of the Union will receive
back in payment Of debt no small part OF
the same sums allotted to the States as
their respective portions of the distrbu-
zion.
The committee regret that the short.
ness OF the time which they have allowed
themselves for The preparation of this re-
port constrains them to pass over numer-
Gus other considerations amounting to the
clearest demonstration that the distrbu-
ton among the States OF the proceeds OF
the sales Of the public lands will be infin-
itely more conducive to the ends Of JUS
tice and to the relief of the people from
their embarrassments, than the devotion
of the same funds to be swallowed up IN
the insatiate gulph of the ordinary annual
expenses OF the Federal Government-to
perish in the using like the nine millions,
OF the fourth instalment promised TO the
States, the seven or eight millions ofstoek
IN the Bank Of the United States, and the
five or six millions Of The Indian trust and
the Navy pension funds, all sunk, during
The Van Buren, ADMINISTRATION, without
leaving a wreck behind.
This review OF the reasons Of the Pre-
s'dent for ohiecting 10 the passage of the
bill, might be extended far more into de-
tail, and all leading to the conclusion tina,
they are feeble, Inconsistent, and unsatls'
factory. II remains only for the House
to take, by yeas and nays, the question
upon the final passage OF the bill, and as
the majority of the committee cannot in
dulge, even alphabetically, The absurd
hope OF majority either IN this or the
other House Of Congress competent to the
L.. H..