Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1842-03-31
NUMBER 5.


introduced, and, rs il will fall in better
with what have 10 say, consider the
third objection first.
Admitting that the public lands are the
!" common property Of oil the States, and
the proceeds of the sales thereof TO be
lawfully dis'rbuiable amongst them, II IS
insisted that the distribution will have
corrupting tendency, and will be there
fore injurious. Whom will il corrupt T.
How will /, corrupt Are they who are
to be corrupted, the agents who make the
sales and collect the proceeds II that
is the apprehension, still the evil must be
endured, whether the money be retained
for the use Of the Federal Government,
or paid over TO the States. Are they to
be corrupted who make the transfer mere
Ily. This will scarcely be maintained.
Who, then, can be intended Are they
the representatives Of the people oil the
States, or the people themselves Bring
the objection home to ourselves. Who
will stand upon this floor and proclaim
that the reception of this fund into the
public Treasury will corrupt the Legs-
Ia,ure1 Are the chosen representatives.
Of The good people of Virginia deemed
thus lightly OF How can II corrupt =
| Il is not the reception that viii have this
effect. 1t is the administration OF II 7
And why viii not the administration oil
| fund derived from any other source DO
attended with the same cvil2 il rs pub
lie fund, to be paid into the public Trea-
suty, and to be devoted 10 public uses.---
Are they, tho people themselves, who are
TO be corrupted Can the appropriation
Of 100000. by net of legislation, have
such effect : Appropriate it TO works Of
Internal improvements, and will il cor.
rupt7 Clear the Instructions out of tho
mighty James River. and extend its con-
nexion with the great kanawha, and ask
the people who inhabi, the vast region
washed by those waters, whose rich soils
| lie uncultivated, whose wooded hills are
still traced by the fierce tenants Of the
forests, and let them answerl Construct
the Southwestern Turnpike, stretching
! from the borders of Tennessee along that
| almost trackless waste, embracing our
Southwestern counties, --develope the vast
| resources of that region furnish ave.
nues TO Market and ask the question Of
the people who dwell there
Appropriate it to the purposes Of Edu.
cation, and will il corrupt Endow your
Colleges, multiply your schools, dspe that
moral and mental darkness from our land
which ignorance entails, and ask the res
cued. Appropriate it towards the pay.
ment Of the public debt,--to tighten the
burden of taxation-and ask the people
whether it will corrupt? Away, then,
with the objection it is not less insulting
to tho character of the people than it is TO
their understanding.
But it is said the possession Of so much
money will lead to extravaganza, TO rash
schemes of Internal Improvement. ! beg
gentlemen to allsy their fears by their
wounds, who make this objection the
cause Of Internal Improvement in Virginia
lies dead and if aught occurs 10 move
their apprehensions, it is the unreal crea-
ton of their own fancies--or, If disturbed
ut its unholy murder, the spirit of the
mighty dead wanders upon the earth's sur
face, still let gentlemen assure themselves
il is an unreal thing,-a shadow form--a
ghost, which, like Hamlet's, is an honest
ghost. But if, perchance, there should
be discovered, in this measure Of distribu-
ton, nostrum which will restore the
dead to life, and re-animate the liieless
corpse, shall we Tor that reason reject il
Will the Improvement Of our means Of in.
ternai intercourse corrupt US 7 Will the
development of our vast, hidden and un-
explored resources impoverish US! Asa
the people Of the West-hsk the repre-
sentatves Of tho Wes,-ask yourselves 7
But, il is said. extravaganza will ensue
when those expcnd who do not contribute
what is spent. grant If we could draw
supplies from sources not affecting our
selves-if others had 10 provide what We
might choose to expend the temptation to
extravaganza might be irresistible. But
why is il that we are restrained al presenU
Because, we are told, that we have out Of
our own means to provide whatever we
expend. If we indulge exiravagantly, our
| own pockets pay the COSTS; additional
taxes follow as the consequence. But
how is i, IN respect to the proceeds OF the
sales Of the public lands 7 II they are
Withdrawn from the Federal Government,
is not its yearly income lessened TO that
extent1 And is not the necessity thereby
created for additional taxation And do
not the people Of The States bear the bur-
then? What becomes OF the objection
against distribution so loudly made both
bv the gentleman from Louisa, and the
gentleman from Accomac, Mr.. Bayly,)
founded on the supposed burihensome op.
GRAFTON of the Tariff When il was ne.
cessnry to make the tariff odious, no form
of taxation was so oppressive direct tax.
es, excuses. and all the resorts Of crown
ed heads and despotc governments were
cheap and mild in comparison with the
system Of duties upon imports, but when
il served a turn TO make distribution UNI
popular, il is all at once form OF taxation
so mild in its operation that the tax is
drawn from the people without their
knowledge Of it. pray that gentlemen
will be consistent, and if the system OF
revenues derived from imports be obnox-
ious TO the objections urged against It, let
the cause of distribution have the benehs
oft.
But the Treasury Of the United States
is empty. and II is said to be an absurd n