Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1843-02-14

10 De returned! w men are we 10 gel any
revenue from The citizens Of ours who go
to that distant territorv--3, 800 miles from
the seat of government, as have it from
the Senator from Missouri What return
are they going to make us for protecting
them with military posts, at an expense at
the outset OF $500, OO0,and swelling hereaf-
ter God knows how much-probably equal
ling the annual expenses of the Florida
war. What will they return us for this :.
enormous expense, after we have tempted
them, by a bill, TO leave their pursuits Of
honest industry, to go upon this wild and
gambling adventure, in which their blood
is TO be staked!
Sir. does any man suppose that. in the
next twenty years, we shall derive cent
Of revenues! put it TO the Senate. Is there
man here who supposes that the wealth or
power Of the UnitedStates will be increased
to the amount Of one solitary cent by all
the colonists that may be prevailed upon
to go there! No sir, not a cent. Well
now, make moderate estimate; what do
you think it will cost, on the scale on which
you set out, during the next twenty years. =
Why, if you get off with ten millions Of
dollars, it will be about what any reasona-
bic man would consider fair eslimate.--
The country is inhabited by fierce and
warlke savages. 1t is a country abound
ing with recesses to which they can retreat
and which they will be inaccessible; and #
we ever get 10 war with them, and we
know by experience that the most certain
way TO get to war is to go among them we
shall fird another Florida; and every per-
son knows how much the expenses of that
unfortunate war had exceeded the anticipa-
tons Of those who foreboded the worst
Sir; the interests of the people Of the Uni
ted States, throwing out OF view the ardent
and unparOtic desire Of adventurers, and
consulting the solid interests of the agr-
cultural and manufacturing interests of the
country, | venture to say that, for the next
twenty years, there IS not Il congressional
district in this Union, costing the govern.
me 1T nothing, but on the contrary, contrl-
buting 10 its support, which will not he
more valuable to the United States than
the whole Of this territory. 1t never can
be Of any value for agricultural purposes.
All the accounts have read, concur.
without any dissenting voice, in stating
that the fur-tradc is in rapid progress of
deterioration The animals which yield
fur arc disappearing; and the time is rot
remote when even the British fur compa-
ny will abandon the country, if you leave
them alone. So you have prospect, by
the mere lapse Of timely the mere pro-
gress of events--by the determination OF
animals--of having the territory droppcd
into our possession. But if the British had
no claim to this territory, and there were
nothing which impeled US 10 go with our
military establishments and agricultural set
dement's, | would not consent-if there
wa. an embankment Of even five feet TO be
removed, | would not consent TO expend
five dollars 10 remove that embankmcnt TO
enable our population to go there. do
not wish to tempt the people to form sci
Elements there. | wish this to be a great
empire, grown up by the natural course OF
civilization, and the natural extension OF
population. thank God for his mercy in
placing the Rocky mountains there. be-
lieve, if it had not been for those noun
tans. we would have been already in the
Pacific. You cannot civilize men, if they
have an indefinite extent Of territory over
which to spread their numbers; for so
long as they spread their numbers, instead
Of becoming civilized, they become semi
savage. All agree that civilization can
best be effected when the country is hedged
in by narrow boundaries.
Why, Mr.. President, if there is any one
lesson calculated by history, beyond the
possibility Of doubt, it is that all nations Of
the world, which have within the last one
or two centuries sent out distant colonies,
have found them to be two or three times
more expensive than profitable. There is
nothing which can justify such an enter
prize, but the existence Of supernatural
ant and starving population. ln our case,
there is no such necessity. Are we pent
up within narrow limits?--are we starving
for air?--arc we starving for want Of sub
sistancc? Why sir, we are very much
distressed, TO be sure; but il is from pletho-
ra, not from consumption. We are now
in a condition in which a Senator from
Kentucky, in discussing the tarif'bill, told
us we were, and that is, in a most deplora-
Bile condition. The barns were full, were
breaking down with the weight Of grain;
the country was overburdened with su-
perabundance of all the means Of human
substance. This is the case row. In
the history Of the United States, a period
was never known Of such an abundance of
every thing necessary to support human
lite; corn selling from ten TO twenty-five
cents per bushel, wheat at forty cents, and
every other article Of consumption in pro-
portion. And with country like this,
and with a soil as productive as the val
legs of Egypt, and SO extensive that they
cannot people it for a century TO come,
with such soil, and such means for re-
warding the honest agricultural laborer,
shall we, at an enormous expense, derived
from taxes upon the Iabors OF the indusir-
Gus, indulge the whims and caprices of the