Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1843-05-20
MR. %EVERETT'S REPLY.

Nit WE'RE - hBfL
" lr. ScholGsld and gentleinan--In toii-
pllance with the requeat contained in the the
fnorial whlfh you have new presented 10 inc
| will avail myself Of the fist opportunity Of
transmitting it Ia the President Of the United
States. To avoid thiscsncbpiiou il il proper
than | sl,slld observe, that inaslnuGh as the
general government Is not Il party to the con.
tracts Of The scpsrata f5tatss the stbject Of IT a
memorial dsss not fall directly within The
Presidents province, and that | am myself
acting unofirislly in forwarding it to hin, !
do 1t, however. v ith chserfnlnsss, out Of r..
spect to tie memJers of this distinguished de-
p%utatIor,. Nor am / lees under tho influence
Of the deepest sympathy with that numerous
class whom you represent, who have suffered
severely, some Of them | fear fuInously, from
the failure, Temporarily, | trustJ, Of a portion
Of the American States 10 pay the interest Of
their public Debt. These feelings | am sure;
will be shared by the President
! concur will, you in protesting against the
doctrine that Il State which has pledged -
faith and RESOURCES, can release itsalf from
the obllgal ION, however burdenssa,s, IN any
way but that Of honorable payment Fatal
dslnsions, in times Of great distress, OCCASION
ally come over the minds of communities as
we'll as individuals but | rejoice in the b.
lief that the number is exceedingly small Of
those who have in any form, advanced the Idsa
Of " hat has been eall~d repndihtioU' aa
convinced thai those States, which bnhapptjy
have failed 10 'maks provision for the interest
due en- their bond, have done go under the
heavy pressure Of adverse circumstances, and
not with The purpose of giving a Legislative
sanction TO q doctrine so pernicious, unworthy
and immoral.
The menorlalista are pleased 10 give me
credit for sympathy with their auficrings.
There Is, perhaps, no person, not himself
directly Il sufferer, who has had 80 much rea-
son rs myself to feel deeply all tho evil ef-
fects,-- the eacrihcc not merely OF maierial
prosperity but what is Of infinitely greater
consequence, Of public ffonor,-resplfing from
this disastrous failure. The reproaeh, which
II has brought on the American name, has
been tho only circumstance, which has pre-
vented n residence in The land Of my fathers
from being a source Of unnIHgled satisfaction
to me. You may we'll believes therefore, that
# any opinion Of mine can have an Influence
(aa you suppose) over any portion of my
countrymen, favorable 10 the great end you
have in view, it will be-, on all proper occa-
siony AZ It has been, most ernphatlcaly CT
pressed.
The position, gentlemen, Of some at least
Of the indebted states is as singular as il IS
deplorabse. Thsy have involved themselves
most unadyisably in engagements which
would be onsreus to much larger and richer
communities and yet they possesa, under an
almost hopeless present embarrassment, The
undonbfed meana Of eventual recovery. |
willtake the State Of Illinois for instance, and
what | say Of that State will hold Of others,
making allowance for difference OF local cir
cumstances. The State OF Illinois under
took a few years since the construction of A
ship canal Of about 100 miles in lengtb,to unite
the waters Of Lake Michigan with those of the
Illinois river ; and more recently projected
and commenced the execution of 1900 miles
of railway. On these works she has borrow
ed and expended above 100000 Of pounds.
The works are incomplete and unproductlyc.
The population Of the State is that Of second
sized English county, short of half a million
It is what in good times would be considered
an eminent!y prosperous population but am
inclined to think that if the English income
tax Of last year were, by the Legislature Of
Illinois, laid on that State, more than half the
population possessing in the aggregate
that proportifn of the taxable property, would,
in the present period Of general distress fsli
below the point Of exemption and that OF the
other half a small number only would rise
much above that point. And yet the unIe-
veIoped resources Of Illinois are almost bound
less. The State is larger than England and
Wales. Blythe Mississippi it is connected
with the Gulf Of Mexico, by Lake Michigan
with the St. Lawrence and it has a most
extensive internal navigation, by means OF
several noble rivers. The climate Of the
State is mild it contains, | suppose, a large
body of land, not merely euluyateable, but
highly fertile, as can be found lying together
in the Uuited States !; it abounds III various
kinds of mineral wealth ; it is situated about
in the centre ola horizontal field of bitumin-
Gus coal, which Mr.. Lyell pronounced the
other day to be as large as Great Britain !;
and it is inhabited by an industrious, frugal,
intelligent people, most rapidly increasing in
numbers.-I'hat such a people will for any
length of time submit to lie under the
reproach and bear the loss incident to a total
prostration Of the public credit | can never
believe.
II say, gentlemen, the loss a. well as the
The reproach, for wide spread and severe as
has been the suffering in this country, caused
by the default of some of the States, our "
losses, public and private, / believe to have
been greater. The States themselves, as 60
yernmsnts, have experienced the the greatest
embarrassraents from the sudden destruction
of credit (extending alike to those states
which have and those which have not honora-
bly, and promptly met their obligations j that
| credit On which alone, in some instances, they
| derended for the resources necessary 10 CON-
p,ete and render productive their public works.
The general government of the United States
; after having paid off a public debt Of more