Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1844-03-15
TERMS OF TIE RICHMOND PALLADIUM:
Two Doiiars--in advance; and Three Dollars
at the expiration Of the year.
SPEECH OF MR.. STEWART, OF PEyNSYLrlNn,

NPEEIH VI Viz SlLN AMI VI iL'NSlLtl liz
In favor Of western Improvements. Delivered
in the House Of Representatives, u. -, Janu-
ary I6, 1874.
MI, STEWART Of Pennsyvania, said, that al
though ne was not from Western State, yet the
State from which he came was as deeply Intere8-
Ted the Improvement OF the navigation Oh the
Western waters as any State IN the UnIon.-
These great rivers were IN TACT bat extensive
feeders of those great lines OF improve nent, con
Meeting the A tlautic and Western States, una lc
BY Pennsylyania and Mary land, at an expense Il
some fifty millions Of dollars, constituting deot
which now rested with mountain weight " n
Their people. These State works were alike ia
vonal 10 their character md their ben, fits, aud
uugh, TO have been made by national means, md
would have been made, with all the other
proat works Of internal improvement! which had
involved tho States Of this Union III feIeIgn
debt Of 200 millions Of dollars, had that great
"American System" Of policy been continued
which Ind Just been denounced III such emphatic
terms as IAN Imposition-an exploded humong,
by the gentlemen from Missouri, Mr. jameson,
Mn. KENNEDY, of Indiana. and Mr.. FIcKIIN, Of
NIinois,) and over The "erplosion" Of which they
had exuiied in much triumph. True, II had
been exploded, aad the prosperity Of this conn-
ny from its deepest foundations had been involv.
ed 10 tho explosion it had ihrowed back This great
nation a century from the point where 1t would
have now been. had tina. "exposion" not occur
rcd. and had vol, cd the States (and among the
rest the States represented by these gen 'lemept
IN debts md embarrassments from which (it this
denounced system was not speedily res 'ored) they
would not recover for a century to come.
The effect of the Van Buren, system on the In
terror and western states
Mr.. s affirm and could demonstrate, that
by adopting Mr.. Van BIren'5 system, the whole
OF the great Interior and Western States would
DO now, henceforih and forever, excluded from all
participation IN The benefits of tho disbursement
of tho ample revenues Of this GDvernmeni,
mounting 10 somo 20 or 30 millions yenr.--
Without the power Of internal Improvements, Ca
power which Mr. Van Barren expressly dened,)
where, he would ask these gentlemen, is Tho OBJ
jsct? He called on them 10 point their finger TO
a single one in The interior and Western States,
on which any portion OF tho national revenue
could be constIiu:ionaliy expended. Look at the
great heads Of appropriation: Where IS your ma
w and army, for which II millions - this year
required? Where your forts and furtIticattons2-
your lighthouses, buoys, and beacons; your sea
walls, breekwaters and harbors; your custom
houses, foreign intercourse, surveying ana lndi-
al departments? Were any of these IN the int
rlorl None--not one. These were the objects
on which tho revenues Of tho Government had
been expended, poured out Ike water, aud, with
out this power, must continue to be expended,
and forever. The people OF the great Inte-
rior and the West were thus doomed 10 be tax
payers, .hewers of wood and drawers Of wafer
as they had been for the seabe ard. Their money.
ample streams TO the Atlantic; and by denying
this beneicent power, you bio, out The sun which
alone could exhale and carry back IN refreshing
showers, any portion Of these vast contributions
TO the in ,erior sources from which they come
Draw line five miles from the seabonrd, the ex- ,
,erna boundary of the United States, and no be
ieved he would be safe in saying that there had
not been expended, out Of three hundred mIIions.
es much within this circle since the explosion OF
'ihe Wing system by the Maysvllle and Wabash
river veloes, had been expended, hrsi and last,
IN the erection of these buildings for the accom-
mediation of Congress; and even that amount
small as i, was, must (according 10 Mr. Van Bi~ .
REM have been expended IN violation OF the Con
stiiui,on.
How gentlemen, who advocated those appro-
priaiions and represented the interior and Yves
tern States, so deeply interested in the policy OF
improvements could, consistently win
",helr principles" support Mr. Van Buren, who
expressly denied their constltuliona'ity, ho was
nj loss TO Imagine Here Mr.. WENTWORTH
inquired by what authority Mr.. ,. Changed Mr.
Van Buren, with denying this power --hr. >
said on the authority Of his own signature, not
once but repeatedly; and, for the gen,emin's
IN formation, he would read paragraph from Mr.
Van Buren's letter Of The ttn October, 1882, TO
a COMMITTEES at the Shocco springs, North Caroli-
ma, where. in answer to a request for ms opinion
on the subject Of ic ernal Improvements he says:
"rhs broadest and best defined division Is that,
which distinguishes between the dlrsc, construc
ton Of works Of internal improvements by the
General Government, and pecuniAry assistance
given bv II TO such as are undertaken by others"
THE Federal Government" says Mr.. Van BI
rem, "does NOT in my opinion, possess the power
first specifisd; nor can il derive II from the
sent Of the States IN which such works are 10 be
constructed" lie afterwards expressly approved
the veto OF the bill, subscribing stock to the
Maysville road which Of the second class
OF works specified above, and he also approved of
the veto OF the bull for the improv emen, Of the
navigation of the Wabash river; and. upon the
same principles, were he now President, he would
be bound by his oath to veto this very appropri-
alton. Yet, gentlemen advocate this measure
with great zeal and ability, and he fully concur,
red in oil they said IN its favor; but how could
they at tho tims, and IN the same
breath adv oca,e the election Of Mr.. Van Buren, \