The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 184?-1851, 1844-10-16
Cadiz, October I6, IsI4.
Speech of oEEs.. u
OF NEW YORK.

W.T.. ma lI1DCIN Sdlu:
Mr.. CHAIRMAN: | had hoped that the atten-
ton of this body might have been confined to
the business of this country, and that this House
would not be converted into a political arena.
The people of the country, so far as | know, de-
sired if. For a few years past. it has been the
practice of the opposite party, to convert this
hall into a political camp, and to fight here, at
the expense of the people, and TO the injury OF
the public interests, the battle for political pow
CT. This practice was revived early in this scs-
sion, by an old and experienced campaigner
from Pennsylvania, Mr.. STEWART. He SEEM
ed ambitious to initiate, if not o excel, his illus
trious predecessor, [Mr. OGLE. Nature has be-
slowed upon him a prolific lmagination-from
which he draws a boundless supply of facts and
figures suited TO any emergency, ready coined
for every occasion. He delivered to the House
a funeral Grafton over the dead carcass of the
"American system;" charged Mr.. Van Buren,
with its destruction; arraigned him before the
House for destroying the tariff, which he claim
ed was producing Il surplus revenue of $l9,O00,-
600 annually, and which, at this time, he says,
would have produced a ''surplus of S25O,000,-
600; and which, under the American system, Or
This Clay SYSTEM" ought to have been disbursed
in internal Improvements, in the construction of
roads and canals in the several States. This A.
merican system, or Clay system, the gentleman
says, "was in part a high tariff" a tariff which
drew from the pockets of the people-from the
labor of lie country. sufficient to derrav the ex-
pcnses of the government. and leave a surplus
Iof ~$lS,OOO,OO0 annually. 10 he souandercd in
national internal improvements. Mr., Van Buren,
destroyed This tariff. he AYERS. But. sir. where is
his proof? Where and how did he destroy itq
This charge is one Of the gentleman's facts II
is the principal count in This Indictment, M
proof is ofcred-nope can be found TO sustain it,
The hioh tariff of s . and 1879 was DESTROYED
in 1888 by a tariff act, known as the ~"compro-
mise act.n Was Mr., Van Buren the author Of
that bill? No sir, that law derived IT'S narentaoe
from another source. It has been claimed TO be
the brightest gem in the diadem of the royal die
tator Of the gentleman's party. This act, for
which Henry CLAY is almost deifed by his FOL
lowers-for which he is eulogised as the cmbodi-
ment of whig PRINCIPLES, is charged bv the mem
Der from PENNSYLVANIA, upon Mr.. Van Buren,, as
q high crime.
The next grand effort here. in the same vein,
came from the Hon. member from Buncombc.
North Carolina, [Mr. CLlNGMAN.l He has emit
tied his speech the "Principles Of the Wing and
Democratic p~arties.n He has dealt yerv unkind-
ly by his friend from PENNSYLVANIA. He charges
MIR. Van Blren with supporting the high "tarjfs
of 1924 and l828-,he highest tariffs which Gv-
er existed in this country, and which, because of
their excess, was condemned by Messrs CLAY
and Webster.' These gentlemen contradict
each other directly. They are both whigs-of
course, Goth honorable men; both correct-be-
cause wings can never be mistaken. 1t is TO be
hoped that this unpleasant difficulty may be ami
cably adjusted without bioodshed. The country.
and particularly the party, which is the country,
cannot afford to lose either of its champions.
The member from Buncombe enlightened the
House with a specimen of whig arithmetic. He
says, "the administration of Mr.. Van Buren, left
the government liable for the sum of 1898 ,065,-
I37S, and all means provided TO pay it amounted
to but Sl3,SG2. 255, leaving S24, 2O3, 1898" the
debl of his administration. Now. the truth is,
that if the wing administration had not convened
Congress in extra session. and had made no new
and necessary appropriations, but carried on the
government economically, at the end of the year
1871 there would have been only So, 64,452-
lbs of debt. The actual debt of the adminlstra-
ton of Mr.. Van Buren,, existing when he retired
from Office, was only 5,095, 55S 40. Take
from this sum the real deficit at the end of lS4I,
if the extra session had not been called, and it
leaves charged upon these economical wings to
pay only S2,S34,IO6 IL. Yet, with all these
facts before nim, the gentleman, in his Buncom.
be speech, and with his Bancombe arithmetic,
has figured it up to the round sum OF S24,2O3,-
500. Sir, it is an old saying, that figures won't
lie. This, of course, does not apply to nisfgu-
ring in the hands of a politician, who speaks
from Buncombe, or for Buncombe. 1t would