The Arkansas banner., 1844-01-30
- -------------
 COM M UNICATION3 2.
For Me .4rhansds Banner. MR. CLAY AND PREPARATION.

talented men of that party, address the Con- vention. l was not little surprised to hear them declare, with great boidness, that Hen- ID Clay, of Kentucky, had always been the peculiar friend of the western people The idea intended to be conveyed was, that he had upon all occasions, exerted himself, to the utmost of his abilities, to protect the set tiers on the public lands, in the rights to which their energy and enterprise entitled them. The true history of the times proves the contrary of this. lpresume twill not be uninteresting to those who honestly believe MT. Clay to have been the consistent and un- wavering friend of the settlers upon the pub- lie lands, as well as the whole people of Ar kansas, to know his true position. pro- pose, therefore, to furnish few articles, up- on this subject, for the columns of your pa- per.
 In the report of the debate on the Pre-emp- ton Bill, January 26th, 1898. as published, MR CLAY is reported to have said, s.What right had these pre-emptioners to the public lands By what power did they seize upon, and ROB the United States of their posses sionse .as aeeli migM hey seize upon Me dollars in the public Teasury, or the forts and arsenals, as upon the public lands ?o- These are strong expressions, particularly so, when presented in the form of a charge against almost the entire population of the State of Arkansas. l conceive that there Is an issue between Mr. Clay and the people of this State HE charges that THEY are a < BAWLESS RABBLE;" and hey pronounce it .false and slanderous, by casting their votes against him and his policy, upon all occasions. The language thus used by Mir. Clay, in relation to so large and respectable a portion of the American people, is unbecoming an Ameri- can statesman; and for fear some one may be sceptcal as to the truth of the charge here prefer against him, subjon the evidence of several Senators in Congress, who were present. and heard him make the unjust and offensive remarks; and who wrote the words down as they were spoken.
 Mr. c. c. CLAY, of Alabama, ill his re- ply to MR. CLAY, of Kentucky, quoted him as charging the settlers on the public lands, as "vIoLAToRs OF THE LAw,-TREsPAss- FRS cho had seized he public property, whom he had stigmatised as perpetrators of he most .frauds"
 In the same debate, Mir, You've, of llli- nois, charged Mir. CLAY with having said that the settlers on the public lands might as well 'sseize upon your forts and arsenals, your ships on Me Oceaa, THUNDER THE MONEY, as thus to seize upon the public lands, and ap- propriate them to their use, in violation of law, and against the just rights of the nation."
 In the Senate, Monday, January 29th, Mir. Mr. LYON, of Michigan, said that Mr. CLAY had denounced the settlers upon the public lands as BLAND PIRATES,o , THUNDER ERS'' and s.ROBBERS.o During the same debate, Mir. TIPToN, of Indiana, said, s.I un- stand that he (Mr. Clay denounced the set tiers on the public lands as a LAwLEss BAN DITTI ofLAN ROBBERS, unjustly grasping at the public treasure.
 Mir. Norvell said, '.They the settlers, on pre-emptions) had made the wilderness blos- ness and joy. Was it proper to denounce such men as HHEARTLEss TREssPAssERs, FRAUDULENT sFEoULAToRs-RoBgER of he public lands, as they had been denounc ed by the Senator from Kentucky, Mir. CLAY?"
 In speech delivered by MT. CLAY, in the Senate of the United States, on the 29th Jan nary, as published, in the proceedings, he aid,
 ''l dare say there are members m thls and he other House, ready to pronounce that nore honest, deserving set of men than those Hub law men, does not exist-men who ,penly violate the law-men whose moral ense would be violated by an enforcement ,f existing laws, as they have been told by
 Senator on that6oor. Whose moral sense? Vhv. the moral sense of these club law men, vho band themselves together, and over-awe md set at defiance the officers of the Govern nent What pretence had these lawless men or rowing about the country, and seizing by | 7iolence on the choicest spots of land?"
 Here are five Senators, in the Congress of he United States, whose character for integ- rity is as spotless as any, bearing testimony, md writing down the charges as they were made by him at the time-al concurring to convict Mir. CLAY of having used language towards the settlers of the new States, unbe- coming, and untrue in fact-consequently | they cannot be contradicted. Mr. Claws ob- ject for abusing the citizens of the new States is perfectly manifest. Some of the old States were opposed to the pre-emption Dill :; and for the purpose of gaining strength with them, he conceived it sound policy to prefer charg- es of a serious character against those for whose benefit the law was intended Ano- ther reason for MT. Clay, was, that Mr. VAN BuREN ,cds in faror of the pre-emption prin- ciple, and declared in his message of Decem- Der, 1887, ''that Me United StateS had 20 adequate pecuniary interest to induce the go- uernmem 10 driue these settlers from tie lands Aey occupy, for he purpose of selling hem 10 others. Entertaining these views, ! re- commend the passage of q pre-emption lac for their bcneGt," Sc.
 in looking at Mr. Clay's political course, from the period when Gen. Jackson went in- to office, until MT. Van Buren went out, it proves that he was determined to oppose ev- cry thing those statesmen were in favor of, and to advocate every thing they were op- posed to. For instance-we find him strug- gling to charter an irresponsible corporation, with powers sufficiently strong to enable 1t come into the political field, contending for mastery against the government itself. We find him passing laws to tax the South and