Herald of the times, and Rhode Islander. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1846-1849, 1846-09-10
5 Whole No. S47


Our life on II, as many of these French ca-
mants have told him their cases and he u. he
must be, Just as well informed as To The Juslicc
and The amount of each particular claim fUT
French spoaionS prior to lcOO as Of those
against the MexlcanS"
Sin truth 1t would seem So StIl, he vetoeS
the French claims and he plungeS the country
INTO an unnecessary and most costly war with
our comparatively weak nerghbor about The
Mexican ones!
\ But let us proceed to his further reasons and
COLLECTIONS - the next that come are aS fol-
lows:
For the satisfaction of the caigs provided
for II Is proposed to appropriate five millions
Of dollars. | can perceive no legal or equitable
grouni upon winch ,hiN large appropriation fon
rest. A portion of the claims have been mole
than half n century before the Government, Ia
It's Executive or Legislative Departments. and
all ol them had their origin IN events which oc-
cured prior To- l-O0 since I5t2 they have
/ been from time to time before Congress. No
greater necessity or proprety exists ior pfovIt
/ ing for these claims al this lime than has existed
Tor near half a century during all which period
this que Stiunahle measure has never unli The
present time received the favorable conSldera-
/ ton of Congress. Il is scarcely probable, II the
claim had been regarded aS obligatory upon the
Government, or constituting an equitable demand
upon the Treasury that those who were coniem'
should not long since have done justice 10 the
iclamantS. The Treasury has often been m a
lcondllon To enable the Government TO do SO
without Inconvenience, If the claims had been
considered luSt. Mr.. Jefferson, who was fully
IcognlZant of the early di>SenSlouS between the
Government of the United States and France,
out of which the claims arose, IN hrs annual
message IN l-tD- adveried to the large surplus
then IN the Treasury, and its probable accumn-
aliOn,' and inquired whether 1t should lie IN
productive IN The public vaults and yet these
claims though then before Congress, were not
recognized OF paid. Since that lhe public deb,
of the revolution and Of the war of 1872 has been
distinguished, and al several periods since The
/ Treasury has been IN possession Of large sur
pIuSScS over the demands upon II. In le36 the
surplus announced Ia many millions of dollars,
and, for want OF proper objects TO which TO ap'
ply it, 1t was directed 10y Congress 10 be de-
posted with the StaleS.'
! Well first of all the President is alarmed Us
an appropriation of five millions for peaceint
object an object that he does not know to be-
Otherwise than Just which Congress has, after
repeated Investigations, decided To be 80; but
appropriations ol twenty or thirty millions to-
wards n war likely 10 cost al the raie of sixty
millions of dollars a year while II lasts, and
which every body, even the President himself,
knows might have been easily avoided. slartle
him no, IN the least
/ tie can perceive no IeIal, no GROUND
for the appropriation. That, however, is by no
means unaccounabe; since he has uSt assured
u> that he has not been able to make himself
acquainted with the grounds of the mater-lrs
"details" by which alone the justice Of each
case could be learnt.
The claims are old and therefore worthless.
But they are Younger than either Us or MIR
Polk and we should unwIllingly believe that
either of Us grows less respectable with every
added year OF life ?
The remainder of the paragraph Is little else
but an argument to prove that debt, no matter
what lis Justice ShOpd not b. paid, for the al
mrable and moral reason that has mol been p0ide
~ dIdnOt pay you yesterday: therefore ! OneM
not 10 poy goa to-day" Exquisite logic! Most
ingenious ethics "lt cannot be necessary that
YOU should be paid for lo, YOU have not been
paid" Probably, then, if these poor people ha9
been paid forly-iour years since, that would be
conclusive reason for n0u paying them "
IS "A bad rule, they say, that won't work both
ways. our Government of the time when the
treaty bv which the Government took upon IT,
self these claims was concluded did not dis
charge the obligation and therefore (inSSlS hc(
their successors ought not to discharge H. II IS
clear then, that, aS Mr.. Van Buren'S Admins
rallon left behind II some Twelve or eighteen
millions of unpaid debt, Gen. liarriSon'S ought
not To have provided for lqudaIng it and
clearer still that a. the Revolutionary Govern
mcni could not meet its engagements, nor Mr..
MadiSon'S the loans the war of lSl2, all these
great and old amounts, never settled rl about
1874, should have been repudi0i,d! For what
is all such doctrine as TINS but the most arraut
Reputation
The Presidents next sentence contains an
assertion aS to fact Just about as authentic as
these rea>onngS are respectable
During this extended course of time en-
bracng periods emincnlly favorable tor satisfy
ing all just demands upon The Government, the
claims embraced IN Tins bill met with no fnvuY
ia Congress, beyond the reports of committees,
in one the other branch. These circumSlan-
'e> alone are calculated to rai>e strong doubts
IN respect 10 these claims and especially aS all
information necessary to correct judgment
concerning them has been long before the pub
Ic. These doubts aIe strengthened III my mint
" the examination have been euabled TO give
10 lhc transaction IN which they originated -
Being ~ il.rniormcd of This whole matter Us
he Executive avowS that he is he should not
rave ha2arded any assertion. These claims
lave been, with little exception always reported
N a"oTably ,hv the Congressional committees to
Shlch the referred Repeatedly they have been
% reported on unanimously. Nor Is that all
hey have several times passed one or the other
House but then failed in the olher, either
through want of time TO act on them. or ly
means Of some of that opposition which is so
'a>lly gotten up, under the popular name of
Economy, 10 defeat directly or destroy by a side
,low any thing of large amount.
Mark, however, the ludiCruuS hpsoS of The
lcN sentence of the paragraph The President
and gtavelv, IN the onset, that The matter - a
'ery intricate one, and required much time and
abor to comprehend it-more Than he could
ave; aud now he ayers that "all information
necessary to q correct judgment on II has been
onp before the public Every body, then, is
~ ought 10 be easily IN possession OF the general
md substantial merits of the thing; and, If 80,
what excuse Is there for President of the
United States 50 much less acquainted thnn
,thcrS with what he is to act on making that
want of Information his reason for ~ranglmg
What the Legislature has HHd6tsiaBdingiy done1
Does he iouch the origin, the foundation the
principle, The history, any more than he has
lone the details of The claims lie does but
nlv enough to cvadc any statement, any
For he neat takes up aud dis
misses all that, as be had done the "details" Of
he hill bv saying
"The limited time allowed me, before your
adjournment, makes II impossible 10 reileraie
he facts and Arguments by which, IN preceding
Congresses, these claims have been successfully
esiSted"