The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-03-30


raj government as 10 abstain from encroachment up
on the powers Of the States.
Mr. Chairman, the authority TO make appropria-
tons for the Improvement of hArbors and rivers,
IN which the maritime commerce Of the country is
carried on, has received the sanction Of every ex.
eeutlye, FROM the organization of the govern
ment down 10 the administration Of John Tyler,
when bill Of this description was vetoed for the
hrst time m the whole history Of the action Of the
executive department. The setoes Of Mr.. Madison
and Mr.. Monroe were upon measures in principle
essentially different from this; and to the auhor-
Ivy Of Mr.. Tyler, care nothing about il; let him
wear the faded, withered, and dropping wreath of
his last Veto referred TO yesterday by the gentle
man from Alabama, Mr.. YAscEY, as one that
decksd his brow. Sir, prefer TO stand the high
authority Of the illustrous statesman who frat adj
minlsIered the government. and who signed bills not
dstinguishable in principle from this IN the pres
enee OF the first Congress that assembled under the
constitution.
Mr.. YAxcrr. Will the gentleman from Mary
land adopt the authority Of Gen Jaeksonl
Mr.. COssrAsLE. Yes, sir il Is here at hand-in
this book. ] will adopt the authority Of General
jackson, although he was represented on yesterday
aud by that honorable gentleman, az having put
down this system when Il was giant, full Of sinew,
strength, and blood What, sir, did General jack
son say in his annual message TO Congress at De-
cember session 1884, long after the yetoes alluded
TO by the honorable gentleman ! read subsequent
part Of the same message cited and read by the
clerk, at the request Of the gentleman from Geor-
gia, MIR. CoBB,l and which he used in his srgu-
mont against the expediency Of making these appro-
Piations. Speaking Of appropriations for objects
such as this bill provides, General Jackson says:
There is another class Of appropriations for what may
be called, without improPHety internal improvements,
which have Away. been regarded standing upon differ
ent grounds from those 10 which have referred allude
10 such have oy their object the Improvement Of
haTbors the removal oi partial and temporary distractions
n our nayghs rivers AM the security and facility OF our
A. MUTUAL consequence Of the increase and extension Of
our foreign commerce ports Of entry and delivery have
been multiplied Ani established only upon our sea.
board but in the interior the country upon our lakes and
ndVgahe rivers The convenience and safety Of this
have led to the gradual extension OF these sxpend
tures 10 the erection OF the placing planting
and sinking Of baoy beacons and piers and to the removal
Of partial ana temporary distractions in our nayLgRbe
rivers and In the habor upon great lakes a. well as
on the seahoard Although have expressed to Congress
my approximations that these expenditures have sometimes
been eNtrav agant and to the advantage
TO be derived from them have not felt my duty
assent to bills containing them aud have coHented my
self to follow In this respect In the footsteps Of all my pre-
decesson"
Here then, Mr.. Chairman, we find Gen Jackson
asserting the very power, and specifying the denti-
cal objects Of the appropr ttions made by this bill
"the improvement Of our harbors, and the removal
OF partial and temporary distractions in our nayga-
bic rivers, Tor the security and facility Of for
egn commerce" power not only 10 protect,
but to facilitate commerce; and as such exer-
disable for its convenience as well as its saEtv.
And IN succeeding passages of this message,
he lays down the rule that these appropriations
should be confined TO the removal of distractions
below ports Of entry. This rule sir, the honorable
gentleman from Alabama Ma. YAscEYl told us on
yesterday that he was willing to adopt; but he took
the precautinn To annex qualification which is not
to be found in the rule itself, as laid down by Gen
eral Jackson-a condition or limitation which, IL
ensrafted upon it, would imply want Of lnforma-
pY naak le ~
hero and statesman The gentleman insisted that
General Jackson meant ports OF entry in which tn.
proud ships that brought the cargo across the ocean
might enter and not those established where an In
dian canoe would scarcely float Sir was not Gen.
eral Jackson aware, at the time that he prescribed
the rule that ports Of entry had been established far
in the interior, where the shipping engaged in our
foreign comm rec never entered, and could not foap
Did he not know that Pittsburg two thousand
miles distant from the seaboard was a mort Of en-
trys What does he tell us in the part Of the mes
sage just readl "As a natural consequence of the
increase and extension of our foreign commerce
ports of entry and delivery have been multiplied and
established, not only on the seaboard but in the in
terror Of The country" He knew then that ports of
entry had been established in the interior and vet
makes no discrimination in the application of the
rule between any of them whether found in the in
terror or on the seaboard. II, sir, General Jackson
had Intended what tho honorable gentleman from
Alabama supposes why did he not make the rule
exclusively applicable TO ports Of entry on the sea-
board? Why, at the very moment that his atten-
ton was engrossed by the whole subject,
and when he fashioning rule to
govern his future conduct, and especially
when he mentioned the MULTIPLICATION OF these
ports, did he not designate 10 which the rule should
apply, if not intended to be general No reason can
be assigned. 1t Is therefore manifest that General
Jackson did not design to limit the rule to those
ports ofentry only in which cargoes were discharged
from the gallant vessels that loated them over the
pillows Of the Atlantic. And, sir, while General
Jackson afirms that these expenditures have some-
times been extravagant, far from interposing any
constitutional check to the exercise ofthe power by
Congress 20 make such appropriations, he express
ly tells US that he felt it his duty to "assent TO the
bills containing them,' and to "follow in this re-
spect in the footsteps Of all his predecessors" This
power, then, was sanctioned by every chief magis-
trae Of the country who preceded him, as well as by
the profound and distinguished statesman Mr. Van
Buren, who succeeded him; and yet honorable gen.
temen assume to denounce it as departure from
the old landmarks Of the republican party
Mr. Chairman, the whole area of power covered
by this bill, so far as shall support H. was marked
out by Jefferson and Madison, and their illustrous
compeers, who laid the deep and enduring founda-
tons of the republican party; and while we walk in
the light reflected on path by such great names
the gentleman from South Carolina Mr.. RHErri
will not follow ito its last home" the sthearse" OF
any great principle OF tnat party. Nor do |, Mr..
Chairman, share any of the apprehensions express.
ed by the gentleman, that this system will operate
an "overthrow of the constitution" No. sir; that
honorable gentleman, with all his gloomy forebo.
dings, will never bend as "mourner" over sepuI-
chre for the constitution made by this system
Far otherwise, sir. That cherished record of the
wisdom of the sages who formed it was intended
for the attainment Of the great practical ends of
free representative governments and, as SUCH sur
viving the last annuncaton Of the doctrines Of the
gentleman from South Carolina, [Mr. RHRrT /
which render it useless for the highest national pur.
poses, will remain the firm, enduring, and bright
arch Of the Union, mirroring, from generation to
generation, not only independence and honor, and
renown, but a more intense and glowing devotion
to it in every part Of the republic for the prosperity
in peace, and power in war, conferred by the sys.
tenn Of which this bill is part
Why, Mr.. Chairman, so different are my views
of this measure, tlyt if had any strong desire to
live in the hstoryo my country, and the grateful
recoectons Of those who are to succeed us, and
was now called upon to select from among the va
rious subjects before Congress, one upon which
would prefer to rest claim that Distinction next
to Oregon, every square acre of it, no matter in
t.N,t h. u