The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-04-23

money required for the payment Of the debts OF perform
anes OF the contracts Of the institution incurred or entered
Into IN Conformity with the provisions Of shs act or lSr
making and executing object. authorized
~ this act the superintendent the managers or any
such sum Of money Tso",a1 ss.rsnnoS he shall sub
MT the same 20 COMMITTEES Of three Of the Managers APP
I s purpose ioI sAanns9n aud approval ana
same TO the proper officer Of the treasury for payment
And the said board shall make all nssdl rules regulations
and bylaws Tor the government Of the institution and the
persons employed therein and shall submit TO Congress at
each session hsrsoa reFon Of the operations eSPend
.4nd BE- further enacted, That as the board Of
managers shall be regularly and legally organized shall
year such OF the most widely circulated in
the United States aud In Europe they may deem
essay subjects the most practical aud useful which
the majority Of said board shall determine upon And
when alter decision upon the relative OF the differ.
ent essays they determine to which the prime shall be
the several subjects shall be their duty to
may deem best TO be distributed 10 the governors Of the
10 the several incorporated literary uniysr
sites TO European Institutions as they may choose
snd the balance TO be distributed throughout the United
states by the members OF Congress thus fulfilling In the
letter and spirit the wise and comprehensive institutions Of
the donor for the increase and diffusion oil knowledge
/ among men.
| Mr. OWEN desired to say few words in reply
to the gentleman from Vermont, mr. MARSH and
| the gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. MoRsE.l The
| gentleman from Louisiana had already given the
most important item in reply to the gentleman from
lVermont-namely, that we had no right TO run
| counter To what might clearly seem 10 be the in
Iention Of Mr.. Smithson This fund was not ours;
n was intrusted to us for a special purpose; and
| unless we could believe that, he would desire,
II living, the establishment Of library, the money
ought not to be so appropriated
This bill had been framed In a spirit Of compro-
mise. The original Senate bill Of the last session
appropriated SIS 900 for this object The gentleman
| from Vermont, Mr.. o. believed, proposed twenty
thousand. The bill proposed a meoium--a sum
not exceeding ten thousand dollars. He hoped the
House would not go further. gentleman who
had formerly been librarian Of Congress in CONVEX
sation with him, had said that he thought il was
| mpraetlcable to purchase, with advantage more
| than ten thousand dollars worth Of books The
duty must be intrusted to one agent 10 prevent the
purchase Of duplicates; and no agent could pur.
chase adysntageousy more than this amount; so
that there was practical difficulty in the way
In relation TO the course suggested by the gentle
man from Louisiana, Mr. MORSE the same plan
had occurred to Doctor Cooper, OF South Carolina,
but had been rejected by him. Mr.. o. here read
an extract in support Of this assertion
As to a cheap publication branch, he would re-
mind the committee that already had one. In
looking the periodicals. OF the day, it did moi
appear that the prize essays the best; the vol
untary essays seemed TO be so. We should find
plenty Of treatises Of most useful character with
out paying dollar for them. The mere grati6ca-
ZION of having them published would be indueement
sufficient to enable US 10 obtan them.
The gentleman said that there should be no
laboratory that it was not the design Of Mr.
Smithson. The fact that Mr.. Smthson spent hall
Of his life in laboratory seemed to refute this OBJ
| lection.
There was little in the bill of an imperative char
acter in relation TO all these various branches. Its
| phraseoogy was "may." II, therefore, il was dis
covered that one branch would be more beneficial
than another, there was the power to adopt it.
| There was nothing at all binding about.
| Mr.. CHAPMAN spoke urgently in opposition 10
the bill. His first for voting (as he said he
intended to do) against il was based fact that
was overwhelmingly, that this government,
| great and powerful as 1t was-prosperng and pro-
crossing as it in original native intellect foster
| ed by institutions known to no other country,
and no other people--should have consented TO be
| the recipient Of what called here muni6cen
donation Of half million from an Englishman to
enlightened American republicans in this country
How did it happen that this government accepted
such a boon-from foregner-an Englishman
tooI He looked upon it as stain on the history
| Of the country, insult to the American ma
ton He wished this government to wash its hands
Of all such eleemosynary dealings. There was a
native stock in this country, intellectual and phys
ical, that needed no foreign aid, and he trusted in
God it would not condescend to receive any.
In making these remarks, he would probably be
1 charged with being opposed to education. He was
opposed to it in the light in which, in modern times
| it was sought to be nculcated in this country-an
education which passed over all thought all reHec-
tion all originality, and based upon an inteec.
tual lumber-house Of undigested and indgestible
matter; thrown together in the head of some aspi-
rant after immortal intellectual fame, without orig.
nality enough to q character, he would not say
TO what-he had term, but probably it might be
inappropriate for him to utter it here. How the
| donor Of this money, being an Engishman, came
to love this country so well, God only knew; but
he (Mr c. would say that in yielding to his sug.
geson, the country had humbled and degraded
| itself. ...!
He objected to the bill, because, clearly and in
terms, it established corporation. File appealed to
his political friends, after all their opposition after
all their arguments, after all their efforts put down
United States bank on the ground of its unconsti.
nationality, whether-hckled, amused, their pride
touched by the great advantages Of dspelling the
cloud of ignorance which overshadowed the
American republic--they would now belle all their
principles and all their professions What dstinc
ton was there between corporation in the form Of
a United States bank, and corporation intended tc
elevate humanity in close approximation to the
throne Of Heaven He appealed to his friends here
Ito those who held their seats by virtue of the very
opposition they had made to the Bank of the United
lStates--whether this government had the power to
create corporation The rose by any other name
&C.; and corporation by any other name, should
be as offensive to the democracy. Was 1t necessary
to label the animal, that we might know to wha,
species 1t belonged, as was done IN the case oil the
| Dutchmans picture Of with the horse, where
the name was put upon it, that the Eeholder might
know what it was9 He declared that the bill pro.
posed the establishment of one Of the most wther
ing and deadly corporations carrying with it all the
features of an aristocracy the most ofens i've that
could be established in any country under heaven
He was opposed to an aristocracy Of wealth; bu
he was in favor of an aristocracy Of inteect--no
of false educaton-not Of knowledge that consisted
in bringing together exploded ideas--but of thai
knowledge which was the offspring of an intellect
patented directly by the Almighty.
Mr.. G. then proceeded TO state some general OBJ
Elections to the bill, divergng considerably into the
field of party politics, into which the reporter can
not now follow him. .,
In conclusion, he declared himself in favor Of
some such plan as had been proposed by the gentle.
man from Tennessee, Mr.. JoNxs.
| On motion of Mr.. BAYLY, the committee rose
and reported.
Mr. OWEN offered resolution to close the de.
bate in an hour and half.
The resolution, by ayes 80 noes a., was laid or
the table.