Weekly national intelligencer., 1847-01-23


health and you ordered him where he down by
poisonous climate and he pershed in the morning of his
days: ought his family to be left without the provision
given to his companion who escaped the fever but
slain by the first discharge from the enemy Why, he
prayed gentlemen not to pepetae such gross injustice Let
US evince liberal spirit
Mr. CHAPMAN wished to suggest an amendment which
he thought would embrace every He read his amend
ment which gave the land who should have served
for three months should be honoab discharged for
disability received in the service"
Mr. RATHBUN said that he unfortunate enough not
to agree with gentlemen who forward in making these
donations to our Volunteers this increase Of pay lie
yet to learn the wisdom and sound policy of giving land
to these men, till gentlemen could show him how to
raise the money readily promised We going to raise
the these oopsrom dollars ten doasa month
Would any consider the bare promise good unless
SOME means were provided to redeem il ! To proceed in
this way would be only increase the of the
Government Congress had been expressly told by the Sc
creary OF the Treasury that unless should be laid upon
tea and coffee he should not able effect the loans
sary to carry the Government Mr. II. had voted that
such tax would be inexpedient But the Secretary said
himself that he could not borrow money without the tax
Congress had refused it; and how going to pay
either the ten dollars the dollars Before Mr..
X voted TO increase the expenditures Of the Government he
wanted first to increase its income Had any of those gentle
men who were making speeches and offering amendments
earn the good opinion OF volunteers sat down and cacu
lated the expenditure they about authorize Taking
the number OF the troops but at 25000 and their term of
service at single the simple increase Of pay from
The amount Of public land proposed be given bountes
taking the number Of 81 000 would be less than
4960 900 acres, which, at the Government price, would
amount 70 620o o0O But if the whole number authorized
ny the bill should be ased the would be less than
and a half millions. ... II.
The effect the necessary and certain effect Of this would
be at to stop all further sales of the public lands and
wholly to demosh the derived from that
Let gentlemen examine what they about. Mr.. r.
willing to vote the land if gentlemen would show how we
were to pay what promised
He heard gentleman say could well spare the land
That very true we had millions on millions of acres of
land but if by giving stopped the annual receipt Of
from two and half to three millions Of dollars year, how
were we to pay what we proposed This taking away
our ability pay with the breath that uttered the promise
lie knew, indeed, that could provide the necessary
MEANS and he knew very well how could provide them,
very easily and he ready go the extreme length
that any other gentleman would 90, if the House would only
take the necessary steps to provide the means Before we
liberal, let be wise Let gentlemen show their in
egence and their integrity by first laying their hand the
means to pay before they bound themselves to pay.
he should not now stop to examine how these means might
be provided every body knew how it perfectly plain
and 1t was plain that it ought to be done.
But, while he was up there another matter which,
though not directly connected with this b connected
with our ability to pay what we promised
II would be recoected that Mr. R. had time since
offered resolution nqung of the Secretary of the Treasury
whether the number OF weghers and gauges employed under
The tariff OF 1912 were still continued in the pay of the Gov
ernment now that that act repealed In reply part
of his CALL (for all the other items it had been left una-
swered he had received the admission men were
retained under the tariff, (when there not the
same call for their services but the admission of the fact had
been accompanied by long show the necessity
OF retaining them all.
Now Mr. r. knew that they retained when he offered
the esouton and he also knew that small portion
Of the numbcr-were still wanted But when the chairman
of the Committee of Ways and Means (Mr Mckay had al
the last session been making his official speech in behalf
the new law he had urged argument favor that
the salaries OF all these weghers and gauge would be saved
to the Government because they would be longer wanted
and their offices would be abolished By this that
gentleman had promised saving of 5000 900 per annum
The statements had been made the chairman of the
Finance Committee in the Senate. He had told the country
that the tariff bill should become law, large
ber OF clerks the service OF the Treasury Department would
be no longer wanted, and g whole army Of weighes and
gaugers would be discharged Now he would the gentle
man from North Carolina, (M MCKAY, and he should be
very glad If ne had an opportunity of putting the query
to the chairman Of the Finance Committee the other House,
what authority he had made such representations that
House and to the country One of these keepers of the
Treasury had said that he auhozed state and
the other had said he Uniformed that such would be the
result Mr. r. should be very glad if the honorable gentle
from North Carolina would tell the House what ground
he had said this
Mr.. r. was Uniformed" and from good authority, too
that large number Of those might be dispensed
with. Every familiar with the Of doing this part
of the customhouse duty knew that only hogs
heads out of lot usually weighed gauged, and hey
corresponded with the weight the invoice
deemed enough for the whole. lie told from a
quarter which could admit of doubt or his information
drawn from the customhouse in New York; that great
many Of these officers wholly unnecessary. Good faith
them required that they should be dismissed and thus
money least might be saved Of which pay this extra
allowance to volunteers
There also another thing connected with this subject
Gentlemen here talked Of being very liberal volunteers
just If the volunteers expected allowance for the
services, and had been mpeed by merely ercenary motives
instead Of yielding those noble and generous impulses which
called them the field defence of their counys rights
To hear these gentlemen would suppose that there
nothing in these mems hearts but dollars and cents nothing
but calculation how much they could by being very patrio
tic manage to put into their pockets So all the noble inn
pulses Of patriotism dwinded down. these genenens
ton Of the to selfish mercenary of money.
Now, Mr.. X. did not think there a man among them
who had paused moment to ak whether il 81 $40
that he receive. He because he loved his
try and ready to fight her enemies Men who looked
dollars and such had left their families and
resdes to encounter all the train of dangers and prvaons
OF such Journey and to brave death the end of it. He
knew 1t popular at all times augment the pay
of the army but Mr. r. thought it better what
did PROMISE and TO take that defenders got good quar-
tiers, good provisions good nursing and good treatment and
then instead OF inqurng about pay all they asked would be
to be led against the enemy Let this be done and the House
would again be put to the blush by having officer tell
them that the volunteers had received nothing in months
that they in rags and unable pay for those little uxu
es necessary in Of sickness Let this and
take measures which should them their pay when il