Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1848-02-02

apHEOH Of ur. SCHENCK, of OHIO,
or INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
r.E,ered !. the House Of Rrpresenfafires,
Deeenb Is, 1e47.
The following resolution, moved by Mr..
V,naon. OF Ohio, was under considera-
ton:
E.so7red. That the Committee on Com
..,ce shall hereafter be called 1.-THE Com
10. IN Commerce among the Statcs;'
I'd shal! have charge Of all questions
which nav be referred touching the rcsu-
,,,;on Of trade among the several States
~ the Union. There shall also be added
n ,he tanding committees Of the House
/. con nittee, to be composed OF nine
,,embers. which shall be called ''the Com
MITE on commerce with Foreign Nations
Il shall have charge Of all questions con
corning the regulation Of the trade OF the
United States with foreign nations.
Pending the discussion fthis resolution
(. .necial message was received from the
President Of the United States, in relation
,othe River and Harbor Bill passed at the
close Of the last session of Congress,
communicating his reasons for retaining
that bill and refusing his approval. Mo.
,ions were made to refer this message, and
n prin4: in the course Of the debate upon
which propositions, Mr.. ochENck aaoicSs-
ed the House as follows:
Mr.. SCHENCK said: The paper which
has Just been presented from the PRESIDENT
is Of a character so anomalous, that u IS
not 10 be wondered at. Mr.. Speaker, that
we should have some little doubt and DIS
Cussion as to the mos appropriate dispose
ton TO be made Of it. II IS novefo mes
SAGE. It's not a communication contcn-
plated 10 be made by the Executive TO
Congress under any provision or clause
in the constitution. His objections to a
river and harbor bin passed by the last
Congress are made the preteSt for sending
his view. here now to us in this shape-fo
US, a different Congress, who can engage
in no Legislation having reference to that
bill. And yet it is not hard to understand
the intention and object Of the President.
nor why such a message IS seuf here, ana
nj This particular time. 1t is "a speech
from the tIronc;" very literally SPEECH
from the throne, and nothing lnorc nor less
1t is the Executive argument against inter
nal improvements, deliberately prepared,
and then conveniently reserved until some
fitting occasion should present Itself when
bate. If there had been any doubt about
this cunning purpose OF the President. It
was made apparent by what Transported
when the message was brought IN. One
gentleman among the friends Of the Exc"
cutive. MIR. Thompson, Of Misss>ippi.)
understood ut once that the Private Sccrc-
tary was charged with the delivery OF
something which ..rclatcd TO the subject
Il RI
so appealed to the gentleman from South
Carolina (Ar. WoodwarD 20 yield the
floor to Mr. President. And when some
gentleman from THIS side Of the House. my
ncirhbor from North Carolina. { Mr.. Cling
man, | believe, remarked that the COM
mnnicaticn was nothing upon which the
House could act" it was very significant
" replied and so loud that @ecould none
Of us avoid hearing, by another gentleman
over the way. that it ''was something Which
would act on the House thought | have
no doubt. Mr.. Speaker. that that gentle
man has construed the object Of the mes
sage with admirable accuracy. Why sir.
IN the annual message OF the President.
sent to us last week. there was not one
word 10 be found in its whole protracfed
leng;h-not an alluSion. think, TO the
subject of rivers and harbors. or any inn
provenents of the country. My constitu-
enss. and all the people in the great int
rior Of the country. will be dissatisfied, if
not astonishcd, BY such omission Of attcn-
ton to these important interests, but here
we have the explanation: the President
was holding back to throw in his argu-
nent against these great interests when il
might be supposed to have the most eff
feet, and he makes of the bill of the last
session, which he refused TO approve. the
hook to hang his arguments on. His
friends have their cue now. They are the
orders from the palace. But will the in
dependent Democrats from the North and
West be obedienr to the roval behest!
Will it "act" upon them! We shall see
think not.
Considering this. then. as no more than
the Executive speech. volunteered in the
course of this debate. | am not entirely
prepared to say that we should raise a Sc
lect committee To consider and report upon
it. My colleague Mr.. Vinton) makes
that propositions; and the gentleman from
Pennsylvania. Mr. Stcwart.) suggests that
such committee should consist of one
member from each State of The Union. /
regret to feel obliged to differ from both
these gentlemen. Idoubt if such consid-
Grafton should be given TO this paper. any
more than we would dignity in that way
any other argument made III the progress
of the debate. II seems to me that the
message should take the ordinary course.
and lie upon the table. when there is no
action OF the House to be required as con-
sequent upon it. have no objection to its
being printed. provided no extra copies
are to be ordered. Indeed | wish to see
and examine II further. Let u. have i. in
the usual shape for the use Of members.
As to sending out reply with it in the
shape of report. if that were even neces-
sary. gentlemen may be sure that i, will a,
once be made public through the newspa-
Pcrs. either in its entire length or in the
form Of abstracts of ito cor tents caso.