Weekly miners' express. (DuBuque, Iowa) 184?-1849, 1849-03-06

lion Of about $4,000 per annum would
enable him toemploy a competent clerk,
and to visit the different counties, exam
lne, allot, appraise and sell the school
lands IN person; and also to loan the school
money giving to each county in the state
such proportion as it should be entitled to
by some convenient rule established by
law for making the dividend.''
Again he says, "The project Of crea-
ting State Land Officer has been spo-
ken Of. In the event this is done, it would
doubtless curtail expenses still further, to
embrace the School Lands in it. The
substance, then, Of the recommendation
Of Mr.. Benton, which is considered so
outrageous, is, to abolish thirty-taco offices,
with an annual expense Of ten thousand
dollars, and establish one in lieu Of them,
with compensation Of t,vo thousand dol
lars. lfthis is called Extravaganza, have
not yet learned what economy is. And
it is precisely in accordance with the on
ly sensible thing contained in the Ad-
dress, to wit: 'EWe have too many off
ces, rather than not enough. Let our OBJ
Ject be to decrease, rather than increase
Them" And yet. in direct contradiction
with this declaration, the proposition of
Mr.. Benton, to concentrate the duties Of
some thirty Offices in one, is denounced.
The refusal Of the democratic membe rs
to make provision for the amendment of
the Constitution, appears TO call forth an
extra effort. Concerning that instrument,
the writer says: "That it tends to cripple
our unbounded resources, and hangs as
an incubus on those who might be dispo-
sed to employ their capita! in objects of
public aud Importance, is plain as noon
day" Now, am free to admit that the
barriers and safeguards Of our Consi-
tuition are such as preclude the introduce
ton among us Of bank monopolies and
overshadowing monied corporations: and
| trust it may never be otherwise: the
asser tion, that "the Democratic members
refused to az7ow the people to enpress their
opinions on the suJect,'' is false. The bill
proposed no such thing;-it proposed to
Compel The people to express an opinion.
1t was not left optional, as the address
pretends, but was made obligatory upon
them &c decide, by popular vote, for or
against the measure: and this, too, with
out any evidence Of their desire to do so.
Now, hold, that the people themselves
are sufficiently intelligent to know achen
they desire an Iteration Of "their organ
ic law and when that period arrives.
they will doubtless manifest their wish,
and it will then be time enough to pro-
vide for 1t. But, ''it is to be attended
with little expense" | am unable to de-
termine by what process Of reasoning this
conclusion is arrived at; but when we
take into consideration the source from
whence it sprung, it is not strange. If
the expenses Of the two former Constitu-
tons are to be taken as a criterion, those
of third one would not fall far shor! Of
ten thousand dollars, which think would
probably prove as burdensome to the peo-
pie as that other enormous amount expen-
ded by the General Assembly, Of four
hundred and sirty-eight dollars; and for
averting this uncazledjor expenditure,
the democratic members are denounced
in the most unsparing terms, while it
would appear that nothing useful was
done, or attempted to be done, except by
''one of u.s." the unterrified nineteen-the
author Of the Address in particular. |
would here ask, what good can we hope
can we hope to effect by a Convention?
We would most assuredly incur the &C.
pense. But whether single defect Of the
Constitution land it contains but few
would be remedied, is not only uncertain,
but ertremely improbable. But the last
and blacklist sin Of "the Majority" con-
sists in their refusal TO surrender the des-
TIMES Of our State into the hands Of those
unprincipled fanatics, the Mormons. The
history Of the Mormons is we'll known,
In Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, their de-
termination to disregard and trample up
on the rights of all who refused to sub
scribe to their contracted views, rendered
an armed force necessary to stay their
progress. Indeed, the principles by
which they are governed, are at war
with the civil and religious institutions
of our country. They have destroyed
the peace and harmony Of society where
ever they have planted their standard,
and anarchy and bloodshed have attended
their course from the earliest period Of
their history, to the present time. In
Illinois, they were received in kindness,
as an oppressed people; but so soon as
they acquired strength, they arrayed
themselves against their benefactors, and
bid defiance to the civil authorities of the
State. But failing in their attempts to
subvert her institutions, they have come
to Iowa, with the hellish purpose Of inva-
ding our rights, and of trampling under
foot our laws; and strange as it may SEEM,
we find in our midst political party,
czandestinezy aching in concert vith them !;
and stranger still to learn, that the lead
ers Of that party are set forth, in the va.
ledic,ory Of the unadulterated nineteen.
as the guardians Of the peoples rights!!
such is the character Of the persons COM
posing the "lour thousand citizens of our
State," more than two-thirds of them
unnaturazized,] for whom so much sym
pathy is manifested by few Wing lead
ers. For one, | think, if there is any
couse IF counlaint II is that there was