Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1850-02-22

= made which ELECTED TIM most severe rebuk
sr from my friend from Georgia was, that ha
N suggee'ed that had always been opposed I
4. the appIying Of the current revenues arisn
d from the public lands 10 the ordinary expense
e, Of the federal government. And the senate
s persisted in supposng that intended that the
a should be applied for no other purpose than
d charity fund. will illustrate, for the informa
d ton of the senator and others, what mean l.
G the application oi those revenues to State ar
J. great national purposes and objects.
e The distinguished senator from Kentucky
i (Mr. CLAY) several years since by his great il,
r huence il the councils of the nation, secure
k the distribution among the several States G
= this uhiGn of portion Of these and other sur
/, plus revenues Gf this goYernTcnt. was, at
distance, an humble follower and approver q
!, that policy. The result Of it in other States
, know not. But you, Mr.. President, can testif
; with me the result, the benehcent result, in n
State of New York, from which we come. In
share which was allotted TO US was $6,O )0
000 the amount we received was l.5O0 0)O
} Every dollar of that four and half millions
sir, L;ofe than ten years age, went to the lurln
! alton Of public schools, academies, seminaries
and other higher institutions Of learning, ant
! OF libraries for the common people.
! And, sir, will now state to the Senate
and am proud that, in behalf of the State o
New York ] am ere this day to state it TO the
praise and honor Of the distinguished senator
from Kentucky-the condition Of the State o
New York, Of the people, bond and free
might say, if we had amy OF the former class
native and foreigner, to which they have been
brought by this act of justice-l will not call it
benevolence. Sir, the State of New York, hav-
ing a population of three millions o. penple, has
not in it one child of cit.eh or foreigner tina. is
not educated, from the age of five years to the
age Of twenty years, at the public cost and ex
pense.
Again, sir: at the distance of every mile and
half on every main road, railroad, canal and
cross road-separa,ed by only mile and half,
is the school house of New England The
school master is at home everywhere in New
York, and all the time and New York has
made trial Of the blessed example Of Massa-
chusetts and Connecticut. That is what has
been done in my day, since my and your expe-
rience began; and more than that, in every one
OF these school houses is public library of two
hundred and fifty volumes, containing all that
is interesting in ancient or modern history or
science, literature, geography, and every other
branch OF human knowledge, open and access
slble TO every cifI1en--man, woman, and child
in the State OF New York. Yes. sir, these four
millions and a half have suprii led US win libra
ries which. taken collectively, contain more
than million of volumes.
More then that, sir: there has not been left
| in the State Of New York, the bind person who
has not been taught TO read his bible-there has
not been left in the State the deaf and dumb
the mute, who has not been taught to be able
to give expression of gratitude and praise to
God, and to The State which has brought him
from ignorance and degradation below his race.
More than that, sir, we have not neglected that
other unfortunate class. ] have been asked,
why not consider the free negroes Sir. the
free negroes haye been considered This fund
has been appropriated to their advancement,
also To raise 'heIr condition to cultivate them
to exercise the rights of sef-government and
to carry on the great work of the emancipation
of their race wherever they are found in bond
age. Yes, sir, GYe thousand of the African
race are educated out Of this great fund of ma
,onal benevolence. What becomes of the re-
proach, thea, that this is a charity What
would have been the disposition of this fund if
| it had been left here, sir ? 1t would have been
left as the revenues ofthis country, always too
large, too liberal, have been expended, in i'm.
| providence. II is therefore thai have always
claimed that il should be distributed among the
States, that they might apply it to works Of ad-
dncemen-Progress-
ANpW, SIT, teEe 1es L'tH no uliIllnullOn a IL
all this time. While We have been enjoying
this four and half millions, there is not one
dollar of it gone. Every dollar is there yet. II
is still in the treasury OF the State of New
York and all that has been done has been done
only by the use Of the money. Tell me, sir, is
1t rot ,ser to rake such distribution Of this
fund than it would be TO employ it ID encour-
aging prodigality in the government than to
encourage that lust Of conquest in which the
Mexican war had its origin, by which was
Brought into this Union 1863 ,000 900 acres of
public domain, to be added TO the one thousand
millions we had before What has it wrought
Ii has proved, in the words of an honorable Sc
nator here, but Pdndora's box of evils and
We are entertained here, day after day, with
the intelligence thai The UGqn must be dissoIy
ed-that it is really now dssolYed--even today.
We employed the revenues Of this public do.
mains in extending Dur doininons that are too
large-urEec ecessaEi!y large-already. Sir, |
want no more Mexican wars, no more lust of
conquest, no more Of seizing the unripened fruit,
which, if left alone, would of itself fall into our
hands claim tina, the federal government
shall be brought at once to its responsibility 10
the people, and that the people shalt know
what it costs them to indulge il ia wars Of con-
quest.
The Senator from Georgia and the Senator
from Illinois are grev,'d that there is pee culiar
character about my proposition, in considering
the case of foreigners as distinguishable from
the case of American citizens. MY friend on
my left, from Georgia, supposes that he has
| found peculiarly Objectionable feature in this
proposition, not found in that of the honorable
Senator from Massachusetts, and of the honora-
BILE Senator from Texas, because it provides dis
tinctly for foreigners, without providing for 9TH
era. Sir, these remarks-and, am sorry to
say. the reception which they received, ups,A-
cious to me, from the Senator from Illinois
obliged me 10 say what would not have said
beiore-that the way to defeat any benevolent
or charitable object is TO bring into competition
with the object of it some other objects of char
| ity which ought to be provided for first. Sir,
the religion which incqlcates lhe duty of char
ity gives US an sdmoniliol against such schemes
for defeating the ends Of charity
Mr.. DoUGLAss. viii the Senator from New
York allow me to call his attention to the fact
that my bill was brought in first, and, therefore,
that il is his which is in com petition with
mine
MIR. SEWARD. do not allude to the Sena-
tors bill. The first time have heard OF il from
a sOurce IN Vhrh cnuld aeLnou,lad,a' t,ysa 4