The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1852-03-05
THE UNION: WASHINGTON FRIDAY MORNING MARCH g. 1852

spOnslbe Tor the Incidence and deg Tadaoh o suCh pa
rents BY aiding the old States 10 educate Inc onspns
we shall initiate The example and follow HE pIseePls OF
our noble ancestors. My friends speech IN this pdie
ular has been made without looking 10 the iaes eAhio
lied by official documents.
shall now notice the objection hemakes TO my amend
ment because have omitted 10 provide IN my dlsrou
ton for California and Texas. Tie seems TO be oil opinion
that unless all provided Tor IN the same 0 mons eau
be; that trustees must distribute among all the
esstut que trust al the same time, or make no dsfDuo
at all think, upon llitle reflection, that opinion VIII
be abandoned as utterly untenable.
Why sir as trustee, you give adult his portion
of the fund.- and withhold the infants until he al
ains full age and is capable OF managing IT, You can
give the citizen upon the spot his portion, and wlhhon
that which belongs 10 the citizen out OF the country
You give 10 the man cOmpos mentis oil sonnd mnlu'
his DUE aud withhold the portion which may belong 70
idiots and lunatcs You do all that upon Inc oId
nary principles OF equity in reieeace 10 an estate owned
by private persons Why not these principles equally
applicable with regard TO administering the ustiund De-
longing TO the States! -,
Now sir, have omitted California because she Will
be provided for out OF lands within her own limits IN due
time have said that Texas has already been provided
for She has had more liberal grant OF land Than any
other State possibly receive But do no, want to go
into that discussion again II is all over. II has been
settled She has got the land made my speech against
il the time acting upon II. III the gentleman
thinks that Texas had title TO New Mexico, let him OIL
fer TO amend my amendment. and bring her ~ TO share
with the old States II the Senate concur with him, II IS
well shall not complain. Sir think II obvious thal
the genlemans objection 10 partial distribution is a
mere makeweigh thrown IN to-prevent any distribution
at all.
II there is anything in the argument, the gentleman
might Justly say, You do nothing until Utah comes in,
unul New Mexico comes in until Oregon comes in; you
must wait until all the Territories are States before any
division can be made.
Well sir let us consider another idea OF the senator
lie says that my amendment adopts the rule OF The ede.
raj population. That is true and with what rule does
he propose TO substitute mine de takes the areas OF
the several States, and insists, ii division OF the lands
must be made, ii should be done in proportion to the
number of square miles or townships in State This
other large sparselypopnated new States, but u works
very badly for the little States of Delaware and Rhode
Island. The gentleman is opposed TO any division but
must be made then square miles, and not people, are
TO furnish the rule OF distribution Such he insists should
be the ule because in granting the sixteenth section Tor
school purposes the donation was IN proportion to the
number oil townships. We can readily imagine Mr. Pres
iden that the confederation in setting apart portion oil
the public lands for the OF schools situated in an I'M
explored wilderness desired to secure something oil value
TO the people they designed TO benefit Ii the township
was fertile, il would be densely populated and the re-
served sixteenth section would bear value proportion
TO the population. II the township was sterile, it
would be hny populated. and the value OF the reserved
section would also be in proportion to the population
Thus, if we regard the basis upon which we can well
imagine these grants were originally made, we can see
very clearly that the value OF the thing granted was in
proportion the number of persons 10 be benefited But
the gentleman, overlooking the reason OF the rule thinks
was founded on square Mules and hence he cams IN
any future division OF the public domain, share Tor his
State proporonate 10 her Such rule can never be
allowed until il is proved that dirty acres are our con-
stituehts instead OF men.
understand my friend to that there was no evidence
that population had been made the rule OF ds,ribu
ing favors among the States Why sir, he is mistaken
In the of lsIl distributing the proceeds of the public
lands, federal population made the rue and, with
view 10 prospective population and faster increase OF the
States they allowed by that act ten per cent
the net proceeds of all future sales of lands within
their respective boundaries. In recent communication
from the Commissioner OF the General Land Office, am
informed that the five, three and two per cent funds TO
which the twelve land States entitled under
Congress amounted
3lst day OF December 1850 all Of which has been paid
10 them except Sl3s732. From the same source |
learn that the ten per cent. allowed by the act OF
ls4l amounted, on the 3lst OF December, 1850, 10
1926, 097
My friend also says--and this is his last argument
shall nocethat in proceeding upon the idea OF distrb-
uiing according to population depart from the original
grants made by Virginia That grant contemplated the
disposition Of the lands for the benefit OF the States ac
cordDg TO their contributions IN support OF the govern
men, under the rules prescribed by the articles OF con-
federation Then he says that you cannot ascertain now
what that Isl you cannot ascertain, under the tariff, how
much each State contributes; and, because there is
utter lmpossibiy 10 ascertain this he will not execute
the trust created by the deed OF cesson. admit sir,
that there is possibility of ascealnng the precise
which each individual which each State pays TO sup
port the general government under present system OF
taxation But, conceding all that, do not think il fol-
that we ought not 10 execute the trust because our
knowledge is imperfect The constitution says in Teler
taxation, that il shall be imposed according TO the
rule contained IN my amendment The rule OF taxation
IS the federal population Although we cannot tell with
TO the federal treasury by the people OF each State, may
not, with moral certainty, approximate the TRUTH Is
il not Just and reasonable TO act upon the idea that the
people OF the different States consume duiiable goods
very nearly in proportion TO their federal numbers You
at this exactly; but, depend
upon consumption, that a rational calculation DO
understand the deed Of cession prescribing rule
of distribution among the States which to be
altered. On the contrary, il is manifest from the deed
Itself that the distribution was to be made according to
the amount OF paid by the States to support the
general government Now, as by our present conslitu.
lion the rule OF taxation and federal numbers identical,
that by the change OF government has become the proper
rule for distributing the lands in execution oil the trust
have thus noticed the prominent points in my friends
Argument have left the minor points untouched fore
seeing that II commented on the whole OF them there
would be end TO my speech which has already been
greatly protracted beyond my intention Oae two gen.
eral remarks and am done
The people OF all the States in reference to the acqu
slon OF new territories by purchase and by war, have
contributed their proportion Of blood and money. can
say in behalf OF the people Of my revered State, that
there is battlefield, North South, in any war,
upon which they have not poured out their blood To
them u will be matter oil deep regtet, II nothing worse
10 national acquisitions, vast they are, valuable
they are parceed out by the action OF this
for the benefit OF the States the entire exclusion
OF the old States II does become the nation Con-
gess 10 administer this great fund upon partial pnnc
Piles, and thus dssasfy any portion OF the people OF this
country You ought 10 administer H. IL possible 10
give 10y and gladness TO The whole. The way 10 do
II is PLAN the way 10 do il is 10 follow past example
they way to do II is TO adopt my amendment; and
when new States are hereafter admitted into the Union
extend the beraity TO them which has been shown
TO the new States already members OF this glorious Union
One remark TO the representatives OF the new States
ynu lat bul