Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1853-03-23
REMARKS OF MR. BUTLER OF SO. Ca, ON TIE
ASSUMPTION OF TIE DEBT OF TEXAS.

Gl Insellipenccr, OF Monday last, "vct been able
10 rubbish the elaborate debate which took pl. &c
in the Senate during the recent session on the
subject of the payment Of the Texas creditors
lut we are induced 10 give To-day Il short speech
ef Mr. Senator Butler, of Sou,h Carolina as one
qualified and disposed to shed light and wise
counsel on n question in which many of our
readers arc Interested
In the Senate, March l. 1853, SIR Butler said
] know that this is not = time at which can cx-
pcct the attention ofthc Senate; but allow me to
make two or three simple propositions, and
shall make them as distinctly as can. The
honorable Senator from Delaware says the u.
States were rot liable primarily to the creditors
OF Texas, and that the United States afc under
no obligation TO those creditors, unless they have
assumed that liability by the boundary act
What prorosilion Have the United States
become underwriters to pay liabilities after they
We're incurred, when they were not originally
liable? Does any body believe any such thing
Mr.. Bayard. did not state that the United
States were bound under the boundary act. On
the contrary, said their only obligation in refer
cnce 10 the debt existed under the boundary
act cndcavorcd to define what that WAS, but
] did not contend that it WAS an obligation To
pay the debts.
Mr. Butler l understood my friend from
Delaware distinctly 10 have laid down the pro-
position have attributed 10 him; but, modified
us it even is Ly his explanation, it does not mend
essentially the erroneous rostulatc ;llat The
United States was originally or are now. liable
for The public debt of Texas even under the
boundary act. All that she is responsible for is
10 nav the amount 10 Texas of the purchase
money for tie territory ceded to the United
tl,nt ,cf NJ 20 q
creditors of Texas signing their releases; and
inis amount we are bound to pay 10 Texas. and
moi TO her creditors.
Was the land too, purchased to pay debt
for which the United States was originally la
bic? Was there ever proposition involving
the same amount Of absurdity? No, the land
was purchased in Il crisis of public excitement
10 buy the peace 'of.thc country. In the opinion
sS many, aud those Of good opportunity Of judg-
ing; the land was wholly worthless 10 u<. Sir
the payment of The public debt of Texas had TO
more TO do with it than clri$tianizng tic Hot
ientots. 1t was to avert collision Which might
have led TO bloody civil war, rs it WAS alleged
and believed by others
deny positively and uncquivoral!y that the
Government of the United States is liable for
the Texas debt. The sovereignty of the State
cf fTexas uns not merged into the sovereignty
of the United States by the act Of annexation
She was left in possession Of all the attributes
of sovereign State, saving and excepting the
exercise of some of its faculties she had dcIega-
led TO the United States. She retained her public
domain. She retained the power of direct or
internal taxes abundantly and more than :sutii.
cient TO paw her public debt. As sovereign,
she hadsa right to come into th: Union on The
terms Of the compact, which made it necessary
for her TO crde the power Of lcvying imports or
indirect taxes ut her custom house. She had Il
r:rht to select one of the sources "f her public
revenue as the abiding and available source she
had pledged for The payment of her public debt:
TO wit: her revenue arising from The sale OF her
public land. She confirmed this selection in The
treaty of annexation, and entered into solemn
stimulation that this debt should be paid ont of
he proceeds of their sale, and that the United
States should never be called on for the pay
rcnt of her debt. The case cited by tie gentle
man from Maryland, Of the assumption by Fred
crick Of Prussia Of the public debt of Si!esia, has
not the rcmo;cst analogy 10 The issue before us.
Siesia was y conquered province by the act
of her forci5Ic incorporation into the Kingdom
q; Prussia size was b2rett Of every attribute OF
sovereignty. She had no power to levy taxes,
r;isc rcvenuc. OF 10 disburSc. Independently ot
lac Pied re Of her public faith, which covers every
resource for paving her deb. Texas had al and
every one Of her rrven1rs left, save one, npd
,,,at sl,. had to surrender in becoming member
# III. Coalcdrracy Sir, the creditors OF Texas
,nus. look to these sources of revenue which
Texas his lrf, far t%cir payment. TO enable
her to do this We have paid ten nj .o!s. Be.
,des portion Of Lad, and the worse portion
loo. they have | lrarn, o"c hundred and twenty
millions Of acres lcf. 10 pay the residue Of the
Grb;.
In the face of these facts 7 class Of her public
creditors, whom she happens t" think are not
cnti;pd.to the same measure OF justice that the
rest are, come forward here with camourous
and vorifcrous avaricp, and ask us 10 pay three
millions and :. half more, on the exceedingly
modest p CT that by paving Texas len millions
for SONS. millions ui acres of worthless lard You
have acknowledged vour liability for her whole
debt. Sir. shall think the modest assurance OF
Il sprculator, or Il confederation of brokers, Is
oui,c on par with their known acutencSs
and power Of combining when other people
sleep. assure You that there is nothing il the
celebrated farce of :. Raising the Wind" cqaal
10 this.
Il must. moreover, bc rccollectcd that this ap-
plica.ion. characterized by so mach dillidcnre
was preferred The very year after these S lO,000'
600 were voted. Texas now has IN her treasury
and in that of the United States, about So,OOO,.
600 to pay her debts and about one hundred
and twenty millions of acres OF land. said to b'
of the finest quality in the wor!d-and that, too
10 pay 4 debt of SS,30O00O! Might we no!
with all becoming humility, ask these kind geli
tlemen before they make this terrible onslaught
on our patience, 10 try that OF Texas! M, sir
they are afraid Of finding atough customer there
and by most luminous cXcgcsis of finding al
easy one here Besides, before preferring thi:
most extraordinary application on the good na
turc of Congress, ought they not to have showr
MS that, by the same compact and organized
confederation, they had appeared before The
Legislature of Texas? 1t is true that this ap
rlicaton is made under the artlmelical alchemy
HAT SS,3OO,Oo0 Of principal to redeem at the
expiration of fourteen years are only equal tt
S5O0O,000
But there is one act Of justice which Congress
is bound to do the creditors Of Texas, in accor
dance with the amendments OF my friend from
Virginia, (Mr. Mason.) 1t cannot be withheld
without an oppression the most fragrant and un
feeling, which is, to allow such OF the creditor
rs are willing to take the settlement Texas OF
fers them to release the United States and taxi
their money.
Texas, in the exercise of her power as a soy
creign, has thought proper, in fixing and dehnin!
her debt, that she would return 10 each class 0
the holders of her debt the amount she received
ON each certificate of stock, with the intercs
called for OIL The face of the obligation. Whert
she received par she pays par, and so down It
riuety. fftv, thirty, and twenty cents on tn