Washington sentinel., 1854-06-01

millions of dollars, for which the public do
main has been solemnly pledged; and, further
that the Committee of Ways and Means are
now engaged in revising the tariff, and design
| reducing the duties to the wants of the gov
ernment; Of course, if the land fund is distri-
buted, it win prevent such reduction OF the
taxes as might otherwise be made, much to the
injury of the southern States, as / shall pres
emily show by data furnished in the speech Of
my colleague himself !.
/ Although it is not matter pertinent to the
discussion Of this question, / wish to notice
what my colleague has said in regard to the
| cost of the public lands, which he puts down at
| $500, 900, ,00O When listened to his speech
| / was astonished ut the statement, and Curious
/ to know how he made out the figures. BY an
examination of the table contained in his
/ printed speech, it is obvious to me that he
| could have made the sum twice as large, had
/ he been so inclined. But here is the state
ment, and propose now to analyze it.
| First, among the items that cannot properly
be charged to the cost of the public lands is that
Of $ll, ,S5l, ,12l interest on the amount paid for
! Louisiana and Florida, and the amount paid
| Georgia, which should be deducted, for the
twofod reason, that the government takes no
account Of interest, and because no credit is
| given on the other side of the account for in
terest on the sum of $l38,000,0O0, which my
colleague admits has been received for lands
already sold.
Next come the two items, amounting to
$l02, 1866 for extinguishing Indian titles.
Now / find by examining the report of the
! Commissioner Of the General Land Office, that
| the amount paid on this account, up to January,
| 1850, one year later than my friends account is
madeup to, is set down at $35, ,589,566. Herethen
| is small mistake of 66,599,099, which should
also be deducted. Then we have $lS,253,O64
for army expenses. By what correct principle
this is made part of the cost of the public
lands, l cannot imagine; at whatever cost it
| may have been-and / can hardly believe it
amounted to $4,50O,0O0 annually--this force
has been kept up for the protection of our citi-
| zens in the Territories and you might with
equal propriety charge the expenses of oil
your territorial governments to the cost Of the
public lands. And next, to cap the climax,
my colleague has put down the snug little
| figure of $2l7, 100000 for the war with Mexi-
CO! / am only surprised that he did not
| add the cost Of the revolutionary war, and that
of 1872! / shall not enter into any argument
here to show why the expenses of a foreign
war, entered into for the protection Of Ameri-
can rights, and in defence Of the national
honor, whose immediate cause was the inva-
sion of our Territory, the pollution Of our soil
by the hostile foot Of the foreign foe and the
shedding the blood of our people, should not
be charged as o portion of the cost of the pub
lie lands should feel that was trifing with
the committee, and will only add further, that
the total cost of the whole public domain, as
| given by the Commissioner Of the General
Land office, amounts to the sup Of SCI, ,l2l,7l7,
making q general average of about fourteen
cents per acre and to reimburse themselves
/ for this expense thus incurred, the States now
i have common interest in this immense do
main, which amounts to nearly fifteen hundred
million of acres, embracing territory sufficient
to make two or three mighty empires. Nor
should omit to mention that the government
has already received, as my colleague says,
| $l38 100000, more than twice the whole cost
Of the lands which has gone into the treasury,
and North Carolina and the other States have
been benefited by it, according to their usual
proportions in the general charge and expen-
diture.n
All that my friend has said, then, in relation
to the cost of the public lands, and the pro-
portion which North Carolina has contributed
| which he has over-estimated, as he based his
calculation upon the untenable assumption
that North Carolina exports, in the direct ratio
of her slave population, compared with the
slave population of Louisiana, Alabama, and
Mississippi and the other planting States
amounts to nothing at all, and has no bearing
whatever upon the real question at issue. As,
however, he has made a calculation to show
how much North Carolina has paid as her pro-
| portion, by which he arrives at the conclusion
that she has been taxed to the amount ot
$15094,Ol6, without ever having been com
pensated therefor, which of course is altogether
\ . r x.l.z Al
| that North Carolina, in common with all the
other States has received more than she has
paid on account Of the public lands. According
to the report Of the Secretary of the Interior,
there has been paid into the treasury, up to
the 30th June, 1853, from the sales of the pub
| lie la, ds, over and above their total cost,
| S53,289,465. North Carolina has thereby been
| benefited by an exemption from taxation, at
least in the proportion of her representation
on this floor, being clear gain to her Of
81 l,8l4, 1924.
In this connexion, let me correct very COM
mon error which prevails that is, that the gen.
eral government derived a great pecuniary
advantage from the cession made by North
Carolina. do not mean to underrate the
magnanimity of that act. No, sir; North Car.
olina, with patriotism that entities her to ever
lasting honor, offered up upon the altar Of
union her whole domain now constituting the
State of Tennessee. Actuated by noble de-
sire to elevate the public credit, promote har-
mony, and cement the bonds Of union among
the States she offered it up freely, and gener.
Gus and patriotic was the act. But the general
government never realized any pecuniary ad-
vantage from the cession, as will appear from
statement have here obtained from the
Land Office.
But while my colleague admits that the
policy which / advocate would be wise and
ropercould it be carried out, he urges that "the
lands have been, and in all probability will con-
tinue to be, squandered among the new States,
while the old States will get nothing; !" and in
proof of this declaration, he says that one hum
dred and twenty-nine millions Of acres Of the
public lands have been gioen, actually giren to
the new States, and yet the old States have re-
ceired nothing, either in the way of lands or
proceeds arising from the sales thereof as he
undertakes to show by the table, which pro-
pose to examine. Why, sir, am utterly
amazed that my friend should have been so
thoughtless and inconsiderate as to make any
such assertion. In another part of his speech