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YA]\DALIA WHIG
.I,V» ILLINOIS INTELLIGENCER.
BY MEINRAD GREINER.] WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 1832. [NEW SERIES. VOL. I—NO. V
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BY AUTHORITY•
’ "Taws of tiie united states,
PASSED AT THE FIRST SESSION OF THE TWENTY
- SECOND CONGRESS.
[Puulic No. lO.J
AN ACT for the adjustment and settlement of the
claims of the State of South Carolina ngniost the
United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represen
tatives of tho United States of America in Congress as
sei. bleil, That the proper accounting officers of the
Treasury be, and they are hereby, authorised and di
rected to liquidate and settle the claim of the State of
South Carolina against the United States for interest
upon money actually expended by her for military stores
for the use and benefit of the United States, and on ac
count of her militia, whilst in the service of the United
Statos, during the late war with Great Britain; the
money so expended having been drawn by the State
from a fund upon which she was then receiving interest.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That, in ascertain
ing the amount of interest to be paid, as aforesaid to the
State of South Carolina, interest shall be computed up
on sums expended by the State for the use and benefit of
the United States, as aforesaid, and which have been,
or shall be repaid to South Carolina by the United States.
Sec. 3. And be it farther enacted, That the following
claims of the State of South Carolina against the Unit
ed States, which have been heretofore disallowed, in
consequence of their not coining within the regulations
of the Government, shall be adjusted and settled, that
** to say:
First. The cost of certain cannon-balls purchased or
procured by the said State for her military defence dur
ing the late war, and rejected by the inspecting officers
of the United States, in consequence of their not being
conformable to the standard fixed by tbe Department of
War : Provided, That the balls so rejected shall belong
to the United States.
Second. The amount paid by the State of South
Carolina for the transportation of military stores, and
of her troops, in the service of the United States, ns
aforesaid, or recognized by them as having been called
out for that purpose, over and above the number of wag
ons allowed to each regiment in the army of the United
States. , . A,
Third. The pay or compensation allowed by the
said Slate to the Paymaster aad Commissary General,
and other staff officers, whilst they were, respectively
employed in making or superintending disbursments for
the militia in the service of the United States, as afore
said.
Fourth. The sum of seven thousand five hundred
dollars, for blankets purchased by the State for the use
of a portion of her militia whilst in the service of the
United States. ....
Fifth. The value of the present contract price nf the
muskets purchased or procured by the State of South
Carolina, for her militia, during the late war, when in
the servico of the United States: Provided, That the
said muskets shall become the property o( the United
States: and Provided also, That any part of the said
amount may be received in arms at the present contract
FrSec. 4. And bo it further enacted, That the several
items hereby allowed, and the amount of interest, as
aforesaid, shall, when ascertained, he paid out of any
money in the Troasury, not otherwise appropriated.
3 A. STEVENSON,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
J. C. CALHOUN,
Vice President of the United States,
and President of the Senate.
Approved, March 22, 1832.
^ ANDREW JACKSON.
[Public No. 11.]
AN ACT to amend the several acts establishing a Ter
ritorial Government in Florida.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represen
tatives of the United States of America in Congress as
sembled, That there shall be elected one member of the
Legislative Council in the Territory of Florida, from
the counties of Madison and Hamilton; and one from
the county of Walton in said Territory.
Approved, March 22, 1832.
CLAY’S SPEECH,
IN DEFENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM.
February 2d, 3d and 4th.
[Continued.]
The subject of the American System was
brought up in 1820, by the bill reported by
the Chairman of the Committee of Manufac
tures, now a member of the bench of the Su
preme Court of the United States, and the
bill which they passed was defeated in the
Senate. It was revived in 1824, the whole
ground carefully and deliberately explored,
and the bill, then introduced, receiving all
•he sanctions of the constitution, became the
law of the land. An amendment of the sys
tim was proposed in 1828, to the history of
which I refer with no agreeable recollections.
The bill of that year, in some ol its provisions,
was framed on principles directly adverse to
the declared wishes of the friends of the pol
icy of protection. I have heard (without
j niching for the fact) that it was so framed,
upon the advise of a prominent citizen, now
abroad, with the view of ultimately defeating
the bill, and with assurances that, being alto
gether unacceptable to the friends of the A
merican System, the bill would be lost. Be
that as it may, the most exceptionable features
of the bill were stamped upon it, against the
earnest remonstrances of the friends of the
system, by the voles of Southern members,
upon a principle, I think, as unsound in legis
lation as it is reprehensible in ethics. The
bill was passed, notwithstanding, it having
been deemed better to take the bad along with
the good it contained, than reject it altogether.
Subsequent legislation has corrected very
much (tie error then perpretrated, but still
that measure is vehemently denounced by
gentlemen who contributed to make it what it
was.
Thus, sir, has this great system of protec
tion been gradually built, stone upon stone,
and step by step, from the 4th of July, 1780,
down to (he present period. In every stage
of its progress it has received the deliberate
sanction of Congress. A vast majority of the
people of the United States has approved,
and continues to approve it. Every Chief
Magistrate of the United Slates, from Wash
ington to the present, in some form or other,
has given to it the authority of his name, and
however the opinions of the existing President
are interpreted South of Mason’s and Dixon’s
line on the North they* are, at least, understood
to favor the establishment ef a Judicious tar
iff.
The question, therefore, which we are call
ed upon to determine, is not whether we shall
establish anew and doubtful system of policy,
just proposed, and for the first time presented
to our consideration; hut whether we shall
break down and destroy a long established
system, patiently and carefully built up, and
sanctioned, during a series of years, again and
again, by the nation and its highest and most
r vered authorities. And are we not bound
deliberately to consider whether we can pro
ceed to this work of destruction without avi
olation of the public faith! The people of
the United States have justly supposed that
the policy of protecting their industry, against
foreign legislation and foreign industry, was
fully settled, not by a single act, but by repea
ted and deliberate acts of Government, per
formed at distant and frequent intervals. In
full confidence that the policy was firmly and
unchangeably fixed, thousands upon thousands
have invested their capital purchased a vast
amount of real and other estate, made perma
nent establishments, and accommodated their
industry. Can we expose to utter and irre
trievable ruin this countless multitude, without
justly incurring the reproach of violating the
national faith?
I shall not discuss the constitutional ques
tion. Without meaning any disrespect to
those who raise it, if it be debateable, it has
been sufficiently debated. Thu gentleman
frcm South Carolina suffered it to fall uunotiC
ed from his budget; and it was not until after
he had closed his speech and resumed his seat,
that it occurred to him that he had forgotten
it, when he again addressed the Senate, and,
by a sort of protestation against any conclusion
from his silence, put forth the objection.—
The recent Free trade Couventiu at Phila
delphia, it is well known, was divided on the
question, and although the topic is noticed in
their address to the public, they do not avow
their own belief that the American System
is unconstitutional, but represent that such is
the opinion of respectable portions of the A
merican People. Another address to the Peo
ple of the United States, from a high source,
during the past year, treating this subject,
does not assert the opinion of the dislinguistied
author, but states that of others to be that it
is unconstitutional. From which 1 infer that
he did net, himself believe it unconstitution
al.
[Here the Vice President interposed, and
remarked that, if the Senator from Kentucky
allued to him, he must say that his opinion
was, that the measure was unconstitutional.]
When, sir, I contended with you, side bv
side, and with perhaps less zeal than you ex
hibited, in 1816, 1 did not understand you then
to consider the policy forbidden by the consti
tution.
[The Vice President again interposed, and
said that the constitutional question was not
debated at that time, and that he had never
expressed an opinion contrary to that now in
timated.]
1 give way with pleasure to these expiana
tions, which I hope will always be made when
I say any thing bearing on the individual opin
ions of the Chair. I know the delicacy ol
the position and sympathise with the incum
bent, whoever he may be. It is true the ques
lion was not debated in 18)6; and why not?
Beeause it was not debatable; it was then be
lieved not fairly to arise. It never has been
made, as a distinct, substantial, and leading
point of objection. It never was made until
the discussion of the tariff of 1824,* when it
was rather hinted at, as against the spirit of
the constitution, than formally announced, as
being contrary to the provisions of that instru
ment. What was not dreamt of before, or in,
1816, and scarcely thought of in 1824, is now
made, by excited imaginations, to assume the
imposing form of a serious constitutional bar
rier.
Such are the orrigin, duration, extent, and
sanctions of the policy which we are now call
ed upon to subvert. Its beneficial effects, a]
though they may vary in degree, have been
felt in all parts of the Union. To none, I veri
ly believe, has it been prejudicial. To the
North, every where, testimonies are borne of
the high prosperity which it has diffused.—
There, all branches of industry are animated
and flourishing. Commerce, foreign and do
mestic, active; cities and towns springing up.
enlarging and beautifying; navigation fully
and profitably employed, and the whole face
of the country smiling with improvement,
cherfulness, and abundance. The gentleman
from South Carolina has supposed that we, m
the West, derive no advantages from this sys
tern. He is mistaken. Let him visit us, ar.d
he will find, from the head of La Belle Ri
viere, at Pittsburg, to America, at its rnoulb.
the most rapid and gratifying advances. He
will behold Pittsburgh itself. Wheeling, Ports
mouth, Maysville, Cincinnati, Louisville, and
numerous other towns, lining and ornamenting
the banks of that noble river, daily extending
their limits, and prosecuting, with the greatest
spirit and profit, numerous branches of the
manufacturing and mechanic arts. If he will
go into the interior, in the State of Ohio, he
will there pereeive the most astonishing pro
gress in agriculture, in the useful arts, and to
all the improvements to which they both di
rectly conduce. Then let him cross over into
mv own, mv favorite State, and contemplate
the spectacle which is there exhibited. He
will perceive numerous villages, not large, but
neat, thriving, and some of them higly orna
mented; many manufactories of lump, cotton,
wool, and other articles. In various parts of
the country, and especially in the Elkhorn
region, an endless succession of natural parks;
the forrest thinned; fallen trees and under
growth cleared away; large herds and flocks
feeding on luxuriant grasses: and interspersed
with comfortable, sometimes elegant mansions,
surrounded by extensive lawns. The honor
able gentleman trom south Carolina says. that,
a profitable trade was carried on from the
West, through tne Seleuda g.-p, in mules, hor
ses, other live stock, which has been cheeked
by the operation of the tariff. It is true that
«uch a trade was carried on between Kenturky
and South Carolina, mutually beneficial to
both parties; but several veers ago, resolutions,
at popular meetings, in Carolina, were adop
ted, not to purchase the produce of Kentucky','
by wav of punishment for her attachment toj
the taiiff They must have supposed us as
stupid as the sires of one of the descriptions
of the stock, of which that trade consisted,
if they imagined that their resolutions would
affect our principles. Our drovers cracked
their whips, blew their homes, and passed the
Seleuda gap, to other markets, where bettpr
humors existed, and equal or greater profits
were made. I have heard of your successor
in the House of Representatives, Mr. Presi
dent, this anecdote; that he joined in the a
dnption of those resolutions, but when, about
Christmas, he applied to one of his South Car
olina neighbors to purchase the regular sup
ply of pork, for the ensuing year, he found
that he had to give two prices for it; and he
declared if (hat were the patriotism on which
the resolutions were passed, he would not con
form to them; and, in point of fact,laid in his
annual stock of pork by purchase from the
first passing Kentucky drover. That trade,
mow partially resumed, was maintained hv
Western productions, on the one side, and
Carolina money on the other. From that con
dition of it, the gentleman from South Caroli
na might have drawn his conclusion, that an
advantageous trade may exist, although one
#Mr. Clay lias since been reminded that the objection,
in the smne way, was firet urged in the itebate of t P-20
of cue parties to it pays in specie lor t.ie pro
ductions which he purchases from the other;
and, consequently, that it does not follow, if
we did not purchase British fabrics, that it
might not be the interest of England to pur
chase our raw material of cotton. The Ken
tucky drover received South Carolina specie,
or, taking bills, of the evidences of deposite
in the banks, carried these some, and dispos
ing of them to the merchant, he brought out
goods, of foreign or domestic manufacture, in
return. Such is the circuitocs nature of trade
and remittance, which no nation understands
better than Great Britain.
Nor has the system, which has been the pa
rent source of so much benefit to other parts
of the Union, proved injurious to the cotton
growing country. I cannot speak of South
Carolina itself, where I have never been, with
so much certainty; but in other portions of
the Union in which cotton is grown, espeeial
those bordering on the Mississippi, I can con
fidently speak, /f cotton planting is less prof
itable than it was, that is tne result of increas
ed production; but I believe it to he still the
most profitable investment of capital of any
branch of business in the United States. And
if a committe were raised, with power to send
for persons and papers, I take upon myself to
say, that such would be the result ol the in
quiry. In Kentucky, I know many individuals
who have thei- Cotton plantations below, and
retain their residence in that State, where
they remain diring the sickly season; and they
are all, I believe, without exception, doing
well. Others tempted by their success, arc
constantly engaging in the business, whilst
scarcely any come from the cotton region to
engage in wesern agriculture. A friend, now
in my eye, a member of this body, upon a cap
ital of less tlan seventy thousand dollars, in
vested in a limitation and slaves, made, the
year before hst, sixteen thousand dollars. A
member of lie other House, I understand,
who, without removing himself, sent some of
nis slaves to Mississippi, made, last year, about
twenty per cmt. Two friends of mine, in the
latter State, vliose annual income is from liiir
ty to sixty thiusand dollars, being desirous to
curtail their tusihess, have offered estates for
sale, which they are willing to show, by regu
lar vouchers o’ receipt and imbursement, yield
eighteen per rent, per annum. One of my
most opulent acquaintances, in a county ad
joining to that in wlich 1 reside, having mar
ried in Georgia, lias derived a large portion
of his wealth front a cotton estate their situn
ted.
The loss of the tonage ofCharleston, which
has been dwelt on, dues not proceed from tin
tariff; it never had a large amount,and it lias
not been able to retain what it had, in conse
quence of the operation of the principle ol
free trade on its navigation. Its tonage has
gone to the more enterprising and adventur
>us tars of the Northern States, with whom
those of the city of Charleston could not
maintain a successful competition, in the iree
dom of the coasting trade existing between
llie different parts of the Union. That this
must be the true cause, is demonstrated by the
tact, that, however it may be wilh the port of
Charleston, our coasting tonage, generally, is
constantly increasing. As to the foraign ton
age, about one half of that which is engaged
in the direct trade between Charleston aud
Great Britain, is English; proving that the
tonage of Charleston cannot maintain itself in
a competition, under the free and equal navi
gation secured by our treaty with that Pow
or.
When gentlemen have succeeded in their
design of an immediate or gradual destruction
of the American System, what is their substi
tute? Free trade! Free trade? The call
for Free trade, is as unavailing as the cry of
a spoiled child, in its nurse's arms, tor the
moon or stars that glitter in the firmament of
heaven. It never has existed; it never can
exist. Trade implies, at least, two parties.—
To be free, it should be fair, equal aud recip
roral. But if we throw our ports open to the
admission of loreign productions, free ol all
duly, what ports, of any otleer foreign nation,
shall we find open to the free admission of our
surplus produce? We may break down all
barriers to free trade, on our part, but the
work will not be complete until foreign pow
ers shall have removed theirs. There would
be freedom on one side, and restrictions, pro
hibitions, and exclusions on the other. The
bolts, and the bars, and chains, of all otliei
nations, will remain undisturbed. Il is indeed
possible, that our industry and commerce
would accommodate themselves to this one
qual and unjust state of tilings: for, such is
the flexibility of our nature, that it bends itself
to all circumstances. The wretched prisoner,
incarcerated in a goul, after a long time, he
comes reconciled to his solitude, and regularly
notches down the passing da)s of his confine
ment.
Gentlemen deceive themselves. It is not free
trade that they are recommending to our accep
tance. Ii is, in effect, the British colonial sys
tem that we are invited to adopt; and, if their
policy prevail, it will lead, substantially, to the
'■ecolonieation of these Slates, under the commer
cial dominion of Great Britain. And whom do
we ffnd some of tin- principle supp -i-ters, out of
Congress, of this foreign system? Mr. President.
there are some foreigners who always remain
exortics, and never become natualizcd in our
country; whilst,happily, there are many others
who readily attach themselves to our principles
and our institutions. The honest, patient, and
industrious German, readily unites with our peo
ple, establishes himself upon some of our fat land,
fills his capacious barn, and enjovs, in tranquili
ty, the abundant fruits which his diligence gath
ers around him, always ready to fly to the stand
ard of his adopted country, or of its laws, when
called by the duties of patriotism. The gay the
versatile, the Philosophic Frenchman, accommo
dating himself cheerfully to all the vicissitudes
of life, incorporates himself, without difficulty, in
our society. But, of all foreigners, none amal
gamate ihemselves so quickly with eur people as
the natives of the Emerald Isle. In some ofthe
visions which have passed through my imagina
tion, I have supposed that Ireland was,originally,
part and parcel of this continent, and that by
some extraordinary convulsion of mu,ire, It was
torn from America', anu, uniting across the ocean,
was placed in the unfortunate vicinity of Great
Britain. The same openheartedness; the same
generous hospitality; the same careless and un
calculating indifference about human life, charac
terise the inhabitants of both countries. K u
tuckv has been sometimes called the Irelan of
America. And I have no doubt that if the cur
rent of the emigration were reversed, and set
from America upon the shores of Europe, instead
of bearing from Europe to America, every Amer
ican emigrant would there find, as every Irish em
igrant here finds, a hearty welcome and a happy
home!
Hut, Sir, the gentleman to whom lam about
to allude, although longa resident of this country,
has no feelings, no attachments, no sympathies,
no principles, in common with our People. Near
fifty years ago, Pennsylvania took him to her
bosom, and wanned, and cherished, and honored
him; and Imw does he manifest his gratitude?
By aiming a vital blow at a system endeared to
her by a thorough conviction that it is indispens
able to her prosperity. Ho has filled at hone
and abroad, some of the highest offices under
this Government, during thirty years, and ho is
still al heart an alien. The authority of his name
has been invoked, and the labors of his pen, in
the form of a memorial to Congress, have I ■ n
engaged to overthrow the American system d
■ o substitute the foreign. Go home to vour na
ive Europe, and '.here inculcate, upon her sove
reigns your Utopian doctrines of free trade, a d
when you have prevailed upon them ‘o unseal
heir ports, and freely admit the produce of P ti
-vlvanin, and other States, come back, an : we
shall lie prepared to become converts, an ad pt
your faith.
A Mr. Sarchet also makes no inconsiderable
figure in the common attack upon our system.
1 do not know the man, but I understand h is an
unnaturalized emigrant from lie Island ofG ern
sov, situated in the channel which divides France
.'.nd England. The principal business of the in
habitants is that of driving a contraband trade
with the opposite shores, and Mr. S;.r-'het. e lo
cated in that schoid, is. I have been told, chiefly
engaged in employing his wits to elude the .pe
ration of our revenue laws, by introducing arti
cles at less rates of duty than thev are ju-tly
hnrgeable with, which he effects by vary ing their
denominations, or slightly changing tltci, ll.r.'s.
This man, at a former session of the Senate, cau
sed to be presented a memorial signed liv some
150 pretended workers in iron. Of these, a gen
tleman made a careful inquiry and examination,
and lie ascertained that there were only about ten
of the denomination represented; the »est were
avern keepers, porters, merchant’s clerks, hack
ney coachmen,&,c. I have the most respectable
authority, in black and white, for this statement.
[Here Gen H i vne asked who? and was he a
manufacturer? Mr. Clay replied, Col. Murray,
uf New York, a gentleman of the highest stand
ing for honor, probity, and veracity; that he did
not know whether he was a inn aiifaclurer or not,
but the gentleman might take him as one.*]
Whether Mr. Sarchet got up the late petition
presented to the Senate, from the journeymen
tailors of Philadelphia, or not, I do not know.
Bu1 I should not be surprised if it were a move
ment of bis, and if we should find that he has
cabbaged from other classes of society to swell
on the number of signatures.
To the facts manufactured by Mr. Sarchet*,
and the theories of Mr. Gallatin, there vas yet
wanting one circumstance to recommend them to
a favorable consideration, and that was the au
thority of some high name. There was n- ’
cultv in obtaining one from a British reaosii t v.
I he honorable gentleman has cireil a speech ot
my L»rd Goderich, addressed to the British Par
liament, in favor of free trade, and f.ll of deep
regret that old England could not possibly con
form her practice in rigorous restriction and ex
clusions, to her liberal doctrines of unfettered
commerce, so earnestly roc >mmended to foreign
Powers. Sir, said Mr. C. 1 know mv Lard God
erich very well, although my acquaintance with
him was prior, to his being summoned to the Brit
ish Heuse of Peers. Wo both signed the con
vention betw“en the United Suite* and Great
Britain of 1815. He is an honorable man, frank,
possessing business, but ordinary talents, ab ait
the stature and complexion of the honorable gen
tleinau from South Carolina, a few years older
than he, and even drop of blood running in his
veins being pure and unadulterated Auglo-Saxon
blood. If he were to live to the age ot Methuse
lah, he could not make a speech ot such ability
and eloquence as that which the gentleman from
Sou'll Carolina recently delivered to the Senate
and there would be much more fitness in my
* Mr. Clay subsequently understood that Col. M«fl>
ray was a merchant*