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SPEECH 
 
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 J. L. M. CURRY, OF ALABAMA, 
 
 OK 11(11 
 
 BILL GRANTING PENSIONS TO THE SOLDIERS 
 OF THE WAR OF 1812. 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, APRIL 27, 1S38. 
 
 The House being in Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union Mr 
 CUiyVif said: 
 
 Mir. Cjiairmax : I approach lite discussion of this subject with •"-.me reluctance, 
 and a,m sensible of the difficulty and unpleasantness of the ta : To deny a 
 boon Of this kind to those who are pathetically described as the "old soldiers" 
 subjects one's conduct to misconstruction. It is very far from my purpose to 
 derogate from the value of the services of those who fought the "'second war 
 of independence." My impulses and feelings prompt me to the exercise of the 
 largest liberality in their behalf; but impulses and feelings are not safe guides 
 for legislation, and mu-t yield to convictions of duty, springing, not from grati- 
 tude, but from the Constitution, the rights of others, and the state of the treas- 
 ury. " Pathetic duty,'' said Livingston, in discussing this very question, "was 
 a heresy in politics as in morals." 
 
 It is the rule of all governments to grant pensions of some sort In England 
 the King has been regarded as the sole judge of the merit for which pensions 
 are to lie given. The power was conceded to him to furnish rewards for public 
 service, to acknowledge or stimulate merit, and to raise those who had been 
 serving their country above the caprices of fortune. It has been sadly abused 
 to sustain a royal household, to feed a host of parasitic dependents, to tempt 
 and corrupt the opposition, to buy up placemen, and secure political influence. 
 The nation grew restive under these giants of royal favor. A severe and pro- 
 tracted struggle has been waged to require ministerial responsibility for the 
 brstowmetit of this patronage, to reduce and limit the amount of pensions, and 
 secure parliamentary interference. The struggle has been so far successful that 
 all parliamentary interference has been an "interference of restraint." 
 
 Unlike England, in the United States the pension system, instead of being 
 ■ strained, has been enlarged. As the screw, from every revolution, gathers 
 idditional power, so every enlargement of our pension list has but increased 
 
 e demands and augmented the outside pressure. This bill is the most win- 
 
 ehi-nsive of all; the most generous in its recognitions of merit; the most 
 11 liscriminate and princely in the bestowment of its charities. 
 
 To provide for the revolutionary soldiers, different acts of legislation have 
 
 n passed by Congress. At an early period, during the war— as was stated 
 
 us gentleman from New York, (Mr. Fkktox,)— pensions, adequate to tliair 
 
m 
 
 Bupp ort during liJ, or tne conU.^nce ^^e,^^-^,^^ 
 "'those *ho fost a limb, or were --- S /founded and *«*£?££ 
 Subsequently these laws foi the bene ^ ^ of the Revo 
 
 enlarged and explained. In 1818 tll0 - e f , montbg) r longer, at any 
 
 Stion until the end thereof , or ioi >J* t im ot ^^ of red d 
 
 period of the war on the continental '*«£»££ ronl the Country for support, 
 55S^««.»^%™™ n ^LiiC?^S without any; qual.ncat.on 
 were provided for. In 1828 pensions jm g , continental line of 
 
 in debate that these laws could be claimed £ P couid ^ that the e 
 
 the gift of prophecy to ty**#*™» S3 ™" ot *"*^«T«* " I! 
 ..i/in fcvSr of the <u™y f f f ed , £"£ Sifch „,„y not be sa;J .bout tl e 
 
 Tthe Evolution. As before, state J the „ o, .com, ^ ,„„ „„, 
 
 pen ons for revolutionary serv.ee was t bat of AM* ^ ^ „ „ 
 
 Sadnated by the length of service S**JJ3J, tuU pay of b„ rank m the 
 
 E^^'p^^^ 
 
 a m-ivate in the Revolution could ™*"*™ \ , ^ or six months' service $20 
 
 "actWe battle," and who --e not in service b^ Evolutionary soldier who 
 bill they will be entitled to full pennon w . that period 
 
 may have served live months aI >^ I haUlewouh receive nothing. The man 
 been engaged in more than one aet vc ba tie, jWgW£ ^ Uus blU 
 
 & served only three mont hs in tje ^ n °^ b ^ dier w ho served two year,, 
 » £ SMS fee^e h^een the two .rug gles! ^^ 
 
 Jlhagm^^ 
 
 Ira tude, it throws aside restrictions nagmfies, a, ^» me „'ssou s," and 
 
 the riob, livi 
 
and a numerous family ; those who served fire years and those who served 
 three months. lam mistaken. The proposed amendment of my friend from 
 Georgia (Mr. Gartbell,) remindsme there is a distinction. The general and 
 colonels and major and captain, get their forty dollars per month ; the lieutenants 
 their thirlv dollars ; the ensigns, their twenty dollars ; the surgeons, their sixty 
 dollars' the sei-eants. their eleven dollars, while the private, who shouldered 
 his nms'kel bore his knapsack, performed the drudgery, fought the battles, lias 
 his ei<dit dollars per month. It matters not if the common soldier has twelve 
 children, and the officer only one child; the private has penury and want, arid 
 the officer plenty and ease, still this inexorable bill makes the distinction, lho 
 Duke of Cambridge, recently, with noble candor, declared that English prowess 
 and achievements In the Crimean war were due to the common soldier. \* ithout 
 disparaging the gallantry and courage of our noble officers, I can i tnithtulh, 
 affirm, and the experience of the distinguished gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. 
 Quitman) will confirm the assertion, that we owe much of our military glory 
 attd prettigi to the rank and file; and there is no just reason, when the Govern- 
 ment is dispensing its gratuities, and bestowing its chanties, for discriminating 
 offensively and injuriously against the common soldier. It is a fallacy, that the 
 officers encounter more dangers, or possess more patriotism than the privates, 
 or are more concerned for their country's success in time of war. 
 
 The Scriptures commend the wisdom of the man, who, intending to build a 
 tower sitteth down first and counteth the cost to see whether he hath sufficient 
 to finish it. So it is well enough for us, in advance, to count the cost of tins 
 bill, and ascertain the probable annual expenditures under its operation, llie 
 estimate I admit, must be somewhat conjectural ; but the data are sufficient to 
 give proximate certainty. 1 havebeforeme a table, carefully prepared at the Pen- 
 sion Office, making an'estimate of the amount involved in this bill. The esti- 
 mates are based upon a comparison of the force engaged, with the bounty land 
 granted under late laws for such service. The number of survivors entitled to 
 claim the benefits of the proposed pension, and the amount necessary to be 
 appropriated, are ascertained by finding the whole amount of force employed 
 in the war of 1812, the pensions necessary for all, and then taking three- 
 eighths of those sums. After this liberal deduction, and including the marine 
 and navy corps engaged in 1812,the amount, involved in granting pensions un- 
 der this bill, is SI 1,321,730 per annum. One of the strongest objections in IRIS 
 to the bill, then under consideration, providing for the surviving officers and sol- 
 diers of the Revolution, as conceded by its advocates, was the supposed esorbi- 
 tancy of the sum required, amounting to $120,000 per annum. By this bill, in 
 characteristic conformity with modern ptogressiveness, without any qualms ot 
 conscience, $11,000,000— as much as the Whole expenditures of this Government 
 in 1825— are to be given away every year. 
 
 This exorbitant amount, I am aware, is hooted at, and considerations ot 
 economy are stifled by railing at improper expenditures in other respects, as if 
 one wrong justified another, and by appeals for the soldiers, whose services are 
 assimilated and made superior to the services of the revolutionary soldiers. 
 Now there is no legal obligation resting upon us to Confer these pensions. 
 There was no such stipulation in the contract between the Government and 
 tho*e who served it. They become, then, mere gratuities. If claim, d a? a 
 matter of right, the next step will be to adopt the policy of Great I ritain, 
 which has her magnificent Chelsea hospital for the relief and support of worn- 
 out and disabled soldiers, and her Greenwich hospital, once a royal palace, as 
 an asylum for seamen who, bv age, wounds, brother accidents, become unlit for 
 service. If the principle of this bill be right and defensible, then it is perfectly 
 competent for Congress to construct hospitals and asylums and homes for those 
 who have been soldiers and sailors, to feed and clothe and shelter them and 
 their wives, and educate their children. 
 
 As practical legislators, it behooves us to ascertain whether the Treasury can 
 (support this large additional expenditure; and, if it cannot, to provide the 
 necessary means. Let us examine our present financial condition, as exhibited 
 in the report of that most faithful and able public officer, the Secretary of the 
 Treasury : 
 
The 8ecre?ary of the Treasury estimates the aggregate means for the cur- 
 rent fl seal year at f; «;n q«i iv> 
 
 Expenditures for same period ...*." ".".''.V ".".'.' .\Y .'.'.".'.".' T4963.05S 41 
 
 Leaving an estimated balance of , S4'>6 87 r '9 
 
 or less tlian half a million dollars in the Treasury on Yst of J illy, 1858/" 
 
 Now, to operate this Government, a surplus is at all time* needed of. ... *5 000 000 00 
 
 Appropriations tor Sound dues, printing, and Armv deficiencies, \c. will *"•"""'""" u " 
 
 amount to 12 „, . . .. . ft 
 
 Private claims to be paid i Zmmhi m 
 
 Increase of army . . . " ...... .7; >"$00M 00 
 
 Public expenditures, not estimated f..r, such as court, custom, and light-houses.'.' 5.000s000 CO 
 
 1 alhng oil of customs below estimates 10.000 0tX> 00 
 
 Making an aggregate of $85 000 000 06 
 
 To meet this. Treasury notes have been authorized to the amount of '..'..' 2o',00o!ol)0 GO 
 
 Leaving unprovided for *15,000,W;g 60 
 
 These are all moderate estimates, and they do not include the expenses of the 
 Oregon war, amounting to four or five millions; the French spoliations, covering 
 not less than five millions; the Pacific railroad, variously estimated from ten to 
 one hundred millions ; and yet this pension bill will add eleven millions more 
 making an actual bona fide debt of twenty. or twenU-five millions (besides the 
 public debt of $25,000,000) for the payment of which no provision is made. 
 JSo one, stirelj', contemplates the creation of this additional debt without pre- 
 paring to meet it. How is it to be done? By loan or by increase of tariff. 
 With ordinary prosperity, the present duties will be barely sufficient to defray 
 the current expenditures. They will not bear an increase of several millions, 
 ibe taxes, then, must be increased, if loans are not resorted to. On what 
 art.cles? Will you abolish the free list, tea, coffee, Ac., and put your increased 
 tax on them, and sugar, iron, salt, coarse cotton, and woolen goods the prime 
 necessaries of life, or on luxuries? It is proposed to throw ttese additional 
 burdens on the Government, and common legislative prudence and sagacity de- 
 mand that ample and speedy provision should be made to meet them. Burde. a 
 are to be imposed taxes are to be increased, retrenchment and economy made 
 impossible, and the country should know it, and means should at once be 
 placed m the hands of the Government to carry out your legislation. 1 insist 
 that gentlemen who are pressing so vigorously the passage of this bill should 
 accept the consequences of their legislation, and take the responsibility of in- 
 creasing the taxes or negotiating a loan. If you give this gratuity, the labor- 
 tig classes should be advised that they have to pay it. To such demands as 
 tl.is and many others, in the present financial condition of the Government, a* 
 Edmund Burke said in 1780, it shouM be now answered with firmness, "the 
 public is poor. ' 
 
 This is a gloomy picture. Unfortunately it is a truthful one. Two causes 
 may conspire to place the Government in a better condition. First, a rapid 
 reaction in trade and commerce by increased general prosperity—swelling the 
 importations and ...creasing the revenues. Secondly! by retrenchment-lop- 
 ping off expenditures and resisting the pressure for large appropriations. Our 
 eg.slat.on, thus far, has not furnished much assurance of a disposition toecono- 
 
 f 
 
 so prolific ol great men has produced, said, that $17,000,000 were sufficient to 
 
 1 r ■ ,i . , . » „ ' -» •"•■•" <r* ii""",wu were kuijic 
 
 defray the expenses of tins Government, economically administered. Since 
 
 a„T.v? W , ' "'?' t '"!■" Bc 9 u,r ^. oar frontier hasljeen extended, hostile 
 and expensive tribes ol Indians have been brought within our jurisdiction, and 
 our expense have neceesanly increased, but out of all reason they have run 
 up to nearly eighty nnlhoiH dollars To test whether these larcre expenditures 
 are proper, and whether the revenue has been judiciously and economically 
 • pplied, I propose to institute a comparison between 184(3 and 1857; and to 
 
those who hare not noted carefully our extravagance, the results -will be as- 
 toandiug. 
 
 The disbursements of the Government for many years have been comprised 
 under four general heads: the civil list, including foreign intercourse and mis- 
 cellaneous, the military service, the naval establishment, and t e public debt. 
 The expenditures under the civil li-^t, en bin ding foreign intercourse and miscel- 
 laneous, have increased from $2,786,769 31 in 1840, to $7,207,112 42 in 1867, 
 showing an increase of one hundred ami seventy-five percent, since 1840. The 
 total expenditures, exclusive of the public; debt, have run up from $24,189(920 1 1 
 in 184(1, to $65,032,559 76 in 1857, showing an increase of about one hundred 
 and seventy percent., while the increase of the population during the same 
 time has been only sixty-seven per cent. The contingent expenses of the two 
 Houses of Congress were, in 1840, $384*883 17, and in 1867, $1,364,578 53. 
 For printing and stationery for the two Houses were paid, in 1840, $1 16,904 77, 
 and in 1857, $732,687 42. The cost of collecting the revenue, which is not 
 embraced in the general expenditures, was, in 1840, $1,513,138 23, and in 1857, 
 $3,161,935 86. the army expenses were, in 1840, $6,608,770 92, and in 1857, 
 $15,434,424 50. The aggregate strength of the army in 1840 was ten thousand 
 five hundred and seventy, and in July last, according to the report of the Secre- 
 tary of War, fifteen thousand seven hundred and sixty-four. The average cost 
 of each individual, in 1840, was $625 93, and in 1857, $979 09, making the 
 present cost, of each individual in the army to exceed that of 1840 bv $353 16. 
 The total expenses of the navy, in 1840, were $,6,110,214 11, and in 1857, 
 $11,281,038 29, The whole number in marine corps and navy, in 1840, were 
 ten thousand and eighty-one, and in 1857, eleven thousand one hundred and 
 forty-six. Leaving out the marine corps, the cost of each individual in the 
 navy, in 1840, was $643 70. and in 1857, $1,112 90. The appropriations for 
 public buildings, custom and court houses, post offices, <fcc, in 1840, were 
 $fi62,168, and in 1857, $4,561,855 41. It is but proper to state that the revenue 
 received at many of the points where these outlays have been made will not, in 
 a dozen years, defray the cost of construction. These facts show that economy 
 in the disbursement of the public money exists only in name, and admonish us 
 against opening any other sources of expenditure. 
 
 It is an axiom that economy is the life-blood of Republics, and that it is 
 robbery to take more money from the people than is barely sufficient for a wise 
 and economical administration of public affairs. It ought to be engraven in 
 letters of light on the walls of this Capitol, that Government has no more money 
 than it obtains from the pockets of the people, and that it is a curse to have an 
 overflowing treasury. We are dazzled with the idea of a rich and magnificent 
 government, lavishly distributing its millions and attracting by its splendor the 
 gaze of the world ; but it is an ignis fatuua, luring but to destroy. We want a 
 poor government, and the people want light taxes and small expenditures. To 
 quote from Mr. Calhoun: 
 
 "The purity and duration of our free institution*, looking to the vast extent of the country 
 and its great and growing population, depend on restricting its revenues and expenditures, 
 and thereby its patronage ami influence, to the smallest amount consistent with the proper 
 discharge of the tew great duties for which it was instituted." 
 
 Having established the inequalities of the bill, the utter incapacity of the 
 Government, with its present resources, to sustain this additional burden of 
 eleven million dollars annually, and the necessity for more rigid economy in- 
 stead of greater extravagance, I propose to advance a step further and suggest 
 orae general considerations in reference to this subject. The report aecompa- 
 ying the bill urges its passage, "as an act to be done now to affect the future, 
 constituting a military policy;" and speaks of a liberal pension system as 
 " almost a necessary consequence, while our military policy continues the same 
 that it has been since the foundation of the Government." The gentleman 
 from Tennessee (Mr. Savage) who has special charge of the measure, in his 
 able speech, enforced and elaborated the same view. No such stimulus is need- 
 ed as is suggested in the report, and was argued by the gentleman from Tennes- 
 see, "to secure the love and confidence of our people," or to arouse "their 
 *. lor and patriotism to naset danger* yet to ba vasouuUrsd." It is a rsproaab 
 
6 
 
 to the valor and patriotism of our people to intimate that such sordid conside- 
 rations control them in rallying to their country's standard in times of trial. 
 The history of the country is luminous of the reverse. Every war in which we 
 have been' engaged bears honorable testimony of the contrary. When the 
 "shrill trump and spirit-stirring drum and ear-piercing fife" are heard in the 
 land, from mountain and vale, from town and country, the citizen soldiery 
 flock, not to the " royal banner." but to the stars and stripes, as the " waves 
 come when navies are stranded." 
 
 I may assume, however, from what we have heard, that the object and pur- 
 pose of the advocates of this measure are to fasten the pension system upon the 
 country, to give it permanence, to incorporate it into onr political and military 
 organism, and establish a precedent which may be conclusively pleaded in favor 
 of the allowance of these bounties to all soldiers engaged in all subsequent wars. 
 Whether so intended or not, a favorable decision on this bill — 
 
 " will be recorded for a precedent, 
 And many an error by the same example 
 Will rush into the State." 
 
 As our regular army is constantly engaged in skirmishes with hostile and 
 predatory Indians, you cannot stop short of all who are in the service. Pen- 
 sions to the revolutionary soldiers cannot be justly used as a plea for this en- 
 largement of the system/ The Revolution had a special pre-eminence, lifting it 
 above all other wars ; and it, is idle to assimilate to it the war of 1812 and 
 cotemporaneous Indian wars. Half starved, hair* clad, tracking their course 
 with blood, the hardships endured, the sacrifices made, the toils and privations 
 undergone by the heroes of 1*776, find no parallel in later wars. It is not 
 necessary to institute a comparison as to the courage and gallantry of the men 
 in the two wars, or the value of their services. Suffice it to say that, in our 
 revolutionary struggle, the Americans were regarded as rebels and traitors, and 
 not unfrequently treated as such. The Government was unstable, precarious, 
 and often inactive. " In journeyings often, in perils by their own countrymen, 
 perils in the city, perils in' the wilderness, in weariness and painfullness, in watch- 
 ings often, in hunger and thirst, in culd and nakedness," the revolutionary sol- 
 diers fought against the mother country, and received their scant pittance in a 
 depreciated currency. Very different was the war of 1812. It was a regular 
 war between two independent nations, conducted, for the most part, according 
 to the recognized rules of modern warfare. The soldier, when discharged from 
 service, or before, received his pay in good money, and one hundred and sixty 
 acres of land besides. The soldiers of the war of 1812 were gallant men ; de- 
 serve well of their country ; but wherein do they exceed in personal courage, 
 value of services, or hazards of war, those engaged in the Seminole war in 1817 ; 
 the Black Hawk war in 18*32 ; the Florida war from 1835 to 1842; the Creek 
 disturbances in 1830, or the Mexican war in 1840? There can be no dis- 
 tinction in principle between them. There is no trdismanic superiority 
 in service against British troops or the Indians during the war of 1812, 
 over Mexican troops or the Indians, at a later period than 1815. If one 
 be entitled, so are the others; and the passage of this bill inaugurates a 
 policy which cannot be arrested. Vote this gratuity, distribute these bounties, 
 and you array and ramify influences which, possessed of the precedent and 
 acting on the" defensive, will defy and defeat all efforts to arrest, or return to 
 economy. The first man who proposed, in Rome, a gratuitous distribution of 
 corn from the public granaries was condemned to suffer the punishment of 
 treason. After a while the pensioners became so numerous that the most abso- 
 lute and despotic emperors feared to interfere with their bounties. When 
 Augustus came to power, he found three hundred and twenty thousand citizens of 
 the'male sex (for females were excluded) enrolled as recipients of the publio 
 dole; and, while he confessed that these largcsxes were working unmitigated 
 evil he avowed, in later years, that, if he withdrew the gratuitous distributions, 
 a successful rival would displace him, and restore them. 
 
 This question is argued as if the Government had unlimited power, and could 
 sequestiate, at will, the property of its citizens. I do not belong to that school of 
 politicians who invest Cougresswith the omaipoteue« of th« British Parliament, 
 
7 
 
 and from the power "to lay and collect taxes," "to raise nnd support armies," 
 "to provide and maintain a navy," claim sovereignly over property, and tlie 
 uncontrolled riglitto appropriate it, as caprice, or partiality, ar hate, or benevo- 
 lence may dictate. There is no sovereignty in Congress; and when we tax the 
 people beyond what is necessary for an economical administration of the gov- 
 ermiienr, to bestow bounties, gratuities, and pensions, we rob 1'oter to pa\ Paul; 
 we oppress a majority to support a few favorites; -\ye transfer the property etf 
 nine men to the tenth man. It was never intended to invest our Government 
 with an absolute power over the property of the citizens. (>ur revolutionary 
 Struggle was a successful protest against the English notion of sovereignty over 
 private property. Representation is a farce ; popular elections are an abortion ; 
 constitutions are ropes of sand; our Revolution was a failure, if there is sov- 
 ereign power over property in this Government. Clear grants of power, specific 
 enumerations of objects of appropriation, reservations of undelegated pOTfer, 
 were unnecessary if Congress can indulge a "sovereign, legislative patronage 
 in favtir of local, private, or individual interests." English kings have claimed 
 the right to dispose of public and private property to favorites, to purchase ad- 
 herents; but 1 have sought in vain for, any word of the Constitution authorizing 
 us to make donations, or bestow benevolence with the money of the people. 
 
 Great Britain has struggled for years to relieve herself of the excesses of her 
 pension system, to make ministers responsible for the bestowment of her gratu- 
 ities; and we, with the benefit of her experience, are gravely proposing to take 
 up and adopt her exploded and condemned theories. Her experience ought to 
 be an admonition to us; but, in the face of it, and without a clear ground of 
 constitutional authority, we are copying a bad example. 
 
 The history of pensions, in other lands, is a history of frauds and abuses. 
 Here we have men, rioting in luxury, begging to be quartered on the Govern- 
 ment, and a greedy troop of cormorant speculators and claim agents, harpy- 
 like, 
 
 "Contactu omnia foedans immundo," 
 
 getting up instructions from Legislatures, and inciting a clamor for the "poor 
 6oldiers," many of whom would be fleeced of a large portion of what you pro- 
 pose so munificently to donate. In other countries, the system is reprobated; 
 in this, its consequences will be most pernicious. 
 
 A class of consumers will be created, interested in sustaining a government 
 that supports them, who will advocate large expenditures, and may infuse 
 poisonous opinions in the public mind. Crowned heads, by pensions, attach 
 families to the throne, secure political influence, and enlarge their power. Con- 
 gress, by its douceurs and gratuities, may extend the power and patronage of 
 this Government, already alarmingly great, and raise up a class of "feeders 
 upon legislative patronage," who are interested in giving a blind support to all 
 its measures, and uninquiringly acquiescing in whatever may be done. I re- 
 peat, as there is no sovereignty in this Government — least of all, a sovereign 
 power to take away the property of the citizens — and as Congress is but an 
 agent or trustee, it cannot exercise powers not delegated, nor give bounties and 
 do benevolence at the expense of those who created the Government. 
 
 Suppose we concede, for argument's sake, that the power to grant pensions 
 and make gratuities and give away the public nione}', as caprice or kindness 
 prompts, was conferred in the Constitution: I should then hold that the system 
 was unwise and inexpedient. It is bad policy to accustom men to look to 
 Government for support. It is unwise to quarter soldiers or sailors, ablebodied 
 and healthy, on the public treasury. It is destructive of manly independence 
 to rely on extrinsic means for subsistence. This whole matter grows out of a 
 wrong conception of the duty and design of a free government. Instead of 
 having men as stipendaries, instead of making government an almoner of 
 bounty, and converting it into a huge eleemosynary concern to dispense charity; 
 instead of making it a sort of second-hand Providence, predestinating, regu- 
 lating, and, controlling the destiny and pursuits and industry of individuals, its 
 duties-are few, simple, and well defined. In France, government may be ex- 
 pected to furnish employment for the working men ; and, failing to do that, to 
 upply theai with bread and wages. But in France, the republic has lapsed 
 
3 
 
 into a crushing military despotism. In Rome, the people may have been fed 
 from public granaries; but it is recorded of her, that the days of her republic 
 were numbered when the people consented to receive corn from the Govern- 
 ment crib-*. In a free country, the citizen should, to a very great extent, under 
 wise anil just laws, be thrown on his own resources, and not slavishly rely upon 
 the government to give hirn bread and clothes, build his roads and house?, 
 regulate liis appetites, ta^e care of his morals, and educate his children. Such 
 a system centralizes the government, enervates, paralyzes, and withdraws 
 stimulus to personal effort and activity, reduces to dependence, destroj's re- 
 sponsibility, debases, and demoralizes. All such legislation by Congress, 
 whether in the form of protective tariffs, fishing bounties, assumption of State 
 debts, building roads, giving land to colleges, or furnishing homes under sweep- 
 ing and unconstitutional homestead laws, is at war with the true theory of a 
 republic, destructive of its integrity, and dangerous to popular liberty. 
 
 The wise and patriotic statesman at the head of this Government, in his in- 
 augural and annual message, strongly recommended us to scrutinize expendi- 
 tures with the utmost vigilance, and to practice rigid economy. With an 
 overflowing treasury, this would have been difficult to do. With a depleted 
 treasury, nothing is easier. The Democratic party, responsible in a very great 
 degree for the administration of public affairs, liberal in its promises to retrench 
 and reform, owes it to its own self-respect, and, in view of the elfort to recon- 
 struct a new party, to its future success, to commence a rigid system of economy 
 ami retrenchment; to lop off all expenses not necessary for the defence of the 
 country and the frugal administration of the government; and to put an end, 
 so far as it can, to waste, extravagance, and fraud. 
 
 I am aware that it has been said that there is a natural tendency to extrava. 
 gance in repuhlics; that a resort to direct taxation is the only cure for this 
 chronic malady; and 1 believe, with Sir Robert Peel, that "all indirect taxation 
 has a natural tendency to produce injustice;" yet, with proper efforts, with a 
 cordial cooperation between the executive and legislative departments, this 
 Government can be brought luck to republican simplicity and economy. An 
 earnest of our purpose will be given, and a great advance will be made in 
 defeating this and similar bills, and rebuking this disposition to look to Gov- 
 ernment for the dispensation of its favors. 
 
 I do not desire, Mr. Chairman, to be understood as questioning, in the slightest 
 degree, the laws providing for those who have been disabled in the service of 
 their country. I think them einineiltly wise and proper. I have greatly failed, 
 also, of my purpose, if anything that I have said can be construed in a dis- 
 paragement of those brave and true men who, at their country's call, left home 
 and kmdred, and periled everything in her behalf. For their self-sacrificing 
 patriotism, their heroic daring, their gallantry, and courage, I would render all 
 proper honor and reward. Many of them are my neighbors ; scores of them I 
 represent on this floor. The country of my residence bears ••he name of, and 
 its shire town is located on, one of the memorable battle-fields of the bloodv 
 Indian war. I can have no motive far doing injustice to or underrating the 
 services of our country's defenders. Sinister considerations might prompt me 
 to the advocacy and support of this bill ; but those who have encountered hard- 
 ships and shed their blood for their country's honor, would scorn a gratuity 
 tainted with injustice, and obtained by overriding the Constitution and bank- 
 rupting the treasury. 
 
 Lemuel Tower*, printer. 
 
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