F * A °^ \12MM^ o sP v*. » « 4^ *^«* ^ C .4° 4* '^W * * v ^ J . V v/v VW/iiaAVr* av ^ . $ .< f\ ISP **% '■# /%. fW : y"\ it* 'bt? • * ^ • * aV "^v * aV^ ^a THE TEST; National (>lav tJltilj 1 aJUUtt Copy 1959 PARTIES TRIED BY THEIR ACTS, Author BY JUNIUS, of "THE CRISIS OF THE COUNTRY," and other Tracts of 1840. PUBLISHED BY GREELEY & McELRATH, TRIBUNE BUILDINGS, NEW YORK, AND GODEY & McMICHAEL, PHILADELPHIA. FOR SALE BY Thomas Cowperthwut & Co., and Grigg & Elliot, Philadelphia; G. W. Redding, ^B;KT1« & Co., Ptttsburg; W. H Taylob, Baltimore; R. Farn.iam, Washington City; and Wm. McKean, New Orleans. 1843. Price $3 per 100, or $20 per 1000. tii_ i>_- .. ■ \ i , i " "•' Oourtof the United States, in and for the Eastern Uistncfof Pennsylvania.] CITY OF WASHINGTON, March 4, 1843. We the undersigned, impressed with a conviction of the importance and effectiveness of and of the suitable qualifications * J n U p J"^BHK Side c rculat on and great usefulness of £5" « wSltad^SS « W% AfflBL .l„o„gh.u, the Union, ,. second his efforts, if undertaken. Millard Fillmore, John Maynard, W. H. Washington, Roger L. Gamble, B. S. Cowan, John Moore, R. W. Thompson, L. W. Andrews, T. W. Tomi.inson, GaBBETT Davis, B. RoD.NETt H. S. 1 J.\o. Edwards, Aug. Young, Jos. Trumbull, J. R. Ingersoll, SENATORS. W. P. Mangum. President, J. J. Crittenden, J. T. Morehead, N. P. Tallmadge, Wm. S. Archer, Sam. el S. Phelps, J. W. Miller, C. M. Conrad, J. T. Simm J. Li . REPR ESENTATIVES. John White, Speaker, Thos. Butler King, ftS-NoTlCK -In compliance with the above recommendation, the Author of this Tract pro- rJ^tf Son should seem to require, to publish several of the same kind, on the political ouesti'ons of tL time The responsibilities involved in the undertaking make it necessary to Tin ai" the priv ele of cmyright. Republication, therefore, in newspapers, or in other forms, ^Sddel The Tracts £a/be had, in any part of the Union, through the agenfcy of Bog- tellers generally; or from those above named; or by remittances, w.th orders, tore*, on the publishers. J. H. Cravens John T. Stuart, A. H. H. Stuart, A. Randall, Geo. W. Summers, C. H. Williams, Alfred Babcock, A. Lawrence Foster, R. L. Caruthers, Milton Brown, J.'M. Russell, Thos. Henry, J. R. Underwood. J. A. Pearck. Edward Stanley, J. C. Clark-* THE TWENTY-SEVENTH (WHIG) CONGRESS. Its ■position. It was a singular one in history — perfectly so in the annals of this country. The Government had been for a long time in the hands of their political opponents, till a once prosperous nation had been reduced to an extremity of misfortune, and rose at last to demand a change in public policy. With a majority unparalleled, the Whigs came into power, and a suffering people looked to them for relief. It was fair they should, for it had been promised, though the expectations of immediate result were doubtless unreasonable. The first inauspicious blow. None can deny that the death of their Chieftain was an astounding event. It was striking the sun from the political heaven. The second blow. The constitutional successor was little known, altogether untried, and was never expected to be called to that place. Diffidence towards him was the first' state of feeling ; concern the next ; which ended in utter and hopeless disappointment. All know how that turned out ; and we need not dwell on the painful history. An unforeseen result. In the constitution of our Government, the Executive occupies a commanding position in relation to the other branches. It seems never to have been anticipated, that he could be opposed to the legislature appointed by the same constituency, nor would such an event occur, if good faith in these high relations could at all times be relied on. It is manifest, however, that an Executive, not acting in har- mony with the legislative branch of the Government, but opposing it, is a derange- ment of the machinery as to its intended operation. His power is sufficient to paralyze legislation, and to nullify any system of policy aimed to be established by legislative functions. A thing to be considered . Since it has been discovered, that the second on the Presidential ticket of 1840, who succeeded as principal by the death of the Chief, is not the man he was taken for, but utterly opposed to the great and leading principles of the party that raised him to power — if he has any princb^fcLat all — it must be considered, that the legislative branch of the GovernmJ^^B| majority of whom wore true to those principles, were rendered powerlesi«| Wthat system of policy that was designed to be established by the political revl^^R of 1840. The question to be tried. It will follow, therefore, that the 27th Congress cannot fairly be put on trial for not having done impossibilities, but only for what they could do and have done, under the peculiar circumstances in which they were placed, to redeem the pledges by which they were bound. The difficulties of the Whig Congress. In the grave of General Harrison was tmried the Whig administration. Could Tiny one expect, that the effects of many years misrule could be repaired in thirty days ? There was not time to begin to do it, before the adverse winds of Executive power were blowing strong against the tide of reform. Treason was hatched, and began to peep and strut abroad, before the successor of the Fallen had been in his seat ten days. Another difficulty. The expectations of the nation were great, and the people 'demanded relief speedily, earlier than in any case it could possibly be obtained. A country which for an eighth of a century had been operated upon by causes of ruin, till it was prostrate, could not be raised again suddenly. Another. Nor was it possible for Congress alone to do the work, against a plotting, sub- verting, thwarting, and opposing Executive. They were, paralyzed, and their power of restoring public prosperity was stricken down. Even their investigating committees, whose functions were -designed to ferret out corruption, were met at the threshold of their undertaking by the agents and abettors of corruption, who held in their hands the keys of the knowledge that was sought for, and whom the Executive still retained in their places, . thus refusing to furnish the necessary facilities of reform. Deep and large as the fountains of corruption that have been laid open, are, it is believed that most of them, by this cause, yet lie concealed. The difficulties encountered on the currency question. All know that this was the question on which the country had been wrecked : that it was the great question. And all know with what patience, self-torture, and self-immolation, the Whigs of the 27th Congress waded through the Extra Ses- sion, struggling with ceaseless though useless endeavour, to save the party and the country from such unexampled perfidy. Giving up half, or more than half, and trying in every possible way to surmount the doom that was cast in their face, once, twice, were their large concessions baffled by the arbitrary interposition of the veto power. What they could, they attempted ; what they could, they did. "Who does the best his circumstance allows, Does well, acts nobly, angels could no more." The Exchequer. And why did not the Whigs of the 27th Congress adopt that ? Can it have been forgotten, with what argument and eloquence the vices and tendencies of the Subtreasury, political and other, were denounced by the Whigs in the campaigr of 1840,, and how their reasons prevailed with the people'! Is it not in equally vivid remembrance, that the Subtreasury was repealed by popular demand and acclamation, as conceded by its friends and advocates'! But the Whigs believe, and have demonstrated, in the report of the Committee of Ways and Means, con- temporaneous with the vote of 193 to 18, which sealed the doom of the Exchequer — m that document they have demonstrated, that it has all the vices of the Subtreasury, and many more to boot ; that it is the most hideous government bank scheme that could well be conceived ; that, if carried into effect, it would enhance Executive power to an extent hazardous to liberty ; and that, in the hands of an unprincipled, aspiring Executive, of strong and influential character, it might be seized upon for the overthrow of all liberty, and for the establishment of despotism. It is futile to rely on the power of repeal, when the whole history of our Government shows, that the Executive will can defeat any movement in the form of legislation. The people cannot contend against this " fixed Constitutional fact," except by a revolution ; and the only safe way is to keep out of its power. The Whigs, with good reason and sound argument, had denounced the Subtrea- sury as a Government Bank in embryo, while it was in the process of incubation, and* opposed it as such when it was hatched, and because it was such — because, confessedly, it provided a good currency for office-holders, but for them only, and left a bad currency for the people. How, then, could they, in the face of such facts, and in fealty to the principles avowed by them in 1840— principles so often and so widely promulged, and still maintained — how could they adopt the same institu- tion — identically the same, except that it was presented in a perfect stage of matu- rity, and therefore in its most objectionable form 1 But what is a Government Bank ? It is Government stepping aside from its appropriate functions, and setting up in trade ; for banking is nothing more or less than trading in money. It is, so far, laying aside the proper uses of Government, and usurping the rights of citizens- commercial rights. A Government managing banking concerns, is a Commercial Factory. No Government ever went into trade, in money or any thing else, with- out injury to the rights of citizens ; or with gain to itself, except in the augmenta- tion of its power, which is always its object. It is sure to sacrifice the commercial capital invested. The insurmountable objection. It is a very important point of difference, that a Government Bank has no Master, because it is a part of Government, and an arm of its power ; whereas all other banks have a Master in the Government. A national Government Bank, to answer the purpose of such an institution, aims to reg-mate and control the currency of the country, and in doing- that, it — that is, the Government — brings within its power, to deal with at pleasure, every possible commercial or trading interest of the country, from that of banking in general, down to the vocation of a grinder of knives or a retailer of brickdust. It would be a supreme commercial power, in the hands of the supreme political power, controlled by none, but controlling all, itself master in trade, and master of the authorities under which all trade is carried on. This is the sort of thing which the 27th Congress rejected— spurned, as in duty bound, if they would respect themselves, and have the respect of the American people. THE EXTRAVAGANCE AND CORRUPTION OF THE LATE ADMINISTRATION. We begin with Congress, where reform in Government must first begin, if it begins at all. The people will doubtless be astonished at the extravagancies of this body for a few years past, in the administration of its own internal economy, and at the corruption practised and tolerated in its own bosom. Could a body, prac- tising such things, and conniving at such things, be expected to institute reform for other departments of the government ! Cost of the printing, binding, engraving, and lithographing of Congress. This is, in any case, a large item of expense. The subject had been under investigation for two or three years, having been started by the Whigs while in the minority, and in 1842 much information appeared in the form of Congressional reports, to which we are indebted for the following results: It was found upon investigation, that the average annual expenses, under the above general head, were $261,459, and that the average annual saving under the new system, proposed and recommended by the Committees, would be $132,761 ; and consequently, that the average annual unnecessary expense, or waste, in this item, is equal to this saving, viz. $132,761. (See Senate Doc. No. 332, 2d Sess. 27th Congress.) In other words, the waste is 50 per cent, on the cost. That is to say, the Government not only permitted such extravagance to grow up in its own domicile, not only tolerated it for a long succession of years, but sanctioned it by solemn acts of legislation, to provide for it. Contingent expenses of Congress. This is an atrocious item in the history of the past, and shows how little depen- dance could be placed in a national legislature for general economy and purity, that would be guilty of such a lack of both these useful qualities in the management of their own household. The custom of supplying members of Congress with stationery, &c, or the custom of members voting themselves a supply out of the people's money, on a reasonable scale, might not be very objectionable. It would be thought mean to oppose it, though when well paid, they might as well afford to provide for them- selves as the people do in their own case. But the extent of wasteful prodi- gality to which this custom at last arrived, will no doubt awaken some surprise in the minds of the people who paid for it all, and whose private habits of economy in such matters, are somewhat different. For stationery used by the 25th Congress, the first under Mr. Van Buren, we find such items as the following in the report of one of the Committees on retrench- ment (by- Mr. Summers), 2d Session, 27th Congress, House Doc. No. 39: For 3,079 reams envelope paper, " 3,610 do. quarto post, " 2,316 do. foolscap, - 172 do. note, - " 493 gross of steel pens, " 83,700 quills, " making of pens, - " sealing-wax, - " tape, - - - - ■ - " 106 doz. penknives, $12,603 25 21.059 25 9,951 25 1,559 50 4,569 39 3,953 12 448 00 3,931 62 2,739 30 2,602 CO For wafers, ... " ink, 15 barrels, " inkstands, - " seals, - " pencils, - " folders, - " twine, - - - - " 1,197 memorandum books, Total, $1,332 01 528 50 921 00 1,080 00 562 00 615 00 312 72 746 87 $69,514 78 Which, divided among 242 members of the House, shows, that the cost for station- ery, for each member of the 25th Congress, for a period usually about nine months, was §287.25. How much is the average annual cost to professional men, lawyers, for example, for the above-named articles of stationery ? The writer of this Tract thinks his occasions for these may perhaps be equal to those of a member of Congress, and he believes they do not cost him over §2.) a year — for nine months $15 — which leaves $272.25 for each member of the House of Representatives, in the 25th Congress, unaccounted for to the people — in all $65,884.78 — a pretty round sum of waste for one branch of the national legislature, on the above-named articles. How many penknives did they use severally] Divide K!6 dozen, or 1272, by 242, and we have the answer thus — 5~-^. The average price of these penknives, it will be seen, was $2.04 and a fraction each, which, of course, makes a bill of a little less than $12, to supply each member of the 25th Congress in penknives for nine months. His sealing-wax cost somewhat over $16; his quarto post paper, $80 and some cents ; and, so on. — We leave the rest with the curious. We suppose the excessive price of these articles results in the same way, by which the Clerk of the House of Representatives of the same Congress, Mr. Gar- land, contracted with a favorite of the President, Editor of " The Democratic Re- view," to furnish stationery to the amount of $25,060, whereon the said favorite cleared a profit of $7,000 to himself, over and above a fair profit in trade, as was proved and reported to the 27th Congress. In this way, of course, a penknife, which, in a fair market, costs $1.50, would cost the people over $2; and so with all the other articles. But when there happen to be two intermediate agents, each to make an extra profit of 33 J per cent, on the same articles, that helps to run up a bill fast. It would be difficult to account for these bills, except in such ways. It appears from Mr. Summers' Report, before referred to, that the whole contin- gent expenses of the House of Representatives rose from $106,000, in the 18th Congress, till they attained a maximum in the 25th Congress, of $595,000, increas- ing nearly 6 to 1 in sixteen years. It also appears, that the contingent expenses of the Senate for the year 1838, under Mr. Van Buren, were greater, by the sum of $86,000, than for 1828, under Mr. J. Q. Adams ; and greater, by $24,000, than for the whole four years, under Mr. Adams. A like result turns up in comparing the contingent expenses of the House for the same periods ; viz. that the aggregate, during Mr. Adams's four years, was less, by $89,000, than the same item for the one year, 1838, under Mr. Van Buren. (Compare No. 17, House Doc. 1st Sess. 26th Congress, with No. 39, House Doc. 1st Sess. 24th Congress.) FINANCIAL PRODIGALITIES OF THE FLORIDA WAR. The profuse and wasteful expenditures of public money, as partially disclosed under this head, and one or two others, might alone account for the startling expenses of Government during the two administrations preceding the one now current, as compared with our former financial history and the level of public expenditures as reduced by the 27th Congress. We have room only for a few quo- tations from the volumes of public documents on this and other kindred topics, which may serve as a clue to the rest. Extravagant hire of steamboats and other vessels. From the beginning of 1836 to 1841, the number of steamboats and sail craft employed in the transportation service for the Florida war, was 737, for which a very extravagant hire was generally paid. About fifty of these are named in House Document No. 458, 2d Session 27th Congress, and their rates of hire specified. We give the following as specimens : — The steamboat, John Crowell, estimated to be worth $15,000, was hired at $300 a day, provided for and insured, till the compensation amounted to $82,555. The Reindeer, 42 days, at $175 a day — being $7,350. The Georgiana, 32 days, at $200 a day— $6,400. The Charleston, 10 months, at $4,400 a month— $44,000. The Mobile was paid $11,625 for 25 days. The Minerva, 73 days, at $300 a day— $21,900. The Merchant, 85 days, at $450 a day— $38,250. Many ether vessels were hired for short periods, at rates, which, on settlement, quadrupled the pr.ce at which they might have been purchased in the outset, so that much money would have been saved, if they had been bought and manned, and then burnt in the end. The cost of a wagon. Grant's concentric wheel wagon cost the Government $2,363.50, of which Mr. Grant was paid $654.50 for superintending the construction of it, and $15 was paid for engraving plates on the wheels, to travel in the sands of Florida. Ibid. Cost of 206 oxen. The purchase and delivery of 206 oxen was made to cost $12,187.20 — for, the oxen, $9,170.00; to the agent, $1,980.00; and for expenses in the transaction, $1,037.20. Ibid. Cost of house-rent and saddles. A house at Picolata was rented at $3,600 a year. For 30 saddles, $50 each was paid. For 12 do. $87.50 each. Ibid. At Pilatka, in 1840, when the end of the war was everyday expected, more than' $100,000 was expended in public buildings, on private lands, when there was government land hard by. It is of course sacrificed. Probable collusion in fraud on the public. The foregoing item3 of extravagance are hastily selected from heaps of evidence of the same clasi brought before the 27th Congress, by which it is proved, that the Florida war was generally carried on, in whole and in particular, at a rate of most astounding prodigality. All the public agents in these transactions, from the Treasury Department at Washington, down to the last recipient of the public money, were perfectly familiar with this daily round of facts, for a course of years. Can it be imagined, that in any state of society, however corrupt, such extrava- gance and waste would be tolerated, under the eyes of so many agents, if there was no collusion among them, and if they did not ail profit more or less by it ? Do not these facts reasonably account for the protracted period of that war, when so much money was to be made out of it by all engaged 1 Great frauds in the removal of Indians. The removal of 16,533 Creek Indians was made to cost the Government 8590,448.58. It is proved pretty fairly, by the Committee on Public Expenditures, that these 16,533 Indians might have been removed for $186,530, thus making a clear saving, in this single transaction, honestly done, of #303,91)9.42 — nearly two thirds of the actual cost. (Doc. No. 458.) It is proved in House Document A'o. 454, "2d Sess. 27th Congress, that Captain Buckner Was paid 837,749 fordoing nothing, alter having been paid a very exorbitant price for what he did oo, in removing Indians; — and the most remarkable part of the disclosure is, that a high public functionary received $18,000 of this as a lop.n from Capt. Buckner, apparently for his company and presence at the Treasury Department when the re iiiisition was being made out. Whether su< !i company silenced the scruples of the Auditor, this deponent cannot say. The evidence before the Committee standleth thus? Witness (Capt Buckner) asked — " What he could do for him V Ans. "Witness could loan him some money. Whereupon witness agreed to loan him ■. 1 ,000." All these accounts were allowed at the Treasury Department! It is also proved that Captain Collins was entrusted with large sums of money, as disbursing agent, to the aggregate of $582,29.*, after he had proved himself a defaulter to one-third of this amount, and that the Government lost by him in the end the sum of $215,369. If settlements had been insisted on according to law, it would have been impossible, in any case of the most wilful fraud, to lose more than a small fraction of this amount. — (See No. 453, House Doc, 2d Sess., 27 th Congress.) Remarks on these facts. Speaking moderately, it may be presumed, from the volumes of evidence of this description that have been filed by the 27th Congress, that by an honest and prudent administration of these affairs, the Florida war miirht have been brought to a close, and the Indian tribes all removed, at one half the actual cost to the country. Moreover, from what has transpired, there is also a reasonable presumption that the j eriod of the Florida war might have been abridged by several years. Can any one suppose there was no collusion, no connivance among those who had tho responsibility in these great concerns, for the advantage, pecuniary or political, that might accrue to them personally ! With some the profit was pecu- niary, with others political. Defalcation and frauds under the Subtreasury system. We mean the system of entrusting the public funds in the liands of individuals, instead of keeping them in banks. It is not easy to collect an exact account of this, but from the reports of Mr. Secretary Woodbury — a reluctant witness — of 1834, 1833, and 1839, on this subject, we obtain the following result from his somewhat mystified statements, in connexion with other facts that have transpired, viz: — that the Government^ since its foundation, had lost by banks, $857,890.85; and by individuals, in the various forms of trust, about $15,000,000. It is now ascertained, that the loss by individuals in Mr. Van Buren's- four years, as the result of his system of Subtreasury, was about $5,000,000, if we include what has since been developed under the operation of that system, and through his appointees ; whereas, the first Whig defalcator in public trust, for two years, is yet to be found out. The annual aggregate of frauds, therefore, of Mr. Van Buren's Subtreasury system, may be put down at $1,250,000. The annual aggregate of like frauds by the Whigs, so far as has transpired — f). It is somewhat remarkable, that the account between the Government and the United States Bank, as to loss and profit in all transactions for forty years, stands thus: — Loss to Government — 0; profit to Government — $1,100,000, for premium on stocks, besides dividends, and the gratuitous functions of the bank as fiscal agent of the Government for the said forty years. A recollection. All must remember the disclosures forced from Mr. Secretary Woodbury, under the late administration, regarding the frequency, character, and great amount of defalcations under the Subtreasury, and the concurrent proofs brought before the public of Executive indulgence towards the offenders, in continuing them in office after their defalcations were proved — all for partisan, political objects. Frauds in the New York Custom House. The enormities that have been practised in this " Seat of Customs," are prodigious. The defal- cations of Swartwout, Hoyt, &. Co. — amounting to about one million and a half, seem to have veiled the minor frauds. In. three years, 1838, '39, and '40, George A. Wasson received S94.430.92 for cartage and labor — nearly half for cartage — elfccted chiefly by charging for each package, 31 J to 50 cents, which was the price for a load — in that way making a load run up to five or ten dol- lars, according to the number of packages. The Stationery and printing, under Mr. Hoyt, for 1838, '39, '40, and 1st qi&rter of 1841, cost §51,703.22— averaging 8275.76 a year to each person employed, being nearly double the average cost of stationery for each member of the House of Representatives in the 25th Congress, that being $287 for 2 years. It was by allowing $22 a gross for steel pens, when they could be bought for $1.50; .$3.50 a peck for sand, the fair price being 12i cents; §80 a ream for paper, worth $15; $12 for 1 card of Perryan pens, or §1.50,for each pen ; &c. &c. &c. No difficulty in making it up in that way. The revenue collected in the first year of Jonathan Thompson, 1825, was $15,754,827; em- ployed 142 men, at a cost of $211,471 ; or at the rate of 1 34-100 per cent. The revenue col- lected by Mr. Hoyt. in 1840, was $7,591,760; men employed 470, at a cost of $563,829; or at the rate of 7 42-100 per cent. In addition to the Collector's Salary, Mr. Hoyt, in violation of law, as alleged by the Com- mittee on Public Expenditures, took to himself, in all, $29,883.36 for storage of Merchandise in buildings rented on his private account, while the Government is charged §29,294.24 for salaries of storekeeper, clerks, and inspectors, and for stationery, employed and used in said buildings. Mr. Hoyt was reported to Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury, as a defaulter "for $226,295.31. But Mr. Hoyt, anticipating this, charged the Government (with his own hand, his clerk refusing) $201,580, that is, 1 per cent, on $20,158,000 paid over by him to the orders of the Secretary of the Treasury— that is, 1 per cent, for the banking part of the Collector's functions. In two years and four months, Mr. Butler, District Attorney, was paid by Mr. Hoyt, Collector, for services, $62,690.50 Mr. Iloyt's gleanings, it would seem, were somewhat less than a qrar- ter of a million for about three years service. (House Docs. Nos. 202 & 669,:2d Sess. 27th Cong.) We are sorry to observe, that the present Executive has in nowise abated the extravagancies of the New York Custom House. Public buildings. In 1836 Congress authorized the erection of a new Patent Office, the expense of which should not exceed $108,000. It is now expected it will cost, when finished, between $600,000 and $700,000. The Custom House at Boston was begun under a provision not to cost over $50,000. 8 It has already cost $696,000, and-will require $156,000 more to finish it. The New York Cus. torn House was begun with an appropriation of $200,000, and has cost over $1,100,000. [For more of the kind, see No. 460, House Doc. 2d Sess. 27th Congress.] The Branch Mints. These were designed, especially the one at New Orleans, to make Gold flow up the Mississippi. It seems they have rather tended to make it flow out into the Sea. That at New Orleans cost $554,470. The three branches cost $822,457. They were established in 1838, and previous to 1842 had coined $2,884,708. The Philadelphia Mint cost $209,230, and in 1836 alone coined $7,764,900. The cost of coining at the branch mints has been 28 cents and 3 mills/or each dol- lar The cost of coining at Philadelphia 13 cents and 9 mills/or one hundred dollars. Items expended on the New Orleans Mint: — $8,099 for 4 bath-houses, flagging yard, and paving side-walk; $3,846 for paving yard; $1,700 for 7 baths and 1 water closet; $818 for finishing water closets; &c. &c. The voucher list of expenditures, numbering 272, is a curiosity — espe- cially edifiying to those who pay for it. [House Doc. No. 462, 2d Sess. 27th Congress.] Frauds in contracts for mail hags, blanks, Sfc. From House Doc. No. 989, 2d Session, 27th Congress, it appears, that the cost of mail bags, from 1831 to 1841, was $336,000; that Mr. Jewett, Ohio, contractor.was paid $68,124.13 for 4,782 bags; that, in November, 1840, there were on his (Jewett's) hands 4,020 bags, not wanted, which cost $65,000; that a large overplus was in the hands of other contractors; that bags could be got at 50 per cent, less than was paid in those years; that, for blanks, $300,000 was paid between 1829 and 1841, generally at about 50 per cent, more than fair price, leaving a supply on hand for twenty years to come ; that storage for these surplus articles was charged and allowed ; that, by these and other frauds, the expenditures of the Post Office Department were made to exceed its revenue, one year, by $386,759.19, and another year by $220,000, thus requiring special appro- priations out of the revenue from Customs and public lands, and rolling a heavy burden on the 27th (Whig) Congress; that Cyrus Barton, Concord, N. H., for blanks, from 1836 to 1841, •eceived $13,927.14; Beals & Green, Boston, Mass., from 1829 to 1832, for do., received $51,732.76; Paine & Clark, New York, from 1836 to 1841, for do. do. $18,883.81; S. Penn, Jr. Louisville, Ky., for do. do. from 1830 to 1841, $26,942.58; S. Medary, Columbus, Ohio, in 1836, for do. do. $17,546.34; &c. &.c. &c. All these, ami other like favors, "for being ahoays at their post, actively engaged"— "stopping at no sacrifice that would insure success" — " in promoting the interests of the noble cause" — whicn " heartily entitled them to Executive favor" — &c, as stated in letters to the President. -See Doc. 989, as above. The same Committee (on Public Expenditures) speak of the establishment of many new mail routes and post offices, not required, at great expense, for the benefit of partisan favorites, and of the "deep, dark, and unfathomable sinks," out of which these facts were fished, where many more of the same kind yet abide, which could hot be hooked up. Sundries of a like kind. From Document No. 756 of the House 2d Session, 27th Congress, it appears, that the Com- missioning of Ships, and the increase of officers in the Navy, have been at the discretion of the Executive ; that the expenses of the Navy had been doubled in 10 years ; that naval officers had been multiplied beyond former example, without sufficient cause ; that the number in 1835 was 1,051 and in 1842 was 1512, when 365, with an aggregate pay of $350,000, were " absent on leave, or waiting orders," that is, doing nothing ; that many had been thus unemployed for ten, twelve, or fourteen years, receiving pav. and being promoted ; that the annual cost of the "coast survey" had risen from $20,000 in 1832 to $100,000 in 1840; that the Superintendent of the " Coast Survey" had a salary of $6,000, one of his Assistants $4,000, three others $3,000 each, and three more $2,000 each; that from 1834 to 1841, seventy-two naval officers, at different times, had been "detailed into the " Coast Survey" service, and while thus occupied, received double paq; that the Revenue Cutter service, being at the discretion of the Executive, rose from an annual- cost of $163,755 in 1830, to $274,803 in 1837, while the revenue collected had de- creased about one third ; that the expenses of the Land Office rose in one year from $23,500 to $108 750 and remained in 1841 at $98,500, when the land revenue was only $1,400,000 ; and that the expenses of the army had risen from $2,100,935 in 1829, to $4,197,028 in 1841. Extra Allowances. The above instance of 72 naval officers detailed into the " Coast Survey" service, with extra pay, is an example. This license, unwarranted by law, had pervaded the army and navy, and crept into other branches of the public service, to such an extent, as to amount, in the aggregate, to scarcely, if at all less than a million a year. It was a germ of corruption, of alarming growth, corresponding with the plurality system'under the British Government, which the reformers of that nation are fast breaking down, and which has always been allowed to be one of the greatest enormities in the British empire. Expenditures without authority of law. Liberties of this kind, to a great extent, were taken, in the progress of the two administrations that preceded the present. A very licentious practice of voting large contingent funds, for the different departments of Government, had obtained, which presented temptations, and opened a floodgate of corruption, to the higher and lower public functionaries. Many hundred thousand dollars had in this way been put at the discretion of the existing Administration, no small portion ■ 9 of which was squandered for most unsuitable partisan or private ends. The sacred deposites of trust funds of various descriptions, were invaded and exhausted, without sanction of law. The new practice of having large outstanding appropriations, lying over from one year to an- other, which often amounted to many millions, enough in some cases for the annual expendi- tures of the Government, was introduced and carried on in the last two administrations, and has often been abused by applying such appropriations to objects not designated by law, at the dis- cretion of the Administration. In this way, there was never any want of funds, when a partisan object required it, or a private whim was to be gratified, or favorites wanted patronage. Secret and partisan emissaries were by this means sent out, under the guise of Government Agents, for this, that, or the other object, the chief errand being confidential. It was only necessary to have a nominul Government design, though unauthorized bylaw, to find an apology for drawing on contingent or trust funds, or on dormant outstanding appropriations. Special Agents, almost without number, were, from time to time, put in commission for home or foreign missions, on the basis of this practice. Mr. George Plitt was sent abroad, as Post Office Agent, under Amos Kendall, at $16 a day, till the expenses ran up to 9,6l5G.Gi, the payment of which was sanctioned by Mr. Van Buren, as President, without authority of law. In the same manner three young men were sent out in ISoO, by Mr. Poinsett, Secretary of War, to the Cavalry School, at Saumur, in France, and three more in 1840 — ;;// without authority of law. Americans sent to Europe to learn to ride and ma- nage a horse, at the public expense, at the whim of a public functionary, and without legislative sanction ! An Administration partisan press also experienced the benefits of contingent and disposable funds in the hands of the Executive and his agents, in the two years of 1838 and 1839, Mr. Kendall, Post Master General, contrived to run up bills for advertising and printing in one Newspaper office, the Statesman, Columbus, Ohio, to the amount of $9,848.21. (Blue Book.) And so it was done all over the Union, by the different Executive Departments at Washington. Remark. It should be observed, that the quotations we have madr\ showing extravagance and corruption in the Government, are only a few selections, extracted from voluminous and authentic public documents, furnished principally by that laborious and indefatigable Committee on Public Ex- penditures, whose toils in the last Congress have brought so much of hitherto concealed frauds to the light of day. The number and extent of them are hardly credible, and we regret that we have not space for more copious extracts. What wc give is merely as a. peep into the great mass, the entire of which will readily account for the extraordinary and otherwise unaccountable v expenditures of the last two Administrations, from whose books our facts and figures come. Comparative expenses of our Government at different periods. The expenses of our Government down to the end of Mr. Jefferson's administra- tion, appear to have been frugal and exemplary. The cost of Washington's admin- istration, comprehending eisrht years, was only - $1 5,892,188 Of John Adams's four years, 21,450,351 Of Jefferson's eight do., 41,300,783 As the war with Great Britain came under Mr. Madison's terms of office, eight years, the expenses were of course extraordinary, and mounted up to $144,684,939 Monroe's eight years, 104,463,400 J. Q. Adams's four do. 50,501,914 It may be thought that the expenses of Mr. Monroe's and Mr J. Q. Adams's ad- ministrations, were disproportionately large, as compared with the earlier days of the republic. But the growth of the country may account for a part of it, and the grander projects of the nation, suggested by the experience of the war, for the other part. But it is somewhat startling to find the expenses of General Jackson's adminis- tration of eight years mounting up to - - - - $145,792,735, being greater than the cost of Mr. Madison's eight years, which had the war with Giant Pvitain on hand. But yet more startling is the announcement of the fact, that Mr. Van Buren's administration of only four years, cost the nation $140,585,321. In eight years, at this rate, it would have been ... 281,170,642. There are no apparent reasons, aside from the facts disclosed by the investigat- in:r Committees of the 27th Congress— nor are these very satisfactory — for this rapi 1 and amazing increase of national expenditures. Besides, that the Florida war was unnecessarily protracted and unnecessarily expensive, as has been shown, by the corruption and frauds involved in it, that, even as it was, will not account for but a small fraction of this great excess of expenditures above all former exam- ple. And what else extraordinary was there ] Appropriations of the 27th Congress — great reduction of expenditures. Appropriations are generally in excess of the expenditures, with a view of grant- 10 >'ng a liberal supply. The appropriations of the 27th Congress for 1842, being" the last half of one fiscal year and the lirst half of anotner, falling in 1842, were $21,6; 13,784.58. It should be observed, however, that the charges of the Post Office Department, about one million and a half, are a part of this appropriation, which should be de- ducted for a fair comparison, as the revenues and disbursements of that Department have heretofore beenkeptby themselves, and not reckoned with those of the Gov- ernment. Nor was the debt of the District of Columbia, one million and a half (assumed), or the two per cent, land fund and land distribution appropriations, falling' in this account, properly chargeable to this administration — all of which deducted, would reduce the appropriations for 1842 to less than sixteen millions. The appropriations for the six months, between January 1, and June 30, 1843, were $8,166,418.00; and for the fiscal year, ending- June 30, 1844, they were $16,332,837.00. A comparison. Compare the appropriations of the 27th Congress with the annual expenditures of Mr. Van Buren's administration, as reported by the Treasury Department, July 2d, 1841 : — Expenditure of 1837 $37,265,037 15 1838 39,455,438 35 1839 37,614,936 15 1840 27,249,909 51 Total - - - $140,585,321 16 The annual average of the expenditure of Mr. Van Buren's ad- ministration would be 35,146,330 29 Compare this average with the appropriations of the 27th Congress for the year ending June 30, 1844, which may fairly be taken as the level to which a Whig Congress has brought the ex- penses of Government, viz. $16,332,837, which is less, by $2,580,656.19. than half the annual average of the expenses of Mr. VaJi Buren's Administration; or less by $18,813,493.29, than the entire average ; or less by $23,122,601.35 than the highest annual expenditure of Mr. Van Buren. Remarks. A result and fact of the kind above demonstrated, needs no comment. It will fall a cpwrm upon a Government-ridden, long abused, and oppressed nation, and open their eyes to the past and the future. They will see— -for it is proved — that the charges brought by the Whigs in 1840, against the then existing and former Administrations, of profligacy, corruption, and prodigality, are sustained; and that the expenses of Government lor many years were nearly double, at least one third greater than what was necessary. Bad Stewardship. Mr. Van Buren came into power with six millions of dollars in the Treasury; he took for the uses of Government the eight millions of United States Bank Stock that was owned by the Gov- ernment; he also took the fourth instalment due to the States by the Deposite Act of 1836, which was nine millions ; the Treasury Notes outstanding on the 4th of March, 1841, when he retired to give place to General Harrison, were somewhat over six millions and a half; the whole amounting to about thirty millions, which is the amount he expended, during his four years, in excess of the revenues of the Government. In addition to this, the outstanding appropriations on the 4th of March, 1841, were about twenty-nine millions. These, of course, were so many liabilities of the Treasury, and conse- quently so much additional burden or debt on the incoming Administration — swelling the whole account to nearly sixty millions, in excess of the revenues of the period of his Administration. It is fair, however, to credit Mr. Van Buren the nine millions of outstanding appropriations that were imposed upon him, when lie came into power, March 4, 1837. We have, then, this result, that the expenditures of Mr. Van Buren's Administration, including his appropriations thrown upon the succeeding Administration, were fifty millions in excess of the revenues of his term of office. . Further than this: — The conditions of the Compromise Act of ]832 were about to strike off five millions o/ revenue in 1841, and five millions more in 1842. Yet the Government, in full view of the excessive expenditures of the past, and of this diminishing revenue for the future, had made no provision for this extraordinary and overwhelming state of things, brought about by its own profligacy and improvidence. It is manifest, that no Government could long maintain itself under such a stewardship ; and that in our case, from the moment Mr. Van Buren took change of our public affairs, till he re- signed them, we were descending straight and rapidly into a deep gulf of debt and ruin. Indeed, our momentum downward was so great, when he gave up the reins, that it was impossible to hold up — and here we are in consequence. We should, however, have done better, if treason had not prevented. An illustration. A steward is put in charge of a large estate for a given time, with plenty of money, with a regular income from the tenants equal to all expenditures, with no incumbrances on the property, but large sums due to it and at interest, and is bound so to manage it, as to deliver it up at the end of his time, in as good a condition as it was in when he took it. 11 But the first thing he does, is to spend all the money left in his hands ; then he calls in the debts, which were intended to remain on interest, and spends that; by want of foresight, bad management, and prodigality, the income from the farms and other property gradually falls off, and there is not enough to keep the estate in order ; by the same cause this state of thinga waxes worse and worse, and the estate is running in debt ; all his employees he indulges in the same habits of extravagance and profligacy, whose influence, coming in aid of his, helps on the general ruin; he is compelled largely to anticipate his income, and draw on the future; till at last, when the time of his stewardship has expired, the estate is deeply involved, is greatly injured by bad husbandry, the morals of the tenants are very much altered for the worse; and take it all in all, the next steward that comes, finds a hard enough task of it, to save the estate from complete ruin. The story we have told is that of the last Administration of our national affairs. Retrenchment and Reform. The grand result of reducing the appropriations to a little over sixteen millions a year, is sufficient evidence of what the 27th Congress achieved, in the way of retrenchment and reform. They found every department of the Government more or less ill organized, ineffi- cient, extravagant, and corrupt, exerting a most pernicious influence on the morals of the people, and squandering the public funds by tens of thousands, and by millions. The expenditures of the Government, by Such means, had been tripled since the administration of Mr. J. Q. Adams; but the 27th Congress, by applying the axe of retrenchment, with a salutary vengeance, brought the expenditures back again — fully back, if we take into consideration the growth of the coun- try. Boldly did they take the axe in hand, right lustily did they wield it, with coats and hats off, and the result is announced to the world. They spared not the estimates sent in by the Execu- tive Departments, but cut them down by millions. The cases to which the knife of excision, or the grubbing tools of eradication, have been ap- plied, are too numerous for specification in our limits. We can only speak of them generally. Some millions were lopped oft' from the expenses of the army, by an Act which reorganized and reduced it largely, and abolished numerous sinecures, and the corrupt custom of extra allowances, which sometimes exceeded regular pay, and which, as a whole, were enormous. The abuses that had crept into the army, augmenting expenditures, were flagrant and startling. They were boldly taken in hand, and provided against for the future. There was the Board of Navy Commissioners in their easy chairs at Washington, deteriorating the Navy every day, and wasting money in vast sums by their decisions. It was abolished ; and the whole Navy Department was reorganized by an Act of Congress, introducing a new system of economy and efficiency, as well in the machinery of the Department itself, as in the various branches of the naval service — thereby retrenching from one to two millions in the general ser- vice, and saving many millions from waste. An Act was passed amending the organization of the Civil Departments, suppressing the sys- tem of contingent and general appropriations; cutting off the power of pensioning a partisan press, by ordering the public printing to be done on contract with fair dealers, in open market ; ordering purchases and other Government Jobbings, on the same principle ; reducing and limit- ing allowances of various kinds — all a saving of millions. TI19 vast peculations and frauds in the Indian Department, Land Offices, and Custom Houses, were hunted out and reformed — an immense saving. The contingent expenses of Congress were cut down to an honest level, and former abuses corrected. All branches of the public ser- vice were thoroughly overhauled, examined, retrenched, and reformed — to the saving of many millions, as the appropriations demonstrate. An instructive fact. If the estimates of the Executive Departments, as sent into Congress, had been taken as the rule of legislation in the appropriations, we should have beerl but little, if at all, better off than before. The 27th Congress thought it their duty to cut them down by many millions. All this will serve to convince the people how little sympathy there is in the Executive for their burdens, and that they must look to Congress, if they have a good one. for retrenchment and reform. The Executive has no interest in such operations, but the contrary. From that quarter come all abuses in the way of extravagance and corruption. At that very moment, and all the while that the 27th Congress were doing this great work for the people, the Executive and his pensioned press were waging a fierce and savage war against them, and denouncing them as the enefnies of the people. Private Justice. It is the highest praise of a Government, that it respects private Justice. A large national debt had been hanging over us for many years, in the form of private claims, which Congress after Congress had warded off, and refused to hear, lest they should have money to pay. That appears to have been the reason that had filled the hearts of widows, orphans, and decrepid old men, with despair for a nation's injustice. It is certain, that former Congresses found enough other ways for their money. But the 27th Congress marched straight into these long arrears, examined the files, heard about a thousand cases, and granted relief in a little less than three hundred, which added so much to the demands on the Treasury. But it was Just. The appropriations for private claims at the last session were a little less than one tfiirtift/i of the whole amount for a single year. We have not the means of exact comparison, but we think the private claims acted upon by the last Congress, were six, if not ten to one of the average of the preceding six Congresses — all which were left a debt by the preceding Administrations on the present. 12 Tlic time occupied in the Sessions of the 21th Congress. It was 450 days, about sixteen months — the longest time any other American Congress ever sat, by about three months. This has been made a subject of accusation without considering, 1. That they had the Apportionment on a new census to fix, a work the materials of which are ten years accumulating, for which it would be no more than fair to allow one month. 2. That they had the Tariff to readjust, another accumulation of ten years, which may fairly be nut down for three months, on account of the greatness and difficulties of the task, in the pecu- liar circumstances of the case. There were between six and seven hundred articles to legislate upon, each of which was enough for a separate bill. Six plans of Tariff were got up, four passed, and two were vetoed. 3. The currency question, which, including all the hindrances and embarrassments occasioned by the Vetoes, and the new projects in the form of Exchequer plans, probably did not consume less than three months. 4. For the labors in retrenchment and reform, it is proper to allow another month. All these will probably be allowed to be extraordinary, not usually claiming the attention of Congress; and they amount altogether to eight months — which is half the time occupied by the three Sessions. When, therefore, these facts are considered, in connexion with the grand total of their labors, that the aggregate of the Reports made in both Houses, was 1849; of joint resolutions and bills acted on, 1328; and of laws finally passed, 514; the laws averaging as much more than one a elay, as 514 exceeds 450, a far greater proportion than any other Congress ever did in a given time; when all this is considered, the accusation falls to the ground, and the 27th Congress stands forth, not only vindicated, but entitled to the highest praise, in this particular. Certainly, it can never be said, that, by their protracted Sessions, they have increased the expenses of Gov- ernment, when it is proved, that they have reduced them one half. The discipline of the 21th Congress: Notwithstanding all the clamor about gag-laws, suppression of the freedom of debate, &c\, it is now generally conceded, even by the opposition in the late Congress, certainly it is felt by the country, that the one hour rule, and the assumption in the House of Representatives of the right to limit debate in Committee of the Whole, are among the best and most important regulations ever adopted by a deliberative body. It is a great reform, and it was by this, and by this only, that the 27th Congress were enabled to accomplish such a vast amount of business i " m " 33 30f " Sot " ?.i cts. . 33 per ct. 3 cts. 4 " 12 " 9 " 3 " 5 " 5 " 4 " 3 " 27^ per ct, Hcis. 1 " 3 " 3 " 3 " 150 cwt. 90 " 20 cts. 200 250 300 350 4f)0 30 55 per ct. 55 " &k " 38i " 38| " 27- " 36§ " 36f " '30} " 55i & 4 cts, 55^ & 4 cts 49£ per ct. 49A " 5 cts. 55 per ct. 3 cts. 4 " 12 " 9 " 3 " 3 " - 5 " 5 " 4 " 3 " il " l " 3i" Si " 3i '■ 185 cwt. I ct-lb. 20 cts. 200 250 300 350 . 400 30 25 25 15 150 50 per ct. 50 " 25 " free 20 per ct. 50£ & 4 cts, 50 per ct. free 40£ & 4 cts, lii cts. 10 " 3^ " 50 per ct. 2| cts. 3^ " 12 " 9 " 3 " 3 " 5 " li " 1 " 3 " 3 " 3 " 150 cwt. i)0 " 10 cts. 200 250 300 350 400 30 25 25 15 150 1842. 40 per ct. 40 " 15 " 25 " 30 " 30 " 30 " 30 " 40 " 5 " 30J & 3 cts 14 cts. 14 " 4 " 50 per ct. 2i cts. 4 " 6 " 9 " 3 " 3 " 3 " 4 " 3 " 2i " 1± " 1 » 125 cwt. 85 " 8 cts. 300 400 It will be seen that the Tariff of 1828 is the highest of the four. It has been called " the bill of abominations." Yet Martin Van Buren, Richard M. Johnson, Thos. H. Benton, Mahlon Dickcrson, Silas Wright, and James Buchanan — all voted for it. Messrs. Wright and Buchanan also voted for the Tariff of 1842, and twenty of the Loco focos of the House. Indeed, the credit of the bill of 1842 is claimed for these, because, it is said, their vote carried it. It is also said, that the present Tariff will operate as prohibitory, and diminish revenue. It is a sufficient answer, to state the facts, that the highest Tariffs we have ever had, have produced the largest revenue, and that every quarter's return of the present Tariff, proves the same thfng. These facts are indisputable. It is moreover said, that a Tariff enhances prices of the goods on which it is imposed. Sup- pose it does, it is a voluntary tax, and in a Tariff like ours, it falls chiefly on the rich. But the thing is false, in application to a judicious Tariff, as the following statement, furnished by the Treasury Department, will show :— *■ Dcscriotion of articles. 181G. 1825. 1829. 1832. Price. Duty. Price Duty. Price. Duty. Price. Duty. Braces of 24 bits Hammers, per doz. Cupboard locks, per doz. Steelyards, per pair Hinges, cast butts, per doz. Compasses, rule joint, per doz. Currycombs, per doz. s. d. 18 10 12 4 4 8 3 2 4 2 3 10 per ct. 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 s. d. 7 6 7 2 2 7 2 9 2 3 3 I 2 per ct. 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 s. d. 5 5 4 1 10 1 4 1 2 2 7 1 4 per ct. 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 s. d. 5 4 2 1 3 1 1 4 1 10 11 per ct. 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 10 The prices under 1816 show the rates before the Tariff ; and so on. Like effects were produced by those Tariffs on nearly all kinds of goods subject to increased duty, cotton and woollen fabrics, &c. &c. The Birmingham Factory of pins, in Connecticut, which, before the Tariff of 1842, was able to turn out a million s day, and undersell the imported pins, immediately lowered the prices six cents per pack, after the Tariff, which imposes a duty from 20 to 30 per cent, on this article. The following are from the prices current of domestic goods, at Lowell, Mass., immediately before and immediately after the Tariff of 1842 : Cotton drillings, ----- before the Tariff, j " shirtings, ... - do. do. , ■ " " heavy, - - do. do. " sheetings, - - - - do.- do. " " wide, - - do. do. Flannel, do. do. Woollens of different kinds fell from 12,\ to 20 per cent. The Collector of the Customs of New York, Mr. Curtis, in a letter to the Secretary of th Treasury, of Nov. 28, 1842, gives a long list of prices, before and after the Tariff, of articles o which an increased duty had been imposed, which proves, that the prices of such articles ha in all cases fallen, except on the best brandies — and fallen largely, for the most part. These facts prove, that a suitable protection of home industry and labor will enable domes! manufacturers to sell lower, and that home competition is quite sufficient to secure this end. Any Tariff, therefore, that is necessary for an adequate revenue, supersedes the necessity < direct taxation, and is an unspeakable blessing to the labor and industry of the country, besides th it lowers the prices of manufactured articles, while the wages of labor, and the staple produc of our own soil, everywhere rise. The firmer nets his goods cheaper, sells his products high< and finds a ready market By this means a foundation is laid for the re-establishment of a sou currency. It brings in the precious metals, and keeps them here. Accordingly we find, tl since the Tariff of 1842, they are flowing in upon us with great increase. The truth is, we can never have a sound and abundant currency, till the Tariff shall have h a fair and full experiment. For the want of it, our country had been drained of specie. It now flowing back again. Hence, the re-adjustment of our Tariff regulations, which, by the conditions of former led lation on the subject necessarily devolved on the 27th Congress, was, in fact, of greater imp] tance than the re-establishment of the currency. It was a sine qua non — the former being in< pensable as a basis of the latter. The Tariff is necessarily the first step in our return to prosperity. Not an inch can be re vered, but all would be backward and downward still, without it. Hence the important of 27th, or Whig Congress, as the opposing party would never have granted this boon to the peo but would even now snatch it away, if they should dare. What we have proved. AVe submit whether the facts we have adduced do not prove, that there has been sometl bad — very bad in the administration of our Government for a length of years and that the pie in 1840 did not complain without reason, were not roused without cause. To whom ice are indebted. To the Whigs of the 27th Congress, laboring under the greatest possible disadvantages b; defection of the Chief Magistrate — or rather by the betrayal of the insincerity of his pretensio and contending'with a powerful opposition that conspired with a treacherous Executive to thi undermine, and defeat them — to the Whigs of that Congress, placed in such circumstances warring with such difficulties, is the nation indebted for these discoveries and results. '! In re i Great Fact, the doings of the 27th Congress, demonstrating what can be accomplished, against such obstacles, in the way of retrenchment and reform, in bringing to light the hi crimes of the past, and providing healing measures for the great misfortunes of the Countr What history will record of (he 27/h Congress. It will say— That it was begotten of an injured people, in hope of redress: Hint it was the irios ented ever assembled in the same place; that t ho majority of that body were men of honest }■»>', design, intent on great reform, so much demanded; that they were born to this great endeavor] shoutings, lived under a cloud, anil died grieving, if not lamented; that they had mure important bin coming before them, and did more, than any other Congress; thai what they left undone, was notj fault ; that they were placed in a position most anomalous, and had to contend with difficulties r alleled, by the perfidious conduct of the Chief Magistrate; that they came in after a set of men, w many years of a ruinous policy and destructive measures, had broken down the currency, run dov fljevenue, run down the people' and run down the country; that they were required to build all up in a day ; that they performed miracles for the circumstances in which they were placed, introduci reform, and effected large retrenchments, in a Government for a long time not guilty of such \\<>rl the contrary; that in fidelity of purpose and vigor of undertaking, they excelled all example of the and that they began a great and good work, achieved much of it, and Rut down a stake jn / can history, which will be looked to and hung to in all future time, so long as men may be improvement. The Future. In 1840 the instincts of a nation in deep distress, were roused for self-preservation, and th umphed. I!ut treason — rank treason snatched victory from the^yictors. In 1844, the^F* trial will come, and the weal or woo of this nation will then be fettled. There is no We have only to say to a disappointed, suffering, and half despairing; people, — Once more unto the breach, dear friends — Once More. 140_ ; X / -vifeX. < #feX / -iftX . '°' * X" • • •y'Lx • " o, y * • x* • ■ - ■ v •. •-• 1 ^ ^ ,,. X o_ J) ■*4(M' a. «** f c v v »*VL'* <^ a9 ^ ,\v * ©dm®! • ^ e& * r. v \c# : & '^ -•" ^\.M.^. "" ^ ^ *V & V e " * *