Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of the First Session of the Twentieth Congress Page: 161
1471 columns ; 25 cm.View a full description of this book.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
161
OF DEBATES IN CONGRESS.
162
Jjls. 28,1828.]
Public Lands.
[SENATE.
have subjected them to contributions for every expendi-
ture here. It would have required the People of the Ni-
agara frontier to have borne the burden of the Treasury,
in that quarter, instead of receiving1 remuneration for
burnt villages, and lost property during the war. And,
besides, this principle is incapable of being practised on:
for, how will you determine, and of whom will you re-
quire, a reimbursement of your expenditures in Canada ?
It was my intention, sir, to have presented to the Se-
nate, some arguments on the principle of expediency,
many of which might be urged in the present case. I
will, however, desist from this view of the subject, be-
ing unwilling to occupy the time of the Senate. I will
only remark, that the public lands, as a source of reve-
nue, have greatly disappointed the expectations of those
who looked to them as the means of paying die national
debt, it was, no doubt, the expectation of the times,
that these lands would soon pass into the hands of ca-
pitalists, and that the public.debt, then amounting' to
about 42,000,000 dollars, would be paid before any of the
political divisions of tile Northwestern Territory should
gain a population of sixty thousand, and be prepared for
admission into the Union. Of the twenty five millions
annually paid into your Treasury, your receipts from
lands have frequently been less than one million. And
this result has several times happened, when you had, as
at present, more than one hundred millions of acres in
market. Your land system has been in operation about
forty years, and your whole receipts, from that source of
revenue, has not exceeded 36,000,000 dollars ; and this
sum is chargeable with heavy incidental expenditures in
collecting. The million derived from this source, can, if
the means of the Government are insufficient without it,
be assessed on other objects, and this Government would
be relieved from a distracting subject, which, in the very
fact of your time, in legislating about it, and in the cost
of its necessary details, consumes half its own amount.
But, sir, there is another point of view to which 1 wish
to direct the attention of the Senate. The amount of
lands with which this amendment has any tiling to do,
does not exceed 200 millions of acres, the quantity con-
tained in the new States ; while the whole amount of the
public domain is estimated at 10 or 1100,000,000. And
of tlie COO,000,000, more than 50 are already disposed
of, in military bounties, sales, and donations ; a 00 or
900,000,000 would still be left in the Territories and fur-
ther West, to tile undisputed control of the Federal Go-
vernment.
The public lands should be ceded to the States in
which they lie, because their present condition is not
warranted by the letter of the Constitution of this Go-
vernment. The Government of the Union is one of limit-
ed and specified power. It was framed with a cautious
jealousy of its encroachment upon the States, and with
the view of transferring from them, and to it, no powers
which they could exercise ; no powers except those
which are, in their character, national, and necessary for
national purposes. Its powers are carefully enumerated
and specified ; and so jealous were its framers, that, after
every specification contained in it, it is expressly inhibited
the exercise of any powers, except those delegated to
itself, or prohibited to the States. We shall search in
vain for any clause in the Constitution, which prohibits
to the States the exercise of any powers connected with
the public lands. In ail the original States, this power
has always been exercised by the States. We shall search
ill vain for any clause in the Constitution, which autho-
rizes a control over the principal object of sovereignty in
the States—their public lands. It. cannot be appendant
to the word Territory, in the fourth article of the Consti-
tution; for Territory, in our Constitution, our laws, and
our history, signifies a region of country without the
limits of a State, in, and over which, a Territorial Go-
VOJ,. IV.—11
1 vernment is established. We say the Territory North-
west of the river Ohio, the Territory of Michigan, &c. ;
but, when we speak of the public lands, we say the pub-
lic lands in tho e Territories; the public lands in the States.
The one term signifies a political division of the country.
The other is a term by which we designate property.
The exercise of this power by Congress, is contrary to
the spirit of the Constitution, which aspires to national
objects, unlike that under consideration—national con.
cerns, such as the States are incompetent to legislate
upon. The interests submitted to the Federal Govern-
ment, are those of peace and of war, of the Army, tiie
Navy, and the foreign relations of the country, and of
such system of finance, as may be found necessary to
give active energy to these great interests. One of the
principal difficulties in the formation of this Government,
was, to designate the boundary betwixt it and the States ;
and it seems to have been the care of its framers, to avoid,
as much as possible, all municipal legislation ; the regula-
tion of all local and domestic concerns. It seems to have
been intended, that the Fedetal Government should not
engage in that which the States were competent to do.
Now, sir, test the present case by any of these rules,
and we must come to the conclusion, that, with this
matter, the Federal Government has nothing to do.
The Public Lands create afield of municipal legislation,
inconsistent with its general purposes, and the evident in-
tention of its framers. And, if in any degree correct in
this view, tlie compacts are unwarranted by the Consti-
tution ; and, if so, are not binding on the States.
I deny, sir, the Constitutional power of this Govern-
ment to hold lands within the limits of the States, except
for tlie purposes designated by the Constitution ; such as
forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful
buildings : and, to enable Congress to hold lands even
for these purposes, the consent of the Legislatures of the
States is declared to be necessary, by the express lan-
guage of the Constitution. In a question of such vital
importance to tlie new States, it would surely not be
thought unreasonable, that they should scrutinize the
power which takes from them "the public lands within
their limits, impairs their sovereignty, and deprives them
of equality with the original States. It would be, at least
some consolation to know, that the power which pros-
trates them at the feet of the Union, which assigns them
a level lower than that of tlie original States, is based on
the Constitution.
The power, Mr. President, of the States to make com-
pacts is one thing, and the Constitution of the United
States is another. And, although the States may have
the power to make compacts, by which a portion of their
sovereignty may be alienated, yet it does not follow of
course, that they have a right to transfer such sovereign
power to the Union, or that the Union could receive or
exercise such power. The boundary separating Federal
and State powers, may be considered the stability of our
political system. This boundary may not be passed by
either, for any purpose ; neither to usurp nor to transfer
power : for, in either way, would our system be deranged,
and the Constitution suffer violence. A State may have
the power of destroying her own Constitution, though
totally destitute of power to interfere with the Constitu-
tion of another State, or with that of the Union. Sup-
pose a State to determine on its own dissolution : Could
it transfer all its powers, Legislative, Executive, and Ju-
dicial, to the Federal Government > And, if a State
could so transfer its powers, could this Government re-
ceive such transfer, or exorcise such powers ? Surely
not: if one jot or tittle of power, not given by the Con-
stitution, can be acquired or exercised in such way as
this, then farewell to the guarols against usurpation of
power, placed by the wisest and best of men around the
Constitution : Farewell to the sovereignty of the States.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This book can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Book.
Gales, Joseph, 1761-1841. Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of the First Session of the Twentieth Congress, book, 1828; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30740/m1/85/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.