Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of the First Session of the Twenty-First Congress Page: 705
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M
OF- DEBATES IN CONGRESS.
705
Mab.CH 30, 1830.]
Buffalo and Mw Orleans Road.
[H. of K.
Work, and drives its inhabitants to inrcToor occupation.
The professional man retires to his books, to prepare for
spring and summer labors; and, in the South arid West,
from our-times of harvest, the planter and farmer need
the month of November to make arrangements for the
transportation.and sale' of their produce. . -At no time can
we come to the business of the nation, so little burdened
with cares of our own, as that which lias been fixed for
the beginning of our sessions. ., ,. , ^
A word more, sir, and I shall-have, concluded. I kno w
there are g<jptlemenhere with whom! am politically asso-
ciated, Who will vote for tiiis resolution, because. they be-
ll eve the nation already oppressed by too much legislation,
and that, by limiting the session, there'will bo a greater
probability of being rejieved.from much which is intended
to bear upon foreign commerce and southern interests. I
warn those gentlemen to beware of doings an act which
will permit our adversariesto augment our grievances, and,
at the same time, to take from us the privilege of com-
plaint, and of exposing their principles. Limit your, ses-
sions, without abridging the subjects of your jurisdiction,
jind the pressure of business will give a plausible excuse
for stopping debate. And, from his experience this ses-
sion, does not the honorable gentleman [Mr., McDufficg]
know that it will be done? Sir, if my friends, dispirited
by frequent discomfiture, believe no good can be done by
entering again the battle ground of their distinction, let
them remember we need time'to undo some of what has
been done; that it is by the discussion of our principles in
this House, that they are to become triumphant and national.
And let them be persuaded that they have recruits here
from the people, ready to aid in a renewal of the contro-
versy, and who are not willing to be cut off from sharing
the honors of victory or defeat.
Mr. SMYTH, of Virginia, next took the floor; but the
hour having expired, the debate was arrested for the day.
BUFFALO AND NEW ORLEANS ROAD.
The House then went into Committee of the Whole
on the state of the Union, Mr. Haysks in the chair, and
resumed the consideration of a bill making an appropria-
tion for the construction of the road from Buffalo, in New
York, to New Orleans, in Louisiana, via Washington city.
Mr. CliAWFOltl) rose, and remarked that the-bill-now
before the committee was one of very grave character,
involving most important considerations of expediency,
apart from the constitutional difficulty with which some
gentlemen, avowing no disposition to do so, had, involun
tarily, lie presumed, invested it. The power to construct
roads and canals might once perhaps have admitted of
great doubt, but [said Mr. C.] I defer to the decision of
more experienced and wiser men, whose opinions for the
last five and twenty years, expressed in legislative acts,
I lave fixed the construction of the constitution too firmly
to be now shaken—upon a basis on which this body con-
stantly acts. Not an appropriation bill passes, that does
not, in some shape or other, recognise the principle. A
few days ago we acted affirmatively on a bill providing
for an'expenditure incurred by the removal of obstruc-
tions from the channels of several rivers, and within five
minutes have approved of one of similar character. Put-
ting aside this question as rem jiuUcidum, as one passed
upon, and so considered on almost every side, and not
from the alarm which the gentleman from Virginia [Mr.
P. P. Bajuuk-r] was so kindlv desirous of quieting, lei
us proceed..
What is the duty of a Government, or, rather, for what
is any Government instituted? To promote the happiness
of those who-establish it, by the proper exercise of all the
powers confided. To develop the resources of a country,
.und of every part of it, by holding out the inducements
which facilities of transportation:'furnish to increased in-
dustry in exploring them, the experience of the world
Vol. VI.—89
has proved to be more, effectual-than any. other, policy
which, can: be devised.. .A nation may Sourish in every
stage of improvement from adventitious causes—by tue
misfortunes of others, or some special g-ood fortune, that
may attend her own.condition. Such was our auspicious
situation, from the formation of the present constitution,
until eighteen hundred and sixteen or seventeen, "WtYhad
just emerged from provincial inferiority—:the heavy hand
of an (oppressive. Government "had been not long before
removed, and. we felt the. buoyancy, and elasticity of youth.;
the change of our internal and relative political position,,
and the adoption of our new frame of Government, placed
before us an extended and delightful prospect, which-was
not only enlivened and enriched in all its. most: beautiful
tints, but over which was .thrown every charm that could
gratify the beholder, by the situation of the Eastern world,
whose food we supplied, and whose trade we carried. But,
sir, except under these favorable external circumstances,
no nation ever did prosper, no nation ever can prosper^
nor even then to the extent of which she is capable, -that
is not supplied with the roads and means of transportation
which a discreet and sober judgment shall assign to her,
condition. It is in vain that your manufacturers exerefse
their ingenuity and industry; that your farmers, as respect-
able and honored as any portion of your community, make
you and themselves intrinsically richer, by drawing from
the earth, annually, wealth which did not before exist, and
that your merchants establish themselves as purchasers
of tlxeir several commodities, if they cannot carry them to
market, except at a sacrifice which blunts, enterprise. ,
Not to open these avenues, is to bury the talent entrust-
ed to us. For what has a most indulgent and beneficent
Providence spread before us, with the most liberal hand,
all the bounties of nature? Is it that we shall use them as
they are furnished, or, by the exercise of the intelligence
that belongs to us, bring them into the most advantageous
and productive activity? To maintain the affirmative of
the first branch of the proposition, might accord with the
opinions of the individual who opposed the making of, a
canal, because God had placed a river near its contem-
plated route, and he thought it would be sinful to aid his
works. Not so is my view. 1 would assist the industry
and enterprise of the country, in its various branches. I
would lend accommodation to its convenience, and I would,
by every means in my power, place her in the best atti-
tude for defence, if hostilities should arise between her
and other powers. 1 would not have a splendid Govern-
ment, any more than the honorable gentleman from Vir-
ginia, [Mr. P. P. Bahdouu] but 1 am in great, very great
error, if that which is intended for the benefit of the peo-
ple—which is designed exclusively for the advancement
of their interest, and which is expected, by those who
advocate this bill, to contribute largely to it, can make a
gorgeous Government, 1 had supposed there was more of
utility than splendor in the scheme.; that comfort, compe-
tence, and ease would be found in greater abundance in
the country it traverses^ but 1 never imagined, until the
ingenious gentleman stated it, that the Government would
be more imposing. But, sir, if this be splendor, X favor
it. I wish to see the country, from Buffalo to New Or-
leans, gladdened by this channel of communication, which
shall enrich the land that it passes through—*diffusing
pleasure and wealth, and. inciting to the industrious pro-
duction of that which can be advantageously disposed of.
Even Virginia, in her four hundred miles that it covers,
will yet rejoice, I trust, that this bill has passed—not on a
magnificent scale, with triple rows of elms, in imitation.of
the French minister, but on the moderate plan proposed
by a very respectable committee of this House, through its
honorable chairman, my colleague and friend, [Mr. Hbmp-
on a plan destined, X hope, to be approved by the
Congress of the United States.
In advocating this measure, I wish it distinctly under-
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Gales, Joseph, 1761-1841. Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of the First Session of the Twenty-First Congress, book, 1830; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30764/m1/45/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.