attempting to use this unexpended balance fourteen and a half millions as an argument against the act of last session, he would make use of it to oppose the extension of the distribution principle, to resist the distribution scheme of the present session. The war is not over; all the projects of last session are revived: we have the land bill, and the bill for distributing surpluses to the States, already before us. Let us now make a stand, fortify our camp, and not uselessly waste our ammunition. We shall want the unexpended balance of last year's appropriations, and all other facts and arguments which we can bring to our aid, successfully to resist powerful efforts which are to be made to follow up the distribution of surpluses annually, until the system shall be fixed upon us as the settled policy of the Govern ment. This appeared to him the wiser and better course; he could not, therefore, vote for the gentleman's motion. Mr. HUBBARD said that, when he was up before, he had expressed a wish that the Senator from Missouri would so amend his motion as to confine the printing of the document for the use of the Senate; and, after the discussion which had taken place, he felt confirmed in the propriety of that suggestion. The Senator had stated, as a reason for wishing to send this document to the State Legislatures, that the question as to the manner of disposing of the deposite fund was now pending before them, and that the document was intended to inform them that Congress had been apportioning money to the States for deposite; the sum of fourteen millions of dollars, which was an unexpended balance of appropria tions which had actually been made, intending thereby to make the impression that this balance of appropriations must be had; and, in order to supply the Treasury with the necessary moneys, a part of the money which would be deposited with the States after the 1st of January, in pursuance of the deposite bill of the last session, would necessarily have to be returned to the Treasury, and intending also to produce an influence upon the action of the Legislature upon this subject, and moreover to hold up those who were the avowed friends of this bill to the odium of their constituents, for sending among them money required for the use of the Government. He was so unfortunate as to have differed from the Senator from Missouri, as to the propriety and policy of passing that deposite bill. He gave it his support. He had seen no cause to regret that vote. He then believed it right and proper, and demanded from a just regard to the public interest. He still believed the same; and, under the same circumstances, he should not hesitate to give a similar vote upon the same subject. He had voted for the bill, and he had also voted for the appropriation bills which are enumerated in the document proposed to be printed. He well understood the effect of his vote; and he, for one, was then entirely satisfied that the whole amount of those appropriations could not be expended before the 1st day of January next; and yet that fact, of itself, had no influence upon his mind, to deter him from giving his support to the deposite bill. The whole history of our legislation, since the foundation of the Government, will show an unexpended balance of former appropriations remaining in the Treasury at the commencement of each succeeding year. The unexpended balance on the coming 1st day of January will undoubtedly be larger than usual; but, after deducting the five millions left in the Treasury, according to the provisions of the depos te bill, the sum will be reduced to about the usual unexpended amount of appropriations. But the document, unaccompanied with any other fiscal statement, as he had before remarked, would certainly give wrong impressions, and tend to darken, rather than enlighten, the public mind as to the true condition of the Treasury. A reference to the Secretary's report upon [SENATE. the finances would show what would be the probable condition of the public Treasury at the close of the year 1837. There could be no mistake about this matter; making the ordinary appropriations, and calculating only upon a receipt of five millions from the sale of the public lands, instead of their being deficit in the sum of fourteen millions, there would not be a deficit of over two or three millions, upon the showing of the Secretary himself. The document, he again repeated, was calculated to mislead; and unless it could be accompanied with an official statement of what would be the means of the Treasury on the 1st day of October, 1837, when the deposite bill will have been executed, to meet all claims upon the Treasury, he should be opposed to sending it to the State Legislatures. He was entirely willing to give all desirable information; he would withhold nothing from them which could be useful; but the document, printed as it is proposed to print it, independent of the other offi cial reports upon the state of the finances, would, it seemed to him, afford no useful information. He would venture to predict that, during the next fiscal year, there would not be any period when the Treasury would feel embarrassed from having deposited with the States the sum actually found in the Treasury on the 1st day of January. So far from it, in his belief, there would be found, at the close of the year, means sufficient to meet all claims upon the Treasury. He would, however, express the hope that the Committee on Finance would be able to bring forward some measure, which, in effect, would leave hereafter in the pockets of the people, "the best depositories of the public money," what will not absolutely be required for the use of the Government. Such a measure he should support. He would again, in conclusion, repeat his former request, that the Senator from Missouri would so amend his motion as to have the document printed for the use of the Senate. He had no objections to printing an extra number, but he had objections to sending this document, under the authority of the Senate, to the State Legislatures, as a document designed to aid them in their action, which, he believed, was calculated to produce a contrary effect. Mr. STRANGE rose and said that he was but young in the Senate, and therefore it would be rash in him to lay down any rule for its action. But he might venture to say that on this, as on every future occasion, he would vote in favor of printing any paper which was calculated to give information to the people. He understood there were very few gentlemen in this body who objected to the proposition of the Senator from Missouri to have the document in question printed; but the objection was to its being sent to the Governors and Legislatures of the several States; and he (Mr. S.) concurred in that objection. He confessed that he was somewhat surprised to see the Senate thrown into a tumult from a mere proposition to print a document; but when he recollected how Senators were situated with regard to a measure adopted at the last session, his wonder ceased. He could not vote to send a document out, upon the grounds urged by the honorable Senator from Missouri. He was opposed to sending copies to the Legislatures and Governors of the States. And he was opposed to the proposition on another ground: the effect which it might seem it was intended to produce on the Governors and Legislatures. On the document reaching them, the natural inquiry would be, what was the object to be accomplished by sending us this document? It certainly was designed to have some effect. Is it to operate on the Legislature? What right has Congress, or any pertion of Congress, to dictate to us or to either branch of our Legislature? Upon this matter (concluded Mr. S.) we are supreme, and have no superior. We judge for ourselves, and think no man or body of men have a right to interfere. therefore unite with the Senator from New Hampshire SENATE.] Election of Chaplain--Admission of Michigan. [Mr. HUBBARD] in praying the Senator from Missouri to call to his recollection the fable of the boy and the fil berts, and strike out that part of his proposition relative to sending copies of the document to the Governors and Legislatures of the several States. Mr. BENTON accepted the suggestion of the Senator from North Carolina, and modified his motion according ly, so that one thousand extra copies were ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate. ELECTION OF CHAPLAIN. [DEC. 29, 1836. convention of the people of Michigan, convened for the express purpose, should express their assent to these conditions, and agree to come into the confederacy on the terms prescribed. The act contained no directions as to the inanner in which such convention should be called. A convention was ordered by the Legislature of Michigan; which met, and concluded to reject the conditions of admission, and communicated such dissent to the President of the United States. On farther reflection, however, without any particular form of legislation, the people themselves had since spontaneously The Senate then proceeded to the election of a chap-met in their primary assemblies, and called a second lain; when, the bal'ots being counted, it appeared that the Rev. Mr. Goodman, having received 22 votes, was duly elected. Several bills received from the House received their first and second reading, and were appropriately refer red; when The Senate adjourned. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29. Mr. GRUNDY, from the Committee on the Judiciary, reported a bill for the admission of the State of Michigan into the Union; which was, by consent, read twice. Mr. GRUNDY moved that the bill now receive its third reading: it was but short; the facts of the case were well known; and if any Senator wished further information, he stood ready to give it, so far as it was in possession of the committee. Mr. EWING objected to the bill's receiving its third reading at this time. It was far too important in its character to be hurried through the Senate in this man ner, without time to look at or consider it. Mr. CALHOUN joined in the objection. He had not, he said, looked much at the question involved in the bill, nor was he acquainted with the facts of the case; but, assuming them to be as had been stated in the President's message, this was one of the very gravest questions ever submitted to the Senate. It was certainly one which required to be maturely considered, and carefully weighed. He wished more time for reflection: first, that he might more accurately ascertain what the facts were; and, secondly, that he might weigh them in his mind with the care they demanded. He presumed others were of like mind; and, with a view to ascertain the wishes of the Senate, he would move that the further consideration of the bill be postponed, and that it be ade the order of the day for that day week. Mr. GRUNDY did not object to allowing gentlemen a reasonable time, but thought the day named too distant. There was one good reason why the bill should receive an earlier consideration: the distribution of the deposites was to take place soon after the 1st day of January next, and it was desirable, if the bill was to pass at all, that it passed early enough to admit the State of Michigan to receive, with her sisters of the confederacy, her due proportion of the public moneys; but if the whole subject was put off, as had been moved, the passage of the bill might be so far delayed as to render this impossible. This, surely, was a strong argument for as early an attention to the subject as possible. As to the facts of the case, they were detailed in the President's message, and in the documents which had been reported with the bill: he was fully aware that they presented a case, in regard to which the judgments of gentlemen might widely differ; but the facts themselves were few, and might soon be told. In June last, Congress had passed a bill declaring that, on certain conditions therein set forth, the new State of Michigan should be received Into the Union: one of which was, that certain boundary lines should be assigned to the State; and another, that a convention, by which body it had been agreed to accept the conditions of the law, and thus to enter the confederacy. It was since ascertained that from 5,000 to 6,000 votes for this latter convention had been cast for the same members who had formerly decided to refuse the terms of admission, and from 8,000 to 9,000 in favor of men of a different opinion. This, he believed, was about as correct a statement of the facts of the case as could be obtained by greater delay. The question was certainly open as to the validity of the acts of this latter convention, on which, no doubt, there would be a diversity of opinion; but as to the facts there could be no dispute. It would appear, on examination, that although a majority of the people of Michigan had, at the date of the first convention, heen opposed to accepting the terms of admission, yet, at the time the last was held, an overflowing majority had been in favor of the meas ure. When these facts should be found and admitted to be as stated, Mr. G. should give his views as to what ought to be the consequence. But he was anxious that the law should be passed in time for Michigan to get her proportion of the public money. The Secretary could not make the distribution on the first of the month, as all the returns would not then be in, but he might probably be in circumstances to do so within ten days thereafter. He Mr. CALHOUN said that no Senator was more anxious that the new State of Michigan should be received into the confederacy than himsel', or could be more willing that she should obtain her due proportion of the public money placed in deposite with the several States. desired to interpose no unnecessary delay, and would vary his motion so as to propose that this bill be made the order for Tuesday next. (Monday, he presumed, would scarcely be a business day, and many of the mem. bers might be absent.) According, however, to the statement given by the gentleman himself, there was at the bottom of this subject one of the gravest, the very gravest, questions which could be agitated; so grave, indeed, that important as he conceived the deposite act to be, he could almost prefer that their respective proportions of the surplus fund should be withheld from all the States, than that a bill like this should rashly be passed. He wished, he repeated it, more time for reflection. Mr. MORRIS said that although he was one of the committee who had reported the bill, yet he did not concur in the preamble as reported. He did not, indeed, doubt that Michigan ought to be admitted into the Union, and should rejoice at her admission. Bu', as the chairman had correctly stated the act of Congress, providing for her admission, made it conditional, and required her previous assent to the condition, that assent was to be made known to the President of the United States. Now, the assent of the people of Michigan had not yet reached the President at the date of his last communication, and therefore Congress did not officially know the fact. The first question was, whether the Senate was competent to declare the act of the last convention a valid act. The law required that a convention should be called for the express object of expressing assent or dissent to the conditions of reception. Now, DEC. 29, 1836.] Admission of Michigan. the Senate had learned from the President's message that the people of Michigan had assembled in a convention called by their own Legislature, and had declared their dissent, and had communicated such dissent to the President. But, after this solemn act by a convention legally called, it seemed that there had another convention been gotten up without any authority of law, and on the acts of this body the present bill was founded. It involved questions of the highest magnitude. Mr. M. went on to express his opinion that the doings of the latter convention could be no guide for the legislation of Congress, who ought to act just as if no such body had ever met. He was of opinion that the third section of the admission law, which required the previous assent of the people of Michigan to conditions presented by Congress, was an imposition upon that people; but the correct mode would now be to repeal that act, and to receive the State at once. The whole law had proceeded on the hypothesis that there was an unsettled boundary line between Michigan and the State south of her; but, as one of the Senators of that State, he considered the question of boundary as fully settled. He was willing to admit Michigan, but not on grounds which were unfounded in fact. He gave notice that he should, when the bill came up for consideration, move to strike out the preamble; it was intended as a key to the bill; but it was calculated rather to mislead than to guide to the true principle on which the bill was founded. It was possible that, on further reflection, he might change his mind; but such were his present impressions. Mr. GRUNDY said that the committee, when draughting the bill, had also taken under consideration that view of the subject presented by the Senator from Ohio; { and if, on Monday, the Senate should concur in that view, no regard would be had in the bill to the late convention accepting the terms of admission, and thus the object of admission would be attained. But it was on this ground that Mr. G. preferred the preamble: that Michigan could then never claim, as a State, what Congress had thus decided against. And, as there was an inveterate controversy between Michigan and Ohio, he thought it the better way to bind Michigan, so that under no pretext could she set up a claim to a section of country belonging to Ohio. If the preamble should be stricken out, the subject would be more open to controversy than if it should be retained. Mr. G. believed that, by the preamble, Michigan would be estopped from coming forward and claiming any thing. It was merely on this ground that he was in favor of retaining the preamble. But, to obviate objections, he was willing that the bill should be postponed, and made the order of the day for Monday next. [SENATE. was whether such convention had decided to accept the conditions of admission which Congress had (very properly, in his judgment) required. He believed it had: and the case was therefore very plain. He understood there had been more votes, by 2,000 on both sides, given in this latter than in the first convention; and no matter how many unsuccessful attempts had previously been made, if their consent had at last been given, there was an end of the matter; they were clearly entitled to admission. He should not enter on the argument, but merely threw out his opinion, which he should be ready, at the proper time, to enforce with what little power he might com. mand. Mr. EWING concurred with his colleague [Mr. MonRIS] in the opinion that the last convention held in Michigan was altogether illegal and unauthorized. He saw in it nothing which was entitled to be called a convention of the people. He was also opposed to the preamble of the bill. He had not examined the bill itself, and could not say what might be his opinion of it, should the preamble be stricken out; but how much soever it might operate as an estoppel to the new State of Michigan from ever hereafter mooting again the vexed question of her boundary line, he was not in favor of having that estoppel effected by what he considered a mere fiction. [Mr. E. quoted the admission act, to show the conditions of admission.] Now, did any one suppose that it was a fulfilment of this condition for the people to rise up in their primary assemblies, without legal organization or civil authority, and declare their assent to the conditions of admission? Was society thus to be reduced to its elements, and was it to act without social organization? The act of Congress had recognised no such principle; it had recognised the principle of social organization; and to hold the validity of the acts of such an assemblage as had come together under the name of a convention of the people, was, in his judgment, so strange as to amount almost to an absurdity. Interested or not, he thought, in all fairness, the estoppel effected by such an act of assent ought not to be accepted and held binding. It was based upon an act that was wholly void. It was said, indeed, that a majority of the people had voted; but where was the evidence of any reg. ular social organization in the convention? What guar. antee did Congress possess that it had been convened according to the forms of the constitution? Who voted? Who notified the people at large of the time and place of meeting? Did the people all consent to such time and such place? It was, at least, not probable they did. The people of this country were in the habit of looking to some regular and recognised authority in all their proceedings. A, B, and C, in a particular county, deMr. BUCHANAN said he was aware that the present claring that they would meet to consider this public was not the proper occasion to discuss the merits of the question, did not lay the basis of a convention. How bill which had been reported: nor did he purpose to en- had the election of members of the convention been conter on its discussion; but, as other gentlemen had briefly ducted? Who had been the judges of election' had stated their opinions on the subject, he would in like they been sworn? if so, their oath must have been exmanner state what was his own view of the matter. He trajudicial. And who had been permitted to vote? It did not consider the subject of the bill as peculiarly had been said there were two thousand more votes grave or difficult, save as it was always a grave question given on either side than in the first convention. That whether a new State should be received into the Union. that number of votes had been counted he did not The language of the admission act, which had passed last doubt; but where was the evidence that they had been year, was very plain to him, so much so, indeed, that he had given? No warrant, or qualification of voters, had been expected the President would have issued his proclama- alluded to. Mr. E. had no objection to the admission tion at once, without referring the question to Congress of Michigan, but let it be done regularly, and in a propfor decision. Mr. B. here quoted the act, and observed er manner; and let nothing like trick be practised upon that it contained no provision requiring any legislative the people of the new State, by an estoppel improperly action on the part of Michigan, to authorize a convention obtained against their claims. of the people. It would have been improper that it should. Ile insisted it was perfectly competent for the people of that Territory to hold a convention spontaneously, without any application to the Legislature about the matter; and if they had done so, the only question Mr. MORRIS said he was very thankful for information that would show the ground on which the parties stood in the discussion. He understood the gentleman [Mr. BUCHANAN] thus: that all which was required of the people of Michigan was that they should choose a conven It tion, and that such convention should assent to the act of admission. The gentleman even went further; if one convention had failed, the people might choose another, and so go on ad infinitum. This doctrine (Mr. M. thought) went directly to dissolve the whole elements of society, and to destroy all the obligations of law. amounted to this: that if an act of Congress should be passed for the punishment of an offence, which act required a judicial investigation, the people might, notwithstanding, rise in an original assembly, and themselves inflict the punishment. Again: if Michigan had adopted a constitution, it was bound to abide by that constitution. But this proposed act of Congress would give the people of Michigan the power to amend and add to that constitution. Mr. M. thought that doctrines of this kind ought not to be tol erated. And if such an original convention was proper, how was it to be created? Was one county to notify another, or one individual another? or how was it to be done? If the people of Michigan might act in this irregular way, then so might the people of any of the States, and all government and law would be thus already dissolved into their original elements, and the whole fabric of our institutions would be reduced to a shadow. And the fault would not be so much in the people of Michigan as in this proposed act of Congress. Mr. M. thought much mischief would follow the passage of the bill with such a preamble. It would be establishing by Congress the doctrine that we are not to be governed by law, but by popular frenzy. When the Legislature of Michigan passed the law authorizing a convention, was there any objection made to that law? But why pass the law, if the people might rise in an original convention? It was such a convention that at least accepted the terms of admission a convention which, as the President had informed us, was got up without law; and the President had therefore not issued his proclamation of admission. It seemed to Mr. M. that all this was a wide departure from the constitution and laws of the country; and he should, therefore, at the proper time, move to strike out the preamble. Mr. BUCHANAN regretted that, in expressing a mere general opinion, he had unintentionally given rise to the present discussion. The Senator from Ohio, who had just taken his seat, had stated the ground he had taken in such strong terms, that Mr. B. supposed that if an angel from heaven should attempt to convince him of the contrary, he would labor in vain. That honorable Senator had discovered that he (Mr. B.) was a great latitudinarian; and that, if the principles he had stated should once be admitted, every thing would run to confusion. The people, it seemed, would rise, and not only legislate for themselves, but execute justice also!-(be presumed by Lynch law.) But he denied the justice of any such inferences from his doctrine. By what authority had the first convention been held? Not from any power given by the act of Congress to the Legislature of Michigan to pass a law calling a convention. Why, then, had such an act been passed? Clearly from the necessity of the case. Michigan had been acting as a sovereign State, and Congress had been treating with her touching her admission into the Union. It had been very proper in the Legislature to pass such a law; but the convention assembled under it had proved ineffectual. Congress had acted wisely in not requiring any act of the Legisla ture to give validity to the convention. The sovereign people of the State of Michigan had a right to do, in this matter, just what they should please to do. And even had the Legislature refused to pass a law calling a convention, the people would still have possessed the right to meet in their primary assemblies, and make their wishes known to the Legislature. He admitted that Congress should first be satisfied that the convention had [DEC. 29, 1836. acted in a regular manner, and had actually concurred in the conditions of admission. But, when this was proved, it was no longer a matter of favor to receive the new State. It was her right to come in. He should not go into the argument at this time; when the bill came up, he should be happy to meet the two Senators from Ohio in its discussion. Mr. BENTON said it was impossible that any question could arise about the admission, on which every gentleman had not already made up his mind. The subject had already been four or five years before Congress. Mr. B. insisted that the question was a mere question of right-a right which existed four years ago, but which had been met at the threshold, and fought inch by inch, till, at the last session of Congress, the friends of the admission had determined to sit it out. The admission bad been resisted in a manner unknown to the history of the country. And now it was to be put off till Monday, when the Senate had rather occasion to sit at night in these short days; and the nights would be necessary for the discussion of this question. If all the questions brought forward should be discussed, they must begin with Adam, who had but one woman to govern, and enter into the history of original conventions. There was no necessity of postponing till Monday. All the time would be little enough for them to get rid of what was pent up within them almost to bursting on this subject. But if postponed, then, when Monday should come, Mr. B. would come and sit down in his chair, and would camp on this ground till Michigan should be admitted. The discussion ended by making the bill the order of the day for Monday next. THE TREASURY CIRCULAR. The Senate proceeded to the further consideration of the joint resolution rescinding the Treasury order of July 11, 1836, &c.-the question being on the substitute offered by Mr. RIVES, aiming, indirectly, at the suppres sion of the small bills of the State banks. Mr. MORRIS having waived his right to the floor, Mr. SOUTHARD addressed the Senate as follows: The resolution of the Senator from Ohio [Mr. EWING] now submitted to our consideration, proposes two things To rescind the Treasury order of 11th July last, and to prevent the Secretary of the Treasury from delegating to others the power of directing what funds shall be received for the customs and public lands, and from making any discrimination in the funds which shall be received, either as to the persons who have to pay, or the objects for which the payments shall be made. The amendment of the Senator from Virginia does not rescind the order, but, regarding it as legal and temporary, prescribes that, hereafter, dues to the Government shall be paid in specie or notes of specie-paying banks, provided the banks whose notes shall be received shall not issue those of less denomination than $5 now; less than $10 after 1st July, 1839; and less than $20 after 1st July, 1841; and also that no notes shall be received which the deposite banks shall not be willing to credit to the Government as cash. The resolution satisfies itself with leaving the law on the subject as it was before the interference of the President and Secretary in July. The amendment provides by joint resolution for the manner of payment and kinds of money which shall be received, and leaves the selection of the notes which shall be received neither to the Secretary, nor to the President, nor to Congress, but to the deposite banks. A strange surrender of power to them-a feature of a financial system to which it is impossible to agree. The decision must be made by the Senate between the two propositions. I cannot hesitate in adopting the resolution and rejecting the amendment. The resolution leaves the law as it was. By that law every citizen had a right to pay in the same kind of money; either in specie or in notes convertible into specie on demand. All were on an equality in this respect, in every part of the Union. This was just in itself, and suited to the fundamental principle of our institutionsequality of rights and privileges. The resolution rests on the assumption that this state of things ought not to be changed, or, if it ought, that the Executive has no legal right to change it without the direction of Congress; that the Secretary, with or without the orders of the President, has no power of legislation in regard to the currency and the public lands; nor any authority to discriminate in favor of one citizen over another, or of the inhabitants of one State over an. other. These principles receive my concurrence; and I am, therefore, in favor of the resolution. I propose to inquire What the order of 11th July prescribes? What were the reasons and objects which induced its promulgation? What the effects which it has produced? And what authority the Secretary had to issue it' The order relates solely to the receipts on the sales of the public lands, and does not affect the receipts for the customs or any other dues to the Government, and thus makes a distinction between them and all other sources of revenue. It prohibits the receivers and deposite banks from receiving, after the 15th of August last, any thing but gold and silver, and, in certain cases, the Virginia scrip, for the lands, and forbids their taking any note of any bank anywhere, or any certificate of actual deposite, even of specie, in the deposite or other banks, unless it be a certificate of deposite of specie given by the Treasurer of the United States. It makes an exception in favor of the citizens of the State in which the land sold may happen to lie, and in favor of those who are called "actual settlers," and authorizes them, until the 15th of December, to pay in the ordinary currency-in specie or in bank notes. Such are its plain and obvious provisions; and they are intended to be permanent, so far, at least, as the Executive has authority and power to enforce them. The Senator from Virginia, in offering his amendment, seemed to regard the order as a temporary arrangement-as having worked its intended effects; and that it was now proper to legislate on the subject without ref erence to it. Other Senators have taken the same view. I fear that they will not be able to escape a direct expression of opinion, by this suggestion. We cannot avoid seeing that it is, in its phraseology, its avowed objects, and the grounds on which it is defended here, a permanent measure, although it may have had some temporary objects. There is nothing on its face which looks like a temporary act. The favor extended to particular classes of buyers was to last only to the 15th of Decem ber. That day is passed, and now it is the universal rule-operating on all the sales of public lands-with no allusion to any time when that rule shall be changed. [SENATE jects which may be accomplished by a five months' operation of a Treasury order? Certainly there is nothing in this detail of reasons which can induce the belief that the President and Secretary intended only a transient effect from their action. Nor is it defended on this floor as a temporary arrangement. The Senator from Missouri [Mr. BENTON] and others do not so defend it. They attempt to show that it ought to be the settled and permanent policy of the country. And, in this respect, they concur with the President and Secretary; while the Senator from Virginia, unwilling to disapprove their act, seems to desire to correct their error, by expressing a legislative opinion in favor of a different course for the future. The Secretary, under his seventh head, "Of the mint and the currency," (page 21,) says: The other objects of that circular "were gradually to bring back the practice, in those payments, to what was deemed to be the true spirit as well as letter of our existing laws, and to what the safety of the public money in the deposite banks, and the desirable improvement of our currency, seemed at that time to unite in rendering judicious.” He regards it as a matter of currency and safety of the public inoney; a matter, in its very nature, of permanent regulation. The President, in his annual message, after an examination of the deposite or distribution law, calls our attention to "the currency of the country"-a "subject intimately associated with" that law; and he treats of this order as a part of the regulation of the currency of the country; and, to show that he does not intend any repeal or alteration of it, he adds: "It remains for Congress, if they approve the policy which dictated this order, to follow it up in its various bearings." He looks to no repeal of it. "It remains for Congress." He kindly permits us to follow it up, and to do what he has left for us not to repeal and rescind it, but to strengthen and invigorate it. And, unless he has an opinion for Congress and another for his friends-an opinion official and an opinion private-he cannot willingly see any effort, such as the amendment proposed, to evade, weaken, or destroy it; although he may, as in the case of the deposite bill, give it his "reluctant approval," when he cannot avoid it. Left to his own choice, he would most proba. bly extend it to the customs, and to all the revenues of the country; and if no conflicting opinion shall be pronounced by Congress, I shall not be surprised if this extension take place. Mr. President, I ask how this order has, as yet, produced all its intended effect, and why we should regard it as temporary? The reasons and objects avowed in the public documents have not been accomplished. Were there others which have not been avowed? Is it true, as has been sometimes charged, but of which I know nothing, that a prevailing motive was to favor personal friends, and to defea', as far as practicable, the full effect of the deposite law? It has been said that there had been immense speculations in lands by those near the Executive; and that the temporary obstruction to public sales was useful, in enabling them to make profitable dispositions of what they had acquired, and extricate them. selves from embarrassment. This effect may have been produced. The objects avowed as those which are to be attained by it also show that it is not temporary. They are "To repress frauds, speculations, and monopolies." And will not attempts at these continue to exist, to a greater or less extent, while the public lands shall continue to A much more important public object has also been be sold? To strengthen the deposite banks, and pre-charged-the reduction of the amount which was to be vent too great an amount of bank notes from coming into them. And will not buyers continue to buy and pay in bank notes as long as things are left to take their natural course? "To discourage the ruinous extension of bank issues"-"the general evil influence likely, to result to the public interests, and, especially, the safety of the great amount of money in the Treasury and the sound condition of the currency of the country." And are these ob distributed among the States under the deposite law; and this has certainly been effected. A Senator has told us that the order prevented "myriads of paper money from flowing into the deposite banks in the West." Then, sir, it prevented "myriads of money" from being added to the amount which was to be distributed. I can readily believe that this was one of the motives which influenced the Executive in issuing that order. We all |