Public Leger, Volume 1, Number 15, Richmond, Wayne County, 19 June 1824 — Page 1

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"friendly to the best pursuits of man, friendly to thought, to freedom, and to peace." cotrpct,

JsUMBER 15.

RICHMOND, WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA, SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 1824.

VOLUME .

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OUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. FRIDAY, MAY 7. inrfe". rrtade bv Mr. Test, en the passage of the U to authorize the creation of a stock to any a)unt, not tyiccedini; five millions of dollars. I . continued. aish authorities, calculated rather to )ur than detect and punish piracies )des the reflection that the sinuosities indentations of the coast, being eminy calculated to furnish a safe retreat ase of puruit hence, I say, under all ;e considerations, it was thought adirle to. obtain the dominion and soventycf tlp country, if it could be had iouf actually paying money out of the Jasury and hence the sum stipulated )e paid the claimants was limited not to ed five millions of dollars ; and, at the )e time, the payment confined to, and tingent upon the value of the proceeds he sales of the public lands in those terries. This accounts too, fur the pecu- ) phraseology of the treaty in stating, he five millions to he paid by the crea- ) of stock; bearing an interest of G per turn per annum, payable from the proIds of the sales of the nublic lands, with-

Jiese territories ceded." If it were m;ded that the whole cf these claims uld have been paid, why limit them to ; millions? or, if it were intended that :n this sum should be positively and uuiditionally paid, why introduce the are restrictive clause? Why, I say, make Kivable by the creation of etock with in est payable from the proceeds of the esof these lands? The reason, I think v obvious. It was never intended to dee the government beyond the value those lands, and at the same time to ike, for the claimants, the best possible rain that ct ulci be. under these restrice circumstances. I am here met, by a sition taken by seme of the friends of s bill, that government is hound, at all -rits, to pay the interest, annually, on J stork created, and that to hsuc it, rccinable only out of the proceeds of the es of the lands in Florida, would be crenga stock, in its nature irredeemable, ur.h is always unfavorable, say they, for t government, as it goes to create a pertuity, except at the caprice of the. hulr. In reply to this proposition, I would rcirk, and I think I am warranted by the le of construction, and the language of instrument, in making it -that you nnot torture the words of the treaty, or distort its meaning, as to draw from it :h a conclusion. If the treaty makers d intended that such construction should given to it, why were they not explicit, iy not put down the very words, to be d annually? Why use the circumlocun they have, when they might have tic to it at once? Why leave it in doubt to construction? I say they have placit, in my mind, beyond all doubt, and, onceive, in the mind of the whole world, :ept by the most unnatural distortion of i fair import of the words. Why did :y not say the claims should be paid by i Creadon of stock at six per centum per num, if such was their intention? If :h language had been used, and they d stopped there, there could have been misunderstanding even with the most terate; or had they said they should be id at the Treasury without saying more, men, not even the claimants themselves, aid have pretended to misunderstand Jm. They might have been much more :icise, and have only said, the U. States ill satisfy the claimants to the amount of e millions cf dollars; that would have

ended the matter with the most sceptical mind, and government would have been left to its discretion, to pay it in any way satisfactory to the claimants. But, they have gone on, and 6aid "those claims should be paid, not exceeding 'five millions of dollars, in the creation of sjfock, bearing an interest of six per centum per annum, payable from the proceeds, of the sales of the lands in the territories ceded," and the friends of the bill supply the words payable annually (not out of the proceeds of the sales of the lands,) but at the Treasury of the U. S. for such is the effect of the construction for which they contend. Here principles, for which I contended in the outset apply. The government becomes a trustee for the claimants; it has negotiated for them, has made the best bargain it cculd for them, without going into a doubtful contest with the sword. It has secu red to them a fund of uncertain value, of which it is willing to give them the whole benefit, if it become necessary to the satisfaction of their claims, reserving to itself, however, the right to the surplus, if any there be. I say that it is a fair presumption that it was the best bargain that could have been made for them with a bankrupt nation. The government being the natural, or rather the legal guardian of the claimants, it stands completely in the place of a trustee for them,and by no principle in equity can it be required to pay more than the value of the fund whicii it holds. Let it be, however, a good or bad bargain, it has been made by the treatymaking power of this country, a power over which thi3 House has no immediate legal control, it is a control completely binding upon this House, the nation, and the claimants themselves and unless we mean to trample upon one of the constituted authorities of the country, and usurp a power never intended by the constitution to have been placed in our hands, we shall conform ourselves to the contract made b) that power. It is the duty of the government, as the gardian of these claimants

it?, to iiiukc the best of Cm funis jI.c-

ed in its hands for them, and if they can be

paid their interest annually out of the pro- j ceeds of the fales of the lands, agreeably to the contract made for them, they ought to be paid, if not, they ought to be paid as speedily as possible, but without encroaching upon other funds cf the government. What will be the principle established by the passage of the bill upon your table? You not only set aside the 6olemn act of a

co-ordinate authority, but, sir, you estab

lish the principle, that unless you can obtain complete pecuniary redress by treating with a nation, you must go to war. An honorable gentleman on my right tells you, that the government has interfered between the claimants and the Spanish authorities; it has undertaken their caused and prevented them from seeking redress in their own way against that power and now, says the honorable gentleman, after interfering and preventing them from making the best bargain the)' could, you are not willing to make them full reparation. Why, sir, this is but begging the question, and is in fact only quarrelling with the constituted authorities of the country; it is admitting the government had the right to interfere and make a bargain for the claimants, (which is the fact,) but because they have made, as gentlemen say, a bad bargain, they will not comply with it. Because the government has not been able to obtain fur them full indemnity for ii i . i .i . ..

incir losses, it must make tnem up tor its goodness in interfering in their behalf. It is saying to the government, you have been good enouch to interpose vour pow

er, and obtain for ug a partial redress of

our grievances; we admit you nave done the best you could, but as you have not done all you could, we now require of you to do the balance. We have trusted you to endeavor at obtaining the claims which were due to us -you have got for us all you could, but we are not satisfied. You ought to make us whole. When they arc told that the government had done the best it could for them, that is true enough say they, but it has not done all it could it

might have gone to war; and as it has not

doi

ie so, we

now require it to pay us the

whole amount of our claim. Thn prin

ciple which gentlemen on the opposite side contend for is really this, that where the government interferes to negociate, and cannot succeed in securing a perfect indemnity for the losses of its citizens or subjects, it is bound, under every circum

stance, to go to war, or make them full re- II

paration for the aggressions of the enmy. What, then, sir, is the true nature of the contract between the government and these claimants? Why, clearly, sir, that when those commissioners mentioned in the treaty, shall have admitted and allowed their claims to an amount not exceeding five millions of dollars, that the government should create the stock for that amount, bearing an interest of six per cent, per rnnum. and issue certificates to the

holders, (not subject to pay interest annually at the Treasury,) a6 the gentlemen

contend for, but payable from the proceeds

of the sales of the public lands in those ter

ritories. Suppose, Mr. Speaker, a certifi

cate ot such stock were issued lor a thousand dollars:,cxpressincuppn the face of it

that it would be good to the holder for the

sum mentioned, payable out ot the pro

ceeds of the sales of the public lands in

the Florida?, and it were by accident to fall into the hands of any man but stockjobber or a broker, (I have no iri-idious allusion to any set of men,) or into the hands of any man unacquainted with (the science of) this kind of dealing, for it has, really

become a' matter of science at this day, would it ever strike him for a moment that

he was to receive it in any other way than

that expressed upon its face. I say, sir,

would it ever strike him that he had noth

ing to do but to go to the Treasury of the U. S. once in every year and draw his

sixty dollars interest? Would he not be perfectly astonished, sir, on being told

that that was the effect of the paper which he held in his hand? I ask the question emphatically, sir, would it not astonish

him to hear that,although these lands were

not worth even the trouble of selling, yet

he would be entitled to receive sixty dol

lars annually for his certificate? I say, sir, it would be matter of perfect astonishment.

iiNotiiing can be more plain than that tne

contract between the eovemment and

these claimants is simply this, that after

the claims are admitted, and allowed, and

r.ut !?!! : c:, thev -hall be paid by the cre

ation of stock at six per cent, per annum, to be paid principle and interest, out of the proceeds of the sales of the public lands in the Florida, and in no other manner whatever; and, sir, as a matter of justice, it becomes the duty of the government to otrer these lands for sale as soon as conv enient, and in the way best calculated to secure for them a fair price. And, sir, 1 say again, with the firmest conviction of its truth and rectitude, that this government is not responsible beyond the value of the lands. The nature and extent of the obligation being thus ascertained, it will not be very difficult matter to determine the rights of the parties or claimants under it.

It may be necessary, however, to make

some general observations with regard to the rights of individuals in relation to their

own government. As a man when he en

ten the social compact relinquishes the

right revenging his own wrongs, or pro

curing redress m his own person, it is the

duty of his government to do that for him, which he has put it out of his power to do

lor himself; and to observe, at the same

time, to do justice to himself but it is not to do more than justice, for whatever it dues more than justice to one individual,

is so much injustice done to another. 1 ne present claimants can have no pretensions to the lands ceded, but only to the proceeds

oi the sales, so far as may be necessary to

i-atisfy their claims, to the amount oi hve

millions of dollars, and the interest on their

stock, and no more; for as the government has interested itself so far as to per

mit the treaty-making power to negociate for them, that power is unlimited in its

operations, as respects the subjects within its sphere; so that whatever stipulations it may have made in their behalf, those stipulations are conclusive between them and the government, and no power under heaven has a right to infringe them, or sot them at naught. No matter how improvident the treaty made by the proper authority, acting within its sphere, it is binding on the government, as well as on the individuals for whose benefit it was made. A treaty once made and ratified, no matter how absurd it may appear in its terms, it is fair to presume, it was the best that could have been gotten, and that it was better at the time to have entered into it than to have gone to war and rzere it otherwise, a nation or an individual could never be safe in relying upon a treaty. A n

enter into an absurd compact which vcs

totally inadequate to secure the Govern

ment, or the individuals concerned,it ouht never t&be ratified; but after it has received the solemn sanction of the revisory

power, there is, and ought to be, an end of the matter, and the government, as well as the individuals concerned, have no right

to claim any other redress under it, than

that which it has expressly, or lmpueuiy, i . i . . i tt iUai.a

Mipuiaiea io give tnem. nencu, muse claimants, eo long as they claim a right un-

aer tms treaty, must be content to taKC

such as is guaranteed by it, or none at all, for it is by that, and that alone, they have any right whatever. This position.

will appear perfectly clear on a little re

flection. These claims are said to be due for unlawful seieures of vessels and property, which, from every appearance,werc chiefly insured, and for which the insurers

have made indemnity to the insured whereby the claims under this treaty have

fallen into the hands ol insurance companies, brokers and underwriters. They were adventurers in the habit of this dangerous kind of speculation, and of receiving premiums in proportion to the hazard

they tXirJ and perhaps, with all these apparent losses, have made their fortunes,and have been quite as successful as they had

a right to expect. Whatever premiums

were paid them have not been charged to the loss of the shipper, but have been put upon the goods of other shipments, with a premium again upon that premium, all which went to inhancc the price of the articles, and has been paid by the consumers, and which operates as a tax upon the people at large hence, it may be said, that the people have once paid these claims besides, viewing those claims in this light, as being in some measure different from those which are the immediate result of useful labor, (though I admit them to be legal, and, indeed, honest) the treaty makers were perhaps induced to take a more precarious indemnity, than they otherwise might have done. Hence, 1 take it these adventurers come with a poor grace, after having made their fortunes in those hazardous speculations, and after having, in fct, virtually received the amount of their claims, to ask any other redress than tl at stipulated for them in the treaty. They could have recovered nothing from the belligerent or aggressing nation, without the aid of the government; they have, therefore, no right to expect any other redress than such as it was able to procure for them. Private adventurers, whose property falls into the hands of the enemy, arc not entitled to remuneration from the government, nor is the government responsible for property seized by the enemy, unless the seizure happens in consequence of its hav ing been in the occupation of the government at the time of the seizure. I believe, sir, no one will contend, that in this case, the government was bound farther than merely to negotiate for the claimants, and make-for them the best bargain it cculd ; that bargain has been made they are now claiming under it, and I say, and say it without fear of contradiction, they have no right beyond it. The next inquiry that presents itself is, what is a correct policy to be pursued underthis contract, agreeably to the construction I have given it? Governments, like individuals, are bound to do justly ; they are never at liberty, wrongfully to take from one part of the community to give to another, and as they can only subsist by what they receive from the people, aU'which one individual, or portion of the community, receives over and above its due portion, must as a natural consequence, be taken from the other. They are not authorized even to be liberal, unless they are thereby to attain an end of more importance than the value of the bounty bestowed for, liberality, although a virtue in an individual, may be rendered a species of oppression in a government. It follows, of course, that whatever these claimants receive, more than the fair value of their richt un

der the treaty, which has been made in their behalf, must be taken from the other

part of the community, and so far would be doing palpable injustice to them. And,

sir, I aver, that by the passage of the bill

upon your tabic, you rob the honest, indus

trious part of the community of more thzn

a million of dollars, to put it in the pockets of those adventurers, who are not at'all cn- , titled to your favor. To discover the ef

fects of this bill, it is only necessary to ex

amine into the principles it adopts. It pro

poses to create a etock oi live millions oi

to es coxJTi::ira.J