The amendments of the committee were then concurred in, and the bill was reported to the Senate; when Mr. KING of Georgia moved to amend it by striking out the appropriation of $20,000 for the documentary history of the revolution now in progress by Matthew St. Clair Clarke and Peter Force.

Mr. BENTON hoped that the motion to strike out this appropriation would prevail. He was rejoiced to see the Senator from Georgia persisting in the good work, and he would enlist with him for the war. They had already paid $20,000 for this work, without seeing a page of it; and that, he thought, was enough to break up this improper contract. He thought that this work was stopped two years ago; but now it seemed that more money was asked for it." His attention had been called to some remarks made in relation to this work the other day in the House of Representatives, which he would now read for the benefit of the Senate.

[Here Mr. B. read some remarks made by Mr. JOHNSON of Tennessee.]

That gentleman stated in his place that there was a bill brought in to print this work at $8 per volume, and that it was rejected by the House on account of the price; yet, at the succeeding session, another bill was brought in, which was hurried through almost without notice, at the heels of the session, giving $13 50 for this same work. The gentleman further informed him, that, on searching among the files of the House for this manuscript bill that had been thus rejected, they found the bills immediately before and after it; but that bill could not now be found. All this showed that the contract had been obtained in an improper manner.

I am to receive (said Mr. B.) $262 worth of this work; while the gentleman from New Jersey, [Mr. WALL,] who sits on my right, is to receive nothing. At least one-half of those who were now members of Congress would get no copies, while those who were members of the 22d Congress would get them; or, if they should not now be delivered, they would be given to their executors. Two years ago, (said Mr. B.,) we struck out this thing, and the next morning it was reinstated. This session it was struck out in the House of Representatives, and the next morning it was in like manner reinstated. Night work, sir, night work, (said Mr. B.;) what was done in the morning was undone at night.

He

The extent to which this work was carried was a great abuse. The contract was got through for a work professing to be a documentary history of the revolution, and they had got matter as far back as the settlement of the pilgrims; while they had to pay double as much as the work could be printed for anywhere else. hoped the appropriation would be struck out. Every thing that these gentlemen had been compiling would be found in the library of Congress or in the library of the Department of State; so that the compilers had not been put to much trouble in making their collections. He was for putting a stop at once to the work; and if the compilers could show that they were damnified, he would readily agree to pay them, and pay them liberally. Mr. SOUTHARD said, that when a contract had been made, and the work commenced under it, it then would be a violation of the principles of justice in refusing to go on with it. This was an appropriation bill for items allowed by law, and, while the contract stood, it did not seem to him to be honest to withhold payment. If there was any thing wrong in the matter, the proper way would be to let a resolution of inquiry be offered, and a committee of investigation appointed. But when a contract was made for a work to be published, they could not refuse an appropriation to complete it. The Senator from Missouri had made charges upon mere allegations.

[MAY 5, 1836.

[Mr. BENTON said he had based his charges upon what a member had said in his place on the floor of Congress.]

The Senator, then, (said Mr. S.,) rests his charges upon the allegation of what a member of the other House had said in his place, although the House of Rep resentatives had passed the bill in the face of the statement of that member. He would be unwilling, for his part, to proceed in any case on such evidence alone. He would first ask for the evidence, before he could do what he was here asked to do. Did it, he asked, dissolve them from the contract, because the work was worthless? The inquiry whether the work was worth the continuation of its publication, would be proper enough. But when the Secretary of State made the contract, it was in the power of Congress either to confirm or reject; but they confirmed it. He gave no opinion of the value of the work at present. He spoke of the importance of preserving the records of the early history of our country, and to which he cared nothing about the expense. He was not willing that the Senate, at a single jump, should violate the rights of parties; but, with the Senator from Massachu setts, [Mr. WEBSTER,] he was willing that a committee should be appointed to inquire into the matter.

[At the close of Mr. SOUTHARD's remarks, a sample of the work under discussion was handed to several of the Senators.]

Mr. HILL said he did not wish to consume the time of the Senate, to throw any obstacle in the way of the passage of the appropriation bill; but to prevent an improvident contract being fastened upon the nation, it was indispensable that the item of twenty thousand dollars towards the publication of the work of Messrs. Clarke & Force should be stricken out; if that item was retained, we would hereafter have no hope that an immense expenditure would be avoided.

The Senator from Missouri had said that the original bill which authorized this expenditure had passed with. out the attention of anybody. The Senator was under a mistake; and he (Mr. H.) would refer to the Senate Journal of 1833, to prove the fact. On the 27th of February, three days before the close of the session, three propositions of immense jobs of printing were brought up at the same time. Each of these propositions, as were many others of a like tenor, was reported and recommended by the Library Committee, who had always been exclusively of one political party. Reports from that committee had usually been made in whispers, in so low a tone of voice, that it had been impossible for him [Mr. HILL] to hear them when they were made; but all three of these propositions for printing had attracted his attention when they came up for a third reading. The first proposition was for a continuation of Gales & Seaton's compilation of State Papers, extending that work eight volumes, and involving an expense to the Treasury of $63,000. Mr. Foot, the late Senator from Connecticut, was then in the chair; and I called for the ayes and noes to be taken on the question. The attention of so few was called to the subject, and the question was so hurried by the Chair, that one-fifth of the Senate failed to respond to the call I then made. Then, almost in the same breath, came up for consideration the bill to provide for the publication of a stereotype edition of the laws of the United States by Duff Green. Although his proposition was nearly double the price at which the same work had been offered by several other printers, it was passed by a vote of twenty-five to seven. On this proposition, which involved an expenditure of at least $125,000, I was able to obtain the ayes and noes, and six other Senators voted with me against the bill. Then succeeded immediately the bill making provision for the publication of the documentary history of the revolution by Messrs. Clarke & Force; and on the ques

Hence may we account for the raising of the price from eight dollars per volume, as first proposed by the publishers themselves, to thirteen dollars sixty-two cents, as prescribed in the contract. It is very evident we have been imposed on in some way. It now seems, as a matter of grace, that these contractors are willing to limit the expenditure to somewhere about half a million of dollars. There is yet no limit to this matter; if it proceeds, the present generation may not see the end to it. I have never consented to this contract, and never will consent to it. The work, when it is printed, is to be distributed among the members of Congress of 1833, who voted for the bill, and to members who have not been in Congress for two years. There surely is great impropriety in this part of the law. It cannot be said that injustice is done to these publishers if Congress remunerates them for their expenses until this time, and the work shall henceforth cease and be discontinued.

Mr. BENTON said, as he understood it, the House did believe what Mr. Johnson said; for they struck out the appropriation by a large majority; and that appropriation was reinstated next morning, after operating on the members the over night. He would now offer a resolution, which he hoped would be received by general consent, to appoint a committee to examine into the progress of this work, and to report to the Senate what ought to be paid to the compilers for what they had done.

It

Mr. KING of Georgia said that the resolution was unnecessary, as nothing could be due on the work. was impossible that the sum $20,000, appropriated last year, had been expended in collecting materials for this work; so tha', in fact, nothing could be due on the contract. His proposition was to strike out the appropriation of $20,000.

Mr. WEBSTER observed that it would be unjust to suppose that these contractors would print any thing not authorized by Congress. It was well known that they had offered to submit the selection of the matter to be printed to an agent appointed by Congress; and it was also well known that they had agreed to an important modification of the contract. The contract might be broken up; but the question was not now whether they should pay the money or not. The contract had been made-whether improvidently or not, it was not now for him to say; and they were as much bound to make the appropriation, as to appropriate money for the pay of salaried officers. He hoped that the progress of the bill would not be interrupted by the consideration of the resolution offered by the Senator from Missouri, [Mr. BENTON.}

In regard to the contract, the parties had a right to their pay under an act of Congress; and this was only appropriating the amount to be paid. He hoped no new principle would therefore be involved in this bill; and le would demand the yeas and nays, to ascertain whether the Senate would sanction such new principle.

[As the resolution of Mr. BENTON could only be received by unanimous consent, the objection by Mr. WEBSTER prevented its being received.]

Mr. MANGUM, in reply to Mr. HILL, observed that the contract for this publication had been placed on party grounds; and this extravagant and improvident contract had been charged against the opponents of the administration. Now, was this just? Who was the first to make objections to this measure? He himself was the first that called the attention of the Senate to it two years ago; and he expressed the same opinion then that he held now-that the contract would lead to an extravagant and useless expenditure of money. It was said by the Senator from New Hampshire, that the yeas and nays were not taken on the adoption of this measure; and this circumstance showed that it was not a party

[MAY 5, 1836.

vote; for when such was the case, there were always enough ready to order them. At all events, the resolution passed at the close of the session, authorizing the publication of a documentary history of the revolution; and the contract was to be made by the highest officer under this administration, (Mr. Livingston.) Now, if there was nothing else than this improvident and extravagant contract, that would, of itself, be enough to show that Mr. Livingston was utterly unqualified for the situa tion he held. The contract was not only to pay double for the printing, but was for the printing of an indefinite number of volumes; so that the contractors might draw millions from the Treasury. If this was a party measure, (said Mr. M.,) put the saddle on the right horse. As to this contract, he would be glad to get rid of it in any form. He would be willing to raise a committee to rescind it; but he would say that he would take it upon himself to abrogate it at once. He was ready, however, to do the parties full justice, and would pay them liberally; nay, he would even pay them more than they were entitled to. Taunts about this contract were wholly useless. For his part, he believed that no party was censurable for it. Mr. Livingston managed it, as he had done other matters, with great improvidence, though he meant not to impugn that gentleman's integrity. As to the distribution to members, he had always opposed it. There was a degree of indelicacy in voting books to themselves, which he could not approve of.

Mr. KING of Alabama regretted very much the course which this discussion had taken. He did not believe that this was ever considered a party measure. He believed that they were divided two years ago, not on account of doubts of the improvidence of the contract, but because they differed as to the mode of getting rid

of it.

The simple question then before them was, whether they were to go on making appropriations without seeing where they were to stop. If they could see the end of it, or if they could know what they were paying for, they might with more reason be called on to make the appropriation. It was not necessary that they should now appropriate it; they had already appropriated $20,000, and there was no reason why they should appropriate more, without knowing whether a sufficient amount of work had been done to justify it. They had no evidence before them of what had been done, other than a single sheet of the work. He thought that the proper course would be to strike out the appropriation now, and appoint a committee to examine what had been done, and to report to the Senate the best way of stopping the work, and the amount that ought to be paid to the contractors. If they made the appropriation now, it would be at once sanctioning the continuance of the work; they would be called on to make the same appropriation the next year, and there was no knowing where they would stop.

Mr. BENTON merely wished to say, in justice to the Senator from North Carolina, [Mr. MANGUM,] that that gentleman was the first that ever called his attention to these abuses; and it appears from the Journal, Mr. B. said, that he has voted with us in regard to these matters ever since.

Mr. PRESTON wished the matter to be regulated to the satisfaction of the parties. They were not bound to proceed unless the other party had proceeded. He wished to know of the chairman whether any considerable progress had been made in the work.

Mr. CALHOUN hoped the Senate would agree to strike out the section, and allow the publishers liberal compensation for what they had done, and stop its further progress. They had made a most improvident contract. And, besides, he had strong constitutional doubts as to the power of Congress to contract for such a work; and

if they had, there were few, in his opinion, who were qualified to perform a work of so sacred a character.

Mr. WEBSTER suggested that it would be but just to these contractors to give them an opportunity of showing what progress they had made in the work. It was now late in the day, and he would therefore move that the Senate adjourn, which he hoped would be agreed to; and the Secretary could then signify to these persons that it would be necessary for them to make a communication to the Senate next morning. The Senate then adjourned.

FRIDAY, MAY 6.

MEXICO.

The following message was received from the President of the United States, by Mr. Donelson, his Secretary:

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

Believing that the act of the 12th July, 1832, does not enable the Executive to carry into effect the recently negotiated additional article to the treaty of limits with Mexico, I herewith transmit to Congress copies of that article, that the necessary legislative provisions may be made for its faithful execution on the part of the United States. ANDREW JACKSON.

WASHINGTON, May 6, 1836.

TRANSFERS OF PUBLIC MONEY.

Mr. EWING of Ohio moved that one thousand extra copies of the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, in reply to the call of Mr. EwING for an account of the amount of money received in the western States for public lands, transferred to eastern banks, be printed for the use of the Senate.

On making his motion, Mr. E. said: Mr. President, some days ago you received from the Secretary of the Treasury an answer in part to a resolution of the Senate, relative to the transfers of the public money from the western deposite banks to the eastern cities. There were of that partial answer some extra copies-I think one thousand--ordered to be printed on the motion of the Senator from New Hampshire over the way [Mr. HUBBARD.] Day before yesterday the residue of the answer to that call was received, and a motion to print the same number of extra copies offered by the same Senator; but it was withdrawn at my request, and I now renew the motion, and ask that 1,000 extra copies of the report be printed.

But, before I resume my seat, said Mr. E., I hope the Senate will indulge me in saying a few words on the matters set forth in this report. It will be recollected that when the resolution of inquiry was pending before the Senate, I caused to be read a circular from the Clinton Bank of Columbus, one of the depositories of the public money; in which that bank informs the other banks of the State that it had directed the receivers of the several land offices who made deposites in that bank to receive none of the notes of the Ohio banks in payment for lands, without further orders; and that those orders would not be issued in favor of any banks except those who would agree to redeem their notes in drafts on some of the Atlantic cities at thirty days' date. And it alleges, as a reason for imposing such harsh conditions, that that bank had necessarily to transfer to those eastern cities nearly all the public money which it received. The resolution offered by myself, and adopted by the Senate, directs the Secretary of the Treasury to state whether the deposite banks possessed the power to direct what funds should and what should not be receivable for public lands; and what amount of money, so received VOL. XII.-89

[SENATE.

by the deposite banks in the west, was by his order so transferred. The part of his answer which came in first, and which has been printed and laid upon our tables, goes to the power of the deposite banks in the several States over the currency; and I understand the Secretary to say (for he is not very explicit in his statement) that they have the power which they claim. I look upon this as a most unfortunate state of things, and wholly unjustifiable and improper, as it regards the Government itself and the great business community. The Secretary urges as a reason for vesting these banks with this enormous power over the currency of the country, that they are responsible to the United States for all that they receive, and bound to pay it, if required, in gold and silver; that they, therefore, ought not to be compelled to receive any thing that is not equivalent to gold and silver. But this does not meet the case presented; it does not apply to the state of things which has made the subject a matter of inquiry: it is not gold and silver, or any thing that is equal, and only equal, to gold and silver, that they require. All the banks in Ohio pay gold and silver for their notes on their counters, and will be able to do it, unless a wreck take place in another quarter, and the sinking masses drag down every thing in their vortex. Those banks are richly stored with specie, and will hold out to the last. But specie will not do this deposite bank. Drafts on the eastern cities are worth one and a half per cent. more than gold and silver, and they require drafts in exchange; and the bank that will not pay this premium for the privilege of letting its notes be current for the revenue, must submit to the discredit, and the public must submit to the inconvenience of having them refused.

I find, too, (said Mr. E.,) to my utter astonishment, if the report of the Secretary be correct-as of course it must be that the pretext set forth in the circular of the Clinton Bank, for this unusual and oppressive exaction, is unsustained by the fact. The circular represents that nearly all the money of the United States received in that bank has necessarily to be transmitted to the eastern cities. The Secretary says in his report, that no more than $45,000 of that received in the whole State of Ohio has been so transmitted since the 1st day of June last; and, if I recollect his figures right, he makes it 1-253d part--or one dollar transmitted out of 253 dollars received. I can say no more upon this branch of the subject than this: that justice requires that it should be distinctly noticed by me; that the incorrect statement contained in that circular, which I implicitly credited, led me, when I first addressed the Senate, to suggest a censure on the Secretary of the Treasury for withdrawing from the State of Ohio funds which I find, in his report, he has not in fact withdrawn. But it now remains for him to determine whether he will permit his fiscal agents, on representations such as this, to establish a brokerage upon the funds of the United States, and while they must themselves in fact inflict upon the community all the mischief which would arise from an actual transmission and abstraction of the public funds.

One other thing I wish to notice. It is, that the Secretary of the Treasury says in this report, that exchange still continues easy; that it has never been more favorable. This is the idea; I have not his words. I do not propose to contradict this. I merely call the attention of the business public to the statement, that they may see what the Secretary of the Treasury says to Congress about the exchanges. Every business man in every portion of the United States knows whether this is or is not the fact.

Mr. HUBBARD remarked that he tendered his thanks to the Senator from Ohio for having renewed the motion which he presented a few days past to the Senate, (the consideration of which was postponed upon the Senator's