been endeavoring to make some shift to supply her manufacturers with that great staple, without being dependent upon the product of the United States. For this purpose, cotton raising has been attempted in her East India possessions, and in other places; but all these efforts and schemes have signally failed. As a last resort, she turned her eyes upon Texas, and hence has arisen that feverish anxiety on the part of that Government to prevent the annexation of Texas to the United States.

By having Texas remain independent, and with a reciprocal treaty between her and Great Britain, Texan cotton would drive that of the United States out of the British market, and British manufactures, in turn, would supply the Texan market to the entire exclusion of those of the United States.

If our present system of restrictive duties is to be kept up (as it undoubtedly will be to some degree), the acquisition of Texas must necessarily be of incalculable advantage to the manufacturers and producers of the north, as her great and growing demand must necessarily be supplied by the people of the northern States to the exclusion of foreign goods.

As a measure, then, of mere pecuniary advantage, it commends itself strongly to the enterprise and desire of honest gain, for which the people of New England are especially celebrated.

Any person will discover, by a glance at the map of the northern part of this continent, that geographical symmetry demands that Texas be annexed to the United States, and all men of military science agree that in a military point of view the defence of this country requires in us the possession of that territory.

It seems also to be well understood that Texas, even if able to maintain her independence in name, can only do so by becoming by treaty stipulations a mere dependency of some more powerful government; and what government that would be, her own situation and productions and the already expressed anxiety of Great Britain to prevent the measure of annexation, fully disclose. And shall we be stolid enough to deprive ourselves of the British market for our cotton and the Texan market for our manufactures?

Texas is admitted to be a country rich in the fertility of its soil and in all the other natural resources of wealth, and that, under the auspices and genial care of this government, it would soon become a fruitful source of wealth and power to us as a nation. Why, then, should we refuse to receive her to our embrace, as another member in this great family of States? The undersigned, upon a full view of this subject, is irresistibly impelled to the conclusion that every reason exists in favor, and none against, the measure of annexation; and the voice of the nation has already been sounded in its favor.

But his Excellency emphatically asks, In case the measure be consummated, what shall Vermont do?" The undersigned, for himself, has no hesitation as to what is now the interest and duty of Vermont in this matter, or as to what will be her duty after the measure shall have been fully carried out. It is simply to do all in her power, through her representatives on the floor of Congress, to consummate the measure, and when it shall be carried through, to be the first to meet her new sister at the very threshhold, greet her with kindly welcome, and rejoice at the

extension of those great principles of civil liberty, which are so well enjoyed and produce such incalculable good within her own borders.

The undersigned, therefore, submits the following resolutions and recommends their adoption :

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Vermont:

That the annexation of Texas to this Union, as proposed by the joint resolutions of Congress at the last session thereof, is a measure strictly in accordance with the letter and spirit of our constitution of National Government, and in strict accordance with the practical construction which the same has received since the earliest period of our history as a nation.

Resolved, That the annexation of Texas to the United States is a measure highly advantageous to the Union at large, and especially to this section thereof, and that the tendency of the same will be to perpetuate our free government and our free institutions.

Resolved, "That the measure of annexation ought not to be affected by the question of Slavery, and that it would be unwise to refuse a permanent acquisition which will last as long as the globe remains, on account of a mere temporary institution."

Resolved, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives be requested, to use their u most exertions and influence to consummate the measures now commenced for the purpose of effecting such annexation; and that his Excellency the Governor be requested to transmit a copy of the foregoing resolutions to each of our delegates in Congress, and likewise a copy to each of the Executives of the several States in this Union, to be laid before the first meeting of their respective Legislatures.

All which is respectfully submitted.

GEORGE MARSHALL.

MESSAGE

FROM THE GOVERNOR RELATIVE TO SAMPSON'S INDEX.

[REFERRED TO ON PAGE 104 OF THE JOURNAL.]

To the Senate:

At the last session of the General Assembly, the following joint resolution was adopted:

"Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives, That the Governor be requested to appoint some person to make a digested Index of all such portions of the Revised Statutes passed in 1839, as have been repealed or altered, and all public acts of this State passed since said revision, with the public laws passed at the present session of this Legislature, and cause the same to be published, with the laws passed at this session. Provided, the whole expense of publishing, with compiling the same, shall not exceed one hundred dollars,—and provided it shall not cause a delay in the publication of the laws passed at the present session, of more than ten days."

In execution of the duty thus enjoined on me, I appointed Guy C. Sampson to perform the service contemplated in the resolution. Mr. Samp son prepared an Index, which was submitted to me, but which I decided not to cause to be published. For the making of this Index, Mr. Sampson now makes a claim on the State-alledging that it was improperly rejected. As this directly involves the question of my fidelity to the trust committed to me by the resolution, and as I hold myself, in an important sense, responsible for that fidelity, to the Senate and House of Representatives, under whose authority I acted in making an appointment to the service in question, I deem it my duty to transmit to one of the branches of the General Assembly, as I do, herewith, the rejected Index, and to request that it be preserved among its archives, as appropriate evidence touching the question of my fidelity to the trust in this case committed to me.

From the nature of the case, there would seem to be a necessity that the transmission of the Index should be accompanied by some explanation of the circumstances under which it was rejected, and a specification of its errors and deficiences. Such specification, so far as I have examined the Index, I herewith send, and request that it may be preserved with the Index for future reference.

As the resolution directed me to cause an Index to be published, I, of course, expected that the Index to be prepared by the person appointed

to perform that service, would be submitted to me when completed; and, as it was provided in the resolution, that it should be published with the laws of last session, and that its publication should not cause a delay in the publication of the laws, of more than ten days, I expected that it would be submitted to me in season for the needful examination before the time when the publisher of the laws was, by his contract, obliged to complete their publication, which was on the first of December.

Mr. Sampson, however, viewed the matter differently; and, neglecting to send the Index to me, transmitted it to the Secretary of State, claiming that he was bound to cause it to be published as he had prepared it, and that after having made the appointment, the Governor had nothing further to do with the matter. The Secretary received the Index on the 27th of November, and on the 28th very properly sent it to me. Upon an examination of a portion of it, I found it so erroneous and defective that I could not take the responsibility of causing its publication; and as there was not sufficient time before the first of December to return it to Mr. Sampson at Montpelier, for correction, and as its correction, in fact, involved the necessity of its almost entire reconstruction, causing, necessarily, a delay far beyond the first of December, I did not return it.

It only remains for me to say, that the defects and errors of the Index will appear upon a comparison of it with the laws, to which it purports to be an Index,-a part of which defects and errors I have pointed out in the explanation which accompanies it, to which I respectfully refer the Senate, and by which it will be seen that they consist, mainly, of erroneous references to the years when laws were passed-of numerous defective and erroneous descriptions of enactments, and an omission of any reference whatever, to a great number of important sections of unrepealed laws, besides other errors not capable of being conveniently classified. WILLIAM SLADE.

EXECUTIVE CHAMBER,
November 3, 1845.

}

REPORT

OF THE BANK COMMITTEE ON THE MEMORIAL OF THE

BANK OF MONTPELIER.

[REFERRED TO ON PAGE 114 OF THE JOURNAL.]

To the Honorable Senate now in session:

Your Committee, to whom was referred the memorial of the Directors of the Bank of Montpelier, beg leave to report, that they have had the same under consideration, and the following is the result of their inquiries and deliberations.

The various acts limiting the issues as well of the modern, as of the older banks in the State, are substantially the same in their phraseology, which admits of two constructions; the one restricting their circulation to twice, or thrice, (as the case may be,) the amount of their respective capitals, and the other allowing an additional amount, equal to their deposits. "No

The 18th Section of the General Banking Law is as follows: such bank shall issue bills, or otherwise contract debts, to a greater amount than the amount of the deposits, and twice the amount of the capital stock actually paid in."

The construction heretofore put upon the language thus used, by the practice of the banks, sanctioned by all the Bank Commissioners, and all former Legislatures, so far as a knowledge of the fact without censure may be so construed, goes to favor the most extended limitation which the language admits.

But in view of the whole matter, your Committee think no Legislative action had better be had upon the subject. If there be any doubt as to the construction that should be put upon the language used in limiting bank issues, the Committee think, as individual rights and interests may, and probably have, become involved in the long practice of the banks, of predicating a part of their circulation upon their deposits, that the question should be left to the decision of the courts upon any case that may arise, without embarrassment from any Legislative interference; and your Committee are the more ready to recommend this course, as the most liberal, and the most restricted construction which the phraseology of the acts referred to may admit, do not materially vary in importance, as the deposits in any bank in the State can never be very considerable in amount at any time, owing to our inland position, and the non-commercial character of our population.

We therefore conclude by recommending that no further action be had upon the memorial of the Directors of the Bank of Montpelier; and that the Committee be discharged from the further consideration of the subject. HARRY BRADLEY, ORAMEL H. SMITH, WILLIAM SIAS,

MONTPELIER, November 4, 1845.

Committee.