"the debt, rather of justice than gratitude, to the surviving warriors of the Revolutionary War," was again pressed upon the attention of the members of both Houses; together with other points relating to the judiciary, the militia system, etc. During the present session, much and earnest attention was devoted to the tariff question, and the friends and opponents of protection exerted their best abilities in defence and in condemnation of the whole "American system." Conventions were held on the subject during the summer; at Harrisburg, by the friends of Mr. Clay and the necessity of the tariff to the interests of the country; and at Columbia, in South Carolina, by those who opposed and denounced protective duties as beneficial to the capitalists at the north, but "a grievance not to be patiently submitted to, and but too well calculated to bring on the dangerous inquiry, in what manner are the southern states benefited by the Union?" This engrossing topic occupied the House almost exclusively, from the 1st of February to the 22d of April, when a bill passed, much altered from that reported by the committee, but by no means conformable to the wishes of the advocates of the protective system; ayes, one hundred and five; noes, ninety-four. In the Senate, it passed on the 13th of May; ayes, twenty-six; noes, twenty-one; with various amendments, not essentially altering its general character, which were concurred in by the House. All the southern states voted against the bill, as did Maine and New Hampshire, 1828. Massachusetts, with Connecticut and Rhode Island, being divided. By this act, as Mr. Pitkin says, the minimum system was extended generally to woolens; different qualities of woolen fabrics being charged ad valorem duties of forty-five or fifty per cent., upon the minimum of their estimated value. Unmanufactured wool was also subjected to a duty of four cents per pound, and forty per cent. ad valorem. Additional duties were also laid upon iron, hemp, flax, and molasses; and the minimum price of cottons was raised to thirty-five cents the square yard. The policy of this act was questioned by many of the merchants of this country, and its constitutionality by most of the people of the southern states. Unfortunately, it was a compound made up by its enemies as well as its friends, and was not satisfactory to either. Mr. Benton, in his "Thirty Years' View," has a chapter devoted to the subject of a revision of the tariff. Speaking of it as a measure concocted by manufacturing capitalists and politicians, and as freshly recurring about the time of every presidential election, Mr. Benton goes on to remark: "the south believed itself impoverished to enrich the north by this system; and certainly a singular and unexpected result had been seen in these two sections. In the colonial state, the southern were the rich part of the colonies, and expected to do well in a state of independence. They had the exports, and felt secure of their prosperity: not so the north, whose agricultural resources were few, and who expected privations from the loss of British favor. But in the first half CH. V.] THE TARIFF AND RETRENCHMENT. century after independence, this expectation was reversed. The wealth of the north was enormously aggrandized; that of the south had declined. Northern towns had become great cities: southern cities had decayed, or become stationary; and Charleston, the principal port of the south, was less considerable than before the Revolution. The north became a money-lender to the south, and southern citizens made pilgrimages to northern cities, to raise money upon the hypothecation of their patrimonial estates. And this in the face of a southern export since the Revolution, to the value of $800,000,000! —a sum equal to the product of the Mexican mines since the days of Cortez! and twice or thrice the amount of their product in the same fifty years. The southern states attributed this result to the action of the federal government its double action of levying revenue upon the industry of one section of the Union, and expending it in another and especially to its protective tariffs. To some degree this attribution was just, but not to the degree assumed; which is evident from the fact, that the protective system had then only been in force for a short time since the year 1816; and the reversed condition of the two sections of the Union had commenced before that time. Other causes must have had some effect; but for the present, we look to the protective system; and, without admitting it to have done all the mischief of which the south complained, it had yet done enough to cause it to be condemned by every friend to equal justice among the states, -by every friend to the harmony and 363 stability of the Union,-by all who detested sectional legislation,-by every enemy to the mischievous combination of partisan politics with national legislation. And this was the feeling with the mass of the democratic members, who voted for the tariff of 1828, and who were determined to act upon that feeling upon the overthrow of the political party which advocated the protective system; and which overthrow they believed to be certain at the ensuing presidential election." 1828. Another topic which occupied a good deal of the time and attention of Congress, was that of retrenchment, a favorite topic of aspiring politicians, and one which will always attract the notice of the people. Mr. Chilton, of Kentucky, moved first in the business, and a committee was appointed on the subject. Much time was spent in the investigation, and the majority of the committee brought in a report. adverse to the economical and prudent conduct of affairs by the administration. On the other hand, Messrs. Everett and Sergeant, a minority of the committee, and the only two on it who were friendly to the government, brought in a counter report, which, of course, took an opposite view of the subject, and claimed that the financial affairs of the nation had been managed with economy and sound judgment. The whole movement was almost purely political, the object of the opposition being to bring discredit upon, and to annoy the administration, and the design of the friends of the government being to demonstrate the economy with which public affairs were carried on. With a view to remedy certain dif- It was a battle of unprecedented exficulties in the mode of proceeding in citement, in which every engine known the federal courts, in the states which to political warfare was vigorously set had been admitted into the Union since in motion, and in which the shameless 1789, a bill, after much discussion, passed abuse of private character, and the slanthe Senate, and with little amendment derous imputations of every thing un(the exception of Louisiana being the worthy and disgraceful, were enough to chief alteration made,) was accepted disgust all candid truth-loving minds, by the House, and finally became law. and make them almost tremble for the Among the appropriations, one was at result of unscrupulous party movements last made for the pensions of the Revo- and measures. The result was what the lutionary veterans ;* and another for democratic party confidently expected; carrying on the Cumberland Road. General Jackson received one hundred The principle and constitutionality of and seventy-eight of the two hundred internal improvements were, as usual, and sixty-one electoral votes; and John copiously discussed; but, it must be Quincy Adams received only eightyconfessed, that the honorable members three, less than half the number of those seemed to have in view their standing which were given to his successful comwith their constituents, and the politi-petitor. Mr. Calhoun was again elected cal effect of what they might say and vice-president. do, far more than the endeavoring to fix upon some wise and judicious measures for the settlement of this important topic. 1828. The second session of the twentieth Congress began on the 1st of December, 1828, and the president's message was received on the same day. Like his former messages, this, which was his last, was long and full of details on all those points which it was the duty of the executive to bring to the notice of Congress. Foreign affairs were spoken Other subjects which came before Congress, we need not enter into; as the question of the navigation of the St. Lawrence; the north-eastern boundary; the claims of American citizens for spoliations by the French on our commerce; etc. The session was brought to a close on the 26th of May, and the members dispersed to their several sections of the country, to enter into the fierce contest which was already begun with reference to the presidency.teral; the bill passed the House, but failed in the Sen * It was on this topic, in April, 1828, that Daniel Webster made one of his most effective speeches. It will well repay the reader who may not yet have made himself acquainted with its contents. † General Brown, who held the position of commander-in-chief, died on the 24th of February, 1828. General Scott and General Gaines, who had received their commissions on the same day, had equal claims to succeed General Brown; but the government, unwilling to decide between the two, appointed General Attempts were made to abolish the office of major-genMacomb, the senior brigadier, to this honorable post. ate. General Scott resented the course of the war de partment, claiming that he was not justly treated; and refusing to obey orders from General Macomb, he was suspended. During his suspension, he visited France, where he saw Lafayette, and soon after, by his advice, resumed his position in the army. On General Macomb's death, in 1841, Scott became commander-inchief of the army of the United States. CB. V.] MR. ADAMS'S LAST MESSAGE. of at large in the first half of the message. The war which had broken out between Russia and Turkey was mentioned; hopes were expressed that the French government would yield to the claims of justice in regard to the spoliations on American commerce; the king of the Netherlands had been selected as umpire on the subject of the northeastern boundary; commercial relations with Great Britain had not yet been satisfactorily arranged; but with other powers there was a good state of feeling and sentiment existing on these and kindred points. A very favorable account was given of the condition and prospects of the revenue; the receipts of the year were $2,000,000 more than had been estimated, but the expenditure had exceeded them by about $1,500,000; above $9,000,000 of the public debt had been paid off; and more than $5,000,000 were expected to be in the treasury at the end of the current year. At the end of the year, he stated, the public debt would not much exceed $58,000,000. 1828. 365 upon which the Constitution itself was formed"-he hoped and trusted the authorities of the Union would adhere. The remainder of the message was taken up with the condition of the Indians dwelling within the territories of the United States; the need for fortifying the sea coast, and increasing the navy; the desirableness of educating the of ficers of the army, for the purpose of increasing the usefulness of that arm of the service; and the necessity for making provision for taking the fourth census of the country, and of obtaining more complete and specific returns of the ages of the population. And, in conclusion, the president assured Congress of his continued earnest desire for the adoption of the measures he had before recommended; and of his cordial concurrence in every constitutional provision which might receive their sanction during the session, and which tended to the general welfare. But he made no allusion to the fact, although it was then fully known, that this was the last time he should be called upon to address them in the capacity of president of the United States. The former messages of the president had been complained of by his own friends, and not a little wondered at by his opponents, because they contained no reference to the tariff, or its protective principle. He compensated on this final occasion for his former silence respecting them. Holding up the commercial policy, pursued at that time by Great Britain, as an example, he laid it down as the duty of the government to act upon the principle sanctioned by the tariff act of the preceding session, and he expressed the hope, that to it—one of the principles, | jected in the Senate. Liberal appro This being the short session, and the present administration being also near its close, hardly any thing more was done than was absolutely requisite to carry on the government. Bills encouraging the shipping interest, by allowing certain drawbacks on exported goods, passed both Houses, and became law. A tonnage bill, proposing to repeal that duty on all American vessels, and on those of other nations placed by treaty on the same footing, was re priations were made for the promotion of internal improvements of various kinds; and the principle was once more largely debated, and at length affirmed by considerable majorities, both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. The continuation of the Cumberland Road, and the conditional cession of it to the states through whose boundaries it passed, occupied 1829. much of the time devoted to this section of public business. These are the principal matters which engaged the attention of Congress now; other bills, and amongst them some originating with the retrenchment committee, expired with the session, not having been able to get through all the stages necessary to constitute them laws. Whatever may House, the majority was against it, and On the 3d of March, 1829, the twen-munity; and it need excite no surprise, tieth Congress expired, and at the same date John Quincy Adams's administration reached its close. Owing to a rather unpleasant correspondence with some of the principal men of Boston, growing out of the course pursued by Mr. Adams, when he thought that he perceived an intention on the part of the federalists to attempt a dissolution of the Union, (see p. 108), the ex-president preferred to remain in the capital, which was his home for some time afterwards. In briefly reviewing the administration of the sixth president, it is to be borne in mind, that, attempting to do without a party, and to rise above mere party, it was assailed by its opponents with more vigor and activity than any one which had preceded it. In the that, when the contest came between him and a man such as Andrew Jackson was, with every thing nearly to attract the mass of the people, and to lead them to admire his dashing boldness, his unflinching energy, his prompt de cision, and the like, John Quincy Adams should fail of receiving votes sufficient to re-elect him to the office he had held during the past four years. The future years of Mr. Adams demonstrated the purity of his principles, and his willingness to serve his country in any position for which they deemed him worthy; and we believe that it may be asserted now, without fear of dissent, that he was one of the noble band of patriots of whom the United States may justly be proud, and may hold up to the ad miration of succeeding generations. |