H. OF R.] Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb in Kentucky. [MARCH, 1826. numbers. It has struggled on to this time by | is designed for the benefit of the indigent deaf the aid of private charity, and the endowments and dumb. It is to alleviate the sad condition made by Kentucky; but it would be improper of that class of our fellow-creatures, whose beto conceal the fact, that the Legislature cannot reavement is a part of the vast machinery of afford further assistance. The people of Ken- eternal wisdom. To reclaim from native intucky have done much for the cause of litera-sertion their rich, though hidden faculties; ture and humanity-they are generous-their and, by uniting the virtues of earth with the soil is rich-but they are remote from market, omnipotence of Heaven, to constitute man a and their moneyed concerns embarrassed-and fellow-laborer with the Deity himself, in the it cannot be denied that the various States, delightful office of ennobling humanity. The and the entire population of the Valley of the heart, at best, is but seldom a fit lawgiver; Mississippi, are dependent on this single insti- yet, in such a cause as this, its impulses may tution for the means of this particular instruc- be safely trusted: for it is the cause of op tion; and in its present condition it cannot pressed and suffering indigence, and it appeal completely answer the wants of Kentucky. with cheering hope to those generous sympa Experience has proven, both in Europe and thies with which, on this floor, it needs no adAmerica, that the instruction of the deaf and vocate. It may not, Mr. Chairman, be indumb can only be usefully and successfully im- proper to add, that we of the West, with a liberal parted, in institutions regularly established, spirit, have voted thousands annually to erect and superintended by competent teachers. The light-houses, clear beaches, &c., on the Atlan estimates which have been made in Europe tic frontier, which, although some of them are and America lead to the conclusion, that in national in their character, and indirectly beneany given mass of population, one out of every ficial to us, yet it will not be denied, that, by two thousand is deaf and dumb; and it may furnishing profitable employment to the citizens therefore be fairly inferred, that unless the on the sea-board, it diffused comfort and hapasylum at Danville is enlarged, about one piness, and that appropriations from the public thousand of our fellow-citizens now living treasury fall light and seldom upon the West. must pass from youth to death in a state of torpor and ignorance. Let gentlemen who are not alive to the importance of the subject, conceive this number of unfortunate wretches collected. This misery amassed, these speci- | mens of misfortunes assembled together, could any exhibition of human degradation exceed it in horror? Does not the mind shrink and startle at the very conception? And does the conception surpass the reality? The diffusion of this calamity, though it may conceal, does not diminish it. It is immeasurable, indescribable, and cannot be exaggerated by fancy or equalled by fiction. To remove all this distress, and to furnish the means of preventing it in all time to come, will require of Congress but a small expense of thought, and a few acres of land. An appropriation which would hardly suffice to complete the capital of a Corinthian column, will effect this great purpose of wisdom. The expense of that clock, to count the fleeting hours of the day, will erect this lasting monument of philanthropy. Nay, sir, the money expended on the frivolous embellishment connected with it, graven upon inanimate stone, will kindle into thought and awake to rapture, thousands of spell-bound and inert intelligences. I cannot believe that this useful bounty will be withheld, especially as the asylum of Connecticut received a donation from Congress in the year 1819, of a township of land, from which it has derived a handsome revenue, and has been rendered permanently useful, and which sanctions by precedent this application. But, Mr. Chairman, the bill on your table is freed from all the objections which have been urged against the appropriation to the Connecticut Asylum; it is restricted to the location of the land in one tract, and it But I will not so far undervalue the force of the subject, or underrate the wisdom, humanity, and intelligence, of the committee, as to believe they will reject the bill, which, as chairman of the committee, I have been instructed to report. Memorials from the Asylums of New York and Pennsylvania have been referred to the committee, no doubt for the purpose of offering amendments to this bill. Although I should be deeply mortified at the failure of the bill for the benefit of the Kentucky asylum, and would feel under many obligations to the gentlemen having charge of the New York and Pennsylvania memorials, if they would not encumber this bill with amendments; yet, if they should deem it their duty, I cannot vote against them, because I am persuaded Congress could not make a more beneficial appropriation to any object. Mr. CONDICT moved to amend the bill, by inserting in it a provision for the benefit of the incorporated asylum of New Jersey. Mr. C. said that he made this motion in pursuance of a joint resolution of the two Houses of the New Jersey Legislature; but, as the nature of the subject was obvious, and familiarly known, he forebore to offer any remarks in support of the motion. Mr. BUCHANAN thought, from the statement of the gentleman from Kentucky, there could hardily be a doubt as to the propriety and humanity of following the precedent set, in giving a township of land to the asylum for the deaf and dumb in Connecticut. At the proper time, he should agree to the proposition of his friend from New Jersey, but at present he considered the cases quite different. This application had been before the House for three sessions; it had been referred to a committee. MARCH, 1826.] Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb in Kentucky. [H. OF R with the views entertained by the gentleman from New York, he should not offer it. He believed, with the gentleman from Kentucky, that they could not make an appropriation for an object which was more valuable than the one now under consideration. He did not say this lightly, having been a director of an and that committee had made two reports; and this asylum at Danville has been in successful operation for several years. He trusted this bill would pass on its own merits. The State he represented, Mr. B. said, had also a similar asylum, but, for his part, he did not feel it his duty to embarrass the progress of this bill, by offering an amendment in favor of that asy-institution of this kind for some time, and being lum, though he knew it to be in successful operation. Mr. MALLARY said, it was sometimes the practice to embarrass the progress of a bill, by offering an amendment, entirely differing in its object, though he could not believe the gentleman had that object in view, in the present instance. He could not ask for New Jersey what he would be unwilling to give to Kentucky. He presumed the gentleman was favorable to the principle of the bill, but he thought there was no necessity for the gentleman from New Jersey to press his claims in behalf of his State, as it had a tendency to embarrass the passage of the bill. It would be best to present it, meritorious as it was, disconnected with that of any other State. Mr. CAMBRELENG said he thought it right to state, that he had intended to have offered an amendment to this bill, embracing two institutions, in favor of which a bill was introduced last session of Congress; but not wishing to embarrass the bill, in which he took great interest, he did not do so. Petitions from New York and Pennsylvania, on the subject, were now lying on the table; and after the bill got into the House, he should move that both these petitions be referred to a select | committee, that their merits might be examined. He hoped, therefore, the gentleman from New Jersey would withdraw his motion, and refer it to the same committee. Mr. WURTS said, a memorial had been presented during the present session, in behalf of the institution established in Pennsylvania, for the deaf and dumb, and he had prepared an amendment to include that institution; and he believed he could show, if an appropriation was made anywhere for such a purpose, it should be made there also; but, in accordance well convinced of the benefits which flowed from it. He should vote for the bill without amendment, under the conviction that this House would do, in other parts of the Union, that which it had done in the eastern States, and which he hoped it would do, in the valleys of the Mississippi. The amendment was rejected. Mr. VINTON moved the following amendment, viz: to strike out the words "or a tract of land equal thereto;" which was agreed to. Mr. THOMPSON, of Ohio, moved further to amend the bill, so as to except from the grant of land section number 16; which was also agreed to. Mr. McCoy said he did not know where this township was to be taken from. A good portion of the land which the United States pretend to claim, was ceded for special purposes, to pay the debts of the nation. He recollected, some few years ago, this House did, in one of their fits of humanity, grant to the asylum in Connecticut a township of land. They were immediately after applied to by the State of New York, and next session, the House took a stand, and refused to grant it, and now New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and New York, are all prepared again each to ask for a township of land. This House was gathering up a kind of legislation it would be impossible for them to get along with, and soon the people of this country would be unable to build a school-house, unless this Government gave them the money. He should forbear making any more comments on the bill-he was opposed to it, although he supposed it would pass, as it seemed to be a favorite. The bill was then ordered to be engrossed, and read a third time to-morrow. The House adjourned. INDEX TO VOL. VIII. A. A. B. Plot, The-See Edwards, Ninian, Address of. ADAMS, PARMENIO, Representative from New York, 596. President by the House, 824; letter of acceptance of Address of the committee of the Senate and House to Adjournment-See Index, vol. 7. Admirals in the Navy-See Index, vol. 2. African Slaves and Slavery.-See Index, vols. 1, 2, and In- Agriculture. In the Senate, a resolution for a committee ALEXANDER, ADAM R., Representative from Tennessee, 596. ALEXANDER, MARK, Representative from Virginia, 596; on ALEXANDRIA, memorial for the retrocession of, 49. Allegiance Foreign.-See Index, vol. 1; also, Index, vols. 2, ALLEN, ROBERT, Representative from Tennessee, 596. See ALLEN, SAMUEL C., Representative from Massachusetts, 596. ALSTON, WILLIS, Representative from North Carolina, 596; on Amelia Island.-See Index, vol. 6. Amendment of the journal of the House.-See Index, vol. 6. to inquire into the expediency of amending the consti- amending the constitution, 363; desirable, by such a Amendment proposed to inquire into the expediency A resolution considered relative to the election of Pres- In the House.-Resolutions relative to the district Presidents chosen by the people with those officers chosen by the same Presidents, 693; it is said it would produce popular excitement and turbulence, 694; fact exemplified in the recent election, 694; it is often said the farmer should attend to his plough during the canvass, and the mechanic to his handicraft, 695; objections to the participation of the House in the election, 695; corrupt Congress, and you assail liberty in the very seat of its vitality, 696; the authority of history, 697; in one particular we cannot stand a comparison with the statesmen of England, 697; often told that this Government has not sufficient patronage to produce corruption, 698; have the people of the small States any interest in this contested equality of power? 698. Other resolutions submitted, 699; referred, 700; an attack on King Caucus, 708; party is deprecated, 704; a Boston mob and New York rabble, 704; Edgefield Court House scene, 704; doubtful if these alterations in the constitution are not unconstitutional, 705; the article on amendment, 705; the adjustment of the federal and popular principles, 706; the subject matter of the resolutions not the most important function of the Government, 707; the general ticket and the district system, 708; life and soul of this Government to exercise no more power than is necessary, 709; many incidents to the electoral choice, 709; the qualifications of voters in the different States, 709; in the regulation of these qualifications the most successful attacks may be made on the purity of the electoral franchise, 710; appointment of electors by State Legislatures, 711; instance of two States, 712; the fair protection of the minority is in the majority of the other States; objections to the genoral ticket system, 718; what is the constitution of the Senate? 715; this is a constitutional question, and goes to the compromise between the States, 715; the power of the Executive, 716; theory of our liberties, 716; further remarks, 717, 718; corruptibility of this House, 719; office and its emolument the bribe, 720; further debate, 721, 722. See Index, vols. 1, 2, 3, 5, 7. ANDERSON, JOHN, Representative from Maine, 596. ANDERSON, JOHN, case of, see Index, vol 6, Bribery. ANDERSON, RICHARD C., nominated minister to the Panama Congress, 464. See Index, vol 6. ANGEL, WILLIAM G., Representative from N. Y., 596. Appointments, Executive.-See Index, vol 5. Appropriations. In the Senate the bill for the extension of the Cumberland road from the Ohio to the Muskingum considered, 178; the State of Ohio some reason to ask this of the General Government, 173; some investigation should be had before this bill passes, 173; the constitutional question, 173; the question involves all the principles relating to the powers of the Federal Government on the subject of internal improve. ments, 174; resolution of the Kentucky Legislature, 174; in this the anatomy of the Federal Government, 174; no subject of improvments presents as strong a claim upon Congress as this, 175; the question of right long settled by both Houses of Congress after the most able and solemn discussion, 175; but one opinion in relation to the present measure, 175; what has been the practice of this Government for twenty years past? 175; an estimate of the expense of making this road from Wheeling to the Mississippi river, 176; indefinite postponement lost, 177. In the House the bill relative to, considered, 247; object of the bill to continue a great national road long since planned and partly executed, 248; the sense of the nation in favor of a system of internal improvements, 248; it has been said that what is contributed is not a gift, 248; objects of expenditure, 249; the Western States have a claim upon the Government for the road now proposed, 249; a diversion of the two per cent. contribution from Illinois, 249; objections considered, 249; the history of the measure, 250; the compact respecting the two per cent., 250; an agreement with Virginia, 251; motion to strike out the part which pledges the two per cent. fund, 252; inquiry respecting the condition of that fund, 252; the course proposed is not the best to be pursued in commencing a system of internal improvements, 252; tendency to arouse sectional feeling, 252; Government not bound to go on with the Cumberland road, 252; the Eastern and Middle States interested in the completion of the work, 253; the claims from the work already executed are entitled to consideration, 253; appreciation of the road, 253; this policy only can unite the different sections of our country under the adverse circumstances which may befall us, 253; will Congress withhold this boon from the country? 254; the compact between the United States and the States northwest of the Ohio, 254; exposition of these contracts, 255; further explanation, 256; it is said that Congress, by what it has advanced on the Cumberland road, has complied and more than complied with its contract with Ohio, 256. The proposition premature, 257; the present application is for a sum of money, to be expended on internal improvements, 257; Congress have not yet determined they will adopt a system of internal improvements, 257; facts having a bearing on the question, 257; a question of direct appropriation for a road, 257; remarks on the measure as constituting a part of the general system of internal improvement, 257; a general view should be presented to Congress of the objects to be attempted, 257; the Treasury never has contributed any thing worth naming for internal improvement of any State except Ohio, 257. Question on appropriating $150,000, 263; the question as to the existence and the exercise of a power in the General Government to carry into effect a system of internal improvements amounts to the question whether the union of these States shall be preserved or not, 263; no more right to ask the States to make internal improvements for the general welfare than you have to ask them to make war for the general welfare, or to build fortifications for the general defence, 268; is the object of the present bill of sufficient magnitude to authorize an application to it of the resources of the nation? 268; this proposition is to be considered in reference to what had been done and what remained to be done, 264; is not this object justly entitled to be considered a national one? 264; are not the United States under a positive obligation to extend this road? 264; the principle of preservation affords a sufficient argument in support of this measure, 265; causes which go to increase the tendency to separation in such a system as ours, 265; our duty to correct them so far as practicable, 265; it may be said, why should the General Government make a road for the State of Ohio? 266; it is said the West is filled with emigrants from the Eastern States, 266; question carried, 267; bill ordered to a third reading, 267. Question on engrossment, 267; if a due appreciation of the great national objects to be attained by the completion of a system of internal improvements was a motive of conduct, no money should be appropriated for any such object until after a patient and deliberate investigation a general system should be devised, 267; what great national consideration calls upon us to adopt this system now rather than three years hence? 267; are we, by continuing this road, to preserve this Union? 267; the arguments in favor of this particular road may be either national or partly national only, 268; States to which the road is advantageous, 268; the idea that the navy, or other institutions for defence, are This bill may be passed without the assumption of ARCHER, WM. S., Representative from Va., 596; reports on communication to Lafayette, 233. See Index, vols. 6, 7. the Western boundary of Arkansas considered, 89; the ARMSTRONG, WILLIAM, Representative from Va., 596. Army desertion, prevention of.-In the Senate, a bill rela- every army in Europe, 378; neither stoppage of pay mor In the House, a bill relative to, considered, 603; the ASHLEY, HENRY, Representative from N. Y., 596. B BADGER, LUTHER, Representative from New York, 596. BALDWIN, JOHN, Representative from Connecticut, 596. Barbour, JAMES, reports on the mode of reception of La- BARBOUR, JOHN S., Representative from Virginia, 596; re- BARBOUR, PHILIP P., relative to the Virginia military lands BARNEY, JOHN, Representative from Maryland, 596; on the BARTLETT, ICHABOD, on the memorial of Edwards, 45; on Representative from New Hampshire, 596; on an BARTON, DAVID, Senator from Missouri, 850; on the Ju- Batture at New Orleans.-See Index, vol. 4. Do. St. Louis BAYLIES, FRANCIS, Representative from Massachusetts, 506; BELL, SAMUEL, Senator from New Hampshire, $50. See In BENTON, THOMAS H., on the trade between Missouri and |