SENATE.]

Public Deposits-Mr. Calhoun's Plan.

FRIDAY, June 17.

[JUNE, 1836

Resignation of Senator Naudain.
The CHAIR communicated the following let-

the Senate, has not received my signature. The power of Congress to fix, by law, a day for the regular annual meeting of Congress is undoubted; but the concluding part of this act, which is intended to fix the adjournment of every succeeding Congress to the second Monday in May, after the SENATE CHAMBER, June 16, 1836. commencement of the first session, does not appear SIR: I beg leave to inform the Senate, through to me in accordance with the provisions of the Con-you, that I have resigned my seat, as a Senator

stitution of the United States.

The constitution provides

1st article, 5th section-"That neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three

days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting."

1st article, 6th section-" That every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary, (except on the question of adjournment,) shall be presented to the President of the United States, and, before the same shall take effect, shall be approved of by him," &c.

2d article, 2d section-"That he (the President) may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses of Congress, or either of them; and, in case of disagreement between them with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such times as he thinks proper," &c.

ter:

from the State of Delaware, in the Senate of the United States, from and after this day.

In thus taking leave of the Senate, permit me,
sir, to tender to you, and, through you, to the body
over which you preside, the assurance of my high
regard.
I am, most respectfully,

Your obedient servant,
ARNOLD NAUDAIN.

To the Hon. MARTIN Van Buren,
President of the Senate.

Deposit Regulation Bill-Deposit with the
States-Mr. Calhoun's Plan.

The engrossed bill to regulate the deposits of the public money, &c., was read a third time; and the question being on its passage,

Mr. WRIGHT said a single question had excited peculiar interest with him. He had been most According to these provisions, the day of the anxious to agree upon a bill to regulate the deadjournment of Congress is not the subject of posits of the public money in the banks; and legislative enactment. Except in the event of dis- when he found that no proposition for the disagreement between the Senate and House of Representatives, the President has no right to meddle position of any surplus, if surplus there should with the question, and, in that event, his power is be, to which he could give his assent, could exclusive, but confined to fixing the adjournment of command the support of the majority of the the Congress whose branches have disagreed. The committee, he had urged the separation of the question of adjournment is obviously to be decided two subjects, and the report of two separate by each Congress for itself, by the separate action bills; the one to regulate the deposits in the of each House for the time being, and is one of banks, and the other to provide for a more those subjects upon which the framers of that in-permanent disposition of the surplus. In this strument did not intend one Congress should act, he was unsuccessful, as the majority of the comwith or without the executive aid, for its successors.mittee preferred that the two subjects should As a substitute for the present rule, which requires be connected in the same bill. the two Houses by consent to fix the day of adjournment, and, in the event of disagreement, the President to decide, it is proposed to fix the day by law, to be binding in all future time, unless changed by consent of both Houses of Congress, and to take away the contingent power of the Executive, which, in anticipated cases of disagreement, is vested in him. This substitute is to apply, not to the present Congress and Executive, but to our successors. Considering, therefore, that this subject exclusively belongs to the two Houses of Congress, whose day of adjournment is to be fixed, and that each has at that time the right to maintain and insist upon its own opinion, and to require the President to decide in the event of disagreement with the other, I am constrained to deny my sanction to the act herewith respectfully returned to the Senate. I do so with greater reluctance, as, apart from this constitutional difficulty, the other provisions of it do not appear to me objectionable.

ANDREW JACKSON.

WASHINGTON, June 9, 1836.

Since the report of the committee of the Senate, he had made every proper effort in his power to produce that separation, and he could not but congratulate himself upon the fact that his first effort was successful; that the first vote of the Senate sustained the propriety of his views, and directed the separation of the two subjects, (which he must say he considered in their nature and character entirely separate,) and the report of independent bills for each.

A reconsideration, however, had been proposed, and, after a night's deliberation, it was carried. The motion to recommit was then lost; and the determination of the Senate thus expressed that the two subjects should be coupled in the same bill, and should stand or fall felt himself relieved from all responsibility as together. From that time (Mr. W. said) he had to a deposit bill proper. He had found that no such bill could be passed in the Senate, without incorporating with it a perfectly sepa

The Message was ordered to be printed, and rate and most important provision for giving made the order for Wednesday next.

the moneys in the Treasury to the States, under the name of a deposit. Such a provision contained principles to which he could not, for any consideration, give his assent; and after that

JUNE, 1836.]

Recognition of Texas.

[SENATE.

vote, therefore, the bill to him had lost its | fearful consequences to the character of this value.

[Mr. Wright then presented a detailed view, item by item, of the bills then depending in the two Houses, and the amount demanded by each, and showed that the aggregate amounted to 20 millions more than the amount then in the Treasury: and added]—

He did not say that these appropriations would all be made. He did not believe they would all be made; but he had intended to select with care and caution such only as were presented to Congress with strong claims; of many of them he could say with claims which seemed to him almost, if not altogether, irresistible. He would then ask gentlemen who disputed his conclusions to point out the important bills he had enumerated which would not and ought not to pass. He had given particular reference to the measures, and he hoped they would put their finger upon those which they would oppose.

Government, and to the stability and harmony of this confederacy. These objections lie to the 13th section of the bill, which are in these words.

"SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the money which shall be in the Treasury of the United States, on the 1st day of January, eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, reserving the sun of five millions of dollars, shall be deposited with the several States, in proportion to their respective representation in the Senate and House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States; and the Secretary of the Treasury shall deliver the same to such persons as the several States may authorize to receive it, on receiving certificates of such State, each for such amount and in such form deposit, signed by the competent authorities of which shall set forth and express the obligation of as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, the State to pay the amount thereof to the United States, or their assigns; and which said certificates it shall be competent for the Secretary of the Treasury, in the name and behalf of the United States, to sell and assign whenever it shall be necesMr. CALHOUN said the Senator had made use sary for want of other money in the Treasury to of the best of all possible arguments for preserv-meet appropriations made by Congress; all sales ing the surplus. No Senator had estimated and assignments, however, to be ratable, and in the whole surplus at the end of the year including just and equal proportions, among all the States, the $7,000,000 in the United States Bank, and according to the amounts received by them, respectexclusive of the year's expenditures, at less ively; and all such certificates of deposit shall be than $66,000,000. The Senator from New subject to and shall bear an interest of five per York had earnestly endeavored to prove that of such sale and assignment, and shall be redeemcent. per annum, payable half yearly, from the time the expenditures of this year of this adminis-able at the pleasure of the States issuing the same." tration would amount to this $66,000,000. Mr. C. made a solemn appeal to Senators, whether they were prepared to rise so soon from an annual Government expenditure of $12,000,000, then deemed prodigal, to the enormous sum of $66,000,000, and that in a time of profound peace. There could possibly be no stronger argument in favor of taking care of the surplus. Mr. C. made a comparison between the State stock and State deposit projects, and drew the obvious deductions in favor of the latter, expressing his satisfaction at the great unanimity of the Senate on the subject, and his belief that but for the opposition from the Senator from New York the vote would have been unanimous.

Mr. WALKER followed Mr. CALHOUN,
The discussion was continued by Mr. Bu-
CHANAN, Mr. BENTON, and Mr. TALLMADGE.

Mr. BENTON said: I come, Mr. President to the second subject in the bill-the distribution feature-and to which the objections are, not of detail, but of principle; but which objections are so strong in the mind of myself and some friends, that, far from shrinking from the contest, and sneaking away in our little minority of six where we were left last evening, we come forward with unabated resolution to renew our opposition, and to signalize our dissent, and anxious to have it known that we contended to the last against the seductions of a measure, specious to the view, and tempting to the taste, but fraught with mischief and

The question being taken on the passage of the bill, it was decided in the affirmative, as follows:

YEAS.-Messrs. Buchanan, Calhoun, Clay, Crittenden, Davis, Ewing of Illinois, Ewing of Ohio, Goldsborough, Hendricks, Hubbard, Kent, King of Alabama, King of Georgia, Knight, Leigh, Linn, McKean, Mangum, Moore, Morris, Nicholas, Niles, Page, Porter, Prentiss, Preston, Rives, Robbins, Robinson, Ruggles, Shepley, Southard, Swift, Tallmadge, Tipton, Tomlinson, Wall, Webster, White-40. NAYS.-Messrs. Benton, Black, Cuthbert, Grundy, Walker, Wright-6.

The Senate then adjourned.

SATURDAY, June 18.
Texas.

Mr. CLAY, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, to whom were referred the resolutions of the Legislature of Connecticut, and a number of memorials and petitions from various quarters, praying for the recognition of the independence of Texas, made a report, concluding with the following resolution:

Resolved, That the independence of Texas ought to be acknowledged by the United States whenever satisfactory information shall be received that it has in successful operation a civil Government, capable of performing the duties and fulfilling the obligations of an independent power.

SENATE.]

MONDAY, June 20.

Joseph Grant.

The CHAIR presented the credentials of RICHARD BAYARD, elected United States Senator, by the Legislature of the State of Delaware, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of the honorable ARNOLD NAUDAIN. Mr. BAYARD took the requisite oath.

WEDNESDAY, June 22.

Public Deposits.

A message was received from the House of Representatives, by Mr. FRANKLIN, their Clerk, stating that the House had passed the bill from the Senate, "to regulate the deposits of the public money," with an amendment, in which they requested the concurrence of the Senate.

The amendment is as follows: *

Strike out the thirteenth section, and insert, in lieu thereof, the following:

SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the money which shall be in the Treasury of the United States on the 1st day of January, 1837, reserving the sum of five millions of dollars, shall be deposited with such of the several States, in proportion to their respective representation in the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, as shall by law authorize their treasurers, or the competent authorities, to receive the same on the terms hereinafter specified; and the Secretary of the Treasury shall deliver the same to such treasurer, or other competent authorities, on receiving certificates of deposits therefor, signed by such competent authorities, in such form as may be prescribed by the Secretary aforesaid, which certificate shall express the usual and legal obligations, and shall pledge the faith of the State for the safe-keeping and repayment thereof, and shall pledge the faith of the States receiving the same to pay the said moneys, and every part thereof, from time to time, whenever the same shall be required by the Secretary of the Treasury, for the purpose of defraying any wants of the public Treasury beyond the amount of the five millions aforesaid: Provided, That, if any State declines to receive its proportion of the surplus aforesaid, on the terms before named, the same shall be deposited with the other States agreeing to accept the same on deposit, in the proportion aforesaid: And provided, further, That, when said money, or any part thereof, shall be wanted by the said Secretary, to meet the appropriations made by law, the same shall be called for in ratable proportions, within one year, as nearly as conveniently may be, from the different States with which the same is deposited, and shall not be called for in sums exceeding ten thousand dollars, from any one State, in any one month, without previous notice of thirty days for every additional sum of $20,000 which may at any time be required.

The amendment being read,

Mr. CALHOUN moved to lay it on the table for examination; which motion, after a few words from Mr. WEBSTER, was agreed to.

Mr. Calhoun's State deposit section.

[JUNE, 1836. [The amendments of the House to the bill granting lands to the State of Alabama, for the purposes specified therein, was taken up, and concurred in.]

On motion of Mr. CALHOUN, the Senate proceeded to consider the amendment to the deposit bill.

Mr. CALHOUN moved that the Senate concur in the amendment.

Mr. WEBSTER expressed his acquiescence, but said he should have preferred the bill as it went from the Senate, as it was then in a form which disconnected it most completely from the State Governments.

Mr. MORRIS objected to the motion to concur, as he thought the amendment by which the States were bound to repay the deposit on the demand of the General Government very exceptionable, and likely to lead to serious abuses.

Mr. BUCHANAN said: The House objected to the Senate bill, that it placed the money in the State treasuries, not as a public deposit, because the Federal Government did not reserve the power to reclaim the money at any time, and that this was not a constitutional mode of depositing. The bill was amended to obviate the objection, and he hoped the amendment would be concurred in.

Mr. CALHOUN said the principles of the bill had not been changed, and he hoped the Senate would come to a vote. No Secretary of the Treasury will ever call for this money.

Mr. CLAY deemed the bill as amended better than it was before, because it now contained a restriction on the Treasury in calling in the money, so that it would not be in the power of the Treasury to distress the banks. He also understood that the amendment would quiet constitutional scruples somewhere, and he was himself disposed to respect and quiet scruples of that kind anyhow and anywhere. The amendment was then concurred in.

Adjournment Veto.

The Senate proceeded to the consideration of the Message of the President of the United States, returning the bill to fix the day for the annual meeting of Congress, with his objections thereto.

The question being on the passage of the bill, the objections of the President thereto to the contrary notwithstanding, a debate ensued, in which Mr. CLAYTON, Mr. WEBSTER, Mr. PRESTON, Mr. BAYARD, Mr. CLAY, Mr. LEIGH, Mr. CALHOUN, against, and Mr. RIVES and Mr. SHEPLEY in favor of the opinion of the President, participated.

The bill was laid on the table till to-morrow.

THURSDAY, June 23.
Joseph Grant.

On motion of Mr. KNIGHT, the bill to extend the patent right of Joseph Grant, for making hat bodies, was taken up.

Joseph Grant.

Mr. KNIGHT addressed the Chair in its favor. | Davis, Goldsborough, Hendricks, Kent, Knight, Messrs. WALL and NILES opposed it; after Morris, Robbins, Robinson, Southard, Swift, Tipton, which, it was laid on the table. Webster-16.

The ayes and noes were then demanded by Mr. WRIGHT, and ordered, on the motion to strike out.

[JUNE, 1836.

Some discussion took place, in which Mr. | proposition. But it has been so treated, from RUGGLES, Mr. WRIGHT, Mr. PORTER, Mr. CLAY- time to time, taken up and laid upon the table, TON, Mr. CLAY, Mr. PRESTON, Mr. KNIGHT, and (the last time to afford an opportunity to the Mr. NILES, took part. present Chief Magistrate of an eastern State to deliver his sentiments upon it, when he (Mr. C.) was detained from the Senate by the illness of a member of his family,) that he had not seen a fit moment when he could, according to his sense of propriety, address the Senate. too late in the session, when important publie business was pressing upon both Houses, to protract the discussion upon this resolution.

The question was then about to be taken, when Mr. HUBBARD moved to lay the bill on the table; which was decided in the negative-It is now, as every Senator must feel, entirely yeas 18, nays 20.

The question was then taken on the motion to reconsider the vote amending the bill by inserting the proviso, and decided in the nega- | Mr. C. was anxious to have brought forward tive-yeas 18, nays 19. from the present democratic fountain in this The question was then taken on the engross-country a precedent, on all substantial points ment of the bill, and decided in the affirmative--yeas 19, nays 17.

[The bill was to renew a patent, expired perhaps two years ago, for a machine for making hat bodies. Since the expiration of the patent, the invention had fallen into the public hands, and was now in common use. Mr. RUGGLES introduced an amendment to secure to those who have the machines the right of using them, notwithstanding the renewal of the patent. The bill had been originally ordered to be engrossed, with this amendment ingrafted upon it; but as it was complained that this prevented the patentee from making any advantage of his invention, the motion to reconsider was made.]

THURSDAY, June 30.

The VICE PRESIDENT announced that he should not resume the Chair, during the present session, after this day.

Expunging Resolution.

Mr. BENTON, after a few remarks, in reference to the cause which prevented him from calling up the expunging resolution yesterday, said he left it to the Senate to act in reference to it as they might think proper.

After a few remarks from Mr. PRESTON, Mr. CLAY, and Mr. BENTON, the subject was finally dropped.

Mr. CLAY said that he would take the opportunity of saying that it had been his fixed purpose, considering the relation in which he stood to the resolution of March, 1834, and to the Senate as having offered it, to address the Senate on the subject of it. He was particularly desirous to have vindicated the resolution in the assertion which it contained of the exercise of executive power in derogation from the constitution and laws of the United States. After the fullest reflection, his judgment remained unchanged, that it was an exercise of illegal and unconstitutional power, and dangerous to the liberties of the people of this country. And if he could have seen a suitable occasion, after hearing all that could be urged against the resolution, he should have endeavored to maintain, by argument, that

directly applicable, against the process of mutilating and expunging the journals of the Senate. But, solicitous as he was to discuss the particular topic, and to spread before the Senate, the precedent to which he referred, he could not think of trespassing on the time of the Senate during the precious moments that remained. With respect to the final disposition to be made of the resolution, he was content to acquiesce in any decision the Senate might think proper to make. If it be its pleasure to, take up the resolution and pass definitively upon it, without further debate, he would be satisfied.

Death of James Madison.

The following Message was received from the President of the United States:

WASHINGTON, June 30, 1836. To the Senate and House of Representatives:

It becomes my painful duty to announce to you the melancholy intelligence of the death of JAMES MADISON, Ex-President of the United States. He departed this life at half-past six o'clock, on the morning of the 28th instant, full of years and full

of honors.

gress may adopt such measures as may be proper I hasten this communication, in order that Conto testify their sense of the respect which is due to the memory of one whose life has contributed so essentially to the happiness and glory of his country, and to the good of mankind.

ANDREW JACKSON.

Mr. RIVES addressed the Senate as follows: Mr. President, I feel that it would be an act of sacrilegious temerity, were I to attempt to add to the intrinsic pathos of the melancholy intelligence just announced to us by the President of the United States, by any thing in the way of eulogy on the character of the great man whose decease he has communicated to us. The eulogy of Mr. Madison is written in every page of the history of his country, to whose service his whole life was devoted, and with every great event in whose annals his name stands conspicuously and enduringly identified. Filled, however, as his life was, from its dawn to its close, with labors of patriotism and superior wisdom, there is one great work of