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Congressional

Congressional image
Parent Issue
Day
13
Month
April
Year
1846
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The Whigs have made a great ado about the nboiition of the Congressional Gag Law, and their agency in it. Yet of the hundreds of petiiions sent to the U. S. Scnate, for the Abolilion of Slavery in the District of Columbia, for the last eight or ten years, HF not one has bkjcn kkceived, nlthoughthe Whigs. till recenily have had a majority in that body! If you wisli to know the reason, you can ask your distingu'shed Senator, Gov. VVoodbrige, or Ea-Senator Porter. On the 12th of Maich. a petiiion of this kind was presented from a Femalc Aniislavery Suciety. upon which Mr. Speight, of Miesissippi: opposed it, becau8c it struck at the rights of his constituents. Mr. Mangum, n distinguished Whig of North Carolina, said lie agreed with the views of the Senator of Missiesippi, in relation to the propriety of receiving pciitions of that description; but he would jiy to him that 't had been the practico of this body for tnany ycarspast, and in corrobation of this fací he would appeal to the senior Senator from South Carolina, to lay these pelition upon the table, without even making the motion todo eo. This was the plan adopted thenby the Senatc to prevent avgry and useless discussions, which such were calctilated to occasion. '1 he President of the Senaie feit it his duty todo ihis without any motion whattver. Mr. Calhoun 6aid he agreed with the Senator from North Carolina ih vvhat he had said. For lijmseif, he had never thought that thisment had any control over tho subject of slavcry. Whenever the qncstion should come up, ht would be prcpared to give his views upon it. - The retsoluiion was thcn laid upon the rnble. The manner in which ilie members spcnd their time is thus referred to by a correspondent of the Indiana Tocsin. "The real hard working, tax paying, soit till ing portion of the country know nothing ot the manner in which the legislation of the Govern men', is done up. Could one and all of the in dustrious classes look in upon the proceedings o Congress, they would in less than ten years from this time, mark out a reform that is vorj very much needed, and which mustbe maden question at,and vtrotight out by the magie power of the ballot box. There is not more than one out of every twenty-five of the members who is a working man or cares one farthing about nny thingelse ihan constant diesipaüon and his Eigh dollars per diem. Think of ten days and a hal being consumed in calling the yeas and nays up on each specifie itemin the appropriation bill- think of four months ot the eession having pass ed and nothing done - think of the Senate adjourning evcry Thursday until Moaday nextan( the House vory often from Friday till 'Monda) ne.xt'; think ot the business already maturcd anc readj for action belore eack branch of the Les islatnreaud which wili bo passed over under ihe plea of 'want of time'; think of the enormou expense of thia kind of Legislation: think of the idlen:s8, dissipation and excess of all kinds that this reckless mode of transacting the pub lic business, yearlv produces; think of all thiand much more that mighi be tncntioned, and then osk the 'bone and sinew' of your ngricuhural country, f thcy can suggcsi a rerhedy? ït appears tltat ccrtain eatimates for enlarging the Nnvy forwarlikc pnrposcs have beun mrde by the Department to the Naval Committee, with theeecret approval of the President. The Washington correspondent of the Baltimore Patriot writes as follows: - "I have it from reliable auihority, ihat the Buppressec' or withdrawn cstimates of the bureau, made with the President'a sanction, pro posod an expenditure of from forty to fit'ty mili ions of dollars! The Navy cstimates propose forty steamers! "Mr. Fairfield, thé Chairman of the Nava Committee in the Senate, got aiacmed and cu them down toten steamera." Abill is now pending in Congress for the pay ment of last year'a deficiencies, in which is in cluded about ont vtiüion for Texas matters 1- The followingare someof the items: Q,uarterma6ter's department, $100,00 Transportation of troops, 660,00 Four companies of volunteers to Texas, 69,00 $859.00 Gen. Caes has made nnother War speech i favor of the whole of Oregon, showing that w had better fight lor the firat inch of Orego than for the last. Not an inch south of 54 4 was lus position. The Independent Treasury bilí, si cnllcd, ha passcd the House of Repreacntatives bv a vot of 122 co 66. lts friends confidently expects will pass the Scnntc and become a law.