Resolved, That provision ought to be made, by law, for an adequate and comfortable support of such officers and soldiers of the Revolutionary army as are still existing in a state of indigence, disgraceful to the country which owes its liberties to their valor.
Resolved, That provision ought to be made, by law, for an adequate and comfortable support of such officers and soldiers of the Revolutionary army as are still existing in a state of indigence, disgraceful to the country which owes its liberties to their valor.
Mr.Randolphsaid he trusted that on this resolution there would exist in the House, as there did in the nation, but one sentiment. The provision which had been made for the officers and soldiers of the Revolution was notoriously scanty and mean. Who, he asked, enjoyed the carrying trade for which, two years ago, we were near being plunged into a war? Emigrants since the peace of 1783. Men who ran no risk—who put nothing to hazard—whilst those who met the enemy in the field, with the gibbet staring them in the face at the same time, were left to pine in want and obscurity. Had the persons who achieved this right to trade with every quarter of the globe less claim to the benefits acquired by their blood than the man of yesterday? But they had no capital for such enterprises. They had sown that others might reap. The very lands which they had won with their swords had become the prey of rapacious adventurers. Should the fruits of the Revolution inure to the sole benefit of those who never put their persons to hazard, or even spent one dollar for the acquisition of our independence? He reminded the House of the pathetic appeal which had been made on a former occasion by one of its oldest members, (Mr.Van Cortlandt,) whom he hoped would long enjoy his seat there: “We shall not prove very chargeable to you—there are but few of us left, and they are daily dropping off—you will not be burdened with us long—most of us have broken our constitutions in the public service.” Mr. R. hoped that provision would be made for these gallant veterans—living monuments of the ingratitude of their country; that every man who had a claim on the public for services rendered during the Revolution, would be made comfortable for life, unless his own misconduct should forbid it.
Mr.Quincysaid he did not rise to make objections to the general object of the resolution; but there was one part which he did not think it decorous for the committee to adopt; he meant the epithetdisgraceful. He was not prepared to fix a disgrace upon the nation by his vote; if it were true that it was disgraced, he should wish more evidence of the fact than had been exhibited on that floor. Were he even to admit that it was a disgrace, he was not willing to turn the eyes of the world upon the shame of his country. In another point of view he objected to this declaration, as it would, by a strained or forced construction, limit the provision contemplated to be made. He should not offer an amendment to the resolution, because he trusted the gentleman himself would amend it. It would, however, meet his wishes either to strike out the last declaratory sentence, or to strike out the words “disgraceful to the,” and insert “in a.”
Mr.Randolphsaid that he did not feel for his resolution that sort of parental affection which authors were supposed to bear towardstheir works. The language was perfectly immaterial to him, so as it embraced his object. He thought it needless in a matter of this kind to attend to those verbal niceties with which the gentleman from Massachusetts had amused himself and the committee. So far from disgracing the country, he thought the acknowledgment in question the first step towards wiping off the stigma—a sort of atonement; and if the nation was disgraced, it was their duty as faithful servants to tell her so, and not to flatter her with the success of her arms, and persuade her that she was the very mirror and pink of chivalry, when they knew to the contrary.
It was matter of notoriety, and as such it was proper for the House to act upon, that there existed a great number of citizens in this nation in a state of indigence, who, if their country had done its duty, might, and probably would, have been in far different circumstances. This failure on the part of Government had thrown the evidences of their claims into the hands of men, many, if not most of them, emigrants since the Revolution. He asked whether our public lands, our free commerce—every blessing of our country—should be participated by those who had sacrificed nothing to our independence, and the men who achieved it be suffered to live and die in wretchedness? This was the question which he had propounded to the House, and those who could not comprehend it in its present shape, would not be assisted by any explanations which it was in his power to give. He knew comparisons were odious, but he must be permitted to make one. He would compare the services of Captains Lewis and Clarke, in exploring the continent of the Pacific Ocean, and their remuneration, with the hardships and dangers of the soldiers of the Revolution and their reward. He had no disposition to undervalue the services of those gentlemen and their companions; far from it. He thought them deserving of what they had obtained, and he had voted accordingly. But he should be guilty of gross injustice were he to aver that their labors had been as important to the United States as the services of those who had fought their battles, before they were United States. Yet, what a wide difference in their remuneration! On the one side, ample compensation; on the other, the statute of limitation, or perhaps a scanty pension. Mr. R. wished this subject to be taken up on the broadest ground—that where services could be shown, they should be recompensed—that the State should take the sufferer under her protection, and secure him from want.
Mr.Thomasasked the gentleman who moved this resolution, whether he intended to confine his provisions to the officers and soldiers of the Revolutionary war, and not to extend relief to other sufferers? It was well known that there were many others in the service who suffered equally with those in the army—some of whom had lost their limbs, and others who performed meritorious services—and were of as much benefit as soldiers. Were they excluded by the resolution? It was but lately that an officer, who commanded one of our armed ships in the Revolutionary war, was in a state of almost starvation; and there were many more equal sufferers and equally meritorious with those who served in the army.
Mr.Randolphcould only say, that his object was to provide for every man who had fought, whether in the militia, the regular army, or the navy.
Mr.Quincysaid he really had not meant to amuse the House or the gentleman from Virginia by the observations which he had made. In certain cases words were things, and certainly this was one of those cases. Would the committee declare their own disgrace by passing the resolution as it now stood? No; they would declare their country to be disgraced. He could not consent to this. He therefore moved, as he wished to make as little alteration in the resolution as possible, to strike out the words “disgraceful to the,” and insert “in a.”
Mr.Randolphdid not perceive the necessity of the amendment, neither was he very tenacious of the language of his resolution. The object of it alone was dear to him. Yet, there were occasions in which it behooved men, and nations too, to confess their sins. He thought the present one of them. Would the State of Georgia, for instance, have done herself more honor, if, instead of passing sentence of indelible disgrace on the Legislature which passed the famous law of the 5th of January, 1795, commonly called the Yazoo act, and expunging it from her records, she had faintly censured its authors and their abettors by a dainty circumlocution? He feared he would not be pardoned for introducing the Yazoo act in this case, since he had seen a most respectable Representative from the State of Georgia, (Mr.Troup,) attacked on all sides for daring to lisp the word Yazoo. They were told it was a worn out thing. That the House and the people were tired of it. That, like the cry of wolf in the fable, it had been repeated until no one would heed it. Mr. R. said that those who calculated in this way reckoned without their host. The people of the Union could never become familiarized and hardened to acts of corruption, by whomsoever they might be practised or patronized. Whether the words were stricken out or not, was perfectly immaterial to him. Perhaps, in rendering the censure more delicate, it was only rendered more severe. He thought the situation of these gentlemen—for gentlemen they were, by the most honorable of all titles, the sword—disgraceful to the country. Whenever the country was disgraced, he was for confessing it, that the people might be roused to wipe it away. For this reason he had said that the navy of the United States was a disgraced navy, and he should continue to say so until its character was retrieved.
Mr.Quincysaid he was as willing as anygentleman to confess his own sins, but did not like to cast censure on other people, much less on his country. They would declare, by passing the resolution as it now stood, that their country was disgraced. He hoped they would not do it. He had no objection to the House confessing its own misdeeds. Let us, said he, work out our own reformation, but not pass a censure on our country. He declared his objection to the resolution to extend no further than to those words.
The amendment moved by Mr.Quincywas then agreed to without a division; and the question recurring on the original resolution,
A motion was then made for the committee to rise, and carried—75 voting in favor of it.
On motion of Mr.Burwell, the House went into a Committee of the Whole on the bill from the Senate for building gunboats, and the bill for fortifying our ports, as reported by the Committee of Aggressions.
The bill from the Senate being still under consideration,
Mr.Milnorsaid, when he was on the floor yesterday, and interrupted by the message from the President, it was his intention to have moved an amendment. The bill provided for building one hundred and eighty-eight gunboats; he moved to strike out the words “and eighty-eight,” so as to reduce the number to one hundred. He thought a hundred gunboats in addition to those they already had, would be fully sufficient, if they also adopted other modes of defence. He had yesterday stated that he did not believe the building additional fortifications, and an additional number of gunboats, would effect the object which appeared to be contemplated by the committee. He confessed he did not place as much reliance in gunboats as some gentlemen did. While he thought they might be useful in aid of land batteries or frigates, it was also his opinion, that if gentlemen examined the statement respecting different aggressions by a certain power, they would find that not one single act of aggression could have been prevented or punished by any batteries on land or gunboats in aid of them. They were not committed in the face of our batteries, or in that part of our ports and harbors where the gunboats could have acted with effect; they were committed within the mouths of our rivers, or just outside them. He thought the construction of a few frigates would be expedient, in addition to those now in our possession. They might act with gunboats; and might drive any foreign nation either to the necessity of bringing a large force on our coasts, and keeping it all together, by which the number of their aggressions would be lessened, or expose their fleets to a force which would be able to avenge the insults offered to us.
Mr.Burwellsaid he should vote against the amendment proposed, and in favor of the number reported by the Committee of Aggressions, as contained in the bill from the Senate now under discussion. It appeared to Mr. B. that the gentleman from Pennsylvania had taken a very incorrect view of the subject. That gentleman has objected to this law because it did not make provision for ships of war to serve as a defence to our commerce, and because he supposed the committee had taken up this mode of defence to the exclusion of any other. Mr. B. said it must be obvious to every gentleman that it was almost impossible to have crowded into one bill all the measures of defence which might become necessary; thus it contained no provision for arming the militia, for raising a standing army, building or repairing frigates, &c. The only question now was, on building a number of gunboats, for defence against the attack of a foreign nation. He thought a sufficient number should at once be authorized: for if the number were insufficient to answer the intended purpose, the money expended in their purchase would be so much thrown away; so much expended from which the public would derive no benefit. The opinions of those men best acquainted with the force which might be necessary, which had been communicated to the Committee of Aggressions, has stated this as the competent number.
With respect to the expense of building gunboats, it would be found that the cost of building a frigate would be much greater than a number of gunboats equal to the number of guns carried by a frigate. The Secretary of the Navy had estimated the annual expense of gunboats at $11,000. Mr. B. admitted that the sum appeared enormous, and it remained for the consideration of the House whether they would expend so large a sum for that purpose. The estimate of the Secretary of the Navy went upon the ground that during the whole of the year, forty men would be required to man each of these boats. Mr. B. thought that regulations might be adopted, that would render eight or ten men sufficient to be regularly employed on board these boats; a sufficient force fully to man and use them upon occasion might be organized from the different ports or seaport towns; and it would be found, by recurring to the President’s Message, that the same idea had been entertained by the Executive. And he believed, that although the Secretary of the Navy had estimated $11,000 as the sum necessary for the annual expense, he had done it on the supposition that forty men would be employed during the whole year in each gunboat. At times when Europe and the United States were at peace, it would not be necessary that more than a small portion of those boats should be afloat; they might be kept in ordinary, relying on the seamen of the port for any sudden emergency.
With respect to the propriety of building gunboats, he would observe that they were nota mere experiment; they were sanctioned by the practice of Europe, and were very beneficial for the defence of ports against sudden attack. The French, Spanish, Dutch, and other nations, in the vicinage of the British Navy, had combined their boats with land batteries, for the purpose of defence against the assaults of that formidable Navy. These boats were also a part of a system heretofore practised in other countries, and proposed to be further pursued here.
Mr.Crowninshieldsaid that there was some inconsistency in the observations of the gentleman from Pennsylvania; he had said gunboats would be useful with the aid of large vessels, and at the same time said they were entirely useless in the mouths of rivers or deep waters. [Mr.Milnorexplained that he had meant they would be useless when acting alone.] Mr. C. said he had formed a very different opinion, indeed, from that expressed by the gentleman from Pennsylvania with respect to gunboats. It was well known that no longer ago than the year before last, this Government had employed eight or ten gunboats to assist in the attack on Tripoli; they all crossed the Atlantic in safety, except one boat. Although they did not come into the attack on Tripoli, because a peace was prematurely concluded, yet he himself had heard the late Commodore Preble say that, without them the squadron would not have been competent to have made an effectual assault on the city. These boats then kept the sea in very tempestuous weather, a fact which the despatches from the commanding officer had announced. He believed that they could not at this time adopt a better mode of defence than that proposed by the bill. He should be sorry to see the proposed number reduced, because he believed they would render important services, if at any time our ports or harbors should be attacked. These gunboats were not boats that would sink the moment they got into rough water; they were boats of 60 or 70 tons burden, which might navigate the globe with safety. He spoke from experimental knowledge. The gentleman surely did not mean to say they could not swim. In Mr. C.’s opinion, there could be no better system of defence in aid of fortifications than that proposed by the bill.
Mr.Blountpresumed the gentleman would admit, as a certainty, that it was the duty of the House to provide effectual protection. The select committee having determined, in their own mind, that the best system of defence would be composed by fortifications and gunboats, had inquired what number, would be of use. The answer to this inquiry was already before the House; it was stated that the United States had already 69 gunboats—that 257 were the whole number which might be usefully employed; consequently that 188 were wanting. If it were the object of gentlemen to afford a certain protection to the country, he hoped they would not hesitate to pass this bill. If the gentleman from Pennsylvania should be able, when the subject was properly before them, to prove to Mr. B. that frigates or ships of war would add to the protection which might be afforded by fortifications and gunboats, he would vote with him for their construction. It would be time to discuss this when the subject was before them. He hoped the idea of the utility of a naval force would not induce gentlemen to withhold from the Executive that force which they had signified as necessary for the protection of our ports and harbors. If any doubt were entertained by gentlemen who were not members of the last Congress, there was a report, which he held in his hand, made at a former session, containing the opinions of naval officers on the expediency or utility of these boats. The report was lengthy, and he should not call for the reading of it, except gentlemen wished it. There was, however, no necessity to demonstrate their utility, as no gentleman had attempted to show that they were not eminently and essentially useful as one species of defence.
The gentleman last up has stated that I wished this mode of defence because it was the wish of the Executive. I stated expressly, and the gentleman must so have understood me, that the committee had selected this number of gunboats because they were informed that this number would be necessary. I referred to the document where this statement is expressed and where it may be found. I meant to express the opinion, that if we built a less number than necessary, it would be a waste of public money; and that protection would not be obtained by a less force than that which is proposed.
Mr. B. also said that the 88 gunboats would cost $440,000; that sum, when applied to the building of a large frigate, would not complete her; and when built, she would carry but 44 guns, one-half the number of guns which would be carried by 88 gunboats; besides which, the expense of rigging and making her fit for service would be enormous. Thus, by building one frigate only at the same expense as would complete 88 gunboats, they lost 44 guns, besides the additional expense of fitting out and manning the frigate. He had, however, only risen at this time to explain that he had been misrepresented when it was stated that he had said he should vote for this number of gunboats because the Executive had recommended it.
Mr.Smiliesaid the question was, whether they would appropriate a certain sum of money for the defence of their ports and harbors. He had not heard it said, and he hoped it never would be said, that they ought to defend themselves beyond their own shores. He confessed that he was now called upon to give his vote on a question to the decision of which he was not competent; but it being his duty to decide, he should, on this as on other subjects with which he was not well acquainted, depend upon the opinions of those who were. He believedmany gentlemen in the House were in the same situation with himself, not being acquainted with naval affairs. It was the duty of the Executive to communicate information in answer to any inquiries which it was necessary to make. They had performed that duty, and the answers were in favor of gunboats. Should he then pursue any opinion of his own in contradiction to this, when he had no evidence on which to ground that opinion? Certainly not; he should depend upon those who possessed better information on the subject than himself, except there was something so absurd in their opinions that he could not swallow it.
Mr.Chandlersaid, when they had information from actual examination, that the contemplated number of gunboats would be necessary, he did believe that the proposed sum should be appropriated to that object. The gentleman from Pennsylvania, who had moved this amendment, professed himself as willing to protect our ports and harbors as any gentleman, but wished to strike out part of the number of gunboats, in order to adopt another mode of defence. Admitting that a frigate could be built for the sum which would complete eighty-eight gunboats; could he demonstrate that the force of forty-four guns would be equal to eighty-eight of heavier metal? Another thing he would mention; when the gunboats were constructed, a part of them might be removed, and they could increase or diminish the force at any particular place, as occasion might require; if they had one frigate in place of them, they could not divide her strength, and it could be retained at one point only.
Mr.Newtonsaid it was not his intention to take up the time of the committee in a disquisition on the subject of gunboats; though, were he to attempt it, he had no doubt but he might be equally qualified with some gentlemen who had displayed their eloquence on this occasion. He thought they should now take into consideration the situation of the country in relation to Great Britain. Why were they now talking of defence, of fortifications, and of gunboats? Because they had arrived at a perilous crisis; the nation had been attacked; the blood of its citizens had been spilled; and they must have war, if reparation were not made. They heard by the papers that a Minister was to be sent to negotiate on the subject; but when that Minister arrived here, would any gentleman say that they would receive that reparation which he was prepared to offer? He believed not. When our affairs were thus situated, and as the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr.Macon) said a few days ago, when they were actually in a state of war, ought they not to make a better use of their time and the public money, than in debating on the details of a bill? If a treaty with Great Britain were laid upon their table at this moment, should they for that reason desist from preparations for defence? No; that nation had trampled on every moral principle; there was no faith in her; paper and parchment were no security for her good conduct. If they wished to be respected by that power, they must place themselves in a situation to return injury for injury; to retaliate on her for the violations of their rights. When they did this, they might expect something like decency of conduct, or respect for their rights from that power; until they put themselves in a situation to command her respect, they would in vain expect to receive it.
Mr.Gardeniersaid that although he was not one of those who entertained a great passion for gunboats, yet he could see certain situations in which they would be useful in aid of fortifications; but they should be restricted to a certain number. The mode of fortification which was proposed, was by gunboats and batteries; and the proportionate expenditure for these two objects, how much for one, and how much for the other, was a subject which would engage the attention of the House when it came properly before them. He should feel no objection to vote for the whole number of gunboats, were he certain at the same time that enough would be appropriated for land-batteries and other objects.
Mr.Masterssaid, if the amendment of the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr.Blount) had for its object to authorize the President to dam up the Hudson River by sinking blocks, he trusted the good sense of the committee would reject such a preposterous proposition. The injurious consequences of such an experimental measure to the city of New York, and the State at large, would be beyond calculation. It would, in all human probability, inundate, in high freshets, a considerable part of the town; and in low water, in the summer season, so prevent the influx of water as to cause the tide to recede more than thirty miles, and ruin a number of most flourishing towns one hundred and seventy miles up the river. The effects would be ruinous to one of the finest rivers in the world. It was a well-known fact that sinking the piers of Westminster bridge, in the river Thames, caused the tide to recede in that river upwards of seven miles; take the same data for calculation, and the tide in Hudson River would recede more than fifty miles. This, said Mr. M., is a visionary scheme to evade the real object of defence, and to introduce false notions of economy. Whenever we attempt to make appropriations for permanent forts and batteries, expense and economy are brought forward as an objection. The objects of necessary defence, and a prudent, well-regulated economy, can be easily reconciled; but your plausible and popular sound of economy, which is always the sweeping argument when this and similar measures are under consideration, is like a fine net, which is intended to catch every thing, both great and small. It may serve for a fine fancy to fill up a speech with, but will not answer for fortifications. It will endanger the nation by keeping us defenceless and weak, tempt aggressions, and invite the destruction of our seaporttowns. Where, then, will be your economy?
Mr.Quincysaid he would only ask the gentleman from North Carolina, as to his precise meaning in inserting the word “works.” This word was, perhaps, in common life, confined to constructions other than fortifications; he believed, however, it might include fortifications also. When he had asked the question as to the species of works contemplated to be erected, he had no conception that it was possible, under an expression of this kind, to comprehend the sinking of blocks to choke up the harbor of New York; for he had thought the erection of works was putting up, whilst sinking blocks was putting down. He had, however, a different object in rising. He had understood it to be the intention of this bill not only to authorize the repair of old fortifications, but the erection of new ones; and the bill as it stood antecedent to the gentleman’s amendment, might have been competent to that end. Now, as the gentleman had amended it, it would imply works different from fortifications as he understood. If indeed it were the real object of the gentleman to repair old fortifications only, and not to erect new ones, the bill would now answer his purpose fully. If it were otherwise, he conceived the language was not correct.
Mr.Blountsaid he felt very little solicitude as to the fate of his motion. His intention was to give a greater latitude to the discretion of the President. He would not, however, undertake to dispute with the gentleman from Massachusetts on the precise meaning of words; for he had not spent his early life within the walls of a college, as that gentleman had, but in the field, fighting for the liberties of his country. Under the belief that the wordworksdid include fortifications, he had made his motion for amendment. It was the intention of the committee both to erect new works and to repair old ones. If the gentlemen from New York and Massachusetts were determined to restrain the President from giving that protection to the port of New York which the people of that State should think proper, he was content. He did not wish to waste the time of the House unnecessarily, especially on a subject which required so much expedition.
Mr.Cooksaid he lived in a port in which there was sufficient depth of water for any British man of war, and he thought he should feel as indignant at any proposition for destroying the harbor as the gentleman from New York. He hoped the feelings of other gentlemen in the House would be in unison with his. If they were arrived at such a point of degradation, that, in case of attack, they must retreat to or beyond the mountains, and if instead of defending they must abandon the coast to its fate, they had better adopt this measure, and block up their ports altogether. After such a proposition as this, he should not be surprised at any one which could be made; it appeared to him that the spirit of our forefathers was departing the country. He was alarmed when he heard such a proposition as this, and he hoped there would be sufficient magnanimity in the House to give the amendment a decided negative.
Another member, to wit,Edward St. Loe Livermore, from Massachusetts, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.
The House proceeded to consider the amendments reported yesterday by the Committee of the Whole to the bill, sent from the Senate, entitled “An act to appropriate money for the construction of an additional number of gunboats.”
Mr.Durellsaid, as there appeared to be a considerable diversity of opinion on this gunboat business, and as a number of gentlemen from, the North did not readily fall into the scheme of the Southern gentlemen, and as he was from the North, he would state some reasons why this bill should not pass. He thought, as every gentleman appeared to think, that this was a crisis which called for union and great exertion; the great object was, to arm the nation to meet an event which they would be called to meet ere long. The question was now on one species of this arming, on which there were different opinions.
It appeared that, in addition to fortifications, the precise number of one hundred and eighty-eight gunboats was called for. A question had been asked, why that number was exactly calculated as being necessary; the chairman of the committee, who reported the bill, states that this number was thought necessary by the Executive Department. It was not to the system of gunboats that he had an objection, for he believed that, to a certain extent, they might be useful; but he did not believe that gunboats in connection with fortifications, would attain the end for which they were acknowledged to be proposed. In casting his eye over the documents before him, he perceived that gunboats were assigned to certain situations in the North, where he was confident they could never be of use. He was positive of this fact. Four gunboats were assigned to the port of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He would appeal to gentlemen in the House, acquainted with the situation of that port, whether they seriously believed that four gunboats, or that twenty, would be of any service there? It was impossible that they should; the situation of the port, the strength and rapidity of the tide, were such that they could not be used. The same observation would apply to a number of ports east of that; it was generally conceded that gunboats were not calculated for deep and turbulent waters; the Northern shores were not sand banks, and gentlemen seemed to think these were necessary to allow gunboats to defend even themselves.
He saw that for the ports of Norfolk and NewYork, there were assigned a large number of gunboats. He was inclined to believe that a number of frigates, to the amount of the expense of these gunboats, would be more consonant with the wishes of the people in the mouth of the Hudson, than so many gunboats.
One hundred and twenty-eight gunboats to Norfolk and New York! The expense of sixty-four, one half of this number, would be fully equal to the expense of four forty-four gun frigates; and he was of opinion that these, at one-half the expense, would be considered by the gentlemen from Norfolk and New York, and by the House, as better calculated than gunboats to defend those ports. Mr. D. could see no reason why they should not have their choice in this respect. He, therefore, concluded with moving to strike out “one hundred and eighty-eight gunboats,” and insert “one hundred and twenty-four gunboats, and four forty-four gun frigates.”
Mr.Blountcalled for a division of the question, wishing the first question taken on striking out.
Mr.Gardnerfelt very conscious of the importance of fortifying the various ports and harbors of the United States, and should give the bill his support on its passage; but he had been in hopes yesterday that the amendment proposed by the gentleman from Pennsylvania, would have prevailed. He wished to see the system of gunboats put into operation, and to see the efficiency of that mode of defence properly tested. There appeared to be many different opinions on the subject; and he perceived the House would not be satisfied till the experiment was tried, and their utility known. He was willing that as many gunboats should be employed as was sufficient for defence in those waters where they might be useful; but he did not think they would be efficient in the Northern and Eastern ports of the United States. He should be obliged to gentlemen if they would strike out a part of this number of gunboats, and appropriate the sum applicable to them to another mode of defence. There appeared to be a large majority in favor of the bill, but if they would be so condescending as to fortify the Northern ports in a way most agreeable to the people interested in their defence, he should feel gratified at it. He was in favor of the amendment, though he would rather a large number should be stricken out; and hoped the question on striking out would be carried, whether ships of war were inserted or not. It had been yesterday said, by a gentleman from Virginia, that if a less number were built than that proposed, they would be useless. This argument could have no weight with those who did not think they would afford defence at all; but, for his own part, he should vote for any thing in the shape of defence, till it should be found insufficient by experiment.
Mr.Baconobserved, that some gentleman had undertaken in themselves, to represent the whole Northern part of the Union, and had expressed their wishes that the House would condescend to listen to the united prayers of the representatives from those States. He only rose to say, that he, for one, protested against being considered as joining in that request. He was of opinion that the mode embraced by the bill would better accord with the sentiments of the people of the Northern States, than that which those gentlemen had proposed. He had no intention of making any calculation on the subject, because he did not consider himself qualified to do it; but would barely observe that, were the question fairly tried in the Northern interest, those gentlemen would be found in the negative.
Mr.Crowninshieldsaid he considered the present proposition as much the same with that which was yesterday offered in Committee of the Whole, and to which the committee was decidedly opposed. He trusted the decision of the House to-day would be the same as that of the committee yesterday. He thought his friend from New Hampshire was extremely mistaken in his calculations of the comparative expense of gunboats, and frigates of forty-four guns. It would be seen by the report of the Secretary of the Navy, that the estimates for gunboats would amount to about $5,000; and he thought it would not go beyond it. Taking this for granted, the gentleman’s calculations of expense must fall to the ground. Mr. C. then stated the expense of frigates which had been built, from which it appeared that the expense of building one frigate was fully as much as that of sixty-four gunboats. If they proposed to strike out this number of gunboats in order to build frigates, they must add a sum of one million of dollars to the appropriation.
Mr.Sawyersaid it was not his intention to trouble the House often with his observations; for, being but a young member, he sat there more for the purpose of acquiring information than of giving it; nor should he have risen at this time, had not his duty compelled him to reply to some remarks, and to oppose the amendment offered by the gentleman from New Hampshire, (Mr.Durell.) The gentleman wished the United States to have a fleet; to have four forty-four gun frigates to assist in the defence of New York. For his own part, Mr. S. wished the United States were in such a situation as to enable them to usher into existence a fleet capable of annihilating at one blow the whole naval power of England, which had so long proved a scourge to all nations, and to this nation in particular. Such a consummation was devoutly to be wished; but the attainment of such an object by the United States, was utterly impossible: they had not means wherewith to do it, and an attempt which should fall short of the end, would do the nation more injury than good, by tending to swell the already overgrown naval power of Great Britain. At present, he must say, he was entirely opposed to a Naval Establishment, and differed entirely with the gentleman from Massachusetts, upon the propriety of any such establishmentin the present situation of affairs; he wished to have nothing to do with any establishment unconnected with a system of land defence. There was a time when a Naval Establishment might have been consistent with national policy; when a naval armament, such as could then have been constructed, might have been instrumental, by proper management, in maintaining the balance of naval power in Europe; that time was, when the combined fleets of France, Spain, and Holland, were nearly a match for the British naval force; but that time was now elapsed; that opportunity, which might have been so advantageously seized, was, through an unfortunate prejudice in favor of one nation and against another, suffered to escape unheeded. They now saw the effects of that policy; the fleets of France, Spain, and Holland, were swept from the ocean; the British Navy retained the undisputed possession of every sea, and it would be an extravagant undertaking in the United States to attempt the creation of a naval force calculated to make a serious impression upon Great Britain; they would become the mere shipwrights of Great Britain, who would be ready to receive their ships as fast as they could be launched. Could they erect a navy equal to that which Denmark had possessed? Could they build and equip twenty-four sail of the line at once? If they could do this, experience had fatally shown, that so far from aiding in the defence of this nation, that force would soon be turned against it; England, with a superior force, would soon convert them into a means of offence against this nation. But it would not be in the power of the United States, encumbered as they were by a great national debt, and cramped in their resources by interruptions of their trade, to provide a navy as respectable as that of Denmark was; and surely any smaller force could not be contemplated. Let us then, said he, apply our limited means to a mode of defence on which more reliance may be placed; let us in the first place put our ports and harbors in such a state of defence as will, in a great degree, prevent our feeling the want of a navy. To effect this object, he said, they must have recourse to gunboats. He did not conceive this means of defence to be so trivial as the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr.Durell) seemed to think them; not that they could be relied on as an efficient system of defence by themselves; not that they were to expel the British squadron from our shores, (though it was thought they could effect that object;) but because, in conjunction with land batteries and fortifications, they would ensure some safety of person and property in our seaport towns. By judicious management, by disposition in shoal waters, so as to aid the batteries on shore, they might be the means of preventing our cities from being plundered and burned, and our banks and stores from being rifled of their wealth. In this point of view, he considered them as part of a land defence, totally unconnected with a navy; they were not to go into deep water; the ocean was not their element; they were to remain in stations from which they might afford the greatest assistance to our forts and batteries, and when hard pressed or overpowered by force they could take shelter under them. This, said Mr. S., is the great advantage they have over heavy ships, there being no danger of their capture while we can maintain possession of our forts.
The British have not dared to attack a single French port since, though they had full possession of the channel and every means of attack which their unopposed naval superiority could afford. Though they saw preparing in those ports materials for their destruction, though they saw rising up in them means of offence so much dreaded as to require the utmost vigor of national exertion to provide against them, still did they stand aloof. Had Copenhagen been defended by gunboats distributed so as to act with the batteries, she would not have fallen so easy a prey; in fact, the few gunboats they had did all the execution that was done to the British shipping; for the fleet which remained in the port for its defence had no retreat from the superior force of the enemy, but where they could be pursued by vessels of equal size, while the gunboats ran under the forts and continued to annoy the British ships until those forts were taken by land. And if all the vessels which were captured had been gunboats, how much better would it have been for the Danes; how much less heavy would the loss of a few boats have been than that of so many large ships, so long building and accumulating, and at such an immense expense! But in order to show the inutility of gunboats, as well as fortifications, this House was told the British could succeed against our towns by landing a sufficient number of men below our forts and attacking them by land. This is exactly, Mr. S. said, what he wished to hear; for it was conceding at once that our gunboat and fortification defence would be too much for them to pass, that they would be compelled to give up the idea of carrying the place by water, and thus lose all the great advantages which their boasted irresistible naval power could afford them.
Mr.Cooksaid he could have wished that the different modes of defence should have been united, and decided upon together; but from the disposition of gentlemen who were in favor of the gunboat system, the House appeared to be compelled now to decide on this alone. It was well known that he was not averse to the proposition for constructing a number of gunboats; that he had last session given his vote in favor of them, and was now in favor of increasing the number, believing that in some situations they might be eminently useful; but when he found that so large a sum had been appropriated, almost to the exclusion of any other mode of defence, he deemed it his duty to give his vote in favor of a proposition tending more equally to apportion the modes of defence.
It had been moved to strike out of the bill acertain number of gunboats, and insert a certain number of ships of war. That a navy was necessary for the protection of our commerce was the opinion of President Washington, expressed at a time when our commerce was comparatively small. [Mr. C. here read an extract from an address to Congress from President Washington.] Mr. C. acknowledged that he had not experimental knowledge on this subject; but he appealed to the candor of those gentlemen who advocated this mode of defence, to accord to him that liberality which he would exercise towards them. He meant to impeach the motives of no man. He conceived that every gentleman would act according to the dictates of his conscience, and he claimed their indulgence to do the same.
Were the navy now to be increased to repel aggression from any foreign power, it would be regarded as a proper measure. He was not in favor of a large increase of our Navy; but he conceived it necessary to have a few large ships to drive from their ports scattering ships of an enemy. He thought himself not out of order, since the opinion of the President of the United States on the subject of gunboats had been read, verbally to quote his opinion on this subject. The President was in favor of large ships; he thought it was improper that any single ship should be able to block up a port or harbor of the United States; and that a remedy should be provided. Mr. C. thought that no danger could arise to the liberties of the people from an increase of the Navy; he called upon gentlemen who supported that doctrine to quote a single instance where any nation had lost its liberties from a navy. He did not himself consider an increase of our Navy necessary at the present moment, but it might be necessary at a future time; it would not, therefore, be improper now to provide materials, that they might have them in readiness when wanted. At present their attention should be directed solely to the defence of their cities on the seacoast; but at any future time, when it should be made satisfactorily to appear to this Government that the nations of Europe were disposed to coalesce for the purpose of asserting those rights which were dear to every maritime power, he hoped the United States would be ready and willing to join them in maintaining the freedom of navigation. It has been said, by some people, observed Mr. C., that we ought to lie by on our arms and avert the event of the European contest; let them alone, say they, let Buonaparte fight it out with them. Now this was a doctrine to which Mr. C. could not subscribe. If there was one great power disposed to control and domineer over the ocean, and the United States had great property at stake, why not pay their proportion, their footing as it were? He considered an opposite conduct pusillanimous and unjust. They had more tons of shipping afloat, and were more largely concerned in the freedom of the seas, than any nation on earth, one only excepted; and should they say that they would lie by unconcerned, while the dearest rights of nations were destroyed by any one nation! It must be clear to every one that they should not, and yet instead of increasing their defensive powers where they were assailable and most vulnerable, he was hurt to hear gentlemen propose means of defence for points perfectly unconnected with existing evils, which consisted in the harassing their navigation, and inflicting injuries on their floating commerce.
Mr. C. did not want ships for protection of our cities; he had no fear of their being burnt; he considered them as sufficiently protected by the proposed fortifications and gunboats, but all the money in the Treasury should not be applied to these subjects. The merchants of the United States were more concerned for the defence of their property which they had sent beyond seas than for the burning or sacking of our cities. Some cities, it was true, had been burnt during the Revolutionary War; but it should be recollected that the enemy then carried on a war of extermination, and even invited the savages to burn our towns. The war which was now feared was not a war of the same stamp; it would be merely a war for the right of trade, and not carried on in so sanguinary a manner.
Mr.Fisksaid the gentleman from Massachusetts was opposed to this measure because it would take all the money out of the Treasury. He should show:First, That it was beyond their means; andSecond, That it was not a measure of exigency. Would he be willing to leave our ports and harbors unprotected, and go abroad to protect our commerce? Mr. F. did not think that the merchants of the United States would support that doctrine. If they did, he wished they were out of the United States. The gentleman had told the House that his feelings had been wounded at the deference shown to the statements of the Secretary of War, and a few minutes after, read an extract from an English newspaper, giving an account of a transaction which had taken place between gunboats and English vessels. Mr. F. confessed he was not a little surprised at his preferring the authority of English newspapers to that of the Head of a Department in our own country. A gentleman who did this, might be allowed to indulge in the spirit of prophecy. He had said, if they adopted this measure, they would soon feel the effects of it. Mr. F. wished the gentleman would show how. The gentleman had said, because a few towns were burnt last war, the House seemed to think that the war which was expected would be a war of extermination; but that this was to be a harmless war, a mere war of trade. He would ask that gentleman what was the conduct of Great Britain towards Denmark? Had they spared the town of Copenhagen? He believed not. Would they spare the towns of New York or Norfolk, if it were in their power to destroy them? He thought not. Mr. F. thought the great question now was, What was the most efficient force—what would afford the most complete protection toour ports and harbors? The gentleman had said that they had now no force which could contend with an eighty or ninety gun ship. If that were the case, Mr. F. said, his argument completely recoiled upon himself. They had now eight or ten frigates, and if these could not contend with one eighty or ninety gun ship, they had better stop where they were, and not erect more of such inefficient force. Let us consider the subject for a few moments, said Mr. F. This is not an untried force; it was tried before that gentleman had existence. The instance mentioned by the gentleman from North Carolina, (Mr.Sawyer,) might have shown that this force would be sufficient. It was the opinion of a most experienced naval commander, and whose standing and information entitled him to more than ordinary credit, that he would rather have four gunboats than a forty-four-gun frigate. A frigate could not carry the same metal as a gunboat. If a frigate was dismasted, becalmed, or any accident whatever happened to her, she could not get out of the way. These reasons should have weight on the minds of any gentleman, particularly of one who did not pretend to experimental knowledge on this subject. If the Treasury was as low as it was said to be, they should surely pursue the cheapest means of defence. By adopting the mode of defence by gunboats, in preference to defence by frigates, they would have, at the same expense, a third more in number of guns, besides double the weight of metal. With gunboats there was no loss of time in putting about. Not so with a frigate. She must first discharge one side, and then go about, before she could fire the other. But, gentlemen who were steeled against conviction, and determined, at all events, to have a Navy, would not be influenced by argument or reason. Had not Denmark a Navy? What became of it? It fell into the hands of a superior naval power, and that will be the fate of our Navy if we erect one.
Mr.Thomassaid that the gentleman on his right, his colleague, (Mr.Gardenier,) had told the House that he should vote to build the whole number of gunboats, not because he thought them an efficient defence, but because he considered them feeble machines. This reasoning might be conclusive in the mind of that gentleman, and he did not care what influenced him, since it appeared they should have his vote for the bill.
However, Mr. T. said he merely rose to reply to one remark of that gentleman. He knew that it had been rung through the country, by electioneering gentry, for these number of years, that the formidable navy, so carefully raised by the former Administration, had been sold off by the present one, and the nation left without defence; and that gentleman (Mr. G.) had repeated the same story, that the formidable navy which had been raised with so much care had been sold off, to the eternal disgrace of the nation. Hearing this assertion, Mr. T. thought it his duty, on that floor, to declare that not a single national ship had been ordered to be sold since the present Administration came into power; that not a single vessel had been sold except from orders issued previous to the time that the administration of this Government was taken out of the hands of those coinciding with that gentleman in political sentiment.
The amendment offered by Mr.Durellwas then negatived—ayes 19.
The bill being about to be read a third time this day, its decision was, on motion of Mr.Elliot, postponed till to-morrow.
The bill sent from the Senate, entitled “An act to appropriate money for the construction of an additional number of gunboats,” together with the amendment agreed to yesterday, was read the third time.
Mr.Elliot.—When an humble and uninfluential individual, voluntarily isolating himself from the several great parties that divide, distract, and ruin our devoted and degraded country—our devoted and degraded country—(I repeat the expression, sir, for I know it to be as consonant to the rules of order as I shall prove it to be incontestably true;) when such an individual rises to deliver his sentiments upon an important subject of national concern, it would seem that the singularity of his situation might attract attention, however deficient he may be in the solid powers of argument, or the brilliant tones of eloquence. But these are inauspicious times. These are not themollia tempora fundi—the soft reasons of persuasion—the calm hours of peace. They are times of alarm and denunciation. For myself, peculiar and almost irresistible reasons would impel me to continue silent, not only this day, but for the short remainder of my political existence. But there are periods when silence is almost equivalent to an abandonment of duty. Private afflictions, as inconceivable by others as they are indescribable by myself, were I disposed to describe them, indispose me for political exertion. There are times, however, when even the most refined feelings of the human heart should give place to the sublime energies of the human mind. When imperious duty calls, the latter should be exerted, even if it be only that the former, when the great effort is over, should resume their empire with more exquisite sensibility.
The present is one of those great crises that rarely occur in the annals of nations—it is, indeed, a crisis of most awful moment. Our political day of hope and joy and peace is suddenly overcast with thick and dark clouds. In the language of sacred oriental poetry, it is a day of darkness and gloominess—a day of clouds and thick darkness—as the morning spread upon the mountains.
In casting my eye over the various documents upon the table, my attention is for the momentattracted by one which has been placed upon it this morning—a report from the Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business, upon matters undetermined at the last session. In this I find mention made of several propositions upon the subject of the defence of the nation, which I had the honor then to propose, and which it was not the pleasure of the House then to act upon. Propositions of a similar character, so far as respects the fortification of the ports and harbors, the organization and arming of the militia, and the equipment of the frigates, it is now hinted, will be carried into effect in the course of the present session. I am happy that my doctrines are becoming popular, and that there is some prospect of their adoption. But it is because I fear, and indeed believe, that the present bill is pressed upon us for the purpose of superseding every measure of national defence which would comport with the true interest and the honor of the nation, that I am so decidedly opposed to it, and that I consider the Republic degraded by the substitution of a weak and miserable policy for measures of a manly and magnanimous character, at a crisis which peculiarly requires them.
The principal argument, although this does not seem to be openly avowed, in favor of the present measure, is the supposed predilection of the Executive for this system of defence. Indeed, this is but a new edition, or rather a new volume, of the celebrated proclamation and gunboat system, which, instead of elevating us in the scale of nations, has greatly sunk the national character. The objects in view are to protect the commerce of the Union to a certain extent, and to protect our coasts and seaports. Of course this measure is to constitute a material, if not the principal part of a general system of national defence and protection. The object is proper and patriotic, and it is a subject of deep regret that the means are inefficient. But history and human experience have settled the true character of these machines, and as we have nothing else to hope for, we can expect nothing like an energetic and effectual system.
The Presidentshallrecommend. The voice of the constitution is imperative. It makes it the duty of the Chief Executive Magistrate to take upon himself the responsibility of explicitly recommending to the Legislature such measures as he deems the public welfare to require. In making the inquiry, in what manner has this great and solemn duty been performed at the present moment? the transition is easy to the Message of the President at the commencement of this session. These messages, as public documents, and addressed exclusively to the Legislature, are certainly fair subjects of criticism; and whoever shall be impelled by duty to speak unpleasantly of the present system of administration, will have an abundant source of rich consolation in the reflection, that, when gunboats are the subject of discussion, it is impossible to be out of order. The present system begins and ends with gunboats. In the Message to which allusion has been made, which should have been as a polar star to guide us at this dark season, not a single measure is explicitly and unequivocally recommended. I will read that part of it which relates to the Naval Establishment: