Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/595

 CALHOTJN 589 presented ; no more power over it in the Dis- trict of Columbia than in the states. The sen- ate, however, decided to receive the petitions and then to reject their prayer. On this latter proposition he refused to vote. The victory of San Jacinto having introduced into congress the question of recognizing the independence of Texas, Oalhoun declared himself not only in favor of that, but of the simultaneous reception of Texas into the Union. On the question of the admission of Michigan, he denied the pow- er of the states to confer on aliens the right of voting, and denounced as revolutionary the action of the people of Michigan in forming for themselves a state constitution without waiting for the consent of congress. He op- posed Mr. Benton's resolution to expunge from the journal of the senate the resolution censuring President Jackson for removing the deposits from the United States bank, and voted against the confirmation of Mr. Taney as chief justice of the United States. The great accumulation of public money in the de- posit banks had led to extensive purchases of public land by means of money borrowed from those banks, which purchases by increas- ing the public money on deposit led to new loans and new purchases. The president, just after the close of the late session of congress, had attempted to check this speculation by issuing a circular order to the land offices to receive nothing but gold and silver in payment for public lands. Oalhoun denounced this cir- cular as illegal and unconstitutional. Another administration measure was a bill to restrict the sale of the lands to actual settlers in limited quantities. Oalhoun opposed this bill as really intended for the benefit of the speculators who had already overloaded themselves with lands, and whose interest it therefore was to restrict further purchases. In the course of his speech he charged that high officers of government and persons closely connected with the president had used these depositories as instruments of speculation in the public lands. President Jack- son addressed a letter to Calhoun calling upon him either to retract or to bring his charge before the house of representatives as the basis of an impeachment. Oalhoun read this letter in the senate, and spoke of it in very severe terms as a breach of privilege and an attempt to intimi- date, and proceeded to repeat what he had said, that many in high places were among the speculators in public lands, and that even an individual connected with the president him- self (one of his nephews, whose name he now gave) was a large speculator. lie soon after brought forward a plan for the cession of all the public lands to the states in which they lay, to be sold by them at graduated prices extending over a term of 35 years, the states to bear the expenses, and to pay over to the general government a third of their receipts. This proposition received only six votes. Cal- houn renewed at this session his attack upon anti-slavery petitions, insisting that they must be rejected, and that the abolitionists must be silenced, and that not by letting them alone, but by prompt and efficient measures, or the Union could not continue. He refused to ad- mit even by implication that the existing rela- tions between the two races in the slaveholding states was an evil ; not only was it a good mor- ally and economically, but it formed the most solid and durable foundation on which to rear free political institutions. Before the next ses- sion of congress a great financial crisis occurred, which Calhoun had foretold as a consequence of the monetary policy pursued during Jack- son's second term. Shortly after Mr. Van Buren's inauguration all the banks stopped specie payment. At the extra session which commenced in September, President Van Bu- ren recommended the policy of discontinuing the use of banks as the fiscal agents of the gov- ernment. He proposed the custody of the public money by officers specially appointed for that purpose, and the exclusive use of coin on the part of the government. Calhoun, separa- ting from the whigs, with whom he had acted in the struggle on the bank question, gave en- ergetic support to this new system of policy. He did the same at the ensuing regular session. This created strong feelings of personal resent- ment on the part of his late allies, who in the close division of parties could ill spare his vote. Mr. Clay, in replying to Calhonn's speech on the independent treasury bill, not only taunted him with desertion, but made his whole politi- cal career the subject of one of those invectives in which he so greatly excelled. Calhoun replied (March 11, 1838) ; Clay answered on the spot, and Calhoun rejoined. This contest abounded with exemplifications of the different kinds of oratory of which each was master : oa the one side declamation, vehement invective, wit, humor, and biting sarcasm ; on the other, clear statement, close reasoning, and keen re- tort. These speeches, apart from their rhe- torical merits, are of high historical value, from the light they throw upon the secret history of the compromise of 1833. Calhoun laid great stress upon his, as being the vindication of his public life. In one of his replies to Clay he declared that he rested his public character upon it, and desired it to be read by all who would do him justice. He did not confine him- self to defending, but retorted blow for blow. Some sharp passages also occurred between him and Mr. Webster. Previous to this debate he had been involved in another, in which lie had almost the whole senate upon him. It was the policy of both political par- ties to keep the slavery question out of con- gress, as a subject upon which it was very difficult to speak or act without offending either the North or the South. With this in- tent both houses had adopted rules, the result of which was that all petitions and memorials on that subject were at once laid upon the ta- ble, without being read or debated. The north- ern whigs had indeed voted against this, con-