Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, requested to present, in the name of Congress, to Captain Isaac Hull, a gold medal, with suitable emblems and devices; and that the sum of —— thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, to be distributed as prize money to the officers and crew of the United States' frigate the Constitution, of forty-four guns, according to the provisions of the act for the better government of the Navy of the United States; in testimony of the high sense entertained by Congress of the gallantry, good conduct, and services of Captain Hull, the officers, and crew, of the said frigate Constitution, in attacking, vanquishing, and capturing the British frigate the Guerriere, mounting fifty-four carriage guns, thereby exhibiting an example highly honorable to the American character, and instructive to our rising Navy.
Some conversation passed on the proper mode of disposing of this subject, in the course of which
Mr. Seybert suggested the propriety of also giving some distinctive or medals to the crew of the Constitution, who he thought were too generally overlooked in such cases.
Mr. Wright approved the spirit of the resolution, but hoped the other officers would receive swords, and the men suitable rewards; and confidently hoped a gold medal would be voted to the nearest relative of Lieutenant William Bush of the marines, a young gentleman from his district, who fell gallantly fighting in that action, covered with wounds and glory; he, therefore, for that purpose, moved that the resolution be referred to a select committee.
The resolution was eventually ordered to lie on the table till a committee should be appointed to whom it should be referred.
Several other members, to wit: from New Jersey, George C. Maxwell; from Massachusetts, Ezekiel Bacon; from Connecticut, Lewis B. Sturges; and from Pennsylvania, James Milnor, appeared, and took their seats.
George Poindexter, the Delegate from the Mississippi Territory, also appeared, and took his seat.
Several other members, to wit: from Massachusetts, Samuel Taggart; from Connecticut, Benjamin Tallmadge; from New York, Ebenezer Sage, and Thomas R. Gold; from Pennsylvania, Roger Davis; from Delaware, Henry M. Ridgely; and from Virginia, John Taliaferro, appeared, and took their seats.
Encouragement to Privateers.
Mr. Mitchill presented a petition of sundry owners and agents of privateers in the city of New York, praying for a reduction of the duties on prizes and prize goods; that prize property, on condemnation, may be delivered to them to be disposed of and distributed; that the time necessary to procure condemnations may be shortened; that the fees of the officers of prize courts may be limited to a certain sum, and that prize owners and their agents be authorized to order prizes arrived in one port to any other port, at their discretion, at any time before the actual libelling of such prizes.
Exemption of Soldiers from Arrest for Debt.
Mr. Bacon stated that, under the present law, exempting from arrest of privates in the Army of the United States in certain cases of debt, frauds had been, and more extensively might be, committed; inasmuch as a soldier who was tired of the service, by giving his bond for a feigned debt for an amount greater than twenty dollars, could procure himself to be arrested and kept out of service, &c. Mr. B. further illustrated the evasions to which the present law is liable, and concluded by moving the following resolution:
Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs be instructed to inquire into the expediency of providing by law for exempting altogether from liability to arrest, or being taken in execution for debt, of any non-commissioned officer, musician, or private, belonging to the Army of the United States, or to any volunteer corps, when called into service pursuant to to law.
The resolution was agreed to.
Another member, to wit, from Virginia, James Breckenridge, appeared, and took his seat.
Mounted Troops.
Mr. Richard M. Johnson observed that he had draughted a resolution for the consideration of the House, the object of which was to authorize an expedition of mounted volunteers against the several Indian tribes hostile to the United States. He said the people of the United States had the power and the will to break up and to extirpate those hostile savages, to desolate their country, or compel them to surrender at discretion, as the Miamies had done lately when they beheld the strong arm of the Government uplifted and ready to fall upon them heavily. And it was the imperious duty of Congress so to organize this power, and so to direct this will, as to make it effectual and most destructive to the enemy in the line of its operation. Mr. J. said a winter campaign of mounted men well selected, well organized, and well conducted for sixty days, would close an Indian war, which was restrained on their part by no ties of religion, by no rules of morality, by no suggestions of mercy, by no principles of humanity. Sir, said he, you well know that we cannot so guard any part of our extended line of frontier as to prevent entirely the incursions of savages, so long as they have a place of safety or hiding place upon our borders; by reason of which a few desperate savages, well armed with their rifles, tomahawks, and scalping knives, and paid for the scalps of our citizens, may travel in the night, watch their place of assassination undiscovered, and fall upon our infant settlements thus exposed and massacre them without distinction of age or sex, and not leave even an infant to lisp the sad tale of sorrow to the passing stranger. Such has been the fact in many places on our frontier since the battle of Tippecanoe; and such was the melancholy fact near the Ohio river, in Indiana, when upwards of twenty persons were horribly murdered in cold blood, without the opportunity of resistance; the most of these unfortunate victims were women and children, whose heads were roasted by the fire, and in this cruel mode tortured to death, and under circumstances which would blacken and dye with deeper disgrace the most infamous and abandoned set of beings on earth. Since the defeat of Braddock, Mr. J. observed, the conflict with the Indians had always been an unequal one, and the United States had never carried on such a campaign against them as would bring them to their reason. He observed, that a winter campaign of mounted men would place us on an equality in our contest with the Indians; and he pledged himself for the efficacy of such an expedition, if sanctioned and authorized by Congress, and left to the Executive of Kentucky, so far as the forces were taken from that State. On such a campaign they must meet us in battle, or surrender at discretion; they could not avoid our search nor evade our pursuit—the season would furnish certain means of discovery; their strongholds would be broken up; their squaws and children would fall into our hands, and remain sure pledges against savage ferocity and barbarity. Nothing do they so much fear as to have their squaws taken prisoners. Their winter quarters would be discovered and their stock of winter provisions would be destroyed; and once since the Revolution the friend of his country would enjoy the satisfaction of seeing our savage enemies humbled in the dust and solely at our mercy, notwithstanding all the arts of British intrigue to the contrary. On the contrary, we want no additional evidence, no train of reasoning, nor a particular detail of facts, to convince us that any other kind of force, and at any other period, will only give us a partial remedy. Upon any other principle we give the savage foe every advantage. When threatened and pursued by a force sufficient to chastise them, no warriors can be found—they scatter through the woods like the wild beasts of the forest. Send a small party, and they are immediately surrounded and cut off by superior numbers. In fact, sir, they will not meet at their own doors and firesides equal numbers in honorable combat—they must always have some great and decided advantage. In the several attacks made upon Fort Wayne, Fort Harrison, and Bellevue—at which places our officers and soldiers acted with a firmness and gallantry deserving the highest praises of their country—the Indians retreated at the approach of assistance, and could not be found. We witnessed the same scene when our army penetrated their country from Fort Wayne, who burnt their towns and destroyed their crops. In short, sir, late in the spring, in the summer, and in the fall, every thicket, every swamp—nay, every brush-heap surrounded with weeds furnishes a hiding place; and it is in vain to search after Indians at such a time, if they are not disposed to be seen. Mr. J. said, with this imperfect picture before us, which, however, contained undeniable facts, Congress could not reconcile it to its duty not to take such steps as would speedily terminate the war with the savages. Such steps had been taken as to produce much temporary distress among the Pottawatamies and other tribes, and the destruction of their villages and crops would employ many of their warriors in procuring subsistence for their squaws and children, which consequently gave a correspondent relief to our frontier settlements; that a winter campaign well conducted was indispensable to complete the work which was begun with so much zeal, but which could not produce all the benefit that might be expected from a regular authorized expedition; for it would be recollected that the mounted men had gone out suddenly upon the spur of the occasion, without compensation, with a view to relieve the frontiers from the disasters of Hull's humiliating surrender; and in such voluntary associations many men would consider themselves under less obligations than if employed by the Government, although the party with whom he had the honor to act served beyond the time for which they enrolled themselves, and never quitted the service until honorably discharged. Mr. J. observed, if the savages are unmindful of the many acts of benevolence, of justice and friendship exercised towards them by the United States; if British influence, or British gold, or any other consideration, could induce them to continue the savage practice of imbruing their hands alike in the blood of the warrior in the field, and the infant in its mother's arms; if they will be bound by no obligation however sacred; by no treaty, however solemnly made; by no dictate of nature, no matter how self-evident; the United States are absolved from all acts of further forbearance; and we are called upon by every feeling of duty and honor to disarm them of their fury and put them beyond the power of injury. Mr. J. said he had not intended to trouble the House with so many preliminary remarks, but he had seen in his place the Chairman of the committee to whom the resolution was to be referred, and he was anxious that the design and object of the motion should be known, that the committee might act with despatch if it met with their views:
Resolved, That the select committee to whom was referred so much of the President's Message as relates to military affairs, be instructed to inquire into the expediency of authorizing an expedition of mounted volunteers against the Indian tribes hostile to the United States.
The resolution was agreed to nem. con., without debate.
Another member, to wit, from Kentucky, Samuel McKee, appeared and took his seat.
Several other members, to wit: from New York, Thomas B. Cooke; from New Jersey, James Morgan; from Virginia, John Randolph; and from North Carolina, Lemuel Sawyer, appeared, and took their seats.
Several other members, to wit: from Massachusetts, William Reed; from Rhode Island, Elisha R. Potter; from Virginia, Daniel Sheffey; from North Carolina, James Cochran; from South Carolina, Richard Wynn, appeared, and took their seats.
Encouragement to Privateers.
Mr. Bassett, from the committee appointed on that part of the President's Message which relates to the Naval Establishment, reported, in part, a bill in addition to the act concerning letters of marque, prizes, and prize goods; which was read twice, and committed to a Committee of the Whole to-morrow.
The bill is as follows:
A Bill in addition to the act concerning letters of marque, prizes, and prize goods.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all prize property, upon sentence of condemnation, shall, at the request of the owners of the private armed vessel by which the capture shall have been made, or of their agents, be, by the marshal of the district in whose custody the same may be, delivered over to the said owners or their agents, to be by them sold or disposed of at their discretion, and the proceeds thereof distributed by them agreeably to the provisions of law: Provided, That all fees, costs, and charges, arising on the process of condemnation, be first paid, and that the duties accruing on such prize goods, as also two per cent. on the estimated value of such prize property, after deducting all duties, costs, and charges, (which value, as it respects the cargo, shall be ascertained in the same manner as is provided by law for ascertaining the value of goods subject to ad valorem duties; and as it respects the vessel, to be ascertained by appraisers to be appointed in the same manner,) shall be first paid, or secured to be paid, to the collector of the district into which such prize property may be brought for condemnation; which two per cent. shall be in lieu of the two per cent. on the net amount of the prize money reserved by the seventh section of the act to which this act is in addition, and shall be pledged and appropriated to the same fund as is thereby provided for.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That all bonds taken for the security of the two per cent. fund before provided for shall be made payable within sixty days from the time of taking such bonds.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the owners of any private armed vessel or vessels, or their agents, may, at any time before a libel shall be filed against any captured vessel or her cargo, remove the same from any port into which it may be first brought, to any other port in the United States, subject to the same restrictions, and complying with the same regulations, with respect to the payment of duties, which are provided by law in relation to other vessels arriving in port with cargoes subject to duty: Provided, That before such removal the said captured property shall not have been attached at the suit of any adverse claimant, or a claim against the same have been interposed in behalf of the United States.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That wherever the proceeds of any prize property has been, or shall be, deposited with the clerk of any district court, pursuant to the orders of said court, upon condemnation, the same shall, at the request of the owners of the private armed vessel by which the capture shall have been made, or of their agents, be paid over to them, to be by them distributed agreeably to the provisions of law.
Another member, to wit, Josiah Quincy, from Massachusetts, appeared, and took his seat.
Privateer Prize Law.
The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill in addition to the act concerning prizes and prize goods.
Mr. Bassett, as chairman of the committee who reported the bill, explained its provisions, and enforced the necessity of its adoption. He took occasion to advert to the numerous captures made by our private armed vessels, and their utility as a system of annoyance to the enemy. In every case in which they had come in conflict, they had acquitted themselves in a manner that redounded to their credit.
After some further conversation on the details of the bill, the following section was, on motion of Mr. Bacon, substituted for the fourth section of the bill:
"Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That in cases of sale of prize property by the marshal of any district, or wherever the proceeds thereof has been or shall be deposited with the clerk of any district court, pursuant to the orders of said court upon condemnation, the same shall, by the said marshal or clerk respectively, at the request of the owners of the private armed vessel by which the capture shall have been made, or of their agents, be paid over to them, to be by them distributed agreeably to the provisions of law: Provided, That all fees, costs, and charges, arising on condemnation, be first paid, and all duties accruing on such prize property, as also the two per cent. fund accruing on such proceeds, be first paid, or secured to be paid, to the collector of the district into which such prize may be brought for condemnation, and that the marshal and clerk shall be allowed for their services respectively, in selling, receiving, and paying over as aforesaid, a commission of one per cent. and no more, on the net proceeds of such prize property, after deducting the duties, the two per cent. and charges aforesaid: Provided, also, That such commission shall not exceed, upon any property included in one condemnation, the sum of one thousand dollars."
The bill as thus amended was then ordered to be engrossed for a third reading.
Retaliation.
The engrossed bill "vesting the power of retaliation in the President of the United States in certain cases," was read a third time.
A debate of more than an hour took place on the question of its passage, which was finally determined in the negative, by yeas and nays—51 to 61.
Pay of the Army.
The House went into Committee of the Whole on the bill concerning the pay of the Army of the United States, which was read.
Mr. Williams, as chairman of the committee who reported it, rose to explain the provisions of the bill. He said he hoped the consideration of the bill would not involve a discussion of the justice or necessity of the war. War, said he, is now declared; we have thrown ourselves between our country and the enemy; and it becomes us to carry her triumphantly through the war, or be responsible for the disgrace a contrary course would incur. The reason of the introduction of the first provision of the bill, he said, was the palpable fact, that the present pay of the Army, taking into consideration the price of labor throughout the Union, was much below the average rate. The committee, in the investigations of this business, had, with much labor, consulted all sources of information accessible to them, and in no part of the United States did it appear to be conceded by their Representatives, that the fair price of labor was less than nine dollars per month. Even if the price was as low as eight, or say seven dollars, wherefore should the soldier receive less than any other man? This is a subject on which every gentleman could decide by recurring to his own neighborhood, and inquiring, what was there the price of labor. If he could not procure the service of an individual there for less than eight dollars, how can he refuse the soldier that price which I now solicit for him? The ranks are not filled; we know it by too melancholy a proof; and it is our duty to fill them. How shall we best do it? It will not be contended that your population is insufficient; no, sir; the inducement is not adequate. There is no avocation of life, no employment, however hazardous, which fails to be pursued from a want of persons ready to engage in it. No, sir; if you want men to scale the mountains of ice under the Northern pole, or endure the fervid rays of a vertical sun in the hither India, to brave the stormy ocean, or search for mines in the bowels of the earth; only find them adequate compensation, and there are men enough to be found. The compensation for services performed, ought always to be in proportion to the risk incurred. This is a position which cannot be controverted. There is no reason why the ranks of your Army are not filled so forcible, as that you do not give enough to the privates.
Mr. W. then briefly adverted to other provisions of the bill. To the second section he apprehended little objection; it had been found to be necessary, and ample precedent might be found for it. To the third section there might and probably would be some objection. It was founded, he said, on the principle that every man owed to the country which protected him, military service; the same principle, already engrafted in our laws, which obliged the youth of 18 years old to enter into the militia, warranted his retention in the service when he had voluntarily enlisted. The fourth section spoke for itself and needed no explanation.
The second section having been read—
Mr. Wheaton said he conceived this section to involve an infraction of the constitution. Any person who had contracted a debt had certainly given a pledge, not only of his property, but of his body to his creditor. It is the creditor's right to take his body in default of payment, and the creditor was by this section, in the case of those enlisting in the army, completely taken out of his hands. Ample encouragement, Mr. W. said, might be given to enlistments without infringing the constitution. He had no objection to privilege the soldier from arrest after enlistment, but he could not consent to the passage of a law, having an ex post facto operation, which went to exempt him from obligations previously contracted. He therefore moved to strike out the words "before or" from the second section above recited.
Mr. Bacon spoke in support of this provision. It was necessary to guard against fraud. He said, in the village in which he lived, such frauds had been committed, by the creation of fictitious debts, under which a person enlisting had procured himself to be arrested. After this arrest, on giving bail, he was set at large. Whilst going at liberty, his commander had attempted to take him; but a writ of habeas corpus having been taken out, it had been determined by the courts that a man was the property of his bail until the suit was determined. And that determination, Mr. B. said, would never take place so long as the United States had an occasion for the man's services; because, by the same collusion which commenced it, the suit may be continued from term to term of court, until the term of enlistment has expired. He had merely stated facts. He had known an instance of an officer being obliged to move his whole corps over the line to avoid these petty depredations on their ranks; and he would venture to say that the officers would much rather face the enemy in the field, than the host of legal depredators in Massachusetts, on those enlisted for the public service. The principle of this provision was not novel, he said, for it existed already.
The motion to strike out the section was then negatived by a large majority.
The third section was then read.
Mr. Stow rose and said, that the respect he felt for the House, seemed to forbid that he should propose to them any thing not fully matured: but, that at the same time the objections to one section of the bill under consideration, appeared to him so many and so important, that he could not refrain from urging them, though as he feared in somewhat of an irregular and desultory way. In excuse he said, he had supposed the present bill agreeable to the one reported in the Senate, and had not observed the difference till that moment. His objections were to the 3d section, and which he should close by moving that it be stricken out. He arranged his objections principally under three heads: 1st. Its tendency to violate the public morals. 2d. Interference with public economy—and 3d, its violation of the spirit of the Constitution of the United States.
He remarked, that proper instruction and discipline of youth lay at the bottom of all that was valuable in this life, and perhaps of the life to come. That it was of great importance in every Government, but above all that it was infinitely so in ours, where the people were real sovereigns, and where the Government would be ill or well administered, according as the youths were bred in temperance, virtue, and obedience. This section of the bill goes to cut up those qualities by the roots. It says to the uneasy boy in his teens, you may enlist and throw off all parental authority; you may enlist and defraud the parent or master, who has maintained you in your helpless state, of his just reward. The strongest ties of affection and gratitude, you may, by enlisting, dissolve in a moment. Nay, more, we say deliberately and solemnly—we will pay this promoted villain $300 for his iniquity! For such is the amount of the bounty and wages for three years. Who, sir, will be most likely to avail himself of this privilege, or rather of this course? Not the sober, faithful minor, who might be trusted in a camp with some degree of safety, but the fickle, turbulent restless youth, the one of all others who wants the salutary restraint of a parent or guardian. This is the person whom you are about to allow to plunge himself into all the dissipations, into all the seductions, and into all the vices of a camp!
But, sir, said he, it is inhuman, as well as immoral. Humanity calls upon you to take care of and educate the miserable offspring of the poor. Who will take them; who will provide for their infancy, if at the moment they are able to make any remuneration for this humane, this tender care, you offer them $300 to turn ingrate? But, sir, not only the public morals, but the public economy require that you should not enlist minors without the consent of their parents, guardians, or masters. What does public economy require, but that every one should serve the Republic in that capacity in which he can be most useful? And, sir, let me add that patriotism requires the same thing. If the blacksmith or the farmer is most useful in his calling, there is as much patriotism in attending to the anvil and the farm, as to the bayonet and the sword. Men of mature age, by accepting the terms you offer, or not, determine where they can be most useful; but does not every principle of economy forbid that you should go into the private family, the workshops, and the manufactory, regardless of the opinion of the father and superintendent, and seduce the young man from learning some useful and honorable employment, and in lieu thereof, at that tender, at that doubtful period of human life, you plunge him into all the immoralities of a camp, and turn him a vagabond on society. No, sir, true economy requires that children should be well educated, well governed, and faithfully bred to some honest calling. The very principle, notwithstanding all the talk of patriotism, is recognized in the price you offer for soldiers, as well by the former law, as by the present bill. You offered by the former law, five dollars per month, by the present bill eight dollars. That is, you say to the world, that by being a soldier, you render to your country services worth five or eight dollars. Now, sir, for five or eight dollars per month is it prudent, is it economical, to dissolve the all-important relation of governor and governed in respect to youth? To break up your infant manufactories, and to deprive poor children at once of a useful employment, and a home? But, sir, perhaps it will be said that necessity, the safety of the Republic, requires this. When the legions of Britain were upon our shores, when we were struggling for our very existence, the necessity was not then thought sufficiently imperious to warrant such a principle. Can it then be said, that with treble the population, and in an offensive war, necessity requires the dangerous innovation? Certainly not. Again, the law, then and now, allows the soldier to be arrested for a debt amounting to two dollars; and will you say, that the debt in which there can be no deception incurred, for the most necessary of all things, food, clothing, and instruction for infancy, shall be disregarded? I trust, sir, that a principle so unreasonable will never prevail. But, lastly, said Mr. S., I do contend that the clause is contrary to the spirit, if not the letter, of the constitution. That constitution provides that private property shall not be taken without reasonable compensation. The property which a parent has in the services of his son, of a guardian in the services of his ward, and a master in the services of his servant, though differing widely in degree, is as real and oftentimes more important than the farmer has in his personal estates, or the planter in his slave. It also impairs the force of contract, which is strictly interdicted to the States, and a fortiori not to be done to the General Government. For these and for many other reasons which might be added, Mr. S. moved to strike out the third section of the bill.
Mr. Milnor said that if he understood the third section of the bill under consideration, it allows recruiting officers to enlist minors above the age of eighteen years, without regard to their situation as apprentices to tradesmen, or living under the care and guardianship of their parents; and its object was to hold out to young minds a temptation to desert the useful course destined for them by their friends, for the purpose of becoming soldiers. Now, said Mr. M., whatever may be the necessity of war, on some occasions, and however necessary some might think that in which we are now engaged, which was a question he should not now meddle with, he was desirous that its operations should be so conducted, as to do as little injury as possible to our fellow-citizens; and, as the leading principle in the conduct of all politicians should be a regard to the public good, he hoped for a general concurrence in this sentiment; that, for his own part, he wished the war to be felt as little as possible in the families and occupations of the people. We are not, said he, to be organized into a military Government. However necessary some may deem this war, all will desire a short one. Thank God, no Napoleon has yet risen up amongst us to change our free institutions into a military despotism. Encourage, if you please, a military spirit, that we may be ready for the national defence, when necessary; but let it be done in the spirit of the constitution, by means of a well-regulated militia; let your citizens and your farmers surrender their apprentices and children to be trained and instructed in military tactics, at stated times, that, when arrived at the state of manhood, they may be ready for their country's service. But what is here proposed? To go into the workshop of the industrious mechanic, or into a parent's dwelling, and entice away by the lure of money and military glory, the apprentice and the child. No matter what moneys may have been expended in his education, or how great has been parental exertion to advance the future prospects of the child, any recruiting officer, or even a common soldier, profligate in his principles, and inured to vicious habits, is by this bill encouraged to seduce him from his duty.
Mr. Troup said the objections to this provision were lame in their nature; he only wished they were half as sound as they were novel. It was the result of the experience of men older than themselves in military concerns, that this very description of population, between eighteen and twenty-one, constituted the strength and vigor of every war. What was the fact as respected France? So just was this principle in the contemplation of France, that her whole army is made up of these young men; and yet an attempt is made to deter us from using them by a flimsy pretext, that to employ them would be violating the obligations of a contract and the principles of morality. If our feelings and sympathies be suffered to influence us in favor of the individual who voluntarily enlists, the reasons are much stronger in favor of discharging one-half of those already in your ranks, than the description just spoken of. There is scarcely any man over the age of twenty-one years, between whom and other individuals there is not some strong obligatory moral tie, which we ought not to sever if we could conveniently avoid it. Look at the case of a husband deserting his wife and children, or of a man, above twenty-one, deserting his aged parent, dependent on him for subsistence. Are not these cases equally strong? The doctrine of the gentlemen, whether on the score of morality or expediency, will apply to cases above as well as below the age of twenty-one.
Mr. Gold premised, that he did not rise to enter into the general policy of the war; nor could he deny it to be the duty of those who have declared the war, to provide an army to carry it on. But he added, it is better for the army to be augmented by very liberal bounties and wages, than that important principles should be violated and an inroad made upon the great relations and interests of society. Are gentlemen aware how extensive is the province of master and apprentice? How wide-spread the relation in the community? A sensation will be produced which gentlemen seem not to have anticipated. The respective States have, with studious care, legislated upon and regulated the various duties and obligations of masters and apprentices. Under those laws, a clear obligation is created upon the apprentice to serve till of age; and in some States, to compensate for absence or desertion during the stipulated apprenticeship; for a faithful performance, the parent or guardian becomes responsible; and for non-performance, liable for damages to the master. Can the authors of this bill imagine that those solemn obligations contained in indentures of apprenticeship, will dissolve and vanish under the charm of the bill? Can the fundamental principles of the constitution, rendering contracts sacred, be thus uprooted and destroyed? Can this bill deprive the master of his action, secured to him by the laws of the State, against the master or guardian for absence or desertion of the apprentice? Here is a most serious bearing upon the laws of the States, regulating this important relation. But gentlemen allege necessity; the army must be filled up; officers are imposed on by fraudulent minors, who receive the bounty, and then claim a release upon the plea of non-age. In answer, let gentlemen beware how they yield to this fancied plea of necessity. All history attests the danger of yielding essential principles to State necessities; to temporary pressure and impulses; such precedents become infinitely mischievous in society. No fancied benefit can compensate for the evil of such examples. How easy is it to remove much of the complaints by providing that the minor, who shall impose upon the recruiting officer, shall refund the bounty he received before he shall receive his discharge. Such a provision would be just, and not violate general principles.
Mr. Little.—In removing one evil, Mr. Chairman, let us beware that we do not substitute a greater. The object of the section proposed to be stricken out of the bill on your table, and now under consideration, is to fill up the ranks of your army. From every attention I have been able to bestow on this subject, which, permit me to say, I am anxiously desirous, as much so, I trust, as any gentleman in this committee, to see realized, will, if returned in its present shape, in my humble opinion, be productive of much evil, and perhaps of little good. You receive into the army, by voluntary enlistment, that description of our fellow-citizens, at a time of life to them the most interesting and auspicious as respects their future pursuits and welfare. I have always been given to understand that the camp is but illy calculated in those stations which they only can fill in the army, either to improve their understandings or perfect them in such habits as are calculated to acquire a respectable subsistence, or fit them for the domestic duties of their future lives. In the course of nature, they, it may be truly said, constitute the future strength and glory of every country. The laws of this land render every act of theirs illegitimate. Abstract from the consideration of a soldier, for which they are only rendered fit from their corporeal powers, everything with them is premature; if forced into existence, like the flower or fruit unseasonably raised in a hot-bed, wears the external qualities, but, in fragrance and taste, is unnatural and insipid.
Sir, have we not some reason to doubt the constitutionality of this section. In its operation, it evidently will vitiate contracts, which ought always to be held sacred, solemnly and voluntarily entered into by the parent or guardian with the matter of an apprentice, reciprocally beneficial, founded on the most laudable and praiseworthy principles, on the faithful performance of which materially depends the future welfare of the youth, to which I believe may reasonably be added the comforts and good order of society. Do we not know, Mr. Chairman, that, at that period of their lives and servitude, in which you make them liable, if this section is retained, to be drawn from the service of their masters, that then, and only then, are they enabled and become qualified to make some remuneration for the pains and attention paid to their improvement and instruction by the worthy and industrious mechanic or manufacturer; and will you, by this unpropitious act, endanger the future happiness of the former, and withhold that just reward due to the industry of the latter? You annihilate this contract, which ought to be held, if possible, inviolate by the Government. Every principle of justice and sound policy dictates its rigid fulfilment. Are we not aware, sir, of the immense sums now invested and actively employed in the different manufactories distributed over our extensive country? Do we not know that the manual labor of them is conducted principally by such who now are, or will in time, come within the provision of this section of your bill? Have this Government, and the people of this country, no interest in the prosperity of these manufactories? I have been always taught, and for one do religiously believe, on their materials virtually depends the completion of our independence as a nation. Let me entreat you to reflect before you hazard this dangerous experiment, lest, in the adoption of this hitherto novel principle, and in its operation, you may endanger the safety, or, at least, the prosperity of our Republic, by giving its manufactories a vital stab.
Sundry other amendments were proposed in the committee, after the bill was reported to the House, and negatived. The bill was then ordered to be engrossed for a third reading.
Pay of the Army.
An engrossed bill "concerning the pay of the non-commissioned officers, musicians, privates, and others of the Army, and for other purposes," was read the third time.
Mr. Quincy.—Mr. Speaker, I am sensible that I owe an apology for addressing you at so early a period of the session, and so soon after taking my seat, if not to the House at least to my particular constituents. It is well known to them, at least to very many of them, for I have taken no pains to conceal the intention, that I came to this session of Congress with a settled determination to take no part in the deliberation of the House. I had adopted this resolution, not so much from a sense of self-respect, as of public duty. Seven years' experience in the business of this House, has convinced me that from this side of the House all argument is hopeless; that whatever a majority has determined to do, it will do in spite of any moral suggestion, or any illustration made in this quarter. Whether it be from the nature of man, or whether it be from the particular provisions of our constitution, I know not, but the experience of my political life has perfectly convinced me of this fact, that the will of the Cabinet is the law of the land. Under these impressions, I have felt it my duty not to deceive my constituents; and had, therefore, resolved by no act or expression of mine, in any way, to countenance the belief, that any representation I could make on this floor could be useful to them, or that I could serve them any farther than by a silent vote. Even now, sir, it is not my intention to enter into this discussion. I shall present you my thoughts rather by way of protest than of argument. And I shall not trouble myself afterwards with any cavils that may be made; neither by whom, nor in what manner.
I should not have deviated from the resolution of which I have spoken, were it not for what appears to me the atrocity of the principle, and the magnitude of the mischief contained in the provisions of this bill. When I speak of the principle as atrocious, I beg distinctly to be understood as not impeaching the motives of any gentlemen, or representing them as advocating an atrocious principle. I speak only of the manner in which the object presents itself to my moral view.
It is the principle contained in the third section of the bill of which I speak. That section provides, that "every person above the age of eighteen years, who shall be enlisted by any officer, shall be held in the service of the United States during the period of such enlistment; any thing in any act to the contrary notwithstanding." The nature of this provision is apparent, its tendency is not denied. It is to seduce minors of all descriptions, be they wards, apprentices, or children, from the service of their guardians, masters, and parents. On this principle, I rest my objection to the bill. I meddle not with the nature of the war. Nor is it because I am hostile to this war, both in its principle and its conduct, that I at present make any objection to the provisions of the bill. I say nothing against its waste of public money. If eight dollars a month for the private be not enough, take sixteen dollars. If that be not enough take twenty. Economy is not my difficulty. Nor do I think much of that objection of which my honorable friend from Pennsylvania (Mr. Milnor) seemed to think a great deal; the liberation of debtors from their obligations. So far as relates to the present argument, without any objection from me, you may take what temptations you please, and apply them to the ordinary haunts for enlistment—clear the jails—exhaust the brothel—make a desert of the tippling shop—lay what snares you please for overgrown vice, for lunacy, which is of full age, and idiocy out of its time.
But here stop. Touch not private right—regard the sacred ties of guardian and master—corrupt not our youth—listen to the necessities of our mechanics and manufacturers—have compassion for the tears of parents.
In order to give a clear view of my subject, I shall consider it under three aspects—its absurdity—its inequality—its immorality.
In remarking on the absurdity of this principle it is necessary to recur to that part of the Message of the President of the United States at the opening of the present session of Congress, which introduced the objects proposed in this bill to the consideration of the House; and to observe the strange and left-handed conclusions it contains. The paragraph to which I allude is the following:
"With a view to that vigorous prosecution of the war, to which our national faculties are adequate, the attention of Congress will be particularly drawn to the insufficiency of existing provisions for filling up the Military Establishment. Such is the happy condition of our country, arising from the facility of subsistence and the high wages for every species of occupation, that, notwithstanding the augmented inducements provided at the last session, a partial success only has attended the recruiting service. The deficiency has been necessarily supplied during the campaign, by other than regular troops, with all the inconveniences and expense incident to them. The remedy lies in establishing more favorably for the private soldier, the proportion between his recompense and the term of enlistment. And it is a subject which cannot too soon or too seriously be taken into consideration."
Mr. Speaker—What a picture of felicity has the President of the United States here drawn in describing the situation of the yeomanry of this country! Their condition happy—subsistence easy—wages high—full employ. To such favored beings what would be the suggestions of love, truly parental? Surely that so much happiness should not be put at hazard. That innocence should not be tempted to scenes of guilt. That the prospering ploughshare should not be exchanged for the sword. Such would be the lessons of parental love. And such will always be the lessons which the President of the United States will teach in such a state of things, whenever a father of his country is at the head of the nation. Alas! Mr. Speaker, how different is this Message! The burden of the thought is, how to decoy the happy yeomen from home, from peace, and prosperity, to scenes of blood—how to bait the man-trap; what inducements shall be held forth to avarice, which neither virtue nor habit, nor wise influences, can resist. But this is not the whole. Our children are to be seduced from their parents. Apprentices are invited to abandon their masters. A legislative sanction is offered to perfidy and treachery. Bounty and wages to filial disobedience. Such are the moral means by which a war, not of defence or of necessity, but of pride and ambition, should be prosecuted. Fit means to such an end.
The absurdity of this bill consists in this: in supposing these provisions to be the remedy for the evil, of which the President complains. The difficulty is, that men cannot be enlisted. The remedy proposed is, more money—and legislative liberty to corrupt our youth. And how is this proved to be a remedy? Why it has been told us, on the other side of the House, that this is the thing they do in France. That the age between eighteen and twenty-one is the best age to make soldiers. That it is the most favorite age, in Bonaparte's conscription. Well, sir, what then? Are we in France? Is Napoleon our king? Or is he the President of the United States? The style in which this example has been urged on the House, recalls to my recollection very strongly a caricature print which was much circulated in the early period of our Revolutionary war. The picture represented America as a hale youth, about eighteen or twenty-one, with a huge purse in his pocket. Lord North, with a pistol at his breast, was saying "deliver your money." George the Third, pointing at the young man, and, speaking to Lord North, said, "I give you that man's money for my use." Behind the whole group was a Frenchman capering, rubbing his hands for joy, and exclaiming, "Be Gar! just so in France!" Now, Mr. Speaker, I have no manner of doubt, that the day that this act passes, and the whole class of our Northern youth is made subject to the bribes of your recruiting officers, that there will be thousands of Frenchmen in these United States, rubbing their hands for joy, and exclaiming, "Be Gar! just so in France." Sir, the great mistake of this whole project lies in this: that French maxims are applied to American States. Now it ought never to be lost sight of by the legislators of this country, that the people of it are not and never can be Frenchmen—and, on the contrary, that they are, and can never be any thing else than freemen.
The true source of the absurdity of this bill, is a mistake in the nature of the evil. The President of the United States tells us that the Administration have not sufficient men for their armies. The reason is, he adds, the want of pecuniary motive. In this lies the error. It is not pecuniary motive that is wanting to fill your armies. It is moral motive in which you are deficient. Sir, whatever difference of opinion may exist among the happy and wise yeomanry of New England, in relation to the principle and necessity of this war, there is very little, or at least much less diversity of sentiment, concerning the invasion of Canada, as a means of prosecuting it. They do not want Canada as an object of ambition; they do not want it as an object of plunder. They see no imaginable connection between the conquest of that province and the attainment of those commercial rights which were the pretended objects of the war. On the contrary, they see, and very plainly too, that if our Cabinet be gratified in the object of its ambition, and Canada become a conquered province, that an apology is immediately given for extending and maintaining in that country a large military force; under pretence of preserving the conquered territories—really, with a view to overawe adjoining States. With this view of that project the yeomanry of New England want that moral motive which will alone, in that country, fill your armies with men worthy enlisting. They have no desire to be the tools of the ambition of any man, or any set of men. Schemes and conquest have no charms for them.
Abandon your projects of invasion; throw your shield over the seaboard and the frontier; awe into silence the Indians in your territory; fortify your cities; take the shackles from your commerce; give us ships and seamen; and show the people of that country a wise object of warfare; and there will be no want of men, money, or spirit.
I proceed to my second objection, which was to the inequality of the operation of the provisions of this bill. It is never to be forgotten, in the conduct of the Government of these United States, that it is a political association of independent sovereignties, greatly differing in respect of wealth, resource, enterprise, extent of territory, and preparation of arms. It ought, also, never to be forgotten, that the proportion of physical force which nature has given does not lie within precisely the same line of division with the proportion of political influence which the constitution has provided. Now, sir, wise men, conducting a political association thus constructed, ought always to have mainly in view, not to disgust any of the great sections of the country, either in regard to their interests, their habits, or their prejudices. Particularly ought they to be cautious not to burden any of the great sections in a way peculiarly odious to them, and in which the residue of the States cannot be partakers, or at least only in a very small degree. I think this principle of political action is incontrovertible. Now, sir, of all the distinctions which exist in these United States, that which results from the character of the labor in different parts of the country, is the most obvious and critical. In the Southern States, all the laborious industry of the country is conducted by slaves; in the Northern States it is conducted by the yeomanry, their apprentices, or children. The truth is, that the only real property, in the labor of others, which exists in the Northern States, is that which is possessed in that of minors—the very class of which, at its most valuable period, this law proposes to divest them. The planter of the South can look round upon his fifty, his hundred, and his thousand of human beings, and say, These are my property. The farmer of the North has only one or two ewe lambs—his children—of which he can say, and say with pride, like the Roman matron, "These are my ornaments." Yet these, this bill proposes to take from him, or (what is the same thing) proposes to corrupt them—to bribe them out of his service; and that, too, at the very age when the desire of freedom is the most active, and the splendor of false glory the most enticing. Yet, your slaves are safe; there is no project for their manumission in the bill. The husbandman of the North, the mechanic, the manufacturer, shall have the property he holds in the minors subject to him put to hazard. Your property in the labor of others is safe. Where is the justice—where the equality—of such a provision?
It is very well known in our country—indeed it is obvious, from the very nature of the thing—that the exact period of life at which the temptation of this law begins to operate upon the minor, is the moment when his services begin to be the most useful to the parent or master. Until the age of 18, the boy has hardly paid to the parent or master the cost of his clothing and education. Between the age of 18 and 20, is just the period of profit to the father and master. It is also the period at which, from the approximation towards manhood, service begins to grow irksome, and the desire of liberty powerful. The passions are then, also, in their most ungoverned sway; and the judgment, not yet ripe, can easily be infatuated and corrupted by the vain dreams of military glory. At this period, your law appears with its instruments of seduction. It offers freedom to the minor's desire of liberty—plunder to his avarice—glory to his weakness. In short, it offers bounty and wages for disobedience to his natural or social obligations. This is a true view of this law. That it will have that full operation which its advocates hope and expect—that it will fill your armies with runaways from their masters and fathers—I do not believe; but, that it will have a very great operation, I know. The temptation to some of our youth will be irresistible. With my consent, they shall never be exposed to it.
Mr. Speaker, I hope what I am now about to say will not be construed into a threat. It is not uttered in that spirit; but only to evince the strength of my convictions concerning the effect of the provisions of this law on the hopes of New England, particularly of Massachusetts. But pass it, and if the Legislatures of the injured States do not come down upon your recruiting officers with the old laws against kidnapping and man-stealing, they are false to themselves, their posterity, and their country.
Mr. Fisk expressed the astonishment he felt at the observation which had fallen from the gentleman last up. He certainly agreed with the gentleman in one thing: that those who are in pursuit of a favorite object frequently overleap the bounds of reason and decorum in support of it. Now, it had been a favorite object with that gentleman to shield the British Government from blame; and it was an object which he certainly pursued with the greatest ardor and anxiety. In the address of that gentleman's political friends, in Congress, to their constituents, subsequent to the declaration of war, it had been deceptively said, that a disposition existed in the British Government to make an arrangement on the subject of impressment. Now, sir, that the ground is taken from under them, we hear that the object of the war is an unrighteous one, and we are guilty of waging it. Is it indeed guilty to defend our country? said Mr. F. The gentleman would overawe the Indians. Sir, the most innocent party in the war against us is the savage himself. How comes he in the ranks against us, with his tomahawk and scalping knife? Why is he impelled to shed our blood? Why has the gentleman shielded British instigation of their outrages?
Again, sir, has the gentleman no feeling for the sufferings, no ear for the groans of our suffering seamen? Has he no sympathy for those relations of life, from which the seamen is torn away, and for that moral sentiment which is violated in that outrage—and are we guilty because we seek to shield our citizens from it? Are we guilty because we resist the British scalping knife? Recall the year '98 to your recollection, sir, and the pompous display of energy at that day, and the armies raised—to fight whom?—a few miserable Frenchmen whom they could catch at sea. War was then a mere amusement. Why, that we are now at war with the nation who has been seizing our property, capturing our citizens, and carrying them into slavery—why are our means for carrying on war to be limited?
As to the provision of this bill so much objected to, was it esteemed such a violation of all right and principle in the commencement of the Revolution to take children of sixteen years of age from their parents? That was a period when the youth of the country were invited to the field. I was one who accepted the invitation, and I have never regretted it. But, says the gentleman, will you take the child from the parent? Sir, which excites the most tears—a child leaving his parent to defend his country, or a parent torn from his family and his country to fight for a foreign power? The truth is, that most of those who object to this bill would destroy all the means of carrying on the war, if they could. It was not thought immoral in the war of the Revolution to take youths of this age, nor were they the least efficient part of our army.
Mr. D. R. Williams said, if it was possible for him to keep down those feelings of indignation which pressed upon his mind, in what he had now to offer, he would speak with due respect to the orders of the House, and not infringe its privileges. He wished, indeed, he had not occasion to speak; but, sir, said he, it is my misfortune to be the Chairman of the Military Committee, more, Mr. Speaker, by your partiality than by any merit of mine. I am compelled to rise. I have been stigmatized by the gentleman (Mr. Quincy) as the introducer into this House of an atrocious principle. If such language comports with our rules of order, I must submit, seeing it is uttered where he is protected; but, sir, I must pronounce it a libel on myself, and throw it back on him who uttered it, as a foul, atrocious libel on the committee. Sir, I came here not disposed to use such language; nothing but extreme injury should extort it from me. I wish that the gentleman had kept the resolve he informed us he had formed; as he could not do so, I would that he had been good enough to spare me from the acrimony of his remarks. Atrocity! The advocate of an atrocious principle! Let the gentleman recur to those who originated this principle; let him go back to the day of the Revolution, and damn the memory of the patriots of those times, the fruit of whose labors he so ill deserves to enjoy. The provisions of those days authorized the enlistment of all over the age of sixteen years. Nor does the statement which the gentleman from New York made alter the case, for if there be an increase of population since the Revolution, there appears to be a correspondent deterioration of patriotism. The gentleman from Massachusetts admits that a necessity may exist to justify the course proposed by the bill. Well, sir, was there ever a crisis calling on a people for vigorous exertions more awful than that which impends over us now? Now, when a vile spirit of party has gone abroad and distracted the Union? Now, that the State which the gentleman represents is almost in arms against us? And, in such a state of things are we to be told that we are espousing an atrocious principle, because we are seeking for the means to defend our country? The will of the President is the law of the land, says the gentleman. How can he expect his arguments to be attended to, when the first word he utters after taking his seat is to insult and abuse every one opposed to him in opinion. I beg your pardon, Mr. Speaker, I ask that of the House, for the language I am compelled to use; but so long as I am a man, so help me God, when I am told I am actuated by an atrocious principle, I will throw it back in the teeth of the assertor as an atrocious falsehood. Look back on the principle adopted by the friends of that gentleman—I wish I could say who were his friends—I do not call the honest federalist, who is willing to support his country's rights, his friend—even in England, the nation from which he talks of receiving his religion and morality, and I might add, his ideas of our rights—even in that country they do not prevent enlistment of minors—that is, they are not discharged on the ground of minority. I have said before, sir, that we had examples in our own Government, drawn not to be sure from the purest times, but which more than covered the whole case. A law was passed in 1798 which authorized the enlistment not only, of minors but every description of persons whom the President of the United States thought proper to have enlisted—which authorized him to send his recruiting sergeants into every family and take those who suited him best. This was the principle of his friends. Does the gentleman say that it was atrocious in 1798 to defend ourselves against the French? But it has become so now, seeing the defence we seek is against the English. The gentleman has said we act on an absurd principle; that we have mistaken the means of carrying on the war to effect: we want the moral means. By this I presume he would be understood that the people are opposed to the war, particularly to our land operations. There seems then to be no moral objection to the war on the ocean. And, sir, if it be not immoral to support the war on the ocean, on what possible principle can it be immoral, in the same cause, to support it on the land? The war on both elements is for the same object; not as the gentleman says, to rob and plunder in Canada, but, according to the motto of the gallant Captain Porter, for "free trade and sailors' rights."
Mr. Pitkin remarked that the power given to a recruiting officer to enlist minors was a new principle. It had not been acted upon before, or since the Revolution—this is a new mode of raising an army; were gentlemen prepared to adopt this new principle? Although by the resolves of the Congress of 1776, minors could be enlisted, yet apprentices were exempted—and if any were enlisted, yet, on proper application, they were discharged, unless it could be shown the enlistment was with the consent of their masters or guardians. By the law of '98, the President certainly could direct relative to the age and size of a recruit—yet to whom did he apply? Not to apprentices—not to wards—and then if an officer enlisted an apprentice without the consent of his master, he could be taken away from him by the writ of habeas corpus and the officer held liable for damages. The eleventh section of the law for raising an additional military force contained a similar provision, and it was also necessary the consent of the master or guardian should be in writing.
Mr. P. did not intend to meddle at all with the policy of war—he should confine himself to the consideration of the most important principle contained in the third section of the bill. The effect of this bill goes to infringe all the State laws. They all provide for the relations which exist between a master and his apprentice—a guardian and his ward; if the apprentice runs away he can be procured and brought back; and some of the States provide, that when the apprentice comes again into the possession of his master, that he shall serve not only the time lost, but an extra time, to remunerate his master by these services for the losses he has sustained. If you take away his apprentice you deprive him of his property—this is a loss to the master, or he must recover where the services are due; that is, of the parent or guardian, who are one of the contracting parties to the indentures—and where is the remedy? Will not the officer be also liable to the State laws? Does not the constitution say, no laws shall be passed abrogating contracts? This bill will in its operation sanction the violation of contracts, or it means nothing—it sanctions the right to take away the property of guardians, parents or masters, without providing any compensation for the same. I repeat, you are introducing a new principle in the mode of administering Government. The pressure is also beyond comparison unequal on the Northern States. Do gentlemen plead the necessity of the case? Does a necessity exist superior to the laws? Are we to understand that the salus populi shall rule without control? If not, then what is meant by this grant to take the property of your constituents, and leave them no remedy for the injury? The honorable gentleman from South Carolina has referred to the practice of other nations. Great Britain herself never incorporated apprentices into her armies.
Mr. Williams admitted that apprentices were exempt—but minors were not.
Mr. Pitkin agreed but even when minors are enlisted without the consent of their guardians or masters, they can be released by the writ of habeas corpus. I believe that, in 1756, Great Britain passed an act which was designed to extend to only the colonies; it allowed indented servants to be enlisted into the army—but this act made provision for the master, if the compensation was claimed within so many months after enlistment, and the necessary facts were proved before any two justices of the peace. Whether this act was ever carried into effect I do not know—but I do know that compensation was provided for the property taken from the master in the person of, his servant.
Mr. Troup.—If a stranger in the gallery had listened to the member from Massachusetts, he would have supposed that the provision of the bill against which the gentleman's anathemas were most vehemently levelled, authorized the recruiting sergeant to enter the house of the citizen, drag from it the young man, and transport him, loaded with chains, (as is said to be the practice of one nation of Europe,) to the armies. Who would have supposed that the provisions merely authorized the recruiting sergeant to accept the voluntary service of the young man, between eighteen and twenty-one? The service due to the country, prior in point of time, paramount in obligation, must yield, says the gentleman, to the service due to the master, the parent, or the guardian. If, sir, in the days of Rome's greatness, if in the proud days of Grecian glory, the man could have been found base and hardy enough to withhold the young men from the public service, to turn them from the path of honor, or to restrain them from the field of fame, he would have been hurled from the Tarpeian Rock or consigned to the Cave of Trophonius. The young man is preferred here, not because he is preferred in France, but because his physical constitution and his moral temperament peculiarly qualify him for the arduous duties of the field and camp; bodily vigor and activity, ardor, enterprise, impetuosity; without family, and therefore without the cares which family involve. No wife, no helpless children. Without care, but for his country. Without fear, but for her dishonor. He is most eminently qualified for the duties of the camp and the field; all experience has proved it.
Mr. Macon said it appeared the House was now in a situation in which it had frequently been heretofore; that is, they take up a very small subject and make a very great one of it. The only question for discussion appeared to him to be, whether or not they would enlist into the Army young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one. He was very sorry that, at this early period of the session, a discussion had been introduced into the House, which had at all times better be let alone, that of foreign influence. He did not mean to discuss it; but, if gentlemen were anxious for it, he was perfectly willing to set aside a day for the consideration of the subject, and go about it methodically. He regretted very much that the feature to which he had alluded had been inserted in the bill; because he had been in hopes that, on the question of raising the pay of the Army, they would, one and all, have manifested a disposition to support the rights of the country. In the hope that they would yet come to an agreement on the subject; that they could give some vote of unanimity in relation to the war, he should move for a recommitment of the bill, with a view to amend it by striking out the third section. It appeared to him that, until a man had acquired political rights, he ought not to be called on to defend his country. The gentleman from South Carolina says the principle of this section already exists in our militia laws. I admit it; and hence, I have always, when our militia laws have been under consideration, moved to strike out "eighteen" and insert "twenty-one." I hope, if we do not take recruits under twenty-one, we will alter the militia laws also, and let the country rely for its defence on those who manage its concerns. He hoped the House would consent to recommit the bill, and, in some one vote, show something like unanimity.
Mr. Randolph rose to speak at the same moment with Mr. Macon, but, being first seen by the Speaker, obtained the floor.
Mr. R. said that he was extremely happy, as he did not notice his friend from North Carolina, at the time of his rising—in which case he should certainly have given way to him according to custom—that he had caught the Speaker's eye first. I was about to rise, said Mr. R., for the purpose of making a similar motion; and there are considerations on which it is unnecessary for me to dwell, and towards which I will not even hint, that render it at least as agreeable to me that the motion for recommitment should come from that respectable and weighty quarter, rather than from myself. I shall vote for it upon the same grounds which would have induced me ultimately to vote against the bill; because it contains provisions, I might say principles, unsusceptible of modification, and, in my judgment, hostile to all those principles which I have hitherto entertained, and to which it is impossible for me to give the sanction of my support. I shall not vote against the bill, for some of the reasons urged by the gentleman from Massachusetts on my right, (Mr. Quincy,) with more of eloquence than temperance, and answered in a style not dissimilar by my worthy friend on my left, (Mr. Williams.) They both reminded me of a stroke of perhaps the only comic poet this country has produced: