tem itself were made incidentally through the argument. His convictions in regard to it were so intense that instead of reasoning against it he fiercely denounced it. The speech is one of the best specimens of his skill as a debater; but considered as a permanent contribution to the subject of patronage, it is open to the same criticism as that which Calhoun's report compels. It was delivered toward the close of the debate. The subject was not complex or many-sided, and it had been thoroughly canvassed. Yet Clay's speech was fresh and graphic. One of the most significant marks of his genius was the ease and facility with which he lifted out of the commonplace whatever engaged his attention. The bill reached the House too late for action upon it, even had there been a majority in its favor, which is doubtful. Many years passed before this reform was again attempted.

CHAPTER VII

Distribution of the Surplus-The French Spoliations-The Slavery Question-The Abolition Petitions and Incendiary Publications-Admission of Arkansas and Michigan into the Union-Texas-Madison's Death and Character-The Colonization Society-Clay and Garrison-Taney Becomes Chief Justice-The Political Situation-The Election of 1836 -Politico-Finance-Jackson's Physical and Mental Traits-Efforts for Further Distribution-The Financial Condition of the Country-The Mania for Speculation-The Specie Circular

THE first session of the Twenty-fourth Congress opened December 7. On the next day Clay made his appearance, having passed the recess at Ashland. He was again elected Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations. The post was still especially important, as the difficulty with France had not yet been settled. He had been in Washington but a few days when he received information of the death of his only surviving daughter, Anne, the wife of James Erwin, a gentleman of high standing and character, residing at New Orleans. She was Clay's favorite child. Her letters to him, published in his Correspondence, indicate that she possessed refined intelligence and a most amiable disposition. Her death affected Clay more keenly throughout his life than any other of his numerous domestic bereavements. On reading the letter conveying the sad tidings he fainted. For several days he did not leave his apartments.

Upon his return to the Senate, December 29, he again introduced his familiar bill to distribute the proceeds of the public lands. He delivered a speech on the subject, briefly

presenting in new form the old arguments in favor of the measure. He closed the speech with the following passage, unique on such an occasion:

"I confess I feel anxious for the fate of this measure, less on account of any agency I have had in proposing it, as I hope and believe, than from a firm, sincere, and thorough conviction that no one measure ever presented to the councils of the nation was fraught with so much unmixed good and could exert such powerful and enduring influence in the preservation of the Union itself. If I can be instrumental in any degree in the adoption of it I shall enjoy in that retirement into which I hope shortly to enter a heart-feeling satisfaction and a lasting consolation. I shall carry there no regrets, no complaints, no reproaches on my own account. When I look back upon my humble origin, left an orphan too young to have been conscious of a father's smiles and caresses, with a widowed mother surrounded by a numerous offspring in the midst of embarrassments, without a regular education, without fortune, without friends, without patrons, I have reason to be satisfied with my public career. I ought to be thankful for the high places and honors to which I have been called by the favor and partiality of my countrymen, and I am thankful and grateful. And I shall take with me the pleasing consciousness that in whatever station. I have been placed I have earnestly and honestly labored to justify their confidence by a faithful, fearless, and zealous discharge of my public duties."

The bill went in due course to the Committee on Public Lands, and was reported a month later. Debate upon it began in March and continued fitfully until May 4, when it was passed by the Senate. In the House, after considerable discussion, it was laid on the table. The effort, however, to

CH. VII.]

THE "PET BANKS" SYSTEM

263

effect some sort of distribution did not end here. Clay's plan failed, partly because the principle of it was bad, but chiefly because it was his. Yet something had to be done. The public debt was paid. The revenues of the government from all sources continued to be much in excess of its needs, and were increasing. The situation was embarrassing. The recent adjustment of the tariff by the Compromise produced no reduction of the customs revenue,' and the Whigs prevented a reduction of the receipts from the sales of the public lands. One proximate cause of the peculiar condition of affairs was undoubtedly the vicious policy of depositing the surplus in the "pet banks." This policy operated inequitably among the different sections of the country, and, favoring the West, it promoted an abnormal speculation in the public lands. From a preceding annual average of $2,500,000, the receipts from the land sales had within three years risen to nearly ten times that amount. This mania for speculation, however, was not confined to the public lands, but spread rapidly to everything that could be made a medium for speculation.' It was a distemper of the public mind, engendered by several causes and destined to produce speedily the most severe and wide-spread havoc the country had ever experienced. In short, all the chief evils of the prevailing public policy, for which both parties were about equally responsible, had conspired to create another more serious and alarming.

The surplus had become so large as to be viewed with deep anxiety, not less by the opposition than by the ad

On the contrary, it increased. In 1834 it was $16,200,000; in 1835, $19,400,000; and in 1836, $26,400,000. June 1, 1886, the surplus amounted to $41,500,000.

Diary of Philip Hone, vol. i. pp. 173, 204.

ministration; for not only were the Whigs influenced by the bad economic policy of the deposit system, but by the powerful political leverage it placed in the hands of the administration. Its harmful effects were becoming daily more apparent. Under these circumstances some mode of disposing of the surplus was a peremptory necessity — it had to be either expended or distributed. Various schemes were proposed. Calhoun was for a Constitutional amendment authorizing the distribution of the surplus among the States; Benton, for expending it in fortification and other means of national defence; Wright, for investing it in State bonds; Grundy, for purchasing from the railroads perpetually free transportation of the mails and war munitions. But none of these propositions gained much support. It was, of course, known that Clay's bill would fail in the House: the administration was pledged against it. Yet no other measure for distribution was reported until a few days before Clay's bill was tabled.

A bill to regulate the deposits had been reported by the Finance Committee. The propriety of such a measure was undeniable, and there was comparatively little difficulty in devising a bill satisfactory to all. Calhoun had in the mean time overcome his Constitutional scruples, and proposed an amendment to the deposit bill to direct a division of the surplus, beyond five million dollars, among the States, in proportion to their population. This amendment was at length adopted by the Finance Committee, largely through the influence of Webster. After some discussion the ratio of distribution was changed to that of the representation of the States in Congress. In this form the bill went to the House. It there met with strenuous opposition. While the provisions of the bill relating to the de