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1 Speech of the Hon. Benjamin W. Leigh, on the Removal of the Deposites, March, 12th, 1834 1834

handle is hein.trials/acfh0001 and id is 1 raw text is: SPEECH OF THE HON. BENJAMIN W. LEIGH, ON THi REMOVAL OF THE DEPOSITES, MAa.n, 12th. 1834. Mr. LEIGH said, he rose to present a memo- rial on the subject which had so long agitated, was still agitating, and would, he feared, but too long continue to distract, this great and lately flourishing country-the Senate would under- stand, of course, that he alluded to the subject of the deposites. It was a memorial from the merchants, manufacturers, mechnics,and other citizens ofthe town of Petersburg, in Virginia; a town always distinguished for its steady ad. her. nee to republican principles, and which, he took upon him to say, had given as many and signal proofs of patriotism and devotion to the interests, the honor, and the happiness of the nation, as any town in the union Its export trade consisted, chiefly, in the two staples of cotton and tobaccoi and the memorialists were perfectly competent to judge of the effects of public measures on their own interests, and those of the country of which their town was the home market. The memorial, said he, is signed by the prin-. cipal, most active, and inlelligent merchatp of* the place, the most respectable artisans, and ,many peasons of other professions. I have not thought it necessary to 'inquire, or to tax my own recollection to ascertain, which of the me- gnorialists were friendly to the present Chief Magistrate, and which of them were opposed to ,his election Io the station he now fill . Indeed, I have been surprised beyond measure, to find such inquiries made and answered upon this floori t. find, that the friends of the administra- lion, upon the presentation of memorials com. .Iraining of its measures, have not scrupled to -object, that the memorialists were hostile to the President, with . view to dcract from the weight of their evidence as to the existence and extent of the public embarrassment and distress, and of their opinions as to the causes of their grievances, and the remedies proper to relieve them; and that gentlemen in the oppo- sition, even the most strenuous and intrepid, either moved by their deep sense of the gene. ral distress.which pervades the community, and willing that relief should be administered upon any terms, or somewhat astounded, perhaps, at the new power which has lately arisen in the State, have yielded an involuntary respect to it, and, in a manner, admitted the principle of the objection, by controverting the fact on which it is founded. Has it come to this pass? Is it to be understood, that there is a substantial prac- tical difference, in the nature and extent of their political rights, between the friends of the President, and his opponents. Is it asserted and acknowledged, that the moral weight and influence of the evidence and opinions of citi- zens of one party, is, in fact, and ought to be, inferior to those of the other? That disappro- bation of the President's conduct, couched in language however respectful, founded on rea- sons however clear and cogent, and the repre- sentations of. grievances from every quarter of the country, the cries of distress and alarm that are resounding through the land, the sugges- tions of the proper remedies, and earnest pet. tions for reliefare not worthy to be regarded as indications of public opinion, unless they come from persons who are, or have been, the friends of the President? - That the only indication of public feeling or opinion, entitled to respect in the halls of Congress, is to be found in those professions of content and boundless confi-. dence that are sent us from the fi-iends of the President? If such a distinction shall be established and acquiesced iii--if it be even countenanced-then, indeed, has a change been already effected in the relation of thd people towards each other, and in the moral feelings of the country, which cannot but end in a total change in our political institu- tions. in the beginning of the reign of George II. there was a party who professed them- selves the King's friends; and never was there in Great Britain, since the famous Cabal in the days of Charles II., a more mischievous and pestilent faction-pernicious to the na- tion-pernicious, esp -cially, to their royal mas- ter, who never knew prosperity till he re- nounced the principle of favoritism. I tru-t, in Heaven, that a system of favoritism, far broader and more comprehensive, cannot be established in this country, and that an at- tempt to do it will not be endured for a mo- ment. These memorialists, for the most part, ar merchants of character and experience in busi- ness; and-other memorials (several from our great cities) have been sent to us by men of the same clasq. I pray the Senate to remember the course of government in all other countres, and particularly in England, under circumstan- ces of general commercial embarassment, or of public distress of any kind. Committees are raised to collect information of facts i men of business, likely from the nature of their occu- pations to possess experience and knowledge of the subject, are called before them, and their opinions taken as to the causes of the mischief, their modus operandi, the precise nature and ex- tent of the evil, and the remedies which the

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