tal and skill, and to advance beyond these will expose us to the danger of introducing ignorance and extravagance into pursuits, the success of which depends on the utmost skill, prudence and industry. I have taken, Mr. President, some pains to obtain correct information as to the present state and future prospects of our manufactures, and I most deeply regret, that gentlemen, who tell us of their languishing condition, had not examined, as I have done, twenty or thirty manufacturing establishments, and beheld the evidences of their prosperity. If the gentlemen had ascertained that some establishments had yielded a clear annual profit of twenty per cent. to their proprietors; that the stock of manufacturing companies is, in some places, fifty or sixty per cent. above par; if they had known that manufactures are advancing with a rapidity unexampled in the history of the world, and that in a single state, manufacturing companies, with a capital of five millions of dollars, were last year incorporated, I must believe they would hesitate in adopting a measure founded on the presumption that our establishments are all "falling into decay." Sir, I may be deceived, but I am thoroughly convinced, that the cotton manufacture is the most flourishing branch of industry in the whole country, and though the woollen, iron and glass have not been equally prosperous, still that they now afford reasonable profits, when conducted with skill, prudence, economy and adequate capital. And it is surely absurd to suppose, that where these are wanting, any bounties can make such pursuits profitable. Sir, I have not, on this subject, relied exclusively on my own judgment or observation: but I have sought information from the best sources, and beg leave now to submit to the senate a few facts and statements in support of the opinion I have ventured to express, and for the correctness of some of which I appeal to my honorable friend from Massachusetts, (Mr. Lloyd.)

[The statements submitted by Mr. Hayne had reference to the flourishing condition of our cotton manu

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factures; that they generally afforded handsome profits; that the losses which had, in some instances, happened, were the result of want of skill, rather than want of protection, and that numerous additional establishments, with large capitals, were about going into operation.]

The danger, then, is not that manufactures will not advance with sufficient rapidity, but that their march may be too rapid for the condition of the country, and their own permanent prosperity. No great interest of any country ever yet grew up in a day; no new branch of industry can become firmly and profitably established, but in a long course of years. Every thing, indeed, great or good, is matured by slow degrees. That which attains a speedy maturity is of small value, and is destined to a brief existence. It is the order of Providence, that powers gradually developed, shall alone attain permanency and perfection. Thus must it be with our national institutions, and national character itself. They can only be formed by time, which is the perfection of all things. "Force nothing," was the maxim taught us by Washington himself. Sir, it is with increased reverence for the character of that great man, that I discover, daily, new proofs of the profound wisdom by which his whole life was adorned. It is a remarkable fact, that our country has never yet been placed in any situation, in which his actions, or his counsels, have not been "a light to our feet and a lamp to our path." On the very question before us, "the Father of his country," (in his legacy to his children,) marks out the true American policy, in language which ought to sink deep into our hearts-" our policy, (he instructs us,) should hold an equal and impartial hand, neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences-consulting the natural course of things, diffusing, by gentle means, the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing."

SPEECH OF MARTIN VAN BUREN,

ON AN

AMENDMENT TO THE RULES OF THE SENATE, PROPOSING TO GIVE THE VICE PRESIDENT THE RIGHT OF CALLING TO ORDER FOR WORDS SPOKEN IN DEBATE;

DELIVERED IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 1828.

MR. PRESIDENT,

I HAVE not been disposed to partake largely in the present debate. I do not believe that any difficulty is likely to arise from leaving the Rules as they have stood from the commencement of the government, and am not at all apprehensive of the undue exercise of the restrictive power now proposed to be conferred on the Vice President. I have, therefore, felt almost indifferent as to the fate of the amendment; but the progress and character of the discussion has greatly increased the interest of the subject. Principles have been advanced, and earnestly supported, against which I feel it to be my duty, at least to protest. Nay, more; such is my repugnance to the doctrines I have heard, so deep is my conviction of the error in which they are founded, that I cannot, without being disloyal to the most sacred of my official duties, refrain from resisting them.

It cannot, I am persuaded, be necessary to say, that in expressing myself thus strongly, it is not my intention to question, much less to assail, the motives of those with whom I differ. I am not in the habit of doing so; and, if I could ever so far forget what is due to my brethren, as well as to myself, the sincere personal respect which I feel for the senator from Louisiana, by whose re

marks I have been induced to continue the debate, would restrain me. I have no doubt, gentlemen honestly entertain the opinions they have advanced, and it is, therefore, their right to sustain them with the spirit and zeal which they have manifested on the present occasion. It is the correctness, not the integrity, of those opinions, that I mean to controvert. It is to carry them out to their legitimate results, and present them in their true and exceptionable character, that I have risen. To do this the more effectually, I will endeavor to strip the subject of all irrelevant matter, to check the discursive character of the debate, and bring the questions before the senate in their natural order and most simple form.

The first of these questions, is the extent of the rights of the Vice President under the rules as they stand. It is one, comparatively speaking, of but little importance. There are but two views in which it can be regarded as at all material. The one relates to the propriety of further legislation on our part; and the other gives it importance only from its bearing upon the correctness of an opinion long since officially expressed by the present presiding officer. I have before remarked upon so much of the subject as relates to the effect of the old rules, and will not now detain the senate by enlarging on that point. It appears to me impossible, considering the phraseology and obvious sense of our rules, more especially when taken in connexion with those of the House of Representatives, that intelligent and unprejudiced minds can differ in opinion. The language is plain; the sense is plain; and from the injurious consequences of a construction imparting this power to the Vice President without appeal, it is also plain, that such cannot have been their original intent. Indeed I do not remember that, in the whole debate, it has been distinctly contended that the right given by the rules to senators to call to order, extends also to the Vice President. Some gentlemen have, it is true, (to use the language of the law,) by way of excluding a

conclusion, imagined that there might be room for question upon the face of the rules; but I am quite confident that it has not been distinctly affirmed that they confer the power in dispute on the Vice President. Upon the other view of the matter, a single word will suffice. Entirely free, as I cannot but be, from personal prejudice on the one hand, and uninfluenced by individual partiality on the other, I feel no interest in the subject, save a desire which I hope is common to all, to see that justice is done to the conduct of a public officer who has discharged his official duties with fidelity and ability. I cannot but think that the warmth of personal friendship and the influence of party excitement, combined, has greatly magnified the importance of the matter in relation to the individual concerned. Surely no public man in this country, or in any other where reason and justice sway the public mind, is required to be infallible, or will be held responsible for more than the honesty of his opinions, and the fidelity with which be sustains them. If he err, occasionally, it is because he is human; and so long as his motives, as in the present case, are above suspicion, he has nothing to fear from public censure. But it appears to me that those who wish a confirmation by the senate of the opinion heretofore expressed by the Vice President, so far as the rules are concerned, cannot desire a more distinct one than will result from the adoption of the amendment under consideration: for where is the man, in this great community, who will, for a moment, suppose that the senate of the United States can spend days, not to say weeks, in gravely debating the propriety of conferring upon the Vice President a power already given by its rules? No one can, I am persuaded, be found capable of such injustice to the body.

I now approach another, and a more important view of the subject. It is the one that has called me up; and for entering upon its consideration I will make no apology. Indeed I should require an apology for