4. That the protecting system has been adopted by an unrelenting and overbearing majority, and is not to be mitigated, however oppressive it may prove. Fears excited on this head are equally groundless, should a supply of any article fail of being produced at home on as good terms as from abroad, after a fair experiment, the south may rest assured it will be taken out of the tariff; and they need not rely on the charity or sympathies of their cold and heartless brethren of the north for this effect. In relation to any article of manufacture that can be named, nine tenths of the people of both sections are interested as consumers, and not as producers; it is impossible, therefore, that it should retain its place in the tariff, after a fair experiment which has proved unsuccessful. That there is a determination to make a thorough trial of the protecting system, which has been adopted and is now in operation in all other nations, and which has conducted them to wealth and greatness, cannot be doubted. The excitement bottomed upon these fallacious positions is beginning to subside by the effect of a more enlightened and correct course of reasoning. Colonel Drayton, a distinguished member of congress from the city of Charleston, in a decided manner has recently reprobated all disorderly and unconstitutional proceedings; and in a late contested election for municipal officers in that city, the question being between the advocates and opposers of the seditious and nullifying doctrines, the latter prevailed.

In this conflict of opinion, the views of Mr. Madison were anxiously sought. With the frankness and perspicuity characteristic of this venerable statesman, and in answer to the inquiries of a friend, he maintained in a conclusive course of reasoning, the power of congress to regulate trade and lay duties for the purpose of protecting domestic productions.

British views of the tariff. In the British parliament, Mr. Huskisson, on the 18th of July, moved for the production of copies of the American tariffs of 1824 and 1828. The professed objects of this motion were countervailing or retaliatory acts. Neither her statesmen there, nor her friends here, can with propriety complain of the adoption of a system which she had for a century adhered to, to the very letter, and which had contributed more than any thing else to her greatness. The debates in parliament on Mr. Huskisson's motion, exhibit the views of the ministry upon this subject. They affect to consider the tariff as an electioneering project, brought forward every four years to have

its influence in the choice of a president. They complain, that while they were adopting the liberal principles of free trade, America was entering upon the restrictive system. This boasted liberality, on examination, was found to consist only in abolishing prohibitions and prohibitory duties, when they were no longer necessary. It did not admit an article of American produce for consumption, but such only as her manufactures required, and such as were before admissible. They treat the measure as one of designed hostility, denominate it a weak and absurd policy, and threaten retaliation. They advise their merchants, that their goods may yet find their way to the American market through the Canadas, without the payment of any duties.* Advantage was taken of the period between the passing of the law, and its going into operation, to introduce an immense quantity of British goods, to the injury of the American manufacturer.

Fortification of the Canadas. A debate in the British parliament, on the subject of fortifying the Canadas, became of interest to this country, as it brought into view the policy of that nation regarding her possessions on the North American continent, and her apprehensions in relation to the United States. In the year 1824, the duke of Wellington sent a commission of engineers to examine and report on the means of defense necessary for his majesty's North American colonies. They reported a system of fortifications, and canals for the transportation of the materiel of war, embracing an expenditure to the amount of ten millions of dollars. The object of first importance was the Rideau canal, along the northern bank of the St. Lawrence, from Kingston to Montreal. The rapids between those places render the ascending navigation hazardous, and of little value for heavy transportation, the channel in some places passing near the southern shore, the navigation is at all times subject to the control of the United States. These circumstances rendered the canal a work of immediate and essential importance to the defense of the upper country, as well as for commercial purposes. Grants to the crown, or, in the language of American legislation, appropriations, were made for its commencement. This, with the Welland canal, connecting the navigation of lakes Erie and Ontario,

* Parliamentary debates, July, 1828.

affords the provinces an inland sloop navigation from the ocean to lake Superior, a distance of nearly two thousand miles.

On the 7th of July, Sir H. Harding moved in the house of commons a grant to the amount of $130,000, for erecting fortifications at Halifax and Kingston, as the commencement of a system embracing the views of Lord Wellington's commission of engineers. The opposition objected to this appropriation as a useless expenditure. They considered the British title to the Canadas, as little better than a tenancy, at the will of the United States; that they would soon become a component part of that power, or an independent sovereignty. In either case, the expenditure would be lost to them, and accrue to the benefit of their rival. The controversies between the governors and the provincial assemblies, chargeable, in a great measure, to the follies and imprudencies of the former, indicated such an event; to which, also, it might be added, the policy of restricting the navigation of the St. Lawrence, so beneficial to the inhabitants, both on its upper and lower banks, would very much contribute. The intercourse, connections, and mutual interests of the states and provinces, all lead to a speedy dissolution of the connection between the parent country and the colonies. By the time the contemplated works of defense were completed, which would probably occupy eight or ten years, Canada would be in a better situation to obtain her independence, than the United States were in 1775. She might always rely on a powerful co-operation from the states. Indeed, a more improvident and useless expenditure, could hardly be devised.

The replies of the ministry admitted that there were some grounds for the forebodings of the opposition, which the remarks themselves tended very much to bring about. They considered, that the interest and honor of the nation required, that the loss of their North American colonies should be guarded against with the utmost vigilance, and put off to the remotest period. Their speeches, as well as the large amount required for the object, indicated great sensibility, and an extreme jealousy towards the United States, in relation to the Canadas. The appropriation bill passed the house of commons: ayes, 126-noes, 51.

34

CHAPTER XXIII.

Presidential election of 1829-The candidates-Preparatory measures-No mination of General Jackson, by the legislature of Tennessee-His address and pledge-Charges against the administration-Result of the votes in the electoral colleges-Mr. Adams' last message to congress-Report of the secretaries of the treasury and war-Nomination of a judge of the supreme court postponed-Propositions to alter the judiciary law, and to amend the constitution-Brevet rank-General Scott suspended-Review of Mr. Adams' administration-Prosperous condition of the country-Foreign relations-Collection and disbursement of the revenue-Appointments to office-Support of the principles of internal improvements, and of the protecting system-Effects of a contest for the presidency.

Presidential election of 1829. The approaching presidential election was the all engrossing topic of political discussion for 1828. Jackson and Adams being of the same political party, or rather, party having become extinct, except from causes of a personal, sectional, and temporary character, the public had but little interest in the question, which of the two candidates should administer the government for the coming four years. The general course of American policy is so well settled, that no president, it was thought, would attempt to disturb it. The national progress to wealth and power is so steadily onwards, that even a weak or corrupt administration can do but little to impede it. The contest for the presidency of 1829, at its commencement, was chiefly of a personal nature, beginning first with the candidates and their particular friends, next extending to all whose expectations of office or emolument depended upon the success of either, and lastly to their friends, and all over whom they had any influence: appended to these, was a large class of minor politicians, whose object was to elevate themselves to notice by entering the lists.

Their course of reasoning was, "I am nothing now, I cannot be less, I may be more." This mass, combined and set in motion, was sufficiently powerful to agitate the whole community.

Disappointed in the result of the election of 1825 in the house of representatives, the friends of General Jackson determined to take the earliest and most effectual measures to secure the next. His banner was unfurled in the legisla

ture of Tennessee, in October, 1825. A resolution passed both houses, almost unanimously, proffering him to their fellow-citizens for the chief magistracy, and expatiating at large on his many distinguished qualifications for the office. This resolution was responded to by General Jackson, not doubting the right of a state legislature to nominate a president, by a resignation of his seat in the senate of the United States. In his address accompanying the resignation, he suggested an amendment of the constitution, which embracing an important principle supposed to be the guide of his conduct in the event of a successful issue of the contest, ought to be recorded in his own words. "I would impose a provision rendering any member of congress ineligible to office under the general government, during the term for which he was elected and for two years thereafter." The reasons assigned are," that congress would thereby in a considerable degree be free from that connection with the executive department which at present gives strong ground for apprehension and jealousy on the part of the people. That if this change in the constitution should not be obtained, and important appointments continue to devolve on the representatives in congress, corruption will become the order of the day, and through this channel the people may expect to be attacked in their constitutional sovereignty; and tyranny may well be apprehended to spring up on some favorable emergency. In conclusion," he says, "it is due to myself to practice upon the maxims recommended to others."

This public declaration of an important principle, calculated to secure the liberties of the people and the independence of the national legislature, accompanied with a solemn pledge that it should govern his conduct, was received with applause, and contributed much to the result of the canvass. The example of Tennessee was followed by several other states; and numerous conventions and meetings of the people, in different sections, and at various times, announced him as their candidate.

Thus early before the people, and unequivocally pledged as they supposed, to support an important constitutional principle, General Jackson's standard formed a rallying point, under which were collected all who had been opposed to the election of Mr. Adams, and all who had been disappointed in their expectations of office under him, constituting a majority of the nation. Of the thousand editors of newspapers throwing their daily and weekly lucubrations