32D CONG....2D SESS.

that it will operate to the injury of agricultural producers, and to the producers of the raw material. IT IS A TARIFF MEASURE, and it should be so understood.

I caution the friends of liberal principles and free trade, that they be not ensnared by this seductive proposition to get up a free-trade system in part, without looking into its details and practical effect, to see that in other respects it does not become more protective.

It is well known that repeated attempts have been made in this, and the last Congress, to substitute specific duties for ad valorem ones by the friends of protection, under the specious allegation of preventing frauds on the revenue, while the real object was to obtain higher protection. Failing in this-failing to put a dollar in their pockets, the next resort is (and this is that measure) to save paying out a dollar in the shape of duties on the raw material which they must necessarily consume in the business of manufacturing. Our protective friends have quite suddenly become the advocates of the free-trade policy on such articles as they wish to buy, and desire, no doubt, all the incidental protection they can obtain in the form of duties on what they have to sell. I do not complain of them, for it is an illustration of the maxim, that men are very much inclined to consult their own interest in legislation as well as in

other matters.

Be

Maine is a large lumber-producing State. From reliable data, I have ascertained her exports of lumber coast-wise and to foreign countries amount annually to about five hundred million feet. tween that State, as an integral portion of the Union, and the neighboring British Provinces, there can be no interchange of commodities. Why? Because in soil, in climate, in production, they are similar: and so it is in our consumptions. We must travel the same road, carry the same articles, and sell in the same market, and return with the same exchanges.

In this aspect of the case, we shall find ourselves in the same condition with the Provinces, with this exception: for what we buy, we must pay thirty per cent. higher for the protection of the interests of other States, while they can purchase from the open markets of the world thirty per cent. cheaper than we can. Now, if this sacrifice is to be made of the interests of one portion of our people, for the benefit of another portion, it becomes an interesting matter of inquiry, and a very grave question for Congress to determine, how great that sacrifice is to be, and who shall be the victim. For one, I am bound to say that my constituents shall not be made the victims without an effort being made on my part to prevent it.

In this lumber trade, how do these Provinces stand? Great Britain levies a discriminating duty of five dollars per thousand feet on lumber imported from the United States, and about a dollar upon provincial lumber.

This is prohibitory of the export of lumber to the British markets. The Provinces export to the mother country about four million dollars' worth| per year; and not content with this exclusive market, they desire an equal participation in our own markets, for the reason, that the difference of freight on so cumbrous an article of merchandise, is nearly equal to a third of its value. Even with the condition contained in the bill, that Great Britain shall receive our lumber at the same or no higher rate of duty than we may admit provincial lumber, no adequate consideration is furnished for the free exchange-for the simple reason that a distant market is not an equivalent for a near

one.

I deny that lumber is now too high, or that it pays more than remunerating compensation. For a period of ten years prior to the last two years, it did not pay for the expense of manufacturing; and no man who did not own mills and timber land, and who was embarked in the business, escaped bankruptcy. To this cause is the fact owing that so many of the failed lumbermen of my State are now engaged in opening and working the pine forests of the northwestern States.

There is an abundant supply of lumber in the eastern States fully adequate to the demands of our own market. My colleague from the Penobscot district, and myself, represent a tract of territory approximating to twenty thousand square

miles, being two thirds of the area of the whole State, and a very large portion of that territory is now green land covered with various descriptions of timber.

But what other equivalents do the friends of this measure propose, as an offset for the losses I have shown that we must sustain in this trade, of selling out the interests of Maine? It is the free navigation of the St. Lawrence. Now, of what value will that be to us? And how much shall we use it after we purchase the right? If I can show that the Provinces themselves will use it less and

less, by reason of other preferable modes of transit being created, then I suppose, by parity of reason and interest, it will be of less comparative value to us. What I am about to say of the St. Lawrence is, in a measure, applicable to the Mississippi river.

The time was when the right to navigate those great inland arteries was considered indispensable, they being the only outlets for the productions of the countries which they drain. But the power of steam is substituting new and more direct outlets, for the circuitous ones through the Gulf of the St. Lawrence and around the Florida keys.

The same policy which is now tapping by railroads the great valley of the Mississippi at different points, and terminating on the Atlantic coast, and building up cities, is now beginning to divert the trade of the Canadas from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the Atlantic cities. The Portland and Montreal railroad, the three roads leading through Vermont, and the Ogdensburg road, are all inviting the exports and imports of Canada over their tracks, rather than to have them seek the dangerous and difficult navigation of the St. Lawrence, inaccessible a very considerable portion of the year.

Our own Government has very wisely secured, by legal enactments, the privilege of the through transit of Canadian imports and exports over these roads, and that privilege is now extensively used.

It is further said, if this bill does not become a law, the Canadian Government will prohibit the use of their canals to our citizens, as à retaliatory measure. Well, sir, if they should see fit to adopt that policy, I would, as a Yankee, smile at their folly, and increase the facilities for their use of our roads by reduced tolls, and thereby secure more freight for the roads. What further are we to receive as equivalent? It is answered, the free navigation of the river St. John. Maine once bought and paid for that privilege. The only consideration of any value connected with this proposition, is the abolition of the provincial export duty on lumber the growth of Maine. All the lumber the growth of Maine, and which is manufactured in the Province of New Brunswick, may be admitted free of duty, at any time, if we choose to have it so by our laws; and in my judgment, it should be so. The reason is this: all the streams which feed the St. John, flowing from Maine, as they unite with the St. John, have dangerous falls near their junctions, so that the timber can only be floated down in the round log, and necessarily must be manufactured at the place of shipment-the city of St. John. A duty on this lumber, if brought into the United States, is a tax on our own citizens, for the privilege of using in the only practicable way the waters of the St. John, for which right Maine reluctantly consented to part with a large portion of her territory as an equiv

alent.

But there is another consideration which I wish to present. The lumber trade, which is an immense interest throughout the United States, scarcely inferior to the coal and iron trade, enters into all conditions of life. I have spoken of the quantity of lumber Maine exports. In that estimate I included long lumber only. There are other kinds of lumber-shingles, clap-boards, laths, Hackmatac timber, ship timber, wood, and bark. For this description of lumber, the principal market is the United States, and there is no other, not even the distant British markets. Upon the St. Croix river, where seventy of the five hundred millions before spoken of were manufactured, one hundred and fourteen millions of laths were also manufactured; of which the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore were large consumers. The value of this

HO. OF REPS.

kind of short lumber, as it is called, is made up wholly of the labor employed in the manufacture, the material being the refuse of other lumber. It furnishes employment for a great many persons, whose families are dependent upon the trade for their support. By including this description of lumber in the free list, most ruinous consequences will follow; for in the production of this kind of lumber, I am free to adinit, our people cannot compete with their provincial neighbors. The same is true of wood and hemlock bark.

I next come to consider the fishery difficulty; which question, as I believe, has been designedly thrust into this bill by the friends of reciprocity in both Governments. That it is a question of some difficulty, and quite likely to become one of embarrassment to the Government, I have no doubt; and my constituents, who will be a portion of the sufferers, so long as it remains an open question, have a strong desire to see it satisfactorily adjusted; and to this end are willing to concede something. But they ask and will insist that our Government shall protect them in the free exercise of their just rights; and above all, from petty provincial annoyances, designed to coerce them into a submission to what is manifestly unjust.

My amendment proposes to strike out all after the enacting clause in the bill, and insert in lieu thereof the following proposition:

That whenever the British Government shall permit American citizens to enjoy the same rights in catching and curing fish as British subjects now do, or shall hereafter enjoy, then British caught and cured fish may be admitted into the United States free of duty.

This proposition is a fair one, as I will proceed to show. In the deep-sea fisheries, American citizens possess all the rights and privileges which British subjects do; also in a portion of the shore fisheries, but not in all. The extent of the exclusive right in the shore fisheries is a disputed question between the two Governments. Now, yielding to the lower Provinces the value of the right to the exclusive shore fisheries which they claim for it, I propound this interesting question: "What are the fisheries worth to them, or any one else, without a market for their catch?" do the Provinces find their chief market for fish? They are not valued for mere pastime. Where I answer, the United States. The importation of fish from the lower British Provinces the past year was something short of $1,000,000 worth. To show, further, the state of the markets of the world, I have copied and read extracts from the official report of Moses H. Perley, Esq., made to the Governor of New Brunswick, and by him laid before the Provincial Legislature in 1850, on the subject of the sea and river fisheries of that Province:

"FOREIGN MARKETS FOR FISH.-As a knowledge of the markets for fish properly cured, is matter of great importance, the writer has been at some pains to acquire information as to the amount of duties and restrictions in Europe and America, which is here submitted.

"A large proportion of the pickled herrings of Scotland go to Prussia, and the States under the Germanic Union of Customs; this is in consequence of the low duty. In the Germanic Union the duty is 3s. sterling per barrel on salted herrings, and 1s. per barrel on smoked herrings; the quantity of Scotch herrings sent there annually is 150,000 barrels, "Austria, an adjoining country, to which there is easy access from Prussia, probably receives some of the British herrings; but the duty there is 4s. sterling per barrel, besides a transit duty of 1s. 6d. pet barrel on all herrings passing through Prussia, to Austria or Poland. In consequence of these duties, British herrings, instead of becoming a staple export to Austria, as they ought to be, to the Catholic population of that large empire, are reserved as objects of luxury to the higher classes. The loss of a direct trado with Austria deprives the British merchant of a rich market, which would carry off many thousand barrels of herrings.

Russia is another country to which a large export of herrings might be made, but a heavy ad valorem duty is assessed upon them, the value being calculated from the first imports of the season, which brings an extravagant price. In Russia, also, fish are exposed to the injurious practice of braacking, which consists in opening the barrels, and removing the contents to inspect thein.

"In France, the duties on the importation of fish are as follows: Foreign fish by French vessels, per 100 kilograms, 40 francs, or £1 12s. 6d. sterling; if imported in foreign vessels, or by land, 44 francs, or £115s. 2d. sterling. These high duties entirely exclude British fish from the French market.

"In Holland, the importation of all kinds of salt fish are prohibited.

"In Belgium, the duties on British fish of every kind vary with the season at which the importation takes place, as also whether imported in a British or foreign vessel; but all the duties are so high as to exclude herrings and dried fish.

32D CONG.....2D Sess.

"No British fish have been sent to Sweden or Denmark; the reason for this is not ascertained, but the extensive fisheries of Norway preclude the hope of a market in that quarter.

"Smoked herrings are sent from Scotland to Geneva, Leghorn, Naples, Sicily, Venice, and Trieste. In Naples and Sicily, the duty is estimated at 10s. per barrel, which added to the freight, renders the article a luxury, and keeps it from the greater part of the population.

"Imports of British fish, on a small scale, are received in Sardinia, Tuscany, the Roman States, Greece, and the Ottoman Empire, with all of which a trade of some extent might be established but for the uniform system of high duties kept up in each.

"One or two vessels are cleared annually at St. Johns, Newfoundland, with dried fish for the lonian Islands, and for Egypt; but of the value of the trade in those quarters no exact information has been obtained.

"In Portugal, the duty on cured fish is fixed at 1,600 reis, or about 9s. sterling per quintal. The object of this bigh duty was to protect a fishing company whose operations have failed, and it is now urged that Portugal ought to relax this duty, and allow the admission of British fish on terms in accordance with the reciprocal good relations which subsist between Portugal and Great Britain as to other articles of general commerce.

In Spain, foreign fish of all kinds, fresh, salted, or dried, except codfish and stockfish, are prohibited. If these are imported in the vessels of Spain, a duty of thirty per cent. is charged; if in foreign vessels, the duty is forty per cent., and this difference gives the carrying-trade to the Spanish vessels. Great numbers of Spanish vessels resort annually to Newfoundland for cargoes of dry fish, and some of these vessels have also visited Halifax for the same purpose. But none of the vessels of Spain have yet visited the ports of New Brunswick, although the fish caught near its shores are equally as good as those of Newfoundland or Nova Scotia-their cure is so bad that they are altogether unfit for the market of Spain.

"With the Spanish islands of Cuba and Porto Rico, an extensive trade might be carried on in fish in return for tropical products if the fish of New Brunswick were properly cured and dried to stand the climate and give satisfaction to the consumers. The writer has procured, from Washington, translations of the several tariffs of duties levied on fish, in Cuba and Porto Rico, from which it appears there are four separate rates. The lowest rate is on Spanish fish imported direct in a Spanish vessel; the next, on foreign fish imported from Spain in a Spanish vessel; the third rate is on fish imported direct from foreign countries in a Spanish vessel; and the fourth and highest rate, is on foreign fish imported in a foreign vessel. Under the last of these rates, pickled herrings are subject to a duty of thirty-three and a half per cent., the value being established at an uniform rate of $4.50 per barrel; the amount of duty is therefore $1 52 per barrel. Dried fish of all kinds pay a duty of twenty-seven and a half per cent., the value being fixed at $3 50 per quintal of 100 pounds; the duty is there

fore ninety-seven cents per 100 pounds. When foreigncaught herrings and dried fish are imported in a Spanish vessel, they pay rates of duty amounting to $1 07 per barrel on herrings, and sixty-nine cents per 100 pounds on dried fish. If vessels load a full cargo of produce at any of the ports of Cuba or Porto Rico, an allowance of one fifth is deducted from the duty on the inward cargo. The tonnage duty on foreign vessels is seventy-seven cents per ton; but if they load with full cargoes of molasses, they are free from the tonnage duty.

"Some of the badly-cured fish, mentioned by Mr. Allison, which were shipped to Cuba last season, having been Bold there, the following is furnished as the account of sales, dated Matanzas, November 26, 1850:

"In Brazil, the duty on dried cod is 2,500 reis the quintal of 100 pounds; on other fish, the duty is twenty-five per cent. on their valuation. At Pernambuco, on the 21st of October, 1850, the price of dried cod was 10 milreas-200 reis the 100 pounds. The exchange was then at 28% pence sterling the milrea; consequently the price of dried cod was equal to £1 4s. 11d. sterling per 100 pounds, and the duty 5s. 11d. on the same. The milrea is an imaginary currency, the value of which is governed by the exchange on London, and fluctuates accordingly.

"In the United States, all fish pay a duty of twenty per cent. ad valorem, under the tariff of 1846. Besides the markets for ash in the sea-board cities of the Union, there is a large and growing demand for fish in those States which border on the great lakes, and which may be supplied through Canada by the St. Lawrence. There would seem to be an almost unlimited demand for pickled herrings, as well in those States as in Canada West, if caught in proper season and well cured; when sufficient care in these respects is taken, the rapidly-increasing population of the vast fertile districts of the West, near the great lakes, whether Canadian or American, will long continue to offer a sure and profitable market for the products of the fisheries."

Now, in this same connection, I wish to show further, the quantities of fish imported under the tariff of 1842, when the duty was specific, and amounting to about one dollar per quintal; also, the increased quantity imported under the tariff of

1846 for the same length of time, the duty being only twenty per cent. ad valorem, and from this increase of importation show how much greater the importation will still be, if all duties are removed. Then I say, for the purpose of preventing all future difficulty and dispute, upon a question which ever will be a prolific source of discord and neighborly irritation, I propose the establishment of the principle of free fishing and free markets for fish. It may be regarded as hard by the fishermen, but it will be better for them than the present state of things.

If, however, our provincial neighbors shall decline, or the home Government shall refuse to adjust this yexed question on such a basis, and the Provinces shall continue their annoyances upon our fishermen, another alternative may be presented for their consideration, to wit: the imposition of a duty on fish which shall be prohibitory of importation in its operation, as is the duty imposed by France.

The following table shows the operation of high and low duties on the importation of salted fish in barrels. I have not had time to prepare a table of all descriptions of fish imported in the same peUnder tariff of 1842.

riod:

1842. 1843..

14,678 12,334

43,542

30,506

31,402

132,452

Average number of barrels per year.... 109,116

I have a word to say in relation to the amendment of the gentleman from North Carolina, [Mr. CLINGMAN.] His proposition is, to open our coast-wise trade to the competition of the world. I am not disappointed in this proposition. I expected it. When the protectionists of New England and other States ask for the free admission of raw materials, why should not the southern States ask to have the coast-wise carrying-trade thrown open to the world? Shall we repeal our navigation laws whether the European nations shall permit our vessels to engage in their coast-wise trade or not? Should we throw open our valuable California carrying-trade to the competition of the world? In our foreign trade I have no fear of competition.

Now, sir, representing as I do particular interests, I wish to ask if our people, who are scattered through our forests, felling our trees, to be floated down the streams upon the melting of the winter snows, without knowledge or suspicion of this measure, are to have this law sprung upon them, the effect of which will be most unjust and injurious?

I do not refer to this for sectional purposes, but it is proper and legitimate that I should say, that while we are legislating for all interests, we should so legislate as not to destroy and break down any particular interest; and especially that of a people who have to struggle along under the disadvantages of a rigorous soil and climate.

Let me say that if you value your mercantile marine-if you consider your commerce as the right hand of your strength, and as a means to promote your growth and prosperity, break us not down, and paralyze not the energies of those who, from necessity, are driven into a seafaring life, but rather build us up and sustain us. Let me say, and appeal to the history of the world for the truth of the assertion, that where men find a warm sun over their heads, and a rich productive soil under their feet, they will not venture upon an ocean life, and expose themselves to the perils of the sea. Who were the men who first explored our continent? Men, sir, from the high and cold latitudes of the north of Europe. They visited our coasts in vessels far inferior to those of the present day. It has ever been found necessary, and ever will be,

SENATE.

to look to the North, where men are always compelled to struggle with the elements, for your effective mercantile marine.

And further: While some of our western friends think the bounties paid to these fishermen are unjust, I say that the moment you strike down these bounties, and turn off these men, you give yourself a wound that years cannot heal. You may cultivate the valley of the Mississippi, but you cannot build ships and make sailors.

Mr. JONES, of Pennsylvania. Do I understand the gentleman to say that he wishes the duty on lumber to remain as it is, solely for the purpose of revenue; or does he wish the incidental benefits which may arise out of it, as an incidental protection to the lumber trade?

Mr. FULLER. My answer is, take off duties on everything and we are content; but if you put the duties on, put them on equally. We do not want to pay thirty per cent. for all the iron we put into our ships, and have lumber made duty free. That would be unjust, as I presume the gentleman will not deny.

Mr. JONES. I agree with the gentleman fully, and I only inquired that I might understand whether I comprehended him correctly.

Mr. FULLER. Under the tariff of 1846, we came off third best with Pennsylvania; she got thirty per cent. on iron, and we got twenty per cent. on fish and lumber.

The great point I make is, THE EQUALITY OF TAXATION. "Equality is equity." If duties are imposed upon iron for revenues, so should duties be imposed upon lumber for the same purpose. One kind of property should bear its proportion of the public burdens as well as another.

EXPLORATION OF THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA.

SPEECH OF HON. J. W. MILLER, OF NEW JERSEY,

IN THE SENATE, March 3, 1853.

On the Exploration of the Interior of Africa, and in favor of recognizing the Independence of Liberia.

The Naval Appropriation bill being under consideration

Mr. MILLER offered the following amendment: For equipment, maintenance, and supply of an expedition for the exploration of the interior of Africa eastward of Liberia, and the ascertaining of the resources of that region, and for the colonization of the free blacks of the United States, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, $125,000.

Mr. MILLER said:

The Secretary of the Navy addressed a letter to the chairman of the Committee on Finance recommending this appropriation, with an estimate, and requesting that the appropriation should be made. It has not been acted upon by the committee, and I have thought it my duty to present this amendment for the action of the Senate. The Senate will recollect that the Secretary of the Navy, in his annual report, directed the attention of the President and the country to this subject. I will read a short extract from that report:

"In Commander Lynch, to whom the country is already indebted for important service in another field, I have found a prompt and ardent volunteer for this employment. He is now on his way to the African coast. He will land at Liberia, Cape Palmas, and other points, and will pursue his inquiries as far as the river Gaboon, with a view to the ascertainment of such localities on the margin of the African continent as may present the greatest facilities, whether by the river courses or by inland routes, for penetrating with least hazard to the interior. He will collect information touching the geographical character of the country, its means of affording the necessary supplies of men and provisions, the temper of the inhabitants, whether hostile or friendly, the proper precautions to be observed to secure the health of a party employed, and all other items of knowledge upon which it may be proper hereafter to prepare and combine the forces essential to the success of a complete and useful exploration of the interior. In the performance of this duty, under the most favorable circumstances, he will encounter the perils of a climate famed for its unwholesome influence upon the white man, and may hardly hope to escape the exhibition of hostility from the perilous adventure, so honorable to his courage and philannatives. The spirit which has prompted him to court this

thropy, I trust will enable him to brave every hazard with success, to overcome every obstacle in his progress, and to reserve himself for the accomplishment of the great object to which these preparations are directed. In the mean time, I most earnestly commend the subject of the exploration to the early and favorable attention of Congress, with the expression of my own conviction that there is no enter

32D CONG....2D SESS.

prise of the present day that deserves a higher degree of favor, or that will more honorably signalize the enlightened policy of this Government in the estimation of the present or of future generations. It will require a liberal appropri ation of money, and an enlarged discretion to be confided to the Navy Department for the organization and arrangement of a plan of operation which must embrace the employment of a number of men, the supply of boats, armainents and tools, and the enlistment of such scientific aid as a long and laborious inland exploration, beset with many dangers and difficulties, will suggest."

It will be perceived by the Senate that this expedition has two objects in view. The first is the exploration of the interior of Africa, and especially of that portion of western Africa lying directly east of the Republic of Liberia, for the purpose of developing its natural wealth and commercial resources. It is believed by those who have looked at this subject, that there is a large region of country directly eastward from Liberia, of a higher elevation, more productive and healthy than that bordering on the coast. England has paid considerable attention to the exploration of Africa, for the purpose of developing its resources in reference to her own trade with the interior tribes. Our own interests, as well as the calls of humanity and of civilization, demand that we should do something for the improvement of Africa.

The country intended to be explored, lying between the meridians of 200 west and 200 east, (Greenwich,) and the parallels of 50 and 150 north latitude, is an inhabited country, of which we have sufficiently authentic accounts, from actual observation by white men and reliable reports of natives, to warrant our belief that there live upon it many millions of people, who need, and are desir-¦¦ ous to receive the products of the agriculture and manufactures of more civilized nations. Towards that country adventurous explorers have made essays from the English possessions on the west; from the mouth of the Niger in the south, and also from the Mediterranean. The British are now endeavoring to trade with it from Sierra Leone, and from the Gold Coast. Between these two localities lies the Republic of Liberia, offering the only means of access which can be securely open to the activity of the United States. Hence the question of exploration opens the question whether or not the United States shall have a proper share of the great inland traffic of Africa.

The second object is one which I consider of a character eminently national. It is for the purpose of aiding in the colonization of free persons of color from the United States into Africa. The present position of these people in the United States makes it necessary that we should do something for their relief. Several of the free States of this Union have passed laws excluding this unfortunate class of men from their limits. The only way of relief open to them is a more rapid emigration from this country to Africa. To promote and encourage this, is one of the objects of this expedition.

Recent discoveries, aided by modern improvements, are producing strange and astonishing changes in the condition and affairs of the world. Under these operations the hitherto abandoned and despised portions of the world are becoming the most attractive, and the waste places of the earth the most productive. Wealth is escaping from its old investments, and population is flying from its crowded homes to wild and distant countries, in search of higher profits and more prosperous business. Lands hitherto rejected for their sterility, and countries despised for their barbarism, are now sought for with avidity on account of the richness of their natural productions and their fitness for the abode of civilized man.

The convict's land Australia, and the Indian's hunting ground in the Pacific, now command the respect of the civilized world, and by the abundance of their golden treasures, regulate the exchanges of London and New York, and give tone and character to the commerce of the world.

Let no man hereafter condemn any portion of God's earth as hopeless and useless.

Africa, doomed and despised as she has been, by the opinion of the world, is in no less forlorn condition than were Australia and California ten years ago. It needs but exploration and development to bring forth her natural wealth for the use of man. But I have not time now to go into this subject at large. I believe that Africa is about to open one of the richest fields of commerce in

SENATE.

Mr. President, a few days since I presented to the Senate a resolution of inquiry relative to the acknowledgment of the independence of the Republic of Liberia. I sought on several occasions to bring that resolution before the Senate for consideration, in order that I might give to the country the reason which induced me to offer it; but the time of the Senate has been so occupied that no opportunity was afforded me to do so. As the subject now under consideration is german to that question, I will take this occasion to give to the country the reasons why I think the Government of the United States should acknowledge the independence of Liberia.

I was induced to offer that resolution in consideration of the notorious fact that Liberia has existed as an independent Republic for five years, without any official recognition by our Government, while England, France, Prussia, and Brazil have acknowledged her nationality, and received her into the family of nations.

This silence on our part to notice the first and only free Government upon the Continent of Africa, is the more remarkable when we consider the origin and history of that Republic.

Liberia is of American origin, nurtured and protected through all the trials and dangers of colonial life up to her present national existence by the benevolence and enterprise of our citizens. Associated with the names, and sustained by the influences of the greatest statesmen and the purest philanthropists of America, her humble history connects itself with our own, and forms one of the most interesting chapters in our national annals.

On the 24th of December, 1816, a meeting was held in this Capitol for the purpose of adopting measures to assist in the formation and execution of a plan for the colonization of the free people of color, with their consent, in Africa. This meeting, though small in numbers, was great in the moral, intellectual, and political characters of the men who composed it. Henry Clay presided over its deliberations, and John Randolph and other distinguished public men of that day took part in the discussions which led to the unanimous adoption of the following preamble and resolu

tions:

Immediately after the organization of the society, the following resolution was adopted:

"Resolved, That the President and Board of Managers be, and they are hereby, instructed and required to present a memorial to Congress on the subject of colonizing, with their consent, the free people of color of the United States, in Africa or elsewhere."

The memorial here referred to, was signed by Bushrod Washington, President of the society, and was on the 14th of January, 1817, presented to Congress. I will read two extracts from this memorial, in order to show to the Senate that the great men who originated the plan of African colonization were influenced by high national considerations, and that the final and grand object of their patriotic enterprise was the establishment of free national government in Africa; the successful result of which, after forty years of labor, my resolution was intended to acknowledge and proclaim to the world.

The memorial says:

* *

"Your memorialists are delegated by a numerous and highly-respectable association of their fellow-citizens, recently organized at the seat of Government, to solicit Congress to aid with its power, the patronage, and the resources of the country, the great and beneficial object of their institution-an object deemed worthy of the earnest attention, and of the strenuous and persevering exertions, as well of every patriot, in whatever condition of life, as of every enlightened, philanthropic, and practical statesman." "Your memorialists beg leave, with all deference, to suggest that the fairest and most inviting opportunities are now presented to the General Government for repairing a great evil in our social and political institutions, and at the same time for elevating, from a low and hopeless condition, a numerous and rapidly-increasing race of men, who want nothing but a proper theater to enter upon the pursuit of happiness and independence, in the ordinary paths which a benign Providence has left open to the human race. Those great ends, it is conceived, may be accomplished by making adequate provision for planting in some salubrious and fertile region, a colony to be composed of such of the above description of persons as may choose to emigrate; and for extending to it the authority and protection of the United States, until it shall have attained sufficient strength and consistency to be left in a state of independence."

In the month of February, 1820, the ship Elizabeth sailed from the United States with eightysix passengers; they were free people of color, voluntarily emigrating from this country to the western coast of Africa, to make a permanent settlement there. The good ship carried them safely to their destination. From this small plantation of legally-manumitted slaves there has grown up in the course of thirty years, a nation containing, of emigrants and natives, two hundred thousand inhabitants, governed by a republican form of government, with a written constitution like our own, and exercising an undisputed dominion over seven hundred miles of sea-coast, with an extent of inland territory yet undefined, and commanding by its position the trade and commerce of western Africa.

The establishment of the Republic of Liberia is one of the most remarkable events in this most eventful age. History furnishes no parallel either as to its origin, the motives which induced it, or the means used to bring about the grand result. It commenced a private enterprise, not of gain, but of benevolence. The inducing cause was humanity. The means used, Christian charity. Its great objects, the relief of two continents from the evils of slavery and barbarism. Its grand result, civil and religious liberty to a whole race of men. But what is still more remarkable, all these great objects have been accomplished, legally, justly, and peacefully; without aggression or wrong; interfering with no man's rights, intervening upon no nation's prerogatives, and by its quiet and lawful progress exciting neither the passions nor the prejudices of any, Liberia is the first Republic ever established without revolution, war, or bloodshed.

The patrons of African colonization were neither fanatics nor agitators. They occupied an unappropriated field of usefulness, and nobly have they cultivated it. The objects of their beneficence were outcasts from Government and country. They took up the slave after law and Constitution and master had released their obligations over him. They found him outside of social and political relations, isolated, degraded, and forsaken. They pursued him when the law was a fugitive from the slave, and not he a fugitive from the law; and when neither master nor State nor Govern

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ment would own him or protect him. This beneficent enterprise took the outlaw under its guardian care, and has given to him a name, a character, and a country.

of England. And thus, sir, it will turn out that that rich commercial harvest, the seeds of which we sowed, will be reaped by another, and the first fruits of the tree which we planted will be

Liberia acknowledges with gratitude our superior claim over all other nations, to any advantages in trade which she can legally confer upon foreign Powers, and we may now secure by free concession, a commercial dominion over western Africa which, in my opinion, will in the course of twenty years be tenfold more valuable than that we shall acquire by force over other portions of the world. But to secure these advantages we must put ourselves in a position to obtain them. To do this we must form commercial relations with Liberia; and to this end the first step is to acknowledge the nationality of the Government which has the power to control the subject.

During the time this great work was in prog-plucked by our rival. ress, it received the aid and approbation of the wise and good men from all sections of the country. President Monroe was one of its earliest and warmest friends; and there is a "Monroe doctrine" as to colonization in Africa, as well as to colonization in America, equally orthodox, although not quite so popular. It also received some collateral aid from the Government itself. So national was the object, so catholic was the feeling in favor of its success, that even the strictest constructionist expressed the regret that there was not a clear power in the Constitution to enable the Government to adopt the enterprise as its own, and to extend to it national aid and protection. It is perhaps well that the Government did not interfere, for the work has been done without the exercise of any doubtful powers. That which politicians hesitated to do; that which our Constitution with all its liberty had not the power to accomplish; that which armies and navies could not force into existence, has been peacefully accomplished by private enterprise, instigated and supported by Christian charity. And now, sir, the work being done, and the grand result made nianifest to the world, the question is whether we shall acknowledge the event and stamp it with the official approbation of the nation. In my opinion both national honor and national policy demand that we should do so. No one can doubt our power, and the question is one of expediency merely. Is it expedient for the United States now to acknowledge the nationality of Liberia?

In treating this question, I intend to confine myself mainly to a commercial view of the subject.

For some years past the European commercial nations have, with a view to settlement and trade, turned their attention to Africa. For these objects, England has established, and now maintains with much energy, her colonies at Sierra Leone, upon the Cape, and at other points on the coast. France also has her possessions at Algeria. No one, I think, can at this day mistake the policy of England with regard to unappropriated fields of commerce. We have a most striking illustration of this in that mighty political and commercial dominion which she has secured in the East Indies, and in her attempts upon South and Central America. No country is too remote, no island too distant, for her ships. No tribe nor class too savage or insignificant for her barter. Bushmen and Hottentots, negroes and Mosquito Indians, are all objects of her commercial attention. Wherever human beings are found, requiring food and raiment, and have something to give in exchange for them, England is ready to administer to their wants. To such a policy Africa opens up a rich and wide field of operation, and if I mistake not the signs of the times, she is preparing to improve the opportunity afforded her by our neglect of Liberia.

It is quite evident, that whatever the foreign commerce of western Africa may be, the Republic of Liberia will control it. Her position on the coast will give to her that advantage. I have no certain data for ascertaining the present amount of that commerce. I am, however, informed that the trade of England with the western coast of Africa exceeds $5,000,000 annually; but whatever may be the present amount, it forms no criterion of its future developments. Up to 1847, the year of Liberia's independence, it was a mere struggle for existence, without the power or the means to protect or regulate commerce; and without ships, without any of the facilities of trade, the colony of Liberia could do but little towards developing either her domestic or foreign commerce. these hindrances have now been overcome by the establishment of national government. She has now the power to form international relations, under the directions of which the productions of that vast region of country will find their way through the regular channels of foreign trade to the markets of the world.

But

This new field of commercial enterprise will attract the observation of other nations; and if we continue to look on with indifference, the Republic of Liberia, by our neglect or timidity, may become in fact, if not in name, a commercial colony

England has seized the first opportunity to form these relations. And why has she done so? Not that she has any peculiar regard for this young Republic, or for her free institutions, but simply because she sees in that infant Government, weak and feeble as it is, the germ of national power which will hereafter direct and control a vast region of commercial dominion.

If we refuse or neglect to acknowledge the national existence of Liberia, we can have nothing to say against the partiality of any treaty she may form with those nations who may recognize her nationality. And if England or France should today obtain for any of their subjects, the exclusive right to trade in palm oil, or the privilege of introducing their manufactures free of duty into Western Africa, we could not justly complain, for by our cold neglect we shall be presumed not to know that there is such a country as Liberia, or if we did know of its existence, we deemed her not worthy of our international intercourse.

But, sir, I desire to present a higher view of this subject than that derived from the mere lucre of trade. There is a mighty moral power in commerce, the power of civilization and humanity.

For

The early foreign commerce of a half-civilized country frequently gives tone and character to its inhabitants, which are seen and felt during many years of their future progress. It not unfrequently impresses a deep influence upon the very soil itself. Africa is a striking example of this result. many years her only foreign commerce was the slave trade the exchange of her children for the things of other countries. The result of this unnatural intercouse, was to bring upon that benighted region a twofold curse-additional brutality to its inhabitants, and an increased sterility upon its soil. Thus it was, that commerce, deprived of its moral power, impressed upon both people and land a curse so deep, that it will require centuries to eradicate the evil. We have other examples of the effects of illicit commerce in the opium trade of the East, in the early slave trade of Spanish America, and in our own whisky dealings with the north ern tribes of Indians.

But a new and happier era has opened upon Africa. The Republic of Liberia has put an end to the slave trade in Western Africa. She has done what the three great Christian Powers of the earth, England, France, and America, could not accomplish. She has done it, not by force, not by fleets and armies, nor yet by premiums and prize money, but simply by working out one of the simple rules of legitimate commerce, so plainly that even the dull mind of the native negro may comprehend it, by teaching him that the productions of the forests, the fruits of the trees, and the vegetables of the soil, which God has planted all about him, may by the aid of his labor bring to him and to his family more comfort and wealth than all the gains of the unnatural slave trade. And now along a coast of seven hundred miles, where but a few years since the only marts of trade were the slave-pens to which the chiefs dragged their brothers and their children to barter for foreign productions, are to be found safe harbors in which English steamers and American packets may be seen, inviting the natives to bring the vegetable oils, the coffee, and the spices, with all the other rapid and rich productions of that sunny land, and exchange them on equal terms for foreign merchandise. Civilized and Christian commerce has taken the place of the barbarous

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traffic in human blood. Legal trade has superseded piracy, and the flag of a Republic, and the laws of a constitutional Government, defend, protect, and encourage the honest labor of a free and Christian people..

Thus has legitimate commerce become the efficient instrument for the regeneration of Africa. The Colonization Society has done its work, private charity and Christian benevolence have performed their duty. Through their agency law and liberty, religion and civilization, have been carried into Africa, and there embodied in free national institutions. A new power and influence are now required to sustain and to protect those institutions, so as to enable them to accomplish the final and glorious result for which they were established. That power is national; that influence is commercial. It is our duty, as it will be our interest, to exercise that power and direct that influence. If we will do so, we shall accomplish the two grand results contemplated by the friends of African colonization-the civilization of Africa, and the removal from this country of that anomalous class of men called free people of color. I have already shown the mighty influence of com. merce upon the first-named object; I will now endeavor to show its efficiency to accomplish the latter. The negro is a timid creature; he lives and moves more by sight than by faith; he feels in his soul that which the white man boldly avows: that he is an inferior being, and therefore the subject of deception and wrong. Hence it is that so few of the free people of color have been found willing to leave even this land of their degradation, for a better home and country in Africa.

Here, in my opinion, lies the difficulty in the way of a more rapid emigration of these people to Liberia. But, sir, let them know by a public official act of this Government, that the country to which you desire to send them, has a name and a position in the family of nations; that the people and the institutions of that country are respected by the great Powers of the earth; let them understand that you have an interest in their commerce; let them see the ships returning from Africa laden with rich cargoes of merchandise of native production and ownership; let them see the flag of their country waving in your harbors, side by side with the merchant flags of Europe. In a word, give to the free negro ocular demonstration that money may be made in Liberia; that fortunes may be accumulated, and that social and public positions of honor and profit are there at his command, and we shall soon see that even the degraded and suspicious negro is subject to the same laws and influences which govern the white emigrant. The negro is not the only emigrant who is moved by sight more than by faith. All the speeches, reports, and books that were made and published about the wealth and commercial advantages of California, produced but little effect upon our people; they wondered and talked, but they did not believe; and it was not until some adventurer returned from the mines and presented to our sight and touch the shining ingot, and the golden sands fresh from the diggings, that our people were roused to that spirit of emigration which has since sent them in thousands, by sea and by land, to the shores of the Pacific.

So, sir, it will be with emigration to Africa. It will move cautiously and slowly until commerce shall expose to the eye of the world the rich mines of natural wealth which now lie hidden in the dark forests of that neglected continent. When this exposition is made I have no doubt the free negro will have many a white competitor in the race of emigration even to Africa.

In urging this subject upon the consideration of the Senate, I have not been indifferent to the fact that there are difficulties in the way of our forming full international relations with Liberia. They are of a domestic character, applicable alone to this country, and required to be treated with delicacy and prudence. My desire is to keep clear of these difficulties, and I have, therefore, made my resolution one of inquiry, merely leaving it to the Committee on Foreign Relations to decide the proper way and manner of accomplishing the object.

My desire is to obtain a simple recognition of the nationality of Liberia, preparatory to form

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ing commercial relations with that Government, reserving the more delicate question of diplomatic relations to the future action of the Executive under the advice of the Senate. When, under what circumstances, and in what form, this Gov. ernment will enter into diplomatic relations with Liberia; whether we shall send a representative there or receive one from her here, is not necessarily involved in the acknowledgement of her independence. That question I have no desire to obtrude upon the Senate, and, whenever presented, it should be treated with reference to our peculiar domestic institutions, and disposed of in such manner as would be least offensive to the feelings and babits of the people of this country.

The acknowledgment of independence may be made by Congress, and I have a precedent to show that it is the duty of Congress to take the first step in cases of this kind. I refer to the case of Texas. You will recollect that for some time after the existence of that Government de facto, the President, General Jackson, on account of our friendly relations with Spain, hesitated to form diplomatic relations with Texas. In the mean time Congress took up the subject of the recognition of her independence, and in 1836 passed resolutions in both Houses acknowledging the independence of that young Republic.

But, sir, whatever difficulties the fears of gentlemen may suggest upon this point, I can assure them that Liberia will never obtrude herself officiously upon this Government. She knows too well how much forbearance and prudence were required by her friends here to overcome the prejudices which obstructed her colonial advancement, than to do any act now which might tend to revive opposition. All she asks at our hands, is that we shall not now abandon our own great work of free Government in Africa, by neglecting to express our confidence in its strength, and our faith in its durability.

I have heard it suggested as an objection to the recognition by this Government of the independence of Liberia, that it would reflect upon the legal institutions of domestic slavery as they now exist in some of the States of this Union; that we cannot admit the capability of the African race for self-government, and, at the same time, justify ourselves before the world in holding a portion of that race in bondage. This objection, I admit, must, to a certain extent, be met and answered in determining the present question. I therefore answer in the first place, that the obnoxious fact-the improvability of the African race, has already been established. Liberia is a living witness of its truth, and we, by our refusal to admit its existence, cannot get rid of any of the legitimate results which must flow from that living fact.

Nay more, sit, this experiment, whether for good or for evil to us, is our experiment. We have worked out the problem ourselves, and it is too late now, after the demonstration has been made to the world, for us to shrink from the result.

ity, and of making even our slaves more capable of self-government than many of the subjects of European despotisms.

Sir, I am no apologist for slavery in any of its forms, much less would I seek to excuse the deep wrongs which the Christian world has perpetrated upon Africa; but if forgiveness is to be found for our criminal aggression upon Africa, it must be sought for in the restitution of her children to their fatherland, improved and trained under our domestic institutions for the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty.

If this generation can atone for the sins of the past, that atonement can only be made by offering up a rich national sacrifice upon the altars of liberty and religion now erected in Liberia.

Why should we hesitate to acknowledge this triumph of humanity, or attempt to cover up a result as honorable to us as it will be glorious to the world? Rather let us proclaim, as with a trumpet, in the dull ear of the despotic nations, that the spirit of American liberty will penetrate the deepest despotism, and enlighten the darkest barbarism with a potency sufficient even to regenerate the negro, and to give liberty and civilization to Africa.

Mr. President, absorbed as we have been for the last month with questions of great national import-questions involving the peace and the dominion of the world, and exciting, by their importance, the public mind up to the highest point of national pride and glory, I feel, when surrounded by such influences, that I am striking but a low note of public sentiment in advocating the modest claims of Liberia. I fear that the Senate has even grudged me the short hour which I have consumed in presenting this humble subject to their consideration. Yet, sir, I confess that I have designedly taken this occasion to trespass upon your time, for the purpose of aiding the cause for which I speak. My object is to take advantage of the exuberance of feeling manifested here in favor of human liberty throughout the wide world, and to ask that its surplus, if nothing more, may be given to Africa. She will be satisfied even with the crumbs which may fall from your overloaded table. It is true that her claims do not present any of those striking allurements which usually excite the popular mind. She sounds no trumpet of war. She offers no armed resistance to our power. Neither do kings nor emperors resist our intervention. Africa lies before us unappropriated and unoccupied, neglected and despised alike by the cupidity and the ambition of the world. Yet she is not destitute of some charms to the true friends of progress and humanity.

She presents a field of commerce wide and rich; extensive territories to be cultivated and improved; barbarous people to be civilized; heathen men to be christianized; a continent unoccupied by despotic power, to which God and nature invite us to come and bless with our free institutions.

The Republic of Liberia is a witness of good and not of evil, to the institution of slavery in the United States. She bears living testimony to the fact, that the African race has been improved, and not debased by servitude in this country. The Government of Liberia could not have been formed out of the native African negro. It was upon the American-born negro, trained and prepared by Christian masters, that the experiment has proved successful. Slavery in America has brought liberty to Africa. Our free institutions, by their beneficent workings, have shown that they are capable of improving the lowest grades of human

we become in the cause of free institutions, that we have been betrayed by our sensibilities to indorse spurious movements for civil liberty altogether unworthy of our approbation. The late revolutions in France and in Italy, were specimens of this character.

But, sir, the case now presented, is one of no doubtful character. It is a people who through years of trial and suffering, have shown their devotion to, and their capability for free government. A young Republic of American origin, with a constitution like our own, and who aspire to no higher ambition than that of being instrumental in disserninating over Africa our own great principles of liberty and humanity.

Shall we refuse to this true Republic that influence which we are continually wasting upon the

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sham Republics of Europe? Shall we be deaf to the calls of humanity, and only show our love for human liberty where ambition instigates our action? Shall we beat the air to agitate the morbid political atmosphere of Europe, and refuse to strike a blow for liberty when all Africa, land and people, lie before us, prepared to receive the impression of our power?

But, after all that I have said, it is probable that this subject will be lost sight of in the more absorbing topics of the hour; be shoved aside by Cuba, by Japan, or the Bay Islands, and so the existence of the Republic of Liberia be forgotten for a season. But, thank God, liberty and law will still live in Africa; and the time will come when we shall not only acknowledge the independence of Liberia, but in our need cry unto her as unto a sister, to relieve us from a national curse-a curse from which the dominion of all America from pole to pole, cannot save us-the national evil of an overgrown and degraded population of emanci-, pated slaves.

In ordinary cases the recognition of a new gov ernment by the old Powers of the world is but national courtesy, a cold formality, conferring neither influence nor character. But not so in the present case. The acknowledgment of the independence of Liberia by the United States, however formal on our part, will confer substantial benefits upon that young Republic, of vital importance to her future welfare. As she was indebted to us for national existence, she is still dependent upon our favor and good will for future life and prosperity. An experiment in government upon the capabilities of a degraded race of men, with no past history to excite national pride, with no heroic legends to reflect national glory, with no ancestral associations to confer national character-just emerging from centuries of slavery in America, and still standing beneath the gloomy shadows of barbarism in Africa, Liberia has but a slight and feeble hold upon national existence. A kind word, timely spoken by us, will impart to her feebleness, strength, confidence, and enduring life. Shall we not speak that word, by declaring that her national independence has the confidence of this Government, and will be sustained by the friendly regards of the people of the United States?

RAILROAD TO THE PACIFIC.

SPEECH OF HON. A. C. DODGE, OF IOWA,

IN THE SENATE, February 18, 1853, On the bill reported from the Select Committee for the construction of a Railroad and Telegraphic line from the Mississippi Valley to the Pacific Ocean.

Mr. DODGE said:

Mr. PRESIDENT: I was one of the Select Committee to whom this bill was referred-the least efficient and most humble member of that committee. Without claiming to myself credit for anything that is contained in it, I deem it but an act of justice to say of my distinguished associates upon that committee, that never did men labor more faithfully, or in a more disinterested spirit, to accomplish, as far as they could accomplish, the great work committed to their charge. Day after day, for weeks, we devoted the whole of our mornings to the preparation, discussion, and consummation of this measure. Our chairman, the Senator from Texas, [Mr. RUSK,] has labored most indefatigably upon this bill, besides having given much time and thought to the consideration of the general subject of uniting our distant Pacific possessions to those of the interior and Atlantic, by bands of iron, from the day that the subject was first introduced. All know, too, from the extraordinary success which attended his most sagacious management of the Texas boundary bill, familiarly known as the ten million bill, that few men better understand the duties of a practical legislator, or are more faithful and untiring in their discharge.

The venerable Senator from Massachusetts, [Mr. DAVIS,] whose enlarged experience and observation touching our railroad system, coming, as he does, from a State literally streaked with roads of this description, and being more familiar, per