Life of James Buchanan, Fifteenth President of the United States. v. 1 (of 2)Curtis, George Ticknor
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Life of James Buchanan, Fifteenth President of the United States. v. 1 (of 2)
Curtis, George Ticknor
Buchanan, James, 1791-1868
Is there any necessity for venturing upon this dangerous and doubtful
measure? I appeal to those gentlemen who suppose the power to be clear,
what motive they can have for forcing this measure upon us, who are of a
different opinion? Can it make any difference to them whether those
toll-gates shall be erected under a law of the United States, or under
State authority? Cannot the Legislature of Pennsylvania enact this bill
into a law as well as the Congress of the United States? Nobody will
doubt their right. I trust no gentleman upon this floor will question
the fidelity of that State in complying with all her engagements. She
has ever been true to every trust. If she should accept of the cession,
as I have no doubt she would, I will pledge myself that you shall never
again hear of the road, unless it be that she has kept it in good
repair, and that under her care it has answered every purpose for which
it was intended.
I know that some popular feeling has been excited against myself in that
portion of Pennsylvania though which the road passes. I have been
represented as one of its greatest enemies. I now take occasion thus
publicly to deny this allegation. It is true that I cannot vote in favor
of the passage of this bill, and thus, in my judgment, violate the oath
which I have taken to support the Constitution of the United States. No
man can expect this from me. But it is equally true that I have
heretofore supported appropriations for the repair of this road; and
should my amendment prevail, I shall vote in favor of the appropriation
of one hundred thousand dollars for that purpose which is contained in
this bill.
At a late period in the second session of this Congress, February 6,
1829, a resolution was introduced by Mr. Smyth of Virginia, proposing to
amend the Constitution so as to make every President ineligible to the
office a second time. Whether this was aimed at General Jackson, who had
been elected President in the autumn of 1828, and was to be inaugurated
in about thirty days, or whether it had no special object, it was
generally regarded as a subject for the discussion of which the
remaining time of this Congress was entirely insufficient. Upon a motion
to postpone the resolution to the 3d of March, Mr. Buchanan said:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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