anything about it. I do not know that this will not be done; but I will wait until I see a majority of the two Houses of Congress in favor of this proposition, before I shall be prepared to believe it. Sir, I maintain that it would be in the highest degree indiscreet for Congress to commit itself in the dark to the printing of such an important document as this without knowing what it is to be. We ought to have the document first, and ought to refer it to the appropriate committee to give it a thorough examination. I do not know what they are making up in the Department of the Interior. I have a very great regard for the honorable head of that Department, and great confidence in his rectitude and patriotism; but I may not have the same confidence in all heads of bureaus. It is very possible that these returns may be made up in a way, and may be in a form which would not meet with the approbation of the two Houses of Congress; and what is more than that, they may be erroneous. That is not by any means an unexampled circumstance in the history of the country. In the case of the Census of 1840, after the returns came in, it was discovered that there was probably a very serious error in the taking of the census in an adjoining county to this District-the county of Montgomery, in the State of Maryland— and Congress passed a law authorizing the census of that county to be taken over again. It was taken over again, and an error of several hundredI do not now recollect how large the number was, but I know that an error of several hundred was discovered on retaking the census of the county of Montgomery, in Maryland.

I maintain, then, that a document of so much importance as this, and so deeply affecting the interest and honor of the country, ought to come into the hands of the two houses of Congress, and undergo a careful examination, before we commit ourselves in regard to printing it; whereas this is a proposition to hand this entire document over to the head of the Census bureau. I do not know how competent he may be. I believe he is a very worthy young man of some twenty-five or thirty years of age. For aught I know he is doing his duty very well; but I am not prepared to say that he shall settle this question of the census printing finally and forever. I am not prepared to say that even the very able and excellent Secretary of the Interior shall do so. We ought to have it before Es. We ought to scrutinize it. We ought to see whether it is correct or not; whether it is made out in proper form, and whether it is made out in conformity to the law, before we commit ourselves to this printing. Why this hot haste? Cannot my honorable friend from Indiana wait for six months? For within that period, I venture to

say these returns will be completed. Cannot he

wait till the close of the present session of Con-
gress? For a bill can be passed at any time for
printing these returns. Or, if these returns should
not be completed during the present session of
Congress, cannot the Senator from Indiana wait
till the opening of the next session of Congress?
I most strenuously resist this extraordinary man-
ner of doing business. When an important docu-
ment is to be made out-a document that is to go
down to posterity-a document that is to contain
facts and statements, to say nothing about popu-
lation, in regard to our great industrial and agri-
cultural interest, which I trust and hope, and am
inclined to believe, will be made out correctly. I
insist that it would be in the highest degree rash,
not to say presumptuous, for us, without knowing
what it is, to commence the printing of some por-
tion of it; and what portion, in the name of Heaven,
the beginning, middle, or end, no human being
knows.

But, sir, I have another point to make; and that
is, that this resolution, if passed, would, in my
opinion, be an encroachment on the functions and
duties of the Executive, and would, in fact, be a
usurpation of Executive power. It is, no doubt,
competent for Congress to order the printing to be
done, and to fix the number of copies. We may,
perhaps, say that certain parties shall execute the
work, or that it shall be let to the lowest bidder.
Congress may doubtless prescribe the condition and
terms; but, having said, for example, that it shall be
executed by Donelson & Armstrong, can Congress
take upon themselves the making of a contract?
And can they, by the agency of one of their com-
mittees, draw it up and put it in form? If we can
do so, who is to attend to the execution of the

contract? Who is to determine whether Donelson & Armstrong have or have not conformed to the terms of the contract? To whom is the work to be delivered? Who is to pay for it? Will my honorable friend tell me whether it is to be paid for out of the contingent fund or not? Is it printing for the Senate? Is it printing for the House of Representatives? Or is it printing to enable us to perform our legislative duties? My honorable friend, for reasons that will be directly apparent, will hardly contend that this is Congressional printing. I ask, then, who is to attend to the execution of the contract, and from what fund is it to be paid? There is no doubt that Congress can provide for such printing as is necessary for the performance of the duties of both Houses, or either House. But is this Congressional printing? My honorable friend said, the other day, that it was not; and therefore we are not obliged to give it to A. Boyd Hamilton. I must acknowledge, Mr. President, that on very mature consideration, I have come to the conclusion that it is not Congressional printing, and not within the contract of A. Boyd Hamilton. It is not printing for either of the two Houses of Congress; it is not printing to enable us to discharge our legislative duties; but it is printing for the Government and for the country. I admit that either of the two Houses of Congress has a right, by a committee or otherwise, to make a contract for such printing as may be essential to enable them to discharge their respective legislative duties. But can Congress, through one of the committees of either House, arrogate to itself the power of making contracts for other printing than such as is required to enable it to discharge its legislative functions? Will my honorable friend from Indiana [Mr. BRIGHT] contend that we should take into our own hands the business of making contracts for the printing that is required for the various departments of this Government? Has Congress the right or power to embark in the business of making contracts generally? If, through the agency of the Committee on Printing, we can make a contract for printing that does not appertain to our legislative duties, I desire to inquire of my honorable friend whether, through the agency of the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, we can make a contract for the transportation of the mail? Why not raise a joint committee, on the principle of this resolution, and make a contract for the transportation of the mail? Why not raise a joint committee on Naval Affairs, and make a contract for the construction of a frigate or ship of the line? Why not arrogate to ourselves all the executive duties and powers of this Government? Mr. President, you know very well that the public tw printer that is, the printer employed by the two Houses of Congress-is considered an officer of the two Houses. He is an officer of the Senate, and an officer of the House of Representatives. And why? Because he is employed in doing certain work for us that is necessary to enable us to discharge our duties. Now, if we adopt this resolution, will Messrs. Donelson & Armstrong be officers of the two Houses of Congress? Appointed for what? Not to print for the Senate or the House, but to print for the Government and for the people of this country.

My honorable friend from Arkansas, [Mr. BORLAND,] when he was on the floor the other day, objected most strenuously to the devolving of this duty of contracting upon the Committee on Printing, insisting that it should be given to the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, because, as he truly said, the resolution called upon that committee to disharge executive duties. Ah! executive duties! Then why are we providing for the discharge of executive duties by a joint committee of the two Houses of Congress? We have a Joint Committee on the Library; and as a library is an important establishment to enable us properly to perform our legislative duties, we charge it with the duty of purchasing a library for us. But shall we charge it with the duty of purchasing a library for the Attorney General, for the Secretary of the Treasury, for the Department of the Interior, or for the Post Office Department? I maintain, sir, that this is entirely out of the range of our legislative duties. It is an executive duty, which must be discharged, if properly discharged, by the executive department of the Government, and cannot be discharged by a committee of the two Houses of Congress.

I now come to the last objection which I shall urge to the passage of this resolution. It has been the policy of Congress, for some years past, to open the public printing to competition, and thus prevent its being conferred on the political presses in this city as a matter of favoritism; and the question for the consideration of this honorable body now is, whether the connection which formerly existed shall be renewed. The proposition submitted by my honorable friend from Indiana is precisely this, that we shall confer the printing of the census returns upon one of the political presses in this city. Here I desire to call the attention of the Senate to the first introduction of our policyand I believe a highly salutary policy-on this subject into the legislation of the country. It will be found in a provision introduced into the civil and diplomatic appropriation bill, which passed the two Houses of Congress, and was approved May 18, 1842; published in the tenth volume of the Acts of Congress, page 189. It is as follows:

"For incidental and contingent expenses of the Department of State, including the publication and distribution of the laws, $25,000: Provided, That the job printing, stationery, and binding of each of the Executive Departments shall, until otherwise directed by law, be furnished by contract, proposals of which shall regularly be advertised in the public prints, and the character and description of printing specified in each advertisement, as far as that can be done, it being made a condition in all cases, unless otherwise specified in the advertisement, that the work shall be done in the city of Washington, and the contract shall in each case be given to the lowest bidder, whose bid shall be accompanied with the proper testimonials of the ability of the bidder to fulfill his contract."

Here, for the first time, was introduced into the legislation of the country the provision that all the departmental printing should be advertised and put out to the lowest bidder, and that remains the law of the land to the present hour. But Congress continued, notwithstanding the passage of that law, to confer the printing for the two Houses of Congress upon the political press in this city; and in this respect I admit that there has been no difference between the two parties. The Twenty seventh Congress passed the law of 1842, to which I have referred. Then came the Twenty-eighth Congress. The Senate was one way, and the House of Representatives the other. The printing of the Senate was conferred upon the publishers of a political press in this city, entertaining views in accordance with the majority of the Senate; and the House made a disposition of their printing in accordance with their views. This state of things continued until the first session of the Twenty-ninth Congress, when, the two Houses having become convinced that the business of conferring the public printing upon considerations of political favoritism was unsound and injurious to the public, passed the joint resolution of the 3d of August, 1846, requiring the printing of Congress to be let out to the lowest bidder.

My friend from Indiana, [Mr. BRIGHT,] and other gentlemen, who advocate the resolution under consideration, are obliged to take the ground that this printing does not come within the joint resolution of 1846, or in other words, that it is not Congressional printing. Under what, then, does it come? It comes within the provision of the law of 1842. It is departmental printing, which is already provided for. You have nothing to do with it unless to order the number of copies to be printed. You may say how it is to be printed and of what quality the paper shall be. But the very moment that you order the number of copies, fix the style of the work, and the quality of paper, and determine what the work shall be, then comes in the law of 1842 and imposes it upon the Secretary of the Interior to let it out to the lowest bidder. Why, then, does my honorable friend propose to interfere with this law? Why has he introduced this resolution? He says it is not Congressional printing. Why not let the law operate? Ah! but "the Union" office wants a little patronage. Is that a public reason upon which the Senate are to act? Are we about to upset this law of 1842, take this job out of the scope of the operation of that law, and hand it over to whom-and by whom? By a highlyrespectable committee I admit, but one organized upon political considerations. We are to turn it over to a political organ. And this is to be done by the Senate of the United States! Pretty eleWe have our vated legislation it is to be sure. law that departmental printing shall go to the

lowest bidder; and this is not Congressional printing says my honorable friend. Besides the document is not here, and we do not know what is done, whether the beginning, middle, or end. I presume we are to capture a part of it. My friend from Arkansas, [Mr. BORLAND,]-for whom I have great respect, and who we know has had some experience in the military service of the country, and very creditable experience too-is to march at the head of the Committee on Printing and invade the Census Bureau, capture something, and hand it over to the proprietors of the Union printing office. I do not know but that it will be done; but I shall wait a good while before I believe it.

But, says my honorable friend from Indiana, the contract system is an utter failure, and it ought to be blown up sky-high. I join issue with my friend on that subject. I will admit that the contract system for the two Houses of Congress has proved, to some extent, a failure; but I utterly deny that the contract system for the departmental printing has failed at all. On the contrary, I can demonstrate that it has succeeded, and has promoted the public interest in a very high degree. I know, Mr. President, that the contract system for the departmental printing is exceedingly distasteful to some portions of the political press in this city. The Democratic and some portions of the Whig press do not like it.

Mr. HALE. How is it with the Free-Soil portion?

Mr. SMITH. I do not know how it is with the Free-Soilers. I cannot say, as I am not in very intimate communication with them. I will leave that to my honorable friend from New Hampshire, who is entirely competent to represent that portion of the publishing interest in this city.

But I defy gentlemen to show an instance where there has been any failure. My honorable friend from Michigan, [Mr. Cass,] who, I am sorry to see, is not in his seat, indicted the contract system for the departmental printing on the ground that the "Blue Book" had not been furnished us. He said that the law required that it should be laid on our tables; he did not say when, exactly, but he was for blowing up the whole concern because we had not the "Blue Book." It is a pretty large concern, [exhibiting a copy,] and is growing rapidly. I have sometimes thought that I would take the "Blue Book" of the present day, and that which was published when I came into Congress, and take the difference between the two in pounds avoirdupois. I think the difference may be calculated in pounds; at all events, I know that it is very large, and it is an indication of what strides our Government is taking in extravagance, not to say in downright corruption. But my friend from Michigan wants to blow up this system of departmental printing by contract because he has not the Blue Book. If it had so turned out that the Blue Book had not been published just when it was ordered to be published, viz: the first Monday in January, taking into view our monstrous labors during the six weeks of the session-you know, Mr. President, what they have been, the manner in which we have devoted ourselges to other subjects, and the profound anxiety under which we have labored for the promotion of the public interest, particularly under the head of settling over again that matter of the compromise-one would suppose that the Senator from Michigan ought not to make such grave complaints, if the delivery of the book had happened to be some two or three days behind the time.

But, sir, I have taken the liberty to inquire into this matter, and I have here a memorandum of the delivery of this most interesting concern called the Blue Book, which is contracted out to the lowest bidder. It is a pretty good book; the paper, the type, the binding, are all good. If I get the census returns printed as well, I shall be content. The law says that it shall be laid on our tables on the first Monday in January; and I believe that was the very day on which the Senator from Michigan made his speech by way of assault on this departmental public printing. Now, I find that one hundred and seventy-five copies were delivered on the 29th of December, one hundred and twenty on the 31st, and two hundred and five on January 3, which was Saturday; and the law said they should be here on our tables on the Monday following. That is the case which was brought forward by my friend from Michigan, to

prove that we ought to blow up the system of letting out the departmental printing to the lowest bidder; and my friend from Indiana was obliged to take the ground that the printing of the census returns was departmental printing, to get it out of the hands of A. Boyd Hamilton, the printer of the two Houses of Congress.

I have already stated that the proprietors of the political and of the job presses of this city are very willing to get rid of the contract system, and that they would like to have the public printing given out as a matter of favoritism; but I deny that it has proved a failure. On the contrary, I believe it has saved a very large sum of money to the public Treasury. I have here another document printed under the system for departmental printing. It is a history of the condition and prospects of the Indian tribes, by R. H. Schoolcraft, LL. D., illustrated by S. Eastman, United States Army. A more beautiful specimen of typography, of paper, and of execution I never saw. I am ready to take up this census matter and deal with it liberally and fairly, and I would propose the printing of it in a style of magnificence corresponding substantially with this work. There has been, then, no failure of the contract system in its application to departmental printing. But I admit that there has been some failure in it as it regards the Congressional printing; and I shall explain to the Senate how it is.

But before I go any further I wish to call the attention of the Senate to the amendment which I have offered, and I will explain to the Senate its precise character. It proposes to separate the composition and press work from the supplying of the paper, and both from the binding, and to make a separate and distinct contract for each, and all to be done under the provisions of the law of May 18, 1842. Perhaps by way of amendment to the resolution it would not be strictly necessary for me to propose anything more than a specification of the number of copies, with a provision that the work should be executed under the supervision and direction of the Secretary of the Interior. It would then become departmental printing, and would necessarily be executed under the law of May 18, 1842. But if I were simply to propose an amendment of that character, it would leave the composition and press work to be paid for in connection with the supplying of the paper; for the party to do the composition and press work would supply the paper for the work. But for reasons which I shall indicate directly, I think it is highly important that the composition and press work should be separated from the supplying of the paper, and that both should be separated from the binding. My amendment, therefore, contemplates, on the one hand, the adoption substantially of the principle of the law of May 18, 1842. But some modification of that law is deemed necessary, so that the composition and press work shall be separated from the supply of paper, and moreover, that the party who enters into this contract shall give due security for the performance of the contract, the law of 1842 containing no provision of that character. Having thus explained briefly the character of my amendment; having shown the Senate that this is departmental printing, and having proposed that it shall be brought within the scope of the provisions of the law to which I have alluded, I now proceed to the consideration, as briefly as I can, of the subject of Congressional printing, for the two are necessarily connected to some extent with each other.

I have already insisted, and, I trust, have shown, that there has been no failure of this system under the head of departmental printing; but I have also said that there is a failure, and a very serious failure, in its application to Congressional printing. And why has that been so? The joint resolution directing the printing for the two Houses of Congress to be let out to the lowest bidder, was adopted at the first session of the Twenty-ninth Congress. At the second session of that Congress a contract was made, in conformity with the provisions of that law, with Wendell & Van Benthuysen, to execute the largest portion of the work. A small portion of it was assigned to another firm of the name of Tipten & Streeper; but much the largest portion of it-nearly the whole, in fact-was assigned to Wendell & Van Benthuysen. I admit that they utterly failed in the performance of their contract. They failed in the typography. According to the stipulations, they

were to be paid so much for every thousand ems. The type and the size of the page were specified, but I have understood, and suppose the fact was so, that they got fonts of type cast to spread the letters out, so as to get many more ems than would be had if the type was put in the usual form. That was undoubtedly a violation of the contract. It was also violated in the quality of the paper. There was an utter failure to conform to the terms of the contract in that respect, and there was a more injurious failure, so far as the public business was concerned, in not furnishing the printed matter within such a period of time as was indispensably necessary to render the documents valuable to Congress for the transaction of the public business.

Coming down to the last Congress, we find that the contractors were William M. Belt, who took the second, fourth, and fifth classes; John H. Trenholm, who took the third class; and John T. Towers, who took the first class, which was the printing of bills and resolutions. In regard to Mr. Towers, it ought to be stated that, so far as I know and believe, there was a most perfect performance of the contract on his part. I think the chairman of the Committee on Printing will agree with me in regard to that. But so far as regards Trenholm and Belt, there was a failure not less gross and aggravated than that during the preceding Congress. I do not know that they had type of a peculiar character cast to help out the line and spread the matter over as much surface as possible. I suppose they had not. But, nevertheless, there was an utter failure in the quality of the paper and in the binding, as the chairman of the committee very well knows. Trenholm and Belt were contractors for the binding I believe; and I understand that they farmed it out and made considerable profit upon it, to the amount of several thousand dollars. There was the same failure with regard to the promptitude of the execution of the work, which was necessarily indispensable to the public interest. Every word which the chairman of the committee stated on that subject was true. I shall ever bear testimony to the rectitude and fidelity with which he and the other member of the committee [Mr. HAMLIN] discharged duties, in regard to it, which were very painful.

But I will add something which the chairman forgot to state, and that is, that after the documents had accumulated in our document room, and after he and the Senator from Maine [Mr. HAMLIN] had decided that they would not receive them-and I believe that I concurred with them, too-at my suggestion the other members of the committee saw fit to appoint me a sub-committee to look into the matter; and I believe they gave me instructions not to receive the documents; or rather, I was appointed to receive them if they conformed to the contract. I went into the document room and looked at them. I knew that the contract, if performed according to its spirit and letter, would involve the contractor in an enormous loss. And I confess that I had in my proceedings under that head some reference to the condition of the surety of the contract. I refer to Mr. Ritchie. I felt for him a sentiment of commiseration. I thought he had a ruinous contract. Members wanted the documents; and I took the responsibility of deciding that they should come in. I thought they were worth all that we had agreed to pay for them, although they did not accord with the contract. They were received; but I did not suppose that the two Houses of Congress would entertain the purpose of passing a bill to make up any loss that he would sustain under that contract which was violated so grossly; and least of all did I believe that they would pass a bill, as the House of Representatives did, and as I was afraid the Senate might possibly do, which would give him the enormous fortune, according to the statement of the Senator from Arkansas, of $200,000 under this broken contract. I never had the slightest idea that they would give him a fortune of $100,000; least of all did I believe that it would go up to such a figure as that named by the Senator from Arkansas.

In this way I admit that this method of disposing of the public printing to the lowest bidder under the joint resolution of 1846 has proved a failure. But the system of disposing of the departmental printing-and this is printing of that character-in that way, has not failed. But why has the contract system with regard to the printing of the two

weighing fifty pounds to the ream. My worthy friend, the chairman of the Committee on Printing, has obtained information which he will excuse me for mentioning: he has heard of cheating among the manufacturers of paper. In modern times they have discovered a mode of introducing some mineral substance into paper to make it weigh some twenty-five per cent. more than the proper materials would weigh. I have no idea that Donelson and Armstrong would buy such paper. But suppose you stipulate with them as you have stipulated with A. Boyd Hamilton, that the printing shall be done on paper weighing fifty pounds to the ream; I have no idea that gentlemen as respectable and honest as I believe Donelson and Armstrong to be would, knowingly, purchase such inferior paper: suppose, however, that it was their misfortune to have such paper, and they actually print the Census returns upon it: suppose when you get the Census returns you should find the weight of the book to be made up of lead or some material improperly intermixed with the paper, are you going to exact anything from these gentlemen? Are they to be made to stand up to their contract? Would not the condition of the Union office then come into view? and would it not be said, We must not suffer our organ to be broken up? You never can enforce such a contract made with the proprietors of a political organ, by a political committee, appointed by a political majority in the two Houses of Congress-certainly to subserve the public interest, not to support the organ. I would not suggest such an idea as that, because it would involve an imputation on the motives of honorable Senators, in which I never indulge.

I am in favor, then, of separating the supply of paper from the composition and press-work, in the printing of the two Houses of Congress, for then printers can stand face to face, and bid on the composition and press-work, the prices of which are well known to everybody. The market prices of composition and press-work are just as well known as the price of cotton in Texas. The diffi- || culty heretofore has been that the contractors have had a vast margin under the head of cheating in paper. If that margin is taken away, it is all that is wanted. If that is done I do not care what you do as to composition and press-work. I would be very well satisfied to distribute that work amongst the various printing establishments in the city; and I am not certain that I would not say that I would allow no one to compete for composition and press-work unless he were a resident of the city of Washington, and had his establishment here: for 1 wish to keep these adventurers out of this matter. I feel a sincere respect and sympathy for the press here, and am willing myself to do something towards sustaining it. I think that, strictly, the composition and press work ought to be given to the lowest bidder, but if you choose to distribute it among the printing offices here, I will not object; or if you choose to elect a printer to do it, still I have no objection. But I do object to this old corrupt system of enabling men by being elected printers to Congress to make large fortunes mainly by defalcations in paper. It is corrupt in its tendency. It is of evil example. It serves to disseminate in the country the idea that a man can, by undue means, make a fortune out of the Government of the United States. Indeed, our Government has made progress, and I am sorry to say it, in corruption, during the past few years, which should awaken and alarm all good citizens of the country.

When I came into Congress the received opinion among members was, that the expenditures of the Government should, in no event, exceed about twenty-one millions of dollars per annum; and I remember very well that the expenditures by General Jackson's and Mr. Van Buren's administrations, of about twenty-one millions of dollars per annum, during what is usually denominated the Harrison campaign, was held up in contrast with the expenditure of the administration under John Quincy Adams, as being perfectly enormous and in the highest degree corrupt. But what now is the state of things? These expenditures have been carried from twenty millions up to about fifty millions of dollars; and it is a painful duty for me to discharge when I say, what I verily believe, that corruption and extravagance in the Government have increased just about in the same proportion as the increase of our expenditures-more than one hundred per cent. It is

I have already occupied more of the time of the Senate than I intended to occupy; and I am sensible that I have given my views, such as they are, to the Senate in a very imperfect form; but I intended to have gone into the subject of the enormous expenditures under the head of printingand here I wish to speak of one evil that flows from giving the public printing out to political favorites by a majority of the two Houses of Congress. The tendency of it is, in my opinion, to enhance the amount of expenditures enormously under one party or another. I say that if a majority of the two Houses of Congress arrogate to themselves the

power of giving out the printing upon considerations of political favoritism, it influences, in a very considerable degree, the number of copies that are to be printed. When you embark in the matter of political favoritism, avowedly, or if not avowedly, really; when you make a contract under this feeling, is there not a strong temptation held out to the majority to augment unduly the quantity of matter ordered to be printed? I do not say that any such purpose is entertained here in regard to this printing. I do not say that any honorable member of this body would intentionally do any such thing; but I do say that such is the tendency. I believe that this principle of political favoritism has operated heretofore in the procuring of an undue increase of the amount of printing ordered by the two Houses of Congress. Perhaps honorable Senators and honorable members of the House of Representatives have hardly been aware of the presence of the motive in their own minds; perhaps it would not be so with a majority of the members; a considerable number may be in favor of printing a large number of any particular document without reference to any consideration of that character; yet a few, with a view to favor the public printer, a political favorite, might be induced to think that on the whole they would favor the proposition, although, otherwise, they would be opposed to it. I have before me some statistics in regard to the Congressional printing, which I obtained from the office of the Register of the Treasury. I will not occupy the time of the Senate by going into any details. I wish to give some statistics, and then conclude this branch of my remarks. The aggregate amount paid for the printing of the two Houses during the Twenty-second Congress, the first Congress under General Jackson's administration, was $142,685 65; for the Twenty-third Congress, $353,429 18, being a great deal more than double the cost of printing for the preceding Congress; for the Twenty-fourth Congress the amount was $154,221 17; for the Twenty-fifth Congress, $218,047 59; for the Twenty-sixth Congress, $190,824 59; for the Twenty-seventh Congress, $293,457 38-that was a Whig Congress, and it seems to have gone pretty deep into the Treasury under the head of printing; for the Twenty-eighth Congress the amount paid for printing was $356,431 65; for the Twenty-ninth Congress, $259,596 75.

That closed the old system of choosing political favorites to be printers to both Houses. Now we come to the new system. For the Thirtieth Congress, the printing cost $182,887 12. I have a statement here of what has been paid out of the Treasury for the printing of the last Congress. It is $125,783 36; but I understand that there is a considerable amount of work yet to be done. Therefore we cannot yet tell what will be the aggregate expenditures for the printing of the Thirty-first Congress. Thus, since General Jackson came into power, the enormous sum of $2,277,364 40 has been expended in printing for the two Houses of Congress. I do not hesitate to say that every penny of this over half a million of dollars was completely thrown away. We have printed almost everything of which the human mind could conceive, until we were converting Congress into one vast book concern, as our honored friend, the former Senator from Missouri, (Mr. Benton) used to express it.

Now, then, I will admit that we are brought to a period when we ought to consider what we are to do in regard to Congressional printing. I have thrown out these views in a manner which I confess is somewhat embarrassed and imperfect,

resulting in a great degree from a weakness of my lungs at the present time, laboring, as I do, under

a cold. Yet I do think that there is in this subject matter that is entirely worthy of attention, and I want my Northwestern friends particularly to consider it. We ask nothing for our State; we are not petitioners here for the assistance of Congress in any form, for improvements of our harbors and rivers, or for appropriations of public lands in aid of railroads. They are asked and demanded, and required in the Northwestern section of our Union, and I stand ready to accord them, and will do so most cheerfully. But to enable us to do it, I demand, and shall insist, on a proper economy in all the Departments of the Government. Where shall we begin? I think some reformation is necessary, and I think the very first thing we should do is to reform ourselves, reform Congress, reform the extravagant and wild expenditure which we have had here. And how are we to do it? Not by making the public printing a matter of favoritism, but by dispensing it, as I conceive, under the provisions of existing laws, though I should like to have such modifications made as I have suggested in these remarks.

What have we before us, Mr. President? and what are the results at which we have arrived? This is not Congressional printing; it is departmental printing. Then I say the number of copies should be specified; and in regard to that, there is a blank to be filled in my amendment. I wish to say a few words on that subject in this place. In 1839, when Congress passed a law for taking the Sixth Census, they made a provision for printing the returns; and they then ordered ten thousand copies of the returns to be printed. Now, what number of copies shall we order at this time? I have great difficulty as to making any order about it, until I know what is the magnitude of the work. If it is to be a very large work, as I believe it will be, I am for a small number of copies. I doubt exceedingly whether we ought to exceed ten thousand. I know we have more States now than we had in 1840. We have added five additional States since that time; we have a vastly larger extent of territory, and a much larger population. Therefore I will not complain if honorable Senators should propose to print twelve thousand copies. In the Twenty-sixth Congress I believe ten thousand copies of the returns of the Sixth Census were ordered to be printed, and in the Twenty-seventh Congress we ordered a compendium to be made, and twenty thousand copies of it to be printed.

I am opposed to any compendium of this census. Blair & Rives obtained a very large and lucrative job in printing the original returns of the Sixth Census; and I hope it was not the purpose of the Whig Twenty-seventh Congress to give a job in the form of a compendium to the Madisonion newspaper then printed in this city. That compendium cost a large sum, and I believe it never was of the least practical utility. I do not believe it necessary to print a vast number of such a document as this to circulate all over the country. It will be of no use. Congress must have a proper supply-the Congressional Library, the Departments, the State governments, the leading seminaries of learning, and the literary institutions of the country, should be well supplied. As for putting this census into the hands of a vast multitude of people in this country, it is, in my judgment, utterly absurd and ridiculous. It is of very little use, except to Congress, to enable it to make an apportionment of the members of the House of Representatives among the respective States, and to furnish statistics of the population and of the business of the country. But who are the men who are competent to deal with the contents of the census in this regard? Only staticians-very learned men, and there are a very few of them in this country. I am perfectly free to admit that I should myself be utterly incompetent for such an undertaking of this sort, although there may be members of this body who may be competent. I would therefore have no compendium-I would print a limited number of copies of this work. My own belief is, that ten thousand or twelve thousand copies will be an abundant supply for the entire country. You ought to have some copies to send to Europe, to interchange with foreign Governments, and perhaps some to send to some of the leading seminaries of learning in Europe.

After we have supplied Congress, the General Government, the State governments, and the va.

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rious seminaries of learning, and sent copies to the Foreign Ambassadors, I think we shall have gone quite as far as the public interests require. I am, therefore, for filling up the blank in this amendment, as at present advised, with ten thousand copies; but I will not even object to twenty thousand copies, if honorable members desire that Pumber; but I should be utterly opposed to printa compendium such as was ordered by the Twenty-seventh Congress, because I believe there is no real practical utility in such a work.

Having demonstrated, as I trust I have, con. clusively, that this is departmental printing; hav ing shown that the law of 1842 is now in full force; having shown that that law has worked well, and that all contracts under that law have been performed; having shown that the public treasure has been economized in a very considerable degree by the operation of that law; having shown, as I trust I have, that the public interests in every regard, require that that law should be maintained, and that the law which provides for the printing of the two Houses of Congress should be amended, I ask, upon what principle is it that any one member can rise in his place and demand the passage of the original resolution submitted by my honorable friend from Indiana, and upon what principle can any one object to the amend ment which I have proposed, separating the supply of paper from the composition and the presswork and from the binding, and requiring the Secretary of the Interior, with proper securities and under proper supervision, to let out all three matters to the lowest bidder, which I am entirely sure can be done, and will secure this printing more effectually than in any other form which can be proposed?

I was near overlooking one single point. If majority of the Senate (which I can hardly beLeve) shall reject my proposed amendment, then I have prepared another amendment, upon which I shall ask my honorable friend from Indiana to reflect, and which I think will meet with his concurrence—that is, to give the composition and press-work to Donelson & Armstrong upon such terms as the committee may think reasonable; but at the same time to require the Secretary of the Interior to contract with the lowest bidder for the paper, and also for the binding of the work. If the proposition I now make shall be rejected, I shall then consider it as settled-so far as a majority of the Senate are concerned-that they are determined to put this work, to some extent at least, in the hands of Donelson & Armstrong, and I shall then feel it to be my duty to make an endeavor to improve the proposition in other modes. In this way, if it shall be the pleasure of the body to patronize the establishment of Donelson & Arm

strong, (and I admit that it is a highly respectable one,) it will have a very ample patronage, and a very large and lucrative job to do the composition and press-work. It will be a job which I will venture to say will furnish them with all the supphies which will be required under present emergencies. I have no feeling on the subject. I am mply doing a public duty, and I leave the subject in the hands of the Senate, with the assurance that for one, I intend to acquiesce cheerfully in whatever may be the decision of a majority of this honorable body.

Mr. BRIGHT. I am very anxious that a vote should be taken on the resolution this evening. I have heretofore said more on the subject than I expected to say at the time I introduced the resolution, and yet there is much in the speech of the honorable Senator who has just taken his seat that deserves a reply. Much of it, however, does not meet the question before the Senate. At the time offered this resolution, my sole object was to secure the performance of a work which 1 thought would be of great service to the public. I can assure the honorable Senator that I had no such motives in view as he would seem to impute to me. It is true that I named in the resolution which I offered the individuals who were to perform the service. And why? For the reason that, upon inquiry, I ascertained that they were in possession of the materials; that they were so situated that they could go forward with the work immediately, provided they could get a fair price for it. I beg leave to remark, that ever since I have been a member of this body, until this session, I have advocated the contract system, and I only abandoned it when I found that the men we

employed abandoned us, and abandoned their contracts. I have come to the conclusion that it is iminaterial what kind of contract we make, or how guarded it may be, we cannot get the work laid on our tables in the manner we contract for it. I was even disposed to tolerate that in view of the repeated decisions of the Senate, so long as it applied to work of an ordinary character. But 1 was unwilling to see this class of service; I was unwilling to see returns so valuable as I considered these returns to be, printed on the kind of paper and in the manner in which our public printing has been hitherto done. Hence I proposed, in the resolution, that the committee should have a discretionary power; not that they should be absolutely compelled to contract with these parties, but that they should contract with them provided they would make a contract for work upon reasonable terms, done in the manner the committee would require.

gentleman who has charge of the Census Bureau the privilege of making a contract for this printing. The inference follows as a matter of course that it would have taken the direction which I indicated.

Mr. SMITH. I do not know what the gentleman may find recorded in the debates of the Senate, as having been said by me, but I know that I never entertained any such view as that. I must also say, in very broad terms, that my friend from Arkansas [Mr. BORLAND] is entirely mistaken. I do not know but that I may have used language from which he properly inferred what he seems. to have inferred; but I have never entertained any such views, but have been from the beginning totally opposed to breaking up the contract system. And if I felt at liberty to state to the Senate the appeals which have been made to me by some of my own political friends in this city, proprietors of political presses, or at least of one of them, in regard to this very thing, and in furtherance of the views of the honorable Senator from Indi

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Mr. BRIGHT. I gave way for an explanation. I hope the honorable Senator from Connecticut will not extend his remarks.

work.

The printing provided for in this resolution is not covered by any general law. That, the committee have already decided and reported to this body. This printing is not disposed of; and the question is, What disposition will the Senate make of it? The gentleman says we are in hot haste; that we are too early; that an effort is made by this resolution to reward a partisan press. The honorable Senator certainly forgets that at the last session of Congress he himself proposed in the Committee on Printing to give this very work to the Republic. Hot haste! It was not too early at the last session of Congress to agitate the question.

Mr. SMITH. As the honorable Senator never has attended any of the meetings of the Committee on Printing, I presume he makes the statement that I was in favor of giving the printing of the census returns to the Republic on the authority of others. All I have to say is, that the gentleman is entirely misinformed.

Mr. BRIGHT. If I am not correct I hope the chairman of the Committee on Printing will cor

rect me.

Mr. BORLAND. I presume the statement of

the Senator from Indiana was made on informa

tion received from me. He is mistaken, however, in supposing that I said the Senator from Connecticut proposed to give this printing to the Republic. I did say that the Senator from Connecticut was in favor of the proposition made by the Superintendent of the Census to leave the printing to him, and have it executed at that time. Whether he would have had it done at the Republic office or elsewhere I do not know. But the Superintendent of the Census did express a wish-and that subject came before the committee-to be permitted to have the printing executed as he might think proper at that time. The committee decided that an arrangement of that sort could not be entered into, because the census bill itself, after providing for the execution of the preliminary printing, required that the report of a plan for publishing the census should be made to Congress at the present session, and that the printing of the census returns should be done as this Congress should direct. Therefore they did not feel authorized to enter into any arrangement, or give their assent to anything of that kind. I then understood the Senator from Connecticut, and I now understand him, to have been in favor of the arrangement proposed by the Superintendent of the Census.

Mr. SMITH. I wish to say a word on this subject. It is very unusual, I believe, to bring into the Senate conversations in the rooms of the committees of this body.

Mr. SMITH. I was not going to extend my remarks further; but I wished to say that if I felt at liberty to bring the matters to which I have al

doubt with regard to the position which I now occupy, and ever have occupied, on this subject. Mr. CLARKE. If the honorable Senator from Indiana will give way, I will move an adjourn

ment.

Mr. BRIGHT. I desire to conclude what little I have to say on this subject this evening. I think I see a disposition on the part of the Senate to vote on the resolution this evening.

Mr. DAWSON, Mr. CLARKE, and others. You cannot get a vote to-night.

Mr. BADGER. I hope the Senator will give way. It is now late.

Mr. BRIGHT. I yield.

On motion, the Senate adjourned.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. MONDAY, January 12, 1852. The House met at twelve o'clock, m. The Journal of Friday last was read and approved.

Mr. CLINGMAN. There is, I understand, upon the Speaker's table a bill which has been returned from the Senate with an important amendment. It is the bill making appropriation for the repair of the Capitol. It ought to be acted upon; and if there be any objection, I shall move a suspension of the rules, with a view of taking it up, and in order that we may act upon the amendment of the Senate.

THE LAWS OF NEW MEXICO. The SPEAKER. The first business in order is the proposition to reconsider the vote by which the laws of the Territory of New Mexico were ordered to be printed. That being a privileged motion, it must be first disposed of before a motion to suspend the rules can be entertained.

Mr. WEIGHTMAN. I was not, Mr. Speaker, in my place when this debate took place, and when the gentleman from Arkansas [Mr. JOHNsoN] made his motion to reconsider the order to print the laws of New Mexico; and I hope if he be not prevented by any important matter of principle from so doing, that he will withdraw his opposition. I am desirous that any suspicion, which may be harbored in the mind of any gentleman upon this floor, in reference to the laws of New Mexico that they contain anything hostile or anything inconsistent with the existence of the most kindly respect towards the Government and people of the United States-may be discharged by the fullest investigation. The gentleman from Arkansas, [Mr. JOHNSON,] and other gentlemen, are, I believe, mistaken in supposing that these laws have ever been printed. Heretofore the laws of the Kearny code, as it is called, were reenacted in such words as these: "And all that portion of the Kearny code and laws of Mexico, not inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States and the laws passed by this Legislature, are

man can find upon this subject. They never have