Speech
The enlightened view which the Senate has taken of the great events which have lately transpired, and of their probable influence upon the interest and destiny of the United States, displays wisdom and patriotism, worthy of that dignified body. Their favorable notice of my official conduct in the recent emergency, receives the most respectful acknowledgments; & a continuance of their... Continue Reading
Recipient: New York Senate
Sketch of the debate in the Senate on Tuesday last on the bill "to abolish imprisonment for debt and to prevent frauds against creditors."
Mr. Van Buren said, that it had long been his opinion that imprisonment for debt was cruel, oppressive, impolitic and unnecessary—that this opinion was the result of practical observation, and of much experience and reflection.— Such, too, had been the opinion... Continue Reading
Sender: MVB
Extract from a speech delivered by Martin Van Buren, in the Senate of the United States, on the 28th December 1823, on the introduction of a proposition to amend the Constitution of the United States in relation to the choice of President and Vice President. Reported for the National Intelligencer.
Having said this much upon that branch of the subject, Mr. V. B. would proceed to state briefly,... Continue Reading
Sender: MVB
Mr. Van Buren, of New York, said, that it had not been his intention to add any thing to the remarks he had heretofore submitted on the motion now under consideration, but some explanation on his part had become necessary. It would, he thought, be injustice, as well to his constituents as to himself, to suffer the new views which had been taken of the subject by his honorable colleague, to pass... Continue Reading
Sender: MVB
Mr. Van Buren said he was in the minority on the committee that reported this bill, and subsequent reflection had confirmed him in the opinion that the bill ought not to pass. Before the State of Alabama was admitted into the Union, she was required to pass an ordinance that the then navigable waters within her territories should be forever free from toll or exaction to her own citizens, and to... Continue Reading
Sender: MVB
Mr. Van Buren rose, in pursuance of notice given on Wednesday last, to ask leave to introduce a joint resolution, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, on the subject of the power of Congress to make roads and canals. He said he was as much opposed as any man, to frequent alterations of the form of government under which we live, but he would make no apology for... Continue Reading
Sender: MVB
Mr. Van Buren, of New York, rose and said, that pursuant to the notice he had heretofore given, he would now ask leave to introduce a resolution proposing an amendment of the Constitution of the United States on the subject of the election of President and Vice President of the United States. Should the permission he asked be granted, it was his intention further to move that the resolution he... Continue Reading
Sender: MVB
imprisonment for debt.
The following is the substance of his speech in the Senate of the United States in favor of the bill for abolishing Imprisonment for Debt:
"He said that his preference for the bill was founded on an entire conviction that whilst it secured to the creditor means for the collection of his debt of far greater efficacy than those now allowed by law, it would, in all the cases... Continue Reading
Sender: MVB
Mr. Van Buren delivered an argument of than an hour's length, in support of the object the bill. He laid down the principle that imprisonment for debt, as practised in this country, is inoperative as a remedy, unnecessarily rigorous, unjust, and ought to be abolished, in regard to debtors involving no fraud or breach of trust to the public of an individual, and this principle he defended with... Continue Reading
Sender: MVB
Mr. Van Buren said, that before the Convention resolved itself into a committee of the whole, he wished to submit a plan, for the ultimate division of the state into senatorial districts, and to provide for their election until that was done. Being chairman of the committee of the whole, this, he said, was the only course for him to bring it before the Convention, and without entering into a... Continue Reading
Sender: MVB
Mr. Van Buren said, that as the vote he should now give on what was called the highway qualification, would be different from what it had been on a former occasion, he felt it a duty to make a brief explanation of the motives which governed him. The qualifications reported by the first committee, were of three kinds, viz: the payment of a money tax—the performance of military duty, and working on... Continue Reading
Sender: MVB
Mr. Van Buren said he would briefly reply to some of the observations which had fallen from the honourable gentleman from Columbia, (Judge Van Ness,) and would also add a few words, in answer to the suggestion of his venerable friend from Queens, (Mr. King.)
The honourable gentleman from Columbia had examined and discussed the matter with a degree of zeal and ability proportionate to the very... Continue Reading
Sender: MVB
Mr. Van Buren said, there was a variety of opinions as to the proper place for the depository of the appointing power. Those who advocated the propriety of placing it in the governor and senate, did not appear to be satisfied with the system which they advocated. He was anxious, before the question was decided, to remove their embarrassment by designating the extent of power which was to be... Continue Reading
Sender: MVB
Mr. Van Buren, (chairman of the committee upon this subject) gave a general view of the reasons which had influenced the select committee in adopting the report now under consideration. The subject was one surrounded with numerous difficulties; some of which were intrinsic and not to be avoided by any course that could be devised. They had framed a system, which, after much reflection, appeared... Continue Reading
Sender: MVB
Mr. Van Buren, said he was opposed to the amendment under consideration, offered by the gentleman from Albany, (Chief Justice Spencer;) and he would beg the indulgence of the committee, for a short time, while he should attempt to explain the reasons, which, in his opinion, required its rejection. The extreme importance which the honorable mover had attached to the subject, and the somber and... Continue Reading
Sender: MVB
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