We have chosen an elective Government, said Mr. A., and if it were meant to be kept pure, they must encourage the people to make choice of such men, without respect to fortune, as they think will serve them best, but if instead of providing a suitable household for the President, they left him to provide for himself in this respect, men of large fortune only could engage in this part of the public service. And would this, he asked, be doing honor to the Republican Government? He thought not.
The question for striking out was put and negatived—55 to 36. The committee then rose, and when the question was about to be put in the House—
Mr. Gallatin said, the provision of the bill left it to the discretion of the President whether he would expend the whole of the money, or not. His opinion was, that the sum was too large; but the question for striking it out having been negatived, the expenditure must be left to the discretion of the President. He did not mean to go into any detail. He did not wish to place the gentleman coming into office in a worse situation than that of him who was going out; and as he felt no objection to leave it to the President to make use of the whole or a part of this money, as his discretion should direct, he should vote for the bill.
Mr. Claiborne said, as provision had been made for furniture for the gentleman now in office, he was inclined to vote for the fourteen thousand dollars proposed now to be granted for the same purpose to the gentleman who was to succeed him.
Mr. Henderson wished to give his reasons for voting against this bill. He wished to place the President coming into office in as comfortable circumstances as he who was going out; but it appeared to him that the sum proposed was larger than necessary for this purpose. Indeed, said Mr. H., when he read an article of the constitution touching this subject, he had his doubts with respect to the constitutionality of the proceeding. That article said, "that the President should receive a compensation which should neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he should have been elected; and that he should not receive within that period any other emoluments from the United States, or any of them."
Mr. Sitgreaves believed there could be no doubt as to the constitutionality of the proposed grant of money, as the clause ran, "during the period for which he should have been elected," which would not prevent them from passing any number of acts before he went into office.
The question on the passing of the bill was then taken by yeas and nays, and stood 63 to 27, as follows:
Yeas.—Fisher Ames, Theodorus Bailey, Abraham Baldwin, Theophilus Bradbury, Daniel Buck, Dempsey Burges, Thomas Claiborne, Joshua Coit, William Cooper, William Craik, Samuel W. Dana, James Davenport, George Dent, George Ege, Abiel Foster, Dwight Foster, Nathaniel Freeman, junior, Albert Gallatin, Ezekiel Gilbert, Nicholas Gilman, Henry Glenn, Chauncey Goodrich, Roger Griswold, William B. Grove, Robert Goodloe Harper, Carter B. Harrison, Thomas Hartley, William Hindman, John Wilkes Kittera, George Leonard, Edward Livingston, Samuel Lyman, William Lyman, James Madison, Francis Malbone, Andrew Moore, Frederick A. Muhlenberg, William Vans Murray, John Nicholas, John Page, Josiah Parker, John Patton, Elisha R. Potter, John Read, John Richards, Samuel Sewall, John S. Sherburne, Samuel Sitgreaves, Thompson J. Skinner, Jeremiah Smith, Nathaniel Smith, Isaac Smith, Israel Smith, William Smith, Richard Sprigg, junior, Thomas Sprigg, John Swanwick, Zephaniah Swift, George Thatcher, John E. Van Allen, Philip Van Cortlandt, Peleg Wadsworth, and John Williams,
Nays.—Thomas Blount, Nathan Bryan, Samuel J. Cabell, Gabriel Christie, John Clopton, Isaac Coles, Jesse Franklin, James Gillespie, Christopher Greenup, Andrew Gregg, Wade Hampton, John Hathorn, Jonathan N. Havens, John Heath, Thomas Henderson, James Holland, Andrew Jackson, George Jackson, Aaron Kitchell, Matthew Locke, Nathaniel Macon, John Milledge, Anthony New, Alexander D. Orr, Robert Rutherford, William Stradwick, and Richard Winn.