USA > New Hampshire > History of New Hampshire, Volume III > Part 6
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While at Marshfield, October 24, 1852, his life was ebbing away, like the flowing back of the mighty sea he so much loved, Daniel Webster aroused himself enough to say, "I still live." He wanted to maintain consciousness to the end, to go through death alive. He accomplished it; he still lives. In the annals of his country his words and deeds can never be blotted out. His native State has honored his memory by placing his statue in the commanding position in front of her State House. Dartmouth College has recognized her obligation by erecting Webster Hall. The place of his birth is public property, dedi- cated to patriotism by loving rememberance. His imperfections will be forgotten or interpreted so as to show good intent. His defense of the Constitution and of the Union, in masterful thought and utterance, still lives in the grateful memories of in- creasing millions.
Chapter V
DEATH OF THE FEDERALIST PARTY
Chapter V
DEATH OF THE FEDERALIST PARTY.
Effect of the Hartford Convention-Protective Tariff after the War of 1812 -Administration of Governor Plumer-He Recommends Decreased Salaries-Tempest of 1815-Building of the State House-Visit of President Monroe-Governor Samuel Bell-Corporations in 1819-The Toleration Act-Condition of Banks in the State-Contest over the Pro- posed Admission of Missouri as a Slave State-Deaf and Dumb Sent to Hartford Asylum-Levi Woodbury's Report on Pauperism-Capital Employed in Manufactures-The Cyclone of 1821-Report on the Cause and Prevention of Crime-Internal Improvements not Authorized by the General Constitution-Levi Woodbury Chosen Governor-Sketch of Governor Woodbury-The New Hampshire Historical Society Incor- porated-Revolt against the Political Machine-David L. Morrill Elected -Sketch of Governor Morrill-Visit of General Lafayette-His Speech at Concord-Defective Returns-The Aims of Republican Govern- ment-Multiplication of Academies, Libraries and Musical Societies.
T HE Hartford convention was the last expiring gasp of the Federalist party, which had been moribund for a long time. It was never popular, and nobody but office-holders and the privileged classes bemoaned it. After the War of 1812 for some years there was no political competition. The Republicans had everything their own way. William Plumer was elected gov- ernor in 1816 and reelected the two years following. At his first election he had 20,338 votes, and his competitor, Hon. James Sheafe of Portsmouth, had 17,994. In his first message Gov- ernor Plumer recommended that certain industries should be freed from taxation for a time. The reason was apparent.
During the war premiums and encouragements had been offered by various States to induce capitalists to invest their money in manufactories. As a consequence it has been estimated that $200,000,000 of goods were manufactured in the United States in two years. The number of cotton spindles increased ten-fold. Within thirty miles of Providence, Rhode Island, there were one hundred and forty factories, that con- sumed 20,000 bales of cotton, turning out products valued at
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six million dollars. After the war imports flowed in rapidly. From 1814 to 1816 they rose from $12,000,000 to $147,000,000. Hence arose the cry for a protective tariff, and one was enacted, imposing an average duty of twenty-five per cent ad valorem on imports. On luxuries the duty was thirty-five per cent. Our industries were comparatively new and wages were higher here than in England. Foreign goods, stored up during the years of war, sought a market at the lowest possible figure, and our new manufactories had to be helped in order to survive the cut-throat competition. Governor Plumer pointed out that a nation could not grow strong and independent by agriculture alone; it must learn to make almost all the goods it needs. It is interesting here to note that economists are now foretelling that at the close of the present European War the American markets will be glutted with foreign goods, unless a prohibitive tariff is imposed. The lessons of one hundred years ago should be of some service for present guidance.
Governor Plumer, in his message, called attention to a growing evil. The salary of the governor had been nearly doubled and that of the justices was more than double what it had formerly been. He said, "Whenever the salaries in a republic are raised so high as to excite a spirit of avarice, and induce men to seek office from sordid motives, it has a direct tendency to extinguish public spirit, and to destroy the laudable ambition of holding office for the noble purpose of promoting the public good. It tends to multiply the number of office- seekers, increase intrigue and corruption, produce extravagance and luxury in the officers; and their influence insensibly leads others to imitate their pernicious example, till it destroys the simplicity and changes the manners and habits of the people. This is an evil pregnant with danger to a free government. It was the observation of a man, not less eminent for his talents as a statesman than his knowledge as a historian, That high salar- ies are evidence of the decline of republicanism in a state. Indeed, no government can long subsist but upon its original foundation, and by a frequent recurrence to the principles on which it was first instituted. I therefore recommend to your consideration the propriety of reducing the salaries of the gov- ernor, the justices of the supreme court, and the treasurer." Yet the salary of the chief justice was then only fifteen hundred
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dollars per annum, and that of the associates was twelve hun- dred. We do not read that the governor's recommendation was heeded by the legislature. Public officials have been known to increase their own salaries and even draw "back pay," but to cut down the salaries of offices that some legislators hope to fill is almost an unheard of thing. The multiplication of officials and the steady increase of their salaries is one of the threatening evils of a growing State. Formerly men of education, ability and social standing did the duties of mayor, alderman, school committee and other officials gratuitously, for the honor of the position and the welfare of the community, and good governors and plenty of them could be found for three hundred dollars per year. Such men will not now accept office at enlarged salaries. Why? Because Tom, Dick and Harry want the offices at sal- aries greater than they could get in any other employment, while the men of wealth and standing and brain-power prefer to quietly devote their energies to more lucrative and useful activities. Hence there is danger that we become govrned by the in- competent office-seeker and grafter, by those who like to be "dressed in a little brief authority." "We must pay enough to get the best men," it is said. No, the best men do not serve for money. Make the office honorable, and men will honor the office.
On the twenty-third of September, 1815, occurred a remark- able tempest of wind and rain, resembling what has since been known in the west as cyclones and blizzards. Trees were uprooted and buildings unroofed. Orchards were ruined, and many cattle were killed by falling trees. The tempest raged continuously for two hours. Up to that time nothing like it had been known in New Eengland.
In 1817 Governor Plumer had 19,088 votes and Hon. James Sheafe had 12,029, while Hon. Jeremiah Mason had 3,607. Laws were recommended for the relief of poor debtors and for avoid- ing litigation as much as possible. A map of the State had been made, at considerable expense, by Dr. Philip Carrigain of Concord, and the State voted large sums to assist in this work.
The building of the State House, begun in 1816, has already been briefly noticed. The lot on which it was built contained about two acres. It formerly belonged to the estate of Peter Green. On the north-east part of it stood the house of Captain Peter Robertson, which was removed to Pleasant street. The
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lot was presented to the State by citizens of Concord. The chief architect of the State House was Stuart J. Park, overseer in the erection of many public buildings and also of the Lowell railroad. He was assisted by Levi Brigham. Convicts in the State prison were employed in hammering the stone, yet the governor in one message declares that the prison was not paying its way, and that the prisoners were too well fed and clothed. The expense of building the State House, including the fences and furniture, was nearly eighty-two thousand dollars of which sum the people of Concord contributed material worth four thousand dollars. It was considered the handsomest building in the State and was visited by thousands of people. A child's book of that time contained the following description: "The State House is the grandest building in New Hampshire. It is built of hewn stone, almost as beautiful as white marble. The body of the house is much higher and longer than any meeting- house you ever saw. The windows are of the largest glass, with mahogany sashes. The front of the building has a noble projection and pediment with a large elegant door; and the whole is set off with a most beautiful cupola, with a great gold eagle on the top of it. There is a very large and beautiful yard in front of the State House, with a wide and smooth gravel walk up to it. I have seen many elegant buildings in the course of my life ; but I never saw one so elegant as the State House."1 Yet that building was but two stories high, had no pillars in front, was about one-third the size of the present State house, and its picture looks about as attractive as a well built Grammar School of the present time. It has been remodelled twice since 1819. In 1820 four stoves were ordered for it to supplement the fireplaces.
In 1817 New Hampshire was honored, as were other States, by a visit of President James Monroe. From Portsmouth a company of cavalry went out to meet him and on the Plains he reviewed a regiment of infantry. National salutes were fired. A thousand school children ushered him into town. He passed under an arch of evergreen, while the band awoke the echoes. Frost's hotel entertained him and the Hon. Jeremiah Mason made an address of welcome, to which a reply was made by the
1 Hist. of Concord, edited by James O. Lyford, p. 351.
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president in fitting words. He lodged with Mr. Wentworth. On the next day, Sunday, he went to St. John's church in the forenoon and sat in the pew where George Washington sat, when he visited Portsmouth. In the afternoon he listened to the Rev. Mr. Putnam and called on Ex-Gov. John Langdon. The President visited the navy yard and the forts in the harbor and Monday evening attended a concert given by a local musi- cal society, at Jefferson Hall.
After going as far east in Maine as Bath, the President re- entered New Hampshire and was met at the State line, probably at South Berwick, by an escort and a committee from Dover, and the Hon. Daniel M. Durell. His escort was troops from Rochester and Milton, under command of Col. Edward Sise. After a short stop at Wyatt's Hotel he went to a prepared plat- form, where an address of welcome was made by the Hon. William King Atkinson. The evening and night were passed with the Hon. Willam Hale, where many ladies and gentlemen were introduced to the President. On the eighteenth of July he proceeded to Concord. Governor Plumer was sick with a fever and wrote him a letter of regret and welcome.
He was greeted at Concord, then a town of two thousand four hundred inhabitants, by an artillery salute and companies of the militia as escort. A committee of the citizens met him on the border of the town. The Hon. Thomas W. Thompson made the address of welcome, to which the President responded. At the dinner he gave as a toast, "The town of Concord, may its inhabitants continue to flourish and prosper," a safe and decor- ous toast for any town. In the evening he attended a concert in the old North Church, decorated especially for the occasion, where also he worshiped on the following Sunday. His stay included a trip on a pleasure boat to Garvin's Falls and return by carriage.
President Monroe traveled by chaise and made the trip from Concord to Hanover in a day, arriving there at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, although he paused at Enfield to salute the Shaker settlement. Military officers, troops and citizens in great number had assembled to meet him. He left his chaise and rode on horseback into the town. Near the meeting house he dismounted and passed between lines extending quite across the
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College Campus. There were the usual addresses, and festivi- ties and applause. From this point the President passed over into Vermont.2
Such tours by the early Presidents, before the days of rail- roads, were events even greater than to-day. They represented much hardship of travel and a desire to learn the condition of the people and their needs. The presidential visit was not mainly a political advertisement. Citizens of all shades of opin- ion united in doing honor to the nation's Chief.
At the State election of 1819 the Hon. Samuel Bell re- ceived 13,761 votes and the Hon. William Hale had 8,660, with over one thousand scattering. Samuel Bell, born in London- derry February 9, 1770, was grandson of John Bell, who was one of the Scotch-Irish that settled that town. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1793 and after studying law with Sam- uel Dana at Amherst he began to practise at Francestown, whence he removed to Chester. He was speaker of the house of representatives in 1808 and was made a judge of the State su- preme court in 1816, holding that office for three years. He was governor of the State from 1819 to 1823. At the end of that period he was elected to the United States senate, where he remained till 1835. In January, 1833, both house and senate of New Hampshire, by a large majority, voted to request him to resign his office as senator, since he no longer represented the views and wishes of those who elected him. He died in Chester December 23, 1850. He served as trustee of Dartmouth Col- lege, and Bowdoin College gave him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. Five sons of his attained some degree of emi- nence, and the Bell family ranks with the old Wentworth family in political and social leadership.
A report made to the legislature in 1819 shows briefly the progress made in the State, as indicated by the corporations created since the year 1776. These were twenty-two academies, five agricultural societies, ten banking companies, fifty-three bridge societies, eighteen canal companies, eight engine com- panies, four insurance companies, one hundred and sixty-one libraries, five masonic lodges, twenty-eight manufactories of
2 Condensed from "The Tour of James Monroe," by S. Putnam Waldo, Hartford, 1818.
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cotton and woolen goods, ten manufactories of other articles, twenty-seven musical societies, ninety-five societies of a relig- ious nature, fifty-two turnpike road societies, and thirty-nine societies of various kinds, not classed, making a total of five hundred and forty-seven corporations. These indicate much activity, religious, educational, social and industrious. The amount of untaxed property represented by these corporations, chiefly educational institutions and manufactories, was $1,112,- 333, and much more had been exempted from taxation for a term of years.3
During this year was completed what has been called the Toleration Act. From the beginning of colonial existence towns had been taxed for building meeting houses and support- ing ministers of the Congregational denomination, and every- body was required by law to go to meeting on Sunday. Some exceptions were allowed, in the case of Quakers and later of Baptists. Now many were getting tired of paying taxes for what they did not want, and there was a demand for religious corporations known as poll parishes. The Reverend Dan Young of Lisbon, Methodist local preacher and member of the senate for five years, persistently labored for religious freedom and proposed bills repealing the old laws and allowing volun- tary associations to build meeting houses and settle ministers of their own choice. His proposals were defeated for the first three years, but gained gradually in supporters, till, in 1819, a bill presented by Dr. Thomas Whipple of Wentworth, passed into a legisaltive act, in the first session held in the new State House. Henceforth religion was free and the conscience of the individual, that is, his enlightened or unenlightened reason, de- termined what kind he would have and how much he should pay for it. Ever since many have wanted little and have paid noth- ing, but the genuinely religious have paid so much more than they ever paid before, that the various denominations have built too many meeting houses and too poorly supported their min- isters in many cases, though the ministerial salaries on the whole have been better since the Toleration Act than they were before. All kinds of voluntary religion are better than one State-regulated kind; indeed, unless religion is the voluntary
3 House Journal for 1819, pp. 79-81.
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choice of the individual, it is a misnomer. Still some of the na- tions of Europe are struggling with the problem of State- religion, loth to learn from the successful experiments of American States.
In the election of 1820 Governor Bell had scarcely any op- position, receiving 22,212 votes out of the 24,771 cast. David L. Morrill and William Hale had each nearly six hundred votes. In his message to the House Governor Bell called attention to the evils of intemperance and urged that the sale of intoxicating liquors be checked, the first time anything of this sort had been given such prominence.
The condition of the banks incorporated in the State was reported to the legislature. They were the Cheshire Bank, at Keene, two banks at Concord, the Coos Bank at Haverhill, the Exeter Bank, the New Hampshire Bank at Portsmouth, the New Hampshire Union Bank of the same place, the Ports- mouth Bank, the Rockingham Bank at Portsmouth, the New Hampshire at Portsmouth and the Strafford Bank at Dover. All were found to be solvent, except the New Hampshire Bank at Ports- mouth. The amount of the capital stock of the ten banks was $939,- 936. At this time an effort was being made to restrict United States Banks to the District of Columbia, and the State of Pennsyl- vania was sending a proposed amendment to the Constitution to the several States for their endorsement, favoring such restric- tion. The New Hampshire legislature voted against the proposal.4
The legislature of 1820 received a long communication from the Virginia Assembly, arguing for the admission of Missouri as a slave-holding State, basing their argument on the Constitu- tion and the Purchase of Louisiana. The reply of New Hamp- shire shows that then the opposition to slavery was growing intense. Both arguments are subtle and ably stated. That of New Hampshire, written by Hon. Jeremiah Mason, says that "slavery is prohibited by the immutable law of nature, which is obligatory as well on States as individuals. The establishing or permitting slavery by a State being thus morally wrong, the right to do it, instead of being essential to its sovereignty, can- not exist; except only in cases where slavery having been
4 House Journal for 1820, pp. 107, 172, 323.
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already introduced cannot be suddenly abolished without great danger to the community. Under such circumstances it must of necessity be tolerated for a time as the sole means of self- preservation. This painful necessity may justify the temporary continuance of slavery in certain States of the Union, where it now exists. But in the opinion of the Committee nothing can justify the unnecessary extension of this great evil to newly formed States. . . The toleration of slavery in a portion of our common country has long furnished matter of reproach on our national character. Strong hopes were entertained, that instead of the zeal now shown for enlarging the sphere of its baneful operation, suitable measures would have been adopted for its gradual abolition. Congress, having the power, is bound by considerations of justice and humanity and by regard to the general welfare of the nation, to prevent the further extension of the evil." Therefore the Senate and House resolved "that the Congress of the United States has by the Constitution the right, in admitting new States into the Union, to prescribe the prohibition of slavery, as one of the conditions, on which such State shall be admitted, . . and that in the opinion of this Legislature the existence of slavery within the United States is a great moral as well as political evil, the toleration of which can be justified by necessity alone, and that the further exten- sion of it ought to be prevented by the due exercise of the power vested in the General Government."5
A committee appointed to inquire into the number and cir- cumstances of the deaf and dumb in the State reported that forty-seven had been found, and that the asylum for such per- sons at Hartford, Connecticut, would receive inmates at an expense of two hundred dollars each year. Later the legislature voted an appropriation of one thousand dollars, to be used at the discretion of the governor, in paying expenses of selected persons at the aforesaid institution. Nine young persons were selected by the governor, and a like amount was appropriated the following year. This policy continued for many years, the appropriation and number of students increasing.
There was scarcely any opposition to the re-election of Governor Bell in 1821. He had 22,582 votes and there were
5 Journal of the House for 1820, pp. 41-71, 153-169.
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1,866 scattering. His messages are fine illustrations of "glitter- ing generalities" but contain little that can be woven into his- tory. During the year there was a notable report, written probably by Levi Woodbury, on the Pauper Laws of the State, in which the system employed in treatment of paupers by other States and in England is discussed. The expense for the sup- port of paupers in New Hampshire in 1800 was about seventeen thousand dollars, and there was one pauper to three hundred and thirty inhabitants. This sum does not include incidental and legal cost. In the year 1820 the expense had increased to eighty thousand dollars, and there was one pauper to one hun- dred inhabitants. Massachusetts then had a pauper to sixty-six inhabitants and in England one inhabitant in every five was a pauper. Increase in poverty far outstripped increase in popula- tion, and when once a State or nation assumes the responsibility of clothing and feeding and sheltering all its inhabitants, an ever increasing multitude claims such support. England had "three millions of famished beggars, fed from the hand of public charity," and their annual expense was $44,000,000. The com- mittee suggested some relief to the State by excluding from the beneficiaries those reduced to poverty by indolence, extrava- gance and crime, whose ranks are filled from the haunts of in- temperance, but the committee does not tell what should be done with such paupers. Must they be left to steal or starve? The problem has not yet been fully solved. The poor we have always with us, and the strong must bear the infirmities of the weak, but it is a great moral injury to help even weak people too much. It destroys self-reliance and self-respect.
Another report shows the extent of manufactures and that twelve manufacturing companies were exempted from taxation, some for five years and some for ten. They were authorized to- gether to hold property to the value of $678,000. Of this amount $533,000 were invested in Nail and Iron Factories, $25,000 in Glass, and $120,000 principally in Cotton. The largest corpora- tion was the New Hampshire Iron Factory Company with a valuation of $263,000. Next came the Haverhill and Franconia Iron Factory with a capital stock of $250,000.
New Hampshire had its cyclone on the ninth of September, 1821, the like of which has not been seen since, except in the
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western States. It is said to have been felt near Lake Cham- plain, but had little destructive force till it reached Cornish and Croydon. It passed over the towns of Sunapee, New London, Sutton and Warner to the edge of Boscawen,-a huge, whirling, inverted cone, dark, filled with debris and emitting flashes of lightning. It swept away buildings, forests and huge rocks, destroying much property and several lives. Some objects were carried thirty miles. Lake Sunapee was lowered three feet, its waters being drawn up into the whirling mass, while boards, timbers and debris were hurled into the lake. Such phenomena have gone west. New Hampshire can spare them better than she can her many sons who have gone there.6
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