440 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 



experience since that time that convinced him very per- 

 fectly that it was not in the Treasury of the United States. 



It was the office of the amendment which he proposed, to 

 try to get it back into the Treasury, to enable the Congress 

 of the United States to redeem the pledge which they gave, 

 by the acceptance of this fund, to this nation, to the mem- 

 ory of the testator, and the civilized world, that it should 

 be faithfully applied according to the intentions of the 

 donor. The money was not in the Treasury, and could 

 not, without a violation of all reason, be considered in it. 



The question whether the Treasury of the United States, 

 or the people of the United States, were responsible for 

 this money and for its application, according to the intent 

 of the testator, Mr. Adams was understood to say, was an- 

 other question. If it were necessary now, in order to redeem 

 the plighted faith of the nation, he was ready to vote an appro- 

 priation of that amount, or of ten times that amount, to be 

 raised by a tax upon the people. But he did not think the 

 contingency had arisen, and especially that it had not arisen 

 for the application of the money to any of the purposes 

 proposed in this bill. 



He had heard with great delight the learned and ingeni- 

 ous remarks of the gentleman from Vermont [Mr. Marsh] 

 a few days since ; and especially that portion which advo- 

 cated the application of that fund ultimately to the only 

 purpose of erecting a great and magnificent library, instead 

 of the paltry application of §5,000 a year out of the more 

 than §30,000 which this sum ought to give us. There was 

 no other object to which it could be more worthily applied 

 to promote the object of the testator. 



To the main object proposed by the bill — viz : the appli- 

 cation of a large portion of the fund to the education of 

 teachers of normal schools — Mr. Adams expressed his de- 

 cided opposition. He would rather have the whole money 

 thrown into the Potomac than to appropriate one dollar for 

 that purpose. 



Mr. Adams alluded to some facts in the history of this 

 •funds, howing his own connection with it, the circumstances 

 under which it was received, the investment, three days 

 after it was received, of §500,000 in Arkansas bonds, and 

 the remainder in bonds of Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio; 

 the payment by Ohio of her interest and the failure on the 

 part of Arkansas to pay a cent of her interest, &c. 



Mr. TnuRMAN (Mr. Adams yielding) inquired for infor- 

 mation of Mr. Adams whether this investment in the bonds 



