442 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 



claim it — that which, in express terms, permits new States 

 to bo admitted into the Union. 



Mr. Adams. I presume the gentleman considers that a 

 constructive power ; and if so, it will answer for what it is 

 worth. He (Mr. Adams) could find in the Constitution many 

 clauses besides that authorizing Congress to provide for the 

 common defence and general welfare. What means more 

 efficient to this end than the increase and diffusion of knowl- 

 edge among men. 



Mr. Adams further opposed the application proposed by 

 the bill under consideration to the ordinary purposes of edu- 

 cation, on the ground of inequality of the benefits it would 

 confer — the State of Massachusetts, (a fact of which he was 

 proud,) the State of J^ew York, the " Empire State," and 

 Virginia, another empire State, (to whose citizens our pres- 

 ent Minister to Brazil, before he left the country, addressed 

 a letter, calling on them to tax themselves for the education 

 of their children — for which he should honor him, if 

 he had never done anything else in his life,) and other 

 States — having themselves made provision for the education 

 of their children, so that they would not thank Congress 

 for making this application of this fund. The State of In- 

 diana, from which the gentleman [Mr. Owen] came, who 

 reported this bill, had property enough to take care of her 

 own children, without w^astingthis fund for such a purpose. 



lie would say nothing further of other provisions of the 

 bill. Some of them were proper, others were not. But an 

 experience of eight or ten years, since we received this 

 money, had shown him, that whenever distinguished scien- 

 tific men were called upon for their opinions, scarcely two 

 agreed. 



In addition to the application of a portion of this fund to 

 the science of astronomy, there was another provision which 

 he found, and which he was happy to see this bill made, 

 viz : that no portion of the fund should be appropriated — 

 that it should be a perpetual fund. It was the interest 

 which was to be applied. 



But in the meantime, while this delay had taken place, 

 he was delighted that an astronomical observatory" — not 

 perhaps so great as it should have been — had been smuggled 

 into the number of the institutions of the country, under 

 the mask of a small depot for charts, &c. There was not 

 one word about it in the law. He would like to ask the 

 gentleman from South Carolina, [Mr. Sims,] where was the 

 power under the Constitution to make this appropriation ? 



Mr. Sims said, he did not know : but since the doc- 



