The question was then taken on this amendment, and it was adopted.

The question then recurred on the adoption of the amendment of Mr. BENTON as amended. The yeas and nays having been ordered, they were as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Bell, Benton, Bradbury, Bright, Clarke, Clay, Cooper, Corwin, Davis of Mississippi, Dayton, Dodge of Wisconsin, Dodge of Iowa, Downs, Felch, Foote, Green, Hale, Hamlin, Houston, Hunter, Morton, Spruance, Underwood and Whitcomb-24.

NAYS-Messrs. Atchison, Badger, Baldwin, Berrien, Borland, Butler, Cass, Chase, Davis of Massachusetts, Dawson, Dickinson, Jones, King, Mangum, Norris, Pearce, Sebastian, Seward, Smith, Sturgeon, Turney, Upham, Walker, Webster, and Yulee -25.

So the amendment was not agreed to.

Mr. WEBSTER. I wish to say to the honorable members from Missouri and Mississippi that I voted against the amendment proposing the establishment of a mint in California because I thought it would embarrass the whole question and cause a great deal of dispute. I am in favor, however, of establishing assay offices, as many as may be necessary, and I think a proposition of that kind would meet with general concurrence.

Mr. MANGUM. I entirely concur with the view just expressed by the Senator from Massachusetts. I voted against this amendment with great reluctance, because I feel the great necessity which exists for the establishment of assaying offices in California, but I do not see the necessity of establishing a mint there.

Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi. I am sorry to differ with the distinguished gentlemen on the other side of the Chamber on this point. I think now is the time to establish a mint. We have delayed too long to perform those functions which devolved upon us after the accession of the territory, and it is because we have not performed those functions, because we have left them without those provisions to which they were entitled at our hands, that they have taken upon themselves the power of forming a government, and one of the very things which they wished to attain was a mint, so as to be relieved from those evils which every miner in California now feels. We have been derelict in our duty to the people of California. We have not met the obligations which were imposed upon us by the treaty with Mexico, to provide government for the people of these terri

tories, and with that government also to establish custom-houses and light-houses, and other conveniences and requirements which the people had a right to expect from a Government holding a guardian care over them.

On motion by Mr. DICKINSON, the Senate proceeded, as in Committee of the Whole, to the consideration of the bill to establish a branch of the mint of the United States in the city of New York.

Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi, offered the following amendment:

SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That there shall be established two assaying offices, one at Stockton, on the San Joaquin river, and the other at Sacramento, on the Sacramento river, in California; for each of which said offices there shall be appointed, on the nomination of the President, and with the advice and consent of the Senate, one treasurer and one assayer, and one melter and refiner, and each of said treasurers shall be authorized to employ and engage one clerk, and as many subordinate workmen and servants for the service of his office as may be provided by law.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That each of said assaying offices shall be a place of deposit for such public money as the Secretary of the Treasury may direct, and the treasurer thereof shall have the custody of the same, and shall perform the duties of an assistant treasurer of the United States, and shall be subject to all the provisions of the act approved 6th of August, 1846, entitled "An act to provide for the better organization of the Treasury, and for the collection, safe-keeping, transfer, and disbursement of the public revenue," which are applicable to the treasurer of the branch mint at New Orleans, and shall receive for his services an annual compensation of $5,000.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the assayers and melters, and refiners authorized by this act shall perform such duties, in assaying and fixing the value of gold or bullion in grains or in lumps, and in forming the same into bars, either for individuals, companies, or the Government, as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and shall each receive for his services an annual compensation of $4,000.

SEC. 10 And be it further enacted, That all deposits of gold or bullion in either of said offices for assay shall be with the treasurer thereof, who shall estimate the whole value of each deposit, and deliver to the depositor, under his hand, a certificate of such value, which certificate shall entitle the holder to the gold or bullion so deposited for assay, subject to such charges and deductions, if any, as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury.

SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That there shall be al

lowed to each of the clerks authorized by this act an annual compensation of $3,000, and to each of the subordinate workmen and servants, not exceeding twenty, such wages and allowances as are customary and reasonable, according to their respective stations and duties, and as shall be authorized by the Secretary of the United States Treasury.

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the officers and clerks herein provided for shall, previously to entering on the discharge of their duties, each of them take an oath, or make affirmation, before some justice of the peace, to support the Constitution of the United States, which oath or affirmation shall be deposited in the Treasury Department.

SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the sum of $50,000 be, and the same is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of establishing the assaying offices aforesaid.

Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi. I do not think the establishment of an assay office in California is incompatible with the establishment of a mint at San Francisco. Indeed, so far otherwise is the effect, that the very amendment, with conditions, was offered as an amendment to the proposition of the Senator from Missouri to establish a mint at San Francisco. It but comes in aid of a mint at San Francisco. It is the establishment of an assay office at the mines, where the miner will have a chance to obtain the true value of his gold dust from an office in the vicinity, instead of being compelled to go himself, or employ an agent to go to San Francisco. It is for the benefit of the laborer in the mines that the office should be established near the mines, and would be a saving to him of not less than two dollars on every ounce of gold dust. It is to relieve the laborer of this great loss that I propose these assay offices. I think the assay offices more necessary than the mint, and that for the interest of the miner the assay offices are indispensable, while for the interest of the Government the mint would also be advantageous. I think there is no greater mistake than to suppose that the gold will come in bars to the United States, and that the coin will flow in the channels of commerce. The reverse is certainly true. If we coin the gold in California, it will have a tendency to come to the United States, and it will only go into foreign countries when it exists in such excess as to cause it to be recoined abroad. The gold bar goes equally into all the world, and the gold bar, much more than the gold coin, will be sent to foreign countries through all the channels of commerce. But this is not a

matter of very great importance. I never have desired to see gold accumulated in the United States more than in other countries. I believe that was the cause of the downfall of Spain in the time of Ferdinand and Isabella. I would prefer that the precious metals should not exist in excess here.

In reply to the remark of the Senator from Kentucky, I would say we shall need an assay office if a mint is established at San Francisco, and the gold bars will come to the United States as much as our commerce demands, and beyond that we have no right to it. I would say I think we require three mints only in the United States: one in New York, one in New Orleans, and the other in California, wherever the point may be.

Mr. UNDERWOOD. I did not intend to make at this time any remarks on the merits of this proposition; but after the suggestions of the Senator from Mississipi, I will make one or two. This gold dust, furnished from California, must be carried somewhere, either in the United States or out of the United States. I prefer the coining of it in the United States, giving the American stamp to all the currency which may grow out of the discoveries of gold in California. If it be coined in the United States, the next question which presents itself is, where it is to be coined? I presume most of the Senators will agree with me as to the propriety of having it coined at home. The question will then be, where shall it be coined? It must either be done in California, or it must be brought to the Atlantic shores, to some of our cities here to be coined. Now, it seems to me that it is for the interest of those who dig the gold at the mines to have convenient places where it can be converted into coin. But there must be some limit to these places where it shall be coined. You cannot have a mint in all the various diggings in California. The Government can scarcely be called upon to erect a mint for the accommodation of these people every hundred miles, or every two hundred miles, when we are informed the gold region extends over five hundred miles. What limit shall we prescribe to the erection of mints? Will you have more than one?

Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi. I do not propose any in this amendment. There is no proposition to establish a mint in California by this amendment; it is to establish assaying offices; and if the Senator will indulge me, I will tell him where the points are which are proposed. The gold region lies in a valley between primitive ridges of mountains, and is from ten to twenty miles in width. The valley in which the gold dust is found is drained by two rivers, one running from the north and the

other from the south. Upon each of these rivers it is proposed to erect assaying offices, to which the miners may have access. But between the mines upon these rivers, so draining this whole extent of valley, there is no intercourse, no trade. Each has a trade with San Francisco, but no trade with each other. It is for this reason that the points have been selected which are indicated in the amendment.

Eulogy of Jefferson Davis on the life and character of Senator F. H. Elmore. May 31, 1850.

Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi. Mr. President, the close personal friendship subsisting between myself and the deceased constitutes at once a disqualification on my part for speaking of him, and an impelling power which will not permit me to remain in silence. My acquaintance with him commenced some twelve years ago; during a part of that time I have been on intimate terms with him, and may be permitted to express my concurrence in what has been said of him on this occasion. He has been truly portrayed as one in whose character was blended firmness and gentleness, wisdom and modesty. These were his characteristics; and above all, directing and controlling all, there was that stern devotion to duty, that single appliance to whatever was the task before him, which constitutes one of the great elements of every public character, distinguished for virtue and public usefulness. It was this devotion to duty in the sphere alluded to by his colleague which no doubt shattered his constitution, and thus terminated his life. On the bed from which he never rose, when wasted by disease and racked by pain, that principle which caused him to devote head and heart to his duty still ruled supreme over physical suffering and exhaustion. I saw him but a short time before his death. His first words to me then were those which pointed to the current business of the Senate, and to those interests of which he felt himself to be more immediately the representative, and of which we know he was so true, so able, and so faithful an advocate. The country loses much in losing such a citizen; the Senate loses much in losing such a member; his State loses much in losing such a representative. But there is a deeper grief, a greater loss, a darker pall spread over his bereaved family. The veil which excludes that sacred grief from public contemplation, yet permits us to offer our hearts' best sympathy with the mourners' affliction.

I feel, Mr. President, that I am utterly disqualified for the