BUCHANAN.
BL CHAN AN.
tional validity, in. waj's and on occasions which
may lead to an absorption of state jurisdictions.
In the next Congress Mr. Buchanan spoke twice on
the tariff — March 23 and April 9, 1834. His views
on protection were conservative. He held that
in imposing duties necessary to defray the ex-
penses of the government, care should be taken,
while extending protection to infant industries,
not to injure at the same time the interests of
the producers of wealth. In his speech m the
house he said: "The American system consists
in affording equal and just legislative protection
to all the great interests of the country. It is
no respecter of persons. It does not distinguish
between the farmer who ploiighs the soil in
Pennsjdvania and the manufacturer of wool in
New England. Being impartial it embraces all."'
He uttered grave warnings against forming
alliances with Mexico and the South American
republics, and insisted on the great importance
of Cuba, both commercially and strategically to
the United States. On questions of internal policy
Mr. Buchanan had voted for the imposing of
tolls for the svipport of the Cumberland road.
When he first had occasion to act on this subject
as a member of Congre.ss, he ^vas inclined to
accept the doctrine that Congress had power to
establish and support this road. Mr. Monroe's
veto affected him deeply, as it was the first time
he had been brought to distinguish between
federal and state powers. At a subsequent ses-
sion of Congi-ess he endeavored unsuccessfully to
have the road retroceded to the states through
which it passed, on condition that they would
support it by levying tolls. During the canvass
of 1828, in which the supporters of the adminis-
tration had taken the name of national Rejjubli-
can, and the opposition that of Democrat, Mr.
Buchanan was one of the most able and ardent
supporters of General Jackson, and it was mainly
through his influence that the twenty-eight
electoral votes of Pennsylvania were secured. In
1839 he succeeded Daniel Webster as head of the
judiciary committee, and in tliis capacity con-
ducted the trial on impeachment of Judge Peck.
In March, 1831, Mr. Buchanan retired from Con-
gress, with the avowed intention of resuming his
law practice, but President Jackson, in 1832,
appointed him envoy extraordinary and minister
plenipotentiary to St. Petersburg, and urged his
acceptance of the mission so strongly that he
could not weU decline. He sailed from New
York, April 8, 1832, on board the Silas Richards,
a sailing vessel, and reached St. Petersburg the
June follo\ving. His mission was to negotiate the
first treaty of commerce between Russia and the
United States, to establish a tariff system and to
provide for consuls. He was thirty-eight j^ears
old when he undertook this important commis-
sion, and although without official experience in
diplomacy, he had been a close student of the
diplomatic history of his own country and of
pu))lic law, and what he did not know about
trade between Russia and the United States he
mastered soon after reaching St. Petersburg. He
also perfected himself in the French language,
which proved of invaluable assistance to him in
conducting the negotiations. He referred to
hiuLself in a letter home, " As a tyro in dip-
lomacy, with no weapons but a little common
sense, knowledge and downright honesty — with
which to encounter the most adroit and skilful
politicians in the world." The encounter was by
no means a sinecure, but his fair mind, even
manners, and unfailing tact served him well, and
Iiy adhering tenaciously to his purpose and exer-
cising astute diplomacy in his dealings with the
diplomats, he was eventually successful in
arranging a commercial treaty by which impor-
tant privileges in the Baltic and the Black sea
were secured for the United States. He made a
warm friend of Count Nesselrode, and when the
treaty was at length accepted bj^ the cabinet,
against the strenuous opposition of some of the
members, it was, by the dexterous management
of the count, seconded by Mr. Buchanan's skilful
course and ample knowledge of the ^joints in
question. He began his journey homeward, Aug.
8, 1833. On Dec. 6, 1834, he was elected United
States senator by the Democratic members of
the Penn.sylvania legislature, to fill the unexpired
term of Senator Wilkins, resigned. In his letter
of acceptance he wrote: " I want language to
express my feelings on the i:»erusal of your kind
letter. Elevated by your free and unsolicited
suffrages to the only public station I desire to
occupy, it shall be my constant endeavor to
justify by my conduct the generous confidence
which you have thus reposed." When he took
his seat in the .senate, Dec. 15, 1834, General
Jackson was in the second term of his office, Mr.
Van Buren presided over the senate, the opposi-
tion had become con.s'olidated and classified under
the name of the Whig party as substituted for
that of national Rejiublicans ; there was a third
party known as the anti-masons, and the Whigs
controlled the senate by a two-thirds majority.
In the great struggle between President Jackson
and the Whigs, headed by Mr. Calhoun. Bu-
chanan at all times warmly defended the Presi-
dent and his claims. In the course of a speech in
defence of the President in his exercise of tlie
right to remove Presidential appointees from
office without the consent of the senate, Mr.
Buclianan said: "Washington, the elder Adams,
Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and the younger
Adams removed whom they pleased from office ;
but after the accession of Jackson to office the
