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BY A. S. JOHNSTON. NEC DEESSE, NEC SUPERESSE REIPUBLICiE. T<WL. 84-NO; %5. COLUMBIA, S. C. JUNE 16, 1838. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. S3 PER ANNUM. COLOMBIA TS1ESOOF3 T8 PUBLISHED BY A. S. JOHNSTON, Svery Saturday JMorninf , A* I) EVERY WXDNBSD Y AXD SATURDAY MORNING D7R1NG THI SESSION OF THS tSGISLATUR* . TERMS : Three do Dafs per annum, if paid in advance, or \ J*oor doners at the end of thf^year. \ Advertisements conspicuously inserted at 75 ?cents per square for the first insertion, and 371 cents for every subsequent insertion. All advertisements ordered in the inside every publication ? or inserted Otherwise than regularly, to be charged as new lor eve* j insertion. Advertisements not having the boJfeber of insertions marked on them will be contin ued ?il! ordered out* and charged accordingly. SPEECH Of ike Him- WADDY THOMPSON South Carolina, on the Bill providing for the issuing of ten millions of Treasury XoteSr deter cred in ike House of Represen tatives , United States, Ma rjr? 1838. Mr. Chair?a5: Although sir, I regard the present as an occasion when, if ever in the history of this country, it would be justi&ab e to resort to the great conservative principle of English liberty, to withhold supplies until there was a change of measures and a redress of grievances, I am nevertheless, willing to vote tire necessary supplies to the Govern ment. I must however, be allowed to choose the mode of raising the funds- I cannot vote for a measure like that proposed, which is, in my deliberate judgement, a violation of the Constittttfob, and of evil and dangerous tendency. Howsoever and by whomsoever administered, I cannot forget that it is still the Government of my country, and entitled to all just aids from me of money, and of everv thing else. But I' will not allow any ex igency, however great? any pressure, howev er severe? to induce me, in the slightest par ticular, to violate the Constitution. The section from which I come, is the weaker interest in the confederacy; the Constitution is therefore to us literally the " ark of our covenant," and should be as sacredly kept^? Every consideration of interest is superadded, to the highest sanction under which men can act, so to watch over and protect it. As a matter of conscience and of sworn duty I can not ; as one of prudence and of policy I would not, if; I could, in the slightest particular vio late that sacred instrument. He looks but narrowly at this measure who legards it simply as a question of raising mo ney for a present emergency. No, sir, it is a part, a most important part ? the very foun dation of a new fiscal, financial, and com mercial system, which ii is intended to erect upon the ruins of all the salutary usages to which we have been accustomed, of the Con stitution itself, and of the property, prosperity, and happiness of the peo pie. A purpose, now no longer doubtful, to suppress bank notes as a currency, and to substitute in their place this (Government currency. We have been told from a higfi quarter, one entitled to all consideration, that a " mortal conflict was now waging between bank paper and metallic cur rwrcy, and that qne or the other must perish ; that the business of discount and issuing cur rency are incompatible, & explicitly that banks ought not to issue their paper as currency. These atmuflciiitions are distinct enough ; and I trust that it will not again be denied that the purpose, (no doubt mosthonestly snd patriot ically entertained,) is gradually to suppress bank notes as a currency ; yet we are told at the same time that it is not contemplated to bring the country to a currency exclusively metallic. The currency then is to be m no part bank paper, and not entirely metallic. What then ? Nothing has been proposed but this Government currency. I am no in discriminate advocate of the banking system. I know the faults and vices of that svstem, -and would rejoice to see them reiormed, yet 1 prefer k with all these faults to the terrible suffering and agony of passing through the transition from that system to a metallic cur rency. I also prefer bank currency to tins Government currency which you now pro nose to issue : ~ 1. Because I think the issue of such a pa per clearly unconstitutional. 2. It is not so good a currency as converti ble "bank paper. 3. Its tendency to excess, the great fault ot the banking system, is greater. 4. It is more expensive. 5. Its political tendencies are more dange 6. Its effects will be unequal and sectional, and specially injurious to the section from which I come. I submit sir, that these Treasury notes are bills of credit, and that this Government has no right to issue bills of credit. What is a biH of credit ? In its largest sense it means almost any evidence of debt. But in the sense in which it is used in the Constitution, it means such issues of paper upon tiie cred it of the public faith as were then in exis tence, and by which the country had been so severely scourged, now generally denomina ted continental money. That and nothing else was intended by the general designation, biHs of credit. We find the term frequently used at that period in acts of ordinary legisla tion, and why should we attach a different meaning to it when found in the Constitution . One act directs that " bills of credit be re ceived for postage other acts forbid the re ceiving of 44 bills of credit" for public dues. WTxat bills ef credit ? The only bills of credit then in existence in the country were those paper issues of the Federal and" State Gov ernments. That was what was meant by bills of credit, and nothing else. The Constitu tion was framed about the same time as these acts of ordinary legislation, and by the same men ; and there can be no pretence for saying that one thing was meant in these acts of Congress bv the terra bills of credit, and another and a different thing by the same words when used in the Constitution. It was such a currency that had caused so much ruin in. the country, and such a currency wbieh it was intended to prohibit. Is then the oaper now proposed to be issued the same as the continental money? I answer yes, in every particular, important and unimportant. It is a paper issued on the public credit, and intended to circulate as money. I can see no single point of difference but ,nt? paper on which the two are printed. The frugal ra [ habits of our fathers made them use ordina ry paper ; we use silk paper. It is said that [ these bills draw interest, and that the conti nental money did not. This, as is usual with these ardent theorists, is a mistake in point of fact. Much of the currency issued by the States, and denominated "bills of crcdit," did bear interest? that of New York for ex ample. But suppose it had not ; are gen tlemen, who profess themselves on all occa sions the exclusive friends of a strict construc tion, prepared to palter with their consciences, to evade, to cheat the Constitution, by such a contemptible fraud as making these notes draw one mill interest On an hundred dollars 7 The enlightened framers of the Constitution (say they) foresaw the evils of the Govern ment paper, and forbade us to issue such, and made us swear that we would not do that or any other act in violation of the Constitution ; t but by this paltry trick, we will evade it, and ^thus in effect do the very thing which we were sworn not to do. Shame ! Shame ! It haskeQ suggested that such a paper may be issued in another form so as to avoid the constitutional difficulty ; certificates re ceivable in payment of public dues, and not promises to pay. This, like the other, is an unworthy evasion of the highest obligations which can be imposed upon men ,and equally baseless. A large'portion of the bills of credit of the revolution were these receivable certi ficates. But in a case, long since the revo lution, the case of Craig vs. Missouri, it has been decided, and the decision sustained by unanswerable argument, that such certificates, receivable for public dues, are bills of credit, and therefore unconstitutional. The State of Missouri had issued certifi cates receivable in payment of public dues and without any promise whatever to pay. They were decided to be bills of credit and unconstitutional. Chief Justice Marshall defines a bill of credit to be " a paper issued by the sovereign authority and intended to circulate as money." Can any objection be made to the definition, or any other be given ? are these not issued by the sovereign au thority, and are they not intended to circulate as money ? Let any man answer the ques tion and put his vote upon the answer. Thompson says, there being 'no means of enforcing payment, their credit depends solely upon the faith and voluntary will of the State, and are therefore bills of credit. Is there anv means of enforcing payment of Treasury notes ? or have they any basis of credit but the public faith ? Judge Marshall says, that the great question is, are they intended to circu late as money, and that this is to be ascertain ed by the face of the act and the face of the paper. Are these notes intended to circulate as money 1 Who will have the hardihood to deny it? They are inteded to circulate as money, au issue of Government paper intend ed as monev, and actually used as money, and in no other way. One of my colleagues tells us that this is a loan, and is constitutional under the power to borrow money. Is it sir, really, and bona fide a loan ? a loan at one mill per cent, per annum. Is it by such tricks on the Constitution, that he and I hare been accustomed to construe it? We, sir, who have in time past staked our all, of life, honor, and character, in resisting a similar and less flagrant violation of the Constitution " a violation by perversion" ? which we were taught and believed was the most dangerous of all violations. No one denied the power to lay duties on imports ; but we did deny the right to pervert a power intended only to raise revenue to a power to protect manufac tures. Which perversion is the grossest ? that or the perversion of the power to borrow money into one to issue a currency ? If this is honestly intended as a loan and not as an issue of currency, why are not the certificates of stock made transferable at the Treasury, as heretofore, before the commissioner of loans, and not as is now proposed by the sim ple act of delivery ? Is it in the common transactions of life re garded as a loan when one man gives to an other his note in payment of an account ? Is the act of making money borrowing it? The Government has a right to borrow, but that right is restricted by the condition that it shall not borrow by issuing bills of credit ? bills intended to circulate as money. Could a State without a violation of the Constitution issue such ap.per? No one will say so who admits the correctness of the decision in the case referred to. If not, why not? No answer can be given. But because thev are bills of credit. For if they are not, the" states may issue them. If these notes are not bills of credit, I demand to know what are ? Give me a definition which, will not include these. Draw a form of a bill of credit which the States may not issue. 1 hat clause of the Constitution must have meant something. What manner of thing was meant bv bills of credit, if these are not bills of credit ? I do not think that the argument can be answered. If then they are bills of credit, has Congress power to issue them . It is enough for me and the school of politi cians to which I belong, that the power is not to be found in the Constitution. I am accustomed to look there for the grant, not for the prohibition of powers. But this | case is infinitely stronger. The power was inserted in the Constitution and' was stricken out by the convention, and under circum stances expressly refusing the specific power itself. On the 5th of August the committee which had been charged with the the duty of preparing a Constitution submitted their draft to the convention. In that draft was ! the following clause, taken verbatim from a 1 like clause in the articles of confederation : j ! " Congress shall have power to borrow mo ney and envti bills on the credit of the United States." On the 16th of August a motion is made to strike out the words "and emit bil s of credit," and carried, nine States to two. 1 repeat that it is enough forme that the power is not enumerated in the Constitution, nor necessary (not convenient) to any power that is granted. , But how infinitely is this ground strength ened when the power is not only not found in the Constitution as adopted, but was actu ally proposed and inserted, and afterwards stricken out on motion and debate. By an opposite rule of construction I demand to know what power it is, that is not expressly prohibited, that may not be arrogated . 1.110 constitutionality of a bank has been well i questioned on grounds infinitely less strong, as I will proceed to show. A proposition to give Congress power to grant charters of in corporation generally, was referred to a com mittee, and never afterwards acted on. The power to grant a charter of a bank was never proposed. Now it may with much plausibility be said that the convention refused to give the general and dangerous power to grant char ters as an independent power, at the same time believing, that they had given the power to charter a bank as an implied power, and as an auxiliary to granted powers. But in the case of bills of credit the very power is specially proposed and rejected. The pow er to grant charters of incorporation, was not acted on by the convention, and the pow er is now denied with great reason from the non-action of the convention. But in the case of bills of credit the question was dis tinctly acted on, the power was inserted and | was stricken out on motion. How infinitely stronger is the one case than the other. Why was the power in either c?se refused? There is no evidence in the caseof a bank, that it was refused with an in tent to deny the power. ? Bu* in the caseof Treasury notes there is. Luther Martin, a distinguished mem ber of the convention, immediately after its adjournment, when all the facts were fresh in his memory, tells the Legisla ture of Maryland that the words emit bills of credit were stricken out with the view of denying the power, and not because it was given, if it became necessary as an auxiliary power. He says in his letter to the Legislature of Maryland; "By our original articles of confederation, the Congress have power to borrow money and emit bills on the credit of the United States; agreeably to which Was the report on this system as made by the committee of detail. When we came to this part of the report, amotion was made to strike out the words * to emit bills of credit against the motion we urged, that it would be impro per to deprive the Congress of that power ; that it would be a novelty, unprecedented, to establish a government which should not have such authority. That it was impossible to look forward into futurity, so far as to decide that events might not happen that should render the exercise of such a power absolutely necessary, and that we doubted, whether, if a war should take place, it would be possible for this country to defend itself without having resource to paper credit, in which case there would be a necessity of be coming a prey to our enemies, or violating the Constitution of our Government ; and that considering the administration of the Govern-, ment would be principally in the hands of the wealtHy, there could be little reason to fear an abuse of the power by an unnecessary or injurious exercise of it. But, sir, a majority of the convention, be ing wise beyond every event, and being will ing to risk any political evil rather than admit the idea of a paper emission, in any possible case, refused to trust this authority to a Gov ernment, to which they were lavishing the most unlimited powers of taxation, and to the mercy of which they were wrlling blindly to trust the liberty and property of the citizens of every State in the Union; and they erased that clause from the system." ? Now, sir, here is the cotemporaneous tes timony of an illustrious member of the con vention, that it was intended in " no possible emergency" that the Government should have power to make a paper emission. This statement was uncontradicted at the time, and is as authoritative as if the debates in full were published, and it should be found that it was put by all the speakers on the subject on the ground that it would be dangerous to grant such a power, and by no single one on the ground that the power might be exerted as an implied power. If such rules of con struction are adopted, to what point will it not carry us? The sum of the argument is? a power not granted, but specifically proposed and rejected, is to be assumed, although de monstrably not necessary ; and I would here remark, that the only instances in which it has heretofore been exercised, was in a peri od of war when mdney could not be borrowed, and when it was the only resource left ; not only then convenient, but absolutely neces sary to the very existence of the Govern ment. I trust that it will not be contended, at least, that it will not by any state rights' man, that the po\ver is prohibited to the States, but not to this Government, and that therefore it may be exerted. That the dangerous doc trine will not be avowed, that this Govern ment may do whatever is not prohibited. By such construction what may it not do? Is a bank prohibited. 19 internal improvement, or a protective tariff? None of them. How I few powers are prohibited? Not a dozen. ? It was necessary to prohibit this power to the States: because without such prohibi tion, they possessed it. It was not necessa ry expressly to prohibit it to the General Government; because they could not ex ercise it unless granted by the Constitution. 2d. It is not so good a currency as bank paper. It is the currency of revolutionary governments and never has maintained a par value, and never will, except in periods ol great pressure, and in small amounts. It is even now below par, when every circumstance of the condition of the country is most aus picious to it ; and when added to its quality of currency it has that of stock bearing inter est. But it is said that if it does depre ciate the loss falls on the Government, not on the people. Mr. Chairman, where are we, and on what times have we ftllen ? ? Is it in this republican land where the Gov ernment is the mere trust, the mere agency of the people, that we are told that the loss of the Government is not the loss of the people. Suppose one hundred millions in your treasury, and uses and demands for it, and it is consumed by fire. This too, I sup pose, would be the loss of Government, not of the people ; no concern whatever of theirs. 3d. That its tendency to excess will be greater than bank currency, I do not doubt; and that is the great vice of the banking sys tem. Can there be a more striking proof of this than the present state of things. With an exhausted Treasury, an emaciated and suffering people, the Government alone is unaffected by the universal pressure, and is seen careering along in a course of unexam pled extravagance. Yes, s?r, an administra tion which came into power with the watch- I , ? words retrenchment and economy eternally on their lips, proposing to expend in the pre sent year more than forty millions ; thirteen being the highest amount expended under the administration which they denounced as ruin ing the country by its extravagance. How, and why, is all this 1 Why, sir, for the simple rea son that the more money that is appropriated, the more Treasury notes will be issued, and the greater the present relief to the country. No such currency ever has been resorted to, which has not run into wild excess. 4th. It is more expensive. Bank currency costs the country nothing. Nothing at all sir, and until recently, no such idea has ever been advanced. This Government currency costs directly six per cent, upon the whole amount in circulation. 5th. As to its political tendencies. I sir, am a republican of the state rights' school, not of some ten or twelve years' standing, I have always been so. I was born one. I was bom in the midst of the black cockade contest, aiid "iave.no drop ofbloop that flows from any one who ever wore one; abd I confess that I am amazed, I am almost disposed to doubt my own identity, when I hear gentlemen of the strictest sect, declaring that this power of mak ing currency is too important a power to trust to poor r.iserable cowardly corporations, (as they have shown themselves to be,) corpora tions which are State institutions, drawing the breath of their nostrils from the States, re ceiving from and giving strength to the States; indissolubly united in their destinies with the States, and having no other powers but this. But that it is perfectly safe to add this power, <rreat as it confessedly is, to the vast mass of power already possessed by this Government ?this raw-head-and-bloody-bones accumula tion of power in the Federal Government which we have been denouncing and warring against ? because it is said the power must abide somewhere, and it is too dangerous a po^er to trust to state corporations, which have neither motive, courage, nor ability, to abuse it. And, sir, has it come to this 1 Is this the boasted separation of the Government from the money power? A most notable separation. A separation by a direct and en tire union. A separation by granting the unlimited power to make and issue moiiey ; a power too dangerous to give to State Corpor ations, lest peradventure they may combine with the Government; but perfectly feafe U) grant the whole power without restriction to this Government. And this is State-jpghts . 6. It will operate unequally. Thesf notes, by laws of trade and commerce, invariable and unchangeable, will accumulate in large cities where they are needed, under the universal law of demand and supply, and will afford no relief to the interior? to the farmers and the country merchants. Snch was the ex perience of Mr. Dallas in 1816. H& says, "that the treasury notes afforded no general relief; that they had, and would continue to accumulate in the large commercial cities where they were needed, and rarely found their way into the interior, and that the cur rency of the local banks was all *be mer could obtain." Mr. tfrawford says The same thing, and adds that "they gave relief only to that section east of this city,' the Government disbursements were chiefly made " Where is now the largest amount of these notes ? Where it always will be in New York? where they are most wanted. Below par in New York ; five per cent, above par in Charleston ; and yet I am asked to be lieve that, to have a peculiar currency for the Government, when that currency accumu lates in such abundance in New \ ork, as to be below par, and is so scarce in Charleston, as to command five per cent, premium, is to facilitate the payment of duties in Charles ton. Am I forever to be asked to assent to these novelties, unsupported by argument, and opposed by all experience and facts. It is said the importations of Charleston have increased of late, and hence this policy is la vorable to the south. So id a much greater degree have those of Philadelphia. Is Phil adelphia a southern city? Why hare .hey increased 7 For the simple reason, that in the present derangement of the cutrency, funds cannot be placed in New York ; and from the greater suffering of New Xork than any other point by the late universal crash, one of those tornadoes, in which the tallest trees are the first to fall, when time must be allowed for those to straighten which have been bent, and for a new growth. The chairman of the Committee of ) and Means tells us, that it was not adticipa ted that these notes would have so soon r - turned to the Treasury. I suppose it was not. But it might have been foreseen, and would have been, by a financier of ordinary sagacity, or even by the present Secretary, if he had consulted the history of J^rmer issues of the same kind of paper. The JCP?? of Mr. Dallas would have informed him, tfcat, when tried in 1816, " the revenue had been collected almost exclusively m 1 r.?f7 notes, and would continue to be so c?"ect?; as long as they are issued by the governmer it. Mr. Crawford says the same thing, and in the opinions of those able men, such must always be the case. That if any revenue was collec ted, it must be in these notes, and that of consequence, they would return to e surv in the payment of public dues as rapid ly as they were paid out to the public creditors like Penelope's webb, undoing in the n.gbt the work of the day. But I suppose that the brilliant nius of Mr. Woodbury scorns all aid fro i . -UC lights of experience, or the sug gestions of such plodding feUows as Dallas, Crawford, and Gallatin ; and that if he looks at all into the history of these times, it is as he would into the history of the Peisian monar chy. as a matter of curious reading, not for information and practical instruction. But sir, is it really necessary that the Governmen should resort to this dangerous power? It is not. There are other, and in every way better modes of raising money, by which the necessary supplies may be raised, and most beneficent effects produced upon the prostrate energies and interests of the country. Ma?e a loan in the regular and proper form of a loan? receive it in specie, or the bills of spe cie-paying barks? and in sixty days yon will see the prosperity of the country revive; its powerful energies, now paralyzed by unwise legislation, will raise it up again like tt giant aroused from his slumbers. You can s?ll your stock thus raised at a premium, wlirist you aust dispose of the Treasury Botes at a discount. Both plans create a debt? neither creates a permanent and funded debt: toe whenever you are in funds, yfcMiX^rejieeni such stock. You will save at lea# half a million, and what is of infinite^ con sequence, you will save tne constitution. !t need not be said that the *tock 'dun created will not be more valuable than TfCWHry.JloJ?**. Mr. Crawford tells us, that such a stock, bearing six per ceet. intertsfc and re deemable at the will of the Government, sola in 1S22, 1823. and 182? at a premium of two per cent. Why it is sp, I shall not ?to? to show. So it always has been^wfrso, i .am informed, on the highest authority ^jtwi now. I will wit propose such a loan, because I will not relieve the Government from t e just odium of bringing the countiry^trto su<^ a condition. Let the administrate openly and aboveboard go to the people, tell them there is no money in the Treasury* that Joey are forced to borrow, my life upoigti tl 1 1 it is no fault of theirs, they will not be held answerable ; if it is their fault, they-fofgnt not to be allowed ro escape the respjmsHMl?ty. A.sk for a loan, I say, openly, and douot wrap ; it up in the delusive pretext of issuing f*?a~ sury notes. What individual, if he wished to borrow ten millions, and by issuing is notes in large sums to a few individuals, cortld raise upon them two hundred thousand dol lars more than their face, would choose to issue them in small sums, easily negotiable, to a multitude of ci editors, and at a loss of three hundred thousand dollars ; in all, hall a million. That precisely is the difference between the two plans, and we are about to do for the country what uo sane man would do for himself. I would receive payment for the stock iu the bills of specie-paying banks, or in spccie. Let a portion of the stock be sold in Europe, and serve as a conduit to bring into this coun try (not by a forcing and artificial process) a portion of that specie, which the natural con dition of our country and of Europe, and the - wise policy of that enlightened nation, upon whose commerce we have been waging a barbaric war, is disposed to send here. These Treasury notes give no permanent re lief, unless reissuable. They are paid in as fast as tliey are paid out, and if reissuable, you convert your Trea sury Department into a Government bauk of issue and depo^te, and in the transfer of its funds necessarily of discount too. These advantages, great as I regard them, sink in comparison with the benign and all blessing influence of an annunciation by the Government, in a manner formal and authori tative, that the bills of specie-paying Banks will be received by it. The disease has all ways been more one of credit than of currency. The banks never have been in as sound a condition as at present ; never have they had so large a basis of specie as now. Confi dence, and confidence alone is wanting to give us a sound bank currency, and to carry once more prosperity and happiness, in broad streams through the land. Without it, the banks never can permanently resume. Con fident is their vital air; without it, they can no more live, than can a fly in an exhausted receiver. It may be easily demonstrated, that in a period of doubt and distrust, a bank with a million of specie, and never more than fifty thousand dollars of notes in circulation may be forced to suspend. Tberteatt be no more striking illustration of this than the suspension in 1797 by the Bank of England. It had at the period of its suspension, only ten millions of notes in circulation, thir ty millions of specie. But the directors dis-. tinctlv foresaw, that with the demands occa sioned by foreign wars and subsidies, the large importation of foreign corn, and the panic and apprehension of an invasion from France, that their spccie would be exhausted, and t iey determined to suspend ; and by doing so, sus tained the industry and business of the coun try, and carried England triumphantly thro a long and perilous conflict, in a manner that is absolutely a miracle, and under, trials and difficulties which I hesitate not to say no na tion ever could have borne, if unsustainedby this much abused banking system. Bo?a parte, the wisest man of his time, knew that the great basis of the banking system Was confidence ; and when he was about organi zing the Bank of France, and if ep ting its president, he said, I have no confideface in Portalis; but France has; therefore let For talis be president. I am well satisfied that the true and only issue before the count! y is between the state banks and a national bank. No people not held down by an iron despotism, will submit to the terrible agony and bloody sweat of coming to a metallic currency. Nor will one so intelligent as ours, adopt the dangerous expedient of a Govern ment paper; and my life on the issue, if the state banks fail, the result will ^ Govern ment bank, or a United States Bank. It is because I think so, that I am disposed to take from the State banks all improper weights and hindrances to aid them by all proper means in resuming specie payments, without doing which, they cannot, and ought cot, to be tolerated. f , ?uch, sir, was the course of the able and patriotic men who presided over the Treasu ry at the close of the war. They addressed all their efforts and powers to aiding the banks to resume and furnish a sound currenc y. Mr Dallas even took the responsibility of re"]?? the bills of non-specie-paying banks without the authority of law, and he was gained in it by the whole country. He says in his re port to Congress in 1816? ... *? The consequence of rejecting bank notes , which were not paid on demand in coin, mus have been to put to hazard the collection of the revenue in point of time and in pomt of product, to deteriorate (if not to destroy he only adequate medium of exchange adopted by the common consent of the nation) in case of extreme necessity, and to shake the foundations of private property. ' ?? The restoration must be the work of the \ Stati1 mstittwions. But the inteTposition o Government will still be required to secure a successful result. - " To appeal to their fears by refusing; to take their bills in payments to 'he Gov ernment, would be to visit the ? tanks upon the gr*rt mass ?f citizens, unless the Government wasprepartd to furnish a sufficient legal currency to meet the demands. of the community. Mr. Crawford, in 1817, refus.d to deposite the public funds is the United States Bank* where it was provided by kw that they should be kept,anddeposited them in State institu tion^ expressly and avowedly fbt the purpose of aididg the banks to resume ; not only not taking it from {Hem in their moment of se verest tn^-but actually giving it to them.? ?Taking, Ofcsome instances, with a care, wise* practical, and paternal, from the strong banks, and giving it to the feeble and tottering, to enable all to stand ; and be succeeded, and in this^ rendered the most important of all his services to bis country in a lone life of distin guished public usefulness. Hear what he says upon the subject, and in circumstances ? identical with the present z t" In order to induce ihe banks in the Dis trict to resume specie payments simultaneous* ly with the banks already enumerated, it be came necessary for the Treasui^ Department to give them assurances of support during the first months succeeding such resumption-"? In conseguence of this assurance, a conside rable portion of the deposUefc in the banks of Washington and Georgetown w^s MSKuUed to remain until the 1st , It is cheering, it is delightful, to turn from the uncertain and dangerous theories of the present day, from the eternal experiments that are made upon the Ijappiness, jhe very means of subsistence of the people, as a phi losopher would ^?$t the ptfwer ofprussic acid on a mouse, to tnKr?ractical suggestions of these calin, quiet, and^ile minds. My busi ness is with the things of (his world as 1 find them, not as I would liave n^m. I leave the higher walks of div-ine philosoyhy to others. I have only the very poor ambithu of being a practical man; aud 1 prefer to follow the steady light of experience, taper though it be* to the dazzling, but too often dangerous and delusive light of a prioi i theory, whether it be the ever blazing torch of a brilliant genius, or the farthing candles which are lighted at it* In my judgement, the greatest good now to be attained, is a resumption of specie pay ments, aud to that end 1 would have the Gov ernment not ouly not obstruct Jt, by throwing its powerful influence over public opioioU agaiust the banksj but to -aid them by all proper means. This Government,, aud this Government alone'has prostrated the banks, and with them the whole industry of the country, with muscles yet quivering riomthe blow ; but with powerful energies they aro struggling to rise again. Is it wise or just still to keep your paralyzing hand upou them? . But it is said will you do this to enable the banks to pay their debts? It wouid be a much more true statemcut of the case to say that it is to be done to enable the people to pay their debts to the banks. Gentlemen, who talk thus, must surely forget that the banks maintain to the people the double re lation of debtor and of creditor, and that the creditor relation is the largest. -The banks oWe the people about two hundred millions, the people owetheiu fiveliundJed millions.? Now, sir. this game of demanding specie is one at which both the people and the banks can play, and the banks, if forced to pay all their debts, notes, and depositee in specif, can- , not choose; they have no alternative ; they - must collect their debts, in specie. What? then, must be the result ? The banks have thirty-five millions of specie ;? the people tlie same amount. Force the banks into a posi tion where they must collect, as far as their two hnudred millions of debts go, they can be, paid in their own debts; after that is all called in, there is three hundred millions of debt due to the banks, and thirty-five mil lions of currency to pay it with. Let the * banks collect that in payment^ and what then is the condition of the country ? More than two hundred and fifty millions due to the banks, and no currency at all to pay it with* For, although in the ordinary transactions of commerce, one dollar will pay one hundredf not sO in thi* case. Evety consideration of inte rest and 4elf preservation will concur to make the banks keep every dollar they receive, and the gales of death wilfbe shut upon it. Will not this state of things place the whole prop erty of bank debtors at the toiercy of the banks ? and by being in possession of all the currency, all the saleable property of the country also ? That any such state of things is likely to occur I do not believe ; it would be arrested, if in no other Way, by popular commotion, or by the substitution of some other currency. c.' ?.?' >? 9 ... Would you do this to enable the banks to pay their debts? I answer, yes, J would.? The bank capital of the country is abortion, a large portiou, of its wealth and power* and I would do all that I rightfully can to save it from ruin, if nothing else vfete involved. I would not lightly strike down fotti hundred millions of the capital of the eofcntry, a larger portion df which, than of. any other equal amount, is owned by wide## and or phans, and which, when it does topple in ruins, will crush thehope^and the happiness of thousands. Espedally do I feel bound to do it when their present condition has beep brought about by no act of theirs of omission or commission, bat solely and exclusively by the action of this Government. No mad of any party has attributed it to%ny cause which is not the result of the action of the Govern-. ment. -4^v.va<! To what causes is the present state of things attributed ? V ariously, and with mtteh truth, to the folllowing : 1st Toft large accumula tion of public funds ; that is not the work of the banks, norjcould they have prevented it. 2. To overtrading from excessive jbank die counts. This they were expressly Ordered to do; for General Jackson's requests were orders. 3. To the distribution act,- and the pitiable folly and stupidity wkhw^ch it was executed. In transferring, in the first in mouths, funds to places where they were net needed for distribution in eighteen months* Thus making that sudden and harsh which was intended to be easy an4 gradual. And 4th. to the specie circular, ldo not doubt that all theise' causes, jointhr and separately, produced the present c|]?iuu?us condition of the eouotry. Is any pne of them the set oF?tfcfo banks, or con Id they have controll ed them ? Have I not shown that the sus pension was unavoidable, and that it was more a measure -of mercy to the country than of interest to the tasks? Since the Sus pension, what fault have they committed? We were told at the extra sswion'j, tjbatthey most curtail their issues. TnTt" could only (For remainder see last page-J