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KEOWEE COURIER. , ,* ' L*4 J?v f ' * s " " TO TIUKE OWN SELK nE TilUB, AND XT MUST KOLI.OW, A8 THE NIGHT THE I>AV, TIIOU CAN'?T NOT THEN UE-FAL8E TO ANT MAN." vo1- L PICKENS COURT HOUSE, S. C., SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 1850. NO 41 > ttt-t 1 ? . ^ ? i the | KEOWEB COURIER, ratNTED ANn published weekly by W. H. TRIMMIER. J. W. NORMS, Jn., ) E. M. KEITH, j Kd,tor8terhs. i One Dollar and Fifty Cunts for one year's subscription when paid within throe month*, Two dollar? ;f payment is delayed to the cUwc of tho subscription year. . | All subscriptions not clearly limited^ will bo considered as made for an inifofmito time, and continued till a discontinuance ia ordered and all arrearages pat 1. Advertisement* inserted at 75 cents per square for the first insertion, and 37 1-2 cts. for each continued insertion. Liberal deductions made to tho<o advertising by the year. tr All Communications should be addressed to the Publisher post paid. remarks of mr. b. f perry, j OF O ilu.R >J V Il.LR. In the House of Representati vis, Dec. j 13, 18 i9?The House htv'm under con- [ isderalion the hill for wituliivt *f>? - *"v I Bank, and the reports of the invc&tioatipg Committee? Mr. B. F. Perry having the floor, nddrossed the House ns follows: Mn. Speaker:?I desire to make a few remarks on the bill before the //ouse. In doing so, permit me to premise that I am no enemy to banks. I have been their f;iend nnd advocate on this floor when they were assailed on all sides, and had few friends and fewer advocates. I believe, Mr. Speaker, that banks are essential to the prosperity of every commercial and enlightened people. They facililnte exchanges, save the precious rjrtetals, and stimulate industry and enterprise: But they should he left to privato incorporations and industrial enterprise, as all the great industrial pursuits of life are. A government, sir, is incapable of car* lying on wisely and profitably banking operation*. There is a secrecy and confidence in a bank which cannot be ha<' in a legislative assembly. The operations of a bank should be confidential and secret. The officers are sworn to secrecy. Whon n gentleman goes into a bank for ; accommodations, he expects tint all of his business tninsnntinns n i l hn li!.? liis household arrangements?sacred \ from the public gaze. I am sure it must have been very pairful to every member of thu House on yesterd ?y, to -it and listen to tbe private report of tbe bmk, exposing to the public the individual i idubtcdne?s of tbe /'resident and Director*, and Officers of the bank. Hut, sir, a stern seise of pub lie duty required tbis exposure before a sebvtion of tbe Hoard of Direct >rs could be made for tbe ensuinor year. The operations of a bank arc foreign to the nature and objects of a government. A political government is formed for tbe protection of life, liberty, and I>n/|jvn?y. uui u) uiiiHu muiiey lonis cmzcns, or to relievo their pecuniary embarrassments by lending th? m i .oney. As well might the State of South Carolina think of engaging in merchandise, planting, or manufacturing, as to bo engnged in bunking. With the same propriety it might be urged on 'he State, that the interests of her citizens required that foreign goods Bhould hcimpoited cheaply, nnd sold bv tho government for the accommodation of the people. In a vephblic there must bo n strict accountability in the management nnd disbursement of oil public funds. The people must know how their money is spent, nnd what has hecome of it. This destroy, as I have already stated, all banking operations. So strict is thisac- j countabiliiy, that every session we t-rc squabbling over the smallest appropriations. In our &tate constitutions guards and checks are thrown around this power of impropriating the public funds. No money can be drawn from the treasury except by a bill read three times, on three sepa ate days, in both //buses of the Legislature, s. But, sir, whils', the representativcs-oF the people, who aro responsible to the people for their conduct in every pai ti ctilar, nrc thus restrained front 4iiaking appropriation*, the President and Directors of the bank have the power of making any approprlaton* Ctrtwsy may see proper, on ten fnirtute$* consultation. Tncy hnve appropriated, of public funds upwards of one hundred thouwnd dollars for the extension of railroads in Georgia. They appropriated some sixty or seventy thousand dollars of public moneys to build up a watenng place in Spartanburg distriot. They appropriated I thirty thousand dollars to sustain a hotel / in Charleston. These, sir, are munificent loans, made out of the publio funds, and in violation I of tho .Suite constitution already referrec to. They are Appropriations which ncv ! or could have been obtained trom tin j Legislature, nnd by them the Start has . lost or will lose a very largo amount, i The Legislature of South Carolina I have t ie control of about three hundred i thousand dollars. This is the sum total of all the moneys put under the care and management of the chosen rcpresenlatives of the pcoph', amounting to one bun dred and sixty eight in number. T e President of the bank and twelve Directors have under their control and management five or six millions of public funds, wi ich they lend out as they please, nnd appropriate as to them seems best. They make an investment of one hundred thousand dollars in bank stock, and and dispose of it ?;;.iin, without its being known to the people. This is not nil, Mr. Spenker. The bank not only has c ntrol of five or six millions of public funds, but the unlimited power of running the State into debt, and making it necessary that we should tnx the people in order to pay off the*? debts. Is not thi*f sir, a power hchind the throne greater tlinn the throne? Are not these Directors ond President more powerful than the Legislature? Mr. Speaker, the rights of reprosentati >n and taxation were regarded by our ancestorsns inseparable. The least infringement of this union was cause enough to make their AngloSixon blood course more freely through their veins. It was the defence of these great principles of ireeuom winch made Hampden a rebel and Sydney a martyr; which revoluiionized Rngland under Charles the Fir>t, and separated the American colonies fiom Cieat Britain in the reign of George the Third. They are righta inrstimable to freemen, and formidable to tyrnnts only. Sooner than impair them in the slightest degree, let the hank and nil its treasures he scatteicd to the four winds of Heaven. It is said that the bnnk owes its 01 igin to a plain, unsoohisticated memher of thh house, who saw the distresses of the country in 1812, ntul wns disposed to remedy them. This, sir, is precisely the origin to which I expect to trace the hank. It wns conceived byn kind hearted old man, who wns utterly unacquninted with the power and operations of tho institution which he was culling into existence. Tlie planters and farmers could make no sales of their produce, money was exceedingly scarce, and all the necessaries of life, exempt tho^e which grew or wore manufacture i in our own State, were, very hijfh. Under this state of things, produced by the embargo and war, Mr. Joseph Blnck, of Abbeville, proposed the es-tnblishmfcnt of a bank, which was to loud the people money, and thereby relieve their distresses and pecuniary embarrassments. Tho farmers and planters we- 3 to mortgage their lands, and receive the sum of two thousand dollars as a loan. A 8oJjeP?e of relief could not have been conceived ? j more profound ignorance. It never -v 1<Mined out; and if it bad been, it wt u.'d hnve entailed broadcast the seeds 01 ruin and bankruptcy on tho-e whom it was intended to bem fit. It was a kindred measure of those relieflaws, stop-laws, and frtay-law* which we usually hear of when ignorance and demngoguism have the ascendancy in a newly setllod nlni(> Tlifi iiiiin !?? ??*?* a short time Mn&S to provide work for tho^e who were unemployed, by tho newlv revolutionised government, was likewise a kindred measure. Ti\e whole system, of which the*-.- measures are part and parcel, imposes on tho government the duty of supporting the people! | The bank, immediately after its estab| Ifohment, instead of becoming a loan office, as was intended by its projectors, become a commercial institution, and its profits were ver" considerable. There were then few banks in the State. Sincti that time other bnnkjji have sjrung up, and the profits of tho State Bunk have greatly diminished. I have very little jfotibfc that tho cfllculations of the chnirmnn of tho committee of ways nnd means as to ?hf pro ts of tho bank, are correct* and that it hns not, for several ye rs past, - i i i_ ILa IIIHUU fjruilis IHJUIIl IU tIIU IIIIUIUM* VII lit (Apitnl. I differ entirely, Mr. Spenker, with the honorable member from Kiohlnnd, in hi? able, eloquent, nnd manly defence of tin bank, as to its constitutionality. 1 hwv< no doubt, wr, it is in violation of the Rpir it, if not the letter, of both the .St'iteani the federal constitutions. 1 have already shown that the State constitution require* "11 appropriations and expenditures o public moneys to be made by bill; and al he appropriations made bv the b?:nk art in violation of tlio true spirit nnd menninj of this clause of tho constitution. It is well known thnt tho power of th i i - in? 1 - - ' I federal constitution intended tha: our - government should be, in the lungungo of John Randolph,"a hard-money govern > motif. The people had seen and felt severely the effects of the old continental i paper, and wore disposed to guard against a repetition of paper money on the part of either the general or State governments. It was proposed in the feoeral convention to give Congress the pow-r of incorporating a bank, and rejected. It was ! then proposed to give Congress the pow- ; er of granting incorporations, and rejected, on the cfround that this would ena, ole Congress to establish a bank. The federal cons'i tut ion declares that | no 6'tate shall coin money. What is j money? It is a medium of exchange. 1 and may be paper, or iron, as it was in Sparta, or shells, as it is now amongst the iS'outh Sea Islanders. When the <State. of South Carolina stamps a (iece of paper, and *ends it forth as a medium of exchange, is it not to all intents and purposes coininff monev. The &tamn i* on pa per instead of gold and silver, It is nevertheless money, stamped and coined by the State, in violation of the federal constitution. | No State is permitted to 'emit hills of credit.' Is not the establishment of a bank with the authority to i-jmic two millions in bills, on the credit of the State, with only two hundred thousand doljars in specie to redeem the bills with, to all intents and purposes 'emitting bills of credit' by the State? yhe .State is doinir, by an acrent of her own creation. that which she could not do directly by herself Again, *ir: No &tate can mnlce anything hut gold and silver a tender in paymen! of debts. I3ut when n State issues her bills, gives them the stnmp or coin of money, and declares that her revenues shall ho nnifl in tlinni iv? hIio nnt mnLinif " I ? ""fi litem a tendei in pnyment of debts? They arc obliged .o be ?uch in spirit and effect. It is said that the bink has provided a safe fiscal agent for the State, and that in the disbursement of millions of <State funds, not one ''ollar has been lost. This may be true. But whilst disburMng the funds of the State; the bunk has lost five hundred thousand dollars of its own funds! These, too, arc the State funds, //ow much more may be lost before the charter expires, and after the bank is wound up, no one can toll. I am not disposed to attribute this heavy loss on the part of the bank to the he-'d of that institution. The greater part of this loss has been owing to the f\ fi'l 'Silmn KtinLinnfm* t\f flu* PIi? /*/? %l." " * ? ? ^ ~ tors. The Diicolors are chosen hy the Legislature, nnd h ive a ?igb*tolorow from the bnnk. We must then attiihute all losses, on their necount, to the Legislature, wh.? elected them nnd placed them in the hank. We are to blame, and not the bunk, for choosing such Directors. In the election of directors, I nm sure every member of this house must have witnessed enough to excite his disgust nnd indignation. The candidates* present themselves to the members nnd electioneer with as much zeal and fierceness as if they were canvassing before the people ; for the office of <*heiiff or tax collector 0fL _ I _ - t J j nc inemoersgive piea^ro 10 support 1 t the diffeientoindid ites without any re; gard to qu difiontions; influenced by mol lives of kindness or friendship, orpe haps some other feeling not. so honorable. Nothing can show the impoliev of n govi ernment attempting to ?nrry on hanking , operations more conclusively tlian the , election of the directors by the Legislature. It is owing to the wisdom, integrity and sagacity of (he eminent men who have been placed at the , head of the bank, that the countrv has not been over whelmed by the indebtedness of that in stitution. This may not continue always. The management of the bank may fall into other hai.ds, whi>n we shall experience i t tin. lo^s sustained in Alabama, Ken- j tucky, nnd other States, who have at-1 i 'empted to carry on a similar system of banking. I do not pretend to say that , no errors have been committed by the i Pre ident and board of directors. Like all men, they are liable to make great | i blunders in their financial arrangements.' * Some of these errors I have already al.u5 ded to, and shall have occasion to sneak ofo hers. But I congratulate the House ! - and the country that they have not l>een I greater thnn they are. No other gov* ' ornment honk h) the United 8tates has I been managed so well and with so few f losses to tlie country. 1 It i>* Haiti that the State b*??V has done p great good ro the people, and assisted in 5 relieving their ombnriU'pments and distresses. How many and whom has it ro e lievcd? Who arc its debtors and who HI iTf ?H?IBI 1 II I IMMWII^M Jll I I I 1 have received its favors? 71 ie inquiry might perhaps be answered, by saying, some two or three hundred of the wealj thiest men uf the State: Are the poor accommodated? ?ertainly not. Banks ar? no places for tnem to resort to for favors. In them they have no credit. How nre the funds of the bank loaned out in regard to the different districts? The district of Chailesion has nboul one million, nnd the district of Richland has about five hundred thousand dollars, honowed from the bank; whilst G.eenville has only four or five thousand, and several of thoother districts Mill less. What inter* 6t should these districts take or feel in the S;atc carrying on a bank for the accommodation of Charleston and Richland? What interest should the poor feel in the establishment, of n bank by the State for the accommodation of the rich? ButthemoU oSjection ble feature in the 'oans which the bnnk makes, is that uiu oineers anu mroutore ot me oanK Imve borrowed themselves feme seven or eight hundicd thousand dollars of t) emoney in tlie hank, It is tlien, in a great measure, an institution for the benefit and accommodation of the bank officers, their friends and favorites, and the people of Chni les.on and Columbia* \VI'll may the advocates of the bank on this floor say, that it has never oppressed its debtors. Had it done so, consjdeiing who those debtors weie, it would have been not only a heartless corporation, but a monster, such as Milton describes Death and Sin tobe.de~ ? ? willing *11*11 U)>|l |||^?? yVil, I'H'I, thcmsehed The bank chnrter will ?.\pire in 1860, nnd it becomes ne? e^sary for the Legislature todecidc whether it is to be continued or not. The members must now deride whether an institution, unconstitutional in if? origin, d ngerous in its tendency and unprofitable, anti-republican, nnd ttt war with the fundamental principles of freedom, is to he continued or to he wound up. It is said that ihi is a trreat question, and should he submitted fo tin* people before any notion is telten on it. Is it not a question that i he popple l)i)ve already thought of and determined for themselves ? lias it not hoen thoroughly di?'cus?ed in both branches of this Legislature? Was it not discussed twelve months since? Have not the newspapers in the State called public atJontion to it for the last eighteen months? T,et everv member vote on this question in nccoidance with what he believes to be the wishes of his constituents, and tho convictions of his own judgment. But. it i< well understood, Mr. SpeakC-, why titid appeal is made on tho part of the bank. Delay is important in manv pnin s of vi. w. It will give the bank time to exert it? moneyed influence on the country and control public opinion. Like n great general beseiged in a eitv, he asks for delay, under the pretence of considering the terms of capitulation, but all the time is collecting his broken forces, repairing the breaks, pointing his cannon. nnd then bids deh'inee to the assiubn.ts. Does any oho suppose that the l?ink will n t exert its influence to the utmost, in sustaining itself >ind maintaining its o n existence. preservation is said to he the first law of nature? ltisalnw well understood hy corporations. The contest between the hank nnd the opposition will hen most unequal one. Tt is like the contest between a great nnd skilful srcne?nl, with n trained and disciplined nrrnv, well furnished with supplies, possessing n militarv ehe?t well filled, nnd an unarmed, undisciplined nssemhlnge of /?t 17011Q ivi luMit n littwloi* nn/1 u^itltAiit nf. fire**, The result of such a contest cannot bo doubtful. After mature reflection, Mr. Spe/iker, I nm satisfied that if some measures are taken this session to wind up the hank, it will not ho done at nil. The opposUiou to this moneyed ftHi'ution will grow weak r and wc ?ker every year until a new charter is granted. Already the threat ha* gone abroad from the friends of the hank, that no ptivnto bank shall he reehartere I unless the State Bank receives a renew 1 of her charter. There will bo a comhina ion he'ween the fliends of all the hanks, and they v-ill force from the Legislature a renewal of all their charter?. This prediction I make in the nature of a prophecy, and beg that it may kn nniom I will now, Mr. Speaker, notice nn objection nvido by the friends >f tfco hank, to the hill on vour table, nnd the importance of which they hnvo go greatly mntfnifled. We nre told, sir, that the honor nnd faita of .South Carolina are involved in this quv<*tion, nnd that we cnnr.o; tou :h the bank or I he fundi* of tho hank without the consent of the foreign credi'ora of the <S*tate. Is this true, Mr. Speaker? | Arc wo reduced to this humiliating con diiion that we cnnnot change our political a id domestic institutions without the consent of the stock-jobbers nnd money* holders of Europe? Shall it be said, t-ir, that the sovereign (State of South Corp? lina must humbly ask tho permission of Baling & Brothers before her Legislature can determine whether or not a bank sh-ill be rechartcred? This, sir, is a state of dependence nnd servility which I never expected to hear urged on this floor. For myself, sir, I scorn it us a foreign inso* lence, when the proposition is made tr al| luded to by Baring & Brothers. it l could ho induced to believe tlmt tliore was any force or weight In the argument, as much, sir, as I detent the wot d "ri/iudiation," 1 would not only use if, but apply it to the agent and 'lie : Legislature, who, by their acts had bio't snali deep and damning disgrace upon the Slate of .South Carolina. I would, sir, deny their agency a- d their legislation, and appeal to the constitution ns a j shield against their servjlj y sird their ig-. if a\. .. i z. r ? o? A iiuiciivt'. ji, mi , me in>iii?r ?.i ii u oi? l is not like tlmt of her daughters, too puro and too sacred to bo Ji:cussed, as was said bv the honorable member from Ricl land, I hope, sir, it is equal to that of her sons, who are loo proud and too Rpirited to brook foreign insolence or interference in our legislation. The honor of South ('iirolinn t* nn ! more involved in this quest ion than it is in I the appropriation bill, which the chair, mnn of the Committee of Ways nnd ! 3/eanc has just reported for our consid' atinn. 'I be question is simply this: ' South Carolina bns borrowed monej' of J/essrs. Baring <fe Zfrolhers, nnd has directed th?* bank to pay the inteies1, and declin ed thnt the piofits of the bank, after discharging other liabilities, should be pledged fu< the. payment of this foreign debt. We now propose to pay iheto foreign creditors their 'demands in full, and that, if tliey will not receive the money, to h; it invested to meet their demands when they become due. This, is i strange brcnch of faith and honor, '.flering to pay a debt before it falls due, and if not received, making an investment of the money, to have it ready when will be obliged to be received! We arc informed by the agent of these foreign creditors that the bonds of the State may be purchased at three or fourcents below par. Surely they will take par value, and be glad to get it. We are making nrinngements to pay them, and whero is the ground for suspicion of dishonor in the matter? This, l'11* ?n ? ?i.~ .. ~r il. nil, ir* fill piV^VIILCUIl tllC |mit U1 l.iTC bank and her fiiends. They havu t'no sagacity to perceive the strength of their appeal, if they can induce South Carolina to believe in it. They are sons of South Carolina themselves, and know how dear her honor is to the humblest citizen of the State. This grave question of honor, Mr. Speker, which has been thrust at us so often during this debate, came not from Baring and Brothers in the first instance. It was suggested by the bank in certain questions put, several years since, to tho Hon. George McDuffie. The foreign creditors were reminded of it, and have since mnde use of if. to accomplish the purposes of the hank. In regard to the mismanagement of the Nesbitt manufacturing company, I feel it due to the bank to say, that the mismanagement com "enced with thi?* I>egislatu e My honorable friend, the Senator from Union, submitted to mo the resolution which he offered to the Senate some yean* since, p;opo?ing to sell the. iron works on n credit of ten years, in or der to secure the debt which the company owed the bank. I told him it would be better to let the property be sacrificed and sell for what it would bring. The .State would get a largo portion of her debt if not all. Hut that if the payment wis postponed ten' years, the w >rks might diminish in value, the ?lave>- who were mechanics would \o worn out or dead, and tlio whole property ?>f little value. Every one gnu^t now be Mtisfied that this cotirse wottkJ have been hotter. But, sir, if the arrangement has b?*n an unfortunate one, the hl.imo Jicut at, our door. The scheme origiifted and not with the bank. My friend from i'ondleton says that the bank has saved, by it* profits, th?* people from taxation. Th? cbaitman of the committee of wavn and menns has shown eomiwfvely that the simple int? rest on the bank rnpital during ih^ paM year would amrunt to thirty thow?Am: I Ur>l1.>fc iyiavij flinn ttn> rrnlt r? rifiln rwf I lin bnnk. Fo xcvenil venrs previous to this the profits wore *if.ll less*. It mny be, sir, thnt if this bank continue?, tbe people will have to bo taxed to went It? Hnbilitie*. My friend from Union 1* rnthefr in a grumbling moop, it would seeoo, from bj^ /