/ * , * . * (?iiata>aa axbsamiaiiiaia A a. L. M. JONE3. A. Co. Pumi.tmmr** at T?I rvi^io OOOD Wi Aim." ' =*====-=^ V01" CAnPE^, SOUTH o House* qf Compress ottke commencement of the first session jaf the Twenty-fifth Congress. Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: The act of the 93d of Junfe, 1836, re* gulatlng the depositee of the public money, and directing the employment of State, District, and Territorial banks for that purpose, made it the dfltv of th? ^ m W ' V ?W tary of the Treasury to discontinue the use of such of them as should at any time refuso to redeem their notes ih specie, antt to substitute other banks, provided a sufficient number could be obtained to receive the public depusiles upon the terms! and conditions therein prescribed. The general and almost simultaneous suspen- I sion of specie payments by the banks in May last, rendered the performance of this duty imperative, in respect to those which had been selected under the act;1 and made it, at the same time, impracticable to employ live requisite number of others, upon the prescribed conditions.! The specific regulations establish* d by Congreso (or the deposite and sale keep* ihg oi the public moneys, having thus1 unexpectedly become inoperative, I Celt itto be my duty to afford you an early opportunity for the exercise of your super- [ visory powers over the subject. 1 was also led to apprehend that (he' suspension of specie payments, increas-' ing the embarrassments before existing in the pecuniary affairs of the country, would so far diminish the public revenue, i that the accruing receipts into the Treasury, would not, with the reserved five! millions, be sufficient to defray the unavoidable expenses of the Government, until ?i.? - < v.. Mic usuui jicnou i?r tne meeting of Congress; whilst the authority to cull upon the Slates, fur a portion of the sums' deposited with them, was loo restricted to j enable ihe Department to realize a suffi-1 cient amount from that source. These i apprehensions have been justified by sub-j sequent results, vhicli render it certain that this deticiency will occur, if addition-' al means be not provided by Congress, i The difficulties experienced by the mercantile interest, in meeting their engagements, induced tliern to apply to me, previously to the actual suspension of specie payments; for indulgence upon ilw ir b >nds for duties; and all the relief authorized by law was promptly and cheerfully granted. The dependence of the Treasury upon the avails of these bonds, to enable if to make the depositee with the States required by law, led me in the outset to limit this indulgence to the first of September, but it has since been extended to the first of October, that the matteY might ? * ~ ue submitted to your further direction. Questions were also expected to arise in the recess in respect to the October ins alment of those doposites, requiring the interposition of Congress. A provision of another act,passed about the same time, and intended to secure a faithful compliance with the obligation of the United States, to satisfy all demands upon thern in specie or its equivalent, prohibited the off? r of-any bank note, no convertible on the spot into gold or silver at the will of the holder; and the ability of the Government, with millions on deposite, to meet its engagements in a tnauner thus required by law, was rendered very doubtful by the event to which 1 have referred* Sensible that adequate provisions for those unexpected exigencies could only be made by Congress convinced that some of tlipm ii/rttii't -- iiiuin|iriiBaui V necessary to the public service, before the regular period of your meeting; and desirous also to enable you to exercise, at the earliest moment, your full constitutional powers for the relief of the country, I could not, with propriety, avoid subjecting you to the convenience of as- 1 seuibling at as early a day as the staid of the popular representation would permit I am sure that 1 have done but justice to your feelings, in believing that this inconvenience will he cheerfully encountered, in the hope of rendering your meeting conducive to the good of the country. During the earlier stages of the revnl sion,through which we have just passed, much acrimonious discussion arose, and great diversity of opinion existed, as to its real causes. This was not surprising. The operations of credit are so diversified, and the influences which affect them ' so numerous, and often so subtle, that even impartial and well-informed persons are seldom found to agree in respect to them To inherent difficulties were also i ? .?i s? ? vuuvu viuci iciiiiciicirs, wnirn wcro by no means favorable to the discovery of truth, it was hardly to be expected, that i those who disapproved the policy of the Government in re ation to the currency, would, in the excited state of public fee- i ling produced by the occasion, fail to attribute to that policy any extensive embarrassment in the monetary affairs of the country. The matter thus became connected with the passions and conflicts of party; opinions were more or less affected by political considerations; and differcncies were prolonged which might other wise have been determined'by an appeal to facts, by the exercise of refison, or by mutual concession. It is,, however, a cheering reflection, that" circumstances of this nature cannot prevent a community so intelligent as ours from ultimately arriving at correct conclusions. Encouraged by the firm bfelief of this truth, I proceed to state my views, so far as may be necesskry to a clear understanding of the remedies I feel it my duty to propose, and Of the reasons by which 1 have been led to recommend them. . The history Of trade in the United Stales for the last three .'or four years, affords the most convincing evidence that our present condition is chiefly to be allribuI f 1 t h IlllO.-n?*!?? I ? ?*1 '? * " ? ? . vtovuuu iu an me uepartmcnis of business; an over-action deriving, perhaps, its first impulses from antecedent causes, but stimulated to its destructive consequences by excessive issues of bank paper, and by other facilities, for the acquisition and enlargement of credit.? At the commencement of the year 1834, the hanking capital of the United Slates including that of the national bank then existing, amounted to about two hundred millions of dollars; the bank notes then in circulation to aboutninety-five millions; and the loans and discounts of the banks to three hundred and twenty-foUr millions. Between that time and the first of January, 1830, being the latest period to which accurate accounts have been received, our banking capital was incteased to more than two hundred and fifty-one miltiojis; our paper circulation to more than one hundred and forty millions, and the loans and discounts to more thun four hundred and fifty-seven millions. To this vast increase are to be added the many millions of credit, acquired by means ol li>T< ign loans, contracted by the States and State institutions, and, above all, by the lavish accommodations extended by foreign dealers to our merchants. The consequences of this redundancy of credit, and of the Spirit of reckless speculation engendered by it, were a foreign debt contracted by our citizens, estimated in March last at more than thirty millions of dollars; the extension to traders in the interior of our country of credits lor supplies, greatly beyond the wants of the people; the investment of thirtynine and a half millions of dollars tn unproductive public lands, in the years 1835 and 1830. whilst in the preceding year the sales amounted to only four and a hall millions; the creation of debts, to an almost countless amount, for real estate in existing or anticipated cities and villages, equally unproductive, and at prices now seen to have been gteaily disproportionn?A .2 ? 1 1 -1 ?? ?" mcir rcai vniue; me expenditure ol immense sums in improvements which, in many cases, have been found to be ruinously improvident; the diversion to other pursuits of much of the labor that should have been applied to agriculture, th rcb) contributing to the expenditure of large sums in the importation of grain from Europe?-an expenditure which amounting in 1831 to about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, was, in the first two quarters of the present year, increased to more than two millions of dollars; and, finally, without enumerating other injurious results, the rapid growth among all classes, and especially in our great commercial towns, of luxurious habits, founded too often on merely fancied wealth, and. detrimental alike to the industry, the resources, and the morals of our peo.ple. It w&3 so impossible that such a state of tilings could long continue, that the prospect of revulsion was present to the IVIl ?I/Ii3 * ? ? -- ' ** * " wi uunM(u:raie (ueii oeiore u actually came. None, however, had correctly anticipated its severity. A concurrence of circumstances inadequate of themselves to produce such wide-spread and calamitous embarrassments, tended so greatly to aggravate them, that they cannot he overlooked in considering their history. Among these may be mentioned, as most prominent, the great loss of capital sustained by our commercing emporium in the fire of December, 1833?a loss, the affects of which were underrated at the time, because postponed Ibr a Season by the great facilities of credit then existing; the disturbing effects, in our commercial cities, of the transfers of the public moneys required by the deposite law of June, 1836; and the measures adopted by foreign creditors of our merchants to rertiipa limit* ?wwl t/? iiiitk/l...,. ? MMVv vit? ?i ami fcw n I villi I a W IIUIIV the United States u large portion of our specie. However unwilling any of'our citizensmny heretofore have been to assign to these causes the chief instrumentality in producing the present state of things, the developements subsequently made, and the actual condition of other commercial countries, must, as it seems to me, dispel all remaining doubtsupon the subject. It has since appeared \hat evils, similar to those suffered by ourselves, have been experienced in Great Britain, on the continent, and, indeed, throughout the commercial world; and that in other countries, as well as in our own, they have been uniformly preceded by an-(indue enlargement of the boundaries of Uradc, promp ted, all with us, by unprecedented expansions of the systems of credit. A reference to the amount of banking capita), and the issdes of paper credits put in circulation in Great Britain, by banks, and in other ways, during the years 1834, 1835 and 1836, will show an augmentation of the paper currency there, as much disproportioned to the real wants of trade as in {the United Stales. With this redundancy of the paper currency, there arose in that country also a spirit of adventurous speculation, embracing the whole range of human entel-prize. Aid was profusely given to projected improvements; large investments were made in foreign stocks and loans: credits fr?r trn^Ae ???? , guvus irviv giaillCU with unbounded liberality to merchants in foreign countries; and all the means of acquiring and employing credit were put in active operation, and extended in thejr effects to every department of business, and to every quarter of the globe. The reaction was proportioned in its violcm e to the extraordinary character of the events which preceded it. The commercial community of Great Britain were subjected to :the greatest difficulties, and their debtors in this country were not only suddenly deprived of accustomed and expected credits, but called upon for payments, which, iu the actual posture of things here, could only be made through a general pressure, and at the most ruinous sacrifices. In view of these facts, it would seem impossible for sincere inquirers after truth to resist the conviction, that the causes of the revulsion in both countries have been substantially the same. Two nations, the most commercial in the world, enjoying but recently the highest degree of apparent prosperity, and maintaining with each other the closest relations, are suddenly, in a time of profound peace, and i without any great nationul disaster, arrested in their career, and plunged into a slate of embarrassment and distress. In both countries we have witnessed the I- - -> oaniD icuuiiuuiiuy oi paper money, and other facilities of credit; the same spirit of speculation; the same partial successes; the same difficulties and reverses; am , at length.nearly t e s nneovenvhelmingcatas trophe. The most material difference between the results in the two countries has only been* that with us there has elso occurred an extensive derangement in the fiscal afTairs ot the Federal and State Govern Dents* occasioned by the suspension of specie payments by the banks. The history of those causes and effects in great Britain and the United States, is subriautialU the liustory of the revulsion in all other commercial countries. The present ?rtd visible eWVcia of these [ circumstances on the operations of the Government, and on the industry of the people, point out the objects which cull tor your immediate attention. | They ate?to regulate by law the safe keeping, transfer, and disbursement, of the public moneys; to desig ale the funds to be received and paid by the Government; to enable the Treasury to rrfeet promptly every demand upon it; to prescribe the terms of indulgence, and the mode of settlement to be udonted. as well in leciing from individuals the revenue that has accrued, as in withdrawing it from former depositories, and to devise and adopt such further measures, within the constitutional competency of Congress, i as will bo best calculated to revive the enterprise and to promote the prosperity of the country. For the deposite, transfer, and disbursement ot the revenue. National and State banks have always, with temporary and limited exceptions, been heretofore employed; hut, although advocates of each system are still to he found, it is apparent that the events of the last few months have greilly augmented the desire, long existing among the people of the United Slates, to senerate ihn fincnl f- ?/ j'v i u?|i'IID III the Government from those of individuals or corporations. Again to create a national bank, as a fiscal agent, would he to disregard the popular will, twice solemnly and unequivocally exptes^ed. On no question of domestic polie ' is there stronger evidence that the si niiiiiems of a large majority ore deliberately fixed; and 1 cannot concur with those w ho think they see, in recent events, a proof that these sentiments are, or a reason that tiny should be changed. Events, timila in their origin and character, have heretofore frequently occurred, without producing any such change; and the lessons of experience must be forgotten, if we suppose ihat the nreaent overthrow of credit would have been prevented by the existence of a national bank. Pronenest to excessive issues has ever been the vice of the banking system; a vice as prominent in National as in State institutions. This propensity is as subservient to the advancement of private ininterests in the one as in the other; and those who dir ctthem both, being principally guided by the same views, and influenced by the same motives, will be equally ready to stimulate extravagance of enterprise by improvidence of credit. How strkinglyjis this conclusion sustained by experience. The Dank of the Uni ted States, with the vast powers conferred on it by Congress, did not or could not prevent former and similar embarrassmerits; nor has the stifl greater strength it has been said to possess, under its present charter, enabled it, in the existing emergency, to check other institutions, or even to save itself. In Great Britain, where, it has been seen, the same causes have been attended with the same effects, a national bank, possessing powers Tar greater than arc asked for by the warmest advocates of stirh ait institution here, has also proved unable to prevent an undue expansion of credit, and the evils that (low from it. Nor can I find any tenhble ground for the re-establishment of a ha (tional bank, in the derangement alledged i at present to exist in the domestic ex'changes of the country, or in the facilities it may he capable of affording them. Although advantages "f this sort were in* ticiputed when the lirst Bank of the United Stales was cve-ue I, they were regard-' ed us an incidental accommodation; not one whriMt the Federal Government : bound, or could be called upon, to furnish. This accommodation is now, indeed, after i the lapse of not mahv voire. a vast extent in the most objectionable manner. These ' bills have formed-, for toe last few years,, a large proportion of what are termed the < domestic exchange s of the coumrv, ser- i ving as the means of usurious profit, and < constituting the most unsafe and prerari- i ous paper in circulation. This species of | traffic, instead ?>f being upheld, ought to t be discountenanced by the Government i and the people. i In transferring its funds from place to I place, the Govrrnmtwi is on the same t footing with the private citizen, and may I resort to the same legal mean's. It may \ do so through the medium.of hills drawn < by itself, or purchased from others; and \ in these operations it may, in a manner t undoubtedly constitutional and legitimate, i facilitate and assist exchanges of indivi- c duals founded 011 real transactions of t , j rn? ' - iruue. i ne extent lo which this may be i done, and the best means of efb cti ig it, | are enticed to the fullest consideration. I This has been bestowed by the Secretary of the Treasury, ai d his views Will be t submitted to \ oil in his report. i But it was designed by the Constitution < that the Government should assume the t management of domestic or foreign x- I change. It is indeed authorized t<> regu- t late by law the commerce between the t Slabs, and to provide a general stanilartl s of va'.ue, or medium of exchange, in gold t and silver; but it is not its province to < aid individuals in the transfer of their e funds, otherwise than through the facilities t afforded by the Post OHioe Department, i as justly might it be called on to provide f for the transportation of their merehan- I dise. These are operations of trade.? r They ought to be conduct" d by those who < are interested in them, in the same man- e ner that the incidental difficulties of other r pursuits are encountered by other classes y of citizens. Such aid has not been deemed t nect ssary in other countries. Throughout t Europe, the domestic as well as the foreign I exchanges are carried on by private houses i often, if not gene ally, without the assist- i ance of hanks. Yet they extend thro'oui t distinct sovereignties, and far exceed in 1 nm xint the real exchanges of the United ri Stales. There is no reason why our own t may not be conducted in the same manner t with equal cheapness and safety. Cer- c tainly this might be accomplished, if it * were favored by those m-st deeply inter- I eated ; and few can doubt that their own 1 interest, as well as the general welfare of ( the country, would be promoted by leaving j such a subject in the hands of those t< t whom it properly belongs. A system i founded on private interest, enterprise end \ competition, without the aid of legislative 1 grants or regulations by law, would rapidly 1 prosper; it would be free from the influence of political agitation, und extend the same exemption to trade itself; and it would put an end to those complaints of neglect, partiality, injustice, and oppression, which arc the unavoidable results of interference by the Government, in the prOper concerns nf 4,1 - ... uavtMiiaiO# 111 iurmer attempts ??n the part of the Government to carry it* legislation, in this respect ; further than was ite*ign*d by the Constitution, have in the end proved injurious, and have served only to convince the great body of the people, more and more, of the certain dangers of blending private interests with the operations of public business; and there is no reason to suppose that a repetition of them now would be more successful* . It cannot be concealed that there exists, in otir community, opinions and feelings on this subject in direct opposition to each other. \ large portion of them, combining great intelligence, activity, and influence, are 110 douhi sincere in their belief that the opeiations of trade ought to he assisted by such a connexion ; they regard a national bank as necessary for litis purpose, and they are disinclined to ev ry measure that does not tend 'sooner or Inter, to the establishment >>f such ah institution. On the other hand a majority of the people are believed to be irreconcilably opposed to that measure : they consider such a concentration of power dangerous to their liberties ; and many of them regard it as a violation of the n * v>wii9iiiiinflicrs of the (J vernment. On the last ?f these occasions. 1 #elt ii due to the >en|>l" to apprize them distinctly, that, in he event of my election. I would not be tble to co-operate in the re-establishment i?f a national hank. To these sentiments, I have now only to add the expression of in increased conviction, that the re-establishment of such a bank, in any form, whilst it would not accomplish the benefi'i?l purpose promised by its advocates, would impair the rightful supremacy of he popular w ill ; injure the churacter ind diminish the influence of our political iVQtPNi a?'l v ...m mint um-e mnre mio exis,ence a concentrated moneyed power, rostile to the spirit, and threatening the [lernianency, of our republican instituions. . . Local banks have been employed for he deposite and distribution of the revcitte, at all limes partially, and, on three JiflVrent occasions, exclusively ; first', anerior to the establishment of the first 3auk of the Tnited States; secondly, in e interval between the termination of hat institution and the charter of its iticcessors; and, thirdly, during the limied period which has now so abruptly doted. The connection thus repeatedly illempted, proved unsatisfactory on each tuccessive occasion, notwithstanding the ;ariou9 measures which were adopted to acilitate or insure its success. On the ast occasion, in the year 1833, the emdoyment of the State banks was guarded jspecially in every way which experience md c oition could supgi'st. Personal se uriy wus required lor the safe-keeping ind prompt payment of the moneys to be eceived, and full returns of their condiion were, from time to lime, to be made. ?y the depositories. In the first staff e* * he measure was eminently successful, inlwithslanding 0 e violent opposition of he Bank of the United Slates, and the inreasing efforts made to overthrow it. fhe selected Ranks performed with fid-eliy, and without any embarrassment to hemselves or t<> the community, their mgagements to the Government, and the system promised to he permanently uscul. But when, it becomes necessary, inder the act of June, 183G, to withdraw rom the public money, for the purpose of daring it in additioal institutions, or of ransferring it to the Htates, they found it n many cases, inconvenient to comply villi the demands of the Treasury, and numerous and pressing applications were made fcr indulgence or relief. \ ? the in' t _