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Br A. s. JOHNSTON
NEC DEESSE, NEC SITPERESSE REIPUBLIC^,
PUBLISHED
-? i i "i \* " ' r ," ?*m i i'
VOL. 84-NOi 584
COLUMBIA. S. C. JUNE 9, 1838.
$3 PER ANMJ.
THE
gOiTTMBIA TBL3SOOP3
l B PUBLISHED BY
A. S. JOHNSTON,
Brery Saturday Morning-,
XHXT WKDHUD T A-*D SATUROA T WORN 150
07*1X0 THI 5ISSIOX OF THS HQULITCRI.
TERMS:
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[From the New Monthly Magazine- j
BECAUSE.
44 Why ?? Because Lindlry Murray.
Sweet Nea ! for yonr-lovely sake
I weave these rambling numbers,
Because Tve lain an hour awake.
And can't compose my slumbers ;
Because your beauty's gentle light
Is round my pillow beaming,
And flings, I know not why, to-night,
. Some witchery o'er my dreaming !
Becauae we've pass'd some joyous days,
And danced some merry dances ;
Because you love old Beaumont's plays,
And old Kroissart's romances !
Because, whene'er I hear your words.
Some pieusant feeling lingers ;
Because I think your heart has chords
That vibrate to my fingers !
Because you've got those long, soft curls
I've vow'd should deck my goddess ;
Because you're not, like other girls, j
All bustle, blush, and bod dice !
Because your eyes are deep and blue,
Your fingers long and rosy !
Because a little child and you
Would make one's home so coxy !
Because your little tiny nose
Turn-f up so pert and funny ;
Because 1 know you choose your beaux
More for their mirth than money;
Because 1 think you'd rather whirl
A waitx, with me to guide you,
Than talk small nonsense with an earl,
And a coronet beside you.
Because you don't object to walk,
And are not given to Stinting ;
Because you have not learn'd to talk
Of flowers and Poohah painting ;
Because, I think, you'd scarce refuse
To sew one on n button ;
Becauae I know you'd sometimes choose
To dine on simple rout'on !
Because I think T*m just so weak
As, some of these fine morrows,
To ask yow, if you'll let me speak j
My story and my sorrows ; I
Because the rest's a simple thing,
A matter quickly over,
A church? a priest ? a sigh a ring ?
And a chaise and four to Dover !
TREASURY NOTES.
The Senate haviog taken up the bill to
authorize the issue of Treasury Notes, to
meet the wants of the Government ?
Mr. PRESTON said he was altogether
indisposed to mix up a eftscussion of the sub
Treasury project with what he had to say on
the bill now before the Senate, to provide for
the making of Government money. With
the hard money part of that project he bad
no svmpathy during its short, feverish exis
tence ; and now, being dead, he would be ]
silent concerning it. " Nil de mortuis nisi
bonum." By a very decisive vote, of 31 to
21, we are, said Mr. P. fully relieved from
all further discussion of tbis scheme, how
ever- much its mourning friends may be in
dulged in eulogy and monody. There is a
real and practical question before us, which
we are pressed to decide with breathless haste, j
now, at once ; for if we delay a moment, i
honorable gentleman tell us the Government
is about to be precipitated into a gulf of
bankruptcy, from which it can be rescued
op ly by our utmost speed. It is new F riday
evening ; the General Government of the
United States cannot pny off its laborers to
morrow evening without this bill. Without
this bill the hod-carrier at the public build
ings must go without his Sunday dinner. If
-we do not pass this bill now, this instant, the
Government is disgraced, the public faith !
violated; there is no alternative ? disgrace or !
-this bill, this identical bill, just as it stands,
without substitute, alteration, or amendment j
of any kind ; and he who will not at once j
eageriy take it, just as presented, is little less 1
than a traitor. Now, Mr. President, I am
not altogether contented with this bold urg
ing by the Administration, of its own negli
gence and incompetency, as reasons why we
should not deliberate; that, because they
have not done their duty, we should not do
ours ; that, because their prodigality has
exhausted your Treasury, and their negli
gence has not announced that fact until the
Jast moment, we should be deprived of all
discretion upon the ways and means, and
4riven hastily to register the edicts of the
Executive. That portion of the Senate
which, either from habit or from recent illu
mination, believe in Executive infallibility,
may well believe that all discussion of Exe
cutive recommendations is very useless, and,
perhaps, vejry impolite ; but it is pushing this
complacency and acquiescence very far wheo
a similar self-sacrifice is demanded of those
who neither have the habit, nor have seen
the apocalypse.
I by no means, sir, desire to stop the sup
plies ot Government, believing that it is our
duty at all times to make such appropria
tions as may be necessary and proper to
sustain its action. If we should refuse to
vote a competent salary for the President or
Judges, we would unquestionablv violate the
Constitution by omitting an important duty.
But it is a very different question how the
money to discharge these salaries should be
raised. We must adopt some mode ; what
it should be is addressed to our discretion
Tfct annunciation of the^j truisms would be i
ridiculous, but for the virtual denial of them
Htyp|iedin the language of Senators who hold
that opposition to the issuing of ten millions
of Treasury bills is the advocacy of Govern
ment insolvency.
i For one, sir, I should hold myself guihy
of a gross violation of public duty if I with
held the supplies necessary; and I should
hold myself equally guilty of a gross viola
tion of public duty if I voted for this bill;
and I never will, under any pressure, how
ever brought upon me, whether, like the
present, it be either the result of incapacity
or of a purpose to make an emergency,
neither in war nor in peace, will I ever vote
for the issuing of Treasury notes, bills of
credit, concealed loaus, continental money.
The argument for the bill is the haste
necessaty. Those who urge the necessity
urge it as an argument. The necessity is
perhaps made for the sake of the argument.
The breathless haste with which the chair
man came runniug into the Hall with the bill
seemed to indicate that he and his friends
had been taken altogether by surprise ; that
bankruptcy had slily crept unawares upon
rhern, and was about to pounce upon them
by one portentous leap. Why has not this
state of things been foreseen and forearmed
against? Why have we not been provided
with a system of finance to relieve us from
these paltry expedients ? this living from band
to mouth 1 Here, in the sixth month of the
session, the President of the United States
comes into Congress with a beggarly account
of empty boxes; supplicating Congress to
dismiss all other matters, and hasten to the
relief of Government. Why have you per
: mitted this pitiable and disgraceful spectacle,
now Tor the first time exhibited, of the Presi
dent warning Congress of the Government
bankruptcy ? There Is no excuse fi.r, no
palliation of, this unprecedented negligence
and incapacity. The chairman of the com
mittee st3ted to us the other day, when he
proposed the sale of the United States Bank
bonds, that it was all the Senate could do to
wards replenishing the Treasury. If this
were true, as it is not, why was not that mea
sure produced early enough to avoid this
shameful crisis? Why were not the pro
ceeds of those bonds now in the Treasury ?
If this had been done, we should have been
allowed breathing time. But is this all the
Senate could have done ? Let me call your
at eation, sir, to the first sentence of the
President's urgent message. He says :
*? 1 submit to the consideration of Congress
a statement prepared by the Secretary of the
Treasury, by which it appears that the U.
States, icith over twenty-eight millions in de
posits icith the States , and over fifteen millions
due from individuals and banks,- are, from the
situation in which those funds are placed, in
immediate danger of being rendered unable
to discharge, with good faith and prompti
tude, the various pecuniary obligations of
the Government."
Now, sir, it was competent to the Senate
to originate measures to recall these depo
sitee from the States ? as much within the
powers of this as of the other House. The
Administration members who have possession
of both brauches might have introduced a
bill in either to demand the whole, or any
portion, of these 28 millions; and, in my
opinion, their shrinking from this obvious
course is a reason why we should look with
suspicion upon the proposed measure. Why
do not gentlemen calf on the States for those
deposites which are thus set forth by the
President? A bill introduced in due season
would have replenished the Treasury by this
time, for the Legislatures of many of the
Slates have been in session until recently,
and all have been in session since the meet
ing of Congress, and siuce the present con
dition of things was foreseen by every body
except, perhaps, by the Secretary of the
Treasury.
When, at the extra session, the first bill
for the creation of Government paper money
was before us, I suggested and urged the
propriety of drawing upon the deposites in
the States. The idea seemed to meet with
some favor from the Administration side; but
it was said, we have no time ? the case is too
urgent; and this is a single instance of the
issue of Treasury notes, not to be followed
up. Now there is a second instance ; time
urges again ; bankruptcy has surprised gen
tlemen twice a year; and twice we are called
upon for Treasury notes* under the subter
fuge of haste. Why is this, Mr. President?
Why this puerile pretext, which, if it were
aught but a pretext, is such an avowal of in
competency as should be followed up by the
resignation of all concerned ?
The alternative for those who govern us is
of fraud or folly. But I believe, Mr. Presi
dent, there is not much difficulty in ascer
taining the true cause of this reluctance to
demand the deposites, and willingness to is
sue the Treasury notes. The issuing of
Treasury notes is a quiet and unostentat ous
proceeding, rousing neither individuals nor
States. You silently get the desired sweets
without exciting the swarm, whereas, if you
demand the deposites, it is striking the hive,
and all the inmates are forthwith about your
ears.
If you ventured to call upon the States,
they would turn upon you and inquire, for
what purpose is all this money wanted ? ?
What measures have brought you to this
condition ? In short, by making this call,
you would effect what was the plain object
of the deposite law ; you would excite the
vigilance of the States, -'nd make them, to use
the phrase of the times, antagonist to your
prodigality; and surely there never was a
time when the Administration more needed
money, and the country could less spare it.
Broken aud tumbling to pieces as you are,
you stand in need of prodigal appropriations
to buy off the vengeance which your prodi
gality has brought upon you. You seek to
purchase silence upon your spendthrift dis
bursements by more extravagant expendi
tures. There is not one single act of re
trenchment performed or in progress. There
is no pretence of economy. The Depart
ment asks for twenty-two millions ; when it
is known that when these reformers and re
trenchers came into power, twelve millions
were enough ; and besides this,audacious de- j
mand ? from those who, it was proclaimed for
their country's good, would be, with miracu
lous speed, the most economical of all possi
ble politicians ? there are now bills before us
proposing appropriations of more than forty
millious. No one has proposed to cut otf
any branch of extravagauce, and no party
measure has been proposed to organize a
system of economy. Are there any prop?
sitions of reform ? Any committees of re
trenchment? You have not given up one of
your useless and corrupting projects. Not a
harbor; not a light-house; not a pension;
not even your notoriously useless Cumber
land road. In truth, sir, you dare not ; this
Administration cannot give up any one means
of influence and corruption. My colleague
proved in a masterly report a few years since,
that its foundations were in money and pa
tronage ; take those away, and the swift de
struction which, in spite of power and pa
tronage, is coming upon it, will overwhelm it
in the twinkling of an eye.
The Adminisfration can neither restrain
its prodigality nor permit the People to know
it. They Jare not rouse the antagonist vigi-,
lance of the States, and theiefore resort to
indirect by-ways of raising a revenue. All
that is wanted, is the silent hand of the en
graver*, a little ink and paper. It is a most
noiseless operation. " Let the People slum
ber on in sweet repose : Heaven forbid that
we should wake them."
- Now, Mr. President, this is exactly what I
desire. I wish the People to know and feel
what you are doing^-~i~~tffesire to see a main
object of the deposite law accomplished. A
direct appeal to the States and the People
for money, would be a real and efficient
check, not only upon your extravagance, but
upon all your misdeeds, for it will immedi
ately create a spirit of scrupulous investiga
tion into the whole conduct of the Govern
ment. I believe, sir, that a necessity of rais
ing your revenue at all times by direct taxa
tion, would be in itself a more searching and
vivifying principle of liberty than all the
checks and guards of the Constitution, how
ever wisely conceived. To the mystifying
influence of indirect taxation, you now pro
pose to add the still more remote, silent,
and unintelligible process of creating money.
You shrink, altogether, within yourself. ?
You plunge into the dark recesses of* your
safes and dungeons to counterfeit money,
because you arc afraid to ask the People
for it.
One year has already illustrated the fatal
tendency and inevitable destiny of this sys
tem of making money. The issue at the
extra session was said to be temporary, and
but for a short season. You now are about
to repeat it. You will doit again and again.
You will expand and extend your issues.
You will push them, as all Governments
have in all ages, to extreme ; to deprecia
tion. You have tasted once of this intoxi
cating draught, and now return to it with a
keen relish; again you will collapse, 'and
again return to it. Even now there are
strong symptoms that this luscious and exhi
larating beverage is beginning to be consid
ered as a regular ingredient of the Govern
ment dietetics. It begins to be whispered
that a permanent system of Government pa
per may not be that wretched parent of pub
lic and private demoralization which all time
has proved it to be, and perhaps one induce
ment for proposing the present measure may
be to familiraize the public mind bv degrees
to what no one would dare open*^ avow as
the ultimate object of the Administration,
viz : the establishment of a Government pa
per currency. It is necessary to approach
this consummation warily. The People have
some ugly reminiscence of continental mo
ney. They have heard of the French as
signats. Many remember the North Caro
lina proc money. They would be shocked
with the 44 heinous" mien of this "monster"
if the veil were suddenly dropped. But if
they can be brought to 44 endure" it, why, |
in the regular progress of moral degradation, j
they may at length be brought to "embrace"
it. And when the country is debauched in- j
to this embrace, when we are brought to
agree that this Government sh;ill create its
own funds, for its own purposes, I would
not give you a baubee for your Constitution.
Its checks, limitations, and restrictions, are j
a mere mockery. When the Government
can make money ad libitum , it will spend it
ad libitum.
I am very strongly persuaded that you
have no power under the Constitution to is
sue Treasury notes. My colleague states
that he intends to vote for this bill, but would
by no means, under any circumstances, in
war or in peace, vote for a loan. This most
emphatic declaration of his opinion that the
proposed measure is not a loan leaves it up
on the Tooting of paper issued upon the |
credit, of the Government ; and all parties |
admit that it is intended for circulation. ?
These two qualities combined make the de
finition of bills of credit; and such, sir, we
j have no power to issue under the Constitu
tion. And, in the first place, appealing to
the highest canon of constitutional constiuc
tion, 1 demand that the power be pointed to
me. Where is it ? Where is your author
ity to issue bi*# ; of credit? It is expressly
prohibited to the States; is it expressly given
j to this Government? Whatever was so sub
stantive as to require express prohibition to
the States, was sufficiently substantive to re
quire express grant to the Federal Govern
ment. The silence of the Convention in
one case is as emphatic as its language in
the other. This Government, to be sure,
has the power of raising money ; but it is a
definite power, limited to certain objects,
and circumscribed also as to the mode ol
doing it. There are two modes of raising
money permitted by the Constitution : 1st,
by laying and collecting taxes, imposts, &c.;
2d, by borrowing money.
Congress shall have power to lay, &c. ?
Congress shall have power to borrow money.
There the powers of Congress cease. It is
not added that Congress shall have power i
to issue bills of credit. If the power to
raise money had been granted in general
terms, it might have been argued, with some
plausibility, that all modes of doing it were
included in the grant. But the modes are
themselves the subjects of express grant and
enumeration ; and, by a clear rule of con
struction, an enumeration of some particu
lars excludes those not enumerated ; and the
application of this rule is especially strong
in the present case, from the fact, that at the
time of the Convention, bills of credit were
the most frequent and familiar mode of rai
sing money ; and their intended exclusion
might be strongly inferred from the odium
into which they had justly fallen. The
modes expressly authorized in the Constitu
tion are abundantly ample fo^ all the pur
poses of revenue. The poorer of taxation
is that of confiscating the property of the
country for the purposes of Government.
The power of borrowing is limited only by
the extent of the Government credit. Sure
ly this is enough for ail honest and legiti
mate purposes. There are practical restric
tions on both these grants of a very efficient
character: upon that of borrowing, the want
of credit, if it be wantouly pushed i upon
that of taxation, the resistance of the people
taxed; but, upon the assumed power of
^emitting hills of credit there is no restraint
resulting from the nature things. The
will or the wantonness of Government pre
scribes their own bounds ? bounds that never
have, and never wi)i be ascertained, but in
the utter exhaustion of a totally deprecia
ted currency.
But the argument against the power does
not reft exclusively upon the application of
these obvious rules of construction; but de
rives strength fronr the proceedings of the
Convention upon the subject of bills of cre
dit; and which places the objection upon
grounds which must, at least, be conclusive
to all who hold a United States Bank to be
unconstitutional.
The denial of the constitutionality of that
institution rests mainly upon these two
grounds: 1st. That no grant of power to
create a bank is found in the Constitution.
And, 2d, That, in convention, the proposi
tion to endow this Government with the pow
er to create corporations was negatived. ?
Both objefctions lie against bills of credit.
The proposition granting such a power to
Congress was expressly made to the Conven
tion by the report of a committee ; it was
fully discussed, and rejected. Luther Mar
tin reports the various views taken. He him
self was in favor of the proposition, and
considered the proceeding of the Conven
tion in denying this power, as an unwise re-'
strict.on upon the powers of Congress. I
refrain, Mr. President, from pushing this
argument into any further detail, as the
ground has already been fully and ably occu
pied by a distinguished member from Sopth
Carolina, in the other House, to whose views j
I could add nothing. He and my most
worthy and most republican friend, the ven
erable' Senator from Tennessee, have prece
ceded and given me the sanction of their au
thority for this position. Although my col
league considers this bill as by no means a
borrowing of money, gentlemen who act
with him contend that it is, in effect and sub
stance, a mode of making a loan. If that
be so, sir, it is not the less unconstitutional ;
or it has the form and semblance of bills of
credit. And although bills of credit may be,
in effect and substance, a loan, they are not
the less unconstitutional ; for the Constitu
tion prescribes the form and manner of rais
ing money. It allows you no discretion as
to the form and manner. If this be sub
stantially a loan, borrow the money, as the
Constitution directs you.
But it is objected that borrowing money
is a dangerous expedient, inasmuch as it
creates a national debt, and therefore that
bills of credit are better. So thought not
the Convention ; and, for my part, (though I
have no fancy for a national debt,) 1 would
rather encounter it than be wise beyond the
Constitution. Whether the issuing of bills
of credit does not create a debt equally with
ibe borrowing of money, I sh ill inquire by
and by. Jb or the present, 1 have to say that
1 greatly prefer the plan ol borrowing, not
only because it is prescribed in the Constitu
tion, (always sufficient for me,) but because
it brings you fairly before the People, drags
you from your lurking places, overrules your
pleas in abatement, and puts you at the biir
of your country. \ es, Mr. President, go to
the People? the people, whose money you
have squandered, whose commerce you have
destroyed, go and ask them, in the constitu
tional modes which they have prescribed, lor
more money. If you desire to avoid any
thing but the appearance ol* a national debr,
advance boldly to the People and ask for
money. Seud out your tax collectors. ?
Abandon this paltry subterfuge, and come
up openly to your object, and with all your
purposes avowed and acted upon. Send the
tax collector with your demands for money-"
tor hard money, Mr. President. 1 should be
glad to sec you send your tnx-gatheieis
through the country with their leathern bags
or green purses demanding to have them
filled with hard money. This would bring:
your theories to the test. This would deck e
the question as to what medium you should
be paid in. Demand gold of the hard-handed
farmer, who has returned from market with
the proceeds of his produce, and when he
oilers you what the policy of his State has
placed" him uuder the necessity of taking,
tell him that you scorn his dirty trash, that
precious metal alone is for you. Hold this
language to him and to his family, and then,
if you can, come back here with your wild
schemes, do so, and make the most of them.
1 should most heartily rejoice to see your
svstem, for a short time, brought practically
into operation by a direct tax demanded from
the people in gold and silver. It was the
great fraud of the tariff system, that its ope
ration upon the tax-paying community was
so circuitous and involved as to be difficult of
clear, or, at least, of Succinct exposition.?
The process admitted of cavil and mystifica
tion. JSo too, in the system of measures
now recommended, and especially in the bill
now before us. You disguise and co. ceal
the ultimate effect, by throwing it upon a
future time when it will be mixed tip with
other matters, in the confusion of which
you may find an argument or make a sub
terfuge. 1 defy, 1 dare, the Administration
to come out frankly with their projects, so
as to submit them practically to the People.
Demand your deposites from the States, or
openly borrow money while you have so
much on deposite; or, having dried up the
revenue from imports, by destroying com
merce, order a direct tax to be paid in ?pe
CI0,
Some Senators approve of the proposed j
issue of Treasury notes, because they say
they will not agree to create a natioual debt.
I can perceive no difference in effect between
the obligation to pay these bills when pre
sented, and any other obligation recognising
a debt. A Treasury note is issued to dis
charge a debt now due, by creating another
to fall due hereafter. If you borrow money,
you acknowledge ^ debt for moAey received.
When you issue * Treajrity note, you
acknowledge a debt for services rendered. I
do not think thattte Jictootabie chairman of
ihe committee on Finance, whose candor
an?f perspicuity are nckno*Mge<Mn all
hands, rill conrend that this Jitf does not au
thorise the creation of n national debt. Tne
Senator intimates that lie *wllaot <?n]?nd
for it. He admits that It is a^ational deit.
Indeed, the terms of the law of the extra
session, which this proposes jto levive#, a*a
unequivocal. They are: t
??That the Secretary of the'Treasury be,
and he is hereby aUthorrted and Erected to
cause to be reimbursed and the princi
pal and interest of the Treasury which
may bfc issned by virtue of thSTjtct. ... * > f
? ? For this reimbitfsement, at the
time and times hewn specified, ^the ^ith of
the United States is berejpy pledg
ed.*' ? ' ( : 1 >4~'~ >
At the extra session a bift fyr the ??ie of
ten billions of Treasury note* was P33^
.meet an emergency, as it was Said?Mf^lin^
expected crisis, fiere, now, is another etnwr*
gency? another unexpected crisis. In truth,
sir, I believe the Treasury habitually exiata
in a state of emergency^in a critical condi
tion- But admit that we are overtaken by
circumstances which wisdom could not fore
see or prudence avert ? what is our duty .
Why, to do what is necessary to pass the
ciisis, and nothing moie, until we can sit
down coolly and devise the most appropriate
measures. And this is the course indicated
bv the amendment proposed by the Senator
from Massachusetts. He proposes to grant
two millions of Treasury notes, which will
relieve the pressing necessities of the Gov
ernment, and allow us time to look about
us. Indeed, sir, I believe that a hesitating
and stinted allowance, from time^ to ,'m??
^st enough to keep us along, might tend
l to enforce a wise lesson of practical econo
my. We have long wasted our substance
with riotous living.
It may be well for us to be reduced to
husks for a season, that we may be brought
to acknowledge our sins. Undoubtedly.
Mr. President, when. we do so, and return
to the safe precepts of our fathers, we shall
be again in the midst of comfort and abun
dance. But this consummation will be post
poned yet for a year or two; aud for that
time, perhaps, it will be necessarv to pro
vide. 1, sir, prefer borrowing to Treasury
notes. But why resort to cither beyond the
immediate pressure of the moment, when
the President tells us, and we all know, that
we have 28 millions on deposite? *Ca"jn
your debts; check for your deposites. Tne
course is direct, plain, obvious; precise y
that which any prudent individual would
pursue : being pressed by his wants or his
creditors, he would call upon his debtors.
This, sir, is your only true policy; but, in
stead of it, you propose to create a national
debt, to encourage stockjobbing and specula
tion, and to lay the foundation of a future
high tariff. 1 warn my colleagues of the
South that this creation of ajwuonal debt is
playing into the hands of those who have de
ceived us once upon the tariff, and fastened
it on us. I beg them to remember that the
Administration opposed the compromise, and
endeavored, at the last session, to violate it;
and boasted that they would have succeeded
but for the South Carolina votes. I beg them
to remember that? national debtin 1842 will
be cause for a netf imposition of duties; ana
i hat, at this moment, and forward to that pe
riod. this blundering and falling party in pow
er co\i Id desire nothing more ardently than
to have a vital question of this kind open for
them to play their desperatepajfly game with.
What were the terms on whicaf we deposi
ted the surplus revenue with th^ .SiatesJ
Did we say to them it is a gift, or did we not*
on the contrary, expressly deny that position 7
I call the recollection of the Senaje to^tM
facts in relation to that bill, the manner ofth?
executiou of v bich is the true
distress which we all now feel. WhfJJ|tJlie
opponents of the bill charged upon us that
cur real objec t was to give that uioney-tQLjJi?
States, we repelled the charge with indigna
tion. For myself 1 thought the charge**!
imputation on my political honor. I woula
have voted against the bill had I believed that
to be its purpose. In that view its operation
was most unequal. It gave to my owj state
in the proportion of one million of dollars to
(our millions to New York; yet my ^tate
contributes to the revenue in the inverse ratio
of what she received. Y ou remember, sir, tne
Southern doctrine, that the States pay mto
the coffers of the General Government in
proportion to their exportation, and not their
consumption. If that doctrine be true, (and
I have seen no reason to disbelieve its trutn,)
then I should have been most unwilling tor
South Carolina to receive so^small a pittance
of what she contributed to the revenue, wni e
N ew York received four times as much, .but
I denied it to be a gift, and I stated at that
time, in nsv place, that if the General Govern
ment should ever be in a condition to need
the money, I was ready to pledge my State
that it should be paid back to the last dollar.
I now call upon the Senate to carry out, in
good faith, the provisions and principles ot
the deposite bill, and to demand from all the
States their respective quotas of the amount
then deposited with them. The deposites
were made with the States according to their
popuUion^u origioalJv passedt it wou!d have
been the imperious duty of the Secretary of
the Treasury, in the present state of our fin
ances, to have prompily demanded whatever
sums are necessary, the precise contingency
contemplated iu the act having occurred. A
the last session, however, it was supposed that
the discretion of determining on this contin
gency could be more safely cbnfided jo Con
gress, and, therefore, the act was so amended
as to require that the Legislature should, ?t
its pleasure, make the demand. If the case
provided for has occured, it is as much our
dutv to proceed as it would have been that ol
the'Secretary; aud J now demand of gentle
men, 44 how dare yon, in the face of this ac ,
presume to borrow money ? how d*re you,
with such a resource at your command, resort
to any other means whatever? ' By passing
the bill before you. you ipso facto repeat the
deposite law. No gentleman will rapport
that that law is at an end, and all hope
that quarter out of the question, for the Pre
sideat himself talks to us about the twenty
eight minions on d^gpiit* and 40
Government- Ttyrqufstion is whether y?U
wiH how repeal it, and thus pWe the South
ern States iti a typfawti where they may V
ground down wider 1 system of exce^lu
taxation. ' . ^ ^ ^ V ;
Cut k said the States might find it incon
venient to repay this raonef, and tht* the de
mand way oppress them. Jntbe *o,&rone#
T had rather that South Carolina should meet
the demand bow, than tneetit in the shape of
a tarifffttir years !iebCe?flfcr credit is good,
bcr .resources abundant, and, if she has not
sot the money, l&e cali 'borrow it on as good
terms fts to u can. $0 can. all the other
State*, iheir credit is as good as yours. It
will be easy for ihc?>Statrs to meet the ?wer
gency.. It mafhe said tliat these quern
Hour the States will not be enough, *ren with
the two milHoai of the Treasury notes. Add
*fnt,fcy the -terms of the act, you are athb
erty to draw firotn them, to the proceeds *f
the sale of the United States Bank bonds and
the accruing revenue, and fou will find there .
Is enough, even for yoar habitual prodigality :
but if it begot, then your reduced meana will
enforce a salutary ecpeemy? an ^ocomy
which, I believe, uo thing but the iron hand
of necessity can enforce It *? oue of lbf
most d'iffi cult efforts of private life to break
through fixed habits ofextrara|iint Jiving, and
reduce one's expenditure within the limits of
a reduced income. Nor is this difficulty ow
ing alone to the violence done by each a pro
cess to our vanity or pride, t. It is #u?, more
the violence which must be done to the 'or^e
of habit. It is, in fact,. a change 4n our mode
of existence. And if this is so difficult with
individuals, it is, on ev^ry account, still more
difficult with Governments. Now* fiie $??
ernment of this country, since jl^e comiiig w
of this most economical istiicil
ever professed economy, has, in three yea 1**
spent upwards of $100,000,000. \ es, sir,
under fhis most patriotic, most pure aud self
denying, and most economical of 'all ,pw#|Me
parties, thus much has been expended ; and
there are now propositions before the two
Houses of Cougress for the expenditure of
?40,000,000. Sir, this evil has a perpetual
growth, and I see the necessity ot applying
to it an immediate and effective, though per
haps an unwelcome and caustic, remedy.?
Let the Government be taught by necessity
to cut dowfi its expenditures;, but if we will
not be restraiped by our fears, let us at least
yield to the sense of shame. ? I^travagance
is our disease, retrenchment ouronly renpfdy
This bill comes to us under peculiar cir
cumstances. Does any gentleman suppose
that the popular branch of- this ?ornament
could ever have passed this bill but under the
most pressing appreliensioip that the .fund
for internal improvements would be exhaus
ted ? A few votes wou]<T,have turned the
scale. Who knows but, after all, it was pass
ed for the sake of some harbor on i^ke^ On
tario, where a member's constituents had the
hppe that $10,000 or 820,000 of the public
money was t^ be exp^dedt Who can say
but it' was the Combe/land road that passed
the bill T Sir, vou know ;fc?w these things
are managed, ^he coosutnfltfs of -genUe
men are in the habit of instructing them, or
at least of electing them under a pledge or
understanding that they shall vote for some
expenditures in that quarter. Maryland,
Virginia, Pennsylvania, were all interested
in the bill, and they had all bad their day,?
now, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois come upod
the field ; they insist upon their share of the
road. Well, sir, and do ypu suppose that
the road is to stop there ? .No, sir, it* re
freshing, its fertilizing WW^nce is to pro
ceed westward. The People will have it.
They hold their representatives responsible#
especially when on their return home they
will have" to mount the steps or ump,
and demonstrate to their constituents thtf
they had lost the road because Tietoury
notes were a bad thing, and their ftpwej
tatives could not vote for them. To nola
language like this, requires some courage?
and while 1 would speak with due respect &
those in both Houses, to whom the People
have thought fit to confide their most impor
tant interests, I cannot but remember, tM?
after all, they are men and of like
with Others. And yet, with all th??e obsta
cles, strong was the repugnance, that the
bill was sent to us by a tie vote.
It w not be' in order for me, at this
time, to ofl& the amendment 1 propose, un
less that offered by the honorable gentleman
from Massachusetts^ (Mr. Web?ter )or^?e
thine like it, shall be adbpted, If itbe tnie
that the whole aimount of 810,000,000 is im
mediately reqhired, then there is do oc?
siou for' inv amendment. But surely the
whole caoWt ?* ouce b?
$2,000,000 are insufficient, ^,000,000 wih
surely do for tlrt we?nt. I cannot. mweHj
vote for any amendment wtacb MBttllWlWW
the issue of Treasury n^Vj.bnt, the
amendment of the hpnonbli RcnUeman shall
succeed, I shall then offer.Toi the adoption
of the Senate, the following s
And be iifurtlitr enacUd , T|bat the Se
cretary of the Treasury is hereby author
ised and required, to make requisitions ttpon
the States according to the provisiOilMjf
the Act of the 23d June, 1836, for such
sums as the expenses of the Gof^mment
may require. U
JM? ? 1?
sofXandsettee bedsteads.
AT E Brittin'a Furnlmw W?rs-Room, ? hrnd
tome m.d ooiiYemei* trtiel#?hichaie offerrd
un reasonable terms, wuh agff*
Post, Field and Frcnch Bedstead^aUo Fsncy
ket?. Floor M?w, Toilet Work Boxes, Opti<*s wMb
pi^, wm* cSiks end
Cbniw, 1 W y "it*' ^ v :
Matt ra?e? of Carted Blir,1^wl, Wow .and Cotton.
Nov. 85 *' "
_ ? 1 ? " , "
. vYcgrOe* "ttftmtcd.
THE Sobacriber i ? de?if<>o? of hirina 50 er tV)
?tt?dfc?aas s?S
b?k of theComs^mel Bank.^ jfESWTT.
Colnmbmy A?fg . -f*
^ jpaasuiWft
IV KKAT LBTTU* ****?. 1 !"!?&_
Erecutrd with Accuracy qjfj?**1*' ^