Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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y SOUTH CAROLINA LEGISLATURE. Report of the Committee on Federal Relations. [Concluded.] Tlie unfounded allegation tliat Gen. Harrison's election would raise the value of property, is already in part exposed. He is elected, and yet money remains (lie same; property the same. The more cunuing part of his advocates, are hoarding tlieir means to buy at a sacrifice, the estates of the dupes u ho united with tnem in clamouring foi change. The mild and gradual effect of the separation of the Government from bunking, the gradual return to the collection of the Revenue in money, and the Independent Treasury, were eflicacious remedies for a redundant circulation. The hope that any change of administration could save one whose obligation, payable by the laws and Constitution, in specie, is outstanding, for property bought at prices swollen by speculation and depreciated circulation, from the consequent loss, was too fallacious for an honest Democratic Administration to hold out, and the proposal to cripple all the State Banks by placing a regulator, with chartered privileges, to compel them 11 I.. tmrwl i-ml rriillinnq flf flcht. IV Utfll 111 ll'UI IMtHWIVU .......v...w is the most cruel mockery, and the curses of a ruined country, deep and loud too will fall upon its authors. The Independent Treasury, and a well advised General Bankrupt Law, applicable to all dealers, was the true means of relief. Now, the wealthy capitalists alone, have any piospect of profiling by this reiterated experiment of a Federal rule, which has always ended in disappointment to the people. Not only is a United States Bank unnecessary, but "he idea of its money being in fact any better than the money of specie paying Banks of the States, where its Branches are situaieu, except forthe unjust monopoly of being receivable in paymeiK of dilties, although not redeemable in specie where so paid; a monopoly, the fruits of which, are reaped by foreign stockholders. Such an institution is evidently unconstitutional, and the existence of such a Bank, is only a proof how pressing emergencies form an excuse for a departure of principle, and how readily good men slide into the heresy in morals, that " the end justifies the means." The constitutional objection to a Bank, chartered by the United States, has never been fairly met, and as human reason is just as clear as ever it was, the time has arrived when the people will again resort to first principles, and test the point by sound and connected argument. Let us trace the history of this Institution from its embryo. In 1780, during the Revo* lotionary War; the Bank of North America was chartered by the Continental Congress. The inducement was, that the Bank was to furnish the Army 3,000,000 rations, and 300 hhds. rum, and receive in payment Bills of exchange on our Minister in Europe. The subscription or capital was to be in gold and silver. Even then so jealous were the statcmen of that day, that they required "every evening except Sundays, a statement of the cash account, and the notes issued and received, and to bo delivered to the Superintendant of the finance of America." The exigences of the country were the excuse, and the States requested to carry into effect its provisions by State laws. Thus, a United States Bank was known prior to the Constitution, and was the subject of debate in the Convention. This Bank took a charter from Pennsylvania afterwards. The question generally of giving to Congress power to grant acts of Incor8oration, and also to incorporate a Bank, lr. Madison says was fully considered, the power refused; and now the question ari^p, has Congress that power? As to the array of great names in favor of the position, it is enough to say, the present generation are endowed with ttie same intellectual powers as their predecessors, and with the same facts before them, can arrive at as wise a conclusion; and the pressure ui oiaie ur-ces&uj uciu? *cwv>?ed, they have a better prospect of arriving at the conclusions of unbiased teason. The United Slates, and its Congress, possess no inherent power or original existence, as a body politic, but is composed solely of such sovereign powers, as the States have by the Constitution grauted. It results that the omission to grant is a prohibition to the exercise of any of the powers appertaining to a government. The people of the several States, as independent and sovereign powers, possessed all the attributes of Nations, and so much, and no more, of those attributes, as are in terms surrendered to it, by the instrument which created the United States Government appertains to it. It is admitted that the United States is a Government, capable of sustaining its existence, and not a mere league; but the limits of its authority arc dotim-ated in the Constitution, without which it has no existence, and beyond which it can exercise no legitimate authority. f,vt us then look into this instrument for the authority to create a body corporate, and grunt to it the monopoly of hating its promises to pay coin received in every quarter ol the Union for the duties and tines of Ununited Stales, and the use of its revenues to lie loaned out on the promissory notes of individuals, rind to receive the interest for the equivalent of paying tjie deposits uk.im rcnnirpi! Pnujpr it-ns rpfnceil tvllpn mil IV I V\JV.. w?. ? WI? VI n%?r ....... asked in direct terms, and let us apply the celebrated rule, "to ask the lawgiver what he mean!,'' and it is clear, that he did not intend that to be implied which he had expressly refusrrd. But independent of this refusal, the terms of the Conslitu- Jo lion canhot be construed to imply such n if power. It has been infered from ihe pow- k cr "to lay and collect taxes for the gen- b J eral welfare." To incorporate a Bank, e lays no tax for any purpose. Alexander p Hamilton, the great originator of such a ti Bank, told the honest truth; as to what it ti i was intended to be: "It is to be consider- n 1 ed that such a Bank is not a mere matter n i of private property, but a political ma- 8 j chine, of the greatest importance to the b ; State." Congress has no power to raise ti mnncv to invest in a Bank, any more than c in a v. haling voyage, or any other money S making business. The term "general i welfare," is used to designate the object d ! of raising taxes. If every thing that will o bring money into the public purse, is au- c thoriscd under the power to raise taxes t; then charters to fishing companies, fur companies, and companies for all purpo- c ses of trade and manufacture, by requir- A ing a bonus would bring money into the s public purse. Yet no such charters were tl ever applied for. To exact a bonus for a li charter is not a tax, but the price of a n [government grant of a monopoly, and a ii monopoly is so much taken from the mass n of the people to be conferred on a privi- fl leged class. The right does not result r from the power "to borrow money." A Bonk charter borrows no money. It is a d fearful stretch of construction to imply v it is a " necessary and proper" way to li borrow money, to call into existence a a corporation to lend it?not to lend its mo- n ney, but the promissory notes. The pow- u er is to borrow money. Now, by the h Constitution, Congress may 4 coin money, ti and regulate the value thereof, and of v foreign coin." No other money was then tl known. Paper?bills of credit, were ne- b i ver known as money, but a substitute for m it. Who ever heard of engraving money? c Neither is it, "necessary and proper,'' or h either, to create a corporation, to aid in n laying and collecting taxes, or to create a a lender that Congress may borrow. It S would apply as well to Trust Companies, P Loan OlFices, and Whaling companies.? 1 These might be taxed, or they might lend il their notes, or even their money, but are; b they both 4 necessary and proper?' The j o people may be taxed, and money may be j <\ borrowed of individuals. The Slates Jn have the right to prohibit the circulation b as money of any thing but gold and silver, si and vet if Congress have the power to ft W w incorporate a Bank, they must protect its l( issues, punish the forgery of them, and l' thus usurp a clear State Right by implica- tt tion. Every implication of a grant is 0 confined to such as are direct, and both c necessary and proper in the usual and na-j ti tural acceptation of the terms, else itjci leads to unlimited power, every means jE becomes in its turn an end, and thus justi- j I fies the use of means still more remote, j ? until absolute power is attained; and this ^ is pure Federal doctrine. Thus the Uni-|" ted States may borrow money. To bor-!1' row money, it is necessary and proper,: a that there should be an accommodation je of capital. To accumulate capital we d must have a bank, with the power to engrave Bank notes. There can be no Bank (' of limited responsibility without a char- 11 ter, and prudent men will not unite in a general responsibility; and therefore, l' Congress having the power to borrow money, has, by necessary implication, the is power to incorporate stockholders with d limited responsibility. Thus, the charter r is the means of creating the Bank. The nr liunk is the means ot collecting me capi- n tal, and multiplying it thence to tenfold, rt and this is the means of enabling the bank t< to lend, and the United States to " borrow a money." There is no power which the a most unprincipled ambition might covet, b which could not be attained by the same h course of reasoning. Apply it to the tl power to lay taxes; a corporation may be o laxea, but to tax we must create it, there- r< fore, under the power to lay taxes, Con- n gress may create a manufacturing compa- o ny, and impose a tax or bonus. Impress- p mcnt into the Navy, and a conscription tl for the Army, are legalized in the same z way. This is Federalism, now in the as- U cendant. Strict construction is the polar it star of Democracy, destined again to n emerge from the eclipse. o A mrnoration is a new creation?it is a h person noi before existing, and its crea-1 h lion is an act of sovereign power, not delegated. Had it been either necessary ti or proper, it would have been as express- c Iy granted as it was positively refused.? d An idea once prevailed, that the prohibi- f; tion to the States, to emit bills of credit, s by implication conferred that power on z Congress, and so it might create a Bank p to emit paper money. If so, all bills of a State banks are unconstitutional. But ti in the first place, a chartered Bank is not ; ti Congress, and delegated power cannot be j w sub-delegated. But the whole error is' tl founded upon a misapprehension of what r ' bills of credit,'are. They are promis- o e? based on the credit of a State, and not e ! notes based on a bank capital. This has n J been decided and admitted. The argu- n incut chiefly relied upon, by the advo- t] , ca es of a national bank, is that of the tl laic Chief Justice Marshall, venerable ti ; for bis wisdom and experience; but that o | gift of God, which is bestowed upon man- u ' ' * ' * ? - ? n/>*Tini? nf roo. ry hint:, in every ugr, me pu?rti, ?i u i s?ois, is still more venerable. An individ- c ; mil tnny be influenced by notions, or de- ll j luded by the pressure of circumstance; ti ! but right reason, when unclouded by pre- A ! judice, is more to be relied on. Great c and good men have maintained some mon- c strous doctrines. Judge Marshall's argu* p ment is all condensed in these words? s the government which has?a right to do, c an act, and lias imposed 011 it the duly f f performing at act, mtisf, according to le dictates of reason, be allowed to sesct its means/' and any exception must e proved. The doctrine leads to the inritable conclusion, that Congress is sureme. It must raise an army, conscripon is a means, therefore you must show lat it is prohibited. It ca.7 borrow moey, therefore it can incorporate compa ies, and great monopolies witnin me (tales, to obtain a bonus." It at once reaks down every barrier of the Constiution, and makes the United States a onsolidatcd nation, for of course, the itates cannot gainsay what the United itutes select us a means. Had such a octrine been uttered by the dying breath f Washington, it wouid be our duty to hallenge it, as treasoD, to the sovereigny of the States. Your committee conclude, that the unompromising history of the Democratic administration to a national Bank, deerves our most cordial approbation; and 4at the adoDtion of that measure, as a jading and fundamental principle of the ew administration, stamps it indeliby, as a its very essence, the ligitimate expoent of Federalism, and calculated to in* ict upon the country, lasting misery and uin. Your Committee consider the Indcpenent Treasury as strictly in accordance /ith the Constitution, and well calculated o place the commerce, manufactures, and griculture uf the country upon a pcrmaent and prosperous basis. By withdrawig from all connection with trade, it javes the Banking interest to be regula?d by the States. By collecting the Recnue in the coin of the country, it neidcr opposes nor fosters these institutions, ut leaves them to be estimated by those -ho deal with them. If their notes are qual to specie, those who possess them avc no difficulty in oonverting them.into loney when required for duties. If they re not equal to money, and the United Hates ought not to receive doubtful paer in payment of debts due to the pnblic, 'here would have been no outcry against icy collection of the Revenue in money, ut flora the consciousness that the bills f specie paying banks are not as good as pecie. A specie paying Bank to-day, lav be a suspended Bank to-morrow, teturns and Exhibits have pioved no ecurity. A Bank which is guilty of a audulent issue of paper beyond its ability ) redeem it, will hesiate little to conver lat fraud by false statements. When e see the largest Bank in the Uni in and nee graced with a United Stales charter, irculating the hills of an extinct instituon, based on no capital, what confidence au be placed in the mere integrity of lanks, or the fidelity of their statements? t then results, that either the United dates must guarantee the continuance of ic solvency of the Banks, or the persons 'ho pay the duties must ascertain it by actual exchange of the bills for money, proceeding which can cause no difficulty, xcept where the Banks are really not cscrving of credit. The right to lend money collected as uties or taxes and thus convert it into oles under any guarantee, is in conflict 'ith the letter and spirit of the Conslitu on. The next general feature of the adminitralion of the present Chief Magistrate, eserving the cordial approbation of evey slave holding State, was the deterlined policy early avowed, to withhold is sanction to any measure impairing the sserved rights of the South, in relation 3 her slave population. While we feel n abiding confidence in the readiness and bility of our State to protect its rights y thoes means which God and nature ave accorded to us, and never doubted be noble spirit and elevated patriotism of ur citizens; to meet any emergency, and epel any aggression, and are resolved ot to discuss lights which we permit no x 11-11.. ne to question; wc rnusi cormany aprove that faithful and just adherence to ic Constitution, which will save our citiens of oilier Stales from endangering the rnion by their folly and fanaticism, and lvolving themselves in a conflict that will ot be abandoned as long as Carolina has ue faithful citizen left to die in defence of er integrity as a Stale, her interest or er honor. Your Committee unite with the Execute in amazement at that delusion which ould induce any Southern State to abanon an administration which adhered most lithfully to the doctrines which they have trtiggled to maintain since 1800, and haard their interest by coalescing with a arty to which is allied the Federalists nd Abolitionists; the advocates of a Naiolal Bank, and the presevering solicits of a Tariff of protection; and while it rejoice to find ourselves associated on lie one side with Virgina, the very nurse y of Democracy and State Rights, and n the other, by our own offspring, the nlightened people of Alabama, we feel o unkindness towards our immediate eiffhbours. and are confident, reiving on o ? * * ?j (icir general good sense and right feelings, ^at the moment the developement of the uc character of the combined and allied pnoncnts of Democracy is exposed, they ill promptly and cheerfully unite once tore with us in sustaining a common ause, with a sincerity and zeal worthy of !icir elevated character, and their devoion to therightsnnd interests of the South. knd your Committee concur with his Exellency in tlie belief, tliat the people of very section of the Union firm in their rinciples, and resolved in their purpoes, will once more rally in the great auso of Democracy, and reinstate in oficc its origional and unwavering disciples. V ' That the late election of President of ti .the (J. States was corrupt and indecent, pi wholly unworthy of a sober and discreet tt public, and calculated to degrade our is country, in the eyes of the world, obser- nr ration and rumor, too well founded, it is tl believed, induces us to lament. The resort o to silly pageantries, ridiculous emblems, o and vulvar dissination. was an insult upon d ? CI " I r the dignity of freemen, and could only proceed from an utter contempt of their intelligence, and a readiness to degrade them to the level of the servile populace tl of transatlantic monarchies. That funds \i to a vast amount were lavished,, was pal- 1 pable; and when it is recollected, that the o prize to he giiued by opposition, was the 6 control of the revenues of the Union, the o resuscitation ol an expiring raonied insii- ll tution, whose stock is so largely owned t< abroad, and above all, vlhe delusive hope ti that there was a magic in change, that l< would relieve men from 'the losses of im- tl providence or misforlone, there is great p reason to conclude that the elective fran- s chise was polluted by most extensive bri- t bery and corruption. , v There'wasr a feature, too, in the late s election, still more odious. Men high ^in ( station, and surrounded by the respect of s the public, going about the country, infla- f ming the passions, alarming the fears-, c and misleading the judgments of the peo- a | pie, was a spectacle degrading to our r | whole country, degrading to us as a mor- t ! al and hivh-minded people, and can only p o ? ? ? be ascribed to that peculiarity in the human character, which leads men, banded together for a common purpose, to do what, as individuals, they would revolt t; at and repudiate. When men of charac- A ter would assert, in the face of day, that ^ the distribution of the public treasure, ? raised by the Representatives of the pco- v pie, and paid away by appropriations s made by law, was usurping "the power of the purse," which every one knows is the v power to raise money without the consent s of the people; and still more absured, h (hat they should represent militia men, fl called out to drill, ten days in the year, c as a standing army, we are amazed at the d self-complacency that did not blush at the f deception. No: the unpardonable sin of '1 the present administration was, its repu- e diatingacharteredmonopoly, to reefcive c loan the public treasure, and retaining it a in the treasury of the United States?its f gradual return to a sound, constitutional \ currency?and its resolution, not to entan- g gle Government, with any money-dealers t or stock-jobbres?but leave to the States to v regulate their banking institutions as they t deem best; and upon the wisdom and poli- t cy of this great measure, South Carolina' s concurs with it and is readv to renew the ! e w" ~ ~ expression of its sanction and approval. This State has only to repeat her objections to q Tariff for protection, and ; when the Tariff Compromise ends, she s expects a fair adjustment of a new Tariff 1 for revenue, in name and in fact. The 1 result of the election of President has not shaken the faith of South Carolina c in her long-cherished principles. c t From tho Globe. l General Jackson and the Bank of * the United States.?The public will j recollect the earnestness with which Gen. a Jackson, in several of his messages, ur- 8 ged the passage of laws to compel the I complete winding up of the late Bank of ? the United Stales, and the redemption j and payment of its notes in circulation.? a He plainly intimated his belief that the 11 public tvould be cheated in these notes, < and the character of the United States suf- j jferin consequence of their non-payment.: ( What his sagacity foresaw the public are i ^ ! begining to see. These old dead notc6 a are now outstanding to an unknown, but a to a vast amount. They are seen in all f the middle, Southern, and Western parts s of the Union; and it seems to be no use to send them to Philadelphia; for they are || immediately sent out again, and pushed p into circulation. This is what we all see a j here; but our London notices of the bank j t] | give us some further insight into this bu-; a isincss. Our readers know that the Uank j tj I of the United States, in violation of its i a 'charter, and in contempt of the Pennsyl-j t| i vania Legislature, refuses to make an ex-' hibition of its affairs in this country; but] it dare not act in that matter with its Urit, ish owners: it is oblige to make exliibi-! n Ilions to them; and accordingly the last!8 I London Morning Chronicle, the demi-of-1 P ficial organ of what may be called mo- ^ dern Whiggery in England, and the ac s credited organ of the Bank of the United ri States, contains an exhibit of the situa- s tion of the Bauk, by Mr. Jaudon, in which, a while putting the best foot foremost, and i a evidently encouraging the British sjock- . holders to uphold the insolvent institution Jr until the Harrison Administration can 'f come to its relief, we see the following 11 item under the head of liabilities: "Circulation of the late and present ,a Bank, 89,725,508." " Thus we sec an item of near ten millions JJ of dollars of outstanding circulation, " loin un/l nrncpilt Hank. This is I tl liuau^u 1U bis U IlVi |/|vyv? conclusive thai the notes of the old Bank P are now outstanding, but to what amount is a secret, concealed from the public by e jumbling the two circulations together, and making one item of the whole. Thus is the sagacity of General Jackson made I manifest, and besides that, new evidence ri is afforded to cover the panic makers of'c 1S33?'1 with shame and confusion. These A retainers of the Bank justified all her panic N and pressure then, on the ground of her A absolute necessity to wiud up in two years s; ?to collect her obligations and pay ail her debts in that time; the circulation es- o pecially was all to be redeemed ia that f mar Socitwes t?eda^y assertion of the anic orators?snch their dail^r excuse for le pressure on the community. Now it i all proved lo be false. Here is the ad* lission of the Bank, seven years after te panic, that the ohf circulation is^till utstanding! that Uiere may be millions f it yet out! Such is the fraud and impuence of this British Federal institotkwv Savannah, Dec. 31. Capt. Meckin and two ot>. the crew of ie schr. Time, of Washington, (N. C.y rere yesterday examined before Justices "erstllle and McDonald,, on the charge f passing notes of the- denomination of ve dollars, purporting to be of the Bonk f Camden, {8. C.)?-the signatures amf !?e filling up of which were ascertained o be fictitious. The evidence against liern, we learn, was of. such a nature as o warrant their committal to jail to await heir trial at the ensuing term of the Superior Court next month. The irapresions of the notes are pronounced to be rue, from which fact it is supposed they rere recovered from the wreck of the learner Home, lost on the coast of North Carolina, same three years since. The chr. arrived at this port on the 25th inst, rom Elizabeth City, (N. C.) with a cargo if corn, and we learn Uiat since that time bout $70 of this spurious money is aleady ascertained to have been passed in his city. The names of the sailors iindicated are W. Ilooper and S. Pew. Rev. Abolition.?We give below an extract aken from the "Philanthropist," a rabid abolition journal published in Cincinnatti. Vc ask for it a calm perusal from the louih; we ask for it that consideration vhich it demands. It comments for itelf. \ . # ? ??Van Burcn has received the otes of only two free States and five laveholding States. The free States lave been cemented by the power and inluence of Abolitionists, and will remain emcnted. Let the South mark this preliction* There is nothing to sever the ree States on the question of slavery.? rhey will contiuue to complain of the iniquality of representation in the House if Representatives of the United States ind the sin of slavery; and as they have a dedge from Gen. Harrison, "that he will 'eto nothing," they feel encouraged to ;o on under the expectation which seems o be well grounded, that the "free States * rill hereaftw invariably control the elccion of President and eventually array he whole of the Executive power against lave representations, and slavery as it xists in the Slates." The New York Herald of Friday, peaking of exchange on the South and lie indications of a general resumption, ias the following remarks: The rates of premium on specie indi:ate the degree of depreciation of the lo:al currencies throughout the South, and he different degrees of indebtedness ?o he commercial centre of the Union. It vill be observed that the rate of bills on England, being in deprecrialcd currencies, ire generally lower than at this port, and - ire in every instance below par for specie. Whether the proposed resumption will xtend to all these points or not, is yet iroblemalical. Letters from New Orleans ire confident that it cannot be effected here. The resumption by the United states Rank is a juggle, and will in all irobability not last three months. New )rleans is a commanding point, and the >rnnrli of the United States Batik there ind the Merchants Dank, exert as great n influence as the mother bank does in 'hiladelphia. Popular opinion docs not et so strongly in favor of resumption in he former, as in the latter city. It is herefofe feared that non-resumption in lew Orleans will be made the cloak for nother suspension at an early day, unless tie deposit?# of the federal government re restored the United States Dank. If [lis cannot be effected, a new suspension nd derangement of affairs, will make it he instrument of new political intrigues. Dr. Cropsmax of Philadelphia, in a otc published in the papers of that city,' tatcs that since the 1st November he has crfornied the operation for the cure of itrabismus, or squinting, on sixteen perons with success. He says that this opeation has been attempted by other perons in that city; who are incompetent, nd who have put patients to much pain nd suffering, without the least allcvalion,. [e adds; " The operation for Strabismus; I fl.-ilfiil linn/1^ lneU tint nnd minilln ru >ss. When compared with oiher operaons, the pain is trifling. NVconfineicnt, or bandaging of the eye, or dieting* i required afterwards. Ordinary busk ess can be attended to. When corrects j and thoroughly performed, ninety-four i the hundred are perfectly cured without ie necessity of a repetition, showing erhaps, more than in any other instance, te great utility of surgery. ?g' 1 SALE. WILL sell on the first IVfonday in Fcbuary next, at the Courthouse, at 12 o'lock, M., a valuable Negro Woman called .niclia, to foreclose a mortgage on said legro, executed by D, ?. Heid, to John IcCaa and John Cantey. and sold under aid mortgage as his property. Terms?Cash; purchaser to pay for bill fsalc. B. GASS, Agent.) Jan. 1840. -It pr adv.