The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, January 20, 1841, Image 2
? r~in mrn ?
POLITICAL. j
From the Political Reformer.
DANGERS OF A NATIONAL BANK.
Extract, from, an Oration delivered in
Portsmouth Ya. I
BY THEOrlJILUS FISK.
Those who love mammon more than :
their country? money more than consti
' - i i
lulional IiOerty aim punutm jjunm ,:
are again clamoring for a National Bank,!
that shall rob State Sovereignty of its re- i
served rights, divest the government of its J
highest prerogatives, and regulate the value
and security of the propcity of eviryj
man in the United States at its will anu
pleasure, by contracting or expanding its
issues of paper money. The late Bank
of the United States commenced its unholy
career of rapine and violence, robbery
UIJU l/Ul 1 U|7UUil) uy a IJIWOb sui|/vuv?wug
fraud. Rch capitalists succeeded in obtaining
upwards of twenty-eight thousand
fraudulent or fictitious subscriptions to its
capital stock, by which the real subscribers
were cheated out of a large portion
of that which properly belonged to them,
and the whole concern was monopolized
by political gamblers, dishonest speculators,
an*l stock-jobbers, who realized, in
a short time, eioiit millions of dollars
by the nefarious transaction of bubbling
tip the stock above its par value. Are
you prepared to sanction such bar--iVe,l
robbery?such monstrous corruption??
Look at the course of the Bank in feeing
the prominent lawyers in the United
fltntes Senatp. and hnvinor nn nrpssps and
J - b " I I
Members of Congress, and ask, were all
these favors gratuitous on the part of the
Bank, or was there "value received" in
exchange for its "promises to pay?
Did the late Bank of the United States
perform successfully a single function
claimed for it by its friends? Did it equalize
exchanges?check overtrading and excessire
issues by the State Banks, or aid
the General Government in collecting or
disbursing the public funds? Is it not notorious
that it failed, most signally, in
each and in all? When it was at the zenith
of its glory and prosperity, exchanges
were as much deranged as at the present
time. Instead of checking the wild
extravagance of over banking, and the
madness and delusion of gambling speculators,
it was the very first to encourage
all this. How often did it spread desolation
through all the borders of the land,
by creating those sudden revulsions by
which thousands were reduced from affluence
to beggary in a single day: IIow
frquently did its enormous expansions
give a fictitious value to property, by making
its representatives of money plenty,
and as frequently destroying the equiliKrntm
nC trai'o donrnccinn iKo nri/?DO f
Ml IUIII VI fcAUl.t.} Vi t, y 1 V. l I I ? j'livv. J \J A
the products of industry, lowering the
prices of labor as well as property; who
can remember all these iniquitious manoeuvres
and still affirm that such an institu
tion would be_? puKU-* la?
The re-charter of a National Bank
would leave no man in the country safe
in the enjoyment of hia property; it would
place the earnings of the industrious at
the disposal of the idle, shake down the
pillars of the temple of social and civil
fredom, overturn the ancient landmarks
of political equality, and establish upon
the crumbling ruins of our glorious Republic,
the hateful despotism of a soulless
corporation?a "monarchy bank." Tho
scheming managers, with all their gilded
machinery, will be covered with confusion
and defeat, if the people are only true to .
their inalienable rights. Let them stand
firm at this perilous crisis?let them show, 1
as they have done, an honesty which combinations
of wealth cannot bribe, the in- 1
..c ^ ? it. A! i
tngui; ui lucuon ueceivu, ui me inreais
of the powerful dismay or alarm. Let 1
not this political Leviathan which has been I
strangled by a giant's hand, again be 1
nursed into being, to prey upon our dear- '
est hopes, and gorge upon the liberties of (
the nation. Presses may be purchased I
with lying paper promises, to advocate 1
this great national suicide; the national '
lawgivers may be corrupted by the power ''
of money; but the people will not sell 1
themselves. They will not be the for- \
gers of their own chains. Thcv will not 1
voluntarily nourish an unseemly vampyre
to prey upon productive industry and
national prosperity. They will not bar- j
ter their liberty for paper money. They j
will not willingly exhangc freedom and j
equality for slavery and despotism. They (
will not grant to an alien bank, owned |
and controled by foreign capitalists, un- |
controlled aod uncontrollable power over ,
our political press, our elections, our
Congress, and our laws. It was stated
sometime ago by an English Baronet, re- |
spccting the Ba..k of England, that it was
supported by the fear and terror, which,
by means of its monopoly, it has the
power to inspire; a monopoly of the nature
of all other despotic power, which
corrupt the. <U*spot as much as it corrupts
the slave. i i what does that giant moil
opoly differ l'rom a Bank of the United
States?
The great?the fearfully interesting
question ut issue, is, will the American
people govern themselves, or will they be
governed by proxy, in the shaj>e of the
President. Directors, and company of a
Nations! Bank; an all-controlling, nnronttoiiahU1,
irr. sponsible, omnipotent, moneyed
oligarchy? This is to be the question,
they are to chose between liberty!
and bondage, their country and mam-!
mon.
The dangers arising from incorporated
wealth are fir greater and more '.o In
drcuJed than tin: physical power of Ku
rope combined. The hue Um'.cd Steit's'
Bank was founded in open violation of
both the spirit and letter of the Constitution;
and the policy it pursued was in direct
hostility to the nature of our government;
it was ever a venomous viper, warmed
into life and vigor in the bosom of
the Republic; a fetid cancer, a loathsome
leprosy upon our civil institutions; it contributed
nothing to the support of the government;
if it loaned money it exacted
principal and interest to the last farthing;
and yet there arc those who would have
us believe that a bank is the sole benefactor
of the nation?one of the pillars of
American glory?while it is swallowing
up in its instable maw our property and
our liberty.?Where is there an individual
labouring under such dire infatuation and
delusion, such fatal blindness, as that he
can continue to league with the enemies
of those hallowed principles which they
most dearly prize? Are there any so
completely trammelled by a mercenary
selfishness, as to aid in the incalculable
mischief such an overrhadowing monoply
would inevitably produce? Would they
willingly assist in creating a soulless cor
poration which would effectually control
the political destinies of the country,
merely to gratify the cupidity of a privileged
few? Have the people forgotten
the systematically contrived panics and
pressures, brought about by bank agency,
in order to compel Congress to resort "to
a National Bank for safely and shelter
from the alarming dangers that threatening
them upon every side? Have they
forgotten the stupendous fraud, the unparalleled
infamy, the premeditated, redemp
lionless scoundrelisrn, practised upon
tliArvt Ktr tlift cncnonciAn nf cnc/?i/> TV1 V 1
HIV/Ill VJ j HIV/ OUOj/giigivii VI U|>vviv
irients?brought about by the lubberly
Juggernaut which has rolled its car over a
prostrate people, at once covering them
with its slime and crushing them to the
earth? Do they remember the dark doings
of this chartered gaming house?
this mass of pecuniary iniquity?in buying
fifty-five members of Congress in
1?30 with $192,164?fifty-nine members
in 1831 with $322,195?fifty-four in 1832
with 478,766?fifty-three in 1833 with
$374,706?and in 1834 it purchased fiftytwo
members of Congress with $239,5S6.
Do they need to have the $52,000 paid to
Webb and Noah of the Courier and Enquirer,
the $52,170 paid to Gales &. Scaton
of the National Intelligencer and the
$6,541 paid to Walsh's Gazette, again
brought before their view? Do they need
to be reminded that the Bank paid to the
lawyers of the United States Congress
between one and two hundred thousand
dollars in addition to the above, viz: 858,-'
000 to Daniel Webster, ?40,000 to Henry
Clay, ?40,000 to John Sergeant, ?16,000
to Johnson and Poindexter? Has all this
startling bribery, this monstrous corruption,
faded from your recollection?
From a candid review of the signs of!
the times, the conclusion is irresistibly >
forcctl vio| iltii tfltlcoa lliia UVCntflll i
crisis in our national history is met with!
untiring faithfnlness, with unslnmbering i
watchfulness by the sentinels upon theiri
wttchtower of freedom, our magnificent
temple of liberty will be overthrown, its
pillars become a mass of shapeless ruins,
its altar buried beneath the crumbling fragments
of our country's pride, and the Republic
will perish in the days of its youth,
and with it, the hopes of freedom throughout
the world.
Let the strong arm of the people be interposed?let
tho army of brokers, stockjobbers,
and money speculators, who
would pawn the industry and property of
1 lin nttfinn lv o fmirrht o cnlntarir toccnn
Let no considerations of dishonest policy,
no cold "calculations of temporising expediency,
induce you to band with the enemies
of constitutional liberty; let the
purse-proud see that your tuflrages are
unpurchaseble with bribes, uninfluenced
by force; we look with unshaken confidence
for a display of those unbending
principles of disconslitutional right, which
will never yield to fraudulent taxation and
legalized pillage; we look to the Farmer ,
ind Mechanic, who never falter in seasons
of danger, or cower in the moment of pe- ]
ril, to preserve the land from the palsying
influence of a monarch) bank?a despo- 1
tism of paper money.
The question again returns?arc you
prepared to sanction this great chartered I
abomination?arc you willing to see the!
foliage of the tree of liberty, whose bran- j
ches we hope one day will over shadow !
the whole earth, blasted and withered; its)
nruMnfi/* limhc n lirrlitmrxr :
stroke?standing leafless, solitary, and
bare, dry and sapless, a canker at its
roots, and rottenness at the core? Then
beware how you nourisli this overshadowing
monopoly?a National Bank. Can
you?will you, voluntarily submit to an
enormous tax, to build up a vast temple
to this deadly Moloch? Will you allow
the prices of all your staple products to
he raised and depressed at the will and j
pleasure of this soulless monopoly, a vast J
portion of the stock being owned by for-:
cigncrs; who have no principles in common
with our own? The taxing power
has ever been regarded with the most
watchful jealousy; and who is there among
you all that will approve of the surrendering
a power of such stupendous mag-!
nitude?a power absolute, unlimited audi
uncontrollable, to a Northern banking in- j
corporation,?one which has been charged
with gross abuses, and of whose corruptions,
frauds, and mal-practices, enough
has transpired to fill the whole country
Willi astonishment and alarm! Who is
ready to clothe a corporation of such
doubtful character, lo sav the least, with
tuotis privileges, such monstrous
powers? Who is ready, in the face qf al
past experience, present distress, and thi
awfully protentous administrations of fu
ture desolution, to foster, by his vote
this insidious poison, this germ of Ameri
can nobility, this scion of British oppres
sion? They sadly mis-calculate who im
aginc that Republicans will ever give th
dangerous and unholy scheme eithe
countenance or approbation.
Report of the Postmaster Generai
?This report shows the service of th
Department the last year, its present con
dition, and future prospects.
The extent of the post routes in the U
nited States covered by mail service, o
the 30th June last, as near as can be as
certained. was 155.739 miles. The ar
nual transportation on these routes, at th
rate existing on the 30th day of June las
was about 36,370,776 miles.
The annual cost of transportation, est
mated at the rate of pay existing at th
close of the year, was $3,296, 876, vi;
The number of contractors in the sei
vice during the lust year was about 2,10(
Tne number who had been fined, or de
ductions made from their pay for delir
qucncies in in the performance of thei
engagements, 628. The fines and dedut
lions during the year, exclusive of th
remissions, amount to 860,685,60.
The number of Post Offices is 13,63?
There have been, during the year, 3,23
Postmasters appointed, of whom 95
were for new offices.
The revenue of the Department, for th
year ending June 30, 1840, as appear
from the settlement ol the accounts <
Postmasters in the Auditors office, wa
$4,539,2G5 59, and the expenditures #4
759,110 65.
It recommends that Congress do awa
with the restrictions in regard to the tram
mission of newspapers out of the ma
on mail routs.
It may be estimated that there has bee
abstracted from the revenue of the pa;
year, in the allowance of the two cent
to postmasters for the delivery of fre
letters and packets, and the two cenl
paid for advertising free letters, the sur
of $150,000. It is recommended that th
law of 1825 sanctioning this, be abolisl
cd.
With the view to remove many of th
growing evils of the mail establishmcn
and secure the reduction of letter postagt
he proposes a change in the system, o
tne iollowing oasis:
1. The entire abolition of tne frankin
privilege, as an exclusive personal righi
with the exception of the Executive an
the heads of Departments.
2. A limitation by law of the maximm
rate of compensation for all stcamboa
railroad and coach service.
3. The equalization of postage on news
papers and other printed matter, with a
advance of one hundred per cent.
4. A revision of the tariff of ^lette
postage, with a reduction of 23 per cent.
The newspapers received by printers i
exchange might be exempted from posi
age, with a limitation by law of the no??:
bcr.
He thinks that all printed matter scr
by mail should be taxed by weight.
From the Washington Globe.
CONGRESSIONAL ANALYSIS.
The permanent prospective pre-emptio
law has lost none of its interest in the pr<
gress ot its discussion, .Lvery day ?f
pears to add to its importance. It pre
mises now to become the great and para
mount subject of the session?a subject c
grave public import, and of deep and rita
interest to the country. Many of the Sen
ators have already spoken in its suppon
and as many in opposition to its provi
sions. The amendment offered by Mi
Crittenden, proposing a substitute of Mi
Clay's famous distribution bill, called ou
Mr. Calhoun, who moved to amend by al
taching his bill to cede the public lands t
the several States in which they lie, upoi
certain conditions therein named. Thes
two propositions open up a wide field o
debate. Mr. Crittenden and Mr. Calhoui
have appeared, and have been heard ii
support of their respective amendments
Mr. Crittenden assumed the position o
Mr. Clay's Lieutenant. He brought al
his eloquence, ingenuity, and skill, to bea
upon the question involved in the discus
sion. Mr. Calhoun, with great force am
spirit, and in that peculiarly happy styf
of condensation for which he has bcconv
so distinguished as a public debater, mc
all the positions that had been assumed
and scattered to the winds every argumcn
of his opponents. There was a dignity
a gravity, a clearness and beauty, in til
manner of Mr. Calhoun?in his langnag
and in his arguments?in his facts am
elucidations?in his comparisons and con
elusions, that presented him to the world
as a statesman and an orator, in striking
contrast with the leader of the Whig for
ces of the Ameiican Congress. Tha
wanton vituperation?that malignant ac
cusation?and that violent spirit of dc
nunciation and attack, so common in th
harangues of Mr. Clay?the instrument
he uses, and the weapons he always pliei
to put down his adversary?none of thes
were to be witnessed in the lofty tone?th
commanding argument?the conclusiv
and irresistible demonstrations of thi
great statesman of South Carolina.
The strong points of the debate wer
touched with a master-hand by Mr. Cal
houti, as well as by others who have spc
ken in defence of the bill.
Mr. Benton was called out by the allu
sions of Mr. Crittenden, to a brief cxpla
nation of his views and opinions; and ne
ver before have we listened with pea to
I pleasure to the arguments and facts which J
s this firm ar.d immovable pillar of American
Democracy ever brings to the support
, of his position.
Mr. Benton's familiar acquaintance with
the public finances of the country, the
i- land revenue, the sources of its accumulae
tion, and the means necessary to sustain
r the Government without an increase of the
publie burdens, gives him a commanding
influence throughout the continent; and
we may expect, ere the debate is finally
e closed, a rich harvest from the mass of
i- statistical facts with which he promised to
confront the opposition in their bold and
F- combined onset upon the bill and its adII
vocates.
?- Mr. Preston occupied the Senate until
i- a late hour yesterday in resisting the proe
posed amendment, and in reply, principalt,
ly, to the argument of Mr. Calhoun. He
went on to define the original trusts under
i- which the public iands given by Virginia
e are held bv the General Government, and
J
t: by which the new States were created as
r- equal sharers, and with equal powers and
). privileges with the older States of the con!-1
federacy. His remarks, like those who
i-| preceded him upon the same side, were
r strongly marked by that unscrupulous
spirit of denunciation and attack which is
e so fruitfully showered down upon the existing
Administration and the party now
in power.
1 The discussion was resumed to-day with
9 seeming additional interest and ardor. Mr.
Sevier, in his bold and manly defence of
e the principles of the original bill, and in
s ms very ciear, succinct, and ante eiucwia)f
tion of the subject under consideration, enis
chained the profound attention of a lislening
andience for more than an hour. One
would suppose that Messrs Mangum and
y Preston, who had dropped some unfortu5
nate remarks in allusion to the Western
il States, would not be very rapid in again
placing themselves in a Dosition to call
n out such a rasiigation as they received in
it the masterly reply of Mr Sevier. His
ts general knowledge of the Western people,
c and his intimate acquaintance with the acts
tual privations, toils, sufferings and wants
n of the needy pioneer, gave a deep interest
e to his retrm ks. and no Senator has been
l- listened to with a more devoted, close, and
watchful attention, since the opening of
e this great debate, than Mr Sevier,
t, At the conclusion of Mr Sevier's rej,
marks, Mr Smith, of Indiana, took the
n floor, and proceeded to give his views
i upon the subject. Before he had finished
g I the Senate adjourned,
t, ; In the House of Representatives to-day,
d Mr Naylor conduced his remarks in re,
ply to Mr Ingcrsoll, relative to thccontestn
ed seat. Mr Ingeraoll has the fluar to
to-morrow to reininHflr.
' J
i- The New York Standard thus hits off
n the attempt of the United States Bank of
Pennsylvania to borrow money to pay of!'
r its debts ;
"The loan asked for by the banks of
n Philadelphia, in order to enable them to
I- resume, and the security offered for pay.
i- ment, calls t.< rre )!h r?ion the plan once
matured by two speculating gentlemen of
it: the Diddler school; to obtain a dinner at
one of our city eating houses. After seating
themselves, and taking a furtive glance
at the bill of fare, one of them opened the
subject as follows:
i! "Waiter?oy say, waiter?"
.' The waiter here"stepped forward with
- ttie usual politeness.
"Well waiter?we've an oidea of doin.
ing here, provided yon like our proposif
tion."
1 "Certainly gentlemen, certainly."
"Well, voti see waiter, we've just arrii
VPfl in thif rifr" fnrir/it nnr nnr?p? w:*itnr.
l? . ' * ? * * r",WVM? '
i_ an'}?this gentleman .fill become respon .
sible for the Jiuner, and I will guarantee
the payment of the debt; so ycu see, waiit
tor, yon are aure of getting your pay at
t- all hazards.
o It is hardly necssary to add, that the
n traitor did not hajr?r?: ?ivi?g the gentfee
men their dinner en such security.
f
n Peaches.?And old Jady said her husn
band was very fond of peaches, and that
i. was his only fault.
f "Fault madam," said one, "howcan you
11 call that a fault?"
r "Why, because there are different ways
i- of eating them, sir. My husband takes
J them in the form of Brandy."
e
e Making out a Case,?A Dutchman's
t defence upon an indictment for bigamy, is
I, now going the rounds of the papers. We
t do not know whether it is a new story,but
r, certainly it is a very ingenious defence,
e "You say," said the Judge, "that the
e squire who married you to the first wife,
d authorized you to take sixteen? What do
- you mean by that?"
I, "Well," said Hans, "he dold me that I
g should half/our better, four vorser ,faur
- richer, four boorer; and in my country
t four dimes four always makes sixteen."
: SALE.
c I WILL sell on the first Monday in Feb*
j ruary uext, at the Courthouse, at 12 o'clock,
M., a valuable Negro Woman called
Amelia, to foreclose a mortirarre on said
Negro, executed by D. E. Rcid, to John
c McCaa and John Cantcy. and sold under
s said mortgage as his property.
Terms?Cash; purchaser to pay for bill
c of sale. B. GASS, Agent.
" Jan. 1840. 4t pr adv. $2
WANTED.
A GOOD Cook, Washer and Ironcr, for
whom extra wages will be paid. Apply i
r at this olfiee. Jan. 13. i
"TOE jotuSSATN.
CAMDEN, S. OAAOLZMA. >
WEDNESDAY MORNING, JAN. 20, 1841;
O" The Rev. William Carlisle has .kindly offered
to act as agent in collecting accounts duo this
Office, in this and the neighboring Districts, and isauthorized
to receipt for the same.
The Rev. A. Peurifoy is also authorized to collect
and receipt for money due us.
rr^3-- Hancock, Esq., was elected Sheriffi.
and S, Beckham Clerk of the Court, of Lancaster
District, at the late election. We lsarn, however,
that the election has been contested on the ground
of mismanagement at one of the boxes, and that a
new election is ordered, to take place on the 15tbs
February next.
We omitted to mention last week, that Km Boyce;
Esq. had been re-elected to the State Senate by a
much larger majority than that by which he was returned
at first. So much for the charge of briberyand
corruption, so pertinaciously urged against this
gentleman.
The New Cabinet.?We have seen various speculations
as to the individuals likely to be associated
with General Harkison in the Administration of the
Government. ,
A friend at Washington suggests the following
gentlemen as tho persons who will probably fill the
different departments:
Mr. Webster, Secretary of State.
Mr. Bell, Secretary of War.
Mr. Granger, Secretary of the Navy.
Mr. Crittenden, Attorney General.
Mr. Ewi.no, Post Master General.
No name is suggosted for the Treasury Department.
CONGRESS.
Tho proceedings of this body for the last week,
have bean as barren of interesting matter as that
_r il. i.:_v. ... T. <v.. ?
jjuiuuii ui tnu scasjuji u mi_.i jacli uoa il. in wio ccnatc,
tho Public Land question is the engrossing
subject. Mr. Calhoc.v, we learn, has deliTcrcd his
views upon the subject in a speech, which is said to
equal, if not surpass, any of bis former efforts. We
repeat, however, tho opinion that there will be but
little legislation of any kind during the present se?sion.
Much more than half the session has already
expired, and yet nothing lias been accomplished; and
it is probable that the only bills which will bo ma.
lured, are the ordinary appropriations, and, perhaps,
the settlement of a few of the private claims, which
are annually urged upon the attention of Cengres.
Various matters will, however, be discussed, and
left for the action of the new administration, and
tho coming Congress.
The fact that Congress doos not enact i*ore
than are annually matured by that bedy, is not a
.natter to bo so much regretted; for the fewer l?We
wc have, if they arc good and well administered, the
bettor. But Congress has, of late years, considered
the business of legitlation a secondary matter, even
if it has occupied so high a place as that, in the estimation
of a large mass of the members. The first
consideration, during the last and preceding eeesion,
was tho Presidential election, and we had hoped thet
as soon as the event was over, the members weuld
return to their appropriate duties. But these reason,
able expectations are doomed to disappointment.?
Already, before the new administration has assumed
the reins of government, aro the members, or a portion
of them, engaged in arranging the euccestion.
The people must take this matter into consideration,
and spsak in a voice not to be misunderstood,
if they expect, or desire the meaeures of the general
government to be considered and acted on with ?
view to tho happiness and prosperity of the country.
They must let their representatives in Congress
know, that it ia no portion of their official duty to
devote so much of their time to President making ;
that this matter belongs exclusively to them, and we
feel assured that they aro fully competent to make
their ewn selection without taxing the time of their
representatives in Congress, with the performance of
a duty so foreign to tho business of legislation, and
bo well calculated to make the decision of question*,
upon which they may be called to act, depend more
upon ibe effect they will have in advancing tho intorcsts
of a party, than in promoting the welfare and
permanent prosperity of the country. We trust,
therefore, that the people will, at once and emphatically,
rebuke the syetcm, which is growing and
strengthening year after year, of devoting each succeeding
session of Congress to tiic discussion #f
tho Presidential question, and making the Houso of
Representatives and tho Senate chamber the theatre
for I'rcHident making, instead of the flails ox legislation,
in which tho beet interests of the country shall
be considered and promoted.
Leap Year.?This interesting period for the ladies
has passed, and without their having used it to
much advantage in this section, if wo may judge
from our hymcnial rocord for 1840. It has not been
eo much neglected, however, in other parts of the
country, for we notice in the last Whig Banner,
published at Lincolnton, North Carolina, no less than
six marriages near tho closo of the period in which
tho ladies arc privileged to "pop the question," and
four of the six are noticed as " runaway matches,"
showing, beyond all doubt, that tho ladies were in
earnest.
We trust we shall, ere long, have something ixr
this line to record ourselves; but wo would prefer
that thore should bo no necessity of adding tho
word " runaway," as the Banner has done. As the
ladies have bocn so modest during the past year, wo
trust that our young men will now make up for lost
time. Wo should like, abovo all things, to sco a
wedding; our visits, for some time past, to such
scenes have been something like those the angcla
inako, "few and far between."
Bank of the United States.?A full and detailed
statement of the condition of this dilapidated
concern, was recently submitted to tho annual meeting
of the stockholders, and has since been published
in tho newspapers. The publication of this statement
created something of a panic in the stock of
Ll 4 rr?t . I. 1 1
uilu great regulator. me siock, wijiuu jiuu j?vyiwu.?#
ly been is low as ?65, a point below which wa^