Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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The Camden Journal. rcni.i.-uei> dv THO. J. WARREN & C, A. PRICE, KDIToks axd proprietors. TERMS. For the Scini-Weekly. Three Dollars and Fifty Centi if paid iu udvanee, or Four Dollars if payment ii do Jayed three month*. For the Weekly, Two Dollars and Fifiy Cent* ir advance, or Three Dollars after the expiration of llirct monllia. SPEECH OF MR. C. G. MEMMTNGER, On the Question of Recharlering the Bank oj the S'c{te of South Carolina ?Delivered in the House of Representatives, Dec. 9, 1848. [c<;NCLCDKI>.] In other States of the Union, State Banks have been tried. North Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, have each in turn made an experiment, and the experience of each is a decided condemnation, as far as connection with the State is concerned. In Alabama, where the plan seemed successful for a time, the catastrophe was the most disastrous of any; and the history of its Bank is now the worst page in lflr annals. In no one instance can an example be foond to save the system from general reprobation; and South Carolina is probably the only Shite in the Union in which an elaborate argument 13 required to convince her people of the evil tendency of this system. Even the Bank of England itself wosld be preferred, if it had less connection with the Government In every attempt to unite them, something injurious to both has resulted; and even one of the least burdensome arrangements between the Government and the/Bankjhas received the significant name of the Dead Weight 7. If anything farther were necessary to set tie the question, the experience and history of our own Bank would be conclusive. A very cursoiy view of its history will show, that whenever an occasion has arisen, .it has swerved the State from her true course, and plunged her into complicated and embarrassing transactions, with which she would otherwise have had no connection. ' . If we were even now clear of this Bank, the simplicity of our Treasury operations would surprise our whole people. The Sinking Fund in the hands of the Bank would pay off the whole debt of the State, and leave a snrplus of some six thousand dollars. If therefore we could rid ourselves of the Bank, with all its mass of money borrowed to lend -out again, its complication of Fire Loan, Surplus Revenue, el ut genus omnr, we would be able once more to liave a Treasury which the people could understand.? We would be entirely free from debt, with the exception of that loaned to build their houses to the citizens of Charleston, and the whole of'tM-, would be paid in a few years, as the [ . " come in. But as long as this incubus <nit' J "* - il-~ .... n. _t \vn wu 10 nesij^ upu:i mi' omic, du mug >. expect complexity, difficulty and debt. I will not nndertake to say that the Bank has caused all the debt which has been incurred by the State, because my experience does not reach back to the Internal Improvement debt of 1840. But if the experience of the last ten years be a guide, it may reasonably be inferred, that if there had been no Bank, the internal Improvement projectors of 1840 must have known that they wnnM hnvA to tax the neoDle to nav their debt, and that fact may have arrested their progress. One thing is certain, that about the time this debt became payable, the State became involved in a most pernicious and unnecessary career ol debt, which has embarrassed her finances from that time to the present. In 1837, the Surplus Revenue of the United States to the extent of one million of dollars was paid to the State. This M-as delivered over for a time to the Bank, until it should be called in for the great Cincinnati Railroad, to which it was devoted. In the following year, 1838, Ciiarleston was destroyed by the terrible lire which desolated that City. From every quarter of the State, the warm hearted sons of Carolina came together at the call of the Governor, to devise means of relief. As one of the Rep resentatives of Charleston, it became my duty to be present, and in behalf of that afflicted City, we, her Representatives, had prepared our plan, in which the relief we sought was proposed.? No one man ever imagined that the Bank of the State had any concern in the matter one way or another. I remember well the deep mortification, and I may say indignation, which I felt, when I saw a Bill produced by some of the active partisans of the Bank, evidently drawn beforehand, in which for the first time was developed this scheme of dividing the charity of the State between the desolate City and the evermeddling Bank. 1 found myself unable to submit to the most unnatural alliance, and endeavored to break the folds of the chain which was being forged. My colleagues appealed to mc by every tie which binds human nature together. rni a /vi.. .. .iti mii m i mere bju our \>uy, solitary, anuu sacKCioui ana ashes, with the voice of Lamentation sounding from her midst. And I, too, had felt constrained to add to her distresses, by fastening upon her the law whieh compelled the citizens to rebuild their dwellings of brick, then so dear, hi almost to be a denial of common right 1 fell the appeal to be too strong to allow me to stand in the way of relief, more especially as the mixture of the Bank was a question of expediency and not of morals. I yielded my assent to the measure, just as the wretch on the verge of ruii admits the last per centagc of the usurer?bui oven he may be brought forward as a witness to the extortion, as I am now, to the undue in fluonce and unwarrantable interference of the Bank in this matter. I do not believe the assertion that the Legis lature would not have aided Charleston, but foi the expectation of benefit to the Rank. AH thai Charleston asked was the credit of the State and for that she offered security the most unex *: ui~ u-w *L.. i ?:_i-i 1 UUJJUUIlUUli:* WU DUUII fin luc Ul'LlRlHlurC WOlllil have seen that, they would have yielded totheii sympathies, and the measure would have passer by acclamation. In that form the debt woulc only havo been one million, secured by persona security?mortgage of the Lands and Housei and policy of insurance, together with the guar fmtoe of the whole City of Charleston. Not i | dollar of this loan_ovcr can be lost to tlie State But by the interference of the Bank, the deh of the State was doubled, and tho second million instead of being lent on real securities, was f be loaned on mere individual paper, subject40 all the casualties of banking. And whajuas " still worse, the Bonds of the State were^11?^0 to run ton years longer than the Lorik 4o the > ?A, . ? - - . people oi Uharteston, and lor these * '" years the Bank wa3 expected to have the^cnefit of the other million also. Surely it'8 hazarding ' little to say, that in making siph an arrange' ment the State was altogether swerved fr^jn hdr truo cofrsc. in the folio wing year, 18&, the embarrassmeats of the times compel!/" tlie Railroad Coinr pany to ask aid of the S^ite, by advancing her subscription to the Raifoad Company. It will 1 be remembered, that State had received in cash upwards of a rxdlion of dollars, which she had devoted to p.V this subscription. But for I !.?> R.jiiL- pnnld lmv?> lipcii more siinnle | viais i/iuaiij in/viiiii) ? ? -??-- j than the aid wb'ch the State had it in her power to furnish. S*e had only to take her money al* ready in haid and pay it to the Railroad Company, if shf saw fit to aid tliein. The State did deem it v*?e to aid the Company; but the Bank had loaned out all her money, and was unable to cat' it in at her desire. So the State was compelled to go into debt again, and issue her Bends to pay her subscription, whon she actu i t- J i _ t _? xi . n _l rvrvn I jHiy nau in me nanus 01 me Dana o^w,uw jmore than the money which she wan obliged to ! borrow. Is there the least hazard in affirming, that in incurring this debt tho State was swerved from her true path of duty and interest t The same thing in substance occurred with the subscription to the Railroad Bank. It was supposed by thoso who favored a subscription by the State to this Bank, that the subscription would be paid from the auuual proiits of the Bank of the State; and although a clause was put in the Act, authorizing a Loan to be taken up, in cuse the Bauk did not tind it couvenient to pay, yet few supposed that this was anything but mere precaution. In fact, I can say for one, that it could never have received my support, il II had not supposed tliat the Bank would pay the subscription in money, one (lid pay the subscription, but it was with money borrowed in the name of tiic State ; she first availed herself of the power of creating new debt for the State, and thus another link was added to the chain. Finding the debts of the State increased on ! r>vorv side in this ttmimcr ?nrl iu>rr>t>ivin(/ th;d the state of the times had prevented the Bank from disposing.of all the State Bonds which the State had authorized under the Fire Loan, some of us thought this a fitting opportunity tier trying to diminish the State Debt It appeared by the Bank's own showing, that she could not make six per cent profit; and as the Bonds ol the State when issued would bear an interest ol six per cent., it was evident that the operation must result in loss. A motion was therefore made in this House, to instruct the Bank to cancel such State Bohds as wore oniiund, and thus diminish by so much the debt of the State, and 1 ... - I I ?.A* i. il. ? ?ui u ncr .n annual loss ui some live or u*u uiuusand dollars. This motion was resisted by all the friends of the Badk on this floor, and was laid uj>on the table by a vote of a majority.? And when the minority appeared at the bar ol die House, and humbly requested leave to entei on the Journal the following Protest, they were treated witli unceremonious rudeness, and theii request rejected with some harshness: PROTEST. The undersigned, Representatives of the Peo pie of South Carolina, do hereby, in behalf ol themselves and of the People whom they rep ie >cnt, solemnly protest against the order ol the House of Representatives, laying upon the Ta hie the following Resolution : Resolved, That it is expedient that this Leg' islatnre should diminish as far as possible tin public debt of the State ; that no occasion exist: for further sale of State Stock, under the Aci for rebuilding the City of Charleston ; and tha the President and Directors of the Dank of tin State are hereby required to deliver up to the Comptroller (ieneral, to be cancelled, all certif icatcs of Stock or other obligations in their pos session, issued under the said Act, which re main unsold. And these Protestants, considering the sail order as equivalent to a rejection of the Kesolu tion, beg leave rcspcctluiiy to enter their solemt protest against such rejection, for the following among other reasons: 1. Heenusc a public debt is a great public J I. I ; 1 __l.. _ evu, ana ougni 10 oe incurreu umy m cases u great and urgent necessity. 2. Because the public debt incurred to rebuilt the City of Charleston was created to repair out of the greatest calamities which the State hat ' ever suffered; and even under so pressing i necessity, was only permitted upon the expresi guarantee of the City of Charleston against al loss to the State, i 3. Because the President and Directors o * the Bank of the State, having been appointet the agents of the State to sell the public bond: 1 which might be required to raise money to re [ build the City of Charleston, have already sok 9626,636 more than is required for the sutlerer i by the fire, and now propose to sell 8332,79; more; thereby increasing the public debt oni i million of dollars bevond what was required t< t rebuild the City of Charleston. I 4. Because the public debt of about one mil lion of dollars, which has been applied to rebuih , the City of Charleston, charges the State onb J with an interest of 5 j>er cent., and is secured i 1st. By the individual bonds of the borrowers t 2d. By a Mortgage of each Town lot with tie 5 houses thereon, covered by a policy oflnsurance and 3d. By the guarantee of the City of Charles ; ton. Whereas the debt which the Resolutioi proposes to reduce, charges the State with ai interest of six per cent., and is to be loaned ou r to individuals, subject to all the hazards of bank t ing operations. , 5. Because tho borrowing of money on tli< public credit to lend out to individuals, wbethe I by means of a Bank, or otherwise, is a policj r dangerous to the best interests of the State, an< I contrary to tho principles of Republican Gov I emment. I tt. Because the property of every citizen o i the country becomes pledged to pay the publii debt; and wlion money raised by means of sucl i debt, is loaned out to individuals, every eitizei / _ . __ ??rm=r i*i > i in??wm^mt .. ] o/flie State i's virtually made the endorser of it Ac notes of the favored few to whom the moni, ey is loaned. 7. Because the Bank.of the State, when first established, was based upon funds which the i State had acquired as actual, without injury to the public treasury; but the new policy now proposed, of raising money for the Bank by iniM'AQoilHr ' 'llA r\ii)>lto SmiAltrod ^4 Iifo I V VUUI.I^ MIV puwill/ UV.1'1^ |II?UiYUO bllC ?JIUIC Treasury in all the carnalities and dangers of banking operations, and is subversive of that great principle avowed by the State, of keeping the Public Treasury independent of Banks. 8. Because the great facility with which money can be raised upon the public credit, has a tendency to seduce the public sen-ants from their duty, and to confer upon those who lend out the money to a secret and dangerous control over the councils of the State. 9. Because the experience of the Bank of tho State has proved, that its profits have been diminished as its capital has been increased; that for the last four years, even without resen-ing any fund to meet future losses, its average of profit has been only 5 1-2 per cent.; that the proposition therefore, that the State should borrow money at 6 per cent., to lend out 5 1-2, subject also to the usual casualties, of banking, cannot fail to result in loss, which must eventually be made good by taxing the people. C. G. Memminger, Henry Gonrdin, Z. P. 1 Herndon, Allard H. Belin, J. H. Adams, W. T. Ellerbe, Otis Mills, Edward Frost, A. G. Magrath, Wade S. C'othran, J. M. Walker, C. B. Griffin, Geo. Anderson, D. Atkinson, J. D. Wilson, J. W. Jones, J. A. Alston, F. W. Davie, 1 John Sehnierle,JJenry J. Smith, Robert S. Al> lison, Henry Smith, Paul Quattlebaum, H. H. '? ?! 'I'i LI I C1.Z, ^.1 VVSl iiiuiusuii, i iiuiuoa u. 1 upc, w. uuu|ij;ai?? 11liain Aiken, L. F. Rhnine, J. Chesnut, Jr., C. ' Dudley, J. Washington Rice; Sain'l. Jackson, k Daniel Y. Jenkins, S. M. Earle, II. S. Massev, 1 T. Edwiit Ware, J. WingarH ' . The refusal of the Bank to cancel these Bonds 1 of tho State, under these circumstances, and the ' still more unjustifiable refusal to permit so large a body of tho Representatives of the people to exhibit and record their reasons, speak a lan| gunge which cannot be misunderstood. They uciuutiduaH; buu ui^astiuua uiuucnuco vv uivn Bank has exercised upon the public councils; 1 and establish beyond a doubt how completely the public authorities are swerved from the true path of duty wherever this Bank is concerned. ' But it is not only in its influence uj>on the public authorities that the experience and history of ; the Bank exhibits its injurious action; its own doings, within its own sphere o1 action, iurnish the most conclusive evidence. Tate the single operation in Charleston Bank Stock. In that great bubble, where 92 millions I of dollars were subscribed by a community run L mad, to raise a Bank Capital of two millions, llie Bank of the State was among the foremost nr !,? c.w>, mlubwB Witluml r*iin<%ii!tinrr the ( w. ?rv?.-w,. o ;? Legislature, the Board of Directors subscribe more than their whole capital to another Bank, ! in which the public authorities never conceived the possibility of placing their funds; and ever J since the Bank of Charleston has been in existence, the State has been in fact one of its lar1 gest Stockholders, and is even now involved in ' the hazards' of the operations of that Bank. The same thing is true of the two Georgia Railroads?of the Nesbit Manufacturing Com. ; panv, the Limestone Springs, and all those loans to incorporate Companies, which are a mong the most hazardous and long protracted of the debts of the Bank. The history of the Bank exhibits another fcaf ture which cannot he disguised. The Directors of the Bank exhibit a solid mass of liability, a! mounting to upwards of seven hundred thous and dollars; and if to this be added the liabilities of the Officers of the Bank, it results that those ? conducting the affairs of the Bank have takou to s their own use three-fourths of the whole actual > capital of the Bank. What a commentary t. upon what is called the People's Bank! Then t let there he added to this the fact that the Bunk has already lost, through its Directors, upwards of four hundred thousand dollars, and ull the outlines of the picture are filled out It makes - apparent that the true name of the subject is not the People's Bank. It is the Directors' Bank! But I will not pursue this branch of the sub1 ject any further. Enough has been said to es tablish all the propositions for which we conl tend, and to demonstrate the evils attendant j upon the contiuuance of the Bank of the State. 'i ;?x. a:? c it mor?iv rv"i'l"|s iuihsjww m oviiiu ui me i objections which are uryCd against any interferf encc witli tlie Bank. OBJECTIONS. 1 1. The first and most prominent of these objec, tions is, lliat the Bank is pledged to our Foreign j Creditors, and that we are bound to continue its existence until the period at which the debt is pay1 able. 5 If this argument hold good, it would furnish tin 1 instance of one of the most flagrant frauds over perpetrated upon the people; and the-very fact f that it is gravely urged by the friends of the .Bank, I shows (he shifts to which they are willing to resort 3 to sustain the continuance of the Bank. The amount of the argument is this: The Bank's exis| tence terminates by the law of its charter in 1856. * By an Act of the Legislature, the Governor was s authorized to issue State Bonds, payable in 1870, j and the Bank was to provide an agent to sell the 3 Bonds, and to make arrangements for paying the j Interest and Principal, as it became payable. Now, for the Bank, by its own act or representation, to make its existence, which the law terminated in * 1856. extend to 1870, was allowing them to extend * their OW'. charter without law, anil even in fraud f of the law. No one ever imagined before, that a , mere u vrtaking to provide for a debt ten years ; hence, implied an obligation that the person whose g assets were bound by the debt should live to pay it. His Executor or Administrator would be bound ' to apply the assets, and could as well do so as the original party. And just so could the assets of a 1 Bank be applied by the Trustees who would wind 1 up its affairs, without any necessity to resort to a t trap upon the Legislature who authorized the debt, . and to insist that they have undertaken to bind their successors beforehand" to recharter the Bank. B Hut the argument in fact has no basis in truth. The Act for rebuilding the City of Charleston, r which authorized the issue of these State Bonds, Y when examined, will be found to contain the fol< 1 lowing undertakings in relation to the debt to be - contracted: 1. By the 1st Section, " the faith and funds of e the State are pledged to secure the punctual pay mont of the said Bonds or contracts, with the in" terest thereon." 1 ? By the lOtli Section, it is made the duty of 1 the President and Directors of the Bank to make [ proper provision for the punctual payment of the ! interest, and for the ultimate payment of the ] r'ncipal. 3. By the 11th Section, the President and Directors are required to keep an account of the psofits to arise from this Loan; and these prdfits are pledged for the payment ofthe interest and principal of the Loan 4. By the 12th Section it is provided, that when the profits ofthe Bank shall have paid the public debt, both principal and interest, lor which they are already pledged, the said profits shall also be considered pledged for payment-of the interest and principal of said ixian. Now, in all these pledges, so far as they relate to the Bank, they are entirely confined to its profits. These are distinctly pledged, and so are the faith and funds ofthe State. The pledge then embraces these two subjects, and these only. The faith and funds of the State embrace all its resources, as well those in the Bank as those in the Railroad Company and the Bank of Charleston; and an ar- i guntent might as well be predicated In behalf of i the charters of these Institutions as of the Bank of , the State. And if these pledges operate to pre | vent the otate Irom changing its inoney mvestj meuts, then the State has already broken her faith J at this very Session, in transferring to the new i Railroad Companies the money she owned in the South Carolina Railroad Company. And yet the friends of the Bank saw no dilhculties there. The other subject of the pledge offers even less real difficulty. The pledge made is of the protils of the Bank. What are these ? The money which the Bank will make during the period of its existence. Could any one mistake what this meant, when the duration ofits existence was bctore them in the Statute Book ? Will gentlemen 'say, that General McDuffic concealed from the persons with whom he was dealing that the Bank Charter expired in 1856 .' and when they were takinga pledge of the profits of the Bank, do gentlemen propose ' to persuade us that the English Creditor never in| quired how long these profits were to continue i ! As well might they undertake to persuade us that I a creditor, to whom a leasehold estate wasolfered s by way of mortgage, would not inquire how long the lease had to run. | The whole difficulty will vanish by merely changing the phrase. Suppose a Company engaged in ! a partnership, which by articles was to continue I for live years, should pledge the proiits to arise i from the partnership as security to pay a debt | which was not due for ten years? Would any I one contend that this created an obligation to con| tinue the partnership for ten years, or that any thing more than the proiits lor live years was 1 pledged ? When the partnership should expire, ! then provision would have to be made to secure I the assets of the partnership, with the prdlits ac| crued, for the benclit of the creditor. But not the ' smallest obligation would exist to continue the I partnership. I So with the Bank; when the term of its charter expires, the Slate will be bound to preserve the ! pronis men accrueu, wim a sumcieiu amount 01 j the luuds of the State, to secure the payment ol ! the debt, principal and interest, as it becomes due. i But there is not the slightest obligation to continue the charter of the Bank, or to keep the funds in any form of investment which the State may not deem most beneficial. But to insist, as the friends of the Bank do, that the funds shall be kent in an institution, which, bv ; its own showing, is not making the annual interest | which has to be paid, while it puts at hazard .the principal itself, seems to be taking a course as injurious to the creditor as to the State itself The best thing a" debtor can do for his creditor, is to pay his debt; tha next best, is to -improve his means of payment We propose to do either of these which the creditor may prefer. The last thing to which we. could consent would be in any manner to tarnish the honor of the iStato. 2. "the next objection which I shall notice is that we are destroying the Hank of the Planters. I think it has already been shown that this is the Bank of the Directors, and certainly they are not the Planters. But it would be well to show the people of the State how completely fallacious is this adcaplandum argument, and how few Planters are really accommodated by this Bank. If we knew the number of the debtors of the Bank, we could arrive at certainty. But we cau approximate results. Setting down the amount loaned the Directors and OiliCers of the Bank at $850,000, and the amount loaned the Commercial communi1 tv at about the same, there would remain about ?2,000,000 to be loaned Planters. Now, we have it in one of the Statements ol the Bank, that of this last sum 88 debtors had out ?5?2,55t>, linking an average of ?(>,733 each. Now, if the whole ol the money loaned to Planters were loaned at an averj age as low as ?5,000, it would only accommodate i 400 Planters in the whole State. And if the averj age of loans were reduced down to as low a figure as $1,000, the whole number ot Planters who would be accommodated, including the 88 above named, would amount to about 1488 at one time in the whole State, or about 50 to each District A mighty figure, indeed, upon which to predicate the name of the People's Bank, or the Planters' Bank. 3. But another objection most strenuously urged is, that this is not the proper time to commence any measures looking to the termination of the JJank, and that we ought to wait until the charter expires. l'he answer to this objection is, that the sooner measures are commeiiCedi the greater can be the period of time over which they may be distributed, and the leas likely to harass the debtors, or derange the business arrangements of the country. If the debts to be called in are distributed over the eight years of the charter which remain, only instalments of one-eighth need be called in upon good debts, and the measure would be one of relief instead of pressure. The business arrangements of the country would easily accommodate themselves to this gradual and gentle change, and no one would sutrer. So, too, in any difficulties that may arise, time could be extended according to circumstances, and the State would sooner be relieved from .all the evils to which the Bank exposes her. Neither would there exist any difficulty in providing for the public debt The interest of the Loans made by the Bank would be received in time to pay the interest of the public debt, and the principal would be called in in ample time to meet the principal. Even should it be found impracticable to buy up the State Bonds, there would be no difficulty in securely investing the funds of the State, untif the debt becomes payable. But there is one consideration which seems to demonstrate the necessity of acting upon this subject before the expiration of the charter of the Bank. By a strange coincidence, it Happens inai the charters of six of the Banks of this State expire about the same time, and may come tip before the same Legislature for renewal. These are the Banks of the largest capital, and seeing (as we now do) the influence which the Bank of the State alone has exhibited, we may imagine what will lie the combined influence of this tremendous money power. It is not hazarding mud} to say, that if the Legislature does not take the part of wisdom by dividing this influence, and taking matters in advance, the combination will be too strong to be resisted. \Ve snail bo placed in a situation in which it mav he more ruinous to refuse than to grant a reneWal. By acting now, we detach the Bank of the State, the most formidable; and we can then act with the others as the public interest may require. Tlnnn flip u hnls. thon. mv best itldemcnt is. that I r~ ' ? * y . I now is the time for action. The1question is before u , brought up regulariy by His Excellency the Governor. It can be disposed of now, with comparative ease and quietness, l*t us.meet the emergency and act now. We need do nothing mere than commence; our measures may follow as gently and as gradually as the public interests may require. There need be 110 pressure either upon the debtors or upou the public; and the great recommendation of commencing at once to put ilia Bank in a state of liquidation, is that you extend the time during which its affairs may be adjusted. Mr. Chairman, I have done. I have endeivored to piace Deiure Uie committee the reason* which ought to decide the people of. the State to put an end to this Bank. 1 have discussed the question entirely as one of State policy,,.and have avoided ( all personal issues. 1 trust this example will he fallowed, and that : the decision will be made upon considerations of reason, and not of feeling. I have discharged my duty in bearing testimouy to the injurious and demoralizing tendency uf the institution, and in urging upon the country the he kvounj ui KlillllMIIIIg Ik" CAIMCII^ ' "' ' ^ l_ ' l I I ill l . CAMDEN, 8. C. ^ ???- \ ?? ?;! TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH 5, 1850. TELEGRAPHIC INTELLIGENCE. " ReporU-tl Eiprwrly for il?e Journal. f'niBl r?rn? Moruli A S > n? The demand for Cotton to-day lias been, moderate, and prices irregular. A decline pf five-eighth* has taken place. Sales; 1400 bales at- 1.4 1-S to 12 -7-16. ' ' W. _ RETURN DAYS." For Kershaw, Saturday, March 1 fl. . For Sumter, " .. " 23. . v ? For Lancaster, u u 30. . * ... 11: J ?- V -? ? * |?IC nan U-H-II IIU UlCCllIlg USIItSU III vet, Messrs. Representatives. A rumor liecame current in town yemday, that . Telegraphic dispatches reported the House ofRepresentatives as breaking up.in a row on last Siturday night, members fighting, &c. &.c. All, so far as we can learn, however, is merely rumorMr. Hudson, who made us all believe we were in the Emerald Isle on last Saturday night, will re-new his very entertaining performances on to night..' The K Irish Emigrant's Lament" is worth half a dozen admission fees. JJ* We refer all who wish to take a Liw or Medical course to the announcement of the Mem- . phis Institute, in our columns. With every facility, it poimespea very strnnw recommendation*. Signs of the Tise?.?Speftking nut.?With . . pleasure we record the fact, that there are two. journal.'!, at least, in South Carolina, beside the Herald, which go for a revolution, in preference to the preservation of the Union under present circumstances.?Fairfield Herald The Telegraph, we suppose, Mr. Herald, is one, from your extract. Which is the other ? Do you mean the Journal ? If not. there are more than two. Are not all the papers in the State of the same opinion ? Tho Union, once our idol?once the word that falln rs taught their babes to lisponce the centre ajround which all that was great or magnificnt in the hope of the future encircled, is n >w a sword to assaul', instead of a shield to protect us. What is the Union ? We ask not what it was, hut what it is. We should laugh at _ t?_ii r I..*! !r._ a1 _ * 1 our lauirrs lor revolutionizing lor tne ennpie aggressions of the English on their rights. Why it was all ideality compared to the aggressions of the North upon the South. And when the long cata. logue of unheard of and almost sacrilegious wrongs i< hurled upon us, and we talk of resenting, it is said, why will you dissolve the Union! You must cling to the Union.' When the constitution is disregarded, when the South is insulted, when tho original compact that bound us is broken* when our rights in acquired territory are destroyed, when our slaves are stolen, and their master iu search of them murdered, when our money, made from the labor of these same slaves, is takeo to support the North, when we are branded with epithets .too mean for Pandemonium's crew, and we talk of resenting, we are met by the cry, Be patient?j?ri the glorious Union?or, you are traitors?disunionists. Washington, our own beloved Washington, , was a slaveholder?died amongst us, and amid the tears of his own slaves. When oppression came. but a shadow to the substance of the oppression of to-day, lie resented. He was called a traitor too, by the British; and could he rise to-day from where he calmly sleeps, heedless of the storm of fanaticism that rages over him, he would soon be tsrtned a traitor and disunionist by the North: for he would now, as then, stick to tlie Constitution, with the watchword "Equality or Independence." We have no need to fear the consequences of a disunion. Wi:h all the elements of prosperity and . . .... ?- ? i _ c... t'lglll nuiuoua oi people, ?c lldtc Huiuiu^ lu ^or. No power on earth can conquer us?none dare invade. CTmite, soil, productions, pursuits, institutions and location, tell us that no people under heaven have less to fear or more to gain. As a Southern Confederacy, our star of glory would rise in the ascendant, aud earth would hail us as Palestine was hailed in days of eld, and pooti might sing us " The laet and the uobleit of time." " POEMS OF MARKS OF BARHAM VILL?,U. Is the title of a neat little volume on our table, which we have just been scanning, " P?a good can come out of Nazareth," has but to be changed to "No good hook ran be written iu the South," to be the sentiment of Northern critics. It is, therefore, with greater pleasure that we hail this jyo, duction of Dr. Marks as a living argument against that opinion. The scarcity of Southern literature is traceable to quite an apparent cause. Jt is not that the South is wanting in fyistopc associations ?not but that nature has thrown an Abundance of her choice copies in our sunny land?not because there are would-be authors?but, the great reason ia thfl Smith trill riot nntrnni hiinmvn litorntur,. at'* ? " ? " " " V4??**?v. On Jiow many cenlre tables is the 44 Southern Id. terary Messenger'' found *n comparison to Godey'J