Vincennes Gazette, Volume 7, Number 44, Vincennes, Knox County, 31 March 1838 — Page 1

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A &&&&& 6f tfi e?aas Till XII WITHOUT i i:ar. volumh VII. VLCE.M;S, SATURDAY 3IOiLLG, MARCH 31, IS38. AU3IBER 11

MR. CLAY'S t'PEECII. Concluded from the Gaztttc t-f Unt veik. I proceed to another point of powerful evidence, in t lie conductor Mr. an liuren, in respect to the famous Tie run reorder. That order had been prynuijuled, originally, in defiance of the wishes and will of the people, and had been icpealed by a hill possed at the last ordinary session of Congress, hv ovoi u lu Idling Majorities. The late of that hill is well Known. Instead of being returned to the House in which it originated, according to the requirement of the constitution, it was sent to one of the pigeon-holes of the de

partment ol Mate, to he filed a v. )v with an opinion of a convenient Atlo:nuv (Jt iicral, always ready to prepare u.ie in support of executive encroachment. On the utli of March last, not a dmsht w;.s entertained, as far as my knowledge i r belie! extends, that Mr. Van Puren would re-M-i.i ! trie obnoxious order. I app :al to the Senator from Missouri, who siis near me, Mr Linx, to the Senator from Mississippi who sits faitiiest from me, Mr. Wai.kkk.j to the Senator from Alabama, ; Mr. Kixo and to the whoie of the adiiiniistratiou Senators, if such was not the expectation of all of them. Was there ever an occasion in which a new administration had so tine an opportunity to signalize its commencement by an act of giaeo ami wisdom, demanded by the best interests and most anxious wishes of the people.' liut Mr. Van loneii did cot think proper to embrace it. lie had shared too largely in the confidence of his predecessor, agreed too l'u'.lv with him iu his sentiments, had been too much united with him in his councils, to rescind an order which constituted -,n essential a part of the system which, h i 1 been (h-'.i'x ralely adopt ed to overthrow the St i Another course ur.-i nr. ! hv the .dm i-tr:l'iou, after the ea'.aatroi d the pension of specie payments, by t demonstrates the hostile irpos them of the present adiiiilii-t !, towar. tion. When a simdar event had occurred du rin the administration of Mr. Ad uus. dp he discredit and tIi--eo;:::t 'n.iaee the ism: oi me ni'in, ov eiu-.:i .if u'.in payment of the public, dm s' Hid tat: Stale Governments, upon the lomcr or . .1 I 1. 1 . ..,.,-. i,j 1'..ni iMf Gtor occasion, ri dust! to receive t -em refuse to receive l l n.ivmenl ot t t'ie dew lo lbe:n resneclively J I And if irredeemable bank notes are good enough for the Siate Governments and the people, are they not good enough t or the Federal Government of the same people.' Fy exa -ttn ; -pecie, in all payments to the General Government, that Government presented ited m (lie market as a power!'.. I an 1 formid-ib'.e competitor with the hanks, deniaii hug specie a', a m. -incut when the hanks were v.i iking exam,l rdnigtjle to sir. cg'-aca tn-nfeivcs mid prep. p IVIilCiilS. for l. m I 'file e: -: i . n a ol ,is (1 s no j ecie crnImit reincut o-m ill i (. oil" s ot' exact ascert.imim: fisct that ill annua! t iovernmctit vve: e at the Post ii.f.ce Hep t !;- ; hut v xpehdi the rat mmd, t h.Mi we Hie'; of the ', lile'.u ling f a')o-it!;ii--au 1 that its ty three mil. ions of It. ' o income, mad up either of tixrs or loans. inns, he an e.ptal sum, inaKing mge.ner an a ri id' ale of sixtv-.ix 'luhioiis, it will i, he s' en that f!ie amount o! I )i' die iish of G overnnient I lecio require. l must he ineiiOTill d larje. It cannot be precisely deled, but would not he hss probably 'i .i.i hltiien or twe ,-t annum. Now ne hanks, coming i ty ii ho 'V l ol do.! irs Ma for market power to pro-.'ao:ia-' That i.hul, if it p into the sp i all the Govcrnm 'i J 1st d, a r 1 petition Wi u. iiilluence of tit i.ie themselv -s with specie in le tune to resume specie payment Mm petition vr'.' Id h ive b .en :iv -upon me stopp Ol ll.C 1 h note (.1 v :ose whose -oiuht I nere w is no don i had been continued to tn.'tit of the public d.i. e rcce eived in pay - Wiis to:!.1 m i Mr .Mr. Mailison's 1'resident. ii lminirtr.ition And why sliou! t'lev not have le-en .' IV s lotUU tv)l mis gov erum-.-iu 101:10; L.-U the same description of medium which is lound to answer all the purposes 01 i.-.e sev eral State Govt rmmmls.' Why should they h ive restored to the expedient of issu.n r r.n inferior paper mudiuui, in tli form of tressasy notes, and refusing to re'eiva the better notes of sale and solid hanks! Do not misunderstand me, Mr. President. No man is more adverse than I am to a permanent inconvertible paper medium. It would have been as a lem- , f !. .- 1 1 l. porarv measuru only tir.it 1 suouiu mut thought it expedient to . of good local bank-;. It" enve al-ii; the notes with ibat measure, in-. 1 rcasury order nao oecii repr de l, and other measures a.lopteil toen-cottrag-3 and coerce the resumption of speth ne payments, we s ion Id ha ii-e tie en tunc Higher that desirable event than, I fear. v now ar". Indeed, I do not see when it is posihle for the banks to resume specie payments, as long as the Government is in the field, making war upon them, and the market demanding specie. Another conclusive evidence of the hostility to the State hanks, on the ,, t ,f Me. Van Uuren. is to be found ln that extraordinary recommendation n bankrupt law containe d in his tr.ps saire at tha extra session. According to :dl the principles of any bankrupt system with which I am acquainted, the bank W the stoppage of specie payment, had rendered themselves liabln to its operation. If the recommended law had

been passed, comtiiissions ot bankruptcy could have been immediately sued out against all the suspended banks, their as

sets seized. nd the administration oi them transferred Irom the several corporations to which it is now entrusted to com.nissioncrs appointed lv tna president Htmit . i -I . i self. Thus, by one blow, would the whole d' the State ,k Have w a v been completely 1' prostrated, and the leared for the introduction oi tiie favorite 1 reasurv Panls t. and is it not in the same spirit of unfriendliness to those hanks, and with the same view of removing all obstacles to the establishment of a Government bank, that the bill was presented to the senate a few das ,igo by the Senator from Tennessee Mr. Grundy" against trie circulation oi the notes of the old Hank ol the tinted State i'. At a lime v. hen thorn is too much want of confidence, and when every thing old Hank that can be done should he done to revive and strengthen it, we pass a law denouneiu; ire called upon to the heaviest penallies am! ignominious punishment against all who shai Hank of the re issue the notes ol s, of w ' the old hieh we Fnited about 7 States, are told that million in circulation; and they constitute the l. es portion of the paper medium of the conn try; the on 1 V portion ol it w eli has a serves the where, anil w purpe ose of general circulation; the omy portion with which a man can travel Iiom ' , ,. , . . . i - . . i - r one end ol the comment to uie omei; aim do not doubt that tin senator wl io i a fulminated these severe pains and penalties against that best part of our paper medium provides himself with a Midieient imountol' it, whenever he leaves INas'iV llle . t.-i-i vi om to v asiimeaoii. i Here Mr. (.irnndv rose and remarei No sir; s I always travel on specie. j Ah! u.-d Mr. Clay, my old friend is ;; ,Vof.. 1 am qur.e sure that from a d, stance in the interior members I'cncrall v hnd it indispensable to supply them--t ves, commeue! itiate amo rig their journey, vvit't an of those iden eases. Whv tir.d notes to i jy us exp sir will lOtPS been Mr. r by inv man in lis senses c.env itiai uuimare fir heller than those which have issued bv that Government hanker, J.ivi Wood-cry. nided though he I the chancellor of the exeheipior, i ins pardon Senator in I mean the cx-chaitcedor. 1 t! m New York, (Mr. Wright I am not going tosmp here to m.piiremto the strict legality of the re-issue of those notes; that opiestion, together with the power of tiie ( ; -vei'r,me;il to pas? the proposed hi'.i.wt'l be taken up when it is considered, i am looking into tie' motive of such a me.tsin e. No body doubts the perfect safety of the noiesrno one can I t heve til d they will cod he Ihirly and fully paid. What, then, is the de.-ign of the 'mil.' It ... . i t is the on'.v sure genera! medium 1,,. r,id,- cr,. .r,...,-.r-d Lie! ihe n'-op'e posse.-..--.. !t is beil mav colli'! 1,1 competiu HI witli urv no'cs or oilier Government l' I'i.N Trea per. Sir, if the hill bad not been pro--ed by mv old fi iend Irom Teune?,th'serv e; hose ag ii eo, I a It st i wot hi tt u- its anther better nitenlrirv punishment iiii) vh.co ii is i ireeied. I rmnmher to h iv b heard of an lllustrioiis individual, now in retirement, having, u some occasion, burst out into the tuot pa'riotie indignation, liecaue of a waggish trick j !ay-d o'f upon him, by putimg a note r,f the late Hank of the Visited States into his silk purse with his gold. Hut it is unnecessary to dwell longer on tiie innumerable proofs, of the hosti'.ity ar.unst ate pur them. ho Scon v-,ns. and l:ie t turner d, ise of those in power lo overthrow cYe hear ami sej daily, through out, the country, among t.unr partisans 1 presses, denunciations against PaioiS presses, corporations rag barons, t! pint ol mo - i t- . . nono'v , eve., a 1 1 . ! 1 1..-, l.nwl l". o- irrihl id ird moiicv. an 1 t ih constitutiotial cur isten to the sp.eecli 1 rcn v; and no onn can es ol lb." a other the 1 1 o 11' ,1 mcm'iers, in 'IlliS Oi and the v iih n ministration, in this house without being impressed ' 1 perfect convic'ion that t. destruction of the Stale banks is meditated. I have f.iliided my promise M r. Presi.Icn to sust un the fr.'st four propositions wit! which I s:it out. I now proceed to tie fifth proposition: o. That the bill :i idcr.-.;nri ded to execute Mr. Van Hureifs pledge, to complete and perfect the principle" , plans, and police, of the past ?dm'inistiation, by ei'iibl'i-hing. upon the ruins of the late Hank of the. Fnited States aiv! the Sta'e banks, ti Government bank, to be managed and controlled by the Treasurv Department, acting under the commands of the President of the Fnited Slates. The first impression made by the perusal of the bill is the prodigal and bound-t.,..-ilhi-m-inn which it grants to the sec1 ro.-,,- nfti,,-. Ti-ensotrv.irrceoncileablc with the genius of our free institutions, am! contrary to ihe former cautious pactice of th Government. As originally re port:allow .1, he was authorised by the bill to anv number of clerks he thought receivers general, pr nvvpr to the vartmi i and t-- fix their salaries. It will l3 bome ofiin mind that this is the mere coiumenee- - inento! a system: and it cannot he douhtoil thM. if nut into operation, the liumher of receivers general and other depositaries of the public money would Uo indefinitely multiplied. lie i allowed to appoint as many examiners of the public money, and "to fix their salaries, as ha pleases; he

ailowtd to erect at pleasure costly buiklmg; there is no estimate tor any tiling ami all who are conversant with the opera tions of the executive branch of the Government know the value and impor in nee ol ptevious estimates. i aero is no ; .1 . . o i . c. ,i omer cnecis. upon wwiciui ticuuinn but previous estimates; and that was r point always particularly inststei upon by Mr. Jei erson. 1 lie Senate will recollect that, a few days ago, when the salary o the receiver general at etv ork was fixed, the chairman of the Committee ot Finance rose in his place and stated that it was ii'LCii'rsted by the Secretary d the Trca-ury that it should be placed at 3,000; and the blank was accordingly so fdied. There was no statement of the nature or extent of the duties to be performed, of the time that he would be occupied, of the extent of his responsibility, or the expense cd' living at the several points where they were to be located; nothing but the suggestion of the Secretary of the Treasmy, and that was deemed all-sufficient by a majority. There is no limit upon the appropriation which is made to carry into effect the bill, contrary to all former usage, which invariably prescribed a sum not lo be transcended. A most remarkable feature in the bill is that to which I have already called the attention of the Senate, and of which no satisfactory explanation has been given. his that which proceeds upon the idea that the Treasury is a thing distinct from the treasure of the Fnited States, and gives to the Treasury a local habitation and a name, in the new building which is being erected for the Treasury Department i;i the city of Washing-ton. In the Treasury, eo constituted, is to lie placed that pittance of the pil'die. revenue which is gleaned from the District of Columbia. Ail else, that is lo say, nine hundred and ninety-nine hundredths of the public revenue of the Fnited States, is to be placed in the hands of the receivers general, ami the oilier depositares beyond the District of Columbia. Now, the constitution of the I" nited Stittes provides that no money shall he drawn from the public Treasury but in virtue of a previous appropriation bylaw. That t. idiug portion of it, liierelore, wnicii is within the nistru-i oi ounder the safeguard cd" the i ii , ill. ..i lumblii, vi; constitution, ar.i l an eise win ne ai me arbitrary dispos al of the Secretary of the Treasury. It was deemed necessary, no doubt, to v est in the Secretary of the Treasury this vast and alarming discretionary power. A new and immense Government bank is about to b? creeled. How it would work in all its paits could not be anticipated with certainty; and it was thought proper, there fore, to bestow a discretion eomnn usuratc witli its novelty and Cee cxigencif nlexi'v, and adopted tr anv :ich mtgiit : The idth section of deli the power to ereihe bill is that in w ate a hank is more particularly conferred. It is short, and I will read it to the Senate. "Sec 10. ,-hul be it Jt, tiVr f.-utced, That it shall he lawful for the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer the moneys in the hands of any depositary hereby constituted, to the Treasury of the Fnited fc'taU's; to the Mint at i"hi!atielphia; to the ''ranch Mint at New Orleans; or to the ol!'. cc-s of either of the receivers general of public money.1, hv this act directed to he appointed; to be there safely kept, according to the provisions of this act; and ' t: transfer ukv s in the fiuuds of any ou? dfjinsittt) 'ij constituted bj this act to ftvi other deiinsttani constituted bit the -ttr.tr, at bis discretion, and the safety of the public moneys, a.td th rr.nvriiienet 7 the put tic scmce, snail s-. - ;u to him lo 1 rf u ire. Am lor the purpose ol payments on the puiu for the said ' the set:! . 1 1 i rfni 1 1 1 1 it :hni be htvvlul Secretary to drene upon (tin depositories, (is he mat think , -,., it.;,, . ;.) .' condwire to the jodilie in! rests, or to the convenience of the public creditors, or both."' It wi 1 lie seen that it grants a power, perfectly undefined, to the Secretary of ihe Treasury, to shift and transfer the public money, from depositary to depositary, as ho pleases. He is expressly authorized to transfer moneys in the hands of any one deprsitary, constituted by the act, to any other depositary constituted bv it, at his iii.se re tio?i and as the safety of tiie public moneys, and the convenience of the public terrier shall seem to him to require. There is no specification of any contingency or contingencies on" which ho is to act. All il" left to li is discretion. He is to judge when the public sendee ('and more indefinite terms could not have been employed) shall seem to hint to re quire it. It has been said that tins is no tiling more than the customary power of transier. exercised PV the J reasnrv de partment from the origin of the Govern meet. I deny it; utterly deny it. It ia lotaliv different power from that which was exercised bv the cautious Gallatin. and other Secretaries of the Treasury a power, by the bye, which, on mow tnan one occasion, has been controverted, and which is infinitely more questionable than the power to establish a Hank ot the Lni ted States. 1 he transfer was made bv them rarelv. in large sums, and were left to the banks to remit. When pay ments were made, they were cilocten in the notes of banks with which the public money was deposited, or to -which it was transferred. The rates cd exchange were

is

regulated by the Mate of the market, and under the rcsnonsih litv of the hanks.

Hut here is a power given to transfer th? public moneys without limit, as to sum, place, or time, leaving everything lo the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasu ry, receivers general, and other depositaries. What a scope is allowed in the fixation of the rates of exchange, whether of premium or discount, to regulate the whole domestic exchanges, of the country, to exercise favoritism' These former transiers were not made for disbursement, but as preparatory to disbursement; and when disbursed, it was generally in bank notes. I tie transfers ol this lull are immediate payments, and payment made not in bank notes, .but specie. 'I he last paragraph m the section pro vides lint, lor the purpose ol payments n the public account, it shall be lawful for the Secretary to draw uiioiiant) eft lit said dvpoailarits, as he mat think most conducive lo the public iultrtut, or to the convenience of the publh; creditors, or Kith. It will be seen that no limit whatever is imposed upon the amount oriorni: of the draft, or as lo the depositary upon which it is drawn, lie is made the ex-1 elusive lutige of what is "most cotiuucive to the public interests." Now, let us pause a moment, end trace the operation of the powers thus vested. The Government has a revenue of from twenty to thirty millions. The Secretary may draw it to any one or more points, as l. pleases. More than a moiety of the revenue arising Irom the customs is rccciv ah! e a the port of New York, to which point the Secretary may draw all portions of it, if he think it conducive to the public interest. A man lias to receive, under an appropriation law, S 1 0,000, and applies to! .vlr. Secretary lor payment. Where will yon receive it? he is a-ked. On N. Y'ork. llow? In drafts from 5 to :5.00. Mr. Secretary will give him these drafts accordingly, upon bank note paper, impressed like a simulating bank notes having all suitabld emblazonry, signed by my friend the Treasurer, (whose excellent practical senso, and solid and sound judgement, ii he had been at the heed of the Treasury, instead of Mr. Levi Woodbury, when the suspension of specie payments look place, would have relieved or mitigated the pecuniary embarrassments of the Government and the people,) countersigned by the Comptroller, and filled up in the usual way of bank notes. Here is one of them, said Mr. Ci.av. He here held up to the gazo of the Senate, a Treasury note, having all the appearance of a bank note colored, engraved, and exceu't d like anv oilier bank note. her bank note, for O.'O. 1 '1 hi i continued Mr. Clay, is a Government post note, put into circulation, pa ney, and prepared and sent I :! out as moir'.h, gradual!v to accustom the ol Hits conn; t government paper. I have supposed 10,000 lo he received in the mode stated by a person entitled to receive it under an appropriation law. Now, let u.s suppose whit he will do with it. Any where to the South idWest it will command a premium of from two to live per cent. Nowhere in the Fnited States will it he under par. Do von suppose that the hol ler of these drafts would lie fool enough to convert them into specie, to he carried ami transported at his risk? Do you think that lie would not prefer that his money should be in the responsible custody of the Government, rather than in his own insecure keeping! Do yo-i think he will deny to him.-clf the onnortimitv of realizing ths premium ot which he mav be tierhctlv sure: 1 lie greatest want of the country is a medium of ircnrral circulation, and ot uniform value r very where. That, especially, h our want in the western and interior States Now, here is exactly such a medium, ami suoiosuicT the Government bam; to he t 1 o ... , . hor.estlv and faithfully administered, it will during such an administration, be the best conveitihle paper money in the world, for two reasons: The first is, that every dollar of paper out will be the representative of a dollar of specie in the hands of the receivers general, or other depositaries; and secondly, if ihe receivers gi noral should emhczzb trie public money, the res: :i iodit of the (iovernmctit pay ihe drafts issued upon trie basis ol mat money would remain unimpaired. The mnpr. therefore, would be as for superior ri ' ' i to the paper of any private corporation a the ability and resources of the Govern ment of the Fnited States are superior to those of such corporations. J'he banking capacity may be divided into three faculties: hcposiies, discount ol nils of exchange, and promisory notes or cither, and circulation. I his Government bank would combine them an, except tnat it will not discount private notes, nor rereive nrivate denositcs. In pay men iS lor ihe public lands, indeed, individuals art nllowe-d !" make deposites, an certificates of their amount. fi'Tiiinst their negotiability, a 1 to receive To guard clause has been introduced to render them unassignable. Hut how will it be possible to maintain such an inconvenient restriction, in a country where every description of paper importing an obligation to pay money or deliver property is assign law or in

equity, from tiie commoieial nature and I thu application of ten millions of that dortradiiKT charactc-of our people? I mant capital could save, at some future

(If all the. faculties which I have Mateo of a bank, that which creates a circulation is the most important to the community

at large. It is thai m which thousands may be interested, who never obtained a discount, or made a deposits with a bank. Whatever a Government agrees lo receive in payment of the public dues is a medium of circulation, is money, current

money, no matter what its form may be, Treasury notes, drafts drawn at Washington, by tiie Treasurer or receiver general at New Y ork, or to use the language employed in various parts of this bill, "such notes, bills or paper, issued under the authority of the Fnited States. These va rious' provisions were pn-obabiy inserted not only to cover the cause of the Treasury notes, hut that of these drafts in due season. J5nt il there were no expressed provision of law, that thtse drafts should be receivable in payment of public dues. they would, necessarily be so employed, from their own intrinsic value. The wai.tuf the coiiuiamilv of a generd circu lation of uniform vnluc evory here in the FnitcJ States would occasion vast nuiuuiits of the species if draft which I have described to K-uriin in cir culation. I lie appropriations tlus yt;ir vvnl proaalily fall not much short ot thirty liiiiluo.-. 'i'hir tv miiiion ot 1 I'easiirv or.iUs on rtccivtrs 'oe.eral of every denomination, and to any amount, m-.y uc issued ty tnc cue-rotary or tae I rt usury. hid auioauC would remain in circulation cannot Le dett'i mined a priuri, I suppose not less than ten oi fifteen millions; at the end oi another year sonic ten or fifteen millions more, they would fill all the channels of rirruiatiou. The war hclween the (.s'uvenimc!)'. and fiate banks continuing, and this mammoth (lovenimcrit bank I cin in the market, contant!y (iciiiiuulina specie for its vaiied and rami'icd opcr.itions, confidence would be lost in the notes of the local hanks, their paper vvoulJ gradually cease to circulate, ami the hanks themselves would he crippled ami broken. The paper of the Government l anlv would ultimately l'.il the varuou), ua it would lest liltlv OCC U'V the pl.tetj of the us, ef the l.Ce Honk of the L't.iteJ Stales. I am uivmo Mr. 1 . si.l, id. tli.d hv the g:h section of the bill, in order to disuiae the purpose ot the va.-t machinery vvhi.h wo are about constructing, it is provided that it shall lie the doty of the s-L-crt t.u v of the Treasurv lo i-;svie and publish regulations to cid'oice the speeds presentation of all uovernuient drafts for payments ut the place where pavidile iVc. Now what a tiemeiiclous power is here vested in the Secretary! He is to pi'esen; e rules and regulations to enforce the y)uy presentation of all Ciovcrmueat oralis at the place w here pa able. The speedy pri's.'i.tat 10.1! lithe cac 1 have supposed, a man his his ,1(1.000 in drafts un the receiver general at Now York. l I.c seeretarv is cuuiowerco lo t naei ri uianons reip.uri'i.; him speedily to present tht'in, and if I do not, the secretary may order them to he pai l at St. Lord. At New York thev mav I.c worth a pri mitiin of live i.er cent; on .M. Louis thev ma ho hat lo to a discount of five per cent. .Now in a free ( tovernmcnt, who would ever think ol subjecting the properly or money of a eilien to tin exercise of such a power by any seeretarv of tin Treasury? What opportunity does it not alloc! t r. vvara a partisan or puni,ii an opp-m. n : it vvu. be in. possible to maintain Mich an c:!bu;s and use less ror trieti ai for any length of time. Why t-h -id i the del-tor (his the (hocinment vvcil.l he in the case i f such drafts as I have s'.ipp. M i) re.pii ni. (ieuii .r l as i;ie 1; li.a-r rn o., iii-i!-. v mi.1 to re ;,! wid.i.i a ens rile il time fir I piMiiciJ: .No, ir, tin' sy .teui won!.! oontrel u; ymi could not so control the sy.-tcni. JJnt if si. eh a rnheolous res-trieiion conld ,,. c'lntiniied. the drolls v.-nuid. iieseiliielejs, v. m'.-l thev weic t. 1 c the tiiiie fiicT ,,r sliuit, pe:lon:j the eliiee 01 do elation and 1 j lift us trace a li.tle further ihe operation of this Government hank, and follow it out to its final explosion. 1 have supposed the appropriation of some, thirty millions of dollars annually by t!m Gov ernment, to be disi.urscd in the form ol drafts issued at Washington by the Treasurv Department, upon the depositaries. Of that amount, some ten or fifteen millions would remain, tiie first year, m cir culation at the end of another year, a similar amount would continue in cii eulatian; and so on, from year lo year, until at the a end of series of some five or six years there would bo in circulation to supply ihe indispensable wants of commerce and ul' a general medium of uniform value, not les titan some sixty or eighty millions of drafts issued by the Government. These drafts would lie generally upon the receiver generals at New It ork, because on that point, they would he preferred, and they would command a premium, or be at par, throughout the whole extent of the Fnited States; and we have seen that the Secretary of t'i" Treasury is invested with ample authority to concentrate at that point the whole revenue of the Fnited States. AU experience has demonstrated that in banking operation a much lorgir amount nl paper crm ne Kept out m circio-non than the specie which it is necessary to retain in the vaults to meet it when presented for payment. The proportions which the same experience has ascertained to be entirely safe are one of specie to three of paper. If, therefore, the llxecutive Government had sixty millions ol dollars aceuiitukdtd at the port of New York in the bauds of the re( eiver general, represented by sixty millions of Government drafis in circulation, it would be known that twenty of thnt sixty millions would, be sufficient to retain n meet any amount ol oralis wnicn, in ordinary times evoedd be presented lor payment. There would then remain forty millions in the vaults idle and unproductive, and of which no practical use could be made. Well, a great election is at hand in the State of New York, the result of which will seal the fate of an exsitinff administration. If clay , a corrupt 1 .xfcutive irom overthrow can it bo doubted that the ten million.. would be applied to preserve it in oowei

Again: lei us suppose kume grout exigency to arise, a neason of war, creating severe financial pressure and embarrassment. Would not an issue of paper, founded upon and exceeding the specie in the vaults in some such, proportions as experience had demonstrated might be safety emitted, be authorized? Finally, the

whole amount of specie might be exhausted, and then, as it is easier to engrave and iseus bank notes than perform the unpopular office ef imposing; Uxss and burdens, the discovery would be made that the tredit of the Government was a sufficient basis whereupon to make emissions of paper money, to be redeemed when peace and prosperity relumed. Then we should have the caye of continental money, and the assignats, restored! Then we should have that Government paper medium which the Senator from South Carolina, Mr. Calhoun considers the most perfect of all currency! Meantime, and during the progress of this vast Government machine, the State banks would be prostrated. Working well as it may, if honestly administered, in the first period of its existence, it will be utterly impossible for them to maintain it, evsm if the Government were actuated by no unfriendly feeling towards them. Hut when we know the spirit whioh animates the present Executive towards them, whu can doubt that thoy must fall in the unequal contest? Their issues will be discrediied and discountenanced, anil that system of bankruptcy which the 1 resident would even now put into op eration against them, will, in the sequal. ie pasted and enforced w iihout difficul ty. Assuming the downfall of the local auks, the inevitable consequence of this great Government bank; assuming, as I have shown would be the case, that the Government would monopolize the paper issues ol the country, and obtain the possession of a great portion of the soecia of the country, we should then behold a combined and concentrated moneyed pow er equal to that ot all existing banks of the Fnited Slates, with tiiat of the late bank of the l' nited States superadded. This tremendous power would be wielded by the Secre tary of ihe Treasury, acting under the immediate command of the President of the United States. Hero would be a perfect union of the purse and sword; here would be no imaginary, but an actual, visible, tangible consolidation ef the moneyed power. Who or what eoulU withstand it.' The States themselves would become suppliants at the feet of tha Executive for a portion of those paper emissions, of the power to issue which they had been sirippeJ, and which he now exclusively possessed. Mr. Pitsilci.t, my observation anil experience have satis'ied mo that the safely of liberty and prosperity consists in the division of power, whether political or pecuniary. In our federative system, our security is to be found in that happy distribution of power which exists between the Federal Government eV the State Government. In our monetary system as it lately existed, its excellence resulted from that beaiiful arrangement bv which the States had their institutions for local purposes, and the General Government its institution for the more general purposes of the whole Fnion. There exis'.nd the greatest congeniality between all tho parts of this admirable system. All was homogeneous. There was no separation of the Federal Government from tho States or from the people. There was no attempt to execute practically that absurdity of sustaining, among the fame people two different currencies of unequal value. And how admirably did the whole sys tem, during the forty ytars of its existence, move and work! And on the twu unfortunate occasions of its ceasing to exist, how quiek'y did the business and transactions of the country run into wild disorder and utter conftif ion, Hitherto, I have considered this new project as it is, according to its true nature ami character, and what it must inevitably become. I have not examined it as it is not, bill as its friends would represent u ej u. i lies uuiu oui uie lues mailt is a simple contrivance to collect, to keep, and to disburse, the puMic revenue. In that view of it, every consideration of safei. i 'in a .... .i. i .i . . iv ana security recommends the agency of responsible corporations, rather than the employment of particular individuals. It nas been shown, during the course of this debate, that the amount which hae been lost by tho defalcation of individual! ins exceeded three or four times the amount of all that has been lost by tha local banks, although the sums confided to the care of individuals have not been probably one tenth part of the amount that has been in the custody of the local banks. And we all know that, during the forty years of existence of the two Hanks of the Fnited States, not one cent waslostof the public revenue. I have been euiioin, Mr. President, to know whence this idea of receivers geneial was derived. It has been supposed to have been borrowed from France. It required all llio power of that most extraordinary man that ever lived. Napoleon Honaparle, when lie vvai in his meredian greatness, to displace ihe farmers general, and to substitute in their place the receivers general. This new system re- ( Continue I on fourth pci;r.