Vincennes Gazette, Volume 9, Number 35, Vincennes, Knox County, 25 January 1840 — Page 1

20 44TRUTII WITHOUT FEAR." VOLUME IX. VINCENNES, INDIANA, SATURDAY MORNING, JANUARY 25, 1810. NO. 35.

POETICAL.

VL-'a SJJ 1 . ' V -A THE LAND OF DREAMS. IT LOYEB. There is a land where Fancy's twining Her flawerg around life's fadinj trej Where light is ever softly shining Like the sunset o'er a tranquil sea. 'Tis there thou dwell'st in beauty's brightness, More fair than aught on earth e'er seems; 'Tis there my heart feels most of lightness There, in the lovely land of dreams. 'Tis there in groves I often meet thee. And wander through the sylvan ahade, While I in gentlest accents greet thee, My own, my weet, my constant rnaiJ; There, by some fountain fair reposing, Wheie all around so tranquil seems; Wo wait the golden evening's closing There, in the lively land of dreams! But when the touch of earthly waking, Hath broken slumber's sweetest spell, Those fabled joys of Fancy's making Are in my heait remember'd well! The dav, in all its sunshine splendour, Less fair to me than midnight seems, When visions shed a light more tender, Around the lovely land of dreams! REFOUT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE STATE BANK Hon. James O. Read, Speaker of the House of Representative. Herewith is submitted, a report from the President of the Slate Dank marked No. 1, a copy of an agreement with the Morris can.l and banking company of April '-24, marked rso, 2, and a copy ot an agreement with same marked No. 3, to be laid before the House of Representatives. I have the honor to be, vtc. S. MERRILL. State Bank, Jan. 8, 1810. No. 1. To the General Assembly of the State of Indiana. The undersigned, on the 21th of April last, made an agreement on behalf of the State, for the saie of a million of dollars ot State bonds, to tne .Morns canal and banking company, to be paid for in ten monthly instalments, commencing the first of September. Early in August, notice was given that these instalments could not be paid according to contract, and an attempt wa? then made to procuie the return ot part of the bonds and secure payment for the balance, by allowing time, but this arrangement was not carried into effect. 'Tnder these circumstances another visit j New York was made, and collateral security has been obtained, which it is not believed will insure the payment of the whole amount. It is a subject of much regret and mortification to the undersigned, that his efforts to organize the new branches, increase the State slock in the bank, and thereby lessen the amount, which must otherwise ba raised by taxation, have not been attended with all the success which the public had anticipated, and if there hall be any ultimate loss to the State, he will ask no other favor than a just appreciation of his motive. For this purpose alone the facts connected with the negociation are respectfully submitted. Just before the passage of the bill for the increase of bank capital, an amendment was made authorizing the fund commissioners or the President of the State Bank to negociate the loan for that purpose. As this amendment was made without the knowledge or consent of the undersigned. and as it is evidently proper J that the loans on behalf of the State! should be ni3ue systematically by one setl of men having the benefits of experience to guide them, he had never expected to be called on, nor turned his attention particularly to the subject. In March and

Mi$mm Mi Ka,

Anril however, bv the resignation of oneldavs and handed to General Stapp. The

r j o j . of the fund commissioner?, and the iecent other papers may be seen by such cornappointment of the other, there was no mittee as the legislature may appoint, board to act, and neither of them was in and it is probable much other information New York when a proposition was made may be communicated, which t this time on the part of the Morris canal and is not important to be detailed at length, banking company, to purchase the bonds The result of the whole is that the authorized to be sold by the last legisla- State has lost nothing, and under any ture for the increase of bank stock. fair calculation for the future, is not in This proposition was forwarded through any danger of loss. Its Bonds have one of the late fund commissioners, and from time to time, been sold on a it reached Indianapolis in the interval of credit, and the period now allowed, is three days, which the undersigned expect- not a long one, when the change of times

to spend there, between his visit to I southern and one of the northern branches. By the terms of the article, it was only to take effect and be in force if it should be executed and returned to New York within twenty days from the date of its signature there. Two gentlemen then in Indianapolis, who had been fund commissioners were consulted, and the known opinion of all who had been in that office, would, on ordinary occasions, have justified, an assent to the agreement without further inquiry, yet

from the ominous signs of the times, the undersigned deemed it best to use all the means in his power to enable him to

judge correctly as to the performance of the duty imposed on him. For this purpose he visited New York and made laiirh innniripn nnrl prsmimlinna oo ootia. c,i 1.: r .u n: i r ucu 11 1 hi ui me willingness anu auiuiy or the Morris canal and banking company to comply with their engagement, and an article, of which a copy is herewith submitted was agreed to. That institution had previously purchased from the S;ate more than five millions of dollars of its bonds on credit; it had promptly complied with its contracts, its directors were men of unquestioned reputation and wealth, its canal and real property had cost more than $3,000,000, and though the canal has heretofore yielded but a small income, it promised ultimateJ ly to be productive, and the means which u cuuiu men command, were sucn guarantees for the performance of its contracts, that though collateral security was asked, yet when it was positively declined, the demand was waived. As all the bonds disposed of by this State for some years past, and most of those by other States have been sold on credit, as few or no sales could have been made in any other way, and as these matters were well known to the last legislature, the mere fact of a credit sale, cannot be deemed just cause of complaint. From the time of making the agreement in : . ii-i i April, such was the rapid depreciation of all the stocks that no actual sales could be made except at ruinous sacrifices The consequence has been that large amounts of stocks have been pledged for small sums of money until the bonds cannot be returned, nor imme diate payment be made for them. It has been satisfactorily ascertained that the Morris canal and banking company though they sustained a heavy loss on s portion of the Indiana bonds, have not yet made any ruinous sacrifice on them nor are they now in danger of any such. A longer time has been allowed for the payments than would have been if they could have been sufficiently secured to be made at an earlier day. Something was yielded in this respect to obtain about S300.000, on the improvement loan du ring the present vear. The $980,000 due to the State for the bank loan has been agreed to be secured and paid as follows: $120,0(50 on the first of Octo ber, 1840 $150,0. 0 on the first of Oc tober, 184 1 .S20U.00J on the first of October, 184 2 S25 ,000 on the first o October, 1813, and $260,000 on the first of October, 1814 but five thousand dollars of the first insta'ment was paid to the undersigned at Columbus, Ohio on me third ot January, and Slo.uuu more will be paid in 60 days from that time. For further particulars see the copy of article marked No. 3, herewith sub mitted. In the meantime the State is in demnified and secured against all liability for interest on the bonds issued for the bank loan until they are paid for. Of the collateral securities obtained, the laudsalone will probably at no distant day pay the whole debt. They amount in all to 258,888 acres, of which 236,666 acres is an undivided part of 1,200,000 acres, purchased at one dollar per acre through the agency of the late Col. J. M: White, of Florida, and 22,222 acres is a part of 100,000 acres of selected Indian Reserves in Mississippi and Arkansas, which cost one dollar eighty cents per acre. The pier and some seventy lots in Jeisey City must at all times be worth more than the cost of the value of the other lots there, the undersigned is not a competent judge, though his estimate of them is not high. A favorable account has been received of the bank stock, ex cept those of one institutijn. In a for mer communication the views of the Hon. Samuel L. Southard as to the value of the rail road stock were submitted to the legislature. Further security is al so agreed to be given, if that which is now had, should be found to be insufficient When the undersigned left New York, the mortgage on the Jersey Uity property, had not been fully executed. The papers were in the hands of an attorney, audit was in the process of preparation, It was expected to be completed in a few that has come over the money marKet, is taken into consideration. Whenever State stocks are again in demand, there will be no difficulty in raising money, on the securities transferred to the State, un der the provisions specified in the article of agreement. Several circumstances concur at this time to depress the money market in the eastern Cities, and to prevent any loans being had there except to sustain their own business and institu tions

The Free banking of New York dossiers of attorney, assign and transfer to the

not act in harmony with the system pre - viously in operation; the long contested

subject of the disposition of the public revenue, still leaves the land markets for business, fluctuating and uncertain, and the influence of the late over-supply of State Stocks, will for some time be se verely felt. The time cannot de distant, when it is confidently believed, when the course rvhieh business must take for the future, will be so plainly indicated, thathey may be conformed to without difficulty or delay. Respectfully submitted, S. MERRILL. Jan. 8, 1840. No. 2. Memorandum of an agreement made this 24th day of April. 1839, bet ween Samuel Merrill, President of the State Bank of Indiana of the first part, and the Morris Canal and Banking Company of New Jersey of the second part, witnessed, that the party of the first part con tracts to sell, and the party of the second part to purchase so much of the Stocks of the State of Indiana as will amount to one million dollars in Bonds of one thousand dollars each at the following rates, and the stocks to be either in whole or in part of either of the following descriptions at the option of the party of the se cond part, viz: i i it ist. Lsonds bearing six percent, inter est, per annum, principal payasle at the Banking House of the Morris Canal and Banking Company, Jersey City, or their agency, New York, and the interest pay able semi-annually at the same place, for which the price if taken is to be at par. 2d. Bonds bearing five per cent, in . LI. I . itrresi, uavaoie principal anu interest as above for which the price shall be eighty eight per cent. 3d. Sterling bonds four shillings and sixpence to the dollar bearing five per cent, interest per annum, principal paya ble at such House in London, as the Fund Commissioners of Indiana shall de 3 .1 - signaie, anu me interest payable semiannually at the same place, the price of which shall be ninety-eight percent.; and tne party oi tne second part contracts to pay theiefor as follows, viz: One tenth thereof on the first days of each of the months of September, Octo ber, November, December, January, February, March and April next, and the same amount on the first days of May and June thereafter, together with interest at the rate of six per cent, per annum, from the time the Bonds of the State commence paying interest, and payable at the same lime as the interest on the State Bonds. The Bonds are to be delivered as fast as they can be prepared and executed, and if they are not delivered within thirty days after notice is given to one of the Fund Commissioners of the State of Indiana of the kind of Bonds preferred, the payments therefor shall be postponed as much longer as the delivery of the bonds shall be postponed after the time allowed for paying them. The party of the second part, will, if requited at any time after the delivery of the State bonds above named, issue Post Notes, or ac cept drafts to the amount and payable at the several times at which the payments for the stock becomes due. It is understood that no part of the re maining sum of $1,500,000 authorized to he loaned by the State of Indiana for Bank Capital in 1839 shall be exposed to sale before the first of September next. where it can come in competition with .ixi . t it any oi tne Indiana smocks owned by tne laid party of the second part, and it is further understood that from the first of September to the first of February next, the said party of the second part, shall have a preference of one per cent, over any other person proposing to purchase the remainder of said stock. SAMUEL MERRILL, Pres't. E. R. B1DDLE, President. Attest: Isaac Gibson, Cashier. It is further understood that the inter est to be paid by the party of the second part is not to exceed the accruing inter est on the Bonds. S. MERRILL. No. 3. Article of agreement made this 10th day of December, 1839, between the Morris Canal and Banking Company oi the first part, and Samuel Merrill Presi dent of the State Bank' of Indiana and lis successors in office, for the use of said State of the second part. Witness eth, that whereas the said party of the second part on the 24th of April, 1839, sold to the said parly of the fiist part one million dollars in five per cent, sterin bonds executed in behalf of said State by the fund commissioners therof, and whereas the party of tne first part has failed to pay the sum agreed to be paid for said bonds, and whereas under the circumstances, it is believed to be for the interest of both parties that further . ... ! time should be given tor making ssiu payments on their being satisfactorily se cured. Therefore it is agreed between said parties as follows, to-wit: 1st. That said Morris Canal and Banking Company, shall immediately, by properly executed and certified pow

j said Merrill president as aforesaid, all the following stocks. to-.vit: Six hundred

and fifty shares of the stock in the Planter's and Merchant's bank of Mobile, Alabama, the par price of which is PG5,uuu six nu iured anu twentv-hve shares in the city bank of Buffalo, par price $02,500 fifty shates in the Manchester bank Miss., par price S.5,000 twelve thousand shares in the Little Schuylkill; and Susquehanna rail road company, par , price $600,000 also, one hundred and. eighty-one thousand dollars of stock j .- principal and interest in the Apalachicola land company, and forty thousand dollars of stock in the Mississippi and Arkansas Land company. 2d. The said party of the first part will immediately execute a mortgage on tha foliowing property which itownj in Jersey City, to-wit: The pier and wharf at the outlet of the canal, the actual value ol which is over $110,000, also, one undivided third of tvo hundred and ten lots owned in com pany with Gregory and Henderson, and two hundred and fifty lots bought of Comstock and Andrews, and others, all in Jersey City, the actual cost of which was one hundred and forty thousand dollars, whih mortgage is to be made to said Merrill president as aforesaid clear of all incumbrances, arid to his successors in office for the use af said Slate, and to secure the payment hereinafter specified, but said mortgage is not to be foreclosed until after the last payment becomes due. 3d. The said party of the first part shall give the said party of the second part a four months draft for twenty thousand dollars on the Columbus Insurance company, Ohio. 4ih. On the transfer of said stocks, and the execution and delivery of said mortgage as aforesaid the sum of nine hundred thousand dollars, the consideration money for the aaid State bonds, instead of being payable in monthly instalments, as was at first agreed, t-hali be paid hereinafter as fo.lows, to-wit: One hundred One and twenty thousand dollars on the first! of October, 181D, from which the saidi $20,00:) draft when paid shall be deduct 1 1 . eu. une hundred and hliy mousanu dollars on the first of October, 1841. Two hundred thousand dollars on the first of October, 18 ;2. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars on the first of October, 1813, and two hundred and six ty thousand dollars on the first of Octo ber, 1S44. 5th. Whenever the said party of the v-rtrnu part, can sell any ot said siocus. "5 I - I harebv assigned for his indemnity, at loss not exceeding ten per cent, he may sell and dispose of the same on account of the payments then first become due bib. It the said party of the first part shall fail or neglect to pay any of said instalments, or any part thereof, as they respeciiveiy become due, then the said party of the second part may sell such slocks, as will pay the same, for the best price they will bring, such sale to be made in New York or Philadelphia, on : credit of ninety days with approved se curity, and after thirty days notice, but the said paity of the first part may direct the kind of stock which shall first be of fered lor sale, but it said slocks cannot be sold without a greater sacrifice than twelve and a haM per cent., then by giving further security to trie extent ol the value of the sum neg !ftct?J to be paid, the payment of the same shall be postponed for the term of one year beyond the time therein specified, and if at that time the said stocks cannot be sold without a greater sacrifice than twenty-five per cent., than by giving further security as aforesaid, the paymont of said instalment or in stalments, shall be postponed for the fur ther period of one year. 7ih. 1 he said party of the first part shall have the liberty within one year and a half to return any of the said sterling bonds, or other sterling bonds of said State of equal value, which shall be credited equally on said instalments 8th. Whenever money can be raised on the bonds of the said party, payable in five years or longer to be endorsed by the said party of the second patt, the same may be demanded in such sums as shall be convenient, and expressing the said guarantee, and if the State of Indiana shall authorize the same, then the said parties may proceed to raise the whole balance due for which the guaran tee herein shall continue in the hands of said party of the second part, until the whole is finally paid. 9th. Whenever, by part payment, the liability of the party of the first part to the party of the second part si all be diminished, a part of the securities herein specified shall be given up to the full extent of the instalments paid, and if at any time it shall be ascertained that the security herein has become insufficient, such further security may be asked and shall be given as shall be satisfactory and just. 10th. The said party of the first part shall pay alt the interest that may accrue on eaid sterling bonds, or any part thereof on which payment shall not have been made, but whenever any of said bonds are fully paid for, then the State of Iudiana shall pay the interest from the time of such payment, Utb. Whenever the parly of the first

part, can sell any of said lots in Jersey Citv. either for Cash, nr fnr aprnriti

valuable as the lots themselves, then said party of the second part, will release the lien of said mortgage, on receiving the consideration for which such lots v mav have bceu in good faith sold either on part payment, or substituted security, as the case may be. 12th. The expenses of executing the securities, and of council to examine the same if necessary, shall be paid by said Morris Canal and Banking Company. E. R. BIDDLE, President of the Morris and Canal Banking Company. SAMUEL MERRILL, President of the Slate Bank of Indiana. WM. A. EliLfcllfcY, JAMES KAY, Witness. SU33TAICCE OF Til!. Speech ot Mr. Judah, of Knox, in the House of Representatives, Dec. U 1S3.I, 0)1 I he. bill for the v cliff of couM M I f -mm - iraciors, ana in reply to Mr. SJnos Lane, of Dearborn. After Mr. JUDAH'S speech of the 18th, Mr. LANE replied to him ti e commute of the whole rose, renorten1 i ' t - - progress, and the House refused it leave ! tn sit -j.Tin flu tUa IOiK ,l, Kill up in the order of the day, and Mr. JUDAH again submitted his amendment. Mr. JUDAH said, that in renewing his proposition made on Wednesday in committee, he was influenced by more than one motive. On Wednesday the gentleman from Dearborn had attempted a reply but precisely such a reply as would serve to determine him to persevere in the development of the falsity of the charge made, that the Whigs of Indiana were responsible for the system and its consequences, now by all parties admitted to be unlortunate. ir. opeatver, Atir. judah said, on yes terday it was my part to show conclusive ly, that up to the consummation of the second great step, the passage of thesur ! vey bill, system did not belong to either party in particular; hut that if either party, 'r the great men of either party, had any right to claim the paternity of the bank and of the system, the Loco Focos had the best right. In reply to this the gentleman from Dearborn, (Mr. Lancvwas driven to confess that he had voted for Rny against Blackford, beca.ise, as he said, Blackford was the aristocratic candi date; but that gentleman neither admitted nor denied my view of the action of parties on the origin and rise of our system. No, sir; party policy forbid the one, and decency forbid the other. The legislature whicli passed the sys tern bill, met on the 7th Dec. 1835. The House contained seventy-six members, and divided on national politics, forty Whigs and thirty-six administration men: Milton Stapp was the Whig candidate for Speaker, and received thirtv-three votes; but the administration men united on another Whig, Ualeb L. Smith, who received thirty-nine votes, and whose election was claimed as a Loco Foco vie tory. tne wno. e country at that lime was apparently most prosperous. Its com merce, stimulated by the action of the Goldbill, and by the increase of bank capital, was most active, r rom Septem ber. 1835 to March, 1830, thj prices of ledin,qr arti -lcs f produce in the New York market ranged as follows: Flour from five dollars eighty-seven and a half cents to seven do'lars twenty five cents per barrel; and pork from fourteen dol lars twenty-hve cents to 5ixieen dollars twenty-five cents perbarrel. The amount of Slate stocks, which has now accumuated to near one hundred and eighty millions of dollars was then only about seventy five million. In his message of that year, Gov. No ble did recommend the adoption of a system of improvement; and that on the ground, that public policy, public interest, and pnblic sentiment, required a liberal expenditure for the improvement of the condition of the State and of the people. But, sir, he expressly limits the recom mendation to an expenditure of not more than ten millions, and as expressly states the necessity of a suitable provision for the payment of interest. His language is clear and explicit I will not, however, withhold the opinion that vou mav safely expend the amount of ten millions without calling on the present or future generations for the payment of any portion of the principal. under the process ot taxation. Uut to sustain an enterprise ol such magnitude, suitable provision should be made for the paymentof the interest on the capital, one million of which will be needed the first year, and about an equal sum annualv until the whole work shall ba finished." On Tuesday, the 14th January, 1830. the svstem bill was put on its passage in the House of Representatives. That bill provided a Board ef Internal Improvement of nine members, and adopted the representative principle- by the following provision in its first section: 'The Governor, in making the nominations as above provided, shall, in addition to the qualifications for the discharge of the duties of the office, have regard to the local situation of the nominee, so

that each work may be represented in said Board by a suitable person residing ai near as practicable thereto That bill passed the House, journal 232, by the vote of fifty-six ayes against 18 noes. Thirty-three Whigs and twentythree Loco Focos voted in the affirmative, and six Whigs and twelve Loco Focos voted in the negative. The names of the twenty-three Loco Foeos who, by their vote, sanctioned the great cause of all our present state evils the third great step in the system of simultaneous commencement, prosecution, and completion the system bill of 1S3( are as follow?: Bardwell, Boone, Brown, Chambers, Chamberlain, Craig of Posey, Cushman, Davis, Dunning, Johnson, Lee of Bartholomew, Lee of Montgomery, Miller, Moore, Myers, afterwards a Van Burea elector, Storm, Strain, Fempleton, Thompson of Johnson. Vandevcer

Jt'att, Whitman, and IVillett. If these men, sir, if only twenty of them, had united with the eighteen negative votes, they would have proved a ma jority and the bill would have been lost. And why, Mr. Speaker, did these twentythree Loco Focos, two-thirds of that parly in the House, vote for the bill of 1 830? Did thesemen approve the prinples of the bill, or sir, were they bought up by the Whigs? Were these men acting honestly or dishonestly? You, sir. and the gentleman from Dearborn, and the present Loco Foco party, may choose which horn of the dilemma you please for your purpose. I am willing to admit nay, 1 sincerely believe, and cheerfully admit that ths whole fifty-six Whigs and Loco Focos, all approved of the principles of the bill, as well as sanctioned its details, and that honestly. Twelve Loco Focos voted against the bill Mesrs. Cirr, Cole, Eggleston, Graham, Howard, Howell, Huckleberry, Jackson, Nave, Phelps, and Tom Smith, of Ripley, because their own local interests were not consulted; and at the proper timn I will show tht such of them as were in the legislature the next year voted for an ex tension of the system. Let us now turn to the progress of the measure in the Senate. In that body parties stood, hlteen Whigs, hlieen administration men, and one gentleman. George Burton Thompson, whose posi tion seem not to have been exactly defined. But the Administration leader was the most talented, and learned, and experienced man in the Senate. I mean, sir, James W hitromb, now commissioner of the General Land Office. Gov. Wallace then presided in the Senate as Lieutenant Governor. He had entered the Legislature in 1827 as the representative of Franklin, and had then acted in favor of the Wabash and Erie canal, from that time he continued to be the consistent friei.d of Stale Internal Improvements, and so too were those who opposed him in the character of Adminis tration candida'es for the office of Lieut. Governor. But although Gov. Wallace then advocated Internal Improvements. he well knew the necessity for prudence and caution in limiung the extent of the undertaking; and in the appointment of the committee on Canals and Internal Improvements, at this session, so clearly showed his views a tobiing down upon iimself a reprimatid from the Senate, in the way of a reform oi the committee. - It seems, from the Senate Journal, page 25, that Mr. Wallace appointed that com mittee with a view to three works only: The abash improvements, the White Water canal, and the Madison road. Tho committee consisted ot ClarK, Loliett, Sigler. Read, Boon, Shaw, Hamilton, and Colerick, eight Senators, all interested in the improvement of the abash river, and in the Wabash and Erie canal; of Moigan, Bell, Caldwell. Elliott, and Conu ell, five Senators, all interested in the White Water canal; and of Mr. 1 1 1119, representing the Madison claims. On the 11th day of December, journal 79, on motion of Mr. Stewart, the Leo Foco Senator from Pike and Gibson, Geo. B. Thompson, was'added to the commitee, and, on motion of Mr. Thompson, Mr. Casey, the Loco Foco Senator from Posey, was also added. And immediately, on motion of Mr. Morgan, Mr. Brady, of Marion, another Loco Foco, is added. On the 10th Dec. the following seven Loco Focos Whitcomb, Griffith, Tannehill. Fowler, Hacket, Daily, and Puett, with the following four Whigs, Dumont. Payne, Chambers and Plurnmer, were added, and the committee consisted of twenty-eight members, all the Senators but three, Messrs. Aker, Mastin, and Stewart. Afterwards, on the 2d of January, by a vote of the Senate, journal 380, this committee was abolished. and the President of the Senate was directed to constitute a committee on Canals and Internal Improvements, of fourteen Senators, two from each congressional district. Accordingly, on the 4th of January, Jounal 395, Mr. Wallace appointed the committee Messrs, Clark and Read, Sigler and Shaw, Casey and Payne, Hillis and Hack elt, Mtmgan and tonweu. ueu ana Whitcomb, and Colerick and Elliott. To this committee the bill of the House was committed, and was reported back with some amendments, journal 4.io, most of which were concurred in. For the purpose of strengthening my position, that the support as well as the opposition