Vevay Times and Switzerland County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 26, Vevay, Switzerland County, 28 May 1840 — Page 1

JtJVD SWITZERLAND COUNTY DEMOCRAT ' 1 - -■ / ■ ■ ' ’ ' ■ I ' ' : ■

BY ISAAC STEVENS.

“THE SENTINEL ON THE WATCH-TOWER OF LIBERTY.”!

AT 89 PER ANNUM.

VEVAV, INDIANA, TIIUBSPAY, MAY 2&

' VOLUME rr.

NUMBER 26.

Published every Thursday Moruinc,

1 not . probably coon occur. I al?o elated that it would thus become .their interest, as it already was that of the reel of the community, to prevent the accumulation of such a sqrplus, In referring to the blessings which would flowto the laboring man from the existence of a sound mixed currency, whose basis should be gold and silver, I expressly declared that the bill would exercise no great ioflucDcein producing this desirable result.

tallic currency, I believed that it would exercise bin a slight influence in restraining the excesses of the banking system. Other and much more efficient remedies must be adopted by Ilia Stales to restrain these excesses, and thus to prevent future suspensions. In my remarks, I staled distinctly what.legislation would, 1 thought, bo required to accomplish this purpose. In the first place, I observed that the banks ought to bk compelled to keep in their vaults a certain fair proportion of specie compared with, their circulation and deposited or, in other Words,-a certain proportion of immediate specieJneans, to meet their immediate responsibilities. "5d. That tbc foundation of a specie basis for ouV 'paper currency should be laid by prohibiting the circulation of bank notes, at tbo first under the denomination of ten, and'after ihat under that of twenty dollars/ fid. That the amounf of bank dividends should be limited. '4th. And above all, that- upon the occrinencepf another suspension, llio doora of tho banka should bo closed at onco, and their atfairsistiould be- placed in the hands of commissioners. A certainty that such must be the inevitable effect of a riot her Suspension, would do more to prevcnt-il than ony othcr course. To reform and not to destroy ;w as my avowed motto/ I know that tho existence of banka-and the circulation of bank paper, are so identified with the habits of mif-people thal. they tannot be'abolished, even if tbia-uere desirable, • Such a reform in the banking system as 1 have indicated, would benefit every class of $octcty.— but above all others ihe man who makes Ins Hying by the sweat of Iris hrowif The object At which 1 aimed by those reforms-was ridi.a'.piiro metallic currency, but a' currency of a mixed character; the paper poitionof.it always coni venible into gold and silver, and subject .to : as, tittle fluctuation in amount as tlic.regular business of the country vvotrld admit. Of all reforms, Ibis is what the mechanic and the laboring man ought most'tu desire. It would produce steady prices and steady employment, and under its influence, the country would march's lead) ty oil in its career of prosperity, without suffering - froth the ruinous expansions nt}d contractions and explosions, which we have endured during the last twenty years. What is the most essential to the prosperity of tho mechanic and laboring man! Consiant employment .steady and fair wpges, with uniform prices for the neaessaries and, comforts of life which be 'purchases, arid payment fur his labor in a sound currency. . Let us in these particulars compare "tie condition of tho’.la boring man undef ;1io banking system which now exists, wilh what ; be under such reform as 1 ‘have indicates. And lint, in regard to constant employment. What* is the effect of the present system of bank expansions and contractions:and- rpvulaipns, in; this particular! Is' it not absolutely certain, has oof experience demonstrated, that under such aAys-; (cm, constant.employment is rendered impossible! Ills true •that,, tluring.the' short period whilst the bubble is exp arid iiigiArid thfr banks are incseasing their loans arid tticfr issues, labor of every kind finds employment—thou; buildings of all sorts arc erected, manufactories iaja patablisbed, and the carpenter and’tlio muon arid other mechanics, are in, demand—public works are prosecuted and afford employment to an immense number.of laborers. The- tradesman of every description then finds customers, because, the amount of paper in circulation prbducea & delusive appearance of prosperity and promotes" a spirit of extravagance. But, sir, under thia’ajislem, the storm is eme to succeed the sunshipe—the explosion is certain to follow thp expansion; and when it comes, and we arp now suffering under >t, what is then thri condition of the mechanic and the laboring man! Buildingd -of every kind cease, manufactories arc closed, public works arc suspended, and the laboring classes are thrown out of employment altogether., It is enough to make one’s heart bleed to reflect upon limit eatleririgs, particularly in our large chies, during tbb past winter. Iri many instances tbo question with them was not wlial amount of wages they ctfnld earn, but whether they could procure any employment which wouliL eavo them and;iheir famillpH Horn starvation. If our State Legislatures, Jwbich alone possess. the power, .would but regulate our bloated credit system wisely by retraining the banks within sale limits, our country then bo permitted to proceed with regular strides, and tbe laboring tuna would suffer none of these evile, because he would receive cons taut employment, la the second place,, what is the effect of t,he present system upon th6 wages of labor, and upon the prices of the necessaries and coniform of life! It ca.nnot be denied that dial, country is the most prosperous where labor commands the greatest reward; but this is not forayearmerefy —not for that short period of time when our bloated credit system is most expanded—but for a succession of years; for all lime. Permanence in the rate of-wages is indispensable to the prosperity of the laboring man. Ho ouugl to bo able to look forward with confidence to-llio future, to calculate upon being able to rear and educate bis family by the sweat of his brow, and to make them useful and respectable citizens, in this respect, what is tbo condition of tho laboring man under our present system! Whilst he suffers more under it than any other member of society, lie derives from it the fewest advantages. It is a principle of political economy confirmed by experience, "tbit whilst the paper currency is expanding, the price of every thing else increases more rapidly than the wages of labor.— They are the last to rise with the expansion, and.the first to fall with tho contraction of the currency. The price of a day’ 9 or <*f 1 month’s labor of any kind—tho pricj of a hat, a pair of bools, of a podud of leather, of all articles of furniture, in short, of manual and mechanical . labor generally, is fixed and known to the whole community. The purchaser complains . when these fixed prices.are enhanced, jtnd the* mechanic or laborer, in order to retain his cus- 1 tomete, cannot and does not raise his price un- , til he is compelled to.do it by absolute necessity. ; His meat, Ins {flour, his. potatoes, clothing for himself and his family, amount to do extravagant

price long before hia compensation is increased. It was formerly^supposed that the productions of meat and flour , were so vast iri our extended and highly favored land, that a monopoly of them would bo impossible.. Tho experience of the last two or three years has proved U.e contrary. The banks,' instead of giving credit in -■unall sums to honest men, 1 who would have deed the money wisely, in promoting their own welfare and as a necessary consequence, that of tho community, have loaned it to monopolists, to enable them to raise the price of the necessaries of life toAlte consumer. Have we .riot tear held that a million of dollars has been ad vanced by them" to .an individual,-for the purpose of enabling him to . monopolize the sale of all.the beef consumed in our Maatern cities!; Do we not all koow.lhat this eflbrt. proved successful'during tbs lost year m raising the price nf this necessary of life to"twelve and sixteen cents, and'eveh higher, per pound. .Now, sir, although' the wkges of tho laboring ma*i\ were then nominally higli,wbat was his condition! , lie could notaf--ford to go imo tbc market and purebise beef for his family,. If his wagap increased with, tho increasing expansion of our credit system, aggravated in'its effeefs by the immense Bales of State bonds jriKu rope, still the prices of- all the necessaries of life rose ini a greater proportion, and be was not bene fitted! I might mention, also! the vast monopoly of pork produced by a (Combination of individuals' ex tend jrigfrom'Boston to Hmcinnkti, which,;by means of bank facilities, Euccecded in raising the price of that necessary of life to an, enormous pitch. What then did.’tlie laborer gain, overi at the lime of the greatest'expansion! Nothing—lincrolly noththing, ' The laborers" were a -suffering-clas4, even in tho midst of all .this'delusive prosperty. Instead ol being able to lay.by Any thing for the present day of pdversily, I which Was a necessary coniequeri'ea of the system, the taborerwas even" then' scarcely Able! to maintain 'hintself and' Iris-family,.'Ilia condition' lias' been terrible.during the past! winter. In view of these facts, I daid:.. •! . *• All-otherxitcumslancca being’equal, I agree with the Senator from [Kentucky, that .that country is most prosperous where - labor;commands the highest wages. I do not,.however, mean, by the terms ‘highest- wages Hie greatest nominal amount/. Durhig|t!io,revolutionary-war one days vyoik a hundred dollars of continental paper; ohi tins.Would bave'sunrcely purchased-al breakfait. The jpbro 'proper cxptessibri would bo,."to eajr that tliaV country, js most prosperous - where | labor commands/Oie greatest reward; where one day’t labor will pro-, cure, W. the! greatest nominal imoiini of. adcpreetdted currency; but most of the necessaries aridyoniforlsj of life. "If, ’therefore,'you should, income degree,Ted tied the noriiinal price'paid for labor; by educing-tbejamount of your bank issues vyithin reasonable and Bafodimits,‘aiid oFtahfishirig a nieulllc basts (of your paper efreutatiriri; frould this Injure the laborer! * Ceriainly not; because ihe price of all thA "riccesnnos.'and. comforts of life are reduced in the Eatnri proportion;; and he jw i| I be able to pu rcliase. more of them for*one dollar in a, sound-plate of-,th licurrency, than he ..ebrild ItavodUne, iri lhe days of extravagant expansion, for a dbllarand a quarter."So far from injuring, iT will greatly benefit the laboring $iati. v It will invure to hjnvconstant employment and regular .priccs, piid in a shffnd'cu rrericy, ’ which of all llungiJie oughl triost io'deEirdj-and'il Will involved ihruiriby a recurrencebf iqal expansions and contractions bf/lheiclirpen-' cy, hitlier|o con ciwojtfyV ' ■ Now,' sir my meaning clearly expressed iri this paragraph!' 1 contended that it'would not injure, but! greatly benefit the laboring inan, to prevent thri violent and ruinous expansions andcontraclipne to which our currency was incident; and by judicious bank reform- to place it on a If this were done .wji.ai would be the consequence! That,* if the laboring rifati could ‘not recei ve as great ' a' rioriiirial. amount for his labor; as .he did in the. days 'of extravagant expanEiou, whtch \must« always, under our present system. be'.of fborl he would be ihdeainified, and far more than indemnified, by jibe constant employment, the regular wages, tnd (be uniform and morri mode-, rate prices of/the necessary -comforts-'-of-.life,, wjttch a morejsiable currency would produce.— Can this, proposition be controverted. I think* not. Ms too plain for argument’, ‘Mark me, I sir,' desire to produce this happy*result, not by establishing a puro mcialiri currency; by reducing the amount of your bank jesues wiifiiu reasonable and .saf* limits,'; and,establishing a metallic basis for your paper circulation.” The.. idea plainly exprersed is, that it is better, much better, for the laboring man, as well as for every other-class df society, except' (be Speculator, that tbe busiriess of ihe countryebonld be placed upon* that fixed and permament foundation which would be laid by establishing such a'bank reform as would render it certain that bank notes should- be always convertible, intd'gold and sil-

S.X’ayment of wages in a sound currency.— Under the present unrestricted banking system this i£ entirely; oht of the question. Nothing can ever produce this effect except the absolute prohibition- of-the issue of small notes. As long as bank notes exist of denominations so low. as to rentier'll possible to make them the' medium of payment Tor a day’s laborer a week’s lalrtJr, so Ipng will the laboring man bo compel* led to accept the very worst of'these notes for bis wages. : Unless it may bo at periods of the highest expansion, when.tabor is the .very great* cet notes of doubtful credit will always be forced upofi biin. This was emphatically the case dfter. the explosion" of the banks in 1837, Ua cotlld tlien procure nothing*far his work but the miserable shlnpiaster durreney- with which - the country; was inundate.);'* This he would not Uy by for a rainy day, because he did not Show at what, moment it might become altogether worthless bn his hands. . The effect of it was to desitjoy ally habl is'T(r economy. Besides ns & das I, laborers suffer more from counter foil and hr ok bn bank nutc£ thin tiny other class of society. ■ In orderito afford the laborer the necessary protection against these evils, he ought ought a!-' ways tp bo paid, and would, from necessity, always be in. go!d?ftnd diver/if the issue and cirCHlaiiUiwjtsmdJ'iioics were entirely pro--liibited. 1

Comer of Ferry ond Market tlrccU, Ftrcy, Indiana.

Pei tea*, paid in advance ■ - • §2 00. Paid within six months, - - - - - 2 50. Ifnot paid until the year expires, - ‘BOO. No subscriber will be taken Tor a less term than six months, and in all such cases the subscription money will he required iri advance. ■ ‘ Subscribers not rcsiding in (he county, will be required to pay in advance. No paper will be discontinued until all arrearages are paid, unless at the option of the editor.

TERMS:

Again, in speaking of the effect which lids measure would produce in reducing the amount of our imports—a consummation devoutly desired by all—what was my argument! That the bill would, in tome degree, especially after June, 1B42, diminish our imports; because' we shoo'd then have a system of cash duties,-which would operate as an encouragement to our domestic manufactures. -

POLITICAL.

J REMARKS' Of MR. BUCHANAN, OF PEKXSTI.VASIA.

One of the great objects of my speech was in answer the objections which had been urged against the Independent Treasury bill, by proving that it would not injuriously influence the business of the country in the manner which had been pfedicted by its enemies; and especially iliat it would produce little or no effect upon the sound'and solvent banks of the,country. I thought I bad succeeded. It certainly never entered into my conception, that any person oh (ho face of the earth*couhj so far have mistaken my meaning as to attribuicrto me argutnenta in favor of the .bill, as directly opposed Ho t|i 0 ae which I urged, as darkness is to light.. You may judge then, Mr. President, of.roy astonishment, when, in the very second paragraph of the speech.of the Senator from Massachusetts, I read the following sentence: “The Senator from Mississippi [Mr. Walker] with his usual acknowledged ability, and 'the, distinguished Senator from Pennsylvania [Mr. Buchanan] following in his track, have advanced the propositions that the embarrassments and distress with which the country has been greviousiy afflicted for several years past, and.which now paralyze all its- are imputable ,ln the pernicioua influence of bank*paper, that,this bill [the Independent Treasury bill] cbntaihi the necettary porredive, as it \Bill check importations of foreign goods, suppress tehat they call the,credit system , ami by restoring a specie currency, reduce the wages of labor and the value of property. This is the character given to Ih$ measure by Us friends: and alarming as the dachinet are, I am gratified that they are frankly avowed.** Now, sir, I openly declare, in the face of the Senate and the world, not only that no such doctrines were avowed by mo, but that thepc remarks oftbc Senator arc palpable, 1 will not say intentional misrepresentations both of the letter and spirit of my speech. What! sir, to attribute, to me the remark Hhat this bill, by applying the necessary corrective tJ the pcrnjpjous influence of bank paper, “and by thus restoring a specie currency,” will produce the disastrous consequences which he has enumerated; when a considerable portion of my argument was devoted to prove that the bill would produce no injurious ell'cct whatever upon the sound and solvent banks of the country! Nay, more, that it would exert but a trifling influence indeed, if any, even in withstraining within safe limits their loans and issues. Now, sir, it may he very ingenious, but it is certainly not very fair to put into the mouth of a friend of the bill, a> arguments in its favor, the strongest objections which have been urged against it by its enemies. These would be so many admissions of its fatal consequences, and they would be the stronger when converted into arguments in its favor by one of its friends. Against the whold current of tny remarks—against my express and reiterated declarations, both upon this and former occasions, that I wal no friend to an exclusive metallic currency, but was in favor of well regulated State banks, how could tho Senator be so far mistaken as to sit down and deliberately write that 1 had urged in favor of this bill, lhat it would restore a specie currency, and thereby reduce the wages of labor and the value of properly! I leave for him to answer tho question according to hia own sense of justice towards a brother Senator who had never done him. harm. ; But the Senator does nut stop here. Throughout his whole speech he imputea lo me the use of such arguments in favor of the bill as 1 have stated, and dwells upon them at length—arguments which, if I had ever used, would prove conclusively that I was an enemy of the bill which I professed to advocate, and that scarcely even in disguise. This is the light in which he 'presents me before the world. Towdtds the’conclusion of bis speech, he caps the climax. He says: “To follow out the case I have supposed: The income of every man, except the exporter, ie to bo reduced one half, in the value of wages and property, while all foreign merchandize will cost the same, which will obviously, in effect, double the price, os U will take twice the amount of the products of labor, to purchase it. “I do not ascribe this power to the bill, bufit is enough for me that its friends do. What response /will tho farmers, mechanics, manufactures, and laborers, make to such a flagitious proposition!" And alb this the Senator says in a professed reply to mfc. He thus charges mewith having ascribed to the Independent Treasury bill the power of reducing the income of every man in the country “one-half in the value of wages and property." Had I contended in favor of any inch power, well might the Senator have said it was a “flagitious proposition." He. would almost hive been Justified in the use of a term so h&rsh'and unparliamentary. Self-respect, as well as the respect which I owe to the Senate, restrains me from giving such a contradiction to this allegation as it deserves. It would surcly.net be deemed improper, however, in roe, if I were to turn to the Senator, and apply the epithet which he himself bat applied to tbs proposition he impuiesto mb, and were to declare that such an imputation was & “flagitious" misrepresentation of roy remarks. So far from imagining that the Independent Treasury bill would restore to country a me-

in the Senate of the United States,'March 3d, 104O_lOn the speech of Mr. Davis of Massa-

chusetts, against the Independent Treasury uni; .

Sia. President:— I riso to perform a painful but which (owe to myself. The speech which I lately delivered in favor of the Independent Treasury bill, has been made the subject of criticism and censure in another part of this Capitol, under what rule or order I confess I Cannot comprehend.* In tome portions of the country, at public meetings and in the public press, I have been denounced as the enemy of the laboring roan, and have been charged with a desire to reduce hie wages, and depress his condition to that of .the degraded serfs of European despotism. Sentiments have been atlributed to me, which I never uttered, and which my soul abhors.. I repeat, what I declared in that speech, that if I could*, believe for a moment thatihe Independent Treasury bill wruld prove injurious to the laboring man, it should meet my •unqualified opposition. ■ ' 1 bod intended to embrace the first opportunity which presented-of doing myself justice upon dhis subject. Business called me away, and 1 was* absent whilst the Senator from Kentucky :[Mr. Crittenden] addressed the'Senate on the resolutions now before it. 1 understood that be Jiad reference to the wages of labor, in no offensive term to mejhowever; but in such a manneras to have presented the opportunity which 1 so much desired. When the Senator from .New York [Mr. Tallraadgej afterwards* alluded to the satoe subject, the debate had assumed a

Thus, it \viU be perceived, thit without U10 . Imposition of wholesome restrictions upon the banks, the laboring man can never expect tore* ccive either constant employment, or steady and fair wages, paid in a sound currency, or to pay uniform prices for necessaries and comforts of life, which' lie is obliged to purchase,'"-.Under our present system every thing is in a slate of constant Uuctuation ondchatige. Prices are high to-day, low m-morrow. Labor is in demand to day, there is uo employment to-morrow. There ts no stability* no 'uniformity, under our present system. Of all men, laborers are the most interested in such a wise regulation of tbo banking system; by the states, as would prevent the violent expansions and contractions in the currency, and the consequent suspensions'of dpecie payments under which tve h&vo been sufterms-,.. ■ - Why, sir, under our present system we endure the evils.; both of an exclusive hard money currency and a bloated paper system, without experiencing the benefits of either. The one is the* inevitable consequence of the other. At the present mbmoni we hqvo readied a point of depression in the currency which the Senator' from South Carolina JMr. Calhoun] considers as {ow, orjo.wor, ihau 1 hard muucy attindard.— Here wo are, without credit, because no man, for"; the prosecution of hi* necessary business, can procure a loan from the banks. . They are now in that state of exhaustion which is the inevitable consequence of their former highly excited action." The case which Senators suppose might, exist, - should we suddenly adopt a hardrtnoiiey currency, exists already.- It is new fact* and not.fancy. The man who purchased a property hut one year ago, in the days of tbo highest expansion, for two. thousand dollars', apd paid half the. purchase money upon it, could atthte inotmml of it far the remaining one thousand dollars. This is on* of-the greatest evils .of our ever system, but such things'must recur and retoVAgain forever, unless someeiBctent remedy shall bd applied.. ■ -. . . -. . • ■ llut,lhb'Senator from "Massachusetts hu appealed to the ballot.bpxin thc most solemn; maniier r as ihe'means M freeing the country front the which- ho .says 1 have admitted Von Id llow front the passage of theIndependent Treasu ry .bill. *■ 1 unit<£ with him most freely In this appeal.-; His’ JesVoftho result in his own Siatbis probably, the best’oxcusc he could make the for manner in which ho.lias treated my speeph. Tbe niorniiig is- not. merely dawning upon old Massachusetts;' but a' beau tiful and brifliant Aurora is now'fchedding ilfcr light upon it, and giv. ing promtloofaybr ighi and glorious day.* 'We luurff it least ait’eq ual chance with the friends of the carrying Massachusetts,; ■ , ilr. AVe&stgr. As good a chance as of carrying’Pooniylvauiar " * ■. , ■ V Mr. li. sini: bclore 1 take my seal I-shall answer this question; but at present I sm speaking of the Senator’s State, -l.will not eolutely to -predict .success to the cause ofHHe Administration-in Massachusetts at tbs'next election,"although my hopes arc high. Year aftir year the cause of correct principles has been gradually advancing in thai-ancient and renowned commonwealth;" and such a revolution ia ■public opinion never goes back ward. Tho Senator appeals io the pulls, and expects !that the!laboring men of the country will come, tothcrcecuc. In this 1 venture to predict he' will te mistaken. lie will find it to be a Her-, qulancait task to persuade the laboring man thaf the party with which ho is identified is friondly ( to him and to his interests. What have we heretofore witiiesced in the Senate! When the pre-emption bill was before this body, the Sena-, lor from Maryland [Mr. Merrick] attempted to deprive the poor man wbjo had fled frohrthe oppression of Europe toscck a home in the far West from enjoying its benefits unless he were, a naturalized citizen. His proposed amendment was sustained by distinguished Whig members in debate; but was voted down by the frienda of the Administration. Again, sir, what,party is it which, with some honorable and distinguished I exceptions, has always opposed these prqleijjplion' laws!' Is not the poor man who goes into the wilderness, settles upon the public lands, erects himself a cabin ana expects to maintain and rear bis family by the labor of his hands, entitled to our protection! To permit him to purchase his quarter section of land on which he has settled, at the minimum price, in preference to alt others, is but sheer justice .to , him, and'experience has proved that it diminishes the receipts of the Government huttwo or three cents per acre. Which is the party that has ever opposed this equitable and just principle; 1(md by tbo course which it has pursued has afforded tho speculator an op--

,par*onal character, and I was not the man to

antstfere against him in such a contest. He had said.nothing which could excite any disposition ■onmy pftrtto pursue such a course. Bail 1 t.blamed the floor at any .time during ■theipasi week, my explanation would have been

fflhort and simple. The means, and tho only .means, by which !' was alleged; lint I had ■Bought to reduce the wages of labor to flic mnd1 -ard- of the hard mpncy_ despot is ms of Europe, was, by the introduction of an ’exclusive metallic ►currency into thecduptry. Sow, to sucli a radical -change m our currency, 1 have ever been • opposed. 1 have avowed my opposition repeatedly upon this floor and elsewhere; and never ►more distinctly than in my late speech in favor of 'the.IndependentTreasury. .My motto has always been to reform, not to destroy.the banks; •Md.I have endeavored to prove—with what sue- • ceesil must leave the public to judge—that such

-a radical reform in these institutions as would proven} violent expansions and contractions of .the currency, and th'ns enable them always to i redeem their notes in prove emiinentlj beneficial to ill classes of society, but tmore especially to the laboring man. ► Ua Saturday evening lost a message was sent

tm& byj a friend, requesting me to eximine the (published speech of the Senator from Massachusetts, [Mr. Davis,] and suggested that it contain..ed an erroneous statement of the arguments ■which 1 had used-in favor of the Independent Treasury bill. I examined his speech in the National Intelligencer, having never read it before, and I confessjt struck me with the utmost .astonishment. I found that, throughout, ho had

[attributed to me arguments.in favor of the bill •which I never used; nay more, that the. objections, to the bill, which 1 had endeavored to

■combat, had been imputed to me as arguments which 1 urged in its favor. I shall proceed to make some remarks upon bis speech. In performing this duty it is my sola purpose to justify myself, without feeling the .slightest disposition to do him injury. In my remarks 1 urged the passage of the In- ‘ dependent Treasury Dili, because it would separate the banks from the Government, and would reader the money of ihe people always secure, .and always ready to promote their prosperity in peace and to defend them in war. Great as sre the advantages, direct and incidental, which the country will derive from the passage o( this bill, I knew that it could accomplish little or nothing, towards reforming our paper currency, or restraining the bank within safe limits. This opinion I haye declared upon alt occasions, and never more emphatically than in my late speech. • I slated that the additional demand for gold and .silver which it might create would not exceed five millions of-dollars per annum, according to the President’s estimate: and that although' this might compel the banks to keep more specie in their vaults in proportion »o their circulation and' 1 depoeitea, yet but that it would prove a very inadequate restraint upon excessive banking., NayJ .more; I plumed myself tfpon the fact that 1 had been the first to suggest the amendment requiring the holders of Treaeury drafts to present; them for payment to the depositaries with as little, delay as possible, for the express purpose of saving the banks from the injury which riiieht bo inflicted upon them by locking up a large surI plus’ of revenue in gold and silver in the vaults , of the depositaries. 'And I endeavored to provp, ,nol only by my own arguments, but by the aujI tbority of one of tho most distinguished financiers ,thdt this country has ever produced, that the . banks never could he injured by the adoption of *the Independent Treasury bill, unless in the f treat of a Urge soplus revenue, which would

ver* ■’ ■ • And yet this plain and simple exposition of my views' has been seized 'upon by those who desire to make political capital out of their perversion;'andu has been represented far and wide, that it was my desire to reduce- wages down to the prices received by the miserable serfs and laborers of European despmims, I shall most cheerfully leave the public to decide between me 1 and my traducers. . Tho Senator from Alnieacbtiseits, after having attributed to me the intention of reducing tho wages of labor to the hard money standard through the agdhcyof the Independent Treasury bill,.has added,as.an appendix to his speech, a statement made by tho Senator from Maryland,.[Mr. Merrick,] of the prices of labor in these hard money despotisms; 'and it is thus left to bo inferred that I am in favor of reductngMhe honest and independent laborer of this-glorious .and free country-: to the same degraded condition. Tho Senator oughlto know that more is la much intelligence among tho laboring classes of ibis highly- favored land to bo led astray by such roproaenlations,'