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 IMERS S,- MECIUNICS, LOOK AT TIllS. ^\Q) 
 
 PICTURES OF THE TIMES; 
 
 OR, 
 
 A CONTRAST BETWEEN THE 
 
 EFFECTS OF THE TRUE DEMOCRATIC SY 
 
 AS DISPLAYED UNDER 
 
 rSTEM, \ 
 
 JEFFERSON, MADISON AND JACKSON 
 IN FORMER TIMES, 
 
 AND THK 
 
 EFFECTS OF THE ARISTOCRATIC SUBTREASURY 
 
 SYSTEM, 
 
 AS DISPLAYED IN MARTIN VAN BUREN'S TIME. 
 
 ' Look hare, up<>n thi* picture, and on ibis."— IIaklct. 
 
 PIllLADEr-PHlA: 
 CROOME, MEIGNELLE AND MINOT. 
 
 1840. 
 
 \ 
 
M 
 
 PICTURE SECOND. 
 
 GOOD TIMES IN THE COUNTRY. 
 
 AS nisri.AYF.n T'\nF.n tfie or,D prMornAXir system to which 
 'iiii: t'or.NTiJV owKs ITS ior.mi;r rK'()sri:niTV. 
 
 Herf is nnothpr picture of thr cffpols of thr system which provailrd under 
 formtr ndiiMiiistralions of the (j'^ncral povrrnmrnt, before the ai^overnmenl had 
 declared anil put in praetieo their ahominahle and pernicious doctrines. See 
 the country sniilinir under the culture of active, happy and well rewarded induB' 
 try. The farint-r's hou^e is neat and in yood repiiir, his fields are well fenced; 
 he has a numerous company of workmen in his employ, 'I'hey are reajiing the 
 nohle harvest of grain and conveying it into his spacious barns. He has not Uie 
 trouble of carryinjj it to market, for the merchant, by means of a well arranged 
 and wisely conducted system is enabled to purchase his whole crop of prain on 
 the farm, and be p.iys tin; farmer for it in bills of specie paying banks, the old 
 fashioned and wholesome currency of the country, the natural minlium of ex- 
 change of the United Slates of America, before! the humbusf of gold currency 
 was put forth by desipninji politicians to deceive the people. 
 
 This picture is but one of a thousHnd which miirlit hav(> been drawn from tho 
 life, in any part of our country, hut a tew short years since. Every country 
 town and villajje presented the same appearance of prosperity and content. In 
 our manufacturinji districts, too, the same activity anil happiness were apparent. 
 All were employed; all wi re will paid. The currency of the country was so 
 perfectly regulated that every commodity had its true exchan|Teable v.ilne. 'l'h( 
 merchant in the northern city could sell his troods to a citizen of the extreme. 
 south or west, and take his pay in a draft on New Orleans or St. Louis, with- 
 out the loss of one cent by the transaction. The merchant from tbe east could 
 purchase pork or wheat in (Cincinnati, and p7\y for it in a draft on Hoston w^iib- 
 out any loss or inconvenience. In consequence of these arranjrements facili- 
 tatin<j exchanges, whatever was produced or manufactured in one part of tho 
 country and wanted in another part, however remote, was sure of a sale at its 
 full value. Our internal comm«'rce was immense, and the commodities of the 
 various parts of our country were all saleable at full prices. 
 
8 GOOD TIMES IN THE COUNTRY. 
 
 » 
 
 This system, an unrighteous and corrupt government, for its own evil pur- 
 poses, has destroyed. What is the consequence'? The exchanges of the coun- 
 try are thrown into complete confusion. The products of one part of the country 
 cannot be sold in another part on account of the ruinous rate of exchange, 
 wliich would occasion a heavy loss to the seller. Consequently, the wheat, 
 the pork, the corn, and a thousand other products of agricultural industry re- 
 main at home, unsold, or are sacrificed at the most ruinous rates. 
 
 The enemies of the old democratic system tell us, that paper currency is un- 
 sound and is constantly exposing the people to loss by the bursting up of banks. 
 They promised, as true friends of the people, to furnish a specie currency suf- 
 ficient for all the purposes of business and liable to no fluctuations. They told 
 us that the funds of the country were unsafe in the banks and should be placed 
 in the hands of government officers; and they promised by so doing to save 
 money to the people. 
 
 How have they redeemed their promises? Instead of bank bills always re- 
 deemable in specie for large payments and abundance of specie for small pay- 
 ments, which every man among us knows we always enjoyed in former 
 times, what have the government given usl Bank bills of suspended banks 
 and cart loads of vile shin plasters! Treasury notes payable one year 
 AFTER DATE, to pay the debts of the government, while they demand specie for 
 all government dues, even down to the postage of a letter! Instead of full prices 
 for labor, and for all the products of the farm, the loom, the handsaw and the 
 mallet, what have the government given us] Such ruinously low prices for 
 labor and all its products, that the farmer cannot pay his rent, nor the manufac- 
 turer his workmen, nor the mechanic his journeymen. Consequently, thou- 
 sands are thrown out of employ, and ruin and dismay stalk over the land. All 
 are terryr struck, and well they may be. Unless this administration shall 
 speedily be hurled from the seat of power by an indignant people, they will 
 have rivetied witli the iron mallet of military despotism the chains which they 
 liave forged in the l)urning ruins of the credit system!! 
 
 How have the government redeemed their promise of saving the people's mo- 
 ney by taking it out of the keeping of the banks, and putting it into the hands 
 of sul) treasurers'? Instead of the finances of the country being so safely kept, 
 and its disbursements so carefully checked that not a dollar was lost for a long 
 term of years; we have now sub treasurers, like Swartwout and Price, 
 cheating the |)eople out of mil. ions at a dash and running off to London and 
 Paris, to spend the money earned by the hardy yt-omanry of the United States. 
 Instead of husbanding the people's money carefully, and economising in ihe 
 government ex|)enses, they have squandered the money with the most reck- 
 less profusion. EIGHTY THOUSAND DOLLARS have recently been 
 squandered on the President's house alone for French frippery, which a succes- 
 sor of George VVasliingtoii ought to be ashamed to have in his house. The 
 yearly national expendiiure f)r thesupport of the government has been trebled, 
 and this without including the millions scpiandered on favorite contractors du- 
 ring the Florida war. Extravagance and reckless profusion are the order of the 
 «lay at the scat of government, and in the palaces of the office holders in our 
 great cities, while want and misery are depressinir and destroying the people. 
 Thus have the government redeemed their promises. 
 
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16 HARD TIMES IN THE COUNTRY. 
 
 ominous advertisements of •' Sheriff's Sale!" "Sheriff's Sale!" " She- 
 kifk's Sale." Farms, plantMions, houses, stores, mills, ships, furiihure, stock 
 of farms, stock in trade — all are sacrificed — because people are unable to obtain 
 the usual facilities of business, and the usual wholesome prices of produce. 
 Til -'nds upon thousands of once happy and respectable families are reduced 
 to utter ruin. Who can tell the number of broken hearts — who can tell the 
 number of desolated firesides, which have resulted from the destructive mea- 
 sures of our cruel and unprincipled rulers? 
 
 F'or all these thintrs, fellow citizens, tiikkb is a remkdv. Foreijjners have 
 wondered — l\ave held up their han<is in amazement, thai a free and iiitellijjftnl 
 people could bear so many oppressions from a government of their own creation. 
 Uut we have borne them, fellow citizen?, because we knew that the remedy was 
 in our own hands. We have borne them, hitherto, because we knew that, at 
 the comintT election, we could make a chan<re for the better. As a people we 
 are now resolved that we will make that chanjie. The time has come for mak- 
 ing the change. The man is selected who shall be our next president and shall 
 restore the good old times. The people have already recognised in lUe faith- 
 ful public nerriinl if jxist liinen, l/te elii^ib'c public nfrviint f-r (he fnlure. They 
 have named him with arrhuuation. The loud and deep shouts of vast multi- 
 tudes, from the battle grounds of Tippecanoe, of Fort Meigs, and of the Ihames 
 are already resounding in our ears, with enthusiastic accliiiui, that 
 
 "WILLIAM HKMIY HAIiUISON IS Till-: MAN!!" 
 
 And the shouts of other thousands, yea, of millions from every part of the 
 union echo the cheerl'iil response. 
 
 "AYE, WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON IS THE MAN!!" 
 
 He shall restore the constitution and the laws to their wonted supremacy. He 
 shall arrest the mad sehemes of destructives and experiment makers. He shall 
 restore the treasury of the Uniti-.d States to the keeping of congress from whose 
 custody it has been wrested by corruption, intrigue aiul intimidation. He shall 
 bring back the prosperity which has been driven from our borders. He shall 
 make the heart of the desolate leap for joy. He shall restore the cheerful hum 
 of industry to the farm, the workshop, ttie ship-yard and the wharf. He has 
 shown his abilities in the field and in the council chamber. He has proved 
 himself the friend of tlw poor and induslrious man. He has exhibited the most 
 unquestionable proofs of fidelity, disinterestedness and integrity in every public 
 trust. He has Irad millions ot the public money pass through his hands, and 
 those hands are still unsuiled by any corrupt gains. He is still a poor man. 
 He sympatliises with the sufferings of the oppressed sons of industry through- 
 out our land. He will bring them relief. We will not permit our.'^elves to 
 doubt that the sutfrages of a free people will shortly place him at the bead ol* 
 affairs; that he will soon be on his triumphal journey to the capitol, and that 
 when he is on his way, "the ear that hears him shall bless him, the eye that 
 sees him shall bear witness to him, and every tongue shall exclaim 
 
 LONG LIFE TO THE HERO OF TIPPECANOE!" 
 
LIBRARY 0L2SS 
 
 PICTURE FOURTH. 
 
 HARD TIMES IN THE COUNTRY. 
 
 AS DISPLAYED IN VARIOUS PARTS OF TKR UNITED STATES UNDER 
 THE PRESENT ARISTOCRATIC SUB TREASURY SYSTEM. 
 
 This picture is a perfect contrast to that of " Good Times in the Country." — 
 Instead of finding a ready sale for his produce at fair prices, which enable him 
 to meet all his engagements, pay his taxes, rent, and workmen, and lay up some- 
 thing snug at the end of the year, the farmer finds the prices of his produce sud- 
 denly depressed so much, that he cannot raise money enough to make, as the 
 old saying is, both ends meet. " No credit! No credit!" is the cry. Pay the 
 money down, or the sheriff will seize your stock and furniture. The indebted 
 man turns to his neighbors for help. But they are suffering in the same way. 
 The sheriff, sure enough, comes. The farmer's hay, his grain, his horses, his 
 cattle, his very household furniture all are seized and sold under the hammer! 
 See the unfortunate man surrounded by his hardy sons, who have laboured just 
 as hard to produce the last crop at half price, as tiiey ever labored for a crop 
 which under the good old credit system produced a full price. But they have 
 toiled in vain. The mad experiments of the government on the currency, have 
 nearly destroyed that currency. Money is scarcer than it ever was since the 
 adoption of the Federal Constitution. Prices of labor and produce are so low, 
 that the farmer who owes for land, stock or rent, at the old rates is necessarily 
 ruined. All he has, goes under the hammer. He sees tiie very articles which 
 were purchased for the price of a day's or a week's hard work, sold for a six- 
 pence. The household furniture which his family has used so long as to become 
 attached to it like an old friend, is sacrificed for a mere song. All goes "at one 
 fell swoop;" and he wanders forth from his homestead a ruined and desolate 
 man. His family is scattered, his wife is broken hearted; and he is compelled 
 once more to begin the world, at a lime of life, when, but for the wicked and 
 unprincipled conduct of his government, he would have been enjoying the fruits 
 of a life of toil, in an old age of peace and competency. - 
 
 This is no imaginary picture. Whole states in the union can attest its truth. 
 Let any one step into a reading room or printing office, and look at the papers 
 from all parts of the Union. He will find whole columns filled with those 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 011 895 485 3 
 
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