ANW

"M

 

RATION  

DELIVERED BEFORE THE

D

1i>1+1M(>cRATm CITIZENS

01? Tim

COUNTY OF WOI{CES'l‘£<1F2,

it

W0:mc1a::s'1'ER, JULY 4, 18:37.
1232' ROBER'P 1:m_NTouL,JR.
4, $EUON'D HDITIUIW.

W

é.MAA WORCESTER:'  ;-
V‘ 1>U13ALISfl>f4AED BY MIRIOK ac BARTLAETTA. i AA
   183”7.'        

““‘ 

S W'onc_ns:r1.r.n, JULY 4, 1837.
L in :——- l t
The Democratic citizens of Worcester County, assembled for the celebration of the
glorious 4th, elected the undersigned a Committee to request a copy of your able and
eloquent Oration delivered this day. VVe are happy to make this request, and hope
that an Oration so well adapted to the times, and calculated to effect so much good
will not be withheld from the public. : t
j Yours, with sentiments of
a Very great respect, t
‘ ISAAC DAVIS,
SAMUEL WARD, A
NATHANIEL WOOD.
To ROBERT RANTOUL, .Te., Esq. ‘

y VVORCESTER, JULW5, 1837." '
G'ENTLE1'~IEN :—-- ‘l

I have just received yourlvery flattering invitation to submit to the press the re- 

marks delivered by me yesterday. I place them at your disposal, though well aware
how far they fall short of a thorough discussion of the subject treated of.
‘ With the utmost respect,
Very truly yours, “&tc.,

Messrs. ISAAC DAVIS, H V " Committee qf the
SAMUEL XVARD, . Democ'ratz'c ciitizens
NATHANIEL Woon, Esqrs., of Worcester‘ Co.

'5!

ROBERT RANTOUL, JR. ‘ A

®RATK®N.

'Ll.‘;tlti+:rtr. is no incident in the history of‘ rntu'xlr:int.l, except the advent of their
Ptecleetzlier, tliar. can rival in importance and interest tliiat which we have met
to cornrnerr1oi'ate. The capacity oi’ the people in any nation to govern them-
selves, however excellent might be their intellectual, moral and political
education, and under whatever fhtvornble cimttnnstances, was not merely
(‘:.t"-tll(-3d in question ; it was almost universally denied 2 it was only the theory
of’ a few sai'1gt1it1e speculators upon human perlcctibility, thinly scattered over
the world, until the Fourth of July seventeen hunclrecl and seventy-six. Since-
thttt. day it lies been a tiict, obvious, im;li:-tptitulilo, pcnetratting eveerywlicre,
dispelling by its rucliant clenrness that political liigotry, in \'t'l)l(:l'1 the millions
oi.’ our race had blindly sulirnitted to the fittt. oti :~trhitrory p(:;»wet' as to the
irresi.~stible. decree of litte. lt  the starof Hope nmzl Protnise. El1llgl'1iGfl(££i
hy its l:.)ezuns, the oppt~cs.~u.-<,l cli.-scorn the wcttlmess of" the tyrant. Tltey now
no lt')l;3ge1'1nu_¢5t, how their so:-vile necks heriontli the yoke of one of their
ii:~ll<.>ws, nt~::itlier stz'c>x'igt:r nor l'ic.tt.o.t' than '[l‘l£3lLt:a‘(3lV't;‘SZ r1t)long'e1' must the
many sow, fl‘1tl.i1tli;(”:i"€_~‘.V\'t1’lt1fiY ronp: no loriggcr ‘t‘Il11r‘:il'. rnyrinris toil, nntrl sin,
and t-'.ut*l"or, nod perisli, that one glorious nurne rnny till :1 page in liistory :
no l:l)z‘igr;et'sl'iall the husl)ztn<imztn and the t1I”ti‘."M.l.I"l, torn trottn their peaceful
iuhore to carry rlo.~solt=tt.ion zuul ch.-utli to the homes of those who have never
wz'ori.gc:(l them, he (lt'ttt§,!?t1f€3(.;.l,i hrutc victims to slaugl-‘iter, at the chariot:

wltoels of ti conqttot'o:'. ii‘rti:etloxr‘i §,l;'l.I€!.1'11I‘)l.LGOS g0V'et'1”llT]€3l"ltS in the interests cl"

those that are gr>vei't1e(:l, nrul intelligencze and virtue are now the on y qualiti-

«;-utimts r1<.~,c;4':.~2;:-m.t~y' tor the erijririyitircxit. of l'i‘e:e(l0tTl. ‘
iI‘l(l(?E[’)().I"I(‘ltttl(:(3 is procluii'n<-~.<:i, zuitl with the saound a notion starts into being,

not like her oltler si.~sters, held in il'll't).lti()m, but all her limbs unbound and

‘tree ; not like them, sloyy of growtli, and :§.tl"tet' U. tardy clcvelopmcnt, attaining

only to a (lWtll'l'i.“-lt tletiormity, ‘but like Miriervn, from the liead ot’ Jove, at
once mziture in \Vi:':3(i('>t‘t1, (‘.'.()tlt'tl§__,"(:?, (lignity, and powtrr,lrnoww'ir1g her i'ig;l1ts,
tuul fully nt'xriotl t.o maintain them ttgitittst every aggi'esstir, ttslting notliinglmit
wlittt ls t*i,gllit, :Bl.ll)tttit‘ilt"l_,g‘ to 1i<':>tliit"lig wrong--- equally rettcly to yinclicnte her
just cause, wliotlier iij31“il",t.ti!) pl'(‘)"(.)l(£'¢&3 her youthful e:nei'gies, or iltirtuicc delays:
to do her justice, or Algicte or Mexico insults her linrrly sous upon tltet
cieriiont which is their homo anrtl empire. Her‘ eutlclen eintrnnce on the
theatre of notion ciillizingtgotl ossorttiully the positions and relations or‘ all the
other x1nt.ioris of’ the wot'lt.l. Tl'tt'.: uutum out" this Clltlllgtib, the extent to which
it has etlreuriy t'£?€jt(.:i"t(’T:(‘l, tmrl must proccerl herettt'ter, the tnomeritous conse-
quences tlmt springg; t'rom it, t’—Li‘li3(f'.tl1"l._t_2',' both govertinients and 4St1i')'jUC[S, to whet
pecutiztr t;ltH‘tgt”£'t'5s it ezrposee thurm ontl us, and how we rnuy ltugmt eecure and
improve the liloeeirngs ct’ our xncmt Fortunztte location and condition, are all

-fair topics of inquiry upon this hollowed anniversary. The field open for

rlisctmsion is Fertile and i!1(3Xl1tll.XStil)l£3. Many have entered it, and some with
sigma! and lasting benefit to their countrymen, but there its still rich room for
rn.o:'e. In viewof the vent variety of considerations which stiggest them-
stolves, and recollectingr the ability with which this occasion has been often
illustratecl, one is at nloss to choose the theme of a discourse addressed to
an audience like that before me. i V
The great experiment: of’ our Independence has been in its general results

even more succeesthli then the nicest sanguine would have dared to hope,  i
.A.llowin,g>:, For all t.holse deductions which truth and candor, and? justioie tot y
ottrsselV.c3 require to be made in the account, there still remains a long  
tinned career of rosperity, interrupted we mustconfess, by evils, which 

the most part, wisdom might have avoided or at lieaat mitigtlted, yetifai;;;_£i1t;r~:;i ‘ 

:2/‘S? _

‘£4
'pa‘s.-sung ..ie JESL estate of the most t"ortuna.e , ...,,.—;e .;.-;.. ~.:"»t;l' aJt:iOtIii up-
peared upon the face of the globe. The population of‘ this Union has just
reached its second duplication since the censsus of seventeen hundred and
ninety —-- being now about sixteen millions.'‘'* The population of our own
‘State is this year double what it was at the date of the declaration of‘ Inde--
pendence, while about a million and a half of the inhabitants of other States
are either enaigrants, or the children of” those who have emiggrated from Mas-
sachusetts since the opening of the Revolution. Not the pressine of want at
.home, but the cheap abundance of a richer soil in the West, tempted these
multitudes of our brethren to goout to people the prairie, and subdue the
wilderness. The wealth of‘ Massachusetts is probably ten times as great as
when the Revolution br-oke out ; some estimates would make it thirty times
as great ; bet it" ten times only, it givestto each family,upon an average of

‘the whole Commonwealth, five times the amount of comforts and conve-

niences of every kind, that they enjoyed before the Revolution. Those who
l}8.WB staid by the old homestead have done well then ; if those who have
~gone and are now going from among us i‘.lt1V'i-'3 done better, we desise to be
dcvoutly thanl<.t"ul for the benignant smiles of" a kind Providence on our hin-
t.i‘.'€(i and acquaintance. God speed them on their way, and watch over and

bless them in their selected abode, and may they carry with them, preecrvc,

and perpetuate to the end of time, ti'1l‘Ol.1gllOtlt the broadest and noblest valley
in the ‘.'l’u!'l(.i, the enterprisse, the perseverance, the intelligence, morality, and
religion, the gtisocl old primitive virtues of New England.

i1“"orrez‘t_§,', vwant, starvation, disease, misfortune, and crime are the checks of
populatio-n, and the atnazitltg rapidity of that progress whose measure I have
jus-.t given, a. ;['3l'C)gl'€lSS whereby the inhabitants of this inion must. exceed one
hundred 1'nill'ions within the life time of many who now hear me, proves more
conclusively than any labored ar,q,tument, bow seldom and to how small extent
these Cl’lt‘:.‘;Ci{S are pievaletitwithin our borders. Oh, knew we but our happi-
ness, of men the happiest we l Yet the ltappiiness we ierijrty, Vast in comparison
*witl1the most numerous portions of‘ our race, approaches not by an almost

‘equal clil’l"erence that happiness which Heaven has placed within our reach, if

wisely determining and boldly enecttting the policy and the measures nec.ee—-
sary to clevelope in the i1ig,‘l"1tE3.~‘-lt ‘perfection the greatest good of the grceateet
number. Etveri what we have, we hold by stitibranee, so long as we deserve
it, duly prize it, and guard it with that ‘perpetual t'igilance which is the price
‘that must be paid for the living spirit of our instiiltutions,_ without which their
empty tbrrn is Worthless. . 
Our ship of state navigates no'pacific,ocean ; she rides the -stormy billows
~of' liberty. Give her sea room enough, and she rides secure, and tlcties the
‘fury of embattled winds.--——-Hidden perile only can 8l)dt:1l'l'g"el' her eat”et"y.
'Trea.cherous insects have been at worl: in the unseen depths; slowly and
‘long have the coral reefs been rising ; if treason tal«tes'the helm a mornent,
~slieetrihes,.an<l all hope is lost. But the ever watcl'1l‘u1 eye of our expe-
rienced pilot, wise in counsel, resolute in action, sagacious amid clil’licult7ires,
and uneliahen by the terrors of the crisis, has already descried the course
through which her passage opens ; she leaves destrurttion behind, and goes

bounding on her ,c;lo_rious way, a home. of life and joy and conl*id‘enoe,‘

t'reightc=d with the welltare of a nation, and cheered b-y,the admiration bl" a world.‘
, In the midst of our heartfelt rejoicing, as not unaware of‘ the greatness of

our deliverance, let us look back and survey the hazard past. Let us survey

r*Popula.tion of the Unite-tli.States. in 1776, about 2,600,000. In 1790, 3,921,328. In 1830.:
],2,8.56,4(l7. iln183‘7,abou‘t15,'7'20,00lO. Population of Massaclmsettat, in 1776, 348,094..
In 1790. 375,787. In 1830,"6lllt),014. Tan 1837,about "l'()2,000. Property-of iilttsfincllfltteltfia
in 1776 estimated at eleven millions or dollars, but probably at least t:.irt.y millions, at . the

*present value of‘ money. In 1830, $$208,66(),-ILO7. Rvoasl valzte, in 1887, probably e.xGttedlngi_

three hundred millions ; perhaps four hundred mnilliona.

5
it calmly, yet f'aitlifu.lly, patiently and lll1t‘1)’l”OLlgl'1l_)’. VVl1e~ can tell how SO0i'2.:i,
we may find ourselves agztiii in the some jeopardy. 11' so, danger well..-
known is already half avoided. r «

According to American principles, all inenare born free and equal, although
in point opt fact, a. majority oi? nzztnltind live in slavery. The condition of‘
slavery is an abuse. By our Constitution, perfect freedom is a. natural, es-
sential, and unalienable rip__;l‘it‘. "Tile body politic is formed by a voluntary
association of individuals, covenanting together for their common good. The
just powers of government are cierived wholly from the consent of" the go-—
verned, all power residingo1'igirially in the people, and all n‘Jag'isti*atcs-ibeing
merely their accountable agents. The end of the institution, maintenance,
and administration of government-, is to secure the existence of the body
politic, to protect it, and to Furnish the individuals who compose it,,vvith the
power of‘ eiijoying, in safety, and tranquility, their natural rights andthe hles--
sings of life. It is not for the profit, honor, or private int.erest of any one
man, fatnily, or class of‘ men.

'.i‘he source of all the legitimate power that at government can possess is
the general will. 'I7’l"1e only lcgititnate object oi‘,{_;ove1‘nrnent is the general
welfare. The only lE2glll1‘l"1t1tGII]Ot1I)S, it can employ for this Ol”)ui'CCl'., are the
preservation of social order, and the protection ol‘ each individual in the en-
_joyment. of his litle, liberty, and property, according to etiaiidirig laws operating,»
equally upon all the citizzens. Such is the theory of the Constitution of’
lllilassacliusetts. It is the theory of a democratic governrrient, of’  s<3vct'ei,gn.
people ,g'o've1*tl1ing tliernselves. Its source, the-public will: its aim, the public
groorl: its means, the public order. Sucli also, thouglii rnuch more strictly.

limited,  the Constitution of the Federal Union. But; the Constitution oti’

Hurnari Nr.ttiii'c is the same under Arnerican, as under European or Asiatic
governments. r .

In the nature of mankind there exist the elements of tltree different parties.
which under every Vdemocratic governrnent must he e;i:pected to display tliern-
selves in very ditflhrent aspects, according to circumstances, their real charac-
tcr lining; often so ingeniously disguisecl,,,at least as to two of l‘»l'lt£<11], that without‘;
a lzirge shareof penetration and Sagacity, a dis.intcre.stod looltor on would not
at lirst detect it. These three parties consist respectively oi" those who desire
that the g<:>ve1'ili1"ricint should tmitcl towardsan t1x‘isl;oct‘n.c:y, of’ times who clesire
that it should continue to be purely tlernocratical, and r)l"tlit>su who clcsire that it

should tend towartls anarchy -—-- They may be severally donomiuatetl .;’Lristo~-i

crate, i)oi'nocrats, Anarcliists. .

In every community there will be men of‘ talents, “,0%1It“1£b‘aI(l(‘i (;9tlltI.t!‘gr_',¥‘, vrl'so:,,

when they devote their whole powers to the public p;r:>citl, will he iit.unlierc.t.l
tl.l”I'lC)l'lg the most e:tcel.lcnt andtestcetned ci,ti;r.ens ; and will vtlnjoy,precisely in
the proportion that they deserve-it, the confidence of’ the people. Brit it’ these
men are not under the restraint of moral principles, if they Feel no sense oi‘
public duty, but, give thernsel,ves up to thc~irnpulses oi‘ selfishness, lJeii‘1,g;cttpa..
hle oi‘ forri'1i_ng' and pUl'SSl1ll"lg' systematic plans of personal flg'gl“t'tT)iLllSt'.r’.::.l1';1*l3l;'ii’;,
under the guidance of’ their inordinate ambition, they will strive to press into

their service all themachinery of government and to make--t-hat» machinery 

effective as possible for their purposes. These men would monopolizerpower,
and share the benefits to be-reaped from the monopoly, e:.t:cliisiv'ely anions; their-

own order. As all’ governments anciently favored? accumulations b<>tlt..olf pro-...

perty and power, they hold fast both to ancient laws and usages, and tight
niantiully against the equalizing andlliberaliizing spirits of the age. They
deliglit-to call themselves Conservatives, but are in truth Retrogrades, for
they vlaitily attempt to carry back society to maxizns andla regime ,whicl1,h.a.r_aa
had thcio day and are gone foreveir. l l ‘  

6

The popular party includes both rich and poor, learned and unlearned, those
endowed with genius, and those unblessed by nature ; but its greatest
strength resides in what is often called the middling interest and especially in
the substantial yeomanry of the country, for they have seldom any interest
adverse to the common good of all. Democracy is the party of“ equal rights,
equal laws, equal privileges, universzil protection. Its founclation rests upon

eternal principles of equity and justice. Its creed is in the ordination of

Providence, the Constitution of Nature, and the wisdom of Revelation. it
has their common sanction, and tl'iet'efe1'e is not troubled with doubts or mis-
givings. lts policy is honesty, and its counselors are cornrnon sense and an
enlightened conscience. it has no.parti-alities. It neither plunders the rich,
nor oppresses the poor. It does not reserve its smiles for the thrtiirnite, nor
its frowns For the unl1a]p_‘y‘ ; nor does it look with envy on success or merit, or
pass by with cold i1idilTei'eiice the helpless and aluject, but its synipatlnios are
For all, wide as the world, and liberal as the sun. it rather -reveres those sa—
cred axioms of‘ lll1l‘t’ll.l‘i.E.1l.‘)l(.‘. i'iglit which our l.atliei's ernbodiecl in the Declaration
of .lndepe.n<ll<=-.nco, and in the articles pre.2t?i:<e<il to our Clonstitution, and whicli
forin the best inlieritance they have left us, than blindly follows thorn in any
errors of‘ their conduct wherein they forgot or violated those axioms. It ad»
mires and participates lar_g;ely in those hold efforts for irnprovernent which
cl1aracte1‘ize our times, but it is not blown about by every wind of doctrine.
It neither worsliips a venerable abuse becauseit is old, nor  carried away
with every wild project ot’ innovation because it is new. But it moves steadily
on in its beneticent course of‘ prudent, juclicious, well considered ref'ornn.
The anarcliists amritig us are so few in nutrnber, that they hardly cxist,‘as a.
political party, yet that there are individuals who hate the law ‘which protects
the. honest man,  very sliglit inspection of our jails and prisons will Sl.1il”lC£3
t;o convince us. There are men of ir:"e,gj,;Ltlz=ti' and uiig<)vei°nal)le passions, (:les—
perate and depraved, who would pull down all above them to their own niis-
eralilelevel, but we look upon tliem with wonder, and regard them rather as
monsters than as man. One of the first objects of good government is to

‘ control them, or course the more tiutliliilly the g('.')VG1'nIYl(3l1lZ perforrns this duty

the more violent will be their animosity against it. Hz-iving interests adverse
to the common interests of society, and only hoping to rise upon the downl'all
of the good, they are naturally desti-uctives--«the architects of ruin.

In those countries where lgriorance prevails among the niasses, the aristoc-
racy will govern, and the many will pay tribute to the Few. Such has loeen
the situation of almost the whole world, throu_.r_>;h its Whole history, with one
prominent exception in America, in the last half’ century.

In those countries where universal corruption and vice have penotrz~it4::l
every class ot‘ society, until the body politic is fully rile for destruction. the
anarchistsi may fora inonient seize upon the powers oil‘ ,cg,overnnrient, audien-
deavor to wield them for their own nefarious purposes. But such a condition
is convulsive and unnatural, and there is no instance in history where it has
continued beyond a very short period. '

In those countries where the great majority of the people are enlightened
and virtuous, inequalities both of property and power will be comparatively
trifling.’ There, and there only can the experiment of Self-—gOVerIlITl€Ilt be
suc.ce,ssfi.1l, because there the democratic party will vastly outnumber all other
parties put together. ~ t l r i i

The aristocrats believe, that “itis the part 0i'_W.'lSC'.lOl'Tl to found govern-
ment on property,” forthe good of the few. -——--The democrats believe that it

is both Wise and just to found government on the intelligence and virtue of‘ l

the whole population, for the grea-test good of the greatest nurnber. l The an-»

archists, setting aside wisdom and justice, would overturn the ‘foundations of

Q.

upon their dishonest propensities and wicked passions.

7

governirient, to rid theniselves of the_wholesoine restraints which it imposes

The aristocrats go For their order: the den'iocrii.ts, for the people: the anar-
chists, each one for himself. _ . M

The aristocrats would erect ii t'zi.bric_ like ii f'euda-~l castle, with e. few ciipaw
eious and splendid iipartiiients, but with rio_provision for the comfort of" the
family at large. ~ The deniocrats would repair and enlarge the building so as
to El.(3C0mI’I'l(.J(lZ1te, in the best possible iniiiiiier, all the inmates. The anarchists
would teiir down the house, for the sake of wlizit they might purloin while
\V£!.n(lBI‘lI'ig amid the ruins.

The aristocrats, or self‘-styled conservatives, are consolidationists. The
democrzits. or rei‘brrnei's, are COI’lSill;U.lZl0nj.t1,llStS. The anarchists, or destruc-
tives, are przictictil and tlioroiigli going nullfifiei's. . _

Of these last I am loath to speak. I would not willingly believe il’l?1tll.l’lEll't’3‘
can-be such a. party on this side of the Atliiiitic: but theevents of the last
eight years show too clearly that 'tV€.‘\lH;l.V(-3. among us determined and invete-—
“lie enemies of our laws, ot our Constitution, and of our glorious Union. ---
iks every inaui, who lizis iiiiostzite, or at good chziracter, or 8. p1~of;1iable ._i.;m...
ployment, or 11 farriily, or 3. friend, or ii ltiope ever to. possess any of these, or
a spziiili of true pn.triotisiri, or it seititpiieiit ot l1l.l.ll'n2l.!lll_y, has “a stake arid must
feel an interest in the preservation of our (3Sl21l.')llSli€5(l institutions, the rihsol

iite
destructgwgs iniist be so few in niirnber, arid so wool: in all the eleirieiii

 «:3 ll‘

g mm-at i1‘1i‘ll_10l1C0,lLl’ltl.lL we need not waste ii word or ii. tl'iouglit uponthein, iiriless

they were adopted into the rniilts €tl'lCl ernployed tinder the direction of those
who prot'"ess to he c:onservtitives,_hold bud men, with ambition gnawing; tit the
heart like the worm tli:i.t never (tires, and who iilinrslial the lietri:>gerieoi.is itoroes
of opposition with the tceliiig ol “ the first wl'iig,”“‘ better to i'eigii in }}_~-loll,
tlizin serve in Itieziveii. M N

 it coiiceivallilo, siiid Fislier Aiiies, that the owners of the corrimei'ei-al eiiil
moiiied wenltli of the iizitioi‘i,_will plot at revolution tliiet would rrinlte lti'tt3l"tl‘
lieggiirs as. well tit tri_'i.itoi's,i1 it slioiild iiiisciirr__v? in these eonviilsioiis oi“
the State property sliitts liziiiils. As well I'nl.gl'll‘. they siispect the iiiorcliniits «oi
ll. plot to ollipoiilr. up the eiitriiiioe of our hhzirbors, by siiiliing hullis, or tlizit the
irlirectors of‘ tl -3 several litiiilts lizid conlederiited to blow up the iiioiioy “u"fl.ij:.llI5~:
with ,g‘iiii;iriit'der. _ _ , _

Mr. .A.m€¢&3 gives his fi*ieiids more credit for wisdoiii them they (iC3?iir'0l'f§;l.
Naive we not seen :1 leader of our :ii'istiii_;~.rrt«:y pI‘ClCli1ll’I'llIIg that \'l’:';3 were iii tliii
midst of‘ ii revolntioii, iiiid tlll<')l,ll(:.:1" ,}i.istilyii“ig the profziiintion oi‘ the f:~zilibiit.l'i
by the tl<Z)(:l.l‘lI"t(3 that there are no .i':9.2Tl.l.)l)1,llJ‘l”l:‘:3- in revolutionarytimesr --— .l"l_:i;ve we
not seen those who owe t.heir politiczil (existeiiee to the Union, Cill.(:tll€1ll!'l,‘§3,' 
value of the Union; those wlio live by credit rnziliiiig war oir orodit by gottiiig
up 2’l.[.)E1.l’)iC; those whose coiiiiiierce onr iirivy Prifdecliia citleriiig the gr-ossest_
in.-"stilt to our niivy; Mnnuhiotiirers, who lioliove that the sliglitest redi:ii:tioii oi

the protective duties would be “ the death wiirrniit of the lIltlnl1lz”lCt!,lrlIl.g. r.er~;.- -

mbliqlnnents of New Erip;lzirii.l,” on the lJl‘lt'ii{ of‘ treason, because the protec-
mm. duties are not reduced, by colleicting; thoiri in bad pziper; I‘1’itI‘ml;tGrl’S of
flonrrret-H, who voted for lnivs which control tlie Executive, tlireziteniiipg iiistniit
..t ta. 5.5. . '  p“ I v p “P f ., V , A .  A , "“ pp ‘
rebellion if the Executive obeys those lii.ws. I here is no 1I'1l:ilil.lt!.l'.l(lIliK!O'0 til
siird for faction. , V , _ ,_ e i
Disepointed aristocmts have always been the principal f'ornei1ters oi trerisoii.
Lucius Ctitaliiie was one of the liigli.est aristocracy. He was liy,ne_tiire
greedy and prodigal, oovetous of what beloiiged to others, l:.i:visl'i of his own.

Of course his pecuniary situation was’ desperate. He was ii member nfithe i

imitional Senate, and had beeri_de_fea,.ted in his iiitentioii to be a €'r{flall(ll(lt1tef()1“
i 9 ‘Whigfligrn is the negiitieii of till principle. The Devil wzis the first whig. i Dr. J"o.’i.riscz2.,
 p as .,

8

the office of chief magistrate, but at the time of the ‘conspiracy he. wa,s,deter-.

mined to be nominated again, though he had got into a small mitiprity. in the
Senate, He harrangued his accomplices, and “ when he perceivettl, sill, 1,;,h,g§___,-‘t
spirits elevated, he pressed them to take care of his interest at the n__.ext7 el,e_c~-
tion.’,’ He collected about him eleven other Senators, all the,specu-l,ators.,_agntd;
those who had pushed the credit system too far,‘ the young men, of quality,
and anarchists void of‘ every honest hope. Crassus, the. -Biddleof the clay,
was believed to be privy to the design, because he hated‘ the old hero who
then ‘defended the constitution, and besides, he hoped'if the. conspiracy suc-
ceeded, with the immense funds under his control, to govet-n,the conspirators.
Cataline pretended that he had undertalszen, the cause of‘ the oppressed’, and
his followers maintained that he was a defender of the constitution. ~

The Catalines of all ages are alike. The Duke of Orleans employed Dan-—
ton, just as our aristocratslwvonld have employed our anarchists, hoping" to
cheer them on and call them off" as easily as ‘a hunter does his hounds.

A coalition of the partisans of arbitrary government and of the enemies.. of“

sociarl order is not unnaturgal. Extremes often meet, and in the present case,

they are drawn, together by a, common interest, to aggrandize and enrich.

themselves from the plunder of the masses. This isnot only the plan, but
the practice, and to a very considerableldegree the. successful practice of
both members of’ the existing coalition”.--Those who aim to introduce a
strong government, desireto make use of its powers, as the aristocra,cy,of all old
nations have done, to direct to their own reservoirs those innumerable, minute
streams of‘ wealth, which, under the equalizing influence of freedom, diffuse
a general fertility over the whole surface of society. Those. who would pull
down all established institutions, and violate the right of property,can be only
actuated by the hope of appropriating to themselves fragments of wvreclt,
more valuable to them than their present interest in the fabric,_ Though
these ulterior designs may never be realized, and inytheir full extent never can
be without a, revoluticri more terrible than any yet recorded in- history, still it
will be the part of wisdomtounders-tand precisely how Far the coalition have
advanced towards the end, they have in view. Tlieperilousprogress towards
consolidation was indeed, appalling, and the firmest, friends of their country
had begun to apprehend, that it was irresistible, wyhigen it encountered an ob-t
stacle which neither force nor craft could 1'ennove, n.,,or seduction, intrigue, or
intimidation overcome. The old, Roman vigor, incorruptible integrity, and
austere probity of" Andrew Jaclrson, sternly rejecting the immense accession
of Errccutive influence and patronage which‘ an infatu.ated opposition never
ceased for a moment to urge upon him, turned back the current of federal en-
croachment, and restored, before it was too late, the violated c0nnstit‘uti0n to its
original purity. During his career as chief magistrate‘, the.vv;orld beheld for
the first time tl1e,a,stonishin,g spectacle, niliicli, unless._human.n_ature be wholly
regenerated it will seldom witness again, of an administration, which volunta-.
rily, and in defiance of the bitterestoppositi_on, in defiance of" repoaches,
threats, and maledictions, dirnini:-shed its own revenue; lightened, by refusing
inconie oiiered and almost forced into its hands,,_‘ the burthens oft-he people;
out oti‘ and cast fi‘On‘1 it the strongest’ means of infl:u,e»t1ce; lessened the number
ofits powers; narrowed the limits of its act_ion;, and not-onlyrestrained;itself‘
from corruption, and abuses, to which its enemies invited it, but removed to
the utmost of‘*its capacity, the possibility of abtises and, corruption her,eat'ter.
The overthrow and ruin of that administration were confidently predicted if it
should dare persist to follow the selfldenyingi path of duty. Truly formidable
was the combination of learning, and talent, and wealth, and weight of aus-
thority enlisted-' against it; fearful was the conflict, and doubtful for awhile
seemed the issue. But the Hero who filled, the post of danger; hadadopted

9

the maxim of Metellus, whom, in unhending fortitude and unblemished virtue,
he most resembled. “ If it were a.-lways safe to do right, who would ever do
tvrorig? It is the partiof good mento do that which is ri,o;l'it, even when least.
for their: safety.” ' He was ready therefore to take the responsibility of
tnltillingtlie oath he had sworn, of‘ maintaining the Constitution of his country,
and of seeing that her lawsshoiuld be faithfully executed. --——AndrewJacl<son
had rnadean experiment some years before at New Orleans. He had tried,
arid knew the effect of a well directed energy in scattering the solid columns
of British veterans, ofiicered by choice scions of British nobility. He was
not tlnsrefore to be driven from his purpose by the most determined onset of"
wliate\te1* array of British principles, British precedents, and Britisliinterests,
the. whole British party in these United States could niarshal against him.
He proceeded steadily in the work of Reform. Glod speed the right, was the
fervent; prayer of every true hearted patriot, every honest statesman, every
wise philantliropist in the world. That prayer was accepted. The enemies
of‘ our Liberty rushed upon him in mad fury, to hurl him from his station.
Like the unclouded sum._rn.it of a lofty mountain, agaiiist whose base the storms
spend their vain rage,_l1e stood, unshaken, above the whirlwind of passions
that threatened the overthrow of‘ our social institutions. Where now  his
assailants? i Shall I say, a Vilaterloo defeat awaited them? Our langtiage
furnishes an expression somewhat more emphatical. A New Orleans defeat
annihilated thorn. Nullification is nullified. The British Bank is bankrupt.
The British system of restriction is abandoned. Unconstitutional taxation is
d,isavovved._ Massacliusetts cannot be assessed to tunnel the Allegltianies.
Tire traitors who deserted’. the cause of their country in the hour of’ her peril
have sunlr. into congenia»_l oblivion. The tenant of the throne of" Napoleon
has rcdr-essed the wrongs of his predecessor. The last remnant of the system
of consolidation has disappeared, and: rieitlier from cliscc>nt<;*.r1t and division at
home, nor tlirougli aggression tijorn abroad, can any opportunity now be antio-
ipatedto restore its l1ated,s.Wa.y. The consolidationists are cornpletely consol-
idated, “ if‘ to crush he t0.consolidate.” The l1ulllfl.C!‘S have lolded up that
tattered banner which bore for its nnotto that “ miserable interrogatory---
VVl1at is all this wo1m?”‘--—-- antllthe. northern and the southern Whigs, alike
disoornlitted, despair of seizing; the g:.ov.ernrnent and wielding it for‘ their own
purposes; orofoverthrowing it, by anorganizecl rebellion, to rule overtlze ruins.
But tlicirrgli both rnern.be1's of this l1t'llT_t_Oly alliance must have surrenderecl
long; trg<'i their hopes ot" car‘ryin;;r their plans directly and openly into eli'ect,
yet, by the control of the moniorl, power of the country they have reaped and
are still 1‘oa.piri,«g; tnrrch oi‘ the ativ'ar1ta.g;e. they ]“l“llg'l'lt lfravo expected from a
vit.tory titer“ the g,‘(.‘)‘V5‘«?l;'!“ll'XlQ?Illl. r.l‘l)(,)l;l,gl'"1 in :1 rninority, they were strong enouggli
to [I)1'(tV(.’«I1tr'l§.;lllCtI‘t3tT.ll.lC‘.li‘t)1'l of’ l;llF.:‘,;1_'=t3\/'ti3l5}l.lt£3 to the wants ol'th._e §H;t,‘t.?)‘V«t-.‘l'Iiltl’l(‘.‘IllT; thoug;h
the retluctions wliioh have been made with the coricurrence of the administra---
tion, and which itlwislmatl to carry liartlier, rernovcrtl ‘ll”C>TI”l the shoulders oil’ the
people tastes to the amount of’ at least one hunclrwnd and thirty millions of dol-
lars, since the year eigliteett. hundred and thirty. The wl‘iigs contrived to.
prevent, a sufl’ic:i€:nt rt::tlt1ction,_ip order to accumulate in the 'I‘reas.ury enough,

of the peoples nioney to constitute splendid bribes /to the States; in hopes, j
by the offer of so much plunder, to ptlrcl)E1S<:3_'V01‘(:%S at the elections..ot’eig-liteen

hundred and tl‘1irty~si:t._. ]‘.'Ift,_Vl.Dgil3l',0l1gi'l1t about by their niarrtxeum-es.., the de-.
posit act, a measure of which. they boast aattlieiri own Work, they liave been
sadly disappointed in_.pocItet-ing the spoils..; tlianks. to the denroo1'at.iTc spirit-
which prevailsamong the yeum‘anry.«of t.he.la,rrd', €2V€E,§I1..l’t€iIft’3,l;1,Wl”1lg‘ Ma~ssach;a--
setts. ~ When the thrmer puts his “~ huge. new upon‘»t,lt:e statute book,” itis to
do equal justice to all, ‘notgto parcel out riches to/lfhvcirites. ..But though the-
public; treasure did notreaoh the destination,in’tended .l‘o’r it by the pij.o_i_etcto.i_s,,

t

l0 .
of the distribution, it fully answered‘ their expectations in another point of
view: it deranged incurably the circulation and business of the country. In
August, eighteen hundred and thirty—three, the. ’ public deposits in the United
States ‘Bani: amounted to about seven millions and six hundred thousand dol—-
lars: in December, ofthe same year, they were diminished to about five millions
one hundred thousand dollars.*"*" During part of‘ the intermediate timethe pa-
rnount wasincreasinginstead of’ diminishing. ‘What was withheld was depos»

‘ ited in other banks, in the same cities, where it was loaned on quite as liberal

terms, to say the least. Yet every Whig statesman in the country is pledged
to the opinion that this removal of less than two and a half millions, in more-
than four months, by an operation carefully conducted, from one sicleof the
street to the other, was sufiicient to convulse the whole commerce of the na-
tion, to bankrupt tens of thousands and to overwhelm in one common ruin the
industry and enterprise of these United States. It will be recollected that it
was in August that the Great Bani»: began to contract, and in December that
those terrible panic or-ations were fnlminated from the capitol, to spread deso-—
lation through the land, as if panic could break down credit, and if the anni-—
hilation of credit could be as disasterous as they proclaimed the gentle touch
it had received had been already; If those gentlemen believed their repeat-
ed declarations, and if they were not idiots, they must have intended, when
they voted for the distribution _bill, to produce calamities ten fold greater than
those they attributed to the removal of the deposites. —-—- The distribution bill
removed eighteen millions of dollars from the United States Treasury, in
about three months —--not a half million in a month, and gradually, across the
street, but nine millions in little more than one month, and nine millions more
at once, on the first day of April,~n1ucl1 of it to be carried thousands of miles
from the points at which the necessities of business had collected and required
it. Nine millions more have just been called for on the first instant, and the
same sum is to be again abstracted from the channels of business on the first of
Oct. next. If there was a man in Congress who believed the tithe of the
panic doctrines promulgated there three years and a halt‘ ago, he must have
anticipated with perfect certainty that this violent operation would effect the
last great xvliig exploit, the suspension of specie paymenos. Those who <le-
nouncedthe removal of the deposits as ‘fraught with ruin, and yet afterwarcls

, advocated the policy of distribution, should inform us whether they wish to be

re,ge11‘ded as hypocritical in their professions in the first instance, or, in the
latter case dishonest in their conduct.

The suspension ofspecie payments liaving been naturally brought about by the
paper money party, by their unprecedented overbanking and consequent specu-—
lation, having been precipitated by their favorite measure the distribution,
having been reccomrnended by them long betbre it happened, justified by them
ever since, and prolitable to them while it lasts, is the appropriate consumrna-

tion ofthe wliig policy upon the subject of the currency. By a currency of‘

irredeernablepaper the many are made toipay tribute to the few. The aris-

tocracy, who in all countries desire to enrich themselves out of“ the taxes of’

the people, make it an engine of taxation.-——Anarchists, whose aim is

. ‘plunder, through its instrumentality enjoy a rich harvest.

Our monopoly, paper money, bariking, system in its best estate, when free
from derangement, and enjoying undoubted credit, imposes heavy taxes on
the people. The expenses of carrying on the whole complicated machinery
fall ultimately upon the consumer ofthe goods which are bought and sold by
the borrowers from the banks. As the consumer in the country has to pay in-
terest on the capital invested in these goods for a much longer time than the

3‘ Public moneys in the Bank of the United States in the latter‘ half of the year 1833.

July, 6,5l.1,,503,32 September, 9,18:?.,.'l’?'8,‘l_8 Ncmmber, 8,4'36,305,69, .
August, . 7,599,931,317 October, a 9,868,-435,58 ‘December, 5,lG2,260,63

il l

consumer in the citygae the poor man, buyingiin smaller quantities, pays a
much larger advance on the first cost, and consequently on the interest which
rnaltee a part ofthe cost, then the rich man who buys in larger quantities, this
tax, as well as all other taxes levied on consumption, falls more nearly an
equal impositionv ofso much a head on the whole population, than in any other
proportion. The rent ofland and buildings, loss‘, and repairs upon them, cost
ofliills, salaries ofthe various otlicers, presidents, cashiers, tellers, Ci€I‘l{t~l,
and rnesengers, fees of'notaries on protested notee,~f'ees of attorneys on suite
l)t'()ugl'1l., all these are paid, with interest on thernall, by the consumer. These
Cilttl'g8S in the aggregate must 'con2s'iderably exceed oneper cent. on the capi-
tal etnployetl. The capital stock of the banks in Massachueett.-3 is about forty
millions. For the expenses ofthese banks, then, we, the people pay of our
earnings more than Four hundred thousand dollars perxanniini.

T/ta .Bcm7/cto:.i: to the State Treasury is drawn from the same source, and robs
us every year of four hundred thou.~3and dollars more. I shall be answered
that it defrays the expenses of the State? what then; ls itjust to flef‘R.avy“thOSe
0Xp€t’1S@S by a capitation tan: i’ Ought they not to be borne in the ratio ofprop-
erty? ‘ But the hank tax, just or unjust, even it‘ it cost the people nothing, has
been a curse to this corntnonwealth rather than a hlessincr. It has introduced
corruption into the State Grovernriient, augnient.ing its expenses more than
the whole amount received from the banks. In eighteen hunclred twenty—l‘our
a committee ot'hotl1 l”lt‘)uS€;‘-S of’ our Legisla.ture reported that the expenses of
the State were enoi'1nonsaly great and ought to be diminished. Ever sincethat
time they have been rapidly increasing. in eighteeri hundred and twe.nty—-fire
they amounted to less than two hundred tlioneand dollars, last year they ex-
rzeedetl  hundred tl'1ot'isttnd'! Tliis we owe to the hank tax, and to that tax
we owe the present unparalleled exteiaeion of our iianlting; system: the one per
cent. to lT)('3 normally paid to the State operatitag as a bribe whenever new char-—
ters: are zteltotl for.

The Bztrilr roceivoe interest not only on its capital, but also on that portion
of the tleliits it owes wl1iol.1 ierepreee1'1te(l by its circ:-ulc:.t'ion,. Tlie people are
tlins cornpelled to pay interest first on what they owe the Banks, and ecconti
on what the fi;5lzttiltss owe them. F<i>t* the use oftheir capital, it isright that they
elionld receive a thin‘ CC>l‘I‘l.[')(ll‘ié*3t1tiOI1, but the power ofputting their own debts
in circulation and receiving; intereet on thorn as long as they remain unpaid in

an exoltieive privilop;e oi'.the Banke, and a tax is thereby levied from the peo-r

pie. '.l.‘lne whole circulation of" the Banlta by the State returns last September

was about eleven millions. The interest accruing on this on banking, principles
exooetle Steven hundred tl‘1ousand dollars. ‘

'.i‘ho ‘I'I‘t0T&t“r‘17(Ll/'_1j wlticl1t.l1o Bonito enjoy i':tiane. the rate ofinteresst to those who
wieh to _el‘l‘h<_~.t loans; without rooonr:-so to iiaarilia, anti enables the favorites or‘
those institutions totake a.tlva.nt:ige ot'the etate oftlie rnarhcte, which others,

not eo l'arr>i'erl, cannot do. This monopoly in mtolonlitedly worth to the“Banlt-

era and their l'avoi'itee much rnore than double the profit they derive from their
oir<:.u-lation. Of‘ late years: it IS the principal object in est.al;ilisl'nng new I-lainhe.
It taxes the people more than fourteeri l"1l.ltH;'lt‘(’(i thousand dollars ayear. a

By the omnhinecl operation of‘ the Jfirinlting; syetem and the usury laws, it t

has hecoino very tltlictilt for any one not ltielottging to the party ofthe Baiikeie
to obtain money on loan except tl‘1I”()lJg'l1 the intervention ol'bro/rare. The pro-
tits: paid to lirokere tin‘ changing notes for l'.‘I”l.t';)I'lt‘}_)l',i"di$fl()lll'lt on nncurrentnotee,

cornrnission for negotiating lonns,'and the liigher rate ofintereet on money bor-— i
rowed bythern at or below the legal rate, and let again For extra interest, all at

these constitute another tax which the Banking System levies on mi. Who»-

ever considere for how small a part ofthe money let in this State the actual V
owner receives more than legal interest, while two and even threeper cent. t

12

-a month have been paid on large sums for a great part of last year, will not

pbeldisposed to doubt, especially if'he recollects that the revulsion in the men»-

. ey market returns regularly every three 02: il®.u.r years, that thistax fa!‘ exceeds

three times the profit ofthe circulation. It is t~heref'ore more than two mil-
lions, and one hundred thousand dollars.

Bills lost or accidentally destroyed are also a tax on the public. ‘When a
government calls in the metallic currency to be recoined and reissued, the de-
preciation by friction and clipping is a loss to the government. But when a
Bank calls in its notes, the whole amount of bills lost, or destroyed by wear
and tear, or accident, is so much clear gain to the Bank ; and not only so, but
on double the amount of every bill lost the Bank receives compound interest
from the day ofits loss down to. the close of its own existence. Thus for all
its bills lost in the year eighteen hundred and seventeen, the United States
Bank. has received e—ig.h.t times their value. How much the Banks abstract
from the public in this way cannot be known until the expiration oftheir char-
ters. The sum is no doubt large; but in, the absence oftixed data, I will make
no attempt to estimate it. \

So also C026-7Lle’r:f8'Iit notes are a tax on. the people, though not to the profit oi‘
the Banks, yet apart ofthe price we have to pay for the Banking System, a
loss falling almost exclusively on persons of sma._l.l property. They are not as
a class so good judges ofbills, and counterfeiting is mostly confined to small
bills. There are about two hundred, known editions tofcounterfeit bills of the
United States Bank, and about nine hundred ed.il>ii-ons of those of the local
Banks. Hiotv many of each edition ever passed into circulation we have no
means of determining, but evidently many niillions of dollars of it have been
manufactured,. and the loss whicl1f'all;s on honest and unsuspecting poverty
must be considera_b_le. It is nselesstgo attempt; to estimate it.

The loss by thefdilnres cifflalzltvs, vvhich always have, and always will occas-
ionally happen, isalso a tax on the community. By l\‘Ir. Gallatin’s tables
330 banks were inoperation in 1830, and 165 had failed before that date I We
boast ofthe superior prudence with which our banks are rnanagerl, and ofthe
safeguards which the_—."l._a,ws have established for the protection of the public.
The greater security ofour New England, banking system seems to be as well

settled as that there are f'ew.er steambatsblow up on Long Island Sound than

on the Mississippi River.  Yet the f'ail,ure ofthe F-armer-’s Excliange, Berk-
shire, Coos, Hillsborough,,Keene, Hallowell and Augusta, Wdscasset, Cas-
tiue, Belcliertown, Sutton, Nahant, and.-:Ol1elsea banks, all in New England,
and not to mentiori more, arequite en_ot1g«l'1 to demonstrate that such catastro--
phes are by nolmeansinipossible. It would be difficult to estimate the total
loss they l1a.;,ve occasioned. 0 .

These arevthe burrthens of legitimate paper money banking, inseparable
f'z'onfr, the system; and bel°o1'e~proceeding_,to eririrnerate the evils of'overbanlting,
let us add up these items which no one can deny must always exist wherever
banks, having the exclusive power to issue paper money, are to be found.
Let us look at the aggregate cost ofthese institutions, and judge whether they
are worth itiin any good welreceive from them. The accot1,r1t»,_ so far,,is ‘sta-
ted thus : Expense tax, 400,000 ;_~ State tax, 400,000 ; @irculation tax,
700,000; Mgotiopoly tax,‘ 1,400,000 ; Brokerage- tax, 22,100,000 ; In all,

$5,000,000 -—-.- besides lost bills, forged bills, and ‘bank Afailu.-r.es,._, not estin_oated,,

for which around sununiglit be justly ‘added. ,

These F1V'E.M_ILLlONS OF"DOLLARtS lane mos,tl,y the.«p.rod"uct of?
llsltd l3-l'>0l', 3115;: by t11eAlegerdermain,o£ paper; m-oneyi they: are transf'errcd to
the pockets of the note makers. Thus a tax. is levied on the inhabitants of
thi-,sC.ornlnonwealth of‘ alfout seven dollars ahead, or f'rom;-thirty-five to forty
dollar-s for each family. ‘What feudal ‘nobility every gathered‘ a. larger .t1*il;).ttl;.<.‘.\l.
tiara itataasals 8. it i ‘ l -

iv.)

1 here are one nunoret; and eighty thousand able uodied men in this State, .

the a.vera.,gre wages of’ whose labor cannot exceed two hundred and fifty dollars

_ V" - a c '
at year. lhat rate would give a total of forty-five rmlhons : so that the -man--
ufacturers of paper money and their t:1SrSOClt1t(-ES convert to their own use one

ninth part. of the wages of labor. Thisthey do without. rencleringany equiv- l

atom, for this whole tax is exclusive ofla fair interest onthe actual cap-ital
loaned.

A large majority of‘ those who earn the wages of labor are Ullfltbile to add to
them the wagges ol" skill, and very few receive the still higher wages of ma‘:-
chinery, yet all bear the burden arlike. Though persevering industry and
rigid econorn_y will enable 21 man living solely by the labor of his hands to no-
cuznrihttel something, even under such disadvantages, yet slow and hard rriust
hethe process, and it. is evident that many can never extricate. thernsaelves
trorn 21 hopeless poverty who might rise, were this weiglit removed ; and that
many who now attt-n.in a competence only when ‘old age is unfitting themto
ei'rj<‘)_v it, ti1i,gl’it hrw-e f'ound themselves -in easy c»ircui'nstances oi’ pecuniary in-
(.lti§pt:.I'lt’;l(°:tll(:f;‘:, in early manhood, if the {paper money tux had not . borne them
down. - A ‘ r

We are yet upon the thresholdl oi’ our ixitrestigatiion. We have examined the
eliiiots of’ our systern of banking in its ordinary and natural operation merely.
We ll:-tV(_*. not yet touched upon the elhrots of '()7Jt’.’l‘].'t(1.l'I./'i7?.i'IlI‘._f_,3'. We ha.ve, it is true,
seer: eii<"m;;li to give us some liiirit; concreption of the injury a paper CUl‘]’£.‘l')(3y in-
flicts on the <:.ommnnity, but its most odious and nlarrning L1l'1El.l'I1'<.'5te1'iSi.l(:‘= remain
to he exposed. We will develope to the View its calarnit.ies, its convulsions, its
(lgl‘2’ll'lt1IlllSl'I'l, its pai'nly7.i1ti;,r, <irr:solotin,g*, vvritliering iriflnence. Before we have
(:.or1olt,itl~ocl our irirl-nirios we shall he i5£t’l1ib%l‘it':(ltl'lattl’lG1“’e is no other evil in the land,
exrzept, Iiitextriporarrioe, that can he oomptrred for iimgnit.ii<ie with Paper Money:
there is no other otii.ise so l'ruiti'ul oitnisery, I‘-)€l¢‘]})F.?ri$:‘xl and crime.

'l‘lio l'll'.S5t (f'3!lii‘£:.‘*1’.":lL’()l‘ overl;xnril+:in,r_,r in wild .~'pr;r'z,rlrtzz"r'r)r'z..s~, the weight of which falls
its at tux on the (3(.Illl$-‘tslH"l'l(‘3l':‘:l of all ft.>i'<ii,g,rri an-rl rlornestic products. Banks, by is-—
snin<,_r paper, (:.henpen the cznrronoy, third of course raise prices: rising p1'ic.os
tempt more purr:.li1:ri.sers into the rnnrlret, and the cornpetitinri c>t'ptircliaee1's runs
up the prism-.o.~s still liigllrer. The l)i?l.l‘lls'.“:'-.-‘a iiirnish funds to the specnlat.ors., and en»-
nhle them to l'iri‘hfl on their p'l1l‘(3ll12il:'~‘("53E-.‘~, in order to profit hy the rise. 'l‘he en-
l'!tl.!'){,'»€t,3(l [l')l”i($t3t$"» tzilre er) much out oi" the pocket of’ the consumer, for which he re-
ooiversi no (.‘.(]tll 'nlerrt.. i .

In lttiitill, the hzinh; capital ofthe United fihntes was one nnrrnnnn AND ron.*rr—-
Irivn init.i.ioNs: in ltiliiti, it. lintl rieen to 'if‘,l‘{i.iil.l5iii'lE} l"IUNI)l{F}I.'.) AND SEVEN-

'1.‘ Y-ltilifii H71.‘ l‘v’HI,..l.tl([")l\lS‘: it is now prohuhly about 'l"l5{,ljilBl,.l?} its tmionnt sev-i

en yezrrs tl,t,‘_Y,'(). Tlir: paper oironlution in 15:334.} was t~3lX'M'~(')Nl.-3 M'ir.r.ioNs: in li53t'$
it was ONE} IiUN:l.)iULlD ANIQ) I*"0.R-'l"Y MI[l;lLI.OiNS, the liinhest point. it
reached was I‘.')f'(‘l)l")2ll.ll)lY nlfmut (.7)Nli1 Ii l_iNli)i{li31”) AND EIGIi'l‘Y—SlX MIL-
LlCliiifi3. in ltd; ll the lotion nnrl tilieoonnts ol'the linnlcs nrnomiterl to about TWO
1-mwnm-in Mu.I.1o1~Js: in l.téi3(i they were FOUR. Ii7UNI)RE.D AND I*‘lF'I‘Y-
.‘Sili3Vit%3N MlLl'...I(')NS: they have since exceedertl FIVE l::lUN[Dl{ED AND
NIlN’E‘. l‘Y Mi.l..l...lONS. The l,”)t1Ill{ capitol, cironhrtmn, and clisocmrite, liztving
niore. than dm.il,>led, and incleed rrmrly t‘I‘I£iblf..’(/, in less than sieveri years time, the
iir'irnerir=r-: nnclunpni*t1lleletl epeculzitions we have witnessed, lmre heen llt(’3'Il\“!(:(*!'.‘i-
S{lI'y l'€2t:‘»l..llt. Sales of poihlic lands rose trom lees tlnin two-aritlfia. 'lialt't'ri1lli<:iis in
It-hit’), to more tlinn twenty-_i'our millions, in 1836. l I..onds in Maine wen; pur--
olmsed in vaist qntmtities or ten tithes their iiirrner prices. House "lots enough
were laid out to ecciorrrrrimlate ‘two or three times the present popu-ltttion oi’ the
mnion.. 'I‘hn tlaud.irnrnedir1tely a.houtlNew York rrncl within ten miles olitliat
city, whicli in lqiilil was vnluedl at ten rnillions Oi.(Ti0llal“S,’C;ll%lIlg‘€3llvl'it1nI'.i:3fli prices

iwhich would lizive mudethe whole amount to over one hundred millions. t Our t

H.

imports ‘increased from seventy millions in 1830,10 one hundred and ninety

millions in 1836. Prices of all articles of consumption rose, some forty, some
sixty, and many a hundred per cent. But the wages o_f'labor, fixed salaries, and
compensation for services of all kinds are the last to rise, and the first to fall, in
a general change ofprices, nor do they fluctuate half so ‘much as articles of iner-
chandise. Laboringinen tlierefore suffer most by the rise ofprices which spec-
ulation occasions. Those who live on fixed salaries, or receive fixed fees, or en-
joy the fixed income or interest offunds invested, suffer next, in the enormous
tax levied by speculators. , ‘

The hundred and eighty thousand laborers in the State rnigrlit earn, in the
best of times, and if they were all temperate and industrious, t\’Vc')il’ttllltl)'Ct(l and
titty dollars a year upon an avera_;ge. OF this they would find it necessary to ex-
pend including the taxes ot‘legitiii'iz1te paper money l>:11il<iiig_, alreatly estimated,
two hundred dollars, layingr up lilty at the endof the year, for sickness, or old
age, or future coiiitbrt. In the 21.ggregeite tlien, labor earns forty live millions,
spends thirty-six uiillions and lays up at the end of the year a reserved sum of
nine millions. Ina year or; speculation like the last, even it labor had risen to
three hundred dollars a year, which it has not, taking the whole mass toigether,
and if the rise in consumable products had been only fifty per cent., and 2'2‘ /tax
(‘men more, the laborer t1'iiglit earn his three hundred dollars; but in order to live
as well as in ordinary times he must also expend tlireehundred dollars, so that
at the end ofthe year he has ncitliing; left.‘ '.l‘he tvages oi" the year will be fif'ty-
four millions, and its expenditure fifty-—f'our millions; 2;1CCLllI]11l:1ti01), 1'10lLl)lI'lgZ“.
while without the bligliting influence of speculation, labor should have saved
nine millions. The losses ofthose who live upon an income not capable ofsudm
den expansion, such as CleFgyl71eIl,l\Vl(lO\V'S and orphans, and old men retired
from business, agerits and cnzyiloyces of every sort are at least two thirds as much.
more, or six millions. Tliose worltmen who earn the additional wages of their
fillilll,~ or of some cheap machinery which they employ, generally invest their
earnings either in articles ofiminediate consumption, or in tools, stock in trade,

land_,_ buildings, and repairs upon them, and furniture. On all these, their loss.

i tiou.

by the artificial prices cannot be less than three millions of dollars. 'l‘he total
of these three sums is eighteen millions, and as under our barilciiig system we
may expect to suffer under speculation prices at least one year out of three, one
third part ofthat sum will be the annual amount of the speculation tax, or six.
million dollars. .

But all this is independent ofthe fortunes lost by those eiigagocl in trade and
commerce, and the .sacrilice submitted to by one of the parties to every contract,
by the flu/.'tuat'i0ns in the money market, which follow each other at intervals oi"
about three years, rising and lalling with as much regularity as the billows of the
ocean, and having always at smaller series of intermediate waves between the
billows. These fluctuations are the natural result of the. baiilting system, and
will always grow out of it. When confidence begins to return alter one of our
terrible convulsions, prices, from the mere fact that they had fallen too low, be-~
gin‘ to rise. This gives business an itnpulse,,and disposes dealers to borrow
money and make purchases. There is a competition between those who wish
to supply~themselves, as they are all anxious tolay in their stock ofgoocls before
there is any essential advance. The banks are willing to loan freely for this pun

. pose, because purchases at the low prices being perfectly safe, they are secure of

repayment, Each bank can enlarge its discounts and loans, because, as all the
other banks are doing the same, its billsare not forced home upon it for redemp-
The more money is issued, themore purchases are made ;- and prices rise
both from depreciation of, the currency, and i liointhe brisknessrof the demantl.
The ‘faster prices rise, themore pressingywill be the applications to the banks
ti): loans; and the banks, as their first objecti is to make large: dit'iclet1ds,w,ill

I
, .

I5
grant these applications aslong asconfidence continues. New banks are cre-
ated: old banks push to the verge of prudence. More ‘goods are imported,
more goods are manufactured, production of‘ every kind is over stimulated.

There must, however, be a pause in this progress. Either from the depreci-
ation of the currency, specie becomes of less value here than abroad, and is there-
fore exported; or the market is so glutted with products, that buyers are indifl
terent about taking them off‘ the hands of holders,-in which case a competition
arises among the sellers which runs down prices; or a suspicion springs up in
the minds of capitalists, or of the bankers themselves, and finally of the whole
community, that prices artificially high are unsafe, and must fall. From what.-
ever cause it happens, when once confidence is shaken, the banks, willing or
rrritvillitig, must contract. They find ‘themselves in a precarious situation, and
to fortyfy themselves, they call in their paper, and diminish their discounts.
C‘-ontraction once begun, must go on, by a necessity as irresistahle as the decree
of Fate, for every bank sends home the paper of every other bank. By the con-
traction, money is restored to its true value, prices are reduced again, and the
improvident, surprised with large stocks on hand, are ruined.

It  in the power of a combination of banks, or ofone mammoth bank, to in-»
crease these periodical fluctuations, or to create lesser intermediate vibrations,
for their own advantage, at pleasure. In June I819, a leading; press, Nile’s
Register, complained and justly too, that “ We have now induhitahle evidence
that twenty-five men at Philadelphia can m:i-tke money plenty at their own will
and discr<::t.ion-—-——-art immense cornmand over the nation, by fixing the value of ev-
ery acre of land, and of any other species of" property, from the lowest point oi‘
.l“lorida, to the lake of the Woods.” It might with more truth have been alleg-

erl four years ago that one man in Philadelphia possessed this power, and the na-

tion folt soon afterwards that he did not scruhle to use it.

A bank with a capital of thirty-live millions can make its managers and their
favorites rich, at a single operation, by rnttlcingg; money alternately plenty and
scarce. I.l.avirig first secured large lo:.ms to its favorites as a permanent accom-
modation for twelve months or more, they then contract their discounts sudden»
ly. Tliis compels all the lesser banks to curtail their accommodations and col-
lect their debts rapidly. In three or lhur months time thus sinks prices a fourth
or even a third. Then the managers invest their funds to the best aclvaritage,
and the at-rztngetrierits being completed, the bank floods the country with its
notes flg'ttlI'1, and the lesser hanks freed from the pressure of‘ balances against
i;l“l€;*.‘m, l'ollow its example; and money instantly abounds and property assumes
lii,g;ln=:r values than before its fall. The speculators sell at the lr'iig*l*iest point, the

. lyiaiik itself’ l'LlI'l1lSlllIll,g' the purchasers with funds it‘ necessary. When the golden

harvest is Fully reaped, they may make money scarce again, and prepare for an-
other. ‘ ~

In describing this process, Mr Niles, in 1819, used this strong “language.
“ At the end of the year, the managers in the scheme realize from fifty
to one hundred thousand dollars each, which they may be said as completely
to rob the people of, as if, with pistol in hand, they took the money lrom travelers
on the higliway. Indeed the last should be considered the most honorable.”
Tliese expressions are too severe; they were.vvrun,g* from sober men at thattime,

-by the torture which the United States Bank indicted, when it first rregzrlated t/re

cw*r*unn_'r/,.ml1clt as (')I]Ql‘nlgl‘lt ..regrilate the -packing of gunpowder, by clapping 11
coal of fire into a cask ol"that article. The bank no sooner touched the curre-n»
cy than a universal explosion ensued, scattering the broken fragments of credit
over the South and West, and coverirng the land with the wreck ofrblasted hopes,
enterprise arrested, comrnerce stagnant, industry prostrate, mutual confidence
annihilated, and the whole business intercourse of society thrown into a chaos of

irremediable confusion. Mr. Niles’s iplnasc was, “ the bank was saved, but the

16 ' *'

country was ruiner .” J.  agony under the screws of the great engine may

excuse the sufferers under the first regulation for the intemperate warmth of
such remarks. The victim broken on the wheel is not expected to groan with
grace and decorum. It is fashirouable, now-a-days, to speak more tenderly and
respectfully of this mode of conveying one man’s property into another man’s
pocket, and no one I think would venture to compare it with highway robbery.

It is neither to be asserted nor intimated, because it cannot be proved, that the
directors of banks, often, with a deliberate design, create a pressure in order to
take advantage of it, as just now described: but the effect on the community, of
the fluctuations produced by banks, is of the same nature, even in the absence,
which we believe is generally the case, of any iliiitlrlflus intention on the part of
the xnanagers of those institutions. In times of ‘scarcity, the directors "and their
friends are na"turall_y accommodated before stranf2;ers. Those wlio stand at the
source of the stream drink first. Viiith scarce iiioney», they buy at low prices-.
When prices are rising and money easy», then it isthat the banlts discount f're'ely,
because they then can do it, not being “pressed ‘or run upon. Then it is that the
ltiioviring; ones sell, because then they can sell liigliestt, and pay their debts to the
banks, because just then. a loan is no iiavor. A large balance of profit remains
in their hands, and as soon as a falling rnarlretvatld contracted issues have brought
about the proper moment to enter on ‘a. new speculation, they are ready to bor-
row and buy again. . . A - » ,

But it is not only the f'aVored borrowers from banlts who tax the people through
these fluctuations-, if it were, that tax has been reckoned already in speaking of
the advantage they gain -from their monopoly. But the whole amount of proper-
ty transferred by the fluctuation, vast as -it is, is a tax on the losers, which the
baziltiiig system has enabled the gainers to ‘levy on them. Wle have not the means
of deterniining definitely the amount under this head, though we have facts which
will assist in forming an idea or" its magnitude.

In eigliteen months previous to June of last year the discounts of the banks
had increased one hundred and eighty millions of dollars. Of" course this ad—-
ditional sum was invested in various"wa_ys at the high prices of that period; and
the sellers at those prices pocketed the whole advance. Suppose ' the sums of
which this aggregate is composed to be expended in ttansactions ave1‘aging six
months from their inception to their completion, each surn would then malte two
purchases in a year, and the additional discounts would represent purchases in
one year to the amount of 'I‘I~.l.lEtEE HUNDRED AND SIXTY l\1Il..LIONS
more than the legitimate business of the country at average prices. r» 0f thiS
whole sum about one third part is not yetpaid cit’, constituting the extra debts of
the people beyond their immediate means of payment, and coniposed of about

fitiy millions foreign debt, and seventy millions domestic debt besides all ordinary .

indebtedness in the common course of business. That these estimates are not
extravagant might be shown in many ways. ‘In January, eighteen hundred and

i thirty-five, the bank note circulation was one hundred and three millions: Jan-

uarv, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, it was one hundred and forty millions:
increase during theyear, to be ‘paid in extra prices, th1rty- seven millions: in-

crease during the next year, rather more. Now allowing every dollar to make

ten payments in a year whicli is Mr. Grallatin’s estimate, but which is much too

low, the whole amount ct‘ extra prices ‘paid in the year above the standard of"

the circulation ot".the fit-st of January-, would -be THREE HUNDRED AND
SEVENTY. MILLIONS, about the ‘same sum aslbefiore. i

l Look at some or‘ theit.».ms. Cotton which averaged about ten cents a pound
for eight years before eighteen hundred and tliirtyutliree, last year aver'ag,ed sixe-
teen or seventeen cents. Every cent advance on the pound is a rise of I133!“
five millionsof dollars onthe crop. . Cottonuhaving risen at this euorrnoufi Tittle,
speculations in cotton lands and in negroes were proportionally extensive. '1 be

M .

17
purchase of ‘public lands, referred to alrea=dy,‘is nothiugcompared to these. i The
negroes imported into Alabama last year heat more than ten millions of dollars.
Tlrose carried into the Southern cotton country together cost at least jfortytorlifty
millions. The growthof the State of Mississippi will iillustratethis fact. In
«eighteen hundred and thirty it had one —hundred and thirty-six thousand inhabi-
tants : ’ in eighteen hundred thirty-»seven by the census. just taken ‘it .‘had i three
hundred and two thousand, an increase of one hundred and'twe:nty-one per cent.

in seven years. In the same time the stlavesiin that State have ‘increased from . .

sixty-five thousand to one hundred and ‘sixty-two thousand, an -increase of one
hundred and forty-i-six*per cent. in seven years, or twenty-fiize per ‘cent. at year.
‘Cotton lahds have been‘~bought as high , as forty dollars “an lacre, at-rcl slaves -at.
fifteen hundred doilars, and fortunate will it be for creditorsiif the nerrttwo crops
protfe sullicient to pays-off the balance of debt remaining. .  ~ “

It‘ the whole capital employed inlrthe growth ci‘f«cottc‘n is to be reckoned‘ at
e<igl'tt hundred millions oi‘ dollars, atzprices two years ago, a rise of twent‘y-five
per cent. on’-l'-y during the las‘-t;-year wcu'ld amount to an artificial advaznce of two
hundred millions. ~ . “

In New York tl'le‘sales of lands at auctions in the city, during the ‘ fltrst two
yearalexceedecl tlnrty-»ei,gl1t millions. The tall oatthe price of stocks rnostly
~nwx'1et‘.l in that city, this spring, wa;s~est'imated at twenty millions, bywthe cornmit-
"tee of merchants sent on to W ashingtoni, who also estimated that rnerchandise
of allsorts it-tltl fallen in tlntt city at least thirty per cent. The «price of pork,
flour, bread stufih, hurl been double what it was six years before. i

l;i‘rcu'ri‘~tixese facts itais evident that the losses by fluctuation f'ar---very far,
exceed the sum tlnit-l~ras been named. Of tliis sum of three hundrecl and sixty
millions, one £:igl'1l(3(2I)tll part at least falls on Massachusetts, rnaking her share
twenty millions. As the fluctuation is continually going on, the less is annual.

On account of these fluctuations, no contract involving the ‘payntent of money
can be oqtiitztlily perforrnerri. One party or the other is defrauded ‘by the «altera-
tion in the standard of value. lilitlter the debt is paid in a cheaper medium
awliierelby the creditor is deprived of his due, or in a. medium e”t'renha-ncced‘value,
to t he injury ofthe debtor, and often to his total ruin. i

that in talking; intoaccount the losses which grow out of these revulsions, we
must not stop at the mere rise and fall of‘ prices. lTl1ebarn/C)‘*l{pt(:?i(4s at every_re-
vulsion tart the connnunity lieuvily; the banks are genera-lly“secured on account
oftlie ondorsers, liar il' tliese institutions bore their share of the losses in propor-
tion with other creditors, the business must have been iayhanrloned lorrglago. Itis
impossible to measure this tax. in New York where ot"ertrarli'r1g has been push-
ed to a great excess, the imports last year amounting to $1. 153,885., 194, the fail-
ures intro been more numerous than ever before known. Two hundred and fif-

ty lzirge houses failed in two rnonths. In New Orieans where the banking ma-l

nia had goneto the wiltlest extremity, the capital of the banksin» thatcity being
ti$54,5;Ei4,’00O, of which the sum of‘ $f36,.'7€9..,455 is paid up, the failures were
for the most tremendous t).mt‘M1I'ttS;‘ such as were never before heard of in the
United .‘States,. Tire New Orleans True Arnerican of the thirteenth of April
saysw-*‘ Qt) Wedriesclayitherlargest cotton“ house in the southern country went»
by the beard fior fifteen milliensiiof dollars. = °"‘   »   '-The other
hoiuses that l‘rav;_e trsuspenderl are estinratied‘ ea-t about twelve rnilliorrs.”
These lrouseshad all «large assets ; yet -the cotton monopoly fostered by the im-
mense banking capital of the city, was not only injurious to thepublic atillyarge,
audao all srn»al‘ler‘cotlton traders, hut having iuflicted severlel losses onvtheir créedg
irons, it endediu theirui-n of they rnonopolists themselves. They,fellHbjlasted. be'-
fore it, like the magician. before the demon he has conjured cup: lIniBoston be»
fore the stoppage of specie peyments,.out of . thirteen hundred andseven whole-
sale and retail estvttblishrnenta, there had. been one ,t'hundr-ediiand:sixty-eight tail-i

18

tires: butthe citizens of this State have suffered by failures in other States as

rwelliastheir own, to an enormous extent. . The losses to the people of Massa-
rchusetts, from bankruptcies growing out_ of our paper money system cannot be

less than six‘; millions ofdollars a year. t . V 7} r 7

‘In faddition-to all the losses by thepflyuotuations of our mi-axed currency,» there is
now to be reckoned an actual. depreciationof the best bank paper below the spe-
cie standard. On the tenth of May last, the banks in New York stopped, specie
payment ;- those of Philadelphia and Baltimore stopped the next day, those of’
Boston on the twelfth, and thoseof,Ne_w Orleans on the thirteenth. The coun-
try bankswere of‘ course compelled to stop, however much they might regret the
necessity. On the eleventh of May, one hundred dollars in specie were worth
in New --Y,orl~: city bills Olflltlle nominal ‘value of one hundred and six dollars. On
the first of June bills of one hundredand nine dollars, tendon the twenty-fourth
of June one hundred and twelve dollars,, were requiredrto purchase one hundred
dollars in hard. money--—-a depreciation rnorerapid than that oi'continental paper
d.uriug the first yearit was issued. Onthe third of July l)lllS were one hundred
and twelve for one hundred. l .

By the last bank returns of this state their circulation and deposits together
exceeded twenty-six millions. By a depreciation of twelveper, cent.,bill hold»
ers and depositors would lose three millions on that sum. Those who pay their
debts in bad paper gaiuthe amount of the depreciation, and by paying off credit»
ors at ninety cents or less on a dollar, may be preserved from bankruptcy: but
those who receive the paper for debts, or are obliged to make purchases with it,
lose to the same amount. This is already allowed for in speakimr of the losses
bythe fluctuation of the currency, except the loss in the hands oftlioltlers while
it falls. A r . .

These.tl1en,, are the pecuniary results of a paper money monopoly system, not
that we have made exact estimates, but the sums assumed are below the reality,
and *et quite larnre enoucrh to illustrate the sub'ect full . Let us look. at their
aggrbgateattioti1‘iti-— C:  r t J y

V Legitimate banking taxes, as before, $5,000,000; Speculation tax, 6,000,000;
Fluctuation tax, ?2ZD,0{)l),(l00; Bankruptcy tax, 6,(}0(l,(l00; Depreciation tax,
3,000,0_O0;. Aggregzite burthen of the present paper system, Si~‘4il,0(l(},000:,..~i.
.sum equal toithe a,ctua.l.capital employed. a

,That this sum is below the actual annual amount of the losses sustained by the
operation of the paper system, no one can doubt who will take pains to examine-
the subject;---It is indeed very far from the fact that this whole sum of money is-
taken from one set of individuals exclusively, and bestowerl altogetlier upon an-
other set.  If itwere so, we should have been divided into lords and panpers,
long ago:-—~—Most,yof those who generally gain by the system, occasionally lose by
it; and many of those whoilose in the lriiig run occasionally come in for a share
ofthe profits. Ifthese lossesand gains of each individual. would in a long series-
of years balance each other, even then the injustice would be gross and the rel‘-

fect liighly ,detnoralizing.t If every man werecompelled every week to put all“

his surplus earnings into a State lottery, would he be reconciled to this arran-gs-
ment, because, in the course of his life, he rnightreasonably expect to draw as
prizeor two, equal to all he had paid for? In the currency lottery, the prisms-
are by no means equally distributed: those who payifor most of the blanks, finti
their rturnseladorncomes for a prize, and when at last it does come, their prizes
are very small. _ i r i t u < i r A g —

That the man who losses by the banking system in. various ways,,one liundredl

dollars, gains also by it in various other ways sixty or eighty dollars, does, snotty
lessen the iinsjustice of any separate loss, still ilessidoes it doaway the injustice of i

that final balance, of loss of twenty or forty dollars, to t which he, ~m«ustv after all
submit. . Tlleguse of Banks is a game partly of rchance and partly .of, skill, the,
best players lose sometimes, and the worst players do not, always lose; yet, in 3

t r19
iong game the best players always gooff with thelargestx, winnings. It may be
"that ninety out of a hundred lose more than they gain ;, nine more gain enough to
overhalance their losses ;, one _out of a‘ hundred gains decidedly; one out ofa
thousand. rnaltes himself rich, and» one out of ten thousand builds up a princely
‘fortune. ‘ l r it t  _ B t p    N. ,

''I‘his general reliect ofpaper -money banking, in the excess to which it natural-_

ily tends, was adnnrabtly depicted by the late -President of the United States irr-

Zhis‘nies"age at the comrnencernent of thesecond sessionof the t.wienty-‘fourth
‘Congrress. H is views are thus expressed, in his usualplain and decided 1nanner..

“ Variableness must ever be the characteristic of all currency, ofgwhichthe
tprecious rnetalsiare not the chief ingredient, or which can beexpc-:ndetl or con-
tracted without regard to the principlesthat regulate the value of those metals as
a standard in thelgener-al trade of the world. With us, bank issuesiconstitute
snacli a currency, and must ever do so until they are made dependent on those
just proportions of golcl and silver, as a circulating medium, which experience
has p1'<i>vecl to be t’t(tWcessary notonly in this, but in all other conlunercial conni-
tries. Where those proportions are not inf'uscd into the circulation, and do not
control it, it is manifiest that prices must vary according totthetide of bank is-
sues, and the value and stability of property must stand exposed to all the uncer-
tainty which attends the administration of institutions that are constantlry liable
to the temptation of an interest distinct front that of the community in which
they are established. a 2; p H

“'1"he progress of an expansion, or rather a depreciation of the currency, by
«excessive hank issues, is always attended by a loss to the laboring classes. This
pcirticiiit ofthc cornrnunity have neither time nor opportunity to watch the ebbs
and flows of the money rriarhet. Etlgtlgttd frorn day to dayin theiri,usef'ul,toils,
they do not perceive that although their tvtiges are nominally the same, or even
Asouieivhat higher, they are greatly reduced in tact by the rapid increase of a spa»
rious currency, which, as it appears to make money» abound, they are at first in-
clinedto consider a l*>leessing-. It isnot sowith the specnlator, by whom this op-
eration is better understood, and is made to contribute «to his advantage. It is
not until the prices of the necessaries of life become so deer that the laboring
cl: :.~=.-=c.s cannot supply tlteir wants outof their tvapgrss, that the wages rise, ant._l

,gl‘(t(ll.1l),,ll y rcaoli a jitstly proportioned rate to that of the products oli their labor.‘

“‘ Wlion thus by the depreciation in conselquence of the quantit.y_of paper in
circulation, \V¢‘lg"t5t$ as well as prices bectrnne exorbitant, it is soon found that
tlteiwliolc effect of the adalteration is a tari.li' on our home industry for the benefit
of the countries where ,o;oltl and silver circulate, and maintain nnixlbrrnity and
niodoration in prices. it is then perceived that the enhancement ,ol'the price of
land and lahor produces a. corre-spondin,g; increase in the price ol‘products, until
tlteao prod ucts do not sustain a competition with similar ones‘ in other countries;
and thus both mannlitcturetl and ZlgrlCl.llil.lT't‘1l productions cease to bear exporter

tion lrorutlre country of the spurious currency, because they cannot be sold for

cost. Tins is the process by which specie isbanished by the paper of the banks.
Their vaults are scion exhausted to pay for foreign cornrn_odities ;,"I‘I—IE N EXT
STIEI’ Its? A .S'.'l‘OI”i’AGE O.It‘ttSl’ECIE .PAY,MENT‘-,--ma total degradation
of paper as a currency-—-tniusnlal ,depfre1ss~iionJol' prices---the ruin olidebtors, and
z‘./to zzriczmmlotirnt of proprrfly in the lmnrls ~rif’,c:<1f(:cl£tors ctnt1‘ccmtz'rms ,capitalists.lf

The gtheor,y‘tln.ts laid down by tl1eir1’reaiLl€¢l'1t‘,htlfi ~l3€‘—Bfl f01l0W<'?fl Out li!1~i’¢S
0P£¢F,€tti0~Il, by lshowing themodes in which this acscumolation in the hands of cap-
italists and creditors, and this 1oss~to the ilaboringliclasses find ruins Ofitidrebfots
itlkéfi place. The surnrnary is sorfrirghitfulrasi;tto,~thll,y _plstifyJ,tli.e st»rong language
=usedt  ,Dz1r1iell:W¢§b3tgr fi,ve_ym1y3 5j_n]-(;e~,_ M V:  M ‘ M l M I _ up  i_ 5'”  x i   _

.“ Of all the icOl‘tlt'iV;aIl1Ce8i ’i:'01’ti()il‘l6il't,iI1g' the laboring classes, of; mankind, none

have been more effectual than that whiohfdeludetstlaetll with paper lT1.0!EW¥;~i 

'90
‘is the ”u‘1'o"st effectual of inventions to feftilize the "rich 7n’un’sfieZds by tithe sweat -‘-of
who poor’ man’s brow. Ordinary tyranny, oppression, excessive taxation, these
"hear lightly on the happiness of the mass of the community compared ‘with fraud-
-tulent currencies, and the robberiesicommilted by/~a depreciated paper. Our “own
history has recorded for our instruction enough and more than enough of the de-
moralizing tendency, the injustice, and the ‘intolerableoppression, on the *rirtu—

*ous’andvrell disposed, of all degraded paper currency, authorized by flaw, or in

“any wa-yr-elountenyainced by government.” ‘ i
iTha‘t an " aristocracy _having in its hands such sources of revenue, and able to
wring‘ from theipeopile so large a portion of their honest earnings would push its
‘adva.ntages’to-'t'lie utmost, is to be expected, indeed, it is inevitable. Never did
"they relinquish their ‘holcl upon the spoils voluntarily. rThe'p-ower to do wrong

~l>ecomes~ a vested right in the view of him who has long possessed it. .Those-l

who un’c'le’rstand'perfec"tly well the nature of “the robberies committed by a de-

fpreciztted paper,” will be loudest in their indignation atany attempt to resist or »

put an end to those robberies,

A great crime, a national crime, has been committed, and is still persisted in V

~---the crime of cheating the Ylaboring classes by the delusion of paper money----
‘fertilizing the rich rnan’s field by the sweat ofthe poor man’s brow." Who then
"are guilty of this heinous crime; for the innocent must not share the shame ; who
“are the gruiltyl i , V l i ‘ v i r r *
Not eavery stocltholder of a bank, not every officer“of a bank, not every bur»-
~trower from a bank, not ‘every’ trader, or capitalist, who has profited by the fluc--
ftuations caused by a paper currency," Oh no! We should do them great i1'}_}.US-
“tice lfwe set down all these as OUTEHBFHIGS‘, when among them are manyof our
bestfriends-M-friends who are ready to witness-their sincerity by ctieerfiilly sub-
mitting to great sacrifices to restore a wholesome currency. The system isriv-
ited upon us. It has insinuatecl itself into all business intercourse, so that no
‘husimess man can keep clear ofit,‘ any more than he could keep clear of cold, if
‘he had been born in the frigid-zonegor of heaton the sands oftlte great desert,
for paper moneylis allipgeryadling as the atmosphere. We might as well prescribe
every man who taites arbank bill, as every man who owns a bank share, or assists
in managing a ’oa'n‘k, for it is the bill ‘holders, ultimately, who produce the ‘fine-~
tuations: if'th'ey refused to receive paper it could not be issued. There are
“thousands, tens of tliousantls, who abhor irredeetnable paper, and will go asfar
as any man to suppress thetrnisch-"ief, but who cannot, so long as bad legislation
‘forces it upon ‘thern,='disentangle themselves from thesystern, without neglecting
‘duties they are bound to 'discharge, and abandoning the stat.ionin which Provi-
tdence has placed them. i A sober man may disapprove of war, and of all. prepar»
ation for war,lyet if the rgovernrnlent has established a powder magazine in the
heart‘ ofhis village, it is 'better‘t-hathoishould keep it than a dru-nhard or a luna-~
-tic. lfn the debate on the charter of the United States Bank,»John Randol'ph~
said, that he owned no stock whatever, except live stock, and had determined
never to own any: but if this bill passe‘d', he would not only be a stockholder to
the utmost of his powenbut would advise every mtirn, over whom he had any in-
.fluence,“to do the same, because it was the creation of a great ‘privilleged order of
the most hateful ltind to his feelings, and because lhewould rather be the master
thanlthe slave." 'V‘Vithou_t going quite this length with Mr. Randolph, rnanyriifeell
justified inrdefending themselves ‘with theisarrie weapons with which they are at»
tacltetl, though anxious to prohibit the use of those weapons to all; These -rarer
on outside, and we must not make War 'up0n§tl1em, for without their assistance

~ we "shall never be ableto reduce the trade in money to an equal footing with all

other trades. To whom then does the guiltbelong, for ilt‘rnu»st7fall somewhere‘?
‘ To those“ who fastened the system on us,whoIuphold and~~d‘efend it, who opu-

tpose all efiorts to ‘abolish it tordmitigate its -tevils, who are deterrnined -to perpetuate .,

21’

it, with all its most grievous abuses. ~To all who sustain it hy*tl'teir-tvotets~ iirtlie-=

National, or State Legislatu_res.’ To all who vote for t~he-hank candidate for-;~.

President of the United States; the bank candidates for Gongress; the banltt
Candidate for Governor of the Commonwealth ; paper: tntm.ey.partizat1s for- State-
Senators and Representatives. Among these are.-thett-sa.nd.s who ow«n«no bank"
stock, and who groan under the curses they invi’te.. Iii: they». It:-11861- fortthe-rideri
to mount, who can pity them when they feel the spurs it it ‘ ~ S I I 3 a

Who have fastened the system upon us? @learly thosewlto profit by, it, the»
arist-ocratic, or whig party, so called because—~tthe_v somewhat resemble thee party 4-
in Great Britain thusdescribed in the Edinburg Review, t“l'I‘§»EtIE STRiEN‘GT'H.:
OF‘ THE WHIGS LAY IN‘ '1‘I"IE..G;;REAr'I‘ ft;-RIS'1lIOGRACY, IN<-.-
CORPORATIONS, AND IN TE1fiEt;'l‘l{ADING‘ OR MTONIED ’]NTER*
ESTS.” Look at their course  Massa-chusetts. In the spring session eiglim.
teen hundred and thirty-five there were many petitions.~.for new bantks. I7 iSem’e-r.
few Whig presidents and directottsof banks opposed petitzitonsetaskinegrfor EL+SllaI"€
in their monopoly 5 but the majority of the Whig party votedto grantztliemw The-
whole democratic party opposedithem, as did many nominal t wliigsgwith.-.deemo..».
cratic consciences, from among the yeomanry, 'andt:tliey were deteated..- All the-
support they received came f1'om.wh.igs, the most ardent opposition they erircoun--.
tered was from demoerats. If one fourth part of tl1e»dern.ocrats in,the Legisla;--.
ture had suppbrted tltem, they wteuld all have passed; and a numereust litter oi?"
banks would that yearrhave cursed the State. I . g

In the fall sessioniof the same year, an .. order; divscl1‘arging, itire committee on.
banks, and most othera committees, and confining;-the action of-the House to the

Revised Statutes, was reported by a democrat, most violently and repeatedly ‘as--4. V

sailed by prominent Whigs, sustained by the reporter, and the whole democratic--r.

partv, in five distinct: and most animated debates, and with the aid of votes;from.. ’

the semi-whig‘ fanmers, carried and adhered to. ‘Had that order beentrescindedt‘.
the doorwould have been openedfor all the bank petitions of the former session..
In eighteen lintndted thi1'ty~six, petitions‘ came. in asking, in the ztggi-egate, him-~
an increase oftl‘1ebank capital of the State from thirty millions to _fijty~sz'-w.. mil»-I.
Ito-n.s,,aArid the bank capital of Beston and its immediate vicinity from eighteera.
millions to double that amount.   The whig leaders, the Sutfollt delegzrtion~;t,and an
large majority of the» Whig,‘ members, went fersthe pet.itions._ The democrats.-.
went in..rnass‘,~ against thetn. Tthe semhwlng-ifarmers d.1.scrtm1n,ated and=‘:pa.ssed-as
bills for about ternmilliions, rejecting the petitions for the otliersixteeri millionsrw
Of all the rejected petitions the most formidable was that foritlire ten. milii.on-
hanlt._l Tire whole aristocracy_of the city and country err;litst.ed. tmcarry it«.~~.tln:oug.h.
'I‘lieyre.onir1ia1ided the nnanimousuroite of the representatives from SufiTr).llc; cone.-.»
ty, andiall the. tliorotigh going wl‘i11g partrzarts. 'l’her~lari.guage of Mr.-Btrrke,:.t.

I witltrtzteriy littleaiteration,_,describes the coutestand resn~.lt.*“l 'iiil'ie diehatejlastedr

in the., lqouse, wit-h itrtenvnls, for weeks, It opened the eyes-ef several; to them»
-true state ot'~aii'airs; it enlarged their ideas; it removed J preju-dices; it» hzarmo-«r..
nizedzigopitiiotts. At its cott,clusionr;tl1e Iiouser,-t_"by an independerit, noble;-,y:~:pitritm..
ed, ia~tidi;{nnex~p_,tereted majority, in the teeth of all the_old.;mercen,ary Stvissoe-ti:Statte,,
in d_espit~.e ofal;l the spectrlttters anti‘: auguirrs..ef5ts}3>9l1t1cals.eeents,.,1n defi'ence4«o»f the :~
wholeiembzattledtlegioin rifiitgarty hacks and_w1llrng tnstrsnnen.ts/ l't‘3‘jC-f..<'.',tt3.da‘~:lléllC': bill. .
That miajerity were not a-frartl-into look steadily-..1n the « fa-ce tlrat’glarit-rr.g;:anid‘“ eaza.
zling"influen~eet-t~etrt \’t'l'tl(:l]wt<l1&t -eyes oil eagles lra~r.e tblenehed. ;T.l1ey_tlooltede in tires;
facetonerofjtilierramest, ;an.§'lr» not theirnost scnnpnlotis cembinatiens ever ferrnedzine
t1,i&gfate,‘tia,1d‘ 'WA]ic;h5 embodied the wthole‘p§etverrrot'. waealtlr; Etverytsorrtotf‘ in-tr.
trriigmn ta,-uificer, lands‘ ne—ge.ti‘atioxn, was *'i(3ttrI‘}’ttr\g_e“j om. Persnasion <andWtargunienrtai,
co»rw?i«1t'ittl‘ityVanid»iintimifitititim:We.r.ei~-exl1ttt1ste;d.t,’ Every tlllflg on every side. rates»

fall lot: trapsatad mine's.- It-"\fIaS~.it1dl'l3.l'fli€l$'tt0rf this chaos ofiplpta;antd,t.,c.onute2a-—;

* spaepttan ..tatericaa.~.Tuxtt.tiorzg,,19tlt..of A;2ri_l._‘_l774a_ r

2%

plots ;‘ it>was' in the midst of this complicated warfare against pohlic opposition

, and ‘private treachery, that the firmness of the democraticparty was put to the

-proof. t'I‘hey-never stirred from their ground,“no not an inch. ‘ They remained’
fixed and determined in principle, in measure and in conduct. They practiseci
no managements. They secured no retreat. t r l t

f If one of our majority hadetgone over tothe enemy we should have been de-

"feated, yet the weakest in our phalanx, withstood the onset with alacrity and con»

fidence. lEvery one of them might have said truly in Mr. Burke’s words, “if
declare for one, I knew well enough. (it could not be concealed from any body)
the true state of things; but, in my life, I never came with so much spirits into
t.he House. t It was a-time for. a man to act in-. We had powerful enemies; but
we had faithful and determined friends, anda glorious cause. ,We had a great
battle to fight; but we had the means of fighting; our arms were not tied be-

~ hind ‘us. We didtfight that day and conquer.” it ,_

From that victory the democracy of Massachusetts received new life and vig-
or. We came into the Legislature of the present year recruited in numbers, and
with renovated strength. 2 Again bank petitions swarmed as before. -t Again the
whole weight of wing influence was thrownainto their scale. Again" a large ma-—
jority of Whigs went for theupetitions, but a few nominal whigs had the indepen-
dence to vote withthe democratic party, and‘ again the petitions. were rejected.

We shall go into the next legislature stronger» than ever. We shall charter
no more banks; but we shall ascertain how many members of that body will
agree with John Quincy Adams, that “ the violation of moral principle, commit-
ted. by a. bank in suspending. specie payment, is not inferior to that of traudulent
bankruptcy in an individual. Theright of any legislature to authorize such a
suspension is questionable, and the repeal of »la.ws,.expresslylenacted to enforce
the fulfillment of contracts, at the very moment when they have been brolten, is
mockery of all moral principle, and a. scandal to human tlegislatioln.” . i .

The aristocracy has lately come before the country more distinctly than ever
as the bank party. The coalition evidently intend to fight over again the battle
for a National Bank. in which they were defeated in eighteen hundred and thir-
ty«-two. a They cannot at this moment agree upon the precise plan of the insti,tu-
tiou they would establish, and the difficulty of determining the details may cause
some delay inbringing forward their project; but the hope of a National Bank
istheir only bond of union. . The Whigs profess that the revolution of 1688, from
which they derive their name, “wasia revolution in favor (Sf property.’;’ They
believe that “it is the part. of wisdom to found government on property.” They

i‘~‘.«av*ow their ‘belief that in a great majority of cases,the possession of property is
the proof of merit.” They hope to become muchimore, 22zmrttorz'ozts, if the gov-L

ernment can be foundedon their property, by creating a. National Bank, and in-
vest_i_ng it with controlling power: for this resultthey would elfecta revolution.

The merchants doing a tnoderate businessiwould be crushed and ground into
the dust beneath the wheels of this ponderous engine, as so many thousands of
their predecessors have been, yet many of them are still ready to cast themselves
before the car of. Juggernaut, at the bidding of their political priesthood,and
perish for the glory of the money king. They areas much incensed against the
governmentrllwlrich has delivered them from their oppressor, ,as,the,Hind_oos are
with the gotverument of India. for its efforts to suppress the Thugs. , t

  “ It is impossiblet to conceal from oursielveslthatiewe are at this moment on the

brinkof a dreadful‘ precipice»; the questiontis whether we shall submit to be

guided by the hand whichuhath driven. us to it, or whetherwe shall, follow the pa-
trio~t.voice; -which has not ceased to warn us of o~ur,dangers,-and which would still,
declarethe away to safety and .to honor;’7*  Did;-the adnrintistrationyadvise there-.

chartering of the United States Bank» by Pennsylvania’! Did the a~dministration_

i i “Janina; ” V

«Vtlie channels of commerce?

23

milvise that the number of banks, the aniouiitiilof bank capitai, of lorino, and of‘

paper circiilzuiori should be inorel than doubled, nay, almost trebled, within six
years’! Did the administration urge thebanks to issue more notes than they
could redeem; the merchants to import more than they could pay for; and to
supply the retailers with more goods than they could dispose of’! Did it inst}-+~
gate thousands ofyoung men toelmndori the cutlttivation of the soil and throng- to»

the great cities, to embark in the lottery of trndle’! . Did it run up the prices» of”

articles of commerce’! i Did it encoumge speculators to invest immense amounts.
in fancy stocks, in pr0duct.s,~l1on:3e lots, and public lands’! ‘Didit recommend’
the distribution bill, to withdraw, in four payments, near forty nn;il.l.ionsl'rom
’I‘l"iese~are the causes of our distress, zmdl agaiiist
these it has never failed to 1-emonstrztte; it lies not’ceaseo‘3to warn us of our da'n--.-
gers. The bank party have driven us, towards the precipice, over which they
would now compel us to plunge. The lzidministration has labored faitlifully toa-
uvert impending evils. The l)'tni£ veto wz-is intended to put an endto that gyrent
disturbing power over the currency, which has made its successive expaiieizoris
and contractione so sudden and terrible. The removzil ofthe cleposits pzura:-l:i:z-
ed the destructive eiiergy with which the bnnlc, was then waging war on credit
and industry, and pi'ep:i.re<i the cor'nrnnn.ity' for the redeniptionw-of’ its notes. and
the collection of its debts by thnt institution, if it. had b(v?eTli(liSf;)0S0(.l to ncqniesce
inthe deciesion of the mition; The specie circu»lnr checl-tedi the frmrids, epeculau-—
tions, and njionopolies in the public lnncls; checked the excessive. bani; credits-
in the West; cl‘i(_-)(;l(ed also. the OiV€-}l'b&n:l£il')g and covet-tr.ad.ing of the Atlantic
cities i'rorn which it retained specie ;, securc-d the safety of the t~rensu-ry receipts ;
:Sfr0flg1.l‘20Il(2(Zl the western» lizmks, mid tzhereby lessened‘ i’.l’l€'iOSS(;‘*-S of the mer-
<:.:lmnts on the sen board by their iiilnnrl debtors; nniclv. by rctn1'c.ling; the exporta-
tion ofgold and silver to liiinfirliziiiici, made tlieresump~tionl of specie pziyments pos-
:sible, whenever the lione-;-:st iiidignaitioii of the: people shall compel the bnnks to
::,h(; peg-fimnzmge Or am}; p1‘()r‘1”li.‘-.i(t'.2.‘3. Tlie :mpp:'es*»:sion of small bills, so repeat-
edly and in-geiitly I‘t3(.$OIIlI"I'l€3l'i(i(?.(’l1 by the mlministration, and zliclomzed in several
of the clcintrcrutic States, Si’.l.‘()!’lg'ly tends to (liscoiirage the ruinoiis o:-iteneion of
b£1ni{, issues am] hum]; g;;g3diz,_«;;, Mr. ”l1Sl{lS$0fl,.,il'l his speech of l"ehrum'y tentl1,,
~eigl1teen liuncilred niiiidytwem-y»sixi, said, that, “ it was Iris opinion, an opinion not
Jizictily formed, but the resuglit; of long" and anxio«us olmervntion, that a p(3l‘,t1'l~'StI’l('3X11’£-
state Offlllfill pziyrncnte, and it circulation of one and two pound notes, could. not
«co-exist.” Our lutjc expcrience has i'll)l1l'lldE11'li]_y;iGOI1.fill’H‘7NE;’d Mr. Iffushiissoiifliopiniu

‘ion. If we llitd no isizmk no.t_e~i~3 under fifty dollnr.~2, the late st<)m)iige ol"epeciev,pa.y—..l

meats would Mvm. Imvc, mlmn I)];1(;r3,~, .’.l‘he eo~llcc.tionol’ the g;overnn'icnt dues in
specie is, not only r;e¢,es.»mi-y to enable tilt‘) go-i'eriii‘ne,:it toga) on, l.)l.?lT. is the ou1l.y-
G0l1r'Se Wllich could prevent the sucldcn 'Wli2i‘ltll'1tV'lr"t1l of‘ prc>l;cGtxox'i from our ,ti"i~.m'i-~

. Mzicturee, to an nnioniit ,g_>;re::i,tcr tlizm tlmt wliich the wli'iige off the ll.“:‘lE~3::i7}.(3l}"l.}rS@'l.tS:
. M ~  ~ ~ w or 1 ii '  r" "1 I V " 1 , ;
.l(“3‘g'1}3,lai1i2l1l'(?.'i)l‘€3S()l\’(3Cl ywmxld he “ Tl,t‘lE' .l)ihA I H VVA.lliiRAN 1‘ Q1‘ 1 id E4 .hIAN~-~

Il1"AlC'l‘Ulil..1NG,ES'l.‘Al3LiliSlIhi~ISI“#l'l‘Sl (Joli N_.lEVVi I5]N(JnIiAN;D.”, It in then;
only criiime o,;~h,ii;1i; (;m,,1d,fp;evni‘it great ineqimlity intlie duties levied zit ci..nfi.Te‘r,ent»,

l P0115, and the ccns~;equent txmisfer of l;)i.1:5ll’lG$8 to tliosse points where th.t-.—‘- curren-

cy had dcprecioted uiout, to the minlof our own rxiercliunts. t It is tl*xe_on.l-y course.-
whichcould lccepeoecie il]ft,l.'°iC3' country, so $1S,1ZO"glV_€’3 us_s :1 ctl’mm'.e oi't*l'1e rcturrx
of at S()tJI'l('l currency Vifrlxilllflllll Tfllliillilttg t,l'i1'<.iiigl1 tlltit‘ h'l1t':‘»e1‘leS,0f' ttSS.1g‘I'.k{tl$5,._a=n.(ii cone
tinental ,p:iper.i Asmlm Wi$d()in:(i3'f‘ iyl'iig_g;ery lftftily t;~l1reatened .ltI:SLLI'l”€?.*Qtl~OI} ybe--
cause tlie gave;-m-mm would not ul‘3tll‘p the arbitrary povt.rei°~ to iiiepciise ti*it.l.nt,,l1e
l:.).w:s and violate the oon.otit,li«tiiti.n, for tlie.s:tlce of tlitis t‘lJlIll;I1.g§_‘f)lJ»l' l'i'l»'('3l't’Jl121li'itS4,,$%Igfl~
itiglthie deatli wamtntz of Oilhr‘.l7Il;f1l’1;t1,i.iil(.3'(tll'iliig estal;ilislii.iinenms, zmd f:is;tei1,ing upon

, us tlie’cu;rse of irredecrnragblllci ipnpcr, ‘it, nioyti bewell ltoyremennher the sentiinilents of

the Whig oracle upon the S%fhlI'l3'iC[;ll.€it51-{i(V)~I); years ago. V‘ In 181,6, ,Mri.;,‘W§ébStet-‘ Slifiike
wise! y thus : j “ i'_l‘l;em, 3,;-y 11¢), mtirmii. Wliich,hcd,l,,g”*'ml'd¢d  l_I¢H-’~l1T1_‘3f1“°1lT ,W.1ih cream‘

"43, W

care; for the framers? cf the Constitution. and those who enacted the early stat-
utesvwemkard mozzeymcn. '1‘l1e,-yhadpfelt, and therefore duly appreciated; the:
evilslof a paper medium. ‘They tl1ere.l'o,re sedulously guarded the currency‘ of the?
United_;States from debasemexxt, "The ‘legal cwrcncy of the United State.s.z;ms:
gold and silver coin.” « 7 , — . » ~ . 1- _ . L. V .

“ This govermnenfi has. a. 1'lgl1lZ1,_l?F1;3-‘H’? cases, to protect its own revenues, and
to guard them against deflaloationgbgzq badzor depgneciated papeof’ . .

“ The only power xvlliolxtlne general govcm-xnent possesses of’ restraining;

l the issues of theState Be,nkps,oi.~3 tc..r.ef'use their rxotesinwlge receipts of the;-«-l

treasur_v_.”’ p w , l l l

“ With a’ pea-'fectl1y~sound: legal currency, tl)o’.Nationa,:l‘Revenuees are ~nol'.;».
collected in this: om:1‘ency, but in paper of various.;sorts,, and various“ degreeso
of value. *3‘ T 3‘ _  " Not being, how;e,ver,,,a depart of the legal money
of the c-ouantry, it ; oouldv not; by law, be rpee~eixz~,ed in thepayment of dutie.-3,.
taxes crot=h-er debts to~g~ov~e«mmcnt; ” But being», p.aya,hle, and pajd, on-‘demand, .,
it had. been receivod,‘$Lc. _ * ‘ ~ '

» I)-uvring tlge »x=.g4- the b-anlceissued imnzemee quamiti-e.s of paper. “ The con»,
sequence 1m;tned1atel‘y followed, Wl1ICl“l it‘ would be imputing .a. great degree of“

b.lio;doe»ss both to tl2elegov.ernmc2'1teand to the banks’ to .suggest. that they had ‘
1‘tot~f0.t‘.e:e-en», The excess». of paper which we-s found every where»crea.ted alarm. 
D~em,aod=s begztnoto be made-don the banks, and they; all etoppledepayment. No.
cont-ri«vao'ce to get money without inconveoiencepto the people, ever had a.
shone»: course of‘ experiment», or a. more unequivocal:termination. The. de-

prec.ia4ti~on~of' bank notes was the necessary lconseqtwn-M2» of ad neglect+l,or re-...

ftxsal on the part of. those who issued to pay them.” \

“ The depx'ec-izdlono has not been and is not now. uni-foltm throughoutlthe».

United Stages. Taxes and duties collected in 1\?Io;s3a.chusctts are one quarter;

"bi-‘gber than. the taxes and duties collected by the same la-wsp..in the District of?“

Columbia. ” p l
‘c  a glreoter’1mu:-stlce than this be conceived? Clan.» Gonstitutional pro»-l.

visions beld*isr~egarded; in a more essential point? Cominercial prel"erences.»,,

also are gix'e4p11~,~pvwl1.i¢h, if they couldbe continued, ecouid be slxflicicazt p-to cmni.-...

L imitate tile oommcme of some cities, a=m:l-some States, wl’:il;;e~t-lmey w‘ould extreme-.

ly promote that of. others.» ""‘ «-  =3‘ l Surelygthiss ie..o.ot to be en-—

‘ dured.' Szzch mons£7'o2..r;s ineqzzality and owzjzzstice are not. to be tolerated. Since
» the ‘commencement of lll'll3‘COuI'S6 of things,-be it can be shown, them; the people»

of the nortl1ern.States;l1ave paxid a million of dollars moxie-‘ tlmn t;l1e,-:irjus_t- pro‘-~.
portiorz of the public:lmrdensfl“ _  g A  V * , =
Because the Executive refuel->d.to, beglxilty of this “en10n$troL1o ine—~quolity»
and lnjustice,”“ “ sqfficient to annihilate the eom.:5o~e:'ce of sozno cities l(Bo<sto~n).:
and some States?" (Nloecsnchuectte) the late. rcpt;-e.serxtative. from Boston do--..
clared in a. meeti”ng:_~of"tl1ose ~ .depenclent;cm,; tlfxekcommerce of Mao$o¢husette>,.
that no.peop1.e ur1der- lxeewen were ever before so.t~mxnpled upon by tlxeeixg-.pV*~.
ernmbnt. Let us see how Mr. VVebster 1’g8f,é’2_l,Ifd€,d'tl2fhlS trampling. p p l p 
“‘1'f‘ 'Cong1*eso were tolpass Forty statxlttes on=tl1e»-.su‘brje.ct,”'saidpe1:Freloracl-eA,‘_
in 1818,.“tl1ey could not make the law more imperdatiV.e.tlzgun it}now_p-is‘.. =thia.t;:
nothing sliould bev1'eceived3in,pa,y»n1e11t of dutieebto the=gomeregnent but epe=c.ie;.-.
The whole etrfengftla of the gpvemmernt, I am of opinion, should belput forth,‘

l ‘A to compel me payment of‘ theldén-ties». and ta:-nee to the government‘ in;tl1o~le.g_l_a§xl%:fp

A currency of tl'1e'co1.:x1tr"y.”’3 

‘ T he “it%.':'(‘t'.‘m:.,1I'1t?lf?2l‘ of’ the Conotitt1ti=mx,” called the receipt oftbe bi?l*ls opf"oorxp

M : specie pay'm.«_: eizmxlm, “ e‘ rotate‘ ‘of thi‘I1;:-s.Vvl1ir:-h every body lmowetolexist IN‘?

  PLAIN Vi3C}LA,'I‘10N OF THE :coNo*r:TU'r1oN, and in open doefiancep

of the writt‘en leetter of."the"law*.“‘* l  j  p e ,  , :. ~ p s 1‘ 
1 “It is‘ quite clear, that byltm.-1 .'smtutle1palldutiestlgndtoexes are required to bee‘
paid in the legalxncnoey of the Uni1¢d Smgegi or in ltreusury notes,” 4« V

25

*‘ Wars and invasions are-not always the most certain destroyers of Nation».

al prosperity. They announce their own approaclhsarrd the general security

is preserved by the general alarm. Not sopwithrthe evils of a debased coin, all ,
depreciated paper currency, or a depressed and falling public credit. Not so...

vvitli the plausible and insidious mischiefs ofa paper money siystle'rn.‘p They in-~
sinuate themselves in the shape of facilities, acconimodationfanld relief,

They hold out the most fallacious hope of an easy payment of debts, and la]

lighter burden of taxation. On these subjects ituis t'hva'l: government ought to.
excercise 1tB.OWIl- peculiar wisdom and caution. Itlis bound to forsee the evilf‘.
before every man feels it, and to take all necessary measures to guard against

it, although theymay be me-asuresattended with-some difliculty, and not with-~. l

out temporary inconvenience.” ‘ V ,

“I repeat the opinion, that it was the duty andvin the power ofthe Selcretaryw
of the Treasury, on the return of peace, to have returned to. the legal and”.
proper mode ofcollecting the revenue. a it it i it It can .,

hardly be doubted that the influence of the treasury could have effected all .

this.’ ’

“As to the opinion advanced by some-that.~the revenues cannot be collected l

otherwise than asthey are now, in the paper of any -and every banking asso-
-ciation which clioosesto issue paper, it cannot for a moment he adn'1ittiAed;-_-wt.
This would beat once giving up the government; for what is government-
without revenue, and what is a revenue that is gathered together in the.:v.ary-
hug, lluctuatiiig, discredited, ‘depreciated, and still falling promissory notes, of?
two or three hundred distinct, and; as to this government, irresponsible .ba_nk*—.
ing compines ; it cannot collectlits recemres in a better manner than a this, it"
must cease to be or g'one'rmnerzl.” i i

“Iftaxes be not necessary, they shouldnot be laid. Iflaid, they onlght: to.-
be collected without preference or partiality.."’ ‘ v “ l ~' a

Mr. Webster contlrmed to a very late date to vexpress similar opinions,
though his conduct, in the View of many, forms a singular contrasttto th'em.---—

At New York on the tifteenth ot'March last, he said: “I abhor paper ; that is,

to say, irredeemuble~ paper, paper that may not be converted into gold or sil-.
vet at the will ofthe holder.” Andmgain: “I hold this disturbance of tires
measure of value, and the means of p,~ayment,,and excha.n:ge, this d-erangementw
and it'll may so says, this violation of the currency to bewonel of the most un-l-
pardonable of political faults. I-Ia-who tarnpers with the: currency robs la»
bar of its bread. He panders indeed to greedy capital, which is keen sighted,
and may shift for itself; but he »beggars labor-,,which is ltonest, unsuspecting,

andtoo busy with the present to» calculate on the future. The prosperity of“

the worlting; class lives, moves, and has its being in establishlcd credit, and a-.
steady medium of paymen.t.~ All sudden changes destroy it. Honest in-
dustry. never comes in for any part of the spoils in that scramble which takes,-,.
place when the currency of a country is disordered. l Did wild schemes andgi.
1l.9rs),]ucts ever benefit the industrious? Didj irredeemable bank paperreveru
cnrihliv,the-llalrorious ?' 'D,id:violent; tluctuations even do good to him, who de-—.

pends on,lri.,s daily labor for his daily bread? , Certainty nevcls Arll these things.

may gratity, ,<;;'nediness.for suddengain, or the rashness oi? dar-ibg specula-

tion ; but they} can bring nothing but injury and distress to the homes Of PW-‘ pt
tient industry and; honest labor. ;Who are they that profit, by the present 
state ot'~things ? ']3he_y~,are»n,ot.the many». but the few. 'lhey ,are»specnlators,,., ,

brokers, dealers in moneys. and lenders. of money al3:_3XhQfblt‘5lF-Jet 7pint8f,€t_5l-l
Small capitalists are crushed, tliey have no longer either mamas or credit.

And all classes‘ hf labor parta-lte will m~.htB;1i partake-iin.th6i 333"”? ‘~‘l%l’&'mltiY&’’i , ‘d
‘On another occasion he described than “‘*‘ inisemlslel, a~ltsJnIinahlB,“ and frad'd--.».jp *

i silent policy whichnttompts to;giv~e valueitttol any paper o.fl‘anyW bavlla one slurs

26
gle. moment l-ongerthan such paper is redeemable, on demand, in geid and
silver.” ,He asserted that such paper ‘T representsnothing but broken prom-—
‘isles, bad" faith, bankrupt corporations, cheated creditors and aruined p-eoag-ale.”

While suchIprot'essions were yet ringing in the ears of the Arnerieant peo-
ple, itvras hardly toibe expected that the expounder would seconditllie in-~
surrectionary movements of his friends in Boston, New York, and‘? other
cities. Indeed, to dohirn justice, he hastoo much sagacity to suppose-«that
the yeomanry of'the‘country would commit treason for the rprivilegepofbeing
cheated with paper money. Accordingly, in his late speech at Cincinnati,
he stated explicitly that the administration, under existing circnmstances,_.
c,ouldtal~:e no other course than to exact specie. The city rebels, therefore,
disavowed by their leader, and having had time to meditate on the course and.
fate of. Shay’s rebellion, have thrown down their weapons, and disbanded-
They no- longer talk of forcible resistance, but they still rail at the Bank veto,
the removal of the deposits, and the specie circular, and oppose the sn~ppi°es—
sion of small bills ; while they justify the suspension of specie payments by
the banks, and advocate a National Bank. The remark of Fisher Amos, in
17,87 is not-out of date at the present time :  t

“ In spite of National beggary, paper money has still its advocates, and
probably of late, its martyrs. In spite of National dishonor, the continental
irnpost is still opposed with success. Never did experience“ more completely
demonstrate theiniquity of the one, and the necessity of the other. i But
in defiance of demonstration,, ltnaves .,“will continue to proselyte fools, and
to keep a paper money faction alive. The fear of their success-~ has annihi-
lated credit, as their actual success would annihilate proper-ty.’7’

A National Bank cures none of the evils of paper money banking, but en-r
hauces them all. It increases all the expenses of the systcrn,f'or the great
bank, being on a more magnificent ‘scale than any other, sets an example of
extravagance to all the rest which by degrees they follow. It vastly increases
the flmtuzitions of thecurrenc-y,f'or the smaller institutions bank upon its pa-«
per as they otherwise would upon specie; and as this paper is much more
easily obtained than specie, while the Bank is expanding, it makes the gen——
eral expansion more rapid ; and as it is moreisuddenly withdrawn than spew
cie, when the great bank contracts, it makes the general contraction more
sudden. It’ the State banks issued paper on aspecie basis, the fluctuations
of ihe papefcurrency would still be a great evil, but how much. greater must
be thefluctuation, when the basis itself is an elastic medium, which expands
when it oughtto contract, and contracts when it ought to expand. It of course
increases the dep1~eci,a.£»io7t,lwhich must be greater in proportion as the whole
amount of.paper out exceeds the specie. l r i

That such an institution fosters more than any other the spirit Oi‘8}98G*ll5ia.i'li()n
is too evident to needproof. The, larger the banlr, the more enormous will
be the speculations it occasions, randthese enormous speculations, deranging
prices, will engender innumerable smaller operations of a similartcharacter.
April 9th, 183:5, the loans of the mother bank, at Philadelphia, made that day,
were: V l l t l l . . r .

 

. In one loan over 0 l , $400,000 l a $417,766 «

4 loans notless than i . £200,000 1 l r 995,456

M 3 at, M cc, 6.“:  ££_ ‘N  hp  I . A 
19 A“. _“ ,»“‘-~ “ . p 50,000 i l , ~ 1,‘.Z74,8i8i?. ‘

. 7% “ p. ‘t‘, ‘* t ‘F i , 20,000 l .Q1,40/4,978
“ $5,434,111 r

~ leavingless than alt-enthipart this amount, $529,9°74 only, to be divided in‘

some less than twentythousiand dollars, among lallettherrest oftl1_elcoinniunity.w-

27

‘The speculations into which men launch with such 'facilities,‘.ter.imate inlbarzku
r-uptcics ofa proportionatemagnitude. , , it p _ , r r l
A national bank is the great parent offorgoryr. Small .banI2,;ar, having a 1mm}
~ci=rculatio,n, their bills are less extensively counterfeited, -because the" chance
ofdetection is greater, the fraud sooner becomes impossible, the field to oper--»
ate in is not so wide. From 1797‘ to l8l9,~ the prosecutions for counterfeit
notes of the Bank of England were nine hundred and ninety-eight ; the A-con-
victions were eight hundred and forty-three, of which threehundred and thir-
teen were capital. The counterfeit notes detected at the banlrlalo-ne, during
six years and three months of that. time, were .107,°288. one pound notes,
17,’78”'l'~two do., 5,896 “five do., 419‘ten do., 54 twenty do..=,r:35 above twenty‘
pounds. If more than twenty thousand a year areidetectcd at the bank, hour
shali we estimate the numbers detected elsewhere? , , ~ .
The verdict of history is decisive against nationallbanks. The Royal Bank
of'~France was one of the most flattering and fatal delusions. Never was
a financier more popular than John Law, its founder. Never was a country
more prosperous than France seemed before that bubble burst. An eminent
French writer of that time called the projector, “ a minister far above art
that the past age has ltnovvn, that the present can conceive, or that the future-
will believe.” All France was seized with a rage for speculation. i“ All
the world,” says Postletlnvaite, .“ ran to Paris.” 'I‘hm~e,tvgm half‘ 3m.g,1l1,im,
ofrnew corners in the city. Twelve hundred new coaches were set up... As
"fast as new blocks and streets could be built up, lodgizigs could not he lied.
The reaction shook. the social fabric to. its base. Gloom and despair were
an-mates with every household. Four hundred thousand fortuneshad? been
n-.crificed,~ and the State loadedritself with a specie debt of sirrteeu‘ lrandlred
as Id thirty-one millions of livres. Tine amount‘ of its paper in circulation. at
the time of the crashwas four hundred and nineteen millions of dollars, not
so much beyond our own paper circulation, in proportion to the population,
as the terms in which this bank is usually described would naturally in-iply,
while the specie thrown into the bank in M arch and April 17-‘£0 exceeded fifty-
six millions of dollars, an accession -of hard. money such as our banlrstnever
received, in so short a time. .r John Law died at Venice, in 1729, never re-»
linquishing for a rnornont the firmest conviction of the solidity of‘ his system,
the disastrous failure of‘ which heattributed entirely to the malice of’ his en-~
emies; and thousandsof his disciples entertained the same belief forrnany‘
*ears. . l - l ..
3 The present bank of France-«was established in 1803 ; and though, is~sning;
no small notes, its circulation is comparatively steady, yet it has twice pro-~
duced considerable distress ; in 1806, when it occasioned numerous failures,
and again int18l4, when it became so embarrassed that the government»
were obliged to limit its specie payments. i v r
_But the Bank of England is the model of Ainerican hanlters. xlts history
is full of instruction and Warning. In 1693, in the midst of national disasters
both the people and the ministry were weary of the war, which produced noth-
ing but disgrace, but which William was cibstinatelythent upon continuing.
He therefore brought in ,a_ Whig ministry, whom he expected to find tractable,

In

ypartlylfrom the ambition of being courted by the 'C«TOW_l’1, and partly from the-

prospect of gain from advancingmoney to the government. a .The.most scan-
dalous practices in the mystery of'_corruptionIwere at that time exercised in
grants, placies, pensions, and salaries to members, whereby the-I-louse of‘
Commons was so;.managed.tl1at. the king: -could quash all grievances, stifle the
examination of accounts, Tand~,del*'eat;~any ‘hill. .When, these practices were
exposed,-«rnere shame forced through ‘bothahouses aybilllvprforvrfree and irnparttial.
proceedingsinf pa.rlia*.ment,*. to which. bill, thanking, with the?<co«ncurrence" of

28% .
his Whig ministwy, to whose euxistencevcorruptionlwas essential, applied his:
veto. Corruption being thus perpetuated, a majority was secured‘ in both
houses, and the scheme of the Bank brought forward, and the charter grant-w
ed in;t1694. Its whole capital was a lean to the government ; its immediate-
object waste assistthe government in»: carrying on an unpopular war. lies ul---

timate effects -were distinctly foretold? by the opposition, but the power of“
' corruption prevailed. l - ’ ”

In about one year from —tlne date of the charter, the usual effects of paper‘
money had begun to be seri.ously felt.» ‘ “ The nation was alarmed by the cir-l
culation of fictitious wealth:-,. instead of gold and silver.” i Money sunlr, till a
guinea passed for thirty sl1il“li.ngs, and thispublic disgrace lowered the credit
of the government. In 1696.,“ such was the languishing state of the Bank,then
two years‘ old, that the government, instead-ef being supported by it, was com-
polled to support it. Its notes. were twenty per cent. below par; and to res-
cue it from impending barrikruiptcy, new subscriptions were ordered, payable
four fifths. in government tallies, and the taxes were mortgaged for the redemp-
tiom of the tallies. The charter was prolonged, and a monopoly vested in it;
theigoverament became responsible for the redemption of its bills; if was to-
tallyvexempted from taxation, and several other valuable privileges conferred

’ upon-suit. Thus was it snatched from the jaws of destruction, but instead of

sustaining the government, it had very nearly overwhelmed the government in
its own; ruin. To support:-who credit of the government through these diflicul-.
ties;it.heAtaxes were raised: immensely beyond all former precedent, the land
tax: being twenty per cent. on--the rental. These enormous taxes proving in--
sulificlientcw provision wasmade for raising about seven millions of dollars by
a lottery, and for an additional issue of Exchequer bills. Srnollett, a tory
historian.-,. thus comments on the Banlr, the lottery, and-“ the paper money.
‘~‘~One cannot, without astonishment, reflect upon the prodigious efforts that
were made upon this occasion, or consider without indignation the enormous
ffortunesthat were raised. up by usurers and extortioners, from the distresses of
their country. i The experi‘ment of mortgaging funds succeeded so well that
later ministers have proceeded in the same system, imposing burden upon
burden, as if. they thought the sinews of the nation could never be over

strained.” Hallarn, thexablest of Whig historians” and the friend and apolo- '

gist of the Bank, thus confirms the account. of the prevailing distress of
that ‘time. “Fresh schemes of finance were devised; and on the
whole, patiently borne» by a jaded people. The Bank of England rose
under the auspices of‘ the whig~ party, and materially 'ne’lieved the im--
mediate’ exigencesi of the government, while it palliataed the general
distress, by discotinting bills andélendingv money at an easier rate of interest.
Yet itsinot-es were depreciated twenty per cent. in exchange for silver; and
Exchequer tallies at least twice as..much, tillithey were funded at an interest
of eiglrt per cent- But these» resources generally falling very short of calculi-
latifltfnand being;antieipated£'at such an elihurbitant discount, a constantly in----
«e11ea;sing‘deficieI1cy arose; and public credit sunk so low, that about the year’
139.6: it was hardly..-possible to pay the fleet andarmy, fro-my monthtol month,
andéia total bankruptcy seemed‘"near at ‘hand. Certainly the vessel of our
Gbnirnonwealtlmihasgnever been-.~—.so closeto. sbiipwneclr as in this period; we
l.r,a.v.e seen the storrmragingi in still greatergterirorlrlound our heads, but with

far-stout-er planks and-' tough.er»cables..to confront dared’ ride through'it.” In, or

note~hea,cl’rln.tl1atthegpeace-of’ R.ys1»*ick.iitt"asabsolutely.necessary, “ lneca,-ns_e_
p,u,-bli,’c credits it1.Eng_.iend was.alniost anniihilsted, and it was -hardlly possible.-to ”

pay the army: The-emtreniet.distress.for tmoney-is forcibly displayed— in some

- éf the‘ ki:ng"s; lettelrs..;tmI:.o_rdtShnewsbury;,l ']_3_hese were ‘in 1696, thelivery nadir‘

of English psosperitjr.“ Inone=.of~‘thos:eletter.1:lJulyf .‘?.Otl1,jI6l96,>thelking
s.ays,_ “ at present, I see no. resource which caniprereutthc army f'tjpt{;_D'lutl£ls§§»'

29 V
“orttotal dcsertion.” Si‘uc'etl1erp‘t1,bli<:ation of "the S;br’e”'Wsbury letters ‘there
can be no doubt but that the inglorious peace or Ryswick was precipitated by
the derangement of the currency. , l l l I
Like causes produce like effects. ln 1819, our bank of the United States
had been two years in operation, and it had broug-lit us to the nadir, the low-
est point of depression, of our prosperity. It ca-’r.ne even nearer to tbani<ruptl-
cy than the Bank of England. The Treasury department had to prop it up,
and it mortgaged the government funds in its hands. The new Bank has had
less than two years enjoyment of" its new charter, “ SAFER, STRONAGER,
AND IVIORE PROS'PE.ROi.lS 'I‘l*lAN IT EVER VVAS,” said Mr. Bid-
tile, yet it has brought us down to the nadir, ‘or very near it, again; and not
having the treasury to lean upon for support, except -as to the seven or eight
ernillions ol" dollars it withholds, it has now c:o1nrr‘xitted bankruptcy.
V As the troubles of the year M596 have been in part attributed to the change
of the metallic currency, by calling in all clipped ‘and worn money, and sub‘

V stituting coin of’ full value, it may be interesting to know how prices were afi-

fected by the Bank of Eriglaritl in longer periods of itsexistence,t for which no
temporary cause can be appiicd. To ascertain this, we take, the article of’
wheat, bot.h because the prices are well known, and because the cheapness of’
bread is more essential to the comfort and to the subsistence of the people,
than that of any other article. i l l t

It appears that for seven years before 1698, the price of wheat at Oxford
averaged twonty—eiglit shillings eleven pence, while, for the next seven years
«it averaged fifty--two shillings and four pence, on adcarzceo of eighty-o‘ne per
cent. It” the alteration of the metallic currency had produced any effect, sub»
stituting coin of full weight for the clipped, the price of wheat would have
fallen, instead of rising. Nor was this a war price, for in 1697 came the
peace of‘ Ryswiclt, and the price was rnuch higher fbr that and the next two
years of peace, than for the three previous years of war. The issues of
bank notes raised the price; but after the currency had adjusted itself to the
business of” the country by the paper driving out an equal quantity of coin,
prices fell again, and continued for about sixty years to average a little more
than thirty shillings a quarter. but when smaller notes were issued, they rose
again. _ l p p
In the great expansion of bankxissues which followed the suspension of
specie payments the price rose in proportion as the notes increased. For ten
years before 1798 the average price of wheat at Oazlord was fitity-one
shillings, four and a half’ pence. The run upon the Bank took place in 1797
and that year and the next the price was falling. But for the next ten years
after 1798 it averaged eigli1ty~two sliillings and five pence; and in the next
ten‘ years, from 1809 to 1818, it averaged one hundred and seven shillings
and seven pence being considerably more than double the average before
specie payments were suspended, and indeed an advance of inure ilzoal one
hundred and nine per cant. i ‘ l l .

In the year 1817,, when the circulation of the Bank of England was at the
higliest point, being thirty millions of pounds sterling, instead of eleven mil-—
lions as it had been before the suspension of specie, payments, the average
price of wheat was onehundrcd andtwenty-f'our_shillings, or more than four‘
times what it; was before the bankicomrnencnd its operations., ‘ l 1 p i ._ ; I

Frprneithe year 1797 to 1817, the metallic currency of the world l,lt1(l.Sllgl~1ii¢*
l y diminished, while the business to be transacted had greatly inclrpeased; prices
ought tlterefbrc to have fallen, instoadlof rising. , Itrnprolvemepnts in, 'Agr1cul—-
ture had more thanlkcpt pace, with the inc_rea?se_of population; for thrsfeasen
also the prices of wheat ~sho~nld have fallen. , ~VVar,norCl0t1.btiraisos the price, but
the war was raging in 1794 and 1795 trhentbe plricewas under fifty shillmgsg

30 »

and thecountry was at peace in 1817 when the price was one hundred and
twenty-t-f'our shillings. 4Com laws gobut little‘ way to account for the fluctua‘-—
tions, they must be mainly owing to bank paper. 0 r
Compare the circulation of the bank, and the price of wheat for a few
years, and see whether you can doubt that they are cause and eflect. The:
circulation of bank notes i ‘
i in 1787 was £8,688,570 wheat was 493. 9d.
1790 “ 10,917,360 “ “ 5'7 10
1795 ° “ 13,589,160, “ “ 77 5
I805 “ ' 18,397,880‘ “ “ 106 -—-
15-3lO “ 21,000,000 “ " H6 92
1817’ “ 30,099,908 “ - “ 153-4 -'-- .
After Parliament had determined in 18-19 that the bani: should resume

specie payment, it began to diminish its circulation, whichwas brought down _

to 3,518,000,000, a lesssum, in proportion to the business done, than the tcircu-«
latiorx of 1795. Accot'dit1gly wheat fell, and for ten years after 1819 itave-~
t‘a,g:.ecl seventy shillings. As thirty millions are to eighteen millions, so are
one ‘hundred and twenty-Four shillings to seventy-—f‘our sliillirigsz so-that wheat!
fell more than banknotes diminished, the increased business to be done giving
a liiglier value to money. r i y

“ The average money price of corn regulates more or less that of all other
commuditi,es,”4says Adam Smith; we may judge‘ then what universal disw

‘tress this bank produced by raising prices. VVe arenot left to conjecture the

effects, they are matter ofrecord. The years 1819?. and 1817’ are the two years
in which wheat reached the highest price it had borne for nearly six centuries,
since the great famine of the year 1.2270. These were two years when the
taxes were comparatively light, particularly 1817. In 1815, for instance,
the taxes were £'79,948,67D, while in 1815!, they were .£70,4.°35,679, and in
1817’, they were only .£55,836,‘25'7. The distress which existed then was
produced by the high price‘ of wheat, in spite of leg/tteo~ tazzration. Yet M r.
Huskisson singled out these two years, as those in which the pressure was
most severe. l These were his words: “ if distress bordering upon famine,
til‘ misery bursting forth in insurrection, and all the other symptoms of‘ wretch-—
edness, discontent, and difficulty, are to be taken as syrnptorns of" pressure
upon the people; then I should say, thatl181‘2 and 1817 were two years, of"

t which no good man can ever wish to witness the like again.’’‘'’'‘‘ i

Thushasthis inst1tut1ontah;e.n thebread out of the mouths of‘ the poor,

J literally and fatally. V In Barton’s poor law tables the connection is shown be»
t  tweemthe high price ofswheat and the increase of mortality. In seven nian-

ufactnrino; districts in Erigland, when wheat was 1183. 3d. there were 55,905
deaths in a year : three years later, when wheat had ‘Fallen to 608. 1d. there
were but 44,794 deaths in -the sameldistricts. An extensivecoinparrison be-
tween prices and mortaljiav demonstrates the fact, that nothing tends more to

9!

prolothg the average duration of life than the cheapness of good wholesome

thread. indeed proof of this truth is before us all, in the extraordinary lon- T

ggetviity of thelinhabitants of the agricultural villagestof New England. p
r Sin and Death are nearly ‘related. VVhat has been the effect of the Bank
of England on crime y? The year. 1317 wasthat in which the amount of

Bank notes was greatest, and that year is as distinguished in the annals opt‘ p

the criminal law as in the history of‘ the Bank. 0 In the year t18'l’7,the,num-
’.her of criminal prosecutions suddenly‘ rose from about 8000 to about 14000 $3»

'.the number of‘ persons ‘condemnedi to icleath, from 890 to 130%! ; of persons
1:.rans"ported to New Holland‘,-front“ 1054 to 1734.“ Want ofttemployrripentt, pov-,~ ‘

erty, and hunger,‘ all t-springing from high pfrices, and the tderanged <;urrenC)',.
T  T - I - '0 ’ * Speech on Mr. \7\’4e:ttern«’s,tmo'tion, June 11,1822.’  1 T = ~ it  *

l

31

Wlcaused these additional crimes. In June 18523, after the resumption of spe-

d relic‘: payments,_ Sir Robert Peel made the followingrstatements to parliament.
In 1817, seven out of nine of the manufacturinglclass were unemployed ; in
1823, none. In Sheffield, the poor rates in l18,.°.’.0 were £36,000 ; in 1823,
tO'fll_Y £153,000. In 1817 there were 1600 houses empty; in 189.3 none. In
‘Birmingham, in 1817, ol'84000 inhabitants, 27,500 received aid from thepoor
zfund; athird part of the workmen had no occupation; the remainder were
«only halt‘ employed; the poor rates amounted to about £60,000. In 189.8,
all the workmen were employed; the poor rates amoiunted to only £920,000.
The weekly pay of weavers, which in 1817 had sunk to three shillings and
tltreerpence, now rose to ten, and sometimes to sixteen shillings- The exports
had increasecl, and disturbances ceased. ' l

The mode in which paper money fluctuation, such as the Bank of England
begiete, grinds the independent poor into pa1lpt;‘l‘lt-5l"I’1 has been fully explained
already. British pauperistn is the ofi'spring of the Banlt. rTl'1cre were not
"two hundred tlmueand paupere, in England and Wales, when the Bank lieguti
to grind: in 1810 there were twelve hundred tliouea.m,1, and the 1331,}; p3~mum»}
harder, after that. The poor rates were but small in the time cl‘ King "Wilt
liarn, but in 18527 they were about thirty—eight millions of dollars.

The madman who scatters fircbrantle, arrowe, and death, and says am Inot
in eport, ie innocent and lovely cornpared with the monster that inflicts tllese
rnisertes on the .Bi'itiel1 people. It sucks the blood frotn their veins, the mar-
row from their bones: it makes them bond slaves, and mocks at. their unpaid
toil, till exhausted nature sinks into an early grave. It is such an incarnation
of active, all pervading, unrornitted cruelty, that our rnushroornwhig nobility.
worship; that they desire to ace enthroned over us; and upon whose altar
they are ready to sacrifice the properties, morale, lives, and liberties: ot"Amer-
ican citizens.

The Bank of‘ Erigland has gene,rally had no actual capital, no not at far-
thing, For the purposes of trade. Its loans andpadvanccs to the governrnent
have, during almost the whole of its existence, exceeded its whole capital; so
that it VVl'illgS from the people, by the machinery of" paperrnoney, the whole
of that innnenec Wealth, on which its stockholder.e fatten; and il'1l‘Ol1gll which
it has eonietirnes been, to use the ezkzpreeeiour of one of its friends, “ strong:
etlflllgll to take the government on its shoulders.” In such precarious strengtlr
there is inherent weakness; and the bank is more likely, ultimately, to bury
the governtnentin ita ruins, as it threatened to do in .1696, and again in 1707...
‘With the Bank, begun the funding system: hand in hand with the Banlt,‘ den-
“pendenton it, and groiwing out of it, the funding; systern lltits advanced. Like
the Siarneee twine, they have one cornrnon breath of lite; i-3ept'tra.‘te them, and
they perish. “.'l‘l1e practice of fundirig,” says Adam Smith, “ lies graduttlly
enfeebled every . State which has adopted it.” . He instances the Italian Re--
publice, Genoa, Venice, Spain, France, and the United Provinces, and adde,
“ Is it likelythat in Great Britain alone, a practice, which has brorrglit either
weakness or desolation into every other country, should prove altogether in-
nocentim Since Smith wrote this (in 1776) that explosion haetaken place in
}7‘.rance, which made all nations quake with t’ear,--M-an explosion, which would
never have happened, but for the practice of funding: the British debt
is quadrupled: «ie the practice of" funding less likely now to bring desolation
upon GreatiBritain? , . ; « i _, , 0 . _ t 

The United Statics had one fair experiment of paper money at the: outset-
of their national exietence.* An eye witness, Mr. Pelatiah lWebeter epeake
time, first ofits euppoeed advantages, and at'terw.arde .ot'ite real evile. l“~’fl‘horxgh_.
men of all de.ecri.pti‘one. atoodytremhling tbetbre. this .moneter of‘ force, without:
daring to lil_',t_,a. hand agoinetxit, during nllthie period (from 1776 to 1781) yet

tia-

.. 
its unrestrained ._energy allways proved i'nefl‘ect.‘ual‘to itspurposes, but in 
rery case increased the evils it was designed “to rernedy, and dest=t*oye'd.e‘tlie'..
benefits it was intended to promote: at best its utmost effect was like ‘that of
water sprinlrled on a blacl<smith’s forge, which irrdeed, deadens the flame fqp‘-‘
a moment, but never fails to increase the heat and flame of the inte1'n*al"fii'ei..,,
Many thousand families oflfull and easy fortune, were ruined by these fatal‘
measures, and lie in ruins to this day, without the-least benefit to the co¢untry,.
or to the great and noble cause in which we were then engaged.” He enu-
-merates the ~sufierings incident to the war, the "exorbitant price of" foreign.
?_'.é_)_,'t)OdrS, the extreme scarcity of'rnany necessary articles, such as salt, the total,
wcessation ofinany trades for want ofmaterials, the seizure ofgoode, wagons,-i
"St()Ci{, grain, cattle, timber,-and every thing else jwhich was wanted for the
public service, the captures, ravages, and depredations, the burnings, and
plunders Oi‘-tile enemy, which were very terrible and expensive. “ They had
pn.~3s:ee.-sion, first or last, in the course of the war, of eleven of the capitals oi’
the thirteen States, pervaded the country in every part, and left dreadful
tra‘cks oftheir marches behind: burningiin cool blood a great number, not
only ot” houses, barns, mills, SLc., but also of most capital towns and villages.”
Yet all these evils he testifies vvere less ‘than those of‘ continental 1'noney-.
"‘ ‘We have suffered more from this caiise” he says, “ than from every other
“cause of calamity: it has killed more men, pervaded and corrupted the choi—'~
cest interests of our country more, and done more inj'=ustice than even the

i arms, and artifices of our enemies.” “ While we rejoice in the riches and

strength of our country, we have reason to lament with tears of the deepest
regret, the most pernicious shifts of property which the irregularities of our
finances introduced, and the many thousands otifortunes which were ruined by
it; the ,g*cnci'otz-.9, prttriotéc spirits srgffcrerl the izzj-wry; the idle (zml avaricious
rlerizyrd the bem.:fi.t_fr-pin the colt/irt.sio.n..” This was written at the very period of
the dtieeznlution of the continental currencysystem, while the people were yet
srnarting under its torments, the remembrance of which had so much power
over the lfathere of‘ our constitution, that they deliberately and etc-rnly RE»-
FUSED TO ENCORPORATE IN THAT INSTRUMENT’, ANY
LICiE.'NS,E TO THE FEDERAL. GO‘VERNl\«IENT TO CREATE
ANY CORE’0i.l‘{AT[ON, LEST U'.NDEiR'. “SUCH A LICENSE THEY
IVIIGHT CHARTER A NATIONAI. BANK.

It is natural to imagine that government paper which depreciateseridrilenly,
‘and then becomes worthless, is an evil much more terrible than _a.Nationa‘l
Bani: with its ever fiuctuating currency. Not so. A sword cut,or a grin
robot vvound, however appalling, yet if it heals or kills, is less‘~to,be dreaded, than
“to be stretched daily on the rack for years", to perish in the torture at last. Law’.~3
Bank and Miseiss»-ipi Scheme, the South Sea Bubble, Assignlats, and Conti-,
nontal money, niarked their course with wide destruction, but they had their

‘end. The ‘victims who survived recovered, others filled the places of the fal- '

wlen, and a new career of prosperitytcommenced; but when will England

:-eliztlte off’ the Incubus of her National Bank? A paper money explosion, even ,

lltilre the most awful on record, is far less to be deprecated than the perpetual
wrong, injury, and tyranny of a. perpetually flixctiutting. paper currency; even
as the fire that sweeps the prairie, but leaves the soil rich for a fresh vegeta-
tion, is less fatal than the eternal. curse of barrenness on Sodom and Gomorrah.

Nothing can prevent a mixed currency partly of paper, from becoming sue
perabundant, and consequently depreciating. Nothing can prevent such a
mixed currency from fluctuating, and the larger the proportion ofpaper, the
greater will be the fluctuations. ~

A National “Banl«:, or any other banks, issuing small bills, unrcetrictedly, .
must sooner or later stop specie payment: its paper then becomes irredeemable

ll

(7)..
lfiur " ,' , . '  . ‘J3 
,p,a,p_er<,whvrcl1 even the whig oracle abhors. This result is not accidental, it. is
:,cert”ai'n' and necessary: it is the inherent vice of the system. During" the last

__,-l'orty'years, the Bank of England llaS,1‘t%fllS€Li payment in specie txterrty-six

. horrence. ”

C it overshadows the empire.
C five rnillions of dollars.

9*generatioinr,.being.mortgaged to pay the interest.

years, and, the Banks of the United States generally have violated their obli-
gations twice. The first suspension was brought to an end by totally breaking
-up a largeproportion of those institutions. I-Iowthe present bankruptcy will
terminate, we do not know. .  l v
t I sayrnothiing of the Government Banks on the Continent of Europe, such
as the banks of Petersburgh, Copenhagen, Vienna, 810., because thefriends
Vofa National Bank among us have nothing to say for these. rThey admit
them all to be miserable l'ailures. Their only favorite model is the Bank of
England, which has issued irrcdeernable paper about half of the time since
the United States had a Banking system. “ A bank not to pay specie,” said
Mr. Calhoun in 1816, “ would be an instrument of deception; it would have
no character or feature of a banlt. He should regard it with disgust and ab-
Such a bank is the great bank in Pennsylvania, and such are
the lesser banks. Small bills and specie payments, for any “length of years,
are incompatible. Let banks issuing srnallbills set out with what professions
they may, to this complexion they must come at last: sooner or later, they
will be banks not to pay specie. ,  
No art, wisdom, or power of man can prevent irredeemable paper from de-
preciation. The promise ofgolcl, however slightly doubtful, is worth less than
gold itself; but nothing can m-alto a promise known to be false, equal to a
promise believed to be true. The severest penal laws could not prevent gain»
eas from selling at twenty-eight, and even thirty shillings, in bank . notes,
while the Bank of England violated its promises. Congress passed an act of

it outlawry (January 11, 1776) and other threatening declarations, against those

who refused continental bills at par: this did not keep them at par. Danton
and Robespierre unclcrtoolt to sustain the value of the assignats, the revolu-
tionary money of‘ France. First, they decreed a long imprisonment to those
who should take, pass, or oflier assignats below their nominal value; then they
fixed a price on all the necessaries of life, and punished with death those who,-
having such articles for sale, refused to sell them at the legal price in assignats:
but the terrors of the dungeon and the guillotine proved insufficient, though
unsparingly employed, to give value to a worthless paper. The fear of death,
then, cannot check the depreciation of irredeernable paper.

If we sum up inone grand total all the woe to which paper money banl -
ing, and the over-extended system of credit growing out of it, have given birth,
we shall pronounce itto be the most tremendous of the plagues which the
Almighty in his wrath has suffered to afliict degenerate men. Neither war,
nor pestilence, nor famine, ever, for so long a time, spread desolation over
so large a portion of the earth. What now paralizes the energies of Great
‘Britain? Her National Debt, which originated with the Bank, -grew with its
.-growth and strengthened with its strength, is a part of‘ the same system, and
without its aid could never have swelled to the collossal dimensions in which
When the bank commenced, the debt was about

four thousand millions of dollars; the sinews of’. the poor, fromigeneration to

which I enumerated in speaking of the banks of Massachusetts, are but a

drop ‘from that fountains of [bll'.li®1‘Il'eS$, the preposterous extension of a fictitious l C

credit, which hasgdelugedllltlaesiworld with miseries. View the Bank and the

. . fu.ndin,g»syst.emrtogether, tllll?leI.‘irl~eombined operation, and -see “what the abuse
aof’,credit,’through‘lfiotitiousfspaprer, has don;e~*f'or rnankind. What enabled
  p l . r     n 3 ’ r r . l

p p The object of the creation of the bank was to inw
-«crease the debt, which it manages for the government, and which is new about

The burthens and~taxesi, ‘l

- 34.
Great Britain to carry on wars ruinous to her own l£”.li(3I'tI‘;'rT~iE?, destructive of
her own liberties, and fatal to the welfare of the hui.na.n race, for one halfithe
period from the accession of" King ‘Williarn to the downfall of Napoleon?
Paper credit ; whereby the ministry of’ the day could not only exhaust the
resources of the nation, but beggar posterity, building up that National Debt
which is the most stupendous phenomenon of modern times; perhaps, in the
world’s whole history. Not Napoleon in his march on _Moscow, with that
carnival of horrors, thegretreat, gave so many corpses to the wolves and vul-

tures, as paper credit. Neither Alarih, nor Attilla, nor any other scourge of‘

God, ever struck down so many heads, or glutted lijs revenge with so vast a
havoc, or left behind him such wide spread devastation.

If France, in 1789, had had no debt, France might liave been free and’
happy, without a bloody revolution, and the long years of succeeding agony,
‘Who stimulated and kept aiivethe wars that grew out of’ the French R.evolu'-
tion, wherein three millions of" human lives were sacrificed? England. How
did she sustain those wars? By her paper credit. It was paper credit that
held out through tWenty—three years oi‘ carnage, and at last conquered at-
Vlfaterloo. It is a stool: corporation, existing by credit, and operating througlr
credit, that has “ sold every monarch, prince, and State, in India, broken ev-
ery contract, and ruined every prince, and every State who had trusted tl.18l1"i?,’i’l"’
that has bestrown that whole Empire with the bones of slau,ghte1'ed , millions,
turning their temples into charnel houses, and making their Eden a Golgotha.
It was paper credit that waged war eight years upon the liberties, and rising
Independence of America. It  paper creditthat rivets the tetters of Ireland,
and tightens the ligatnres which choclr the circulation of the British Er1:zpi1'e"s
life blood.

Napoleon Bonaparte is said to have predicted, at St. Helena, that the next.
general convulsion of’ Europe would be a confleigration ot" paper credit.
When that catastrophe hefals the insolvent governments of the old world‘,
when the National Debt of England, “ incurred one half‘ in pulling down the
Bourbons, and the other halt‘ in setting them up,” explodes, and blows up
with it the bank, the East India Company, and the Governincnt, while the
debts of the-Continent topple down with the shoclc, will not the contest over
the wreck be fiercer than the inemorable reign of terror, in proportion as
greater interestsi are at stake, and greater riurnlm-rs implicated? It seems
that elements exist to forni a crisis  nnicli more terrible than the last, as the
battle of Devils conceived by the genius of Milton c:»;ccods in sublimity the
ordinary conflicts of men. n l i

It is time to return li'om these’ sperulations to our’ own peculiar perils.
‘y-‘ Let the Americans,” said William tfitt, “ adopt their funding system, and
go into tlieir Banking llnstitutions, and their boasted Independence will lieirri
mere phantom. r ' p , i 

Could VVilliam Pitt have for-cseen, tliiat in about sirrty years :t"rom'our. Inde-

pendence, We should have eight hundred and twenty-three banks, whose...

loans Wouldexceed five hundred and ninety millions of dollars? , Could he":-

have foreseen that these banks would issue their bills to the amount of one-
hundred and eigihtyafitre millions, and then, in l‘/.iay 18.“3"7,i stop payment, andr

continue to flood the country with irreizleeinable paper I’ , Could behave fore-~
seen that a British banking house (the bearings‘) would in their circulars.;des-~
cribe, truly describe, the contest between the Banks and their privileges one

the one hand, and the People and their libertieson the other, as..a contesit,ihe4,L .
tween the Aristocracsyiofwealth, and the Democracy of numbers; ‘anid~that_i1ni»

this contest, an institution modelled after tliepflafnlt of England, and glargely"
owned by British stoclthold.ers., would lead the iB,fan1-;lii interest; Wl7illQ'$l1'€" De-4~

=== Edmund Burlte;  2 

ct)“

. «JD
rnocracy »ol'nurnhers would sustain the Governrnent, and the Ccinstitution of

, their country P Could he have foreseen that rnerchants, having _a deep stake in

rthe preservatironlef order, would threaten rather to rebel, than pay their dues
to the government, while they could find plenty of specie to export in England;
..and_ that the government would he called on, in every form of entreaty and
menace,‘ toallow the whole pasis of our circulation to be withdrawn {rein us,
and to tiowilfifoin the ‘West to the Atlantic cities, and thence across the ocean,
leaving our banks, .and our people,/to certain ruin, in order that the Bank of
,Engll.an,d:rnigl1t,‘noit be compelled to suspend specie payments P Could he
hav.e,foi'eseen that for the benefit oflilngland a new doctrine would he advan-
-ced'piti Arnerica, that ‘“‘ the truth is the Banks ofthe United States are always
‘the, S.TRONGEST when they hold the LEAST SPECIE, and the country
.atlways the..,Rl.liCI~:U£‘.S'i‘ when it has the LEAST GOLD AND SILVER?”
lit’ he foreysaw «all this, no wonder he anticipated that Banks would one day
reduce our ho“as~te»d Independence to a mere phantom. ‘
His Forebodings will not, however, he realized. Our government is a pop...-
ular government. VVith us, the will ofthe people is sovereign, and it is not
the will ofthe people to barter their l)ii'tlu'igl'it for a mess ofpottage. Though
gthey'.heli;ev,ied_all the prornises ofadvantage which Banks hold out, promises

”‘iiJl]iCl1 the h;is;tory of'other nations, and the e.x:pei~ienc.e of‘ their own, have.

shown to he delusive, yet Liberty and Independence are blessings too dear
toi,the.i:r1 to be ~wieig,ii.e.rd in the balance with wealth. W’liat shall it profit a man
it'he gain thewliole world, and lose his own soul P The slaves of filthy lucre,
who prize it..;aboverLiher't.y, niutt liave sold themselves, body and soul, into

the servyiee of the God ot"tliei-r idolatry; but the American people cling to
their soul’s freedoni.

To del.iv.ei- us from thraldom to the banks, a sound currency is indispensa-

, hie. There are in the world more than four li.l1OL1Sfl3I}lCi millions of dollars

rworth ofgold and sil,Ver, eoinecl and uneoinocl, taken together. Of’ this, we
want sixty rni.llions only, in addition to what we now have, to give us ac-.11ri-en..
ey as solid as that of" France, which is «nine tenths specie. A tenth ofour ex-
ports would pay for it in six years; Ifwe will it, we shall have it. It must
l.,ae5",hacl. The war against ahhorred paper must. go on, till i..iherty is trium...
'pha‘nt. ‘

What t_l1ougl1't:l'1e monster we assail towers in portentous prepo1'tions, and

 frowns upon “us with a '."'earl"ul aspect P It  hut an unholy in'iage of Mom-

rnon. Its presen»ee defiles the 'li‘etnple of Iiiherty, wlience its fraggrnents shall
soon be cast out, for  discomlant materials are shatterecl and tumbling. Its
impudent forehead ofhrass, and its base tent of play, its hollow earcase
rstutfed with worthless rags, by whose *e.\'pnnsion it hursts asunder, like the
Bahylonish dragon, under whose table those that knew the privy doors enter-
edgcorrtinually, and devoured the expenses of an Fmpire. 

Let. the ban dogs refraction howl : taiigless now, their malice is impotent.
A great fieople is conscious ofits rights and power. Calmly majestic, it gatl1-

ers its sti*iei1gtl1 and rises to overturn, smite, and demolish, wliatever the spin-l

itpofoirrinstitutions cannot tolerate. Rzisliiiiiss shall not rule the hour, nor
an a/venging fury confound innocence with ,_guilt; but the in'l,le:x'ihle (;leterrnin~
.:atioi1.of'"virt:1ous wisdom sliall earry on ret’orm, till her wart"are be utterly ac-
-t”'.t)1T1pl?iSl1eLl. ‘Then when the proud hea1'ii3g ofpaper feudality is humbled, the

izhoarseitliroatiot' a.nareliy,siil.eneecl, and popular sovereignty sways over all

the sceptrepotieqi.1al _ii1stl,ieeh,-iytheti may we exult in the security, eternal, as
t"ar"“aspl1.n”i11an t"oresigl1t'i rteael‘1i3l‘s;;}l??:‘oif' Ar1'1erican liberty, Union, and lndepem

 d.e.neet ,.