UCSB LIBRARY 
 
 REMARKS 
 
 3IR. PORTER, OF LOUISIANA, 
 
 THE REMOVAL OF THE DEPOSITES 
 
 DELIVERED 
 
 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 25, 1834. 
 
 WASHINGTON : 
 
 PRINTED BY GALES AND SEATON. 
 1834. 
 

REMARKS. 
 
 Mr. PORTER addressed the Senate as follows : 
 
 I do not wish, Mr. President, to take any part in the contest between- 
 the two Senators from North Carolina, in which we have witnessed so 
 much sharp shooting; and I hope, at all events, not to draw on me the 
 fire of the honorable Senator from Georgia, (Mr. FORSWH,) who, with 
 a skill and fertility which have excited my surprise and admiration, has, 
 for the last eight weeks, found topics of consolation for all the variety of 
 distress which has sought relief here, and, at the same time, has mixed 
 with that consolation something very different indeed for those who have, 
 on this floor, been the medium by which the sufferings of the people 
 have reached this body. 
 
 The principal reason I have for addressing the Senate is to inform it 
 of such facts as have come to my knowledge in regard to the people of 
 Louisiana, so far as their condition has been affected by the late acts of 
 the General Government in relation to the public deposites. As, how- 
 ever, the discussions which have arisen here each day, for the space of near- 
 ly two months, on the presentation of memorials, may be properly regarded 
 as rather a debate on the state of the Union, than on the mere topics- 
 connected with these memorials, 1 trust I shall be pardoned if I look a 
 little beyond the mere facts, and give some of my attention to the causes 
 of the disease, and to the remedies by which it may be alleviated. 
 
 While, however, on the threshold of this subject, and before I enter 
 into it, I must disclaim all intentions of treating this as a party question r 
 I have heard it repeatedly said it was one of that kind, and I am afraid 
 it is so regarded by many. I deplore such a state of things, for it is 
 unfavorable to the investigation of truth. The question, too, involves 
 considerations far above the interests of political aspirants it is of a 
 deeper and much more serious character, it touches the fortunes antf 
 happiness of millions ; and the American people, I am sure, will not 
 permit that a matter of such vital importance to their interests shall be 
 debated and adjudged on party grounds. If they ever become impress- 
 ed with the conviction that it is so, it will rouse to madness feeling* 
 now repressed by a hope that their sufferings will receive a dispassionate 
 examination. If, therefore, any thing which has heretofore transpired 
 on this floor gives color to the assertion that this is to be made a party 
 question, I hope that the future course of our deliberations will show it 
 to be a mistake. A gentleman of this body quoted to me the other day, 
 in conversation, a remark of one of the most sagacious statesmen or 
 Great Britain, and, at the same time, one of the strongest party-men of 
 his day, that " money was neither Whig nor Tory." So should it be 
 here, neither Jackson nor anti-Jackson. More especially should such 
 a doctrine be repudiated when great public distress exists, and when the 
 
protection of the capital and industry of the country depends on the 
 soundness of our decision. 
 
 Akin to this objection, which relates to party, we have been told by 
 the honorable Senator from Georgia that our real cause of complaint, 
 after all, was the popularity of the President of the United States. Sir, 
 I have not heard any such complaint on this floor, but, if it had been 
 made, I am not sure that it may not be a grievance of which we may 
 complain. A certain degree of popularity is required in every Presi- 
 dent, in order that he may be able to carry into effect those measures 
 which are necessary for the public weal; but an inordinate popularity, 
 which stifles inquiry and obscures a search after truth, is justly to be 
 deprecated, and when carried so far as to defeat legislation called for by 
 the people, it becomes a serious matter for complaint. The taunt, there- 
 fore, of the honorable member from Georgia might have been spared, 
 unless he was prepared to show that the acts, which the popularity of 
 the President obstructed, were unwise and hurtful. He has not done 
 so, and he is not, I presume, to be understood to say that popularity in 
 itself is a thing to be admired and respected. In my estimation it proves 
 nothing as to the merits of the possessor, if the power it confers be not 
 used for sage and beneficent purposes. 
 
 But, sir, I go further ; and I say that, not only may the popularity of a Pi e- 
 sident,when used in a certain manner, be a just cause of complaint, but, 
 in my judgment, it is a great, a very great misfortune for any people to 
 have at the head of their Government an extremely popular man ; be- 
 cause it is a necessary consequence of such a popularity, in a free coun- 
 try, that there exists no adequate check on the errors of his administra- 
 tion. I make this observation, not merely in relation to the present Pre- 
 sident of the United States ; it w r ould be equally true, and as readily said 
 by me of any other individual who might fill the office, if he exercised 
 the same influence the present incumbent does over the public mind. It 
 is impossible that any man can fill the Presidential chair, and have to 
 deal with all the delicate and embarrassing questions which grow out of 
 the conflicting interests of the different portions of this vast republic, and 
 not commit errors. The constitution and the laws presume he will fall 
 into them. They have aided him by constitutional advisers ; and they have 
 appointed to him constitutional checks. Well, sir, how stands the case 
 with the present Chief Magistrate ? I suppose it is not offensive to say 
 that he is but a man, and that he may have committed errors since he 
 was elected. Nay, that in all the matters which have come before 
 him, it would be more than a miracle if he had not committed many. 
 And yet such is the effect of his popularity, that it is generally believed 
 he has committed none. Whatever he has done has been right, and, had 
 it been otherwise, I have no doubt that, on the same principle, the sound 
 staunch men of the party would also have said it was right ay, too, and 
 would have induced the people to think it was right. There is no action 
 performed by him, since he came into power, which has not been defend- 
 edjustified applauded. Whenever "he has taken the responsibility," 
 the people have followed in his train, until things have come to such a 
 pass, that he is spoken of as the head of the Government of another coun- 
 try is spoken of he can do no wrong ! 
 
 Do not the facts belonging to the question we are now debating prove 
 
beyond doubt the truth of these views ? Is there a man on this floor who 
 has said, or will say, that he would have given advice to the President 
 to remove the deposites ? Is there any one who does not believe that it 
 would have been better to have delayed taking so important a step until 
 Congress could meet ? I doubt if such a man can be found ; at least / 
 have met with no one, since my arrival here, who considers the measure, 
 under all its circumstances, correct. And yet, because it has been done 
 by Andrew Jackson, it is a measure of wisdom, of prudence, and of great 
 public utility. The war cry of party is raised ; and virtuous men, who, 
 apart from its influence, would not hesitate to acknowledge the error, nor 
 fail to correct it, are drawn by their feelings 10 seek a justification for it.. 
 That justification cannot be found, for it does not exist ; but, in lieu of it, 
 we are called upon here to witness, day after day, the best efforts which 
 vigorous minds can make to obscure the true question, and draw public 
 attention from the real point in dispute. Nay, on this floor, the act is 
 lauded it is one of Roman virtue and of Roman wisdom ! ! ! And, worse 
 than all, the language of reproach is resorted to, and men are denounced 
 because they call in question its wisdom and its justice. I leave it to 
 gentlemen to reflect whether this be a healthy state of public feeling. I 
 put it to them to consider if it be consistent with public utility that such 
 idolatry should be displayed in regard to any individual, and whether it 
 be safe to habituate the people to pass by Congress, and look to the Pre- 
 sident as the source from which all legislation should flow. If they think 
 so, why then they are right to sustain even this act ; but, if they think 
 with me, that it is better to acknowledge the President is but a man, and 
 that he may err, no fitter occasion can arise than the present, to make an 
 oblation of party feeling to the best interests of the republic. 
 
 In giving to the Senate such facts as have come to my knowledge, 
 touching the influence which the late measures of the President and his 
 Secretary have had on the money market in our State, and the price of 
 our staple productions, sugar and cotton, it becomes my duty to frankly 
 state that I am greatly surprised that our section of the republic should 
 have suffered so much as my advices assure me it has. The Senate, too, 
 I am certain, will share in my surprise, when I state that the nominal 
 banking capital of the city of New Orleans, independent of that employ- 
 ed there by the Bank of the United States, is twenty-seven and a half 
 millions of dollars ; that, of this immense amount, all has been paid in, 
 as the phrase is, save perhaps three millions of dollars. The far greater 
 part of this capital, I might perhaps say all, has not been formed by a 
 practice, I am told common elsewhere, of paying the first instalment so 
 as to enable the bank to commence its operations, and then borrowing 
 on the accommodations the institution can afford, by the circulation of its 
 paper, to pay up any further instalments which are called for. On the 
 contrary, the capital of by fa/ the greater portion of our banks has been 
 obtained from England and our sister States, in consequence of the readi- 
 ness, and I am afraid I must add the profusion, with which our Legisla- 
 tures, for several years past, have pledged the faith of the State for the 
 repayment of money borrowed for such purposes. 
 
 Looking on such a state of things, sir, when I left the banks of the 
 Mississippi, about two months ago, I did think, and I communicated my 
 opinion to several of my commercial friends, that the pecuniary pressure, 
 
which we understood was beginning to be felt to the north and east of 
 us, would not reach Louisiana. Among others, to whom, in the inter- 
 change of opinion, I imparted these views, w f as a gentleman of great 
 experience in matters of currency, who told me I was mistaken ; that the 
 connexion between the great commercial cities of this continent, in rela- 
 tion to money, was so intimate, and the sympathy between them so 
 strong, that a severe blow dealt to any one of them could not fail, sooner 
 or Jater, to reach all the rest. Sir, keeping my eye on the value of our 
 products, and the enormous amount of our banking capital, I doubted the 
 correctness of this opinion ; but the event has shown the difference be- 
 tween the experience of a practical man, whose life has been devoted to 
 pursuits connected with the subject under consideration, and my crude, 
 theoretical notions. It has proved that I was wrong, and that he was 
 right ; and that the shock given to the money market, at New York and 
 Philadelphia, has been carried to New Orleans, in obedience to laws as 
 invariable in their operation as those which move and control the physical 
 world. 
 
 I have received several letters from the city of New Orleans, of recent 
 date, from men extensively engaged in business, well acquainted with 
 the state of the money market there, and themselves as little exposed to 
 the danger of wanting this necessary article at the present crisis, as any 
 persons within the range of my acquaintance. I will not commonplace 
 to you, sir, on their respectability, and love of truth. It is enough for 
 me to say that they are merchants of the first respectability among the 
 merchants of New Orleans a body of men, who, on the credit of an 
 experience acquired during fourteen years spent in judging them and 
 their transactions, I take on me to say, are excelled by no others on 
 earth of similar pursuits, in enterprise, commercialknowledge, a clear- 
 sighted view of their interests ; and a wise integrity which enables them 
 to know that their own prosperity is, in the end, best promoted by doing 
 justice to others. They write me under date from the 15th of January 
 to the 1st of February, that paper which, when I left the city, was dis- 
 counted at rates varying from eight to ten per cent., could only be 
 cashed, at the time they wrote, at fifteen or twenty per cent. They 
 take the liberty, also, sir, to express their opinions as to the cause of the 
 unexpected change which has come over them and the country ; but I 
 shall not trouble you with their speculations, much as they are entitled 
 to respect. The cause of the suffering which now pervades society, pre- 
 sents ground which is debatable. But, although it is somewhat difficult to 
 say what has occasioned the present pressure in the money market, it is 
 quite easy to say that one thing has not produced it in New Orleans. 
 Sir, I feel authorized to declare that the present scarcity of money in 
 that city is not owing to the branch of the United States Bank establish- 
 ed there. And, as some erroneous impressions have been conveyed to 
 the Senate on this matter, I seize on the present occasion to correct 
 them. Some time after I had the honor to take my seat here, the honor- 
 able Senator from Missouri (Mr. BENTON) read to this body a letter re- 
 ceived by him from a highly respectable source in our city, wherein the 
 pressure was attributed to the conduct of the Branch Bank, acting under 
 the orders of the parent institution at Philadelphia. Sir, I do not dis- 
 guise from you that this intelligence greatly surprised me, and I did 
 
think it especially strange that, if such was the fact, myself and my col- 
 league were to learn it for the first time on this floor, from the Senator of 
 ^another State. Sir, I immediately set to work, with the diligence of a 
 man in search of truth, and I went to the fountain head to obtain infor- 
 mation. I have procured it, and I learn from what I get there, as well as 
 from other sources, that 710 blame whatever is attributable either to the 
 mother Bank or its branch in New Orleans. The statement of the letter 
 writer alluded to, that orders had been sent from Philadelphia to New 
 Orleans, prohibiting the purchase of drafts on the Western country, was 
 entirely gratuitous. No such orders were sent. Necessity, indeed, pro- 
 duced by the removal of the deposites, and the threatening attitude assum- 
 ed by the Executive, prevented the purchase of western exchange to 
 the same amount as formerly, and compelled the Bank to concentrate its 
 funds in the principal Atlantic cities, where the larger proportion of mo- 
 ney derived from duties was to be collected and placed in the pet banks, 
 and where, of course, the heaviest demands would be made on that of 
 the United States. But the conduct of the branch located in our city 
 has, under the peculiar circumstances in which it was unexpectedly 
 placed, been liberal in a high degree. A short statement of their business 
 within the last four months will prove this. On the 4th November, 1833, 
 their notes and exchange, under discounts, were $6,110,577 57, and their 
 public deposites at that time were $596,929 06. On the 3d of the 
 next month their balances exhibited the same relative proportions. But 
 on the 3d of February, their notes under discount and exchange had 
 increased to $8,759,518 45, and their deposites were $150,116 25 ; so 
 that in ninety days preceding the 3d of February, the Government had 
 deprived the Bank, as far as it could, of all means of accommodating the 
 trade of our city ; it had withdrawn four hundred and forty-six thousand 
 dollars of the deposites, which was nearly the whole, and during the 
 same time the Bank had extended its accommodations to the public to 
 the amount of two million six hundred and forty-eight thousand nine 
 hundred and forty dollars beyond the sum lent out on the 3d of November ; 
 and yet the conduct of the Bank, it is said, during this period, has been 
 the cause of the pressure on the money market in New Orleans ! Oh, 
 fy ! Sir, the charge has just as much foundation against the Bank in New 
 Orleans as against the mother Bank and its branches in other cities of 
 the Union. Whenever we go into particulars, and can get its enemies 
 and accusers to descend from empty generalities, and investigate facts, 
 the utter want of all foundation for their accusations instantly appears. 
 
 While on this subject of the bank in our city, and its accommodations, 
 I cannot help lamenting the deplorable inconvenience to which the mer- 
 chants of New Orleans, and the whole commerce of the Western 
 States, will be exposed, by the breaking up of an institution which has so 
 much facilitated the operations of trade, by the purchase of internal bills 
 of exchange. The Senate, I am sure, are not aware to what extent its 
 usefulness has been carried. Through all the States to the West, and 
 particularly those of the Southwest, a large proportion of the planters 
 and farmers require advances in their crops, before they can be got ready 
 for market. The merchants in those regions have not the means of mak- 
 ing their advances, if unaided by a bank similar to that of the United 
 States. But, for years back, the funds have been supplied by that insti- 
 
tution for this purpose. Commercial houses, all through the Western 
 States, having credit, and doing business with those of our city, have 
 drawn late in the summer, or early in the autumn, bills of exchange on 
 New Orleans, and sold them to the branches established in, their respec- 
 tive States. With the money drawn from this source, the planter and 
 tin- farmer have been supplied, and the extent and value of this accom- 
 modation can only be judged of by those who are acquainted with the 
 habits and wants of the planting portion of the community. Its utility, 
 however, did not stop here. A few months run round, the crops are ga- 
 thered, delivered to the merchant, and transmitted to New Orleans for 
 sale. There then happens what might be expected in all cases where 
 considerations of personal advantage enter into the calculations we make 
 of the future. It is found that the planter has estimated too largely his 
 crop ; he falls in debt to his merchant, and he in return has a balance 
 against him in the city where the produce was sold. The Bank steps in 
 again, and purchases from the factor in New Orleans a draft on the 
 house in the Western country, and in that way enables the produce of a 
 second crop to be got to market before payment is really demanded. 
 What I now state has been every year's transactions for several years 
 back ; and I confess I see no means of supplying such an accommodation 
 through State banks. Indeed, in the matter of exchange, and all other 
 matters connected with the whole trade of the Western country, the ad- 
 vantages conferred by the institution which it is now wantonly attempted 
 to destroy, have been immense. I declare, solemnly, that as much to it, 
 as to any other cause, do I attribute the development of the resources of 
 the Western country. Without it, the delightful results of industry, stimu- 
 lated by capital, would not have shown themselves in the subdued forests, 
 cultivated fields, and growing cities of the West ; nor would crowds of 
 steamboats have now covered her waters. 
 
 I have stated, sir, that I did not believe the State banks could supply 
 the vacuum which would be created by the withdrawal of the capital. I 
 go further, and say, that, were that capital divided among them, I do 
 not think they could wield it to the same advantage for the community, 
 more especially in this matter of exchange. Confidence can never exist 
 between independent institutions to such a degree as to enable them 
 to carry on the purchase of bills of exchange to the same extent as one 
 institution, possessed of the capital of all, can, through her respective 
 branches. As soon, too, as the great regulator and controller of the State 
 institutions, the Bank of the United States, is withdrawn, the same scenes 
 will be rapidly presented to our eyes as met them after the destruction of 
 the first National Bank. The respective States will augment the number 
 of local institutions. Competition, and the desire to make large dividends, 
 will stimulate them all to issue as much paper as they can. It will, of 
 course, inevitably depreciate in value. Mutual distrust will take place. 
 They will fear to credit each other ; and finally it will be impossible to 
 transfer money from one part of the Union to the other, without great in- 
 convenience and expense. 
 
 I pass, sir, from the considerations which grow out of the condition of 
 the money market in Louisiana, to the situation of the planters under the 
 late derangement in our currency. The Senators from Mississippi and 
 South Carolina (Messrs. POINDEXTER and PRESTON) stated, in an early 
 
9 
 
 part of this session, that the price of cotton in the Southern States was not 
 within two or three cents of the price which it should bring in reference 
 to its value at the port of Liverpool, and they argued, and, as I thought, 
 very satisfactorily, that such a difference could alone proceed from a want 
 of money in the United States. This position has been assailed by the 
 Senator from Georgia, (Mr. KING,) who addressed this body a few days 
 since for the first time, and with a clearness which I am much* more ca- 
 pable of admiring than of imitating. He considered the idea as wholly 
 fallacious, that, if cotton was below its real value, money would instantly 
 seek it as a profitable investment, and that the competition thus procured 
 for it would raise the article to its true price. Sir, I differ in opinion 
 with the honorable Senator. As a general rule, there can be no doubt 
 that low prices invite purchasers, and that the number who seek to profit 
 by such a state of things soon raises the objects offered for sale to their 
 true value. And this is a consequence of a universal law, by which money, 
 like the fluids, has a tendency to find its level. But the honorable 
 Senator overlooked the fact that it takes money some time to find the 
 level. The State of Louisiana bears very full testimony to the truth of 
 this position. For the last twenty years, and upwards, we have been 
 paying interest at the rate of ten per cent, per annum, while, in the 
 Northern States, money, during the same time, was not worth more than 
 five or six per cent. Many causes check and prevent the operation of 
 the law alluded to. It is not necessary to go into them. The fact is in- 
 disputable. And the argument of the honorable Senator by no means 
 affects the correctness of the assertion, that cotton may be of less value 
 here than it should be, when compared with the price at the place of con- 
 sumption. I am free indeed to admit that such a state of things cannot 
 be of long duration, and that very soon, if indeed the market has not al- 
 ready come to that state, prices must be at their true proportion. But in 
 the mean time great mischief is done. The planter in many, I am afraid 
 too many, instances has not been able to wait this change in price. He 
 has been compelled to sell, and the difference in value has become profit 
 to the rich capitalist. The agriculturist, as usual, has been the victim. 
 This loss, it is clear, is solely due to the unwise and unfortunate act of the 
 Secretary, removing the deposites, and thereby deranging the currency of 
 the country. 
 
 But whether correct or not in these remarks, I apprehend there will 
 be little controversy in relation to those I may make on the other grand 
 staple of our State, sugar. It is known to the Senate that the cane from 
 which the article is manufactured is the production of the tropical re- 
 gions, and that it is with much difficulty, and great hazard of loss, that 
 its cultivation is pursued in the most favored portions of the United States. 
 The last season we were visited by a frost, unexampled for its severity 
 at so early a period of the autumn. From this and other causes, which 
 need not be enumerated, the crop of sugar was reduced to a little more 
 than half what would have been the result in a favorable year. Disas- 
 trous as this blow was, falling after two previous years of bad crops, we 
 had a consolation in the news which flowed in upon us from all quarters, 
 that the price would be high. We learned that the quantity produced in 
 the West Indies was much less than usual, and that the market to the 
 North was never known more completely bare of the article than it was 
 2 
 
10 
 
 at the beginning of the present winter. And yet, sir, what is now the fact, 
 as it relates to prices under the operation of the late Executive measures ? 
 Why, this : that with a foreign supply, less than has been known for years ; 
 with a domestic production not adequate to meet the demands of the mar- 
 ket in an ordinary year, we cannot sell. My merchants write me, that, 
 such is the depression of the money market, they cannot dispose of a 
 quantity .of sugar as formerly. That the grocers who, in other times, 
 purchased 40 or 50 hogsheads at once, now content themselves with five 
 or six. That the consumption was diminished, and likely to be still fur- 
 ther diminished, as the working classes were thrown out of employment, 
 and their comforts abridged. And, sir, when they do sell a few hogs- 
 heads, they accompany the account with a declaration that, w r ere it not 
 for the deranged state of the currency, the article would bring a cent 
 to a cent and a half per pound more than it is now selling for. The cor- 
 rectness of this statement I cannot doubt, for I see the same effect, or 
 nearly the same, produced on all commodities. So that the Louisiana 
 planter this year must pay a tax of from ten to fifteen dollars on each 
 hogshead of sugar, in order that an experiment may be made by the Se- 
 cretary of the Treasury. It is really difficult for one, thus contemplating 
 the injury wantonly and unnecessarily inflicted on the people he repre- 
 sents, to measure his expressions of disapprobation, so as to render them 
 befitting the calmness and the dignity of this high assembly. Had this 
 misfortune fallen on the country by the act of God, or by foreign war, or 
 by any thing else that was inevitable, the people of Louisiana would have 
 met it with the same energy they once exhibited, when, under the gal- 
 lant auspices of the individual now at the head of the Government, they 
 rushed to battle, and aided him to drive the enemy from their shores. 
 But to see their prosperity interrupted, and the fruits of their labor dimi- 
 nished in value, without any adequate cause for the infliction of the injury, 
 is too much for human patience. 
 
 And, sir, I feel the difficulty of treating the subject calmly greatly in- 
 creased, when I hear it said on this floor, to weaken the influence which 
 the cry of suffering from the people must have on our measures, that the 
 distress is but temporary, and that the accounts of it are exaggerated from 
 motives of political opposition, and for political effect. It is no doubt true, 
 sir, the distress is but temporary ; that is, there will be an end to it some 
 time ; but what consolation that reflexion can bring, when its effects are 
 permanent, I am at a loss to conjecture. It is a poor comfort, it is worse. 
 It is cruel mockery to the trader, merchant, or manufacturer, who is made 
 bankrupt by Government experiments, to be told that he should not be 
 distressed ; for that, although he is ruined in credit and hopes for the 
 rest of his life, the republic will survive the disaster, and flourish again. 
 Still less do such observations give consolation to the artificer, or laborer, 
 who is thrown out of employment, deprived of the means of earning his 
 daily food and that of his family, and compelled to ask from charity what 
 he formerly obtained from industry. And as to political opposition caus- 
 ing these memorials to pour in upon us, day after day, in such numbers 
 as to deprive us of the time necessary for the ordinary duties of legisla- 
 lation, I apprehend it is a great mistake to suppose they spring from any 
 such source. That political feeling may mingle with them in some 
 degree, is perhaps true ; but that it is the cause of them, I utterly deny. 
 To imagine so, is to take the curl produced on the surface of the sea by 
 
the wind as an indication of its movement, while it is the tide, by an 
 irresistible impulse, which carries the ocean to its limits. No, sir, politi- 
 cal disappointment, nor the desire of political effect, never could have 
 thus heaved up the elements of society, and thrown them before us, pray- 
 ing for a hearing, and supplicating for redress. Political feeling can do 
 much ; it sometimes deceives the head, and often influences the heart ; 
 but it has little effect on the pocket; and when men find their purses 
 emptied by State empirics, you may confide in the perfect sincerity of 
 their complaints, and you have no occasion to look beyond that state of 
 things for the motives which urge them to present their grievances to 
 your consideration. 
 
 Having now, sir, accomplished the main object I had in view in ob- 
 taining the floor, I might, perhaps, with propriety, close my remarks. 
 But as, in the present condition of our affairs, the opinions of every man 
 who has a share in the national councils is of importance, though his 
 place there may be the only circumstance which makes them so, I think 
 it proper to state some conclusions I have formed on the matters which 
 now agitate the country. And first, then, sir, as to the cause of the pre- 
 sent embarrassment. My convictions are very decided, that it is due to 
 the removal of the deposites from the Bank of the United States. It seems 
 to have puzzled gentlemen on this floor, and elsewhere, how the change 
 of a sum of money from one banking house to another could occasion 
 any distress to the public. I do not know that I am correct in my views 
 of the matter, but it does not seem to be very difficult to explain the 
 modus operandi. Credit rests entirely on the opinion entertained of 
 safety. And that opinion once shaken, whether on good grounds or bad, 
 all the evils which grow out of panic flow in upon society nearly as rapidly 
 as if the danger was real. It is clear to me at least, that, had the con- 
 duct of the United States Bank been what it might, a momentary pres- 
 sure must have existed in the money market, and that, if that pressure 
 produced general alarm, it was a consequence that the pressure should 
 continue much longer than the original cause subsisted. When the State 
 banks, and the mercantile and trading portion of the people, saw such an 
 unexpected and heavy blow dealt by the President of the United States 
 against the National Bank, it was impossible they should not be alarmed ; 
 for they could neither tell how it would affect the Bank, or how that in- 
 stitution, on being so struck, would feel compelled to act during the un- 
 expired term of its charter. The Secretary of the Treasury declared 
 that it was high time it should begin to curtail its discounts, and commence 
 the settlement of its affairs. And the subordinate agents boasted that 
 they had the institution under their feet. Such a state of things immedi- 
 ately filled all the local institutions, and all men of prudence, with the fear 
 of an approaching storm. That fear in itself was sufficient to produce the 
 evil that was dreaded ; for it made men distrustful of one another. That 
 distrust showed itself in diminished discounts in the State banks, fewer 
 sales than usual, and more caution in giving endorsements. The usual 
 consequences have followed such a state of things. The feeble in wealth 
 and credit have sunk first, and their misfortunes have caused more to be 
 apprehended. Banks, private citizens, and all who have capital, become 
 more and more alarmed every day, and the evil keeps augmenting. When 
 such a state of things occurs, it is a necessary consequence that the evil 
 
If 
 
 must progress, unless the banks can come to the relief of the community, 
 by an accommodation beyond that given before the alarm began. It is 
 they who must set the example in restoring confidence. Private capital- 
 ists will follow, but not lead, in such a measure. There was a time 
 when the National Bank, from its great resources, and its connexion w r ith 
 the Government, had in some measure the responsibility of preventing, 
 if possible, such a panic, and of relieving it, if it did occur. But that 
 duty and that power have both ceased, and there is no prospect of the 
 country being relieved. The distress must increase too, so soon as the 
 curtailments of the Bank of the United States commence ; and the Secre- 
 tary of the Treasury has told the Bank that this curtailment has been 
 delayed too long, and that it is necessary to the best interests of society 
 it should have commenced ere this, in order that the State bank paper 
 might come gradually into use. 
 
 Never, in my judgment, was a more unwise measure resorted to in 
 any country than that of removing the deposites. Time, which enters 
 more or less into the considerations on which the propriety or fitness of 
 all measures depends, was wholly disregarded. Any man, whether states- 
 man or not, could have seen that it was an unpropitious moment ; that 
 there was so much trade, there might almost be said to be overtrading ; 
 and that credit, through the whole extent of the country, was pushed to 
 its utmost extent. Senators say, indeed, that had the deposites been re- 
 moved at any time, the same evil consequence would have followed. I 
 enter, sir, my utter dissent to such a proposition. Had it been deferred 
 until the termination of the charter, as was the case with the old United 
 States Bank, men w r ould have had time to regulate their engagements, to 
 meet the change. Foreseeing that when the Bank closed its affairs, a 
 shock would be given to the monetary system, preparations would have 
 been made to meet it. The State banks, too, would have been more 
 able to give relief, because the large capital of the National Bank would, 
 at that time, be ready to flow into other channels. But now, with a fa- 
 tuity of which there is no example, we have given a shock to credit and 
 confidence, when for two years to come, and more, the capital of the Bank 
 of the United States, or the larger proportion of it, will be withdrawn 
 from circulation, while that institution is winding up its affairs. We have 
 done so, sir, without having any substitute prepared, in place of the ca- 
 pital thus taken out. The State banks, it is clear, cannot furnish it. 
 They complain of pressure now, when there has occurred nothing to oc- 
 casion it, save the want of confidence. What their situation will be when 
 the United States Bank commences its curtailments, need not be said. 
 The pressure on them will augment, and, with it, their incapacity to af- 
 ford any relief. Sir, I see no end to this confusion and distress, unless 
 the people of the United States speak a language to their rulers that 
 cannot be disregarded. 
 
 I hold, then, sir, that the removal of the deposites was a sufficient 
 cause to produce the present calamitous state of our affairs. If it was 
 not, I call on honorable Senators to say what does occasion it ? We 
 have been told it is caused by the Bank of the United States : but 
 if it is, gentlemen can surely show how the Bank has caused it. This is 
 an interrogatory which has been put again and again on this floor ; and 
 to which no answer has been given, save that the Bank is very powerful, 
 
13 
 
 very corrupt, and is using all its means to oppress the public, and force a 
 recharter from Congress. These are just as easily said, as any other 
 similar number of English words ; and, without proof in support of them, 
 they are of no more assistance in deciding the question, than the same 
 number of words on any other subject would be. The Bank, however, does 
 not rest hei defence on the want of proof on the part of her accusers. She 
 shows beyond doubt, on the most irrefragable evidence, that it is not 
 owing to her action. The official returns establish that the curtailment 
 of her discounts has not exceeded the sum of money withdrawn by the 
 Government from her vaults. The clamor against her, then, is without 
 any foundation. A new version has indeed been given of the complaint 
 against the Bank, by an honorable Senator from Maine, (Mr. SHEPLEY.) 
 According to him, the Bank might relieve the public distress, if it would only 
 issue about fifteen millions of bank notes. This is a very compendious way 
 of settling the question. But has the honorable Senator any information 
 which enables him to say that the Bank could issue such a sum safely ? 
 Nay, that it could issue one million more, at the present crisis, than it has 
 now in circulation ? If he has, it is a knowledge not possessed by me, 
 nor do I believe by any other member of this body. The recommenda- 
 tion of the Senator from Maine, however, forms a curious contrast with 
 the mandates of the Secretary of the Treasury last October. According 
 to the Senator, the Bank should extend its discounts at the present time. 
 According to the Secretary, it should not have delayed their curtailment 
 beyond the 1st of October last. According to the Senator, it is an evil that 
 there is not more United States Bank paper in circulation. According to 
 the Secretary, there was too much of it out three months ago, and it was 
 then absolutely necessary for the Bank to call it in. Sir, it is not unin- 
 structive to recur to the language used by that high functionary some 
 months ago. It will serve, I trust, as a warning, hereafter, for men not to 
 tamper with the currency of the country. In his letter of the 3d of De- 
 cember, transmitting a report on the removal of the public deposites, he 
 says, "the State banks can, I have no doubt, furnish a general circulating 
 medium quite as uniform in value as that which has been furnished by the 
 Bank of the United States perhaps more." He continues: "But a cur- 
 rency founded on the notes of State banks could not be suddenly substi- 
 tuted for that heretofore furnished by the Bank of the United States, and 
 take the place of it, at the same moment, in every part of the Union." 
 He further adds, that by " the monthly statement of the Bank, of the 2d 
 September last, the notes of the Bank and its branches, then in circula- 
 tion, amounted to $18,413,287 07, and that this immense amount must 
 all be withdrawn from circulation when the charter expires." Having 
 got these ideas well fixed in his mind, viz. that the notes of the State banks 
 would furnish a good, and perhaps better currency than the United States 
 Bank notes, that there were a great quantity of the latter in circulation, 
 and that they must be withdrawn, the Secretary discovers that the notes 
 of the Bank of the United States are about to depreciate, and that it is im- 
 portant mark his words " that they should be all taken out of circula- 
 tion before they depreciate in the hands of the individuals ivho hold them." 
 This alarming conclusion being reached, it was necessary to set to work 
 immediately to avert such disastrous consequences from the community ; 
 and, accordingly, this officer, in the report already quoted from, asks " how 
 
14 
 
 long it will require, for the ordinary operations of commerce, and the re- 
 duction of discounts by the Bank, to withdraw the amount of circula- 
 tion before mentioned, without giving a shock to the currency, or producing 
 a distressing pressure on the community." This question he answers 
 himself in the next sentence, by declaring his conviction " that the time 
 which remained for the charter to run, after the 1st of October, (the day 
 on which the removal of the deposites took place,) was not more than 
 was proper to accomplish the object with safety to the community." 
 Now, sir, I admit that the Bank has not followed these instructions ; that 
 she did not begin to curtail her discounts on the 1 st of October ; and that, 
 in this respect, if the opinions of the Executive were wise and salutary, 
 the institution has been in fault. But if, instead of disobeying these in- 
 structions, the Bank had followed them, what would have been the con- 
 sequence ? My honorable friend from Kentucky, (Mr. CLAY,) with his 
 usual clearness, showed, the other day, that if the Bank, between this and 
 the termination of her charter, withdraws all the notes from circulation, 
 and collects her debts, she must call in about two millions each month 
 from the community ; for the amount she has to collect is fifty-five mil- 
 lions, and the time little more than twenty-four months. Now, sir, if, in 
 obedience to the mandate of the Secretary, the Bank had commenced, on 
 the 1st of October last, the gradual curtailment of which he speaks, and 
 diminished her discounts two millions a month since that time, she would 
 have, by the 1st of March, withdrawn from circulation ten millions of 
 dollars. 
 
 If she had, I ask if there is any man here who can look steadily on 
 the frightful consequences which must have ensued. If the commercial 
 world is now agonized by a mere derangement of the currency, in what 
 situation would it be placed, if to that derangement there were added, at 
 this moment, the effects of withdrawing so large a sum from circulation ? 
 Ruin, in its worst form, must have fallen on the larger portion of the 
 commercial and manufacturing interests of the country, unless, indeed, 
 the State banks had suspended specie payments. The Bank of the 
 United States, sir, in my opinion, has won a strong title to the confidence 
 of the people by her conduct. She saw the crisis that was approaching 
 she knew the pressure would be great ; and that, keeping strictly 
 within the Executive injunction conveyed to her, she could have produced 
 such a convulsion as would have compelled her adversaries to change 
 their conduct towards her. But she preferred to the gratifications of a 
 triumph over them, the performance of her duty. And the Secretary of 
 the Treasury, who is known to be a virtuous as well as a talented man, 
 must, I am sure, rejoice that the country was saved from the effects of 
 his own measures ; though that salvation was effected at the expense of 
 his reputation for foresight, and a knowledge of the subject he was hand- 
 ling. Heavy as is the responsibility which weighs upon him now, it 
 would have been increased tenfold had the Bank followed his instruc- 
 tions. 
 
 But, sir, though the work of curtailment has not yet commenced, the 
 hour when it must begin is rapidly approaching, if indeed it has not al- 
 ready arrived. The Bank cannot defer much longer to commence the 
 withdrawal of her funds from circulation, and the moment she does, all 
 the evils under which the community suffers, will be aggravated far be- 
 
15 
 
 yond even their present severity. We should not sit here with our arms 
 folded, and see so much calamity about to fall on the country, without 
 making a single effort to avert it. It is the part of wisdom, as well as of 
 duty, to step forw r ard, and meet the danger before it reaches us. I have 
 the most sincere conviction that, unless we do something, and speedily, 
 the capital and industry of the country are about to receive a shock from 
 which they will not recover for years. Sir, I am one of those who think 
 that there are no means to restore confidence, but by a recharter of the 
 Bank, and for that measure I am prepared to vote. Whenever it is pre- 
 sented for our consideration, I shall give it my support, provided certain 
 modifications can be obtained in the present charter, which, without im- 
 pairing its utility, will remove many of the objections which grow out of 
 an honest jealousy of its power. 
 
 In making this remark, I am not to be understood as giving MY sanc- 
 tion to this jealousy ; but, in carrying out any measure, public opinion, 
 and public prejudice, too, should be consulted and gratified, provided 
 they can be gratified without injury to the true interests of the country. 
 This opinion as to the propriety of rechartering the Bank renders it 
 almost unnecessary for me to say that I am wholly opposed to the pro- 
 position to return to a metallic currency. We cannot do so, if we wished, 
 and, if we could, it is not desirable. If the question was now proposed 
 for the first time, what kind of circulating medium we should adopt for 
 this country, I should hesitate which to prefer a metallic currency, or 
 a mixed one. Each has its advantages. On the whole, I believe the 
 latter is best adapted to the wants and interests of a country so decidedly 
 commercial, and so rapidly increasing as ours. But in our present situa- 
 tion, with the habits of society formed to the use of paper money, and 
 with innumerable contracts existing, which have been enteied into on 
 long credits, in relation to the value given to real estate by this species 
 of money, so complete a change in our circulating medium would work 
 great injustice. If the quantity of gold and silver necessary for the wants 
 of this country be, as I heard it estimated, and I think correctly, 80 mil- 
 lions of dollars, and we have now about 25 or 30 millions in the United 
 States, we must go into market to procure the difference between these 
 two sums. An immediate demand for so large an amount would greatly 
 raise the value of specie, both in Europe and America ; and, as a con- 
 sequence, so depress the value of all property, as to prove ruinous to 
 thousands. I do not see any advantages in a metallic currency, to induce 
 me to pay so dearly for it. Nor is it unworthy of consideration, that a 
 well regulated paper currency enables us to employ all the capital repre- 
 sented by that paper, beyond the specie in the vaults of the banks, in 
 other and useful purposes, and which, if we had not paper money, would 
 be sunk in the purchase of a circulating medium. There are many other 
 considerations belonging to this part of the subject, which an unwilling- 
 ness to trespass on the time of the Senate forbids me to enter into, more 
 especially as all speculations in regard to it are fruitless in this country. 
 
 For, if we wished to return to a metallic currency, we have not the 
 power to do so. We have no means of compelling the States to resort 
 to it. They will charter as many banks as they please ; and there are so 
 many of the strongest passions of our nature at work to create them, that 
 there will be always more of them than there should be. Your refusal 
 
16 
 
 to take their notes at your custom-houses and land offices, may check 
 the circulation of their paper on the seaboard and extreme West, but in 
 the much larger portion of the United States they will disregard such a 
 measure, because bank notes are not wanted in it for either purpose. Sir, 
 it is easy to see the state to which we are approaching. So soon as the 
 National Bank, the great controller and regulator of the State banks, is 
 Withdrawn, we shall have from four to five hundred of these institutions, 
 all of them trying to make as large dividends as possible, and using every 
 effort to flood their respective neighborhoods with their own paper. Gen- 
 tlemen say that the liability of the Bank to demands for specie for their 
 notes will operate as a check on excessive issues. It will no doubt do 
 so w r hen the direction is prudent and wise ; but experience has proved it 
 is not a sufficient restraint to the greater number of these institutions. 
 The truth is, that the liability of a bank for specie is merely nominal, un- 
 less apprehension exists as to its solvency. At other times, save under 
 circumstances so peculiar as to forbid us to deduce any general rule from 
 them, it is scarcely asked for in large quantities. No, sir, these banks 
 will do as all others have done, circumstanced like them ; they will issue 
 as much paper as they can ; they will make as large dividends as they 
 can ; they will forget and contemn the distant danger ; and they will profit 
 by what they consider the present advantage. It is in human nature they 
 should do so. It is our experience they have done so. Such has been 
 their course in England, in Scotland, and in the United States. When- 
 ever the salutary influence of a controlling institution has been withdrawn 
 from them, they have issued too much paper, and deranged the currency 
 of the country. 
 
 But gentlemen say it is an experiment w r e are making ; and, if that 
 experiment fails, we can then resort to a National Bank. Sir, admitting 
 it to be an experiment, 1 see no wisdom in making it. If our situation 
 under the regular influence of the United States Bank had been one of 
 misfortune ; if, before the late measures, our currency had been vitiated, 
 and the Bank had failed to perform the other purposes for which it was 
 created, then I admit there might be some excuse for making an experi- 
 ment. But to choose a time when our currency was sound ; when the 
 fiscal affairs of the Government were faithfully conducted, and all the 
 different classes of society enjoyed the fruits of their industry ; and pros- 
 perity was seen in every form by which the advance of society in wealth 
 and comfort could be marked to choose such a moment as that, I say, to 
 make an experiment, by which we might be made a great deal worse, and 
 could not be made better, may be a very wise measure in the Govern- 
 ment ; but if an individual were so to act in the management of his pri- 
 vate affairs, I should think doubts might be reasonably entertained of his 
 sanity. 
 
 But, sir, this talk about an experiment is a mere delusion. I warn the 
 American people not to be deceived by it. There is no experiment to be 
 made. The experiment was tried twenty years ago, and it failed, sig- 
 nally failed. It would seem that we had forgotten, or were unwilling to 
 take lessons from the past. Wlien the charter of the first National Bank 
 was about expiring, an application was made to renew it. The same 
 .opposition was made to it that we hear now offered against the present 
 institution ; and there are to be found, in the attacks of its opponents, the 
 
1 j 
 
 same general denunciations ; the same resort to prejudice ; the same 
 lankness of argument, and failure of proof the capital was foreign ; its 
 directors were of the party not in power ; it had meddled in elections ; 
 it was dangerous to our liberties ; it was a mammoth of corruption. Not 
 one scintilla of proof do I find in the debates of that day, in support of 
 these charges, but the accusation struck in with popular prejudice, and 
 the Bank was destroyed. Yes, sir, it was destroyed ; and dearly did the 
 American people pay for the errors of their politicians. The whole cur- 
 rency of the country immediately fell into such confusion, that no man 
 could tell what was the value of his property ; and, after years of disaster 
 and distress, a bank, by the voice of a large majority of the people, was 
 erected in the place of that which had been demolished. Then, too, sir, 
 was taught a lesson, which I should have thought never would have been 
 forgotten. The men who had been principally instrumental in putting 
 down the first bank, were compelled, by what passed before their eyes, 
 to come forward and acknowledge their errors, and assist in repairing 
 them by the creation of a new bank. And do gentlemen, in the face of 
 this recent and striking example, still say that the experiment is yet to be 
 made ? 
 
 Sir, I predict that after the currency of the country is deranged, and 
 confusion and distress pervade all the land, we shall see the very men, 
 now engaged in preventing the recharter of this bank, if they should suc- 
 ceed, forced to come forward, and endeavor to have a similar one char- 
 tered. To these men I say, do now, with a good grace, what you will 
 finally be compelled to do. Do it before your country suffers at every 
 pore before you have ruined the hopes and broken the fortunes of hun- 
 dreds of thousands ! This is a question in which your patriotism can, and 
 ought, to soar above party considerations. If the President of the United 
 States has committed an error, and you refuse to correct it, do you not 
 enable your adversaries to say that in your opinion the President has not 
 other and sufficient merits to permit you to acknowledge one mistake 
 made by him ? Sir, I trust better counsels will prevail ; and that, before 
 Congress adjourns, casting aside party spirit, some measure will be de- 
 vised, by our united deliberations, which will withdraw the country in 
 safety from the perilous position in which it is now placed. 
 
 
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