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CHRONICLE ANO S ENTIp El -
AI«UBTA. I
TUESDAY MORNING JANUARY liS.
, « —■— V ~~~” ~*“ ' '***’
A detere to public in this days’ paper the en
ure Speech of the Hon. W. Thompson, pf S. C.,
has excluded any remark* of our ow». M a
cannot do less, however, than solicit for it a care
ful perusal, for which the reader will l£ amply
compensated. S
Salk of Bloom Stock.—At a sale it Mootl
ed Horse? which took place yesterday at the
Lafayette Course, G»o, the property o| the late
J. Leverich, of this city, was bid off by Thomas
Walton & Co., at $ 10.100; Ajarah larrison,
well known as a fine racer, mile heats, i irce best
|p five, was bid off at $560.
Tiutee.—Circumstances have prev filed üb,
for some days past, from noticing as de
sired to do, the meritorious exertion gos Mr.
Forbes in endeavoring to make the jAugusla
Theatre what afl lovers of the drama |ould de
sire to have. Many of the best pla;| in the
language have been presented in the style,
and daring the past week the charmiri Operas
of La Bayadere and La Sylphide been
brought forward in a style we could |ot bare
expected. The company is a good lae, and
finely seconded the efforts of Miss Barn S' during
her iday, in the performance of tragf|'cs and
genteel comedies, and the little fairy Wells,
in the beautiful Operas, of which she p*;isonated
the most important characters. j
Virginia Senator.—The election ,;as been
again postponed, from the 23d to the 2|lh inst.,
at which time it is expected certainl yto take
place. The postponement waa in consequence
of the absence and indisposition of tbrd or four
members.
<9 i
Tux Lexington.—We cut from t.ie N. Y.
Evening Star, of the 2ist inst., the {■ ilowtng
item of intelligence: j
Two Mom:. —A letter dated Stoney Brook,
Jan. 20, says it is reported that two mon persons
have come ashore alive from the Lexingt j. We
hear no further particulars.
4 1
Virginia.—The Yan Buren membe sos the
Virginia Legislature, have selected James. M’Dow
ell, of Rockbridge, for the office of Gove mr.
Correspondence of the Baltimore Ame cam.
Washington, Ja i. 21.
HOUSE OF R KPRE.'i EXTATIV ES.
FLU Kill A WAR.
Mr. Proffit asked Mr. tiarland of V I —who
was entitled to the floor,—to yield it for die pur
pose of oftenng a resolution upon a vei impor
tant subject connected with the Flor: la War.
Mr. G. yielding the floor, Mr. Proffit sa 1 that if
his resolution was objected to he would v ithdraw
it. Mr. P. then read the following resol tion :
Resolved , That the Secretary of W r be di
rected to inform the House, at his eariie t conve
nience. whether he has or has not autllrised or
ordered the use of Blood-hrmnils in the /ar with
the Indians in Florida; also if such ore >r or au
thority has been given, whether any im ortation
of blood-hounds has been ordered, and f- m what
country: also the name of the agent era joyed to
purchase and select said blood-hounds; dso, the
number of blood-hounds ordered: also whether
any blood-hounds have actually arrived; nd also
it the use of blood-hounds is determined »n.
The Secretary of War is also further mthori
zed and directed, to state the name of tl • officer
in the American Army under whose ii, mediate
charge and command said blood-hounds re to be
used. j
Cries of “No”—“No"—‘ I object.” were
heard in the Hall, as soon as Mr. Proffit, lad read
it. The resolution was therefore with * awn for
the present.
J AHourrox of slavery.
Mr. Garland then commenced the a, tmdk ex
® pected fio.n him upon the subject of t © Aboli
tion of Slavery in the District of Colum iu. Mr.
G. said he had pledged himself four y ars since
not to discuss the moral question of SI /ery.but
he would discuss the Constitutional que tion’ on
ly*
Mr. G. then went into an examinalt n of the
arg i ment offered in defence of the rigl of peti
tion, and contended that as it would be! hviously
improper to petition Congress to aboli.-i t a right
granted by the Constitution, so it wou 1 be im
proper to hear the prayer of the Aboi ion peti
tioners asking for the violation of a righfa which
the Constitution of the United States .rotecled
the Slates and their citizens. Mr. Ga and en
larged upon all the topics involved in tl Consti
tutional question and spoke for an hou or more.
He was followed by
Mr. BuUei, of South Carolina, w .o spoke
briefly in defence of his position, which was *hat
the petitions should be rejected. Th» moment
the prayer ot the petitioners should I granted,
that moment would come the dissolut « of the
Union.
Mr, Dromgoolc, ofVa. then moved . i amend
ment to Mr. Thompson’s resolutions, v rich was
that instead of raising the question ofjreception
in regard to the petitions, they should « laid on
the table as they were at the‘last sess m under
Rpi* Atherton's resolutions.
The last hour of the session has bee? employ
,v! in discussing the question whether ti ; motion
of Mr. Drorngoole i, in order. Upon m point
qui.e a spirited debate has been going oi between
Mr and Messrs. Adams. Everett,
Black, Thompson. Briggs and others.
UNITE® STATES SENATE.
,Mr. Clay addressed the Senate ver ?rday for
two hours. Ihe conclusion of his rer i ks'was
m reference to some of the provisions « the Sub-
I reasury bill, and the immense power \ hich the
Executive received under it. Those w a formed
Hu- Sub-Treasury bill, he contended, vould be
glad to remove the restrictions it contaii *] The
hard money clause by and bv woul. cease to
have the charm it now has. Mr. Claj contend
ed that the Administration had destroy* I the on
; U currency we had. They had spread onfusion
j through the land, and they designed no to make
confusion, worse confounded, by the stablish
nient of the Sub-T reasury bill.
Supposing the revenue of the cou try t. - be
twenty millions of dollars, Mr. Clay intended
nal much of it would be unavailable si le end of
? a f f y *V‘ Receivers General w aid have
ia o ic specie 0 f the country locked ip in ten
years. Government drafts would be fly ,g about
and remain in market. The gold and silver of
v the country, necessary f or r.r •
, - aWbeWkeJup. j r h“’! ° mmx
ment would go to Europe and be ° "‘ nor ‘ 1 ’
.he Rothschild*, „,a r by
greedily th»n paper of the United Si* fj*.
was when the National Bank protef*
measure the credit of the country. |
Mr. Clay further contended, in an foment
* of *» mc lengU., that paper would be issi d upon
the specie of the Government hereafter to be in
1 deposite. In condus <m, bespoke of the P 0" " |
which would be given to the Executive under the
bill, if the people of the country demmd * mev
sure to augment their burdens, they couldßevise
no scheme which would as effectually do it as th
bill l>efore the Senate. Their burdens wouhloo
viously be increased under it. To the Adminw
tration members, Mr. Clay said, that deceive
themselves as they might, the scheme would in
crease the power of the President to an alarming
»extent. The combined powers ot the govern
ment would be united to oppre?' the peop e un
dcr the bill. . . nf
Mr. Clay said that the Executive branch o.
the government now overshadowed t e
The occupant of the White House had now a
tremendous influence in Congress, ana thr <£g h
the land. He had a power to expel from office,
and a power to create office, and against t
power he made wa . The President had the ,
power to prevent a hill of revenue from original- ,
ing in the House, where of right it ought to
originate. He had a power to prevent Us post- |
ponement here in the Senate, and a power to
drive the bill through the Senate m indecent
baste. ,
Mr. Clay then argued that the bill was to place
the President at the head of a great Government
Bank, of which he was to be the President, Cash
ier, Teller, and hoard of Directers. In closing,
he said, if Godin his infinite providence design
to abandon the country, he could not make use
of a more effective instrument than this same
Sub-Treasury Bill.
Mr. Clay was followed by Mr. Walker, of
Miss, who commenced the debate this morning
in reply to Mr. Clay. Mr. Walker commenced
his speech before one o’clock. He paid a high
compliment to the Senator from Kentucky. He
was aware, he of the talent of the Senator
—of his influence in the Senate —of his distin
guished ability and long experience. He wield
ed the broad sword of Richard, and the scimetar
of Saladin. An antagonist like the Senator must
expect to be dealt with blow by blow.
Mr. Walker then went into a partial examina
tion of the arguments adduced by Mr. Clay in
opposition to the Sub-Treasury bill. He stated
in his speech that two-thirds of the States had
declared for the Sub-Treasury bill, and that it
was now the people’s measure. Further he
contended that Mr. Clay’s predictions were of a
character unlike the auguries of the trades of ol
den times. They were dubious. Mr. Clay was
frank and open. Yau could not misunderstand
him, and in one sense he was really prophetic.
Since 1828. he had been accustomed to under
stand jswery prediction as bringing about a remit
directly unlike the cne foretold.
Mr. Walker then entered upon an examina
tion of Mr. Clay’s aiguments and in defence of
the position assumec! r hy him in the sketch of the
proceedings published in the American of this
morning.
Mr. Walker addressed the Senate more than
an hour.
No member upon the Whig side of the Senate
speaking. Mr. Bocuaxax remarked that he
thoughtTsorae of the opposition might follow.
Some ofthe Whig; members inti
mated that tney shot Id await a speech from him
in order to reply to it.
Soon after two o’clock, Mr. Buchaxan,
therefore not wishing to speak at the tail end of
the day, moved the postponement of the question
until to-morrow.
After some unimportant matters, the Senate
went into Executive session, and then adjourn
ed. The following was a part of the morning
business.
NEWSPAPER POSTAGE.
Mr. Strange, of North Carolina, during the
morning, introduce! a resolution desiring that
all newspaper propr.etsrs who would print the
laws of the United States should have the privi
lege of circulating them in the States where they
were printed free from postage. Mr. Strange
moved the reference of the resolution to the
Committee on the J adiciary.
Mr. Grundy opposed the reference to the Judi
ciary committee for .he reason that the resolu
tion ought to go to the Committee on Post Offi
ces and Post Roads.
Mr. Strange wished to speak upon the proposi
tion, and therefore moved the reference he had
made, as he was a member of the Committee.
Mr. Davis advoc *.ed the reference to the Com
mittee on Post Offices and Post Roads. The res
olution went to the Committee, and Mr. Strange
by and by designs to speak in defence of the pro
position.
The other morning business was not important.
From the H ouston Morning Star, Jan. \lth.
Col. Burleson, in command of a corps of Texi
an volunteers, fell in with and attacked a party
of Cherokee Indian s, on the 22d December, on
the upper waters of the Colorado river. After a
brisk engagement, the Indians were defeated
and fled, leaving six of their number dead upon
the field ; all their camp epuipage horses and
cattle, one man, five women and nineteen chil
dren, fell into the hands of the Texians. The
Texian loss was one killed, (Captain Lynch)
and one wounded.
From the Galveston Civilian, Jan. 15.
Capt. Ross, whose recent connection with the
Federalists ol Mexico has made him somewhat
conspicuous, was shot in a quarrel a few days
ago at Gonzales, by a man named M’Coullough,
brother to the man of the same name killed by
Ross in a duel.
At last accounts the Federal array was before
Mutamoras hut had not made an attack, consider
ing itself too weak until reinforced.
The miserable Whig fraction may now dis
band. The Democrats are coming. Look they
are upon the road,— Southern Democrat.
We were aware from the extraordinary num
ber of recent mail-robberies, that a good ma
ny of the loco focus had taken to the road.
Prentice.
Hoh, John C. Calhoun.
The following extract is from the Speech of
the Hon. Senator, ia 1834, on the removal ofthe
deposites. “ Times change &c.”
“ I might say, with truth, that the Bank owes
as much to me, as to any other individual in the
country ; and I might even add that had it not
been for my efforts.it would not have been char
tered. It is said that the Bank had no agency,
or at least no efficient agency, in the restoration
of specie payments in 1817, and that it had railed
to furnish the country with a uniform and sound
currency, as had been promised at its creation
Both of these allegations I pronunce to be without
just foundation. To enter into a minute exami
nation of them would carry me too far from the
subject, and I must content myself with saying,
that 1 aving been on the political stage without
interruption, from that day to this—having been
an attentive observer of the question of the cur
rency thioughout die whole period—that the
Bank uas been an indispensable agent in the res
lorution oi specie payments ; that without it the
restoration could not have been effected, short of
the utter prostration of all the monied institutions
or the country, and an entire depreciation of
Bank paper ; and t hat it has not only restored
specie payment, bit has given a currency far
more uniform between the extremes of the coun
try. than was anticipated or even dreamed of at
the time of its creation.”
Mount Vesuvius, the volcano, was growling at
the last dates; a derice smoke covered the top, and
a terrible irruption vras expected.
SPEECH OF WADDY THOMPSON,
OF SOOTH CAROLINA,
On the President's Annual Message to Congress-
Delivered in the House of Representatives,
December 30, 1839.
The House having under consideration a mo
tion lo reconsider the vote by which 20,000 cope ■
ol the President’s Message was ordered lo be pnu-
Mr. Waddy Thompson, of South Carolina, ad
dressed the House as follows;
I am not willing lo allow this message to go
forth to the country wiihoi t commentary or dis
cussion. The annual message of the President is
always a document p; ssessiug great interest, as t ie
chan of the annual progress of the Government.
This claims mor* than ordinary attention, from
the importance, the Vital importance,of the topics
which it discusses, and from the unquestionable
ability wnh which they are discussed. Some oi
these topics involve the most thorough and deeply
interesting charges which have occurred iu our
i country, ifnor in modem times—changes amounting
| to a commercial and social revolution. They are
\ discussed with more than usual ability. The mes
sage presents an argument upon the great “ nai **
cial measure, which it vindicates —beyond all mea
sure the most able, artful, -u.d seductive of any
heretofore made upon that side. In saying inis, I
shall not be suspected of any disposition lo conciliate.
No, sir, my position will in all human probability,
continue, as it has been, in opposition, whatever
may be the result of the present contest for power.
I am oj posed to the {general political tenets and
opinions on the one side, and stid more opposed to
the universal practices of the other —to its extrava
gance aud profligacy, and faithlessness to all its
professions.
But, sir, if I were disposed to go over every one
knows that no atonement, not ?ven a repetitence
for past sins, however flagrant; for past vitupera
tion, however scornful or severe, is required, i
is a must easy service ; no sacrifices whatever aie
required except of once’s conscience ; and one o
the rules I understand to be, that no questions are
tu be asked of applicants for admission.
The message, on,its face and in its general state
ments of political doctrines, is fair enough. It is
Slate rights throughout; as much so, sir. as if it
had been written by you, who were brought up at
the feet ofGaraali 1, and are of the straitest sect.
\\ bikt reading it, I was forcibly reminded of that
noble paper, i eneral Jackson’s message of 183- ;
that most masterly compendium of the State rights
doctrines. I had, but a few days before the appear
ance of that paper, been apppointed an elector ol
President; a position by no mequs a desirable
one. Th** moral malaria of Jacksomsm was then
pervading ihe land in its wildest fury ; not only the
strongest safeguards of the Constitution, but the
virtue and courage of the country, were destroyed
in its progress. The charm of a great name wa<
not then broken nor attempted to be broken, in
South Carolina. I gave Ihe vote» and a very few
days brought us the message. I felt that J was
done up for life; that no man could stand in oppo
eition to so good a State rights President as that.
But, sir, it was only nine days, nine little days,
when the Proclamation followed ; a most consis
tent commentary on the lext of the message ; ju»t
such commentaries as we have always had from the
same quarter upon like professions of such princi
ples ; just such as I again anticipate. I mast sin
cerely pray that it may not be so- I shall be grati
fied if the necessities of their position shall drive
the Administration upon our principles State
rights principles ; the principles of the Constitution ;
but I have not even a hope that it will be so. I
want confidence, and I adopt the language us indig
nant scorn heretofore used by a distinguished gentle
man in remarking upon similar professions from tin
same quarter; “I can but admire the audacity o
the authors of the Proclamation and Foice Bill
claiming lo be the guardians of State rights.”
The currency question is of course the engros
sing subject of the message. But, sir, there is anoth
er which is first touched, and which is not less im
portant ; more important, as it should be regarded
by every Southern man; yes, sir, by every mm
who has ihe heart of an America.! beating in bis
bosom. I allude to the savage and in every way
disgraceful war now raging in Florida Is that
war lo rage forever ? Is its further prosecution
abandoned ? 'lave the Scrninoles reconquered
their country ? If so, aeknowedge it—yield it to
them by ireaty, and give them the honor and the
fruits oltheir victory. Do not keep up a miserable
show offeree there, lulling the People us t lie Terri
tory into a false reliance upon a power perfectly im
potent lo atlord any real protection, and exposing,
for no possible good, a few of the must gallant men
ofyour Army to all the dangers of climate and ol sav
age war, and, what to such men is infinitely worse,
to the certainty of constant failures and defeats.
I arraign this Administration lor its worse tfian
imbecile and impotent management of ihe Florida
war. If there was no other cause lor opposition to
those iu power, this itself is all sufficient. Cannot
the Administration with all the resources of this*
great country conquer the miserable band of siva<
ges ? If so, lei them surrender their powers t«
those who can. Ifthey cannot, why have they no;
done it ? Every drop of blood that has been
cries to Heaven against them. Individual atroci
ties and massacres, horrible as they are, I lo**
sight of altogether, when I look at the pressin
importance of dislodging so dangerous an enem\
from ih ir fastnesses in the vicinity of the West In
dies , aud in the very centre of the South. Are gen
tlemen aware that the Maine boundary question i
fur very far, from yet being even in a tram of adjust
ment,and that the utmost discretion w ill be requit
ed on the part of both Governments to avoid
war at the end of that question ? With even a pos
sibdity of that, is there any man who can look with
out indignation at so formidable an enemv bein;
embodied in the very heart of the South, or at th
miserable farce of a treaty which stipulated to yieh
lotheraa portion of the Temtory ? Sir, it is no
the land that we want ; we have too much of tha
already. It is the removal of the Indians, and th;.
only, which will satisfy us. And what has bee
done lo this end by this President of ours ? th
Northern man with Southern principles, and hi
Secretary of War, a Southern man with—(l am >
b loss ro say w hat principles, except John Kan
dolph’s celebrated “ seven ?”) Why, sir, we hav
seen the larger part of the Army withdrawn frot
the only point where they were really required, an
engaged in an empty pageant at Trenton—an erupt
pagement made s ill more ridiculous by a reviei
and inspection of the discipline and tactics b
the President and his Secretary. I wonder if the
were in unlorm ? ] should like to have seen them
if they were. Yes, sir the|army which should ha\
been in Florida was encamped a thousand miles,
from the point where they were hourly require
when every menang’s reveille Was the news of tl
massacre ot their fellow-soldiers, and of the w.
men and children of Florida. Was it to remot
j lV. em / rora ‘L 16 P e *>f ilential miasma of the swamps t
t londa. That climate was deemed good enoug
for the gallant Taylor and Harney. Why was
not so for all? lam sure that there was nor.
amongst the officers who would not have preferre
to remain at the post of duty and of honor, lit.
such a thing ever before occurred ? Generally w
have seen troops concentrated upon the point «.
danger and of war—but here we see them r.
po’ldT fr ° m ,? ’ Und th ° countrv lcft wliolly e: *
When I saw that the President referred us at
proyingly to the plan of the Secretary of Wa
which he was pleased to characterize as calculate
to bring that war to a successful issue,” althoa»
I behaved that » nothing good could come out <
I Nazareth, I eagerly turned to it to see what th •
i plan was ; and what, sir, is this notable plan “ i
I bnng this war to a successful issue?” Why m
iit is this: 1. Depriving the Serainoles of ail' svn '
l P al "T- I kad not known before that lhe-e vv
any such sympathy. I know of no one who h
given any evidence of such a feeling, except tl ’
honorable Secretary. He certainly has been , no
tenderly and compassionalely regardful of the -
lives. His second suggestion is the passage of Cob
nel Benton’s bill lor ihe selt'craenl of Florid
which I understand to be a proposition to <»ive
certain quantity of land to every man who wall L
tie there, and m famish him rations and miUts*
protection into the bargain ; the entering wed.
(and 1 beg that the j redictiou may be remember* i
to a system of grants for settlement, by which rl
wholeof the Wester i lands are to begot Irotn m.
The third suggestion ol the honorable Secrei,l ‘
is to raise a new regiment, and of course, to let hi
appoint the officers. What has yet been „
comphshed by lho 2d Dragoons, a reeiment
specially for this service ? Nothing thaU
er heard oi. I would ü b,ec, l Z ■
more regiments it I knew who were to
■ hem ; ts I could have any assurance* tbatffie co"
mand would be given to Gen. Floyd, ot Genre is 7
some other such man. I, however
such. But will he glv’en .o
to some palace pet or noisy politician
The appointments have been, aud will be mad
not with « view to military, but political bat
ties ; not with a view to obtaining victories 0 7.
Indians, but voles at elections. When tL
I regiment of dragoon* was raised, many gentlotn- • ]
in congress interest in procure an appointmen. *»r
as gallant anofficei as any in the Arrmy, who
been more or less engaged in Indian wars tor wie
last twenty years, and who was then bleeding lr° n
more than one wound from Indians. He had no
1 chance whatever. ’The appointment was gjvan
one who, then or since, has never set a squadron in
the field, and whose claims were not those ot mili
tary talents, but. political parry services. ; o in
create ofyour standing army is necessary; you ca >*
not in crease your army to a force adequate lo
service, and bei-tdes, regular troops are not i he troops
lo fight Indians, and such has been our uniform ex
ooricncc
The only way to end that war is toestanlish abun- ,
dnnt depots of supplies, and to throw into r on ■
fifteen or twenty thousand men. I-et them act ».m
--ultaneously and in concert, and the war wil
ended in six weeks. 1 can tell toe President tha
the present plan, or any that ever will be suggesle
by Ids Secretary ot '.Var, never will bring that war
to a succeessfnl issue, and that to rely on ary sue
will be a criminal paltering with tlie lives of our
people, and the character of the country.
The first passage of the message on tha currency
subject, which strikes me, is the following:
“ I’ho nineteen millions of Treasury notes au
thorized by the act ot Congress of 1837, and the
modifications thereof, with a view to the mdu gence
of merchants on their duty bonds, ami ol the e
posito banks in the payment ot public moneys nei
by them, have been so punctually redeeme d °
leave less than the original ten millions outstanding
at one time, and the whole amount unredeemed no v
falls short of three millions. Os these, the chtet
portion is not due till next year; and the whole
wou’d have been already extinguished could the
'•’reasurv have realized the payraenls due to it Irom
the Banks. If those due.lrora them during the next
year shall be punctually paid, and if Congress shad
keep the appropriations within the estimates, there
is every reason to oelieve that all the outstanding
Treasury notes can be redeemed, and the ordinary
expenses defrayed, without imposing on the I duple
any additional burden, either of loans or increasou
taxes ” , ,
Now, sir, 1 must be allowed, without the slightest
intentional personal disrespect to the President,
to say, that not a single statement contained in the
above extract is tiue Ido not insinuate, because I
do not believe, flie President capable of an inten
tional niistatement; but I d> say that these state
nicnls are incorrect, and that he nrght have and
ought to have known better. First: wore loose
Treasury notes issued with a view to enable tie
Government to indulge tha banks anil merchants •
The debts from both these sources were less than
six millions at the period of the lost issue often
mil Pons of these Treasury notes. How, then, can
a debt of six millions be the reason and the exease
for issuing ten millions of notes- ? Although not
so expressly stated, there are o her passages of the
message as well as of the Treasury report, which
imply, and no doubt are intended to imply, that in
dulgence to the banks was the sole reison for this
is tie of an unconstitutional currency How gross
a misrepresenlaiion this is, will he seen irom the
fact that, at ihe period of the last issue of ten mil
lions, the banks owed less than tvyo millions. I
would here take occasion to say, in passing, tha
these deposit hanks, which have been habitually de
nounced for their failures and frauds, have given
evidence of a power to fulfil their engagements, and
a noble fidelity in doing so absolutely unprecedent
ed, and beyond the hopes of the most sanguine, and
which throughout Europe is regarded with wonder
and admiration. They have fulfilled, to a miracle,
all their engagements, and, besides that, have sus
tained thecountry undei circumstances of difficulty
and distress where the boldest vnisht have dispel r
ed. 1 know, sir, that these are unfashion tide opin
ions ar.d truths, unwholesome to brawling politi
cians—that despicable and pernicious class, whose
only ambition is 1i rise from that obscurity to which
a want of talent and all virtue has destined {them,
by joining every popular clamor even against the
best and most, sacred institutions of society. I
am not one of those “whose thoughts ever keep the
road way.” I cannot lend myself to injustice of
any s< rt. What, sir, are the facts in relation to our
connexion with the deposit©banks ? Ti.e year be
fore the suspension, they held, on account of the
Government, more than «ixty millions of money.
It was contemplated by the distribution bill t >
withdraw' this snm in eighteen mouths. That it
self was regarded by most men who were best ;n
--formed, as a trial which the banks could not stand;
but they did. Yea sir, and more. The Secretary of
the Treasury, ins ead of allowing eighteen months
for this tremendous operation, actually executed it
m six months 1 will not say as some of his pre
sent friend* have that it was done to defeat the
saluiary effects of the measure. But he did it, and
to the astonishment of every one, the banks sus
tained themselves under this trial, and paid over at
once about forty millions No man would, a prio
ri,ha.\e said that it was possible. This is not all.
At the period of the suspension, in 1837, the bonks
held on ai count of the Government, twenty-three
millions. Congress granted them indulgence for
1 eighteen months. They paid all but two millions
! in less than six months—refusing to avail them
selves of your indulgence—and have secured, as
j the Secretary tells us, all the balance. If this be
faithlessness and fraud, commend me to faithless
ness and fraud for the balance of my life I have
shown that indulgence t > the batiks and the mer
chants was not the cause of the issue of these
Treasury notes—an issue of a Government curren
cy which, 1 have heretofore shown in an argument
which no one has attempted to answer, was a gross
and dangerous violation of the Constitution. The
second statement is equally untrue, that the whole of
the Treasury notes would have been extinguished if
the Treasury could have realized the sums due from
banks. The amount due from hinks is less than
two millions ; the amount of Treasury notes out
standing is two millions and three-fourths, besides
interest The last instalment from the tin ted
States Bank is not due until next September. The ;
third and last, and much the most important,is, that
the resources of the Government for the next year
will he adequate to its wants, without any increas
ed burdens of loans or taxes. We were told the
same thing in the lasi annual message, almost m the
same words. I said then that it was not true.—
What was the result ? Why, air, a new issue of 1
Treasury notes So it will be now.
Ihe President m-y not have known that this ■
statement was incorrect, but I am very sure that no
man on this floor who regards his character will
venture to endorse this opinion. Why, sir, every
body knows that it is not true. The Secretary of
the Treasury very well knows it. Although he
does not directly ask for a iaw to authorize the*issue
of ten millions more of Treasury notes, a whole col
umn, and a separate subdivision of his report, is de- i
voted to proving the necessity ol providing some ■
fund to meet a contingent deficiency VV hat funds i
dots he mean 1 W hy, Treasuary noies, and no
thing else; the expedient of the spendthrift who
has wasted his patrimony— to give his no e. The
President tells us t fiat the resources of ihe Govern
ment will be adequate to its wants Ite I you they
will not. The President has much belter oppo- tu
riiues of judging than I have, ami is under the same
obligations to disclose the truth 1 1 the country
L°' v ’ s ! r » m:ir k the result, and see who is riojit
Before six months we shall be asked to issue °ieii
millions at least of Treasury notes, or to make a
- °f? ,n ? ,n V® othl ‘ r form the truth rot now
told us : tor no othei reason man the shame of
th? avowal, on the part of the President, that, com
mg into power in a timenf profound and gen
eral prosperity, with a Treasury overflowing, lie has
in three years expended thirty millions over and
above tlie accruing revenue, and caused an almost
universal rum and insolvency in the land. There
was, when the President entered oa the duties of
!| ls office, nine millions which wras deposited with
the States, five millions surplus beside. , und up
wards of five millions due and which has been pJd
by the Bank o the United States, and there is now
near three rnnlions of Treasury outstanding |ma
kmg (wer.ly-three millions ■lO which add ,ffc,
f ? r . ,hs pre ‘ ,em ye "' «-• hav' m
three years of ihis economical Jeffersonian Adnon
— e ' n eSS ° f e *P endiu;re over income of
thirty-three mll ions As to the future, I look to it
wuh absolute dismay; no eye can penematethe
g oom of that future. \V e must pay^ ,o England
alone next year, for excess of imports over exports
on State debis,not less than sixty m.i
fioua. ft e same produce cannot pay this debt and
also pay for goods from which revenue is to be (re
nted; and when our produce fails, the debt cm
offiy be paid in specie, and the specie will be export"
ed by laws of commerce,as fixed and ce tain
tiny itself. *o certain, sir. am lot fhiSe rcsnli
teat all other leehtigs are forgotten in a sympathV
with the sufferings of the country ; and if \ hLd an
enemy among ihe am Ufa of this measure, I w .. u ]j
uesne for him no other punishment than that which
awaits him in the wrath and indignation of an aims
ed and deceived people. That day so
is not far distant, and I shall have no olh™ if’x de J
sire no other, considaiion than lo be ahfo 11 d °'
those who have confided their interests* Bay . 10
■.havccW all Uial I could lo av'T
1 see no human power now tn •
productions —and then wc cannot make our us i
importation*, and of ronxcquence, the .ifman <*
oar cotton is cut off', and the article not only » al *
still lower in price, hut cannot he sold at all o
else litis debt must he paid in specie, and umi,
the present condition of the country, will be rum at
«nce; not to the banks, but to the People. N°L 1
repeal, to the bunks, hut to the People. U the hanks
are forced to pay, the People, their debto s, mii't
pav them The banks owe the People one hundred
a;id fitly millions, the People owe them five hundred
millions. On whom will the bolt fall m >si heavily.
It will be a golden harvest for shivers and usurers
thev will taiten and grow rich on tin suffering
ai .d distress of the community. They, and they
only, will bs benefited. And, if Imi not mista
ken, it is this, lass, together with those who either
owe no money, or, if they do, are beyond the reach
of the law, and have no sympathy w ith those who
do owe. who are the loudest •dvocates ol th s m
vital and dangerous revolution in the monetary a
fairs of the country ; men who have a most philo
sophical and praiseworthy indifference to the sirtlor
ings of every onee’se but themselves No (govern
ment has the right to make suph an experiment up m
the happiness es its people—to carry out any theo
ry, however plausible. .
'l'he debts of the country were contracted upon
the faith of and withreference to an exist.ng slate
of things which no Government has the moral right
to subvert at once, upon the authority of any argu
ment a priori.
One word more as to the nine millions yet to be
deposited with the Stales. I like sometimes to
look back as well as forward. It is ofienjprontablo
to do so. We were told two years ago that the act
was not repealed Oh no! The payment was on
ly postponed. And it was vaunted in my own
IState a*.a great achievement to postpone the pay
ment instead of repealing the law . When are we to
gel it, sir ? Not,sir, until lire day of jui gment.
Or, what is the same thing, until your present
Secretary sh ill put an end to the Florida war.—
No, sir, I will freely forgive the balance of
that debt ts the Government can only be k*'pt along,
f repeat, sir, that no intelligent mar. will say ibat
the resources for the next and succeeding years will
meet our wants. Those resources are greatly ex
aggerated, whil-t the demands on the Treasury are
underrated. From the excessive importation ol the
lasi year, aud the universal piesure tn the money
market, added to our immense foreign debt, the re
venue from imports for the ensuing year must bo
very small—less, 1 venture to say, than any ono
anticipates; very much less than the estimate ot
the Secretary of the Treasury. From the public
lands I look hereafter for little revenue; first, be
cause so much of the public domain has gone into
the hands of private speculators, who will super- ]
cede the Government in tha market, because they
own the best lands, and can sell on credit and for
paper money; and, secondly, because these lands
are like to be used by political speculators, as the
corn in the public granaries was used in the days
of the decline of the Roman empire. No, sir, in
stead of reduced taxes, vve shall be forced to raise
the tuxes, and, I believe, up to the t xlreme point
fixed by the compromise of H 33.
By the by, sir, as to this tariff question; I was
told by more than one, who I think enjoy the Bre
s dent's confidence, that the message would be up
to the hub with the South on the tariff—that it j
would oven be ultra. I was glad to hear it. I was
glad to know that we were to get aid from so influ
ential a quarter, from whatever motive; as I owe no
such allegiance—party or personal—anywhere, and
never will, as to prevent me from rallying to iho
support of those who rally to the support of just
principles. I looked for the passage, but I looked
in vain. I saw exactly the place for it, but it was
not there. N■, sir, it was not there; but in its place |
1 found ail those ad captandum arguments about
rendering ourselves independent of the currency and
commerce of England, which have heretofore been j
and may be again, used in support of a protective 1
tariff, more appropriately than they are used in the j
message tor another purpose, t-ir, it is degrading to (
the intelligence of onr age and country to la'k in
tins way. We had as well talk of rendering our
selves independent of the tides or the winds of Hea
ven. Why, let mo ask, is this anti-tariff ground
not taken in the message ? I vvi'l tell yon : sir I
have been given to understand, that it is because a
very important political event is to lake pi ice rvxt
autumn, and that i ie thoroughly tariff States, Penn
sylvania and Ohio—States now doubtful, to say i lie
least—will have an important influence upon that
event, and that it may not be very discreet, nt this
particular lime,to take ground against the tariff;
an I although he doubtless possesses .ill the other
parts of valor, no one lias ever denied to the Presi
dent that belter fart of it, “discretion ” Especial
ly need he not do so when nothing is to he gamed
by it. The South is clearly bis already, by deed
and covenant duly executed; and it would be mere
wantonness thus unnecessarily to risk Pennsylvania
and Ohio. I have been told, however, lo wait, and
that in due time this ground will be assumed In
other word*, !am to aid in cheating the tariff
States out of the r \otes V\ hat security have we
that we shall not he deceived ourselves, as we have
hoen already once on this very same subject, and by
the very same person ? No, s : r: no great end was
ever yet accomplished by such means If no power
is left me t* resist the odious and dishonest opera
tion of the tariff poli-y but fraud and trick. 1 have
no confidence in them, and should not resort to
them if i had.
It is due to she country that the opinions of the
Preside it should have been known upon a great and
exciting question which must very soon come up.
It is espec ally so, as he has set up the dangerous
pretension ofbeing (as repealed usurpations, nut
the Constitution, have really made him) “a compo
nent part of the legislative power ” If he ha one
half o( the confidence in the judgment and purio:-
ism ol the People which he habitually professes
he need not fear to disclose his true opinions. Let
him take one side or the other. He has n > right to
lake both. Ido not wish to cheat othar s nor to be
again cheated myself,
j. 1 have a word or two to siy upon the great sub
ject of the message—the currency question. Our
| worthy I resident seems to have a regular intermit
tent upon I his suoject, At the extra sessio i the
| hard money lever was upon him, but at the Irmt s-s-
I stun there was a clear intermission of ijp s fo ver .
! even.sir, a cbill had supervened. He then s fid ;
j Like otner fctate establishments,they (banks) rim
; be used or not, in conducting the affairs of the
Governm nt ” “ When the Government ‘ can ae
compbsh a financial operation better wiih the aid
of the hanks than without it, it should beat liberty
to see v t.iat aid, &c. The dangerous tendency of
the connexion of the Government with banks was
: then to be arrested, by giving to the Executive the
undivided power and uncontrolled discretion loem
pby them or not. It was dangerous, in other words
to rust this power to the Executive and Congress,
but perfectly safe to confide it altogether to the Ex
ecutive.
It is a melancholy truth that, whilst there w a
party m this country who watch every encroaeh
r-ico he hede-id Government upon tha rights of
[if, ' aH stem to shuf our eyes lo the not
-
the other and co-ordinate departments of the FVder
ilt°sor; n fT nt - A k more darin « encroach me-, tof
tn.it sort has never been made than in this tl at it
r bliC . llber * ‘•‘ ‘-"th.s
n«-ents amt Q l>an^s T .° Confess—the immediate
agents and Representatives of the People; but ihat
he discretionary jwwer to use banks P or not shall
c'Xnhe Rh n '’^ ,dfnl - BrOU C h ' “P.-.i" “ho
creed ollhe Republican party—the old, the true
SiMT??' ', iep ; ,Mi ™ n ~or.y J „n oof
m W. f ft opinions has >een
< 1 danger, and to resist the smallest beginnings of
Executive encroachment 8 mgs ol
\ e were also told in the last message of the ben
eficial resuts from receiving the notes of
pa -mg banks, and the hill Introduced as the Gov
ernment measure did not contain the specie feeb r I I
I had some hopes that it was abandoned I r "
to see that it not only has b*en but that * re^r< f
is n„„ thrown off.
banks esn)u.j ve iy to offices of discount 5
J" ‘ hiS? , ‘ rejoice
rum n i r fe4 h^ nnin « that such'wl the‘pur
saving go I have °* <bsm » enunußneßs for
tion tr.at I nnwllj re oj, o j ,e ' a Personal satisfac
rejoioe that ZT * d still more do I
h-biust in J „ ? SS s mi ,7>l>» it ion is now „.
at 1,1680 Lmea. was to be wondered
State riph » poHlinana should
th 18 measure, not lor it<- direct financial
effw. n, t° , he Fodernl Oovarnm-m, bu, forlu j".
rea influence upon State institutions—the banks
Al admit the right of the Slates to charter hank,
none will assort the rght of the Federal Govern’
nent to destroy or even control these corporation*'
by direct legislation; but the power redo
claimed, and by State rights men, under’the indirect
use of a power g.ven for a wholly different purp.^
legiffrtrp^pc,7 e . m why fr ° m
nne power be U,es for’
tec ing manufacture. ? If y<> u m ay u s? a p
power to c-lftwit, and with the view t> : f ‘‘‘
pise fur which it was uu< aid never won U* f ‘
lu«n granted, xxbnt is there to prevent ih* ,Uv ®
of taxa ion f am being u*ad to effect ab dui,,,! L Wer
tax say of fifty dolla.a Ibr werv person lie )* 4
Isjndage ? If you can control or destroy oru- s 1:1
institution —the banks, why may you not d. ?>taie
same with another—domestic slavery ? j ( | '*_ t,le
man io suggest the shado wof a reason f >r i|, ' anv
which does not apply with equal force to the" ( f"‘»
We are told that banks, in sotne form , w**) ’
w;.ys exist in this coutnrv, and are n ged' p, * * a *'
those banks on a footing on which ipev ex :* e
some other comntrirs —that is, hanks of dej.. ) ,.f t 111
discount, not of issue. “Credit currency and f '' 1
it commerce” are denounced as the sources
our troubles. Now, what does iijftnean by
currency? Nothing. He can mejn nothing? 11
bank notes over and aho*’e tha «>ecie in h Ut
“dollar for dollar, and giidei for gilder ” jJ er(i an .**
is a distinct avowal of a purpose to briter || lC V 111 •
t ry lo an extensive metallic currency. „ to,,n '
. . . . ,a. J one uii
say that ihcre is any i-raciicai difference b e(v ,. p 11
metallic currency and a paper currency reorp- a
gold and silver, dollar for dollar jf l |, ere e ,i! 8
other words, fifty millions of specie in i| ie 0 18 111
we are to hare only fifty millions of it.jp er j IJ,l,r - v ’
and that not to be added to the .-pecte, but ,,eb ’
cietobe withdrawn and locked up, and thr. e ' ,e
only lo circulate. Sot at,as teetheainu Uul()^ a^er
rency, no one will pretend that \y * slnfi
more than if that currency were; in g ,|,j an , ’' n y
j only. Is tfie country prepared f*r ihu? s Ver
But sir, is bank paper beyond the specie in r n
vaults any more a credit currency' than that u-h '
there is specie, dollar for dollar ? Not a win*.
none but very shallow tiunkers,or those who
better, have said so. Is there no basi? 0 f civd"t
but gold and silver ? Is nothing else of any C ' l
value ? Is there no other property in the land
Is not the note of John Jacob Astor for a thousaM
dollars good, d.ud so regarded, although it may b
known that he has not fifty in specie ? It i s tin, e
that tills absurd slang about specie should ! e
ed. Specie is not only not the *o!e foundation o 's
the credit of bank paper —it is not even the princi.
pal foundation, but the property of the debtors of
the banks, and the stock itself'is the chief founds
lion of that credit. Is it not so as to the credit of
individuals ? Is credit given because of a known
amount'of specie hr dby the debtor ? Certainly
not; for in that case he would need no credit, but
xvould use his specie. No, sir; I repeat, i’is pro
oerty to xvliich credit is given—that property of
which gold and silver is the mere yard-stick.
i Is this not true ? After t'>e banks had suspend
ed, and it was known that thay had no specie, have
we not only seen their notes passing, bu\ passin-'
at par for every thing else but specie ? And us to
that, it is not the fall in the value of the note, but
the rise in the market value of the specie. Yes,
sir, when in that condition, every one is willing to
exchange the very best individual notes, drawing
interest, for those bank notes drawing none. Why
is litis, if specie is the sole basis of their credit ? I
do not intend to be misunderstood. lam no indis
criminate advocate of the banking system, still
j l e:!S of its excesses and vices. Igo further; I
I know that reforms, vital and radical, are required;
i and 1 believe that, if these reforms are not made'
the system will be run down, I am no apologist
for bank suspensions. I think the last one without
excuse. Specie is necessary ; it is the only mea
sure by which we are to know when bank issues
are excessive ; but to bring the country, in its pre
sent condition., and with the paper system now pre
vailing almost throughout the world, to a metallic
| currency, is a project absurd and impossible, I
| have no apprehensions whatever of that; my fears
: are of a different character. I do not doubt that
j l>y the swing of the pendlum, as natural in themo
! ral as in the physical world, the reaction will be to
j reinstate the paper system in its utmost excesses,
i and most probably to establish a Government bank
—an institution which Ido not hesitate to say the
public liberty will not long survive. No such tre
mendous revolution in the personal circumstances
of men as that proposed exrer can be effected but
by the iron hand of despotism It never will be
done where the People have the power in their own
hands. It is in the nature of man to disregard ul
timate results in seeking present relief from press.
| calamities, and there is no such calamity a< a
rapidly diminishing currency. My life on it, the
People will not bear it.
Infinite as have been the losses, the sufferings,
and misery xvhich have already resulted from
this fa tad experiment, we have notyct seen the w< ist.
There has been a general forbearance; it c innut
be so always. Tire advocates of this hard money
p Hey well know it. There is no single State in
tiie Union that would not instantly crush the ex
periment and the experimenters, if they were call
ed on to pay direct taxes in specie. Is this denied 1
if it is to act beneficially on the banks by creating
a practical drain for specie, that is a reason equally
strong for demanding State taxes in specie. Why
lias no one eve.; had the bo’dness to propose this in
any State Legislature ? Why, sir, because these
taxes are collected directly, and the People would
not bear it; and yet we see anti-tariff' men, by the
secret and unseen operation of tiiat law-, doing what
luey would not dare openly to propose.
Ihe State which I in part represent is regarded
as almost unanimous in favor of this pecie policy.
Its Legislature maybe said to be so. I have for
the intelligence and purity and patriotism of that
People a respect and deference which I cannot
here express, and I allude to these things for no
unworthy or disrespectful purpose, but it is a fair
illustration of what will be the result of this hum
bug every- where.
A portion of our banks have suspended specie
payments, some of them with twice as much spe
cie on hand as they have bills out. A proposition
was made to the last Legislature to coerce are
sumption by- these banks of specie payments. And
what do you think was the result? It was reject
ed by a large majority. This was not all: we
have a State bank, owned by the State exclusively
It was proposed at a preceding session to receive
nothing for taxes but specie or the bills of this
State bank—a very reasonable proposition surely
Did it pass the Legislature ?—this snb-treasun
hard-money Legislature ? Oh no, sir, but the :ax
collectors were ordered to receive the bills of ah
the banks—-ion-specie paying bank rags and alb
They- did more ; whilst inveighing against banks
and the credit s\-stem,they doubled the chartered
bank capital of the State, and have created a larger
debt for the State than was done by all former Le
gislatures from the beginning of the Government
A case still more striking is furnished by the
recent action of the Administration party, a hard
money, sub-Treausury Legislature, with tne sanc
tion of the hard-money Governor of the enlighten
ed and patriotic State of Georgia, The Legisla
ture of that State, which has just adjourned, has
established a bank more thoroughly a paper bank
than any that ever has existed in any- country— 11
bank, sir, which would amaze John Law himself)
if he could be allowed to see what is now going
on. He, sir, would be shocked at this wild excess
of the paper system. The Central Bank of Geor
gia, whose affairs at the last report stood thus—
specie, $46,000; circulation, $86,000, and bonds
and notes amounting to about $3,000,900— is or
dered (not authorized, but ordered) to issue six
millions of notes—double the currency of the
State- and to loan the money in the respective
counties according to population, on bonds due
twelve months They issue six millions of pope*
on forty-six thousand of specie, and promise to p 2 .'
specie on demand, when the debts to the bank are
not iue for a year. They cannot even
notes for a year, and yet they promise to pa> in
j specie on demand; and this, too, sir, when
ot the Btate for three hundred thousand dol!a r ' , j li3
been recently protested, without any provisos
whatever being made to meet it; but, on the con
trary, stock which was hypothecated for its P ! j'”
ment is ordered to be sold for other purposes, f* lls
law was signed on Friday,, and the bank suspend
ed the next Monday. These, sir, are characteris
tic signs of what will be the general feeling inu
the general results, in the end,of this mostdisa*'
tious experiment upon the happiness, and fortune'*
and business of the People. I rejoice, tberef
that the purposes of the Administrrtion are 3 ‘
length avowod. If these objects are sanctioned
any where, I shall be disappointed. If there is of
man m South Carolina who is in favor of aboli 5 ' 1 '
ing bank paper as a currency, I have never * eell
him. J ’
VV e were told, when this measure was
brought forward, that it would especially h« u
the South. That it was our staples which
be exchanged for specie, and that additional v ’ a t) n
would be given to those stap'es. Has this be* 1
so . Has indeed the amount of specie in the coon
try increased for the last two years ? It has t'° ■
Why not ? We were told to drive out paper?
specie would take its place. One- half of the b»o*
notes have been driven out—has their placed
filled ? No, sir ; that place is literally “an achm?
void.” I thought at first—and was confirmed *“