Newspaper Page Text
-~j • c The old
nen of the *' ure b’ tasted cos-
fee in their youth, its use then being exceed
ingly limited, ns a bod v, are taller than any e
qunl number of men taken promiscuously from
the traders and professions ot these degener
ate times. All this is imputed by some to the
stinting influenc of the coffee. If coffee drink
ing in this climate does prevent children from
being as large as they were originally designed
to b e —parents, ambitious of practising upon
the principles of calisthenics had better return
to the old-fashioned, though excellent and ap
propriate, dish of bread and milk, which under
ordinary circumstances never failed to give
health, height and happiness to those who were
reared upon it.— Medical and surgical jour
nal. < •
If therefore, the conclusions above set forth
be cerrect,pa rents, who are anxious that their
children should possess that first of locomotive
blessings, a pairoflong legs, must prevent the
tender juveniles from solacing their young sto
machs with genuine coffee ; though, we pre
sume, they may go on with their infusions of
parched rye as long as they please. We can
not pretend to say what is the influence ofcof
fee drinking upon the longitude of the human
frame ; but we have our eye upon several in
dividuals who carry their crowns several inch
es above 6 ft, and to our certain knowledge they
have been steady and industrious coffee drink
ers ever since they were strong enough to tilt
a saucer. Ifthese individuals have been cheat
ed of their full growth by the use of coffee, if
would be a curious inquiry to speculate on the
height to which they would have gro.vn upon
the more stretching diet of bread and mdk.
But. joking apart, we have very little doubt
that’ not children alone, but adults likewise,
would be much healthier, if both tea and coffee
were prohibited articles, and if something of a
less stimulating nature were introduced in their
stead. This, we believe, has always been the
doctrine, but thera is little likelihood that it
will ever be enforced, and so, whether it makes
u* tall or short, fat or lean, civilized man will
go on as heretofore, taking his tea and his cof
fee with clock-line regularity. Both, however,
might be advantageously denied to children.
Saturday News.
From the New York Daily Express.
The Consumption.
Such have been the improvements in surgery,
that there are some hopes that a cure for con
sumption may at length be effected by its aid.
It is a line in which no efforts have as yet
been made with a view to the absolute allevi
ation of this all-pervading disease. The atten
tion of medical men has never been directed to
so apparently hopeless a resource as a means
of arresting the career of a malady hitherto re
garded as exclusively within the province of
the physician, and not having even a remote
bearing to the remediate virtues residing in
the knife. But such will probably be the turn
which things will take, and under this convic
tion I am induced to lay before the Public the
following plan for the cure of this unhappily
too common disorder.
In order-to render this matter intelligible to
the mass of people who are roost deeply interest
ed in the discovery, it will be necessary to
make them, in a measure, acquainted with the
opinions which have been hitherto entertained
by physicians in regard to the nature of this
disease, and to give a brief description of the
structure of the lungs, and the manner in which
they affect the vital functions of oxidizing the
blood. '•
The lungs are bodies of a loose or spongy
consistence, contained within the chest. They
are placed in the right and left sides, and are
separated from each other by a membranous
partition, running from under the breast-bone
directly to the back-bone. The lung of the
left side is the smaller, from the heart being si
tuated it) that cavity. The windpipe goes
down the neck, and, dividing into two branch
es, enters into the back part of the lungs, close
upon the spine.
The lungs lie loose in the chest, like a bag
or bladder, whose orifice is at the windpipe.
We will suppose it to be a bladder inside of a
bellows ; if we stpp up the hole or valve in the
bottom board of the bellows, and suppose the
mouth of the bladder to come out at the nose,
it is then in precisely the same circumstances
that the lungs are within the chest. Raise the
handles, and the air passes in at the nose and
tills the bladder inside the bellows ; depress the
handles,, and the bladder is emptied. But lei
us open the valve underneath the bellows, and
the air, when the handles are elevated, will
rush into this opening, instead of the smaller
orifice of the nose. The lungs are in the
same relative situation. Make an opening tn
the inside, of the chest, and when the ribs are
raised in the act of breathing, the air is drawn
through this new passage in preference to pas
sing by the more circuitous way of the mouth
and windpipe. As the air is drawn in upon
the exterior surface of the lung, the latter
(which we will suppose the bladder again) is
pressed down and more and more emptied by
every breath, until it is reduced to its smallest
size, and all the cavity outside of it is filled
with air.
The lung (for these are cases which arc not
speculative, but of almost daily occurrence) is
compressed in this manner to a body not larger
than the fist, which shows the exceeding spon
giness of its structure. This opening has
sometimes been made by accident, sometimes
to give issue to matter or air collected within
the cavity, and for various other purposes. It
is practicable as a curative means only, from
the fact that the lungs are contained in two se
parate and distinct apartments, divided, as be
fore stated, by an impartiawi partition. If
they were both in one cavity, and the air let in
upon their outside, it would be an end to life,
as no breath could gain admittance to the inside
of the lungs. But as it has been proved in
numerous instances of disease, and where op
erations have been performed, that a person
can live by the breath of one lung, and allow
the other to lie idle, the idea originated of at
tempting to cure a disease in the onelung, which
is under your mastery, while the other goes on
■*with its functions. The only way in which
consumption is ever cured, is by the collapsing
or drying up of the lungs, the cessation of
breathing in it, and the sinking of that side of
the chest. The other side of the chest gene
rally becomes enlarged. Consumptive people
live on for years, when, to a l intents and pur
poses, they have not half a lung. And a dis
tinguished wrjter haa expressed the opinion
that one-twentieth part of the air usually taken
into the lungs at one respiration is sufficient to
sustain life.
Tho system of cure here proposed is found
ed on a careful consideration of these facts.
If the lung can bo placed at rest by the admis
sion of air to the cavity of the chest, the great
obstacle to the cure of consumption is removed.
So long as it is kept continually in motion by
the passage of the air through every portion of
it, an ulcer, or any other disease which may
exist, cannot possible heal. If the motion did
not aggravate the complaint, the state of dis
tension in which the lung is kept, and the sepa
ratum the diseased or ulcerated surfaces
maintained by this distension, would prevent
the union of the opposite sides of tho ulcers.
A wound will not unite unless the edges are
kept together—and a sword wound of thelun<r
is only cured by the instantaneous sinking down
of the wounded orgai , and the consentient,'-
tact which is produced'between the sides of
the cut. Thus Nature seems to have pointed
out this means of cure, and to have placed con
sumption, as it were, under an impossibility of
being removed by medicinal remedies, or by
any other means than the knife. It is like the
hip complaint in this respect. It is impossi
ble to produce a perfect siate of rest in that
joint—as in any position in which the patient
may be placed, sitting, standing, or lying, eve
ry movement of the body centres in the head
of the thigh bone, and continually aggravates
the existing disease and renders it incurable.
Now, the object of the operation for con
sumption is to make a permanent opening into
the side of the chest, so as to allow the air to
enter freely and compress the lung—to give
Nature an opportunity (while the lung is it) a
state of rest) to absorb the diseased matter, or
to heal the ulcerated parts by cicatrization,
and to afford the surgeon an opportunity to re
sort to the ligature or knife, where they may
be beneficial. In the first place, the surface
on which Nature has to act in her curative at
tempts is very much reduced; in the next
place, there is no interruption to her efforts, oc
casioned by the process of breathing, or bv
the irritation of the hectic fever, which seems
to be simply an indication of her struggles and
her inability to conquer a great disease—since
we in variably see it manifested when the body
is laboring under a very’ extensive external sore,
or an internal disease or abscess where there
is no possible chance for the escape of the
matter or the consolidation of the parts, as in
i the case of the liver and the lungs. In the
| next place, the matter, or pus, instead of coin
' pelling the "lungs to violent efforts for its ex
pulsion through the windpipe, and the want of
; strength to do which is frequently, if not gen
j erally, the immediate cause of death in this
j disease, finds a ready issue by the artificial
j opening. Again: the parts cannot so well be-,
i come callous in a state of quiescence, and if
! they have already become so by the constant
I motion—as in fistula the compression to which
they are subjected will promote their union, as
in ulcers on the leg—their collapse alone fa
vors this result. To be brief, where applica
i tions, incisions, inspections, tec. are required,
they are easily made. If it is found nccessa-
I ry to remove any diseased limb, it can be es
! fected.
It is not necessary to enter into the details
>of the operation. It is not os severe as one
i half of those daily performed in this city ; and,
as to its practicability, we will not throw away
reasons in discussing a matter wich admits of
no dispute. Those who are aware that an in
cision has been made into the abdomen, and
an ovarium of enormous size successfully re
moved, jby Dr. D. L. Rogers.)—that the bold
and skilful hand of Dr. Mott has entered the
breast and almost passed a ligature around the
heart itself—those who know that hip joints
have been made ly a dash of the knife, as in a
case by Dr. J. Kearny Rogers—will not won
der that a diseased lung, which has ceased to
perform its functions, should be seized and ta
ken out mainly from its location in the body ;
much less need they bo alarmed at the trivial
operations of making a small incision in the
side as the first step in the way of giving life
to the destined victim of consumption.
Were the operation the most terrible, as it is
the most trifling, thee would be no cause for
apprehension that a man’s system in so low a
state as that of a consumptive patient would not
be able to bear the shock. Persons reduced to
the very confines of the grave by any long pro
tiacted disease in one of the extremities, un
dergo amputation better, and rise with reno
vated health from its effects sooner than those
who are brought down in the full strength of
their bodily powers, and are compelled to sub
mit to a mutilation of one of their members.
The danger of the operation is less, the pain
is less, in proportion to the lowness of health
and strength of the patient. Instead of giving
stimulants to sustain the -system, we should in
many cases rather have recourse to bleeding,
in order to diminish the quantity of blood cir
culating through the lungs.
Without, therefore, particularizing the dif
ferent steps of the operation in these prelimi
nary observations, we shall content ourselves
with presenting a summary of the arguments
which have been advanced in favor of the suc
cess of these remediate measures for the effec
tual cure of consumption, and leave readers
to judge of the degree of confidence to which
they are entitled. I would not be guilty of
flattering, against my own conviction, that de
lusion and fallacy of -anticipation which are
often observed among consumptive subjects,
j and which frequently lead them to hope, in de
fiance of all the evidences of approaching dis
; solution, that they are at that very time on the
j point of perfect restoration to health, and to
| hold up their shrivelled arm to you and ask
you to look at the plumpness of it as an incon
trovertible proof of their returning vigor. Such
hallucinations are too melancholy to be trifled
with in so grave a manner.
The reasons upon which I found my assur
ance of the feasibility of this mode of cure are :
First, a man can breathe and retain his good
health with one of his lungs only.
Secondly, Nature sometimes effects a cure
by drying up ono of the lungs ; and this is the
only method in which she ever does effect a
cure.
Thirdly, the operationis neither difficult nor
dangerous.
And, fourthly, the diseased lung may be w hol
ly removed if necessary.
L. I*. WARREN, 438 1-2 Broadway.
From the New York Daily Express.
PHRENOLOGY—COLONEL BURR.
Having a short time since heard of a phren
otogteat e.vd.unnat;»,. <-£’ the hua<l of Col. Burr
by one of the phrenologists of our city, whose
name is given below, we requested for the pur
pose of publication, the results ofthe examina
tion, and give it below for the amusement of our
readers. The distinguished character of Col.
Burr, his many peculiarities, aud his curious
history, will make the communication of our
correspondent highly interesting.
To the Editros ofthe New York Daily Express:
At your request, I send-you the phrenological
character of Colonel Burr, as taken under the
following circumstances; A fiiend,acquaint
ed with my phrenological bias and studies, re
quested me to examine the head of an aged
gentleman, then lodging at the house of a lady
in Broadway, who was also anxious to have
the science tested in the case. We called to.
gether about a year since, and I was announc
ed as the phrenologist, but no intimation was
given respecting the character or name ofthe
very aged man into whose room we were in
troduced. The examination was permitted by
the Colonel only on the solicitation of the lady
above referred to, w ho, by the way, passed
with me as his niece. But very few remarks
were made by the persons present, excepting
some gay expressions by the lady, designed to
keep up the interest .of the Colonel in what
was passing; butuothiug was expressed or
implied which led me to suspect who w’as the
personage. 1 was under the impiession that
he was from the country on a visit. In this
paper I shall'not attempt to give the minute
points of conversation, but only to preserve the
character and facts of the examination. If
any inaccuracies are found, the persons pre
sent, whose names arc herewith transmitted,
are ready to correct them. Being under the
■ mnression that he was uneducated, it w,-' 1 ’
remarked that it would be impossible to keep '
such an organization in active, or in private j
life. His head indicated an aversion from >
religion, great strength and activity ofthe low- |
er propensities, with a powerful practical in
tellect. It was asked if I could tell the cha
racter from the head, so that there need be no
doubt respecting it. It was replied, that the
head mu a t give a correct character, as the tem
perament was a firm one, ai d the body re
markably symmetrical, though the head was
the largest as to the proportions. Being re
quested to give my opinion without reserve, I
did so ; and shall give you the geneial remarks
then made, with but few executions, as the re
collection of those present has'pi eserved them, j
I said, “ Sir, you are a man ot great natural |
endowments, capable of the highest order of I
actions, and possessing indomitable energy of
character. I never saw a stronger marked
heau. Your passions have always been in
dulged. Your ambition is cf the self-directed
and power-grasping kind, your sentiments
averse from religion, your benovolence is ex
clusively for your triends,yoer judgment acute
and practical, your knowledge universal, and
particularly your memory of facts and powers
of observation are ofthe highest order. You
would prefer arms as a profession ; you would
make a skilful commander, bold and enterpris
ing. As a lawyer, you would engage in poli
tics, and be intriguing. You would sacrifice
all to self. Y r ou would love your wife, adore
and indulge your children.”
I proceeded to designate the developments
necessary to such a character; and as this
paper may fall into the hands of some who are
interested in phrenological minutiae, I will give
them. The fibres anteriorly were long, pos
teriorly long and broad ; superiorly in the re
gion of firmness, very long, but not broad in
the superior region, except, perhaps, rather so
in hope and ideality, Coustructiveness was
large also a slight depression following the line
of the occipital suture to c< mbativeness. The
mastoid processes were peculiarly crowded
outward, and had the appearance of being wi
dened. The b r ain fell from self-esteem rather
obliquely toward combat iveness, but the gene
ral proportions were vety even. The broadest
front of the measure was at the junction of
sensitiveness, combativeness, and caution, giv
ing these organs a peculiar combination.
To all I said the Colonel gave the greatest
attention and expressed no dissatisfaction.
The interview lasted about one hour; allot’
which time was occupied in the phrenological
analysis of his character. Several very inter
esting coincidents of remark and characteris
tics occurred, which need not be introduced in
this paper.
After I. had concluded all I wished to say,
I was introduced to Colonel Aaron Burr; and
the reader may picture my astonishment in
being thus in the presence of a man who had
filled the world with his name, and our country
with.astonishment, and whose history will go
down to posterity as that of one ofthe greatest
statesmen and soldiers America can boast.
I hope no one will charge on the writer of
this a disposition to disturb the honors of the
dead; lor this paper would not have appeared
but that it will add one more to the thousands
ofastonishingyiicZs which establish the science
of phrenology.
Yours trulv,
T. BARLOW.
Phrenological Rooms, 286 Broadway, >
May 22d, 1837. " $
political*
Remarks of the Hon. John C.
Calhoun.
Delivered in the Senate of the United States,
March2l, 1834, on the motion of Mr. Web
ster for leave to introduce a bill to continue
the Charter of the Bank ofthe United States
for the six years after the expiration of the
present Charter.
{Concluded.)
The Senator from New Y ork, (Mr. Wright)
in assigning his reasons for believing the
Bank ot the United States to be more danger
ous than those of the States, said that one
bank was more dangerous than many. That,
in some respects, may be true; but, in one,
and that a most important one, it is strikingly
the opposite; I mean in the tendency of the
system to increase. Where there is but one
bank, the tendency to increase is not near so
strong as where there are many, as illustrated
in England, where the system has advanced
much less rapidly, in proportion to the wealth
and population ot the kingdom, than in the
United States. But where there is no limita
tion as to their number, the increase will be
inevitable, so long as banking continues to be
among the most certain, eligible, and profita
ble employment of capital, as is now the case,
With these inducements, there must be con
stant applications for new banks, whenever
there is the least prospect of profitable employ
ment—banks to be founded maitdv on nominal
and fictitious capita), and adding but little to
that already in existence—and with our just
and natural aversion to monopoly, it as diffi
cult, on principles of equality and justice, to
resist such application. The admission of
a new bank tends to diminish the profits ofthe
old. and between the aversion of the old to
reduce their income, and the desire ofthe new
to acquire profits, the result is an enlargement
of discounts, affected by a mutual spirit of for
bearance; an indisposition on the part of each
to oppress the other; and finally, the creation
ot a community of feeling to stigmatize and
ojipose those, whether banks or individuals,
who demand specie in payment of their notes.
This community of feeling which ultimately
identifies the whole as a peculiar and distinct
interest in the commiuiiiy. increases and be
comes more and more intensejust in propor
tion as banks multiply; as they become, if I
may use the expression, too pop ilous, and
from the pressure of increasing numbers, in
maintaining their existence, there results a
corresponding increase of issues, in proportion
to their means; which explains the present
extiaordinary disproportion between specie
and notes, in those States where banks have
been most multiplied; equal in some to sixteen
to one. There results, from this state of things,
some political considerations which demand
the profound attention of all who value the lib
erty and peace ofthe country.
. the banking system - rests on a solid
foundation, there will be, on their part, but
little dependence on the Government, and but
little means by which the Government can in
fluence them, as as little disposition on tho part
ot the hanks to be connected with it; but in
the progress of the system when their number
>s greatly multiplied, and their issues, in pro
portion to their means, are correspondingly in
creased, the condition of the banks becomes
more and more critical. Every adverse event
in the commercial world, or political movement
that disturbs the present state of things, agi
tates and endangers them. Thev become
timid, and anxious for their safetv. and neces
sarily court those in power, in order to secure
their protection. Property is, tn its nature,
timid, and seeks protection, and nothing is more
giateful to Government than to become a pro
tector. A union is the result; and when that
union takes place—when the Government, in
fact, becomes the bank direction, regulating its
tavois and-accommodation, the do vnfall of
libeity is at hand. Are there not indications
• hat we are not F --of
out H e tt SB? Ii i
things? Do we not behold in those events
which have so deeply agitated us within the
tew months; and which have interrupted all
the busmess transactions of this ".ommunity,
a strong tendency to this union on the part of
one department ot this government, and a por
tion ot the banking system ? Has not this un
ion been, in fact, consummated in the largest
and most commercial ofthe States? What
is the safety fund system of New York but a
union between the banks and the State, and a
consummation by law of that community of
feeling in the banking system, which I have
attempted to illustrate; the object of which
is to extend their discounts, and to obtain
which, the interior banks of that State have
actually put themselves under the immediate
protection of the government.
'I he effects have been striking. Already
have they become substantially mere paper ma
chines—several having not more than from one
to two cents in specie to the dollar, when com
pared with their circulation will be found but
little better. I care not (said Mr. Calhoun)
whether the present commissioners are parti
zans of the present State Administration or
not; or whether the assertion of the Senator
from New York, (Mr. Wright,) that the gov
ernment ot the state had not interfered in the
control of these institutions, be correct. Whe
ther it has taken, place or not, interference is
inevitable. In such state of weakness a fee
ling of dependence is unavoidable, and the
control of the government over the action of
the banks, whenever that control shall become
neeessnry to subserve the ambition or the av
arice of those in power, is certain.
Such is the strong tendency of our banks to
terminate their career in the paper system—in
an open suspension ofspecie payment. When
ever that event occurs, the progress to convul
| sion and revolution will be rapid The cur
rency will become local and each State will
have a powerful interest to depreciate its ■cur
rency more rapidly that its neighbor, as the
i means, at the same time of exempting itself
from the taxes of the Government and drawing
the commerce of the country to its ports.
This was strongly exemplified after the sus
i pension of specie payment during the late war,
when the depreciation made the most rapid
progress till checked by the establishment of
the U. States, and when the foreign trade of
the country was as rapidly conversing to the
point of the greatest depreciation, with a view
; of exemption from duties., by paying in the
debased currency ofthe place.
What, then, is the disease which afflicts the
system ; what the remedy ; and what the
means of supplying it? These are the ques
tions which I shall next proceed to consider.
What I have already stated, points out the di
sease. It consists in a great and growing dis
proportion between the metallic and paper cir
culation of the country effected through the
instrumentality of the banks, a disproportion
daily and hourly increasing tinder the impulse
of the most powerful causes, which are rapid
ly accellerating the country to that state of
convulsion and revolution which I have indi
cated.—The remedy is to arrest its future pro
gress, and to diminish the existing dispropor
tion—to increase the metals and to diminish
the paper —advancing till the currency shall
be restored to a sound, safe, and settled condi
tion. On these two points all must be agreed.
There is no man of any party capable of re
flecting, and who will take the pains to inform
himself, but must agree that our currency is in
a dangerous condition, and that the danger is
increasing; nor is there any one who can
doubt that the only safe and effectual « - emedy
is to diminish the disproportion to which 1
have referred. Here the extremes unite—the
Senator from Missouri, (Mr. Benton,) -who is
the open and avowed advocate of a pure me
tallic currency, and the Senator from Massa
chusetts, (Mr. Webster,) who stands hero as
the able and strenuous advocate of the banking
system, are on this point united, and must
move from it in the same direction, though it
may be the design of the one to go through,
and of the other to halt after a moderate ad
vance. 1
There is another point in w hich all must be
agreed; that the remedy must be gradual.—the
change, from the present to another and sound
er condition, slow and cautious. The neces
sity for this, results from that highly delicate
nature of currency which I have already illus
trated. Any sudden and great change from
our present to even a sounder condition, would
agitate and convulse society to its very centre.
On another point there can be but little disa
greement. Whatever may be the different
theoretical opinions of the members of the
Senate, as to the extent to which the reforma
tion of the currency should be carried, even
those who thtuk it may be carried practically
and safely to the restoration of a metallic cur
rency, to the entire exclusion of paper, must
agree that the restoration ought not to be car
ried further than a cautious and a slow expe
rience shall prove that it can be done, consist
ently with the prosperity ofthe country, in the
existing fiscal and commercial condition of the
world. To go beyond the point to which ex
perience shall show it is proper to go, w-ould
be to sacrifice the public interest merely to
a favorite conception. There may be ulti
mately a disagreement of opinion where that
point is, but since all must be agreed to move
forward in the same direction and nt the same
space, let us set out in the spirit of harmonv
and peace, though we intend to stop at differ
ent points. It may be that enlightened by ex
perience, those who intended to stop at the
nearest point may be disposed to advance far
ther, and that those who intended the farthest
may halt on this side, so that finally all mav
agree to terminate the journey together.
This brings us to the question* of how shall
so salutary a change be effected? What th
means and the mode of application ? A great
and difficult question, on w hich some diversi
ty of opinion may be expected.
No one can be more sensible than I am ot
the responsibility that must be incurred in pro
posing measures on questions of so much
magnitude, aud which, in so distracted a state
ofthe public mind, must affect seriously great
and influential interests. But this is iio time
to shun responsibility. The danger is great
and menacing, and delay hazardous if not ru
inous. While, however I would nut admit, I
have not sought the responsibility. I have
waited for others, and had any one proposed
an adequate remedy, I would have remained
silent. And here, (said Mr. Calhoun,) let me
express the deep regret which I feel that the
Administration, w ith all that weight of author
ity w hich belongs to its power aud immense
patronage, had uot, instead of the deposite
question, which has caused such agitation and
distress,taken up the great subject ofthe cur
rency; examined it gravely and deliberately
in all its bearings; pointed out its diseased
condition; designated the remedy, and pro
posed some safe, gradual, and effectual means
ofapplyiug it. Had that course been pursued,
my Zealous and hearty co-operation would not
have been wanting. Permit me also to ex
press a similar regret, that the Administration
having failed in this great point of duty, the
opposition, with all its weight and talents,
headed on this question by the distinguished
and utile SenatorTrom Massachusetts, w ho is
so capable of comprehending this subject in
all its bearing, had not brought forward, under
its auspices, some permanent system of mea
sures, based upon a deliberate and mature in
vestigation into the cause of the existing dis
ease, and calculated to remedy the disordered;
state ofthe currency. W'hat might have been
brought forward by them with such fair pros
pects of success, has been thrown on more in
competent hands; unaided by patronage or in
fluence, saving only that influence which truth,
clearly developed, and honestly and zealous
ly advanced, may be supposed to possess; and
on which I must wholly rely.
But to return to the subject. Whatever di
versity of sentiment there may be as to the
means, on one point all must be agreed; noth,
ing effectual can be done; no check interposed
to restore or arrest the progress of the system
by the action of the States. The reasons al
ready assigned to prove that banking by one
State compels all others to bank, and that the
excess of banking in one, in like manner com
pelts all others to like excess, equally demon
strate that it is impossible for the States, act
ing separately, to interpose any means to pre
vent the catastrophe which certainly awaits
the system and perhaps the Government itself,
unless the great and growing danger to which
I refer be timely and effectually arrested.
There is no power any where, but in this Gov
ernment —the joint agent of all the States, and
through which the concert of the fiction ofthe
whole can be effected, adequate to this great
task. The responsibility is upon us, and upon
us alone. The means, if means, there be,
must be applied by our ha ds, or not applied
at all—a consideration, in so great an emer
gency, and in the presence of such imminent
danger, calculated I would suppose, to dispose
all to co-operation, and to allay every party
feeling in the heart even of the least patriotic.
What means do we possess, and how can
they be applied?
It the entire banking system was under the
immediate control of the General Government,
there would bo no difficulty in devising a safe
and effectual remedy to restore the equilibrium
so desirab e between the specie and the paper
which compose our currency. But the fact
is otherwise. With the exception ofthe Bank
of the United States, all the other banks owe
their origin to the authority of the several
States, and are under their immediate control,
which presents the great difficulty experienced
in devising the proper means of effecting the
remedy, which all feel to be so desirable.
Among the mqans which have been sugges
ted, a Senator from Virginia, not now a mem
ber of this body, (Mr. Rives,) proposed to ap
ply the taxing power to suppress the circula
tion of small notes, with a view of diminish
ing the paper and increasing the specie circu
culatiom The remedy w’ould be simple ana
effective, but is liable to great objection. The
taxing power is odious under any circumstan
ces; it w’ould be doubly so when called into
exeicise with an overflowing treasury; and
still more so. with the necessity of organizing
an expensive body of officers to collect a sin
gle tax, and that on an inconsiderable .subject
But there is another, and of itself, a decisive
objection. It would be unconstitutional—pal
pably and dangcroasly so. All political pow
ers, as I stated on another occasion, are trust
powers, and limited in their exercise to the
subject and object of the grant. The tax pow
er was granted to raise revenue for the sole
purpose of supplying the necessary means o.
carry ing on the operations of the Governments
To prevent this power from the object thus in
tended by the Constitution, to that of repress
ing the circulation of bank notes, would be
to convert it from a revenue into a perjal pow
er—a power in its nature and object essentially
different from that intended to be granted in
tho Constitution; and a power which in its full
extension, if once admitted, would be sufficient
of itself to give an entire control to this Govern
ment over the property and the pursuits of
the community, and thus concentrate and con
solidate the entire power ofthe system in this
Government.
Rejecting, then, the taxing power, there re
main.? two obvious and direct means in posses
sion of the Government which may be brought
into action to effect the object intended, but
neither of which, either separately or jointly,
are of sufficient efficacy; however indispensa
ble they may be as a part of an efficient system
of measures, to correct the present or repress
the growing disorders of the currency—l mean
that provision in the Constitution w’hich em
powers Congress to coin money, regulate the
value thereof and of foreign coin, aud the pow
er of prohibiting any thing but the legal cur
rency to be received either in whole or in part,
in the dues of the Government, The mere
power of coining and regulating the value of
coins of itself, and unsustained by any other
measure, can exercise but a limited control
over the actual currency of the country, and is
inadequate to check excess or correct disorder,
as is demonstrated by the present diseased
state ofthe currency. ■ Congress has had from
the beginning; laws upon the statute books to
regulate the value of the coins; and at an ear
ly period of the (Government the Mint was
erected, and has been in active operation ever
since; and yet, of the immense amount which
has been coined, a small residue only remains
in the country; the great body having been
expelled under the operation ofthe banking
system. To give efficacy to this power, then,
some other must be combined with it.—The
most, immediate and obvious is that which has
been suggested, of excluding all but specie in
the receipts of the Government. This mea
sure would be effectual to a certain extent; but
with a declining income w Inch must take place
under the operation of the act ofthe last ses
sion, to adjust the tariff, and which must great
ly reduce the revenue, (a point of the utmost
importance to the reformation and regenera
tion of our institutions,) the efficacy of the
measure must be correspondingly diminished.
From the nature of things, it cannot greativ
exceed the average of the Government depo
sites, which I hope will before many years be
reduced to the smallest possible amount, so as
to prevent the possibility bf the recurrence of
the shameful and dangerous state of things
which now exists, and which has been caused
by the vast amount of the surplus revenue.
But there is in my opinion a strong if not an
insuperable objection against resorting to this
measure, icsulting from the fact that an exclu
sive receipt of specie in the Treasury would,
to give it efficacy and to prevent extensive
speculation and fraud, require an entire dis
connection on the part of the Government with
the banking system in all its forms, and a resort
to the strong box as the means of preserving
and guarding its funds—a means, if practica
ble at al), in the present state of things, liable
to the objection of being far less safe, eepaom
ical, and efficient than the present. What
then, Mr. C. inquired, what other means do we
possess of sufficient efficacy, iii combination
with those to which I have referred, to arrest
the farther progress and correct the disorder
ed.state of the currency? This is the deeply
important question, and here some division of
opinion must be expected, however united
wc may be. as 1 trust we are thus far, on all
other points. I intend to meet this question
explicitly aud directly, without reservation or
concealment.
After a full survey cf the whole survey of
the whole subject, I see none, I can conjec
ture no means of extricating the country from
the present danger and to arrest its farther in
crease, but a bank, the currency of which, in
some form or under some authority, is indis
pensable. The country has been brought in
to the present diseased state of the currency
by banks, and must ba extricated by their agen
cy. We must, in a word, use a bank to un
bank the banks, to tb ? •’ ' ■
' cessary to restore a safe ai d stable currency—
just as we apply snow to a frozen limb in m
Ider to restore vitality and circulation, or ho
• up a burn to the flame to extract the inflama-
I tion. All must see that it is impossible to suji
'press the banking system at once. It mus j
■ continue for a time. Its greatest enemies an j
I ti.e advocates of an exclusive specie circula !
j tion, must make it a part of their system t>
: ! tolerate the banks for a longer or a shorter p -
I riod. To suppress them at once, would, if tl
I i were possible, work a greater revolution —a
i j greater change in the relative condition of the
; various classes of the community, than would
: the conquest of the country by a. savage ene- |
my. What, then, must be done? I answer, I
■ a new and safe system must gradually grow
up under and replace the old—imitating, in
■ i this respect, the beautiful process which we
I semetimes sec, of a wounded or diseased part
H in a living organic body, gradually superseded
, I by the healing process of nature.
i How is this to be effected? Howisabank
I to be used as the means of correcting the ex-
• : cess of the bulking system? And what bank I
I is to be selected as the agent of effecting this |
• salutary change? I know, said Mr. C., that j
t a diversity of opinion will be found to exist as ■
: ; to the agent to be selected, among those who '
, ; agree on every other point, and who, in parti-
I I cular, agree on the necessity of using some
j bank as the means of effecting the object in
j tended ; one preferring a simple re-charter of
’ j the existing bank—another the charter of a
j new bank of the United States—a third, anew
. j bank engrafted upon the obi, and a fourth the
i j use of the State banks as the agent. I wish,
I said Mr. C. ,to leave all these as open ques
! | tions ; to be carefully surveyed aud compared
, j with each other; calmly and dispassionately,
s j without prejudice or party feeling; and that
i i to be selected which, on the whole, shall ap
r | pear to be best—the most safe ; the most efli
t ] cient; the most prompt in application; and
i j the least liable to constitutional objection. It
j would, however, be wanting in candor on my
1 part, not to declare that my impressions is, that
, a new Bank of the United States, engrafted
I upon the old, will be found, under all tho cir
i ■ cumstances of the case, to combine the great-
| est advantages, end to be liable to the fewest
- I objections; but this impression is not so firm-
- j ly fixed as to be inconsistent with a calm re-
- i view ot the whole ground, or to prevent mv
- i yielding to the conviction of reason, should the
■ result of such review prove that any other is
- J preferable. Among its peculiar recommenda
i , tions may be ranked the consideration, that
J | while it would afford the means of a prompt
- and effectual application for mitigating and fi
> i nallv removing the existing distress, it would at
1 . the same time open to the vyhole community a
; j fair opportunity of participation in the advan-
- ! tages ot the institution, be they what they may.
t i Let us then suppose (in order to illustrate
? j and not to indicate a preference) that the pre-
• ! sent bank be selected as the agent to effect the
- I intended object. What provision will be ne
t ; cessary ? I will suggest those that have oc
; ' curred to me, mainly, however, with a view of
- ) exciting the reflection of those much more fa
-3 ■ miliar with banking operations than myself,
. and who, of course, are more competent to form
f a correct judgment on their practical effect.
- ( Let, then, the bank charter be renewed for
- I twelve years alter the expiration of the present
3 ; term, with such modifications and limitations
- ! as may be judged proper, aud that after that
t I period it shall issue no notes under ten dollars ;
i ! that Government shall not receive in its dues
1 i any sum less than ten dollars, except in the
t j legal coins of the United States; that it shall
- not receive in its dues the notes of anv bank
f j that issues notes of a denomination less than
- J five dollars ; and that the United States Bank
s shall not receive in payment, or on deposite, tin
J notes of any bank whose notes arc not receiv-
• I able in the dues of the Government; nor the
■ j notes of any bunk which may receive the notes
1 [ of any bank whose notes are not receivable by
t I the Government. At the expiration of six
, j years from the commencement ofthe renewed
■ j charter, let the bank be prohibited from issu
i j ing any notes under twenty dollars, and let no
i sum under that amount be received in the dues
i j of the Government, except in specie: and let
• j the value of gold be raised at least equal to
: that of silver, to take effect immediately, so
■ that the country may be Replenished with the |
I coin, the lightest and the most portable in pro-
. ' portion to its valve, to take the place ofthe re
! ceding bank notes. It is unnecessary for me
’l to state that, at present, tho standard value of
l gold is several per cent, less than that of silver,
, the necessary effect of which has been to cx
; pel gold entirely from our circulation, and thus
] te deprive us of a coin so well calculated for
the circulation of a country so great in extent,
and having so vast an intercourse, commercial
social, and political, between all its parts as
ours. As an additional recommendation to
raise its relative value, gold has of late be
come an important product of three consider
able States ofthe Union—Virginia. North Car
olina and Georgia—to the industry of which,
the measures proposed would give a strong itn
| pulse, and which in turn, would greatly in
crease the quantity pr -duced.
Such arc the means which have occurred to
me. There are members of this body far more
Competent to judge of their practical operation
than myself, and as my object is simply to sug
gest them for their reflection, and for that of j
others who are more familiar with this part of
tlie subject, I will not at present enter into ar.
inquiry as to their efficiency, with a view of
determining whether they are fully adequate
■to effect the object in view or not. There are
I doubtless others of a similar description, and
perhaps more efficacious, that may occur to
the experienced, which I would freely embrace, J
I as my object is to adopt the best and most es-
I ficient. And it may be hoped that if on ex-
J perience it should be found that neither these
[ provisions nor any other in the power of Con.
I gross are fully adequate to effect the important
■ reform which I have proposed, the co-opera-
I tion ofthe States may be afforded, al least to
■ tho extent of suppressing the circulation of
[ notes under five dollars, where such are pcr-
j mitted to be issued under their authority.
! I omitted in the proper place to state my
■ reason for suggesting twelve years as the term
for the renewal ofthe charter of the bank. It
appears to me that it is long enough to permrt>
the agitation and distraction which now dis
turbs the country to subside, while it is suffi
ciently short to enable us to avail ourselves of
the full benefit of the light ot experience which
may be exjy to be derived from the opera
tion under its new provisions.
But there L • j’.cr reason which appears to
me to be dfL' jto great weight. The char
ter ofthe Ilank of England has recently been
renewed for the term often years, with very
important changes, calculated to furnish much I
l experience upon the nature ot banking opera- I
tions and currency. It is highly desirable, if!
the bank charter should be renewed, or a new
' bank created, that we should have the full ben
efit of that experience before the expiration of
the term, which would be effected by fixing the
’ period for the time I have designated. But as
iny object in selecting the recharter ofthe
1 Bank of the United States was simply to cna
; ble me to present the suggestions I have made j
in the clearest form, and not to advocate the i
rechartcr, I shall omit to indicate many limita- !
tions and provisions which seem to me to be ■
important to be considered when the question !
of ns permanent renewal is presented, should I
it ever be. Among others, I entirely concur |
m the suggestion ofthe Senator from Gcoreid.'
of fixing the rate of interest at five per cent»
suggestion ofthe very highest importance as
Having a most important bearing on the value
of property and the prosperity of the country
in every branch of its industry, and to which
but one objection can, in my opinion, be pre
sented ; I mean the opposing interest of exist
i g State institutions, all of which discount at
higher rates, and which may defeat any meas
ure of which it constitutes a part. In addition
I will simply say, that I, for one, shall feel dis
posed to adopt such provisions as are best cal
culated to secure the Government from any
supposed influence on the part of the bank,or
the bank from an improper interference on the
jiartofthe Government; or which may be ne
cessary to protect the rights or interests of the
States.
Having now stated the measure necessary
to apply the remedy, I am thus brought to the
question—can the measure succeed ? which
brings up the inquiry ofhow far it may be ex
pected to receive the support of the several par.
ties which compose the Senate, and on which
I shall next proceed to make a few remarks.
First, then, can the State rights party give it
their support—that party of which I am proud
of being a member, and for which I entertain-
I so strong an attachment—the stronger because
we arc few among many? In proposing this
question, I am not ignorant of their long stands
ing constitutional objection to the bank, on the
ground that this was intended to be, as it is usu
ally expressed, a hard money Government—a
Government whose circulating medium was
intended to consist ofthe precious metals, and
for which object the power of coining money
and regulating the value thereof was expressly
confei red by the constitution. I know how
long and how sincerely this opinion has been
maintained. It is not my intention to attempt
to change an opinion so firm'y fixed, but I
mav be permitted to make a few observations,
in order to present what appears to me to be
the true question in reference to this constitu
tional point, in order that wc may fully com.
prehend the circumstances under which we are
placed in reference to it. With this view, I
do not deem it necessary to inquire whether,
in conferring the power to coin money and to
regulate the value thereof, the constitution in.
I tended to limit the power strictly to coining
I money and regulating its value, or whether it
intended to confer a more general power over
the currency ; nor do 1 intend to inquire wheth.
j er the word coin is limited simply to the me.
[ tats, or may be extended to other substances, if
through a gradual change they may become
the medium of the general circulation ofthe
world. I pass thesepoints. Whateveropin
ion there may be entertained m reference to
them we must all agree, as a fixed principle
in our system ofthiukiugon constitutional ques
tions, that the power under consideration, like
other political powers, is a trust power, and
that like all such powers it must be so exer
cised as to effect the object ofthe trust as far
as it may be practicable* Nor can we disa
gree that the object of the power was to sc
! cure to these States a safe, uniform and stable
; currency. The nature ofthe power; the terms
; used to convey it; the history oi the times;
| the necessity with the creation of a common
j Government, of having a common and uniform
i circulating medium, and the power conferred
to punish those who, by counterfeiting, may at
• tempt to debase and degrade the coins of the
! country—all proclaim this to be the object.
It is not my purpose to inquire whether, ad
mitting this to be the object, Congress is not
bound to use all the means in its power to
give this safety, this stability, this uniformity
to the currency, for which the power was con
ferrod—nor to inquire whether the States are
not bound to abstain from acts on their part
inconsistent with these objects--r.or to inquire
i whether the right of bunking, on the part of a
j State, docs not directly, and by immediate com
! sequence, injuriously affect the currency—
whether the effect of banking is not to expel the
specie currency, which according to the as
. sumption that this is a hard money Govern
ment, it was the object of the Constitution to
furnish. in conferring the power to coi i money ;
or whether the effect of banking does not ne
cessarily tend io diminish theva'ue of a specie
currency, as certainly as clipping or reducing
its -weight would ; and whether it has not, in
fact, since its introduction, reduced the value
ofthe coins one half. Nor do I intend to in
quire whether Congress is not bound to abstain
from all acts on its part calculated to affect in
jurious'y the specie circulation, and whether
the receiving of any thing but specie, in its
dues, must not necessarily so affect it by di
minishing the quantity in circulation, anil de
pieciating the value of what remains. Alt
these questions I leave open—l decide none
of them. There is one, however, that I will
decide. If Congress has a right to receive
any thing else than specie in its dues, thev
have the right to regulate its value ; and have
the right, of course, to adopt all necessary and
proper means, in the language of ihe Constiiu
tion, to effect the object. It matters not what
they receive, tobacco, or any thing else, this
right must attach to it. I do uot affirm the
rrght of receiving, but I do hold it to be incon
trovertible that, if Congress were to order the
dues ofthe Government to be paid, for instance,
in tobacco, they would have the right thev
would be bound to use all necessary and pro
per means to give it a uniform and stable value ;
inspections, appraisement, designation of quali
ties, and whatever else would be necessary to
that object. So on the same principle, if they
receive bank notes they are equally bound to
use all means necessary and proper, according
to the peculiar nature of the subject, te give
them uniformity, stability and safety. The
very receipt of bank notes on the part of the
Government, in its dues, would, it is conceded,
make them money, as far as the Government
may be concerned, and by a necessary conse
quence would make them, to a great extent, the
currency of tho couulry. I stay nothing of the
positive provisions in the Constitution whicli
declare that “ail duties, imports, and excises
shall be uniform throughout the United States ”
which cannot be. unless that in which they are
paid should also have, as nearly as practicable
a uniform value throughout the country. To
effect this, where bank notes are received, the
banking power is necessary an<J proper within
the meaning of the Constitution ; and, conse
quently, if the Government has the right to re
ceive bank notes in its dues the power be
comes constitutional. Here lies, said Mr. C
the real constitutional question—has the Gov.
ernment a right to receive bank notes or not?
The question is not upon the mere power of
incorporating a bank, as it has been common,
ly argued ; though even in that view there
would be as great a constitutional objection to
any net on the part ofthe Executive, or any
other branch of the Government, which should
unite any association of State banks into ono
system, as the means cf giving the uniformity
and stability to the currency which the Con
stitution intends to confer. The v*-ry act of so
associating or incorporating them into one, by
whatever name callol, or by whatever depart
ment performed, would be, in fact an act of
incorporation.
But, said Mr. Calhoun my object, as I have
stated, is not to discuss the constitutional ques.
tions. nor to determine whether the bank bo
constitutional or not. It is, I repeat, to show
where-the difficulty lies—a difficulty which I
have te.lt from the time I first came into the
public service. I found then, as now, the cur.
rency of tho country consisting almost entirely