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VOL. 11l
• f fcpjftUJlED weeki.t,
BY HODGE V Cos.
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[REPORTED I-OR Tilfc PATRIOT.]
JfOUSI*: oF REPRESEN fATIV£B.
//$» ilfr, WILD 12s Speech in the can
piitteo of the whale, on the motion to
.strikeout of the Bank bill , the clause
with arizing the appointment of five di
rectors by the president.
R. WILDE—I am conscious* Mr.
Chairman, that on the general que.ition
presented by this bin, and on most of
those arising out of the details necessary
to secure its effectual operation, I have
much information to receive, and very
little to Communicate. Yet as the ex
perience of some states, who have re
served to themselves sfisfre’ in the 4i
xeQtion of their banbeen quoted
in ettpport of, or inefifidbition to the
clause now sought to be struck out;
as the,state, one.of vvhosfe, r ypita ives
1 have the honor to be, has adopted this
policy, and as some of the objections
xtrged against it, by the honorable gen
tleman from N* Gaston J who
v has last resumed his seat, se % em suscep
tible of a fail* <m.d satisfactory answer,
the committee will indulge me with a
few words on the present topic, as they
will probably be the only ones which the
discussion on this bill shah draw on me.
It is saul, sir, that if this is
retained the appointment of these direc
tors will be made the reof politic'tef
services—that it \vill be bestowed on
men who have no other merit to plead,
&nd these men in their turn, will u»e it
to Favor the interests of their political
friends. *
An honoruble gentleman fiomPenn
has told you that there it has
been tried, found prejudicial and aban
dontd «—An honorable old gentleman
from Kentucky has stated that there it
is useless, because the directors appoint
ted by the state felt little in*crest pi the
affairs of the .Batik, and did not regu
larly attend the meetings of the board
of directors. In Virginia, the measure
is thought to have been beneficial, but
the weight of her example is attempted
to be explained aWay, by stating, tlfcu
ao particular number ot directors are
appointed immediately by the state,
but only a certain quantity of ydtes giv
en to it, m proportion Uy the amount of
Otcck held. ■ 4*. ,
Sir, in the state in which I reside, > a
proportion, a small one it is true, but
not less than that contemplated by the
• present bill, of the directors of both
pur banks, hold their offices by appoint
ment froin the state, and I lisve never
heard that the gentleman so appointed
were cither less respectable or less as
siiluous in’ attention to the bufci*
mess of the bank, than tliose ytho are
elected by the stockholders, it has
x.ever been intimated, to my knowledge
ihat any injury whatever has resulted
from this, limited power of selection.
The persons chosen are always men of
character; generally stockholders to
«monnt T and frequently merchants or
men of business* practically acquainted
t with their duties—-No injustice to indi
t iduals—no favoritism ; no prejudice to
tie institution nas resulted from it, and
tl\ ou-gh the principle, certainly has not
he* :n tested by any great length ot tune
to far as it has been tested, the evidence
is i n its favor* bus it has been said,
hy i iftbororable gentleman from New
Y*r k f Mr. Grosvenor J in reply to the
aegt ime ms of the honorable gentleman
j&wt n South Carolina Virginia,
(IN l • Calhoun and jvlr. Tucker,J
that ts*ese five directors aie too lew tc
cent! ol the lemaiuder of the board, anti
it is., v. iked, wr/ur'-Mi them in then ? J
ATHENS , THURSDAT, APRIL 11*1316
answer, because though they cannot
control, the# can check—and a check
on the remainder of the board may be
salutary, even though we should sup
pose a control would be pernicious.
Sir, it has passed into the proverb, that
your whole government is a system of
checks and balances.
Will it be said, that because a min
ority, cannot control a majority, there
fore minorities are impotent ?—The ex
perience of this house, and this nation
contradicts the supposition. The pro
gress of the very bill before you contra
diets it. From whom, sir, has this bill
received many of its features ? From
ihoce Jwbq are usually the minority in
this house. Sir, if it were not notorious
ly the fact, those features would them
selves betray it—-and when l say so, hon
orable gentlemen will not understand
me to speak disrespectfully of the like
ness. Honorable gentlemen and my
self may have a different taste in polit
ical beauty.
ftt this house, sir, and in all deliber
ative assemblies in every state- in the
union, and in all the free states that ev
er existed, there will always be some
of those usually constituting the majori
ty, who from over anxiousness to
particular metres,— from honed ‘dif
ference of opinion—from con xiedt*QUs
scruples—from a natural infirmity oi‘
purpose, inconsistent with that civil
co’rage demanded by trying occasions
-_or from some less excusable cause—
the fear of responsibility—the love of
popular favor, sir, if gentlemen will
have itso, are frequently to be seen uni
ting themselves with the opposite party
who, on their part, readily icceivc, and
occasionally court an alliance, that giyes
them at least a temporary and partial as
cendancy. Sir, it will be seen, that
if is not the least part of my intention,
to reflect qn any man or set of men, or
to find fault either with this conduct, or
the n oityes of those who pursue ft.
The conduct, sir, in itself is neither
pood nor bad ; its’ character depends
upon the object and the motive* ■. •
All those whoy though attached to
one part) » side occasionally with the
other, art not necessarily either perndi
ous, versatile or venal. .All are not
Isumidiah horse.—Some, sir, may be
political L^aodid9.lls, who like to be nei
ther hot nor.cold— b Ids of passage, who
change their climate with the season.
SoiY»e mav be condottierc fighting tor
pay and plunder to-day under one lea
der, to-morrow under another, nnd all
times equally indifferent to both-
some too, sir, may he real patriots* not
devoted to any party, but acting always
with that which will do their country
heist harm ; if not Cato’s, sir, pt least
Stanley ’s, watching for and seizing the
most favorable to resistance against law
less power. ’v
’ Sir, this check is constantly m oper
ation. Majorities know that it always
exists, and on all doubtful questions <t
will be employed against them, unless
they use their power with prudence and
moderation.—What eftse but this has so
often, dn different sflftes ajpd at different
times, actuate.,
by a spirit or criminal ambi
tion, from proceeding to the most dan
gerous extremities ?’ They have had
the power in their hands and tjiey have
had the will to use it but they knew it
could be Used only to acertain the ex
tent and to effect certain'purposes, —
They know also, that they had among
them, who, the moment these limits
were transcended, would desert their
cause, and uniting with those who oppo
sed it, change in an instant th& balance
of power. Sir, (this salutai y check has
more than once presey'xd the integrity
of your empire, and wftl more than
once again preserve it; and if here
some occasions, honorable gentlemen
oiv both sides, who have been lofig in
this house,, may have found it inconven
ient, let.it never be forgotten that oijrf
safety and our hapiness are
secured by these restraints, which ne
-trzssssw****
no merit, there is no novelty in this
idea, i'he constant action of opposite
powers *up holds society, sustains gov-
£ernment, gives motion to. matter and
activity to mind. The existence of our
worst passions is necessary to the per
formance ol our highest duties* and in
our present miserable and imperfect
state of being, more than half of our
employment is sepet'ating and combin
ing in such propotions as we may, the
constituent principals of good and evil,
with whose ihmimera nixtures we are
always surrounded. * .
Is it to be v believed, sir, that the op
eration of this preventive power* which
has been attempted tp be described ;
faintly and imperfectly attempted ; will
not be* felt in banking as in all other in
stitutions. Is it to be b'eleivfed, there
will not be found among the directors
of this bank, some men who may at
times be desirous of wielding the mo
ney of tiie {bank —nay, sir, the money
ofthe government itself, and all the
power which the possession of that mo
ney gives; it is no trifle, sir, in opposi
tion ? nay, not merely in opposition,
but indirect and open hostility to the
government of the country* Is,it to be
believed that there will not also be found
in the direction bfthis bank, honest and
well meaning men of the same political
character as the rest, but liable to be
affected in their conduct by some of the
motives already mentioned—who,
thought helpless and indecisive by them
selves, ifthey had only a rallying point*
a force to form upon, would not hesi
tate l£ ioindhat force in opposing the
designs of these more darin g or more
unprincipled associates. StC» 7 to
give them such a force, ‘sufficient at all
times to assist, insufficient at any
enslave them that this clause should be
retained ; and as at present impressed
it is my most solemn conviction, that
the necessity of this check would not be
diminished if the monied interest ot this
country were in the hands ot those who
have the administration of its aftairsi
or instead of the present state of
things, we had the monied interest
and our political.opponents the adrhin-*>
istration. It would be| right then —it is
right now. it is right m any events to
prevent the wealth of the nation from br
mg placed at the command ot anyj set
of men jnight be willing, I do
■ nbt .say who would be willing, to use it
for the purpose of buying treason, inva
, sion or insurrection. Allow me to hope
sir, that my view of this clause will ex
cuse me for differing in opinion from the
honorable gentleman irom N* York, and
will shew that the object, -at feast my ob
ject in desiring to retain it, is not to
make the bank an engine v in the hands
of the government, but to prevent it, ii
posible, from being made an engine Jin
the hands of the enemies ot the govern
ment. The first cannot be| affected
hough the agency of so small a number
ol directors—the last perhaps may.
Sii tiure was not the slightest incli
nation on my part to advert to the late
situation of our affairs* or to say any
th.ng of the causes through which our
embarrassments, or some ol them at
’ east were in pari produced. But as the
honorable gentleman from North Car
olina, in examining the consequences
which he supposed the influence of the,,
government, would have on the affairs of
this bank, has requested us to imagine
such astateof things as through which we
have just passed—theire can be no ob
jection ‘on my part to imagine it and to
try by that standard the propriety of ves
ting this power ih the manner now pro
posed.
Imagine then, sir, a war requiring
th*e utmost exertions, the entire resour
ces of the country, calling for all the
vigor of the government, all the patriot
ism of individuals to support it. Ima
gine, in the midst of such a war, the
disappearance of your specie Which
had been collected in state banks as ih
reserYois, and drawn out of them to be
exported to the enemy in exchange for
their government bills* Imagine dan
gerous and extensive combinations to
defeat your loans, in which some of
those banks are made to participate, not
merely by declining to subscribe, them
seles, but by refusing discounts to indi
viduals disposed-to do so—-and all this
With the avovved purpose of obstructing
the war by causing a bankruptcy of the
government. Imagine the existence)
NO. VII
at such a period* of a bank like this
with its various branches—its close con
nexion with, and vide spread influence
over, those who command the money
of the country, and then decide whe
ther, under such circumstances, it.would
not be desirable that -the government
should possess such a v check upon the
conduct of those who guide it as would
prevent them from becoming parties to
such a combination.
|Sir : it requires no great effort of fancy*
to imagine this state of things Unless
the people of this country are strangely
misinformed, some thing very much
like it did actually exist as far as it
could exist. Nay sir, perhaps if most
•of what has been said by me were sta
ted as matter of fact, it would not be ve
ry far wide of the truth. And it is on
•ly. as matter of fact, at least supposed
matter of fact, that it has been stated—
not as matter of crimination. Sir, no
attempt has been made by me ‘o char
acterize these proceedings.-r-No epithet
has been or shall be applied to them.
I do not deal much, in epithets, sir, and
one reason is because honorable gentle
men and myself might not perfectly “a
g‘ree as to the precise epithet which,
ought to be bestowed on some sorts of
conduct. Honorable gentlemen may
suppose them justifiable or even praise
worthy ; it is not for me to say that they
are otherwise. It is no pan of my'pur
pose to decide that question. I have
only stated that a certain state of affair*
would render it desirable for govern
ment possess a particular power
which might presefve it from great e
vils ; and the allusion to that state was
orrginaly made by the honorable gentle
man jfrom North Carolina himself ? oth
erwise. my disposition would not have
led:me to meddle with it.
. But, sir, the gentleman from North
tjarolina, thinks,that, the power of the
government to withdraw its deposits
from the bank, and refuse taking its
notes for pay ment of duties* and tuxes,
constitute a sufficient check, an ample
security for good behaviour. : ■
Sir, tlie honorable gentleman and my
self do not agree in that opin-on. iB
wiil not be denied that the possession
of this power operates as a partial
check ; —it certainly” does so, and with
out it a much larger share in,the direc
tion would to my mind seem necessary,.
In ordinary times, perhaps, this alone
might secure the faithfdl agency of the?
bank in receiving and distributing the
p ibiic money* Idp not say it would en
sure its impartiality;
But in such times as the honorable
gentleman from North Carolina ha > ab
ided to, what would this check avail
you I Withdraw your deposits from
this bank and where would you place
them l jpi state banks whom you do
not know, aiid perhapsrcduld not trust*
and who if you did know and could trust
would hot be able to gie you the neces
sary labilities of transitr ? Refuse the
notes of the barik, and what would yeti
leceive ? The depreciated paper of
sta;e hanks, which would not Circulate
out of its own district, unless at a loss*
of 10 or i2 per cent ? Fir, 1 c
suade my sell to thtpk highly of the
ciency of a check, which cannot be u* ,
sud when it is most wanted, without
greater injury to yourself than to those
on whom it is intended to. operate.
Sir, it/ has asked upon what
principles of justice you allqw the
government, a minority in interest, to
have a large share in the direction ? E
ven upon the score of theiputrjet justice
it is not unreasonable. You do not
stand upon the footing of mere • ordina-
holders—you receive ike notes
of tlie bank in payment .oi all duties,
taxes and public dues, until congress
direct otherwise. Will not this give
them an increase of credit arid circula
tion.
( tou have fixed your permanent reve
nue at 25 millions, and you make your
deposits in this bank. It strikes me,
sir, that this will enable the bank to issue
constanly required ior the payment of
the revenue, aud being constantly requt-