Newspaper Page Text
fFFUS’S OPINION ON TflE
AND SUC-TRKASUKY.
M\Riov, Ata. July 23, l£3S.
[ learn by a private letter that
setting out shortly for Europe,
i speculation prevails in relation
lions concerning the Sub-Trea
s commonly called, may I ask it
iidness, before your departure, to
to inform the public- correctly what
/iews on that subject? With all
for your better judgment, should
k otherwise, it would fieem to me that
,e it to your friends and the public also
s i !■>',<<; been in the service oi’ both — :
..k •• The disordered stale ot the |
jlriencv, and tiie universal desire for the i
adorn a>u of . sir uable and wise plan for the j
cftUectkin at ’ and sirse merit of the public re- •,
venue, has converted almost every individual ;
in tH Government lto a speculative financier,
and, as oe moat of us have only light enough
to make ‘darknes■ visible,’ and know what we
helieve more a. a matter of faith titan ol
knowledge, you cannot he surprised to learn,
hat I hear yoor name frequently used as
n !< -i-itv, both to denounce and sustain the
Sun-Treasury scheme. My friends knowing
toe te have Vr- >ne of your constituents,
•rnd uniformly, in tny humble way, your po*
1 Icai friend an ! supporter, frequently refer
moot question to my decision, and I feel
r; gret that 1 cano >t solve llieir doubts. Should
it comport with your conception of duty to
yourself to enable rne to do so, you will, sir,
doubtless, mud oblige the public, as also the
writer, the honor to subscribe him
wif, most ully,
Vour oh’t serv’t,
SAM’L. A. TOWNES.
Gen. Ge*. McDuffie.
Cherry llilt., July 23, 1838.
My Dear Sir: I have received your friend
ly !’ r, exp... jsing a <ienir' to know my
opinion on the questions which now agitate
the country, r. ative to the custody of the
public money f the United States, and the
regu on of the general currency and ex
changes. Ass never had a political opinion
■which I w'i nvvilling to disclose, I have no
hvsiti.;.-!: in answering your enquiries. I
bavenvgretu and to perceive, what you state,
that contradictory versions of my opinions
have prevailed in different quarters, owing I
presume to the fact that I do not concur
entirely with either of the political parties,
receo ! ‘ zed upon the basis of these
questions. It .s deeply to be regretted, in
deed, that these questions have been made
the f. mndhtion of a political organization of
if o great political parties contending for the
Presidency, though I admit that this result
could scarcely be avoided. Such an organi-
zation is exc -edingly unpropitious to the
cause of truth, and most entirely precludes
the possibility of a. discriminating judgment.
You must take the whole or reject the whole
by the practical canons of party discipline.
A most unfortunate change has been the
consequence t n the whole subject of Banking,
nod of the connexion of the Government
with the Banks. You are no doubt aware,
that iririg al die struggles of the late Bank
of the l int 1 Sla<es against the warfare
urged mi it by the Federal executive, I
eti .id; 1 s ined that institution on the
grounds n iof its extensive usefulness and
const i • >ll ality; and I will add that there
i. no pu’ i ny public life to which I look
vifh ii re satisfaction than to this. I
mill I die 1 . 3ank of the United States to be
constitute and am as confident as reason
and ’x era in e can make me on any similar
pie it is the best practicable means
oi main* linmg a uniform currency, and a
low and uiMW?m rate of exchanges over the
■whole United States, so long as paper money
constitutes the larger portion of our actual
currency.
Rut I am constrained to say that in the
extraordinary disjunction and conjunction of
pol lical parties which have recently taken
place, I am left almost as ‘ solitary and alone’
on the subject of a Bank of the United States,
hh Mr. Benton was when he put his celebra
ted ball in motion. I always supported such
an institution as an antagonist power to the
.Mau bam , and as a means of restraining
their extravagant issues. Its utility consists
almost entirely, in my opinion, in the exercise
of this salutary control over such State Banks
as were inclined to run into excesses. Sueti
vere ll rn the opinions of those with whom l
rcted. But now the state of opinions is en
tirely changed, as well as the relations of the
Banks. The present advocates of a Bank
of the United States maintain practica ly, if
not in terms, that as Bank credit is the most
potent of all the agents for producing wealth,
the more we have of it the better; and they
seem to n gard him as an old fashioned poli
tical economist who should doubt that the
issue of every additional million of bank paper,
added just that much wealth to the country.
I r.ot, the party now urging the establish
ment of a Bank of ihe United States, are the
open apologists and advocates of the pet
bank system, which they concurred with me
in denouncing, as a most fearful jnd stupen
dous system of corruption and of despolic
rower in the hands of the federal executive.
was perfectly sincere when l said that it
would be easier to resist a President at the
lien I of fitly thousand regular troops, than
one who wielded such a confederacy of banks.:
Yet afier this system has utterly failed, those j
who denounced it when it was a mere expe
riment, have now adopted it as a stepping j
stone to a Bank of the United Slates, with a j
capital of fifty millions, to be located in the ;
City of N iv York ! I confess that with niv i
:• vholly unchanged on the genera!
si• .. , 1 should regard a hank established
untUr ?u. h ausp'ces, thus located and with
itch • pita), as an institution eminently
to the liberties of the country. I
will not msguise my opinion, that a Bank of
tfie United States established under the most
f. or: circumstances, however perfect as
a rej r of the currency, is liable to be- j
-come . very dangerous institution in the :
hands i the Federal Executive. The old;
i.ank ot he United States scrupulously ah-;
-..‘ii.id roni politics, until forced, in self
defence, to abandon, in some degree, its |
r tra; sition. I regarded this as one of
;$ g eat merits. But what would ne-essarilv
tie the c nracter of a hank of fifty millions
-•star ish I in New York, under the present
■ ; c: -nces of the country? Bank or no
1 ink learly and distinctly the issue which
■ toe Je the next Presidential election, and
t> h. ided by it. Such a hank would be
ta\ bly a mere engine in the hands of j
tie a< odant party, a tremendous instru-|
’t'.en; ot power and mischief thus created and
i] .s v. led. You may recollect that in my j
l.i't sp; oh on the deposite question, I .stated j
i'a : - on for supporting the existing hank, J
: - overthrow would produce precisely!
uch n : ate of anarchy as we now have in
ie currencv and exchanges; that to extri
cate themselves from such a condition the
people would fly into the arms even of a Go
\ernme t Bank, upon the principle that men i
will seek refuge from anarchy even in the
worst form of despotism. 1 fear my predic
tion . been very nearly fulfilled. For the
■chances are that any bank established under
the prevailing auspices, would he in feet a i
Government Bank, whatever it might he in
form. And herd am reminded of the extra
ordinary speech of Mr. Clay, in which he
maintains that the proposed organization of
treasury, making it independent of hank c ,
is in filet a Government Bank. Whatever
• diier objections may be urged against this
. treasury scheme it s certainly free from this,
j, not one of the attributes of a hank. It
Would neither discount notes nor issue hid?.
It would have no favors to confer upon ar.y j
V .jv, unless the fay.ncnt of a just debt may
be so regarded. If the fact of drawing upon I
its own funds to pay its debts, will make the ‘
Treasury a Bank, every man is a banker. !
But to return to the subject of n Bank of
the United States. When i found tli£ late !
[Bank of the United States abandoned do its ]
fate bv-a!t parties, I came to the conclusion j
that the wisest course that could be pursued j
on the subject would be to let every other
expedient he fully and fairly tried, before any
attempt should be maßn incorporate ano
ther. Unless the can tie brought,
as m England, to such a Bank as a
| national institution, supported liv all parties j
j alike, it will always be a party engine. Ai
(party contest for the renewal of the charter
;at tiie end of every ten or twenty years,
i would be almost equal to a disputed succes
sion in a monarchy. The most painful of
101 l processes is the reform of the currency, by
1 the agency of a National Bank, after several
jvears of unrestrained and excessive bank
; issues. Such was the case in ISI9-'2O, and
such would he more decidedly the case now.
Such dreadful remedies are not to be used
every day; and I can scarcely see with pa
tience many of those who co-operated with
General Jackson, in destroying ihe late bank
when it. was unpopular, now contending for
[the establishment of another, when distress
has turned the public opinion in favor of a
! National Bank, uti-.U-r the vain and delusive
expectation that it will relieve them from their
pecuniary embarrassments. Nothing could
prove more conclusively that distress ts a bad
reasoner, than that people who are involved
; in debt should expect to be relieved by such j
lan institution. Its very first office would be j
ito correct a redundant currency. Let us see !
I how this would be performed. A bank of
fifty millions would probably issue at least,
; thirty millions of its own bills. This would
(increase the redundancy, and of course ren
jder it necessary lor the state banks to curtail
their issiH-s so much the more. In fact, if’ a
National Bank performed its duty, its entire
operation at first, would be to increase the
pressure on the state banks, and through
these the distress of the people.
Nothing has surprised me more than that
the state banks should, in some quarters of the
Union, look to a National Bunk as a means
of relieving them. On the contrary, so far
as they are concerned, the National Bank
would he worse than an Independent Treas
ury, with the specie feature, as it is called.
The public monies would be of course depo
sited in the National Bank. Now we know
that although the late Bank of the U. S. was
very liberal in its dealings with the state
hanks, they were constantly complaining that
when their bills were deposited by the Treas-
urer in that bank, it habitually demanded the
specie for them, or drafts upon distant points
that were equivalent to specie. This grew
out. of the common usages of banks, and the
obligation of the hank to place the funds of
the government where they might he want
ed. For example, the government collects a
half a million of revenue in Charleston, in the
I local bills, and deposites them in the branch
jof the U. S. Bank. These funds are wanted
lat Norfolk, and as South Carolina bills will
i not answer there, the branch demands spe
cie, or a draft on Norfolk which is perhaps
as costly to the local banks.
Upon the whole then, though I believe a
well regulated and well conducted bank of
the United States the best means of securing
a sound and uniform bank paper currency, I
should regard the establishment of a National
Bank under the existing auspices as highly
dangerous, and calculated to increase instead
of diminishing the pecuniary embarrassment
of the country.
As to the Independent Treasury system,
so far as it proposes to withhold the public
deposites from the banks I entirely approve
of it. Thus far it is simply an abandonment
of the pet bank system, which all parties
have condemned, and our fatal experience
lias confirmed the sentence. The objection
that it increases the patronage and influence
of the government, is wholly without founda
tion. 1 believe, on the contrary, that the
power of the executive to select favored
banks at discretion, to receive the govern
ment funds on general deposite, would gi'-c
it, speaking within bounds, one hundred
times as much patronage and influence as
the appointment of any probable number of
official depositories would confer.
As to the requirement that all dues to the
government snail be paid in spteie exclusive
ly, i have been opposed to it trom the begin
ning, believing that it would increase the
pressure of the times and render it more diffi
cult for the banks to resume specie payments.
As far as it goes, it would tend to diminish
both their means and their motives to re
sume, though I believe its effects both for
good and for evil have been excessively over-
estimated. Mr. Calhoun contends that the
bills of the banks derive their principal credit
from their being received by the govern
ment, which he regards as an endorsement
by the government, and Mr. Webster and
others seizing upon this idea drew the infer
ence that if tiie government withdraws ibis
endorsement, bank credit will be entirely an
nihilated !! Now 1 think both the premises
of Mr. Calhoun, and the conclusion of his
opponents extravagant. A practical view of
the operations of the Treasury will make tiiis
plain. Though the annual revenue should
be thirty millions (and it ought ffot to be more
than half that sum) there .would not be at
anyone time, in the treasury,or in the hands !
of collecting and disbursing officers, more !
than five or six millions of dollars. Os course j
five or six millions of money, whether of me- j
tal or paper, would perform the fiscal opera
tions of the treasury. Suppose first that the
government receive this sum in bank notes,
can it he conceived that the government, by
receiving six millions of the paper of the
banks located where the government revenue
“is collected, can operate as an endorsement,
giving credit to the one hundred and fifty
millions of bank paper of the various banks
throughout the United States; or on the
other iiußth that the withdrawal of this en
dorsement, by refusing to receive the six mil- |
lions of bank paper, will destroy the credit of j
one hundred and fifty millions of that paper, j
which, under no circumstances, would ever
reach the treasury? Undoubtedly the banks
located where the revenue is 1 collected are
greatly benefilted by the receipt of thejr bids
by tiie government. The exaction of specie
in payment of this revenue would withdraw
this benefit, but I cannot perceive that a cor
responding benefit would accrue to any body
else. To the objection that the receipt of
bank bills violates that clause of the constitu
tion which implies that the revenue shall he j
collected in a uniform currency, I will only i
say that if specie is a uniform currency, so 1
are hank biils that can be at any moment
converted into specie. To be sure it is not as 1
safe, but the government may demand specie j
at any moment, when it has cause to appre
\ fiend danger. Bui though lam opposed to
exacting specie exclusively, I have been very
anxious to see treasury bills or certificates
’Pea ring no interest, substituted entirely in the
p'ace of both specie and bank bills. To ac
complish this result it would be necessary to !
provide that nothing shall he received in pay-!
m.-nt of dues t the government hut this;
| Ucasv.ry paper or specie. The result would j
. evuji'Ni'y h e that very little would in fact be I
’ .cd but treasury paper. This would be a ;
urv great improvement in the Hist opera-!
government, and I regret that
, r ” 1 ; l! !,nsn dal not make it a part of his I
p..to, instead of merely suggesting it. It
\. 0.. t i. t \e entirely removed every rational I
objection to the specie feature of this scheme. !
“f ’ wen woolly misrepresented bv Mr:
Webster and his associates \ s I believe 1
, was the first person in the United States to j
‘i and, I will now britf’y explain my view
of it. It is r.ot designed to furnish a general (
currency, but merely a currency for the fiscal 1
operations of the government. Tills is its es- i
sential character, and it results from it that i
no more of this paper ought ever to be issued ‘
lhan will perform tiiis function. As I have
heretofore said, the present revenue of the
U. S. would not probably require more than
six millions of currency to perform all the of
fices connected with it, from the moment of
its collection to that of its disbursement, Con
gress should, therefore, authorise the issue of
ibis sum and no more, arid it should be made
j re-issuable indefinitely. Tiie value of this
| paper would he derived, not from its redeern-
| ability, as bank paper notes, but from its re-
I ceivabiiity by the treasury, and from the
i amount being limited to what will be actually
absorbed in receipts and payments of the go
vernment. Nothing can be more simple and
safe and economical. In the first place it
would be equivalent to the creation of six
millions of specie, which would cost the coun
try nothing, and yet answer the purposes of
the treasury, I think better than specie, and j
much better than bank paper. If the go- j
vernment were to use specie, besides costing !
the country just six millions instead of no
thing, it would create a pressure on the i
banks, and would be a medium much more j
affected in the uniformity of its value bv the I
state of trie foreign exchanges, than this ‘
treasury paper. The rise amffall of foreign !
exchanges would not effect this paper at a!!, j
as it can circulate in this country only. This ;
would be a great merit, giving'it, in this re
| sped, a decided preference over specie or
j bank hills. It'the government were to use
j bank bills, besides being precisely as costlv
a medium as specie, it would expose the go
vernment and people to the hazards of bank
insolvency or bank suspension. Moreover
the transmission of tunds from one point to
another, which is very embarrassing to the
banks and disturbing to the exchanges, where
the government uses hank hills, would pro
duce no such effects, where treasury paper is
used, rhe truth is, then, that the question
comes to this, shall the people of the U. S.
use their own credit, which costs them no
thing, or lhat of the banks, which costs as
much specie, as the medium of the fi cal ope
rations of the common treasury? If this be
the question, as I think it is, no patriot can
hesitate in deciding it. To call this Treasu
ry paper continental money, or French assig
nats, would be justly regarded as an absurdi
ty, if it had not been done by a man of Mr.
Webster’s character. If the government
were to attempt to make this paper a substi
tute for revenue, instead of the mere medium
of collecting it, by making it the means of ef
fecting a permanent loan even of twenty or
thirty millions, it would necessarily depreciate,
as it will carry no interest, and would be
justly liable to the above odious comparisons
in a degree proportioned to its excess. The
I reasmy bills issued at tire extra session, not
withstanding all the unpatriotic efforts of the
hanks and of mere party politicians to depre
ciate them, performed the functions of a
Treasury currency perfectly well. These
notes were paid out in the first instance to
public officers and public creditors, passed
into the hands of those who had to pav money
m the government, and thence back into the
Treasury. About six millions of them, I.
think, performed the whole operation of col
lecting and disbursing the revenue. Since
the attempt of the New England federalists
to destroy the credit of the country,by denoun
cing as immoral and irreligious, those who
would lend money to the government, I have
never witnessed any thing in the conduct of
any party more revolting to my sense of pa
triotism, than the efforts systematically made
to depteviate ihe credit or the Treasury notes
issued at the extra session. What shall ‘ve
think of the patriotism of men, who could
publicly express their exultation that the irre
deemable paper of ihe banks was above the
par of government paper ? Politicians who
have placed their hopes of advancement upon
the combined influence of the banks, or have
invested their private funds in them, seem to
regard the interest of the people at large a* of
small consequence, when it com s in conflict
wiih that of tiie banks, and the real ground of
the opposition to Treasury paper is, that it
supersedes as pro tanto the use of bank pa
per, and thus limits the field for bank cir
culation.
I consider the Constilutional objection to
this Treasury paper as unfounded. Surely
Ihe government can receive anv thing it
chooses, in payment of its debts, even if it
were brick-bats, provided they are of uni
i’orrn value, and this paper will be much more
uniform than hank paper, and I think than
specie itself. It certainly does not become ‘
those who maintain - that the government
should receive bank paper in discharge of its
dues, to deny iis right to receive its own pa
per. The only power exercised by the gov
ernment would be the agreement to receive
the paper. Its whole value would be derived
trom this. lis receipts by the public officers
and creditors will tie voluntary, and of course
no objection can be made to it by those who
have clamored so much against paying these
government favorites in specie. They should
rather say, to he consistent, ‘let them lake
those Treasury rags, if. they choose; bank
paper is too good for them.’ The objection
that these are bills of credit, and, therefore,
unconstitutional, is without even plausibility.
The States alone are prohibited from issuing
bills of credit; obviously because it would in
terfere with the power of Congress to regu
late the currency. The phrase, ‘ hills’ of
credit,’ too, conveys n technical idea which
can only be understood by referring to our
revolutionary history. It meant precisely
the bills of credit of that day and nothing else.
Our Supreme Court in this State have ac
cordingly decided that the bills of our Slate
Bank are not bills of credit, ibough they are
based entirely on trie credit of the State, and
constitute a large portion of its currency.—
But the government of the United States does
not propose to make these Treasury notes a
general currency. It only proposes to re
j ceive them in discharge of its own dues, and
i lo pay them to its own customers with their
: own consent. If they go out of this narrow
circle, it will be by the agency of the parties
concerned, and because they may happen to
answer better titan any thing else to trans
mit. funds to a distance. But if the amount !
issued is limited judiciously, they will soon !
return to their appropriate sphere ofcircula- \
tion. In a single word the power so borrow
money, either upon stock certificates or i
1 reasury notes, or in any other imaginable!
mode, is expressly granted to Congress, and !
though Treasury notes were largely issued
during our last war with England, even the I
Net/ England federalists, who denied the!
power of Congress to call the militia into the :
armies of the country, never questioned its j
power to issue these notes.
The notion that the issue of these Treasu
ry notes would convert the Treasury into a
Bank s purely chimerical. There is not the
semblance of reality in it. It would neither
i receive deposites nor grant loans on discount- j
Jed notes. To the limited extent of its issues, j
I it would he more appropriate to call it a mint. I
I as •- would create, to tent extent, what would ;
| answer the purposes of the public Treasury j
| better than coin, without any cost to the -
i people. Now why such vehement opposi-’
■tion to this Treasury paper, on the part of!
1 those who are so much opposed to the exac
i tion ol specie in payment of dues to the gov- j
eminent, when it b obvious that it would su- j
perse, ie the use of specie at.the Treasury al
most entirely? Is it because it would‘also!
supersede the use of Bank biils in the opera-i
lions of the Treasury. Can it he possible
that-any patriotic citizen woo'd prefer the in
terest of a few favored banks, to that of the
United States, and, therefore, compel the
government io use il.c credit of the Banks!
instead of its own, in collecting and disbursing j
its own revenues? am aware that many j
Members of Congress at die North have!
their private interests so deeply involved in j
the banks, that it is with them a question be
tween seif-interest and patriotism. Indeed
the great controlling monied interest of the ;
North exists in the shape of hank stocks,
, which sufficiently accounts for the vehemence j
! with which Mr. Webster denounces the pro- ;
posed Treasury paper as continental money, I
when plain common sense dictates that if the I
| government were bankrupt to the amount of I
la thousand millions, these Treasury certifi-.
| cates would forever remain at par, so long as i
the government should continue to collect an
j nuaiiy an amount of revenue sufficient to ab
sorb them. The sole foundation of their
(credit is, that the government will receive
I them, and that their amount does not exceed
the sum annually required to collect and dis
burse the public revenue. Now when it is
known that the continental money exceeded
this proportion some hundred fold, the absur
dity of the suggested analogy must be appa
rent to those who have not a very stror.g in
terest in not perceiving. But 1 must close
abruptly. lam on the eve of setting out
for Europe, arid regret that I have only had
time to write tiiis hasty scrawl on so impor
tant a subject.
Very sincerely,
Yours,
GEO. McDUFFIE.
To S. A. Townes, Esq.
From Ihe Savannah Georgian.
SrniSGriELD, Effingham Cos, )
August 25,1833. J
Gentlemen : I have received your letter,
! together with a copy of a resolution passed
i by my fellow-citizens of Franklin countv, at
(a meeting held at Carnesville on the 6lh inst.
; appointing you a committee and authorizing
j you as such to correspond with the candi
dates for tiie next Congress, and to call upon
them for the expression of their opinions rela
tive to the constitutionality and expediency of
a United States Bank; and also, their choice
for the next Presidency, between Messrs.
Van Buren, Clay, Webster, and Harrison.—
I have long since been convinced, that it is
beyond the constitutional newer of Congress
to charter a National Bank. I believe°that
the government is competent, under an Inde
pendent Treasury system, to manage its fiscal
affairs safely and economically, without the
agency of such au institution—and, therefore,
deem it inexpedient to create such a body.
The demonstration of power made by” the
late United States Bank, admonishes me that
it is the duty of every citizen who values the
pure and independent administration of the
government, to oppose, with uncompromising
determination, the creation of any institution
which might, at will, successfully oppose the
government, by the exercise of a corrupting
influence: and which, if established in con
nexion with the government, would wield a
power dangerous to the liberlies of the peo
ple. I feel no hesitation in declaring, in re
gard to my choice for the next President, that
I prefer tl e incumbent, Marlin Van Buren,
to the other gentlemen specified in the resolu
tion ; I could support neither of the other
candidates, believing as I do, that they re
spectively advocate political doctrines, which,
il carried out, are well calculated to destroy
the integrity of our confederacy, and to do
immeasurable in jury to the section of country
to which I have the honor to belong.
I beg leave also to assure you that I am
an advocate for the entire separation of tiie
government from all connexion with banks.
I regret verv much that circumstances put
it out of my power to visit my fallow-citizens
joi the upper country, and orally to inter
change opinions with ’ them on the political
topics of the day.
I have frankly and briefly, gentlemen, an
swered ihe inquiries put to ine in the resolu
tion, and trusting that I have done satisfac
torily to yourselves and those whom you re
present,
I have the honor to be,
Very respectfully
Your oh"t serv’r.
ROBT. W. POOLER.
To Messrs. Whitten, Morris, Cooper, Much
ell, and Deane, committee, Franklin Cos.
GEN. BURNEY’S LETTER.
Io the Kditor of the Standard of Union :
In your paper of the 14th inst. I find an
address signed by Messrs. Fouc'he, Shackle
lofd, Stephens, and a number of oilier cili
zens of Taliaferro county, of high character
for worth and intelligence, ‘propounding to
the several gentlemen who are now before
the people as candidates for Congress, the
following enquiries, viz:
1. Are you for or against an entire separa
tion ol the Government from ail connexion
with Banks?
2. Il the above be answered in the nega
tive—then are you for or against the establish
ment of a National Bank? or
3. Are you for or against the re-organiza
tion of the Pet Bank system ?’
Believing it to be a cardinal principle in
our form of Government, that no one who
asp res to political honors has a right lo con
ceal bis sentiments, when they are^respec tful
ly sought by those whose privilege it is either
lo vote for or against him ; and believing
also, that tiie questions to which ihe voters
of Taliaferro desire answers, from the Con
gressional candidates, are of great moment
to the people of Georgia at.lhe present time.
I should feel myself as wanting in dutv, not
to answer their enquiries prc-mptiy and ex
plicitly.
I am then in favor of a total separation of
the Government from all connexion with
Banks. With all due respect tor the opin
ions ol others who may differ with me on
the subject, I think the period has arrived
when such a course lias become necessary
for the Government, and people ; and from
the time that the Sub-Treasury plan was first
recommended and agitated in Congress, 1
have considered it the best of all remedies for
settling permanently, the question of the cur
rency. The ‘unanswered and unanswera
ble’ arguments of Mr. Calhoun, who is justly
j entitled to the distinction of being its great
| champion in the Senate of the U. S. ; the
imany other arguments I have read in its
I favor, together with my own reflections, have
j all strengthened my convictions, that if the
! system is permitted to be properly carried
I out, it will effectually and satisfactorily an
jswer all the purposes for which its friends
!contend.
Entertaining these views, it follows as a
i matter of course, flint I am opposed to the
j establishment of a United States Bank, and
also to a re-organization of the Pet Bank
j system.
I might enlarge and go into argument :
but as the gentlemen have expressed a de
sire only for the principles of the candidates,
it is considered superfluous to say any thinly
further. * ‘ °-
Very respectfully,
. Your obedient servant,
J. W. BURNEY.
Moxticeluo, Aug. 23, 13SS.
S\'cw Cotton. —New cotton begins to arrive
pretty freely—since the Ist inst. there have
been received about one hundred and twen-!
tv-eight bales, which met with ready sale at
prices ranging from in ]-2 to 12 cents —prin-
cipally at 111-2. Vvtih what was received i
previous to the Ist inst. there have reached |
this market about 1-10 bales of the new crop. ’
We have been informed by judges, that the ‘
staple and color so far have been generally i
good. C ’oust it ‘-it ion a list.
SENTINEL & HERALD.
COLUMBUS, SEPTEMBER 13, 18S9.
UNION CONGRESSIONAL TICKET.
ALFRED IVERSON, of Muscogee.
ROBERT W. POOLER, of Chatham.
JOSIAtI S. PATTERSON, of Early.
DAVID CAMPBELL, of Bibb.
JUNIUS HILLYER, of Chirk.
CHARLES H. NELSON, of Cherokee.
B. GRAVES, of Newton.
J. G. MeWHORTER, of Richmond.
JOHN \V. BURNEY, of Jasper.
For Senate,
J. P. 11. CAMPBELL.
For House of Representatives,
JOHN L. HALP,
JOHN L. LEWIS.
DISSOLUTION.
The co-partnership that existed between
the subscribers, is dissolved by mutual con
sent. The accounts due the concern.will be I
in lire hands ol B. \ . Iverson, or his agent, i
who will attend to their settlement.
B. V. IVERSON, !
J. B. WEBB. j
Columbus, Sept. 1, IS3S.
- ======================
‘ We hold these truths to be self-evident, j
that all men are born equal.’
We have selected for the motto of this j
paper, the above passage, from the declara- j
lion of independence, and in our future course !
as public jo ,realists, design making it the I
ruling and governing principle of our actions, 1
and ol the'doctrines which we shall inculcate, j
Perhaps there has never been uttered a more
perfect truism than Ibis, that ‘ the world is
governed too much.’ Men, however much
they may he disposed to distrust each other
in the ordinary transactions of life, yet in the
higher matters of legislation willingly yield
all into the hands of the few , thereby invol
ving and sacrificing, not unfrequently, the
best interests of the many. Nor is it any
longer to be denied, that the first principles
of democracy have been forgotten, or laid
aside through convenience, and that an influ
ence, mischievous and unholy, has been
brought to bear upon the citizens of this re
public, and is seen to ‘ rule and reign’ in
almost all government and state transactions!
—we mean a monied influence. It has been j
truly said, that power lies at the bottom of
both knowledge and money ; and the stores
of philosophy, metaphysics and logic, have
been exhausted, in attempting to prove which
ol the two arejcapable of the grea test amount
ol power. In tracing the history of ancient
republics, the student may not he astonished
to find that knowledge was in the ascendant
and possessed the mastery; for in the foun
dation of kingdoms, the rise of empires, and
the springing up of youthful republics, know
ledge was essential, instruction was sought
from the learned and the wise, and the light
of genius, poured along the dark and wilder
ness path of the ignorant and benighted, was
considered more invaluable than the mines of
Peru. The truth of this is attested in the
history ol Greece and Home, and other re
publics of equaily ancient origin. In those
days of primitive republicanism, the people
sought the light of truth—-thirsted for know
ledge, and would be satisfied with nothing
less; why? because the boon of freedom was
that for which they panted. So in the earlv
history of our government—during the storms
°1 the revolution, the wise counsels of a
Washington were adopted by men as their
safest guides; and in the adoption of a civil
code for the government of the country, the
wisdom and experience of a Franklin, a Jay,
a Jefferson and a Madison, were eagerly
sought, and in them the people reposed unli
mited confidence: and what was the result?
a declaration of independence unequalled in
the history of nations, for its noble and price
less principles, its freedom of thought and
action, and the liberal and equal scale upon
which it arranged the affairs of a rising and!
promising republic, which was to be peopled
vsith men free-born, tiie sons of those gallant
and fearless heroes who battled for liberty,
lor free institutions and their perpetuation.
W hat was the result? A Constitution ofi
equal laws and equal privileges—protecting
the neb, and shielding the poor—making dis
tribution ot the various parts oi the general
government, so as that all could be managed
with ease and skill, and as a safe protection
tor individual rights, 4 holding these truths to!
he self-evident, that all men are born equal.’
but it remains for this day and hour to
cxbioil a dereliction from original principle,
and to show how in the waste of years, anti
amid the fascinations and luxuries of life, men
may become changed, and lose the spirit
which animated their lathers, and which pre
sided at the birth of all our institutions.
Ihe purity o( the elective franchise has
oecome polluted, and the fountain being
disturbed, sends forth its poisoned waters
throughout the land. Men find it exceedingly
iiard to be honest even in the act of deposit
ing their vote in the ballot-box, so potent and
so universal has become the influence cf\
money; and when we pass the vestibule of
justice, and stand in the great hall of legisla
tion, what do we behold ! how sickening the
picture on which we are called to gaze ! and
how melancholy the reflection, that when the
lamp of hie went out with the framers of our
glorious Constitution, there ceased to burn,-
upon toe altar ot liberty, that pure and holy j
dime oi patriotism which glowed brightly in
their bosoms through a long fife of eventful
vicissitude, and which gleamed out in a dying
hour, clear and brilliant as the lightning upon
a dark and stormy heaven!
Legislation in the present day, actuated
and governed by selfish motives, leaps over
! ‘‘ e Constitution contemptuously, dashes away
l:,e u ' ea ‘ °- f the people, and finds its inglorious
consummation in that abominable, bloated,
; corrupt and corrupting system, called mono
polies ! Upon this principle are based nearly
Uu toe banking institutions of the country
and in truth whenever a prayer is made to a
legislative body for the grant of a charier,
whetrier for banking purposes, works of inter
nal improvement, or the creation of institu
liuiis ot a literary or moral character, there is
good reason to suspect that the principle of
private speculation or monopoly lies at the
bottom !
Legislative reform is the doctrine we
preach, and we intend to continue it in a
series oi discourses.
•.monopolies are foul and corrupt bodies,
and we aim to destroy them: had we the
bat tie-axe <>t the sage of the Hermitage, and
strength to lift and wield it, we would lay it |
to the root of these vile incorporations, which,
vampyre like, are sucking out the lite-blood
of this republic.
Lang Lewis has been in the county only a
year or two, and has been a candidate only;
a short month, and yet in this short space of
time, lias become very-intimately acquainted
with every man, woman and child in the
whole district. — Enquirer.
Bravo! hurrah for our candidate —our in
dustrious candidate —our wheel-horse; of the
team —he who by his tact in electioneering,
and talent lor convincing reasonable nun,
seems to keep our good friends of the En
quirer constantly in hot water; why boys he
makes you hop like herrings on a gridiron.
But although we were aware of his adapta
tion in manner and address to please the peo
ple, yet we did not know that he had made
himself acquainted with every man, woman
| and child in the county of'Muscogee. Whv,
j brethren, you must have been right busy
j: yourselves to have ascertained this fact; hut
we doubt not the correctness of your state
ment, and take it tor granted upon the
j strength of this fact a'euie, that Col. John
! Langdcn Lewis will be the foremost in the
I race on the first Monday in October next.
; Don't you think so too. Messieurs friaries.
j Flournoy and Chapman ? Come, gentlemen,
speak your honest sentiments—don’t ‘whip
any body round the stump.’
And Col. Lewis has been in the county or.lu
■ a year or two —really ! and pray Squire Chap
! man, how long have you been in the county:
Will six months cover the time? It will rub j
it mighty hard. And what’s the difference;
between this new made editor and our candi
date of two years residence, who has resided
in the county nearly three years? Why the
latter seeks office, and goes to see the folks,
and informs them of his political sentiments,
and associates with them as a fair and can
did man should do; while the former sits in
his big arm chair, and attempts to dictate to
a people whom lie has never seen, and who,
when they do get a fair view of him, ask
with astonishment, ‘who is that!!! Our
excellent friend would find great advantage
in a friend of the obliging manners of Cap!,
i Truck, so admirably delineated in Cooper’s
j last novel, ‘ the Homeward Bound,’ who was
continually during a long voyage, introducing
his passengers, ‘Mr. Blunt Mr. Sharp—Mr.
Sharp Mr. Blunt.’
Besides, if we mistake not, Col. Lewis lias
been a resident of this county longer than
Col. Howard, a candidate on the opposition
ticket, who we presume will make free and
hold to talk to every voter who crosses his
path. We mention this last circumstance
merely L> show how weak and pointless the
objection urged by the Enquirer against Col.
j L. that he ‘has been in the county only a
year or two.’
Query. How long should a man reside in
a county before he is entitled to be a candi
date for office?
The Races to commence at this place on
the second Tuesday in next month, will he:
unusually interesting. It is said by the
‘ knowing ones,’ that some forty ‘ fleet horses j
of the Ukraine breed,’ will be in attendance.
Messrs. Iverson Sc Bonner have a ‘tip top’
stable—Bell is here with Edmondson’s horses,!
and Col. Crowell has in training at his plan
tation fourteen of the ‘ royal bloods.’ Hickory
John is among the number, and as they
thunder round ilie course in their ‘ trial gal
fops,’ Robin Hood pricks his ears, snuffs the
breeze, and almost implores that lie mavj
enter the list.
Hold Macduff! —The Enquirer of last
week, in alluding to the communications of
4 A \ oter,’ says, 4 Col, Lewis was well aware
of the individual who wrote those communi
cations.’ In this there is a small mistake.
Col. L. was under the impression that he
knew the author, and supposed it to he an
old acquaintance of his, and a man whom he
esteemed as an honorable gentleman ; but on
enquiring of the person in question, he learn
|ed his mistake. Had this individual proved
to have been the author, a repiv would have
been given at the time; but the author re
maining still behind the curtain, we hold that
Col. L. was not bound by either custom or
principle to respond. An anonymous scrib
bler has no special claims upon individuals or
communities.
Steamboat burnt. —The steamboat Herald,
whilst on her passage from Cincinnati to
Warsaw, took fire and was entirely con
sumed. There were seventy passengers on
board, all of whom escaped, but without their
baggage, and many of them without coats,
hats or bonnets. Among the passengers
were Gen. Harrison and lady.’
The Columbus, Georgia, Enquirer nomi
nates Robert Y. Havne, of South Carolina,
as President, and John Tyler, of Virginia, as
Vice President. For all practicall purposes,
it had as well nominate Jack Downing and
iiis cousin Zekiel. —Lynchburg Virginian.
Ha! ha!! ha 111
Charleston Elections. —Henry L. Pinckney
has been re-elected Mayor of Charleston.—
There were four candidates for the office.—
H. L. Pinckney received 600 votes; Col.
James Lynah 575; Dr. Joseph Johnson 203:
and Dr. J. W. Shmidt 141.
Literature. — 4 The Homeward Bound,’ hv
Cooper : the best hook since Ins Red Rover
—it richly repays a perusal. ‘Osceola,’ or
s Facts and Fiction a tale ol considerable
interest, as it gives tiie history of that Cele
brated chief, from bis boyhood to bis death,
and the scenes of bis early career are laid on
the opposite banks of the Chattahoochee.
The Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel it
much afraid that the Union Congressional
Ticket will he elected, from the fact of tl. •
uullifiers being so much split and divided on
the bank question. Yes, brother, you may
well fear: -the Sub-Treasury is the strong
question, beyond a doubt, in this State, and
from your ranks will come most essential aid.
Every States Sight vote cast upon IJa.p
will tend to defeat Howard.— Enquirer.
Ergo, Every Union vote cast upon IJow
ard will tend to defeat Ilarp. T he premise
is yours, the conclusion is ours.
It is conjectured that the next rain we have
will he a very heavy shower, and will wash
the Saccr? entirely out ot* town. So mote it he.
j In Statu Quo. —The contractors for build
ing that monster, to be called a market house,
in the centre of Broad street, should take out
a writ of Certiorari, to ‘ take it up’ another
!story. It is certainly a bob-tailed concern;
‘ better to bear the ills we have than fly to
those we know not of.’
Hart’s Company are playing at Macon,
am! we presume will open here about the
first of October. Miss Meadows is still with
them.
The yeiiow fever in Charleston has much
abated, and will soon be extinct, no doubt, as
the cold weather approaches.
The New Orleans Bulletin says that city
j ‘ enjoys a complete exemption from all epi
demic-diseases, and the genetal health of the
. population is excellent.’
Columbus, Mondav, Sept. 10, IR3C.
The Committee met this morning upon a
special cal! of tire Chairman.
* Several communications in the public prints
calling upon this Committee tor a report ot
their proceedings, and the evidence in their
possession, in relation to the connection of
any of our citizens with the late Commercial
Bank of Florida, were laid before the Com
mittee, and taken up for consideration*
\\ hereupon it is
Resolved, That this Committee deem it
inexpedient to make any report for the pre
sent; that while they entertain a due respect
for the wishes of ihe community to be inform
ed on this subject, they are satisfied, from the
circumstances which are daily developing
themselves, that they have not yet obtained
all the evidence, which a little delay will place
in iheir possession; and I cing desirous to
I close their labors with their report, they be
| Sieve that their duty to this eommuniiy re
| quires that they should withhold such report
j until they shat! be satisfied that they have
j procured all the testimony within their reach.
Ordered . That a copy of these Resolutions
! be furnished each of the city papers tor pub
i lication.
i Extract from the Minutes.
JAMES N. BET KUNE, Sec.
_
For the Sentinel and Herald.
! THE ENQUIRER vs. MESSRS. CAMPBELL
AND LEVY IS.
The bitterness of feeling with which the
j ‘ Enquirer’ has condescended to enter in
j to the county politics and electioneering can
| vassing of Muscogee, is truly alarming ; if it
! keens on in the same way Time It longer, wo
i will not be surprised to see the Chattahoochee,
j by the first Monday in October next, running
; hack up stream over the falls.
Campbell and Lewis are truly men of ter
’ ror to the Enquirer, and well they may he,
j tor they are the people’s choice, and whoever
j the people approve of—whoever the people
| may lie willing to trust their rigiiis and in
terests with —may as surely expect the con
iktnrmtion of the inquirer.
But the means by which the Enquirer
seeks to prejudice the community against Col.
Lewis, deserves more of pity and contempt
tor its weakness and its recklessness of its own
dignity of character, than any apprehension
of what those means may effect against him.
W e ask the religious pari of this communi
ty, what think they of the following extract
from tiie remarks of the Enquirer? To the
I allusion which Col. Lewis has thought proper
j to make, as to ihe incorrectness of that pa
i per, it replies in the following pitiful strain :
i ‘ But if (hereby he (Col. Lewis) intends to ri
j divide and 1 ring disrepute upon that, spirit
of Christianity which has lately been so pow
erfully tnanitested in our city, we envy him
i not his feelings.’ Here is a direct effort to
| create the prejudices and enlist ihe church in
; the po'itical broils of our county. Will the
j church sutler itseif to he made a political ma
! chine of, by this appeal of the Enquirer, to
| vnli t its prejudices against Col. Lewis? We
j have seen much of political manoeuvring—
; >.ve have seen many ways and means resort
led tn for political effect—hut of all we have
, ever seen, this cllorf of the Enquirer to cre
| ate the impression that Col. Lewis 4 intended
| to ridicule and bring disrepute upon that
! spirit ol Christianity which has lately been so
j powerfully mans sod in our city,’ is the
| most deeply degrading. When or where
■ has Col. Lewis ever manifested (he least
semblance oi ti hcule towards the church or
the 4 spirit of cl.ri-tianify r’ When and at
what time has lie.ever attempted to Ring
‘disrepute’ upon the church ? Has he not al
ways been as regular an attendant at churdi
.as inmost any individual who is not a pro
fessor? and while there, lias he not always
been as attentive a listener and orderly per
s n as any other in the church? and will it
he believed, that Col. Lewis ever intended,
or is any way disposed to ‘ridicule and bring
disrepute upon Christianity,’ who himself has
always contributed as freely to the means of
erecting the holy temples of religious wor
ship, since he has been among us, as almost
any other individual who is not a church
member? Shame, where is thy blush ?
j Could the paper on which this disgraceful in
sinuation was impressed, or the ink which
! made it legible, have changed their colors,
i every sheet would have reddened under the
i pressure which gave it form and shape.
But perhaps the Enquirer has taken itself
to be the essence and sq hit of Christianity,
which has disseminated itself so manifestly in
our city; and because Col. Lewis lias thought
i proper, and we ihink very justly too, to
question the truth of all its assertions against
him, why, it wants no better evidence that
Col. Lewis intended to ‘ridicule and bring
disrepute upon Christianity.’ To doubt the
truth of the Enquirer, therefore, is to 4 ridi
cule and bring disrepute upon Christianity.’
Col. L. will, therefore, I presume, have to
beg pa i dors of the Enquirer. I am certain that
he was not aware of this intimate connexion
of the Enquirer with the influence and spirit
of chri.-munily, or he would certainly have
been more humble and submissive to the man-
dr. es of the Enquirer.
f, however, the Enquirer does not take
i‘-* [f to he Ihe fountain head arid spirit of
cnri.-Pmmly in this city, we cannot see how
Go!. Lewis’ remarks, in regard to its own
m just charges against him, can have any
thing to do with ■ that spirit of Christianity
which has lately been so powerfully mani
fested in our city.’ Y.’hy then lias the En
quirer attempted to involve bis and Col.
Lewis’s di cuss'on of;:o! deal matters with the
4 spirit of cl.ri. tir.uity’ which is now prevail
ing in otir city. Coi. Lewis has never made
the least, not the most distant, allusion to it
in h's reply to the find in.; .nations of the En
och -r: and yet the Enquirer seeks to enlist
the f.-eiinga of the Christian community
agniu t Col. Lewis in his political contest,
by tie- diil: insinuation that, he 4 intended to
ridicule and to bring disrepute upon the spir
it of Christianity,’ because, forsooth, the En
quirer itseu* was charged with falsehood.
: are t’ • p I'-ccutions with which Col.
Lewi i is to he follows-1 up—such the foul
attempts to prostrate him in ihe estimation of
!, e people of .vlt scogee. V* e ask the chris
*iin , n li.’ ■ :s community, if the insinuation
OI ~,*p p’ -Mp 1 r , w.t’n regard to Col. Lewis
an ; iretr religious prmeip’es, is endorsed bv
u -;n ; J; so, shew us then the evidence,
wi.rn and where Cos!. Lewis ever attempted
o ■ ridicule and bring disrepute’ upon the
chr-sban j-ekgion. If not, then extend to
Cob Lewis full justice in the scale ol his
iner;!, and let the world see, that as a reli
gious people you stand clear of the political
manrpiivring, in which the Enquirer would
involve you. a it.ai.v max.