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mmrmm
the constitutionalist.
BY GUIEU & THOMPSON.
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some trouble to the officers and clerks of the
Treasury Department; and that is the only just
extent of the argument.
The same reasons which opposes the estab
lishment of a Bank of the United Slates, arc
equally hostile to a Treasury Bank, or any ma.
chinery in the nature of a bank, attached to (he
Treasury Department. The former would be
the creation of an independent and irresponsible
power in the country, whose inclination and in
terest would generally prompt it (o support a
friendly Executive, and whose power would al
most certainly be great enough to overthrow one
which was not. The latter would at all times
act in concert with the Executive, with power
to give him strength in proportion to its capital
and the extent of its machinery. Both alike are I
calculated to enlarge Executive power; and al- !
though a Treasury Bank would, in theory, at
least, be more controllable by the popular will,
constituting a part of the Government, both are
to be dreaded and rejected alike by those who
would preserve the simplicity and purity of our
institutions. But as we do not know of any ad
vocates, i« the Republican party, of a Treasury
Bank, though such a scheme is most unjustly
imputed to them, we deem it unnecessaiy to
multiply arguments against it.
The cheapness of our system of Government,
compared with the monarchical systems of the
old world, has been one of its chief recommen
dations to the favor of mankind. This is one of
its characteristics, which every Republican will
strive to maintain. Injudicious legislation, and
the spirit of speculation in merchandise and
public lands, had, within a few of the last years
brought into the Treasury a redundancy of rev
enue. As a natural consequence, this influx
has been followed by loose and extravagant ap
propriations by congress, and an increased ex
penditure. It is an inevitable law of our system
■of Government, and perhaps of every other, that
if it collects much, it must expend much. It
could not be safely tolerated, if it were practica
ble, that the government should collect hundreds
of millions from the people, to be retained by it
in the shape of money or property. It must al
ways expend what it collects. The only effec
tive remedy, therefore, for an extravagant ex
penditure, is to reduce the supply. For the ac
oomplishment of this great object, the country,
must look to those who strive to reduce the re
ceipts of the government to its absolute wants ;
to prevent extravagance, by withholding the
means ; to preserve the purity of the public
agents, by keeping them out of temptat ion ; to
enforce economy, by making i* impossible for
the government not to be economical.
It is in vain to oppose little appropriations of j
money, when there are millions of surplus in the
Treasury. If there be a surplus it will be ex
pended, and to be expended it must be appropri
ated. Keep the money out of the Treasury,
and leave it in the pockets of the people, its
i ighlful owners ; multitudes of projects for ex.
pending it would then never be thought of, and
others would never be pressed.
While, therefore, we deem it the duty of every
Republican to oppose unnecessary appropriations
and expenditures, we look to a proper regulation
of duties and taxes, to be levied and collected
from the people, as the only effective remedy and
■preventative of public extravagance. Duties on
imported merchandise, though paid in the first
instance by the merchants, come finally out of
the pockets of the people, as much as if they
were a direct tax laid on lauds and personal
property. We hold that it is the duty of con
gress to ascertain, as nearly as practicable, what
an economical administration of the govern,
menl ought to cost; to graduate the duties or
taxes, in such manner as not to produce a sur
plus beyond that sum, and to vary them in con
formity with that principle, as the changing cir
cumstances of the country may require. We
hold, that when congress establishes, or suffers
to exist, a sj'stcm of revenue which collects
from the people more money than the public
service,- economically managed, necessarily re
quires, they pervert the government from its true
object, violate their duly to their constituents,
and commit upon them the same wrong which
rnonarchs perpetrate upon their subjects, when
they seize on their money or goods to support
unnecessary wars, or minister to their pleasures,
their tastes, or their passions.
At present, wc have no surplus in the Treas
ury, and the receipts of the government are
scarcely equal to its necessary expenditures. It
is our earnest desire and determination, as far as
Oar opinions and appropriate acts can avail, to
cut off the possibility of any surplus hereafter;
not by extending the expenditures, but by les
sening the receipts. And whenever the expen
ditures can be lessened, also, without a palpable
injury to the public service, we are in favor of
diminishing them, and the receipts in an equal
degree; making our government as cheap to the
people as possible, and as powerless for mischief
as it shall be cheap in its administration.
We rejoice to see that many of the recent
great causes of taxation are fast disappearing.—
The public debt is now fully paid, and the peo
ple are entirely relieved from that burden. The
extinguishment of the Indian titles to lands
Within the States and Territories; the removal
of the Indians to the west of the Mississippi; and
the Indian wars, in which the United States
have been recently engaged, have necessarily
produced a great expenditure of the public trea
sure. These will, no doubt, shortly be brought
to a close ; and this heavy drain upon the Trea
sury of the United Stales, of course, cease and
any other causes of expenditures are rapidly ter
minating.
One of the strongest temptations for the col
lection of large revenues, and the continuance
of which is most to be guarded against, would
be the deposite of the public money in the banks.
If deposited in banks nominally for safe keep
ing, but really to be lent out to their customers,
the banks will have an interest in swelling the
amount, because, by lending, they receive a pro
fit upon it; and their customers will have an
interest in the same policy, because they can
borrow more money, and get more indulgence
by it. By these means money may be wrong
fully taken from its true owners by the govern
ment, not for the public service, but to be devot
ed to private purposes exclusively.
The people may be taxed that the banks may
have more money to lend, and their customers
more to borrow. We are opposed to taxation
for such purposes. Wc deny the right of the
government to take the money of the citizen
and hand it over to the banks to be used by them
and their customers, in their private transac
tions. The taxing power was not granted for
such purposes; and when such are its results,
reform should be the watchword of every Re
publican.
We are in favor of such changes In our finan
cial system, as will effectually prevent the ap
plication of the public money to private purpo
ses. The means of accomplishing this great re
form, are of less importance than the end to be
°~ air ? We, however, perceive no means so
c ective and certain, as to let the government
keep its own money, by the instrumentality of
its own officers, who shall be put under bonds,
with heavy securities, not to Use or lend it; and
in addition, making it highly penal in them so
to do. It is not perceived why the government
cannot make its money as secure as a bank.—
All the usual means of security eojnyed by the
banka are within its reach ; in addition to which
it has absolute power over the persons of its
agents, which the banks have not. Banks can
not, by regulations, punish their cashiers and
clerks for faithlessness and crime with the peni
tentiary or otherwise ; but the government can.
It may command all the buildings, walls, vaults,
bolts, and other safeguards which the banks
can ; and, in addition, may dispose of the per
sonal liberty of its faithless agents according to
its will, expressed through its legislative and ju
dicial authorities. Why, then, may it not keep
its own money as safely as the banks can keep
theirs, or that deposited with them ? That it
can do so, under proper regulations, is too obvi
ous to be doubled. Besides, at places where it
might be more convenient, the use of the bank
buildings themselves could be secured, still pre
serving the public money from private uses.
Why, then, should not the government keep
its own money ? It is objected that the keeping
of its own money would dangerously increase
the patronage of the Executive. Is it possible
any one can believe that the appointment, of ten
| to twenty officers and clerks, involves a more
I extensive and dangerous influence, than the
power directly to affect the pecuniary interests
of the eight thousand two hundred and ninety
bank officers, the three hundred and seventeen
thousand stockholders, and the six hundred and
fifty-three thousand debtors ? That power the
Executive has, so long as lie is authorized to
place the public money in banks to be lent out
for private purposes. Although all the banks
cannot be depositories, all think they find their
interest in an extension of the credit system, by
the aid of the public money; and in addition
thereto, all are subject under such a system, to
the influence of hope and fear from the favors or
frowns of the President or Secretary of the
Treasury, It is not by keeping the public mo
ney that a government acquires influence or
power, bat by spending or lending it. One man
has a million of dollars to lend; another has a
million to keep, being forbidden to lend a dollar
of it. Which will be the most courted, and
have the most influence among his neighbours?
The answer is too obvious to need suggestion.—
Ilia thus with the Executive. If you would
curtail his influence in the most effectual man
ner, require him inflexibly to keep the public mo
ney for public purposes. If you would extend
his influence in a manner the most alarming,
authorise him to lend the public money, or
cause it to be lent, by depositing it in banks, or
otherwise.
The idea that the actual custody of the public
money by public officers appointed under the
authority of Congress, would place it more un
der the control of the President, than it has
heretofore been, is wholly deceptive and fallaci
ous.
His power over it would not be at all increas
ed by this measure. The President could not,
under the old or the proposed system, draw from
the Treasury a single dollar, not even for the
payment of his own salary. That operation is
1 effected by the warrant of the Secretary of the
Treasury, upon the Treasurer’s check or order
upon a bank or other depository. It is through
these means that the President, and every other
executive officer receives even his salary.
If the Treasurer had the actual custody ofthe
public money, instead of keeping it in banks, the
President would be obliged still to get a warrant
from the Secretary of the Treasury before he
could receive his salary. It is said if the Trea
surer had the actual custody of the money, the
President might compel him to put it into his
possession by the exercises of his authority and
power over an official dependant. But is it not
just as easy, by the exercise of the same author,
ity and power, to compel the Treasurer to draw
a check on a bank? And could not the Presi
dent or his instrument obtain the money from a
bank on sucli a check, just as easy as he could
wrest it from the Treasurer’s actual possession?
Would it not, indeed, be a Utile easier to compel
the Treasurer to draw a check, than to count out
a large sum of money? As for the banks, they
never have claimed the right to dispute the
Treasurer’s check, their duty being merely to pay
it. When there were thirty or forty millions of
dollars in the Treasury, there was nothing in the
law, or in the structure of the system, to prevent
the executive officer from checking every dollar
of it out ofthe banks, if inclined to apply it to
improper objects. Indeed, until 1829, there was
no practical restraint upon (he Treasurer what
soever; the sole authority upon which the bunks
paid out the public money, was his individual
check; and the restraint then imposed in requi
ring that the warrant of the Secretary of the
Treasury should accompany the Treasurer's
check, was one of Executive regulation, and not
of Congressional legislation. The dangcrscon
jured up from this source are therefore altogether
imaginary.
The union ofthe purse and the sword, so much
dcpricated by our English ancestors, was alto
gether a different matter. By them the power
to raise an army was called “the sword,” and
the power to levy and collect taxes to support it
• was called “the purse.” The English Consti
tution conceded to the Executive the power to
raise an army, or the power of “the sword,” but
reserved to Parliament the power to lay taxes
to support it, or the power of “the purse.” It
was the attempts of Charles the First to raise
taxes for the support of his army without tiie
consent of Parliament, thereby uniting “the
purse and the sword,” which produced a bloody
revolution and brought him to the block.
Our Constitution concedes to the Executive
neither of these powers. He can neither raise
an army, nor collect taxes to support it, without
the consent of Congress. In their hands arc
both “the purse and the sword,” and the Execu
live is but an instrument to carry their determi
nations into effect. He wields neither tiie purse
nor the sword, otherwise than as the subordinate
of the legislative power.
Hence it will be perceived that the union of
“the purse and the sword” is a very different
thing from the custody ofthe public money by
Executive officers. In every Government un.
der tire sun, the most free as the most tyrannical,
the keeping and paying out of the public treas.
urc under the authority of law has been consid
ered an Executive function. When before was it
thought to be dangerous to liberty? Do we find
a trace of such danger in the ancient Republics
or the modern; among the Greeks, in Rome, in
Switzerland, or in Holland? Was such a ques
tion ever raised among the jealous patriots of
England? Is it now a ground of jealousy or
alarm in any other Republic of America, or in
any limited monarchy of Europe? No such
danger was ever perceived, no such question was
ever beard of. To originate it required the in
ventive faculties of our own ingenious country
men, stimulated by those lively principles of hu
man action, political ambition, and pecuniary in
terest. It is not extraordinary that those who
wish to profit by the use of the public money
pronounce it unsafe in any other hands, nor
that those who are in eager pursuit of the prize
of power join in the cry. But an impartial peo
ple, who have no interest in being deceived, will
only give due weight to the argument and ap
preciate the motive in which it originates.
What would be said in England if some sensi
live patriot, to prevent an “union of the purse
and the sword,” should propose to keep the mo
ney of the United Kingdom in the Treasury of
Belgium, Hanover, or Holland? Those nations
are scarcely more independent of the British
Government and nation than our banks are ofj
the Government and people of the United Slates; 1
nor are they, cn some occasions, more hosliles J
than a portion of the banks. Is it possible that a
Government which puts its means so completely
beyond its own control, tan, on all occasions,
perform its engagements, beep its faith, or pro
tect the people by whom it is established, and
whose money supports it? It has heretofore been
deemed enough that the legislative power can,
at will, diminish the amount of money to be col
lected, and prescribe the regulations under which
it shall be kept. It has not been considered ne
cessary to establish an independent branch of
the Government for that purpose, and least of all
to introduce foreign powers totally irresponsible
to the people, often 100 strong for the Govern
ment., and always devoted to making money out
of all circumstances and vicissitudes. To make
keepers of the public money out of such mate
rials, is in character with those kingly notions
which would give to our Slate banks a monarch
corporation for a master, upon the plea that the
people cannot control them.
It is objected that this is a measure of hos
tility to the banks. The Government is not to
be a hoarder of money. What it collects it soon
expends ; and it has seldom occurred in our his
lory that il has had on hand, at the same time
more than six or eight millions of dollars. It
ought not to continue any system of revenue
which will enable it to hold a regular surplus
exceeding live millions. This is not more than
a large bank finds it necessary to retain to carry
on a safe business. The late Bank of the Uni.
ted States frequently had from ten to fifteen
millions. For years to come, il is probable that
the whole amount of money in the Treasury
will not average three millions, and will scarce
ly be equal to one week’s recent importation of
specie. It is idle to suppose that this can mate
rially affect the operations of the hanks.
The only mode in which their operations will
be effected is, that they will no longer have the
privilege of lending out money which is not
their own. Is the withdrawal from them of
this privilege necessarily an act of hostility ? A
farmer has been in the habit of depositing his
money in a bank, but as he could not get it to
pay his hired hands when he wanted it, the
bank having slopped payment, he concluded that
it was more safe, and more just to his creditors,
to keep it himself. Was there any hostility to
the bank in that ? It is just so with the Go
vernment. The banks had lent out the public
money, and could not collect it. With millions
nominally in the Treasury, the Tieasury De
partment could scarcely pay a dollar in the le
gal currency of the country. It docs not wish
to be dependant on those whom its experience
lias taught it are not always to be depended
upon.
The Government only desires to manage its
own business in its own way ; to let the banks
alone, and lobe let alone by them ; to use them
when the public interest and safely require it,
but not to be compelled to use them to the pub.
lie detriment. Is it just to charge every citi
zen with hostility to the banks who does not keep
his money in them ? The idea is absurd, but not
more so than that a Treasury, independent of
the banks, is in hostility to them.
It is objected that it is a measure of hostility
to a sound currency. The reverse of this pro
. position is true. It will prevent the inflation of
our paper currency, which arises from the use
of the public money, and, in that degree, lend
to prevent fluctuations, and suspensions of specie
payments. By exhibiting an inflexible deter
mination on the part of the Government to re
cognize nothing as money but specie, or its
equivalent, il will inspire the banks with a sa
lutary caution, not by the excess of their issues
to endanger the standard. In fine, it will leave
the banks to be sustained by their own capital
and prudence, without tempting them with the
uncertain and dangerous aid of a fluctuating
public deposite.
It is objected that this measure is hostile to
the rights of property, and essentially levelling
in its character. The reverse of this is true.
The money of the Government is the properly
of the people. The object of an Independent
Treasury is to preserve this property for the use
of the true owners, instead of handii.g it over
to those to whom it docs not belong, to be lent
out for their emolument. Its tendency is to
protect individual property also. Nothing is
more destructive to the rights of propeily than
fluctuations, by preventing, in some degree, the
expansions and contractions produced by the
over-issucs of banks, ana thus give stability to
properly.
It is alleged that this measure is part of a
scheme to force on the country a currency pure
ly metallic. This is unfounded. A specie cur.
rcncy for the ordinary daily transactions of life,
and such a specie basis for paper as will always
ensure its convertibility into specie, when requir
ed by the holders, is what is contended for ; and
such is the only tendency and real design of the
measure proposed, so fur as the banks are con
cerned. A purely metallic currency is no part
of the Independent Treasury plan, as proposed
by the Administration, and supported bv its
friends. In fine, with the exception of a very
small number, who are in favor of depositing the
public money specially in banks, the question at
issue between ns, and those who favor a depo
site in the banks, may be slated thus ; They
wish to have the public money deposited in banks ,
not to be kept by them, but to be lent nut for pri
vate uses. We are opposed to lending out the
public money for private uses; and, effectually
to prevent it, are in favor of having it kept by
public officers, under heavy bonds and securities
not to use it, or suffer it to be used for any pri .
vate purpose whatsoever, and to pay it out only
in pursuance of appropriations made by law, as
prescribed in the Constitution.
We do not think that to furnish the banks
with money to lend or to accommodate the cus
toraers of banks with the use of the public money
or properly, is one of the purposes for which the
power to lay duties and taxes was delegated to
the Congress of the United States.
On the contrary, we look upon the employ,
ment of it, knowingly and deliberately for such
a purpose, or where such is known to be the na
tural and necessary result, as an abuse of the
most aggravated character. It is taking one
man’s property and delivering it over to another,
under false pretences, and may justly be denounc
ed, (not as a levelling operation, but) as an cx.
crcise of arbitrary power, wresting money and
property from those to whom it belongs, for the
use of those to whom it does not belong. We
oppose this practice, as one of injustice. We
are in favor of collecting only as much money
from the people as may be necessary for public
purposes, leaving the rest to be used by those to
whom it belongs. We are not the enemies of
the banks, but we are not so much their friends
as to take money out of the pockets of our con
stituents, and deposite it with them to swell their
active capital, and increase their profits. Let
them be content, as every honest man ought
to be, with using that which properly belongs to
them.
e look upon the withdrawal of the public de
posiles from the banks, as a measure beneficial
to the banks themselves, and calculated to pro.
mote stability in the business and currency of
the country. So long as the public moneys are
made the basis of bank issues, they will necessa.
rily produce fluctuations in credit and currency.
As the deposite accumulates, bank loans and
bank notes increase in number and amount; as
the deposite diminishes, bank accommodations
are curtailed, and the circulation is retrenched.
No reflecting man can doubt that the immense
surplus in the Treasury to years ago, being all i
lent out by the banks, was one cause of the over- :
I trading and speculation which ended in a gene
ral suspension of specie payments. Ought the
( banks to desire the continuance of a temptation
which experience has shown they have not the
firmness to resist? Ought the people to permit
a return to, or a continuance of, a system which
not only takes from them a portion of their pro.
perly for the uso of the banks and their custom
ers, but lends to render the rest unstable and in
secure, by unsettling the standard of value, ban
ishing the coin of the country from circulation,
and deluging the land with an irredeemable, and,
to a great extent, a fraudulent paper currency?
To avoid these evils, we must remove their
causes. One of the most potent is the use of the
public money for private purposes. By putting
a stop to that mischief, and administering the
Treasury Department wholly independent of the
batiks, the people of the United Slates will have
done much, through their Government, to fill the
country with the precious metals, to secure a
constitutional currency, to keep the public faith,
to preserve the public morals, to give confidence
to credit, and stability to trade, and, above all,
to preserve the rights of the States and the liber
ties of the American people.
The subject of abolition has assumed a char,
acler so formidable in its appearance, and so de
structive in its tendencies, as to call for a brief
exp silion of our views.
The existing relation of master and slave be
tween the two races inhabiting the Southern por
tion of the Union, existed when the Constitution
was formed, and is recognized in the apportion
ment of members in Ibe House of Represcnta.
lives, as well as in the imposition of direct taxes,
and the clause guaranteeing the delivery up of
persons held to service or labor in one Slate and
escaping to another.
It is manifest that the power over thi« subject
is one of those not delegated to the General Go.
vernment, and, of course, is one of the reserved
powers: as such, it is under the entire control of
the respective States, within whose limits the
institution may exist, and within which, neither
this Government, nor that of the other States,
nor their citizens, have any more right to inter
fere, directly or indirectly, than with the exis
tence of slavery in Cuba, or any other foreign
country.
From this if follows that any such interference
on the part of this Government, would be with
out authority, and a manifest breach of the Con
stitution. It would, in truth, be more than a
simple breach of that instrument; it would be
destructive of the primary object for which the
Government was instituted, which was to pre
serve and protect more effectually the domestic
peace and tranquillity of the States, and their
citizens.
It also follows, that such interference on the
part of other States, or their citizens, would be
in violation of the national compact, which they
mutually pledged themselves to each other to
preserve inviolate on entering into the Union.
Il also follow’s, that the States, separately and
individually, where slavery exists, are alone re
sponsible for it, either for good or evil; and the
impression that any other Slate or its citizens
arc responsible, in any way, for its existence,
originates in the gross and mischievous Federal
conception, that ours is a great national consoli
dated Government, where the whole is respon
sible for the par Is, just as the States are for coun
ties, instead of a Federal Republic, composed of
sovereign and independent States, united to.
gather for their muiuai advantage, tranquillity,
and security.
Such, and so formidable, are tlie barriers
against an interference with this dangerous sub
ject, within the limits of the States. Nor will
those against an interference by the General
Government, in any manner, in this District, be
found less formidable, when duly considered.
Wo bold, in the first place, that, lo attempt to
abolish slavery in this District, as an interme
diate step to abolishing it in the States them
selves, hy this Government, or the non-slave
holding Slates, or her citizens, would be as clear
ly and manifestly liable to all the objections, in
their full force, to which a direct attempt to abo.
lish it in the Scales themselves would be. It is
the viutive and object intended, and not the
means , that determine the character of ike act.
There is no code of morals which justifies the
doing of that indirectly which is forbidden to be
done directly. If it he unlawful to burn our
neighbor’s house, it would be equally unlawful
lo fire another, or ever our own, with the inten
tion of burning bis. If there be a difference,
the latter, by adding craft to guilt, is of a deeper
dye.
We also hold that, wdiatcvcr may be tiie indi
vidual opinions of public men as lo the charac
ter of the domestic institutions of the slavehuld
ing States, they have no right, when acting in
public stations under the Federal Government,
by any of their acts, to discriminate between
their institutions and those of the other States.
It must be borne in mind that ours is a Federal
Republic, as has been already slated, formed by
sovereign ami independent States, for their nut
lual security and happiness; and that they in
stituled this Government, and clothed it with
powers to carry into effect these important ob.
jecls. Such being tlie character and object of
our system, it is clear that this Government can
have no right whatever to give a preference to
the institutions of one portion of the Union over
those of another, or to use its potver to abolish
one or establish the other; and to do so, be the
pretext what it may, would be directly subver
sive of the object for which it was established,
by destroying that which it was intended to pro
tect. Instead of preserving peace and tranquilli
ty, it would become an instrument, in the hands
of the stronger portion of the Union, for assail
ing the institutions of the weaker, and engen
dering thereby t he bitterest feelings of hostility,
which, in the end, would destroy the Union it
self.
Resting on these broad and incontrovertible
principles, we hold it to be clear, beyond dispute,
that Congress has no right to abolish slavery in
this District, with a view of abolishing it in the
States, or to exercise any of its powers with that
intention. Nor do we deem it material, in coming
to this conclusion, to inquire what is the extent of
its powers over this District; be they what they
may, they are all conferred for special purposes,
to be exercised, like all such'pow ers, in subordi
nation to the known objects for which they were
granted. To pervert them to any other purpose
inconsistent with the object of the grant, would be
a violation of the Constitution, not the less danger
ous because not expressly forbidden.
Thus regarding the powers of the Government,
it is sufficient lo sustain the conclusion at which we
have arrived—that the Government has no right to
abolish or interfere with slavery in the State, or to
use its powers to give a preference to the peculiar
institutions of one portion of the Union over those
of another; this admitted, and tile conclusion fol
lows as a matter of course. It is on this broad and
deep foundation that we bottom the course which
we think ought to be pursued by’ the Government
on this agitating and dangeious question. Here,
and here only’, can a stand be made to arrest its
progress, give peace and quiet to the country, and
permanency to the Union. If this be surrendered,
on no other ground can a stand be made; and we
call on all who love the country, and value pence,
harmony, and union, to take their stand on it, re
gardless of all minor differences.
In addition to w hat we have said, we W’ould re
mind our countrymen of the plighted faith of this
Government to the States of Virginia and Maryland,
°‘ l “ e sacred rights of property possessed by the
inhabitants of this District, when they were sur
rendered by these States to the protection of Con
gress. »* e would also ask an attentive considera
tion to that state ol anarchy and confusion which
must exist at the seat of the General Government,
w lien this District shall become the receptacle of
the fugative slaves from all the neighboring States,
of us have witnessed, and others have heard,
with deep regret, the deteriorated condition of the
slaves, produced by this disturbing question; and
in the name of the Union, we ask our fellow-citi
zens to forbear its further agitation.
Thus, fellow citizens, w e have laid before you a
full and frank avowal of our political opinions and
principles. It is for you to vindicate ami maintain
them. We will not say they are free from error;
but our honest conviction is, that on their mainte
nance depend the pence, harmony, and prosperity
of the people, and the perpeiuiiy of our glorious
Confederacy.
REU EL WILLIAMS, of Maine,
GARRETT D. WALL, of New Jersey,
WILLIAM ALLEN, of Ohio,
WILLIAM S. FULTON, of Arkansas,
Committee in behalf of Republican Senators.
FR ANCIS '1 HOM AS, of Maryland,
J. W. JONES, of Virginia,
ISAAC TOUCEY, of Connecticut,
J. J. McKAY, of North Carolina,
W. W. POTTER, of Pennsylvania,
JOHN P. RICHARDSON, of S. Carolina,
AMASA J. PARKER, ofNew York.
ISAAC E. CRARY, of Michigan,
ARCHIBALD YELL, of Arkansas,
Commitleein behalf of Republican Representatives.
AUGUSTA, GA.
SATURDAY MORNING, JULY 28, 1838.
To the exclusion of other matter, we publish
the address of the republican members of Congress
to the people of the United States. On the two
great questions of the day, namely, the currency,
and abolition, this address will, we hope, be re
ceived with pleasure by every southern man, who
feels for the future welfare, peace and tranquillity
of the whole country. We concur fully in the
opinion expressed by the Globe, that this address
is “one of those pure and profound expositions
of Democratic principles which have, from lime
to time, in this country, formed the rallying point
of all the real friends of popular Government.
The luminous paper put forth by Mr. Madison in
the crisis of ’9B, does not portray, with more truth,
force, and beauty, the doctrines on which the Re
publicans of that era fix d their faith, than the Ad
dress, which is now submitted to the people of
the United States, developes the application of the
same doctrine to the new state of things.”
RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS.
The express mail of yes'erday brought us the
agreeable intelligence of a resolution having pass
ed the bank convention, which sat on the 23d inst.
at Philadelphia, to resume specie payments on the
13th of August. \\ e refer the reader for particu
lars to a slip from the office of Bicknell’s Reporter
copied in another column of this day’s paper.—
“Huzza for Specie Payments,” is now the cry of
the whigs, and the whig presses.” Huzza for specie
payments, was our cry w hen the New-York banks
resumed: what was then the cry of the whigs,
whig presses, and Mr. Biddle ? Compelled by pub
lic opinion, as Gov. Ritner was compelled to issue
hi 8 proclamation, the Pennsylvania banks, as well
as the other non Item banks, will resume specie
payments on the 13th of August: and the whigs
Will have the hardihood to claim for themselves
the credit of a measure which they were compell
ed to adopt, and which, not many weeks ago, they
wished to postpone, until the United States Bank
had closed its cotton and tobacco speculations !
Notwithstanding the efforts of Mr. Biddle, and the
exertions of his friends, public opinion had to be
obeyed, being yet powerful enough to be respected.
DOT The Washington Globe of July 21, contains
the report ofthe clerk of the House of Represen
tatives of the U. S. showing the appropriations
made, new offices created, and offices the sala
ries of which are increased, during the first and
second sessions of the 251 h Congress of the U. S.
This report occupies ten columns of the
We have room only for the following;
RECAPITULATION.
Extra Session.
For the support of the Government and suppression
oflndian hostilities for the year 1637, $2,109,000
2d Session 2bth Congress.
Civil and diplomatic 8,252.3(10 22
Army 5,127,860 10
Fortifications 1,015,415
Protection ol the Northern frontier 625,5 10
Navy 6,062,136 30
Revolutionary and other pensioners 2,033,532 G 2
Current expenses of the Indian De
partment 3,002,427 73
Preventing and suppressing Indian
hostilities 7,739,410 41
Harbors 1,536,008 53
Higbl-honses 307,010 36
Miscellaneous 540,300
Private claims 45,103 60
$33,413,064 87
Statement of the new offices created and the salaries
of each, and also a statement of the offices the sala
ries of which are increased, and the amount of
such increase, during the two last sessions of Con
press, made in pursuance of the 6th section of the
act o f the 2d July, 1836, toprovide for the appro
priation of additional payments, and for other
purposes.
NEW OFFICES.
Governor of the Territory of lowa ? $1,500
As Superintendent of Indian Affairs $ 1,000
Secretary ofthe Territory of lowa 1,200
Chief Justice Supreme court, Territory
of lowa 1,500
Two associate justices ($1,500 each) 3,000
District attorneys, same as others.
Marshal, “ “
I Judge criminal court District of Columbia 2,000
j Judge orphans’court District of Columbia 1,030
\ Two registers and two receivers, Wiscon
sin Territory west of the Mississippi,
same compensation as others.
Surveyor General Wisconsin Territory 1,500
Register and receiver northwestern land
district of Louisiana, same as others.
Collector for the port of Vicksburg 500
NEW REGIMENT OF INFANTRY.
1 colonel, same compensation as other officers of
same grade.
1 lieutenant colonel do do
1 major do do
10 captains do do
10 Ist lieutenants do do
10 2d lieutenants do do
ARTILLERY.
4 captains, same compensation as other officers of
similar grade.
4 Ist lieutenants do do
4 2d lieutenants do do
CORPS OF ENGINEERS.
1 lieutenant colonel, same pay as other officers of
same grade in the dragoons.
2 majors do do
6 captains do do
6 2d lieutenants do do
COMMISSARY DEPARTMENT.
1 assistant commissary general of subsistence,
pay same as lieutenant colonel of cavalry.
1 commissary of subsistence, pay of quartermas
ter of the array.
3 commissaries of subsistence, pay of assistant
quartermaster.
ORDNANCE.
2 majors, pay of officers of dragoons of same grade.
1 prolessor of chemistry, mineralogy, &c. a West
Point, pay of professor of mathematics.
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT.
7 surgeons, same pay as other surgeons
Note. —The other appointments authorized by
the new r army bill are staff appointments, to be
made from the line ofthe army, and do not increase
the number of officers.
We learn from the New-Orleans Picayune, that
Uncles, who was under confinement for stealing
the jewels from the Bank of the Metropolis, at
W ashington, succeeded in making his escape on
Friday night, 24th inst. by cutting his way through
a plank partition four inches thick, and then mak- (
ing a hole in the brick wall of sufficient size to let ;
him out. i
The Alexandria Gazette says:—The Presidentof '
the United Slates is expected, we understand, to t
leave Washington for the Virginia Springs next \
Monday. He will visit the White Sulphur, W arm, r
Hot Springs, &c. f
The Secretary of War, whose health is still fee i
tie, will, we understand, also visit the Springs in
Greenbrier.
53r M e copy the following from the Cassville
Pioneer of July 21. Alluding to the Western and
Atlantic Rail Road, that paper says ;
,‘' Ve rc j°*ce to witness the rapid advancement
of this magnificent enterprise—but a little more
than a year has elapsed, since the commence
ment of the surveys. At this time, all the sur
veys requisite, in order to determine the most fa
vorable localities for the road, from its Southern
terminus to the Tennessee Line have been made,
and upwards of fifty miles of the road are now
under contract- Fifty miles more, are attain ex
posed for contracts, affording the unprecedented
example of 100 miles of the same Rail Road, of.
sered for construction within six months from the
date of commencing the work.
The energy and despatch evinced by all en
gaged in this great enterprise, are truly common
dable ; and no doubt can exist, that the plaudit*
of every patriotic citizens of Georgia, will be
awarded to the Commissioners of the Rail Road,
for their zeal and efficiency in hastening for
ward its construction with such an unexampled
speed.
Ihe limes appear unusually auspicious for
the vigorous prosecution of the work. The
means available under the patronage of the
State, arc ample ; the crops of the season al
ready gathered, as well as those now ripening
for harvest, were never more abundant and proo
mising. And, we are highly gratified to find a
spirit and disposition on the part of those to
whom the management of the Rail Road has
been entrusted, every way correspondent to th®
state of the times just adverted to.
POLAND.
The celebrated O. P. Q. in his last letter fronv
Paris, published in the New York Express, say*
of ill-falcd Poland—
“ I must say a word to-day before I close my
letter, about poor Poland and little Cracow. If
the English and French governments were not
the most immoral, cowardly, selfish, and wretch-’
ed administrations in the world, Poland would
at this moment have been an independent king-'
dom, and Cracow would have been liberated
f.om the night-mare or death-shade * protection *'
of the northern powers. Some late letters from
Poland and Cracow which I have seen and read,
have made a very great impression upon my
mind. They narrate, Ist. That every month the
Poles are sent off to the Caucasus army against
their will. 2J. That every month some small re
maining vestige of former Polish independence
is destroyed. 3d. That every month some new
attack is made on the property of the Nobles,
and the peasantry are made to feel that they are
indeed slaves 4th. That not only no promise is
held out of amelioration—but the Russian Go.
vernment are perpetually insulting the Poles
with the appellation of Russian subjects. sth.
That there is no chance of the Poles even being
put in possession of the small portion of liberty
formerly enjoyed by them by virtue of the trea
ties of 1814 and 1815; and 6th. That the situa
tion of the relatives of those who took part ii>
the events of 1831 has become so intolerable that
the Polish ladies would prefer emigration and.
poverty as domestic and menial servants, to rc.
maining where they are. But Lord Durham’s
mission failed ! and so he is sent to Canada !!
As to Cracow—The latest nows from that
cily is equally sad. lls prornlssd—nay guaran.
tied independence is at an end. The Diet has
been told that its true policy and duty is to leave
all to the magnanimous and glorious protectors
of Cracovian freedom—the governments of
Austria ! Prussia ! I and Russia 11
[From Bickn ell's Reporter, July 24. -
-BANK CONVENTION.
A General Resumption on the 13 th of August".
'Plie Bank Convention assembled in this cilv
yesterday, at 12 M. The place of meeting was
the Bank of Pennsylvania.
JOHN B. MORRIS, Esq., President of the
Mechanics Bank of Baltimore, was elected Prc--
sident of the Convention; and Elihu Chadncey,
Esq. of tliis cily, Secretary.
The Banks of the following States were rep.
resented, either by delegates, or by letter*,
binding the Institution to abide by tlie decision
of the Convention ; Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary
land, Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri.
Aflcr considerable debate as to the proper and
appropriate day fora general resumption, the fol.
lowing resolution was unanimously adopted:
Resolved, That the Banks represented in this
Convention, will resume specie payments on the
13lh August next, and recommend that day for
the adopt ion of the Banks generally.
The thirteenth day of August it will be re
membered, is the day recommended in Gov. Rit
ner’s Proclamation. It will be a glorious day
for Pennsylvania, and indeed for the whole
Union. Huzza for specie payments and more
prosperous times.
[From the Raleigh Register .]
SALE OF CHEROKEE LANDS.
We arc authorized by the Commissioners to
state, that the following kind of money will be
received in payment for the Cherokee Lands ter
be sold, under authority of Act of the Assembly,
on the first Monday of September next, at
Franklin, in Macon County, viz ; The notes of
Banks of this State, those of South Carolina,
payable at Charleston and Cheraw; and those of
Georgia, payable at Augusta and Savannah; the
notes of the Bank of \ irginia and Farmer’s
Bank of Virginia; United States Bank notes;
Treasury notes; and Gold and Silver.
[From the Baltimore American.]
DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT HARRISBURG.
We regret to state that about one-half of am
entire square, in thd flourishing town of Harris
burg, was destroyed by fire on the 20lh inst.
Office of the Reporter , )
Harrisburg, July 20, 1838. £
A fire broke out about 5 o’clock this afternoon,
in the hay-loft of a stable belonging to Mr. J,
Ostler, on Strawberry alle}', between Market and
Walnut streets, and before it was got under, de
stroyed the stage stable of Messrs. Colder and
Wilson, the stable belonging to- Mr. Roberts, the
lumber yard of Messrs. Holman and Simmons
(containing about §6,000 of lumber,) the dwel
ling house and bindery of Mr. C. Muench on
Market-st., the dwelling of Mr. John Shannon,
and Holman’s row of buildings occupied by fif
teen families. The residence of Mr. Jennings
on Market-street, and several other buildings
were considerably injured.
We have received the Report of the fifth an
nual meeting of the Stockholders in the Rich
mond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Rail Road
Company, made by the President and Directors,
in conformity with the act of incorporation.—
From this document it appears that the affairs
of the Company are in a prosperous condition,
the stock having given a dividend of seven per
cent, during the last year, and there being every
probability of its realizing hereafter at least
three per cent, every six months. The proposi.
tion which had been agitated of extending the
road to Aquia Creek, on the Potomac, has been
postponed until future action by the stockhol.
tiers. The amount of income during the past
year, say from June Ist 1837 to June Ist 1838,
is §111,046 38, which, together with the sum
applicable to dividends makes §127,638 30.
The whole amount of current expenses and in.
terest paid from June lit 1837 to May Ist 1838
was §73,4.95 66. The concerns of the Compa.
ny are evidently managed with sound judgment,
faithfulness and economy .—Baltimore *Amer.
icon.