Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1821-02-13
OBJECTIONS

Or IRE CovncH Of Revision TO the Dill
entitled " IN act establishing the State
Bank Of Winois."
By the 10th section of the lst article
Of the Constitution Of the United States,
it is declared, that No state shall enter
into any treaty, alliance, or contcdcra-
ton; grant letters of marque and repri-
sal; coin money; emit bills Of credit !;
make any thing but gold and silver coin
a tender in payment of debts" &c. The
bill under consideration proposes the
emission of large quantity OF paper
money in the name and for the use Of,
upon the faith and credit and at the risk
of the state. The conductors OF the in
stitution are all to be chosen by, and are
placed under the direction Of tho state.
The paper is to be redeemed in ten years
by annual instalnents Of ten per centunl,
to be paid by the borrowers TO the state,
and by the state to the holders. The
funds OF the state are 10 be deposited in
the bank and are pledged for the redemp-
ton Of the paper. The bills are 10 he
issued to individuals in given quantities,
not in exchange for any thin. else, but
by way Of loan upon real and personal
secdrity. The clear Object ofthe bill IS
to create new medium or currency -
The institution is only the medium
through which the state, by virtue Il its
sovereignty and upon the faith Of its Gre
dit, is to emit paper money reteemable
by the state al future DIV. This pa
per, in the opinion of the Council, con-
sttutes nothing more nor less than "bi!ls
Of crecit,' within the meaning Of the
federal constitution. The bill lays aside
the distinctions heretofore taken, by
which the issue OF paper from banks
wherein the states have taken an interest,
has been seemingly justified, and no SINH
lar is roco.lecfed to have passed in any
Of the states, unless the late acts Of Ken
lucky and Tennessee are exceptions
With some appearance Of plausibility it
has been said, that bill payable on de-
nian:d, out Of a specified realized fund,
was not biilof credit; but it will be
difficult to find an apology for ike as
sertion with regard to a bill payable at a
future day, out of funds not realized, the
extent orwhich isnot asccr;ainel, though
its ultimate redemption be, in all hQman
probability, provided ior. No course
seems TO be left by which to reconcile
the proposed plan to the federal consti-
tuition, unless it be found in establishing
a difference in principle between g bills
Vcredit" simply, and " bills ofnuusaai-
ty long credit" If the plan does not
authorize the issue Of j." biIis of credit"
within the meaning of the section alluded
TO, the Council are entirely at less to
say what was meant. If the words en-
ployed do not convey clear idea OF the
Intention Of those who used them, Sc
rious inquiry into the causes OF the pro-
hibition, will go lar in explanation. This
inquiry cannot be more safely conducted
than by resort to the expeditions Of
commentators Of acknowledged prchity
and intelligence, especially if such an
one can be found, who lived since the
peace with Great Britain and before and
at the time of the form alton of the consti-
tuition. In "'rhe Federalist," work
which is justly styled the text book of, the
federal constitution, page 243, Mr.. Ha-
milton, after a beautiful illustration Of
the pestlont effects Of the paper curren-
cy after the peace, declares, " 1t may be
observed thai the same reasons which
show the necessity of denying to the states
the power Of regulating coin prove with
equal force that they ought not to be at
liberty to substitute a paper medium in
the place Of coin. Had every state the
right 10 regulate the value OF its coin,
there might be as many different cur
rencies as states, and thus the intercourse
among them would be impcded re-
Prospective alterations in its value s,ht
be made, and thus the citizens of other
states be injured, and animosiiies be
kindled among the states themselves
The subjects o! foreign powers might
suffer from the same cause, and hence
the union be discrediied and embroilel
by the indiscretion Of single member.
No one ofthese miscbiefs is less incident
to power in the states to emit paper
money than to coin gold and silver. The
power to make any thing but gold and
silver tender in the payment of debts,
is withdrawn from the states, on the same
principle with that OF striking of paper
currency" If this great constitutional
lawyer has correctly delneated the rea-
sons Of measures adopted under his own
observation, can VIC not infer that the bill
under consideration would not be more
a violation Of the constitution if it went