Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1828-1831, 1830-05-01
MR.. McDUFFIE'S REPORT.
CONTINUED


In confirmation OF the views here pressntel ,sto
the comparative uniformity of the currency furnish
Cd by the bank, and alSo TO the obligation of tho
oenh 10 redeem rs bills, ndiscrminatcly at all the
Offices, the committee will present few brief extracts
from the speech Of statesman whose opinions have
every title to authority these important subiects
Mr. Lowndes in discussing the question how far the
oah6 had performed the great duty for which il was
created, used The following decided language in 1919
when the currency had not reached the point of uni
iormity II had now attained by half of one per cent
The great object of the government in charterinr
the bank, was In provide currency which should
have that degree g stability and uniformity in its val
ne which is acquired by the interests both of our
commerce ard revenue. currency, equally valu-
ah.e at every place and every time, cannot be pro-
vded by human wisdom. The nearest approach to
this object has been generally supposed to be afforded
by the employment of gold and silver as the
OF value. The 18th Congress did not aim at ideal
periecton; they wished 10 combine with tho couyo
henccs OF bank circulation uniformity OF value
equal 10 that which possessed by the precious
metals; and the which they employed to secure
this uniformity were simple and eifectual by enion
ng under heavy penalty, the payment ofa it's notes
IN coin, upon demand. In the report, indeed, the
notes OF the national bank said to be now on the
same footing with local banks OF the footing on
which local banks stood, he should speak hereae err
but the price current upon his table informed him
that the greatest discountun branch notes of the IT,
States was 3 4ths OF one per cent This was val
ue much more uniform than that which coin could be
expected TO have IN extensive q country He had
lately been looking into book on political economy
which had been published here, with high, and, in
respect 10 Its clearness and precision, with just
mendation-the work Of Mr.. Tracy. He inferred
from one Of his chapters, that the difference of ex-
change between harselles and Paris was often from
two to three per cent. If, with all the facilities af
torded by the internal improvements in which France
ID so rich, with currency Consisting almost eXcu-
s'yey Of gold and silver the variation in The value of
money IS three times greater in her isyriloJ than ON
our continent can 1t be sald thai in this respect the
bank has not fulfilled the ects Of its institution Be-
tore It's establishment the value Of bank notes even in
the commercial states, had varied 90 per cen, from
each other; d none of them bore fixed propor,ion
10 the precious metals or to any natural standard il
was impossible to assign any limit TO their deprecia
ton You have required that the currency furnished
by the national bank should be every where convar
tlble into silver, and IL You have expected that
II should be as uniform as coin, aud il is more So He
would not dctain the committee by reading a paper
which he had prepared with that intention CON, ain
ing the state Of exchange since the establishment r
the bank, with England, France and IIoland for no
! found himself occupying much more Of their time
than he had expected. But he believed ibat aDy
member, who should turn his attention To tho sub
jec, would remark it's s.eadiness drnr that neriod
\ lie thought himself justified m drawlno from, tbs
fact conclusion highly favourable to the bank.
In reference 10 the great depreciation Of the paper
Of the local banks, previous 10 the establishment Of
that Of the u. States, he said
Did the interests or duty Of the government Of the
states permit that this currency should be received
ny "! some dissatisfaction was express I'll because
The branch notes ofthc United States Bank were AT
discount Of 9 this Of ono per cent lie read from
price current the state Of the market for bank notes
by which il appeared that notes. which were insisted
70 be m very good credit, varied from discount oil
TWO and half to ono Of seven, fifteen twenty-five
md even thirty per cent Was our revenue to be re
celVed IN these notes. How were they to be employ
} edi They might be expended in the district in wbicI
they we're issued. But YVES the expenditure Of every
district to be exactly limited TO its revenue? What
became if
thing, and not the name. Our Union mint dissolve
IN imbeciliiy as well as be destroyed by violence
Didnot union imply that the resources Of ono State
rs money ms well as It's men, might be employed fol
the defence OF another?
"But if the Government were willing to bear thc
loss OF deprecated and unequal currency, il mus
neglect the painest principle of the Constitution II
doing so-equahty Of taxation. The committee mus
well remember, that, before the establishment Of th
. National Bank. such was tic unequal value of cur
ency in the different States that the merchants pai,
duties, varying fifteen per cent from each other, OF
q tho same articns'"