Alabama state intelligencer., 1831-02-02

were at par, or York, wnere they were
 only about six per cent. discount, and had taken the pains to go all the way to Pitts
 burg to change their money for her twenty
 five per cent. depreciated bills, this would
 have made the loss only seventeen mil
 lions. But the truth is, if any one will take the pains to lcok at the Committees price current, they will see that north of New
 York, bills were nearly at par, and upon the most liberal allowance, the average discount
 did nute e4e~ee,i f1-,- p~r cent. Be this as It may, it was no where fifty per cent. accord- ing to their own exhibit, and this t must haUe been, to have produced a loss of Miry- four millions. For such an unwarrantable asser- tion, we at first incline to the belief that the Committee intended to shelter themselves un- der another position, which they had borrow ed from our worthy author, Mir Blackstone, viz. elf, when the circulating medium is fifty millions, an article should cost enc dollar, it would certainly cost two, if it's quantity should be increased to one hundred millions, but when they say the loss resulted e.rciu- 8fUeiy from the dehreciatfon of the currency, and had previously admitted that an increase of circulating medium did not affect the cre- dit of Bank bills, but only the prices of com modities, we can no longer doubt they over reached themselves, or underrated their con sttuents. These are sons the arguments upon which the expectancy of the Bank is attempted to be supported, and we have been thus particular in analyzlng them, to make that all reasoning beyond the point of ascer, tained error, is cloud, smoke, fog, or any thing you choose, but truth or faith.
 But the refutation of the above argument aScapt,n1 appfhef, tl,e Cnp,- mittee employed it for double purpose, it was to subserve the cause of another inte- rest, besides that ofthe Government After asserting the less of forty-six millions on the part of the nation, they say, ''if they shall make this apparent, the House will have something like standard fer estimating the indiuidnal losses ofthe community" Can it be possible, we are told that Congress have the right to charter Bank to protect 'sind- vidual losses" Now, this very argument shews how insidious and encroaching are the Federal powers, after torturng the Con stitution to make it confess the right to em- ploy a friUate corhoration, paid the govern ment in effecting some ofits own express pow, CTS. Behold now, it must give up the same to help indiUiduais, to collect, transmit, and disbnrse their funds from one end of the LInion to the other! Is this, also, an er,heess hozver in the Constitution' In the early part of the report, the Committee ac knowledged that the Government had no right to incorporate Bank for any other pur- pose but that of carrying into effect some of the "powers expressly entrusted to its juris- dlction," and yet, it now boldly attempts to prove to Congress, that the interests of pri- vate individuals require such an institution, under the miserable pretext that it facilitates commercial regulations, whether the money conveyed by the Bank, resulted from that source or not, as if there were no other trans missions of money but snch as spring from Commerce. But even if this were true, will it be contended that the Government is bound to furnish merchants with an easy and cheap method of borrowing, and transmitting their private funds from place to place, mere ly because they are engaged in com merce? Is the Government so uncandid as net tn admit distinction between their o7vn r!shfs over commerce, and the hrirate rights of individuals in that business? Are they going to contend for such an expansive pro perty in this power to regulate commerce, that they can legislate upon every subject, however remotely or incidentally connected with 1t! If they do, then all merchants con tracts, all bills of exchange, drafts, promis- sory notes, made and given on that account, will be drawn within their jurisdiction. If they feel it to be constitutional duty to fur nish commercial men with the facilities of ex- change, why do they not give them the bene- fit of the Post Office Department, free of er- hense? Their mercantile letters are very im- portant in this business, and this is a speedy method of transmitting them from one end of the Union to the other, and indeed, if it be net very unsafe way of transmitting money, why not allow them the .5ranking privileges Not quite so fast ! this will be taking little money out of the purse of the Treasury, whereas, the other plan takes it out of the pockets Of the people at large, and what is in- hnitely worse, puts it into the pockets ofa few privileged money holders, who constitute an absolute monied tyranny over the fiscal con cerns ot the sovereign States.
 What right have commercial men to these facilities, more than any other class of men, It is enc thing to regulate commerce, and a. mother to grant monopoles or exclusive pri- vileges to those persons engaged in it. A plain question will settle this matter; could a Bank be chartered by Congress for the crciu- sipe purpose of affording merchants the con- venience of borrowing, collecting, disbursing, and transmitting money? We presume the period is net yet arrived, though, doubtless,
 it is not far distant, when any man can be found so hardy as to contend for such dcc- Urine, then, will it be said, by uniting with it Government object, it can be done? This, the report most uDequivocally declares.
 But the Sampson argument of the Report
 in favor of the Bank, is its affect in euualjzine
 the currency; and to establish this point, if
 hatly. though somewhat smoothly, falsifes the position of the President, that 'sit has failed in the great end of establishing a uni form and sound currency" A very labored statement is made, to shew that the bills of the Bank are better than specie, which all
 ends in the surhrising fact, that though the Bank is left with the power to demand what
 per cent. it pleases, in paying the bills of one
 branch when presented at another vet they
 neper hape abused this power. further than