Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1834-03-20

;, property, and loss oil employment, doubt
: of the condition Of others, doubts of thei
= own condition, constant fear Of failure
= and new explosions, an awful dread
l., the future-sir, when a consciousness O
{ all these things accompanies man, a
c his breakfast, his dinner, and hissupper
] when it attends him through his hours
e both Of labor and rest; when it even dis
v turbs and haunts his dreams, and wheI
= he feels, too, that that which is thus knaw
r ing upon him, is the pure result OF fool
, ish and rash measures Of .Governmen mt
t depend upon it he will not bear l.. A
deranged and disordered currency, tht
ruin OF occupation, distress for presen
| means, the prostration Of credit and con
, fdence, and all this without hope of i'm
r provement or change, is q state Of thing
which no intelligent people can long en-
. dure.
! Mr.. CLAY rose and said: | have been
requested by the Committee from Pbila
deIphia, charged with presenting the
memorial to Congress, to say few words
on the subject; and, although after the
ample and very satisfactory exposition
which it has received from the Senator
from Massachusetts, (Mr. Webster
further observations are entirely unne-
cessary, 1 cannot deny myself the graf
ifcation Of complying with request,
proceeding from source so highly wor-
thy of respectful consideration.
The Experiment which the President
Of the United States has thought proper
to institute on the currency OF the coun-
try, has now been in operation five
months; and never, in so short time,
has a great people been precipitated
from the Ioliiest height Of unexampieI
prosperity to the lowest depth of uameri-
ted distress and misery. Its caamitous
effects are felt every where, by every
class, by every interest, in every section
of our widespread Confederacy. And
the evils now experienced, great as they
are, undoubtedly, are embittered by the
reflection that no one can discern the
period of their termination, and it is to
be apprehended that still severer, lie in
advance before us. If they had been
ProvidentiaI inniction, they would have
been borne with mani y resi- gnation and
Christian tortitude; but they are aggra-
waited by the conviction that they arc
the work of one mortal man, the produce
of one individual will, prompted by vim
dictive passion, or guided by erroneous
views of the public interest.
The Experiment, besides its influence
on the general business Of the country,
the dismission of thousands of the labor
ing classes from employment, and the
check OH commercial operations and 9TH
er enterprises, has occasioned a very
great depreciation in the value Of most
descri ptions of property, and especially
Of stocks. should We glad to see an
estimate, and it would be a most inter-
esting and not impracticable estimate) Of
the aggregate amount Of national and in
dlvidual loss produced by this most i'm
provident measure, in the property, bu-
slness and capital Of the country.
have somewhere seen a statement that
the total value Of all the property, real
and personal, in the single State of New
YORK, is estimated at eight hundred
millions Of dollars. 1t will not be deem
ed extravagant to suppose that this pro-
perty, by the operation Of the recent
measure of the Executive, has been sub
Icct to an average depreciation Of ten
per cent. Assuming the correctness of
his calculation, the loss in that State
would be eighty millions. The State Of
New York contains about one-sixth Of
he whole population Of the U. States,
and probably about one-finh of the pro-
,erty. If property in other parts Of the
Union has deprecated in the same pro-
portion as in New-York, (and it has not
,een less,) the reduction in value
throughout the Union, would be equal
o the enormous sum OF four hundred
Millions of dollars. More than double
he sum which the last war with Great /
Britain cost the United States? :
But the depreciation in the value Of
apital and property is only one, al q
hough not an unirDportant item, in the I
ccount of losses which have accrued O
rom the rash proceeding Of the Execu- 4
i've. Its effect on agricultural products {
nd other products OF oiindustry, on the la c
or Of the country, on commerce, on .
'ublic funds, and in the siagnation Of Q
he general business Of the People, has {
ccasioned loss scarcely inleror to that ,
D which the capital and property Of the .
ountry has been most unwIsely subjected. d
And what is the remedy to be provi- $
led for this most unhappy state Of tho L.