Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1834-01-31
CONGRESSIONAL.


touched on the great subject now agltatlhg Coii-
css' nj thf. whole nation. This petition was
s;ooess} bv his own neighbors andlmmedlate CON
st5t,,ents and he believed had been produced by
an observation which fellffom nm on tne o.ilea
3av relative to the causes OF the present alsuess
of the country. In the meeting winch haa p s e
held at Pittsburg--and he was willing 70 CONFESS,
nunerously attended, and by large poIuoi =,
his consttuents-there was a resoiutoii PASSED.
which. in some measure, bore upon nun, III CON
sequence of having used the expression ~ wlliels
he now referred Out of the proceedings OF
that meeting grew the petitionhe now held Ia
\ his hand, and which he would presently present,
The nroeeetiinos represented that he was mlSta-
ken in the declaration which he had made, ana
that Il was received in his Mr.. VS. own town
with much regret and very great astonsnn'eh !, !.
They ascribed the distress prevailing IN tne
luastarn country 10 a considerable extent to
the removal of the deposites. He dld not Know
that the petition spoke actually that ulstress now
preyaed in the Western country, out II rather
referred to the alarm and constefnaton ilidt hau
arisen, and pointed TO the distress winch wouiu
Inevitably hereafter take place, owing 10 the re-
,noval of the deposites 1t referred particular
Iv TO the breaking up entirely OF the internal
Western exchanges and attributed the cause
particularly TO the interruption OF the cohlhlei
cial business of that country, ana OF the entne
Western waters, to the removal OF the ueposi'es
Notwithstanding the declarations OF that meet
mo and notwithstanding the facts alleged IN the
ne3ition. he did not acquesce In the opinion, that
distress did exist in the Western part OF the coun-
trv to which he now particularly referred. ne
admitted that the transactions OF the lntefhd
commerce Of the country, and That when pre-
vailed to a vast extent On the Western waters
had been interrupted and our merchants ex-
nosed 10 very considerable inconvenience by a
measure adopted by the Bank OF the United
States. in. consequence of the removal OF the de-
postes But his constituents were enurely mlS,
taken when they ascribed the Interruptions ana
Inconvenience now attending the internal ex-
changes Of their country, to the removal OF the
danoSites His ffiendS-tOr Suchhe might Wen
call thenl-although they were his pohucal OPP
moments were entirely under a wrong impression;
and he should be glad to make single oDserVa-
ton. which he wished to be made known TO his
constituents 10 show them that they are laoof-
inc under material mistake. II was not oW-
inc TO the. removal Of the depOSites. There was
a resolution passed by the United States Bank
almost two months before this event, and 1t was
that which had caused the breaking up OF the
exchanges of the Western country 1t was IN
consequence of a rumor that the puDic depo-
sites were to be transferred from the Bank, that
this resoutionof ike 18th of August was passed.
almost two months preceding the removal OF tne
deposites 1t was a voluntary and an unneces-
sary act ON the part of the Bank, long preced-
ing the removal Of the deposites, which broke
no almost entirely the internal Western ex-
change
I.et'bis constituents recolectthat The Bank,
in consequence of vested capital, aud it being
spread ali over the country by means of It's
Branches, had the internal exchanges oil the
country in its own hands, and by single stroke
of the pen. within its own banking house, the
act was accomplished.
The internal Western exchange was dissolv-
ed on the 18Th of August, which was three or
four months before the public deposites- were re
moved at New Orleans. These mistakes were
perfectly natural and would happen when a
few gentlemen undertake, in the long room at q
pubhc tavern to settle great constitutional Ques-
tons This meeting had given its opinion on
the subject of the removal OF the depoSltes CON
corning which much had already been said on
this floor. and great deal yet remained to be
SAID on both sides. The resolutions introduced
bv the Senator from Kentucky were comphcat-
ed in their character, and required great dellbe-
ration upon their nature and tendency ct
here was Committee OF a few individuals, APP
ponted by a public meeting, retiring INTO a par
room. and. after remaining absent about five
minutes, bringing in decided report ON the sub
iect. The consequence was, that two blunders
had been committed. One of these he had al
ready exposed; the other was that which APP
peared in the second resolution OF the Senator
from kentucky, and which asserts that there
was no authority in the Secretary of the Urea
sury to remove the depositesY and that he had
assumed a power which did not belong TO him.
If this language had been applied to the Presi-
dent it might have been used With some plausi-
bility. But when it is asserted that the Secre-
tary had no authority, it was as great mistake
as the reference ofthe breaking up of the West
ern.internal trade to the removal OF the depo-
sites.
He must say that there was no distress IN the
western part of the country. All the banks were
firm. and their notes were all at par. He wish
cd gentlemen to lock at the prices of -four, grain,
and all other agricultural products; TO look at
the prices of manufactured articles, and, above
all AZ the prices of real estate in Pittsburgh
since the removal of the deposites. Real estate
had res.ched, since the 1st of August, the high
est prices which it had ever obtained since the
French and the Indians desoated that part o.
the country He felt the deepest mortlhcatlor
when he found such people as those OF the
West, attributing their prosperity or adversely
to such a cause as the transfer OF the deposlte;
from Bank to another Their prosperity
stood on far different foundation. 1t depend
ed on their industry, their skill, and their enter
prize. Their capital was to be found in thei
factories, their steam power their fuel, and theil
20 w no terial which was TO he found at the door