Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Wayne County, Ind.) 1831-1837, 1836-06-04

Richmond, Wayne county
Now, if the Secretary Of the Treasu-
ry could declare what should be the
currency of the country-if he could
regulate these banks without the att
thority of Congress, this power was
capable OF being rendered equivalent
to the tax-laving power.
No man of ordinary prudence and
forecast could contemplate the exist
ing state of things without the most
serious alarm. 1t was impossible that
they should continue; that 800 banks
should go on, from day to day, to is
sue SO much paper, and that the -
sovereignties should submit to it. 1t
was utterly impossible but that an
explosion must come though when it
would come, he could not pretend to
say. They might differ there about
the cause Of it, but come it certainly
would. There was most unnatural
state Of things Observation-Disclosures
on the one hand, and scarcity
and pressure on the other. What
was the cause of this pressure! One
cause was the vast portion of public
revenue locked up in the vaults Of
these banks, or loa.ed out by them to
persons who might not be able to re-
tarn it promptly; and If they looked
to the state of the public pressure,
they would find something to support
this opinion. Where was the great
est pressure at the present moment?
1t was a: the points where the great
est amount of revenue had been COL
lected and deposited that the severest
pressure was felt; and of these points
the city of New York, being the great
est both for collection and deposite,
they had every reason to believe,
from the accounts received, suffered
the most from pecuniary pressure
Let us look, said he, at other points
at cities where the collections were
not so great, and where comparative
ly little was deposited. Take LOUIS
vile, for example, or any Of the cities
on the western waters. At Louisville,
where capital always found a ready
there was no pressure,
and the course Of exchange demon
strated state ofprosperity and Sc
curity. Go to Cincinnati, or to any
of the southern cities, and it would
be found that the measure ofpressure
was equal to the measure Of collec-
ton. There was another cause, and
that was the want of confidence,
which had caused severe pressure
in the money market.
The fact of this pressure was un-
was severe and alarming,
and called loudly for the application
of Congress Of any constitutional
means within it's power to relieve
this distress. How was the city Of
New York to be relieved from the
of eleven millions of dol
lars? She was to be relieved from
the pressure only by the distribution
Of the money in the public Treasury,
which would afford immediate relief
and immediate relief would be afford
ed. to the banks in that city, and in
those ether great commercial cities
of Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Bos-
ton. And was it possible Congress
could adjourn without distributing
this vast treasured Among the
schemes devised to dispose Of this
fund, one of making large appro-
priations for public defence had been
in their ears until every bo-
dy was sick ofhearing it.
In good old times the Commons of
England or the Congress of the United
States did not go to the Crown in the
one case, or the Departments Of State
or the Executive in the other to ask
how much they could spend, but cut
it down to reduce it to the proper
sum consistent with economy. But
now they goaded and harassed the
departments to tell them
how much, aud what was the maxi
mum amount they could spend. The
Of War, in a document
highly creditable to his sound Judge
49, and discretion, had told them
heWmuch had been expended. and it
was evident he was against this ex-
travagant system. as he had cautious
Iy avoided indicating any sum that
could be expended. and supposed they
were capable of judging for them
selves. R,1f this did not S,it some