The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1837-11-03

swer another purpose as suD1ec' OF traae'
the latter will fy at once To meet the new de-
mand, and leave the duties Of currency exciu-
sively to It's fellow.
So twas between the paper and the specie,
when. by the exigencies of trade, the latter
was suddenly called off 10 meet the new de-
mand created by the necessity in commerce,
of, extingushing the balances against our inn
porters. There is no mystery in all this. I'm
ports are TO be paid for from those two sources
alone. By the produce and labor Of the i'm
porting nation, or bv gold and silver; and
whenever the former is found inadequate, the
precious metals must make up the deficiency
Thus stood the country when the banks
suspended the payment ofspccie. They had
an agency, and large agency, grant you, in
bringing that necessity about pamperlng, as
they did. the pride of commerce. They met
all its demands, honorcd all its drafts, as well
in the rage for importation, as in those extrava.
CANT speculations to which the apparent pros
perity of the age gave immediate birth. But
the banks are NOT alone to blame in this II is
due to the occasion, and will aid us in search
ing out the true remedy against recurrence,
TO admit candidly and fairly, that the Govern
ment itself saw as little the mischiefs that
would follow from the extension of their Gre
dit, as the banks did themselves, Ii is part
of the history Of the times, and should be re-
corded on the same page, that when the de-
posites were given to the State banks, they
were expressly instructed to make them the
basis OF new incentives to commercial enter
prise.
do not speak this at all, sir, in the spirit
Of rebuke-far, very far from it. ! addnce il
only to show, that the Government itself,
against whom, as some have said, the banks
have committed the objectionable sin, was
itself actively instigating them to that very
extension, now so zealously condemned
How far the banks might have gone in OK
tending their discounts, upon the immense de-
posite thus castupon them, without this auiho-
rita,ive hint, none can easily tell. But il is
fair and reasonable to infer, that this licence
in advance, did not pass unimproved.
Having stated thus the actual condition of
the currency, and briefly traced the causes
which have led to it, let US inquire next what
will be the probable operation Of law, that
takes no account OF its enfeebled state, but
peremptorily demands, after given day, that
the entire revenue, amounting to some twenty
millions of dollars per annum, shall be paid
up in gold and silver. One necessary conse-
quence, in my apprehension, would be, effec-
tually to place it out Of the power Of the banks,
to resume the payment Of specie within any
reasonable time How can il be otherwise
They suspended payment, because Of the new
demand for coin created by the exigencies Of
trade. They have not yet resumed, because
although that demand has entirely diminished,
as shown by the rate of foreign exchange,
yet there is still demand enough to warn them
Of the consequences of an attempted resump-
ton, before the trade Of the country is in a fit
condition to bear it. Sir, the country is re-
covering fast from the violent and sudden
CONFUSION into which it has been lately
thrown. 1t cannot otherwise be, when we
consider the immense resources Of this vast
continent, welded as they are by. a people,
whose industry and enterprise acknowledge
no other limit than the very bounds of the
earth. But the government must keep its
hands of,--lime must be allowed for the sys-
tenn to react, before any new or additional
pressure can, be borne.
If the necessities Of circulation are not
strong enough now to bring specie into gene
raj use as part of the currency, because of
the existing collateral demand in trade, does
it not necessarily follow, that any new demand
will have an additional efIec, in retarding that
operation. a
You create this new demand by the will
under OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES it, and you at once
increase the premium that specie already
bears over the ordinary currency-yon give it
increased value in the market, to the extent
of such new demand-and to that same ex-
tent you postpone the day when it can return
into use as part Of the circulating medium.
Until that day comes, it is impossible for the
banks to pay out specie upon their notes
they never can do so, until the demand upon
them is reduced to naked demand for circu-
lation. If am correct in this reasoning the
best that could be hoped for, under the pro-
posed law, would be, that it should remain
dead letter upon the statute book.
think have shown that we could have
no return to a circulation Of specie under its
auspices; and if this be so, do you believe,
does any man believe, that the law could be
carried into efect'
What, sir, that the Government alone should
be paid in silver and gold when those who
have the payments to make, receive nothing
but irredeemable paper! How vain and idle
tits to expect any such thing ifby any chance,
or lucky accident, overriding those stern ne
cessities to which all human affairs are SUBJ
ject, the exigency of the times should have
passed by, before your policy begins then it
might thus chance-favored be, that the scheme
could be carried out But it becomes us not
to legislate upon such improbable oontin-
gencies. | want no better evidence of what
the Government would be twelve months
hence, under the operation of this law, than
what is now daily passing before our eyes.
There are, IT is said, land presume with an
approximation at least to the truth,) no,o in
this country eighty millions Of dollars in coined
metal By the existing law ms there ia no