Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1837-05-18

the Deposite Banks back to the Land Offices
Another portion r. in the hands Of buyers ana
sellers Of specie; of men III the West, who
sell Land Office money to the new settlers
for high premium. Another portion, again,
is kept in private hands, to be used when CIR.
cumstances shnll tempt to the purchase of
lands. And, Gentlemen, am inclined To
think. so loud has been the cry about hard
money, ard so sweeping the denunciat'ons OF
? all paper, that private holding, or boarding,
prevails To some extent in different parts OF
the country. These eighty millions of spc-
Gle, therefore really do us little good. We
are weaker in our circuiation,I have no doubt,
our crrdl, is feeblcr, money is scarccr with
us at this moment, than if twenty millions of
this specie were shipped to Europe, and &C.
neral confidence thereby restored.
Gen,lemcn,i will not say that some degree
of pressure might not have come upon us, if
the Treasury order had not issued. | will
not say, that there has been ovcr-tradng and
over. .prodnciion and too great expansion Of
Bark circulation. This all may be so, and
the last mentioned evil it was easy to forcsce,
was likely to happen when the United States
discontinued their own Bank. But what do
say is. that acting upon the state of things as
it actually existed, and is now actually exist
ing, the Treasury order has been.and now il,
productive Of great distress. II acts upon the
state of things, which gives extraordinary
force to its stroke, and extraordinary point 10
its sting. II arrests specie, when the free
! use and circulation of specie are most Inn
portant; il cripplcs the Banks at n moment
when the Banks, more thnn ever, need oil
their means. II makes the merchant unable
10 remit, when remittance is necessary for
his own credits and for the general adjustment
of commerci ial balances.--I am not now dis
cussing the general question. whether prices
must not come down. and adjust themselves
anew to the amount fbulion existing in Eu-
rope and America. ] am dealing only with
the measures of our own Government, on the
subject of the currency and insist that these
measures have been most uniortunate, and
most ruinous on the ordinary means Of our
circulation, at home, and on our ability Of re-
mittancc abroad.
Their effects, too, Nv deranging and mis-
placing the specie, which is IN the country,
are most disastrous on domestic exchanges.
t.ct him who has lent en- ear To all these pro-
rniscs Of n more uniform currency, see how
he can now sell his drafts on New Orleans
and Mobile. Let the northern manufacture
and mechanics, those who have sold the pro-
duets of their labor 10 the South, and hereto
fore realized the prices, with little loss of ex-
change, let them try present facilities. Let
them sec what reform of the currency has
done for them. Let them inquire whether in
this respect their condition is better or worse
than j, was five or six years ago.
Gentlemen, hold this disturbance of the
measure Of value. and the means Of payment,
and exchange. this arrangement. and. if ]
may say go, this violation of the currency, to
to he one of the most unpaldonnblc Of polltl.
cal faults. lie who tampcrs with the cnrren-
cy, robs labor of its bread. He panders in
decd, to greedy capital, which is keen-sigh-
ed, and may shift for herself; but he bcggars
labor, which Is honest, unsu.pccting and too
busy with the present to calculate on the fn.
tur The prosperity Of the working classes
lives, moves and has it's being IN an establish
ed credit and n steady medium of payment
All sudden changes destroy it. Honest in
dustry never comes in for any part OF the
spoIlS in that scramble. which takes place,
when the currency OF the country is disorder
ed. Did wild schemes and PROJECTS ever be-
neit the Industrious? Did violent fluctuations
ever de- good to him, who depends on bis dat
ly labor for his daily bread? Certainly never.
All these things may CRAFTY grccdlncss for
sudden gain, or the rushncss Of daring specu-
lation; but they can bring nothing but injury
and distress To the homes of patient, indus
try and honest labor. Who are they that
profit by the present state Of things? They
are not the many, but the few. They ara
spectators, brokers, dealers in money, and
lenders of money ut exorbtnnt interest,"
Small capitalists are crnshc Land their means,
being dispersed. rs usual, in various parts Of
the country, and this miserable policy having
been destroyed by exchanges, they have no
longer either money or credit. And all clas-
ses Of labor paitake, and must partake in the
same calamity. And what consolation for all
this Is Vt, that the public lands are paid tor in
specie? That whatever embarrassment and
distress pervadc the country, the western
wilderness is thickly sprinkled over with ca
giles and dollars? Tint gold goes weekly
FROM Milwaukee and Chicago to Detroit, and
back again from Detroit to Milwaukee and
Chicago, and performs similar fcats of egrcss
and regress, in many other instances, IN the
Western States? II is remarkable enough,
that with all this sacrifice of general conven-
icnce, with all this -rcndIng clamor for
government payments III specie, government,
alter all, never gets dollar. SO tar as !
know. the United States have net now sim
gle specie dollar in the world. Ifihey have,
where is it? The gold and silver collected
at the Land Offices is sent to the Deposite
Banks, it is there placed to the credit OF the
Government, and thereby becomes the prop
erty OF the Bank. The whole revenue OF the
Government. therefore, after all, consists in
mere Bank ere dts, line very sort OF security,
which the friends Of the administration ha, e
/ so much denounced.
Remember, Gcntlcmen,in the midst Of this
deaiening din agalnstall Banks, that 1t It shal
create such panic, or such alarm, as sha!
shut Up the banks, it will shut up the Treasu