Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1837-08-03
Gold and Silver Currency.
OFFICIAL FACTS WITHOUT COMMENTS.

THIRD ENQUiRy, continued, viz Hos
,pas Il managed 10 accumulate, and gel IN
TO The Executive Keeping and po,Ue,', so
rost an amount Of The public money as If
fy millions Of dollars; and 10 succeed, dur
ing more Than three years, in keeping these
millions Of public money om Of The reach,
and eren out Of The safe custody Of Me lar: f:
thereby prereniing all Interference mah
and obstruction 10 The employment and uses
Which were making Of IL, under the Erec-
M;re Treasury Circular Of Oct. 9Th, 1888,
encouraging and directing (as ~e hare
already seen) the pet, deposite banks, a.
mong nhich this mass Of public money ,ras
divided, 10 loan il om 10 their customers?
Now, the facts and Documents
March, 1888. Both Houses Of Con-
gress passed a bill (called the Land
Billy providing for the just division, an
nually of the proceeds Of the public lands
among the States, TO whom those lands,
by common consent, belong as their pro-
perty. Such measure had always been
strongly approved Of and desired by the
people Of this State, as q matter both Of
right and interest: and their opinions and
wishes had been more than once express
ed by the unanimous votes Of their Re-
presentatives in General Assembly. The
bill was, however, detained by the Ex-
ecutivc until after the close Of the ses-
sion, and thereby defeated. Had it been
returned in time, with veto, it probably
would have been passed by both Houses
hy the Constitutional n,njorties, and have
T. thus become a law. 1t had passed the
House by a vote of sc to 40.
The land money being thus withheld
from tho States, to whom Of right il be-
- longed, was kept, to accumulate in the
!. hands of the Executive, and 10 be used
in the same manner it had been before.
How it did accumulate and was used we
have already learned from the official
= statements.
A. d. I836.-Abstract from Treasury
Reports, showing the relative amounts Of
sales Of public lands for two periods of
three years each IN succession, as fol.
lows, viz: lst period to 1893, inclusive,
10 and half millions. Cd period to
1886, inclusive, As millions (near.) :
The last year, 1885, the sales amount
ed to "a millions. These three years,
commencing with 1884, when the public
money had been divided among the pet,
deposite banks, Of course embraced the
period while the desperate scenes Of
overtrading and enormous speeulations
in "ihe most ralunJie public lands," were
carrying on with the aid Of that public
money, loaned out to speculators "again
and again." as the Message already
quoted informs US.
Qusre Ia.-Was it just-aller the
license and encouragement given to the
pet banks to use the public money as
they did-was it just to endeavor to
throw all the blame upon those mere in
strumenis, when ruin had approached
close enough to stare the people in the
face? 2d-Can those selected depos-
ite banks be justly charged with exceed
ing the license given to them by the
Executive Treasury Circular If they
loaned the money out, again aud again,
it was because it was again and again
brought TO them from the Government
Land Offices, by order of the Executive,
and constituted new and additional
Treasury deposites, which, by the Trea-
sury Circular, they were as clearly au-
thorised and expected to loan out as any
other deposites of the public money
3d.-Was It the duty of the Deposite
banks, or whose duty was it, to calculate
the ruinous consequences which were
to follow the execution Of the Treasury
Circulari
While these things were going on and
fast drawing to crisis, the Executive
was so greatly pleased with the state Of
things that he congratulated the nation
upon it. See Message Of 7h Dec. 1895:
Extract from it, viz:-".Among The eri-
denees Of The increasing prosperity Of The
country, not The least gratifying is that af-