The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1837-09-05

On the 2Ist of February, 1884, in the Senate OF
the United States, MIR. Forsyth from Georgia, de-
scribed what he understood to be the experiment
which the Executive then trying upon the cur
rency: he said ut aoas an attempt to return TO a"
exclusive specie currency No man in the Senate
understood tho views of the President, this sub
ject better than Mr.. Forsyth On the 22d of Feb
ruary, Mr.. Webster replied, that,
Our system has, hitherto, been one in which
paper has been circulating on the strength OF spe-
Gle basis; that is to say, where every DanK note
was convertible into specie at the will of the hold
err. This has been guard against excess
While banks arc bound to redeem their bills, by
paying gold and silver on demand, and are at all
times able do this the currency is safe, and con-
venient Such n currency is not paper money, IN
the odous 1t is not like the continental pa
per OF revolutionary times; it is not like the worth
less bills Of banks, which have suspended specie
payments. On the contrary, it is the representa-
tive of gold and silver and convertible into gold
and silver on demand, and, therefore, answers the
purposes of gold and silver and SO long as Its cred
it is in this way sustained, 1t is the cheapest, the
best, and the most convenient circulating medium.
have already endeavored to warn the country
against irrede enable paper against bank paper,
when banks do not pay specie for their notes !,
against the miserable: abomGauie, and fraudulent
nol;Iy, which attempts to give value to any paper,
ofany bank, one single moment longer than such
paper is redeemabe on demand in gold and silver.
And wish most solemnly and earnestly to repeat
that warning see danger of that state OF things,
ahead. / imminent danger that more or fewer
of the state banks will stop specie payments. The
late of the secretary, Gn removing the de-
posts) and the :nfatuation with which it seems TO
be supported, tend directly and strongly to that re-
suit. Under preience, then, of design to return
TO currency, which shall be all SPECIE we are like
ly to have a currency which there shall be no
specie at all. We are in danger of being over
whelmed with irredeemable paper-mere paper,
representing no gold silver no, sir, represent
ing nothing but broken promises, bad faith, bank
rupt corporations, cheated creditors, and ruined
people. This, fear, sir, may be the consequence,
already alarmngy near, of this attempt, unwise if
it be real and grossly fraudulent, if it be only pre-
tended, of establishing an e1clusioe hard money
rency
Bur, sir, if this shock could be avoided, and if we
could reach the object of eIclusSoe metallic CIR
culatiOn, we should find in that very success seri-
Gus and insurmourtable inconvenlences. We re.
quire neither rredeeinabe paper, nor yet exclusive
hard money. We require mixed system. We
require specie, and require, too, good bank pa
per founded on specie, representing specie, and
convertible into specie, on demand We require
in short, Just such currency as we have long en-
joyed, and the advantages of which we seem now,
with unaccountable rashness, about to throw away
avow myself, therefore, decidedly against the
object of return to erctusioe specie oarrency
find great difficulty, confess, in believing any
man serious in avowing such an object. 1t seems
to me, rather subject for ridicule, at this age of
the world, than for sober argument. But if it be
true that any serious for the return of the gold
and silver age, am seriously against it,
From the time Mr. Forsyth made the above
avowal in the Senate, many of the Jackson Presses
have cried aloud agains st banks, and advocated an
exclusive metallic currency; but since universal
bankruptcy has come upon cities, some of these
presses deny they ever for such currency. If
they were not it is difficult to tell what they have
been for.
But this is certain one great dividing line be-
tween the wings and modern democrats has been
the regulation of the currency. For three years
past, the meaolights, in and out of Congress- have
had this business upon their hands, and what have
they done IF they had done nothing, the curren.
cy would have been sound to this day but by their
'nfermeddling, and cry against banks, they have