Richmond Indiana palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1837-1839, 1837-11-04
EXTRACTS FROM THE
SPEECH OF Mr.. CUSHING, OF MASS,
ON THE sUB-TREAsURY BILL.

SPEECH OF Mr.. CUSHING, OF MASS,
ON THE sUB-TKEAsURY BILL. +,
DEPACLrERs. i
Bat this, being a moral, as well as political Il
questions question Of pecunary trust, may be Il
illustrated by other facts /,
There IS statute, Of long standing, which re- |,
quires that all balances due the Treasury from, its
agents. and remaining unsettled for three years,
shall be reported to Congress annually. +
Looking into the latest of these documents. I /
find in the Executive Document, 1861, No. -, /
list OF defaulting paymasters, contractors, and |
Indian agents. reported by the Second Auditor. |
No. ~, from the Third Auditor, gives hundred
pages OF defaulters in army of all sorts,
with such cdifying entries after their
Desperate, NON est inrcnfus, Nulla bona, in great
abundance. No. 81, contains thirty seren pages |
OF navy dcfauters with similar annotations affix
ed to their names. No. l3l gives list Of default,
ing cistom-houses. No. IA exhibits the private
concerns'-as these things would be called If at
tempted to be brought before committee Of in
vestigation-of the land-officc receivers. Ii you
entertain doubt as to the truth of the statements
made in the passage quoted from the report of
1884, examine these documents.
But further. There is document on file,
showing how this indiv idual responsibility works
in the Post Office Department, which processes to
!. 30 fully competent to the present exgency. 1t
is Executive Documen', 1867, No. lS5. exbib-
iting the balances overdue to that Department.
It does not include those which are considered
absolutely desperate Nevertheless, you will find
that, in the last cign, gears OF the statement,
there were upwards Of 1900 Gcla,itin2 deputy
postmasters, which, supposing the average num-
her be at any given day of that period to be TO-
900 is nearly one-sirth part Of the whole person
mel of the Department.
| i do not know what sums the Gov crnment has
lost by its debtors, strictly speaking; that is, ndi
viduals owing it money, without standing in any
relation of special trust the Treasury. Judging
from the specimens of such cases. referred to by
the Secretary in tho report of 1884, the amount
must be very large and yet most Of these debtors
were bound to the Government in bonds with
sureties the mode in which it is supposed the f.
deity of the new agents Of the Treasury IS to
be secured.
Again. This question, in many Of its rela-
tlons, Is a mere question of insolvency. Which
arc most likely to be defauters to the Govern
ment, indiv iduas or bank corporations? That Is,
which is most liable to Insolvency! Now II IS d'-
icult to reckon the number and amount Of the ca
4soe Of tndesUt6udr insolvency In the u states.
There is no means of accurate judgment on this
point within my reach. There IS on file, howcv-
err, very significant document, apPertain'Hg to
the CITY Of Washington, if that may be taken as
any criterion. By the Executive Document, 1885
u. No. "a. it appears there were ,OOl commit
mcnts for debt in this city during the two prece-
ding years How many cases of insolvency were
there without commitment? Doubtless many.
Now, compare this evidence of the frequency OF
the individual inso!vencies in the United States
with the instance Of bank insolvcncies, which, as
we all know, arc relatively SO rare as to be a sort
of porient in the commercial world. By bank Tn
solremcies, mean actual insolvencies; not mere
suspension Of specie payments. But, II that were
taken into the view, 1t would not weaken the
force Of the argument to the greater compare
tive frequency of individual insolvencIes; tor, u
the suspension Of specie payments by the banks is
insolvency, then the same suspension by the
whole community is insolvency on their part; anc
the relation will continue the same. Besides, NJ
deduction prejudicial to the general solvency, the
= solrent capacity either of banks or OF individuals
is to DO drawn from the occurrence OF this all
pcrvading calamity, brought on the country by
the NAL conduct Of the Administration.
CEDED POWERS.
The Federal Government, the President sug
gcsts, is to be confined to the power ceded TO i
: by the People of the States.
Well, who proposes to depart beyond these
To be sure, different men entertain dIiieren
views Of the Constitutions; but no one thinks o
> infringing il. For instance, some find authority
in the Constitution for special bankrupt law aim
: ed at the single heads of the State banks. 9th
crs think this very latitudInarian and question
able reading of the Constitution. Again; SOME
see in the fiscal power, in the commerce power
! in the coin power, the authority and duty OF Con
= gress to regulate and equalIZe the currency
Others do not. Again; most Of our eminent pub
lie men have at time or other perceived IN thu
Constitution authority lOf inc eStaDitsHiieht oi
+ nat. onal bank; and then occasionally a seaso:
comes, when they cannot find the passages. A
gain; some Of the straighfest OF the strict con
struc tionists re ad the Constitution in such wa,
as to find clause in it somewheie giving to an,
, one Of the States power to veto an act OF Con
gress which way Of reading it, others think to b
l. a mary eously strong case of extreme lotitudna
: rianism Of construction. And SO we ditier
Take the case of a national bank. ], for IN
stance. think the constitutional power is conciu
II sivelv established by the arguments of Alexande
e Hamilton, or Chief Justice Marshall, and others
ot think with Mr. Madison that, supposing ther
N was any good cause Of doibt on this point origin
I. ally, it is Just unwise and unstatesmani'ke
Of revive the question: after have had two banks
e for twenty years each, as it would be to deny tn
or right of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri, TO
:e in this Union, although Mr.. Jefferson himse
d, thought that the annexation OF louisiana to tn
'e United States required an amendment OF tn
y Constitution There should be. at some time {
in in some wav. an end Of question about shes
things. We, in this country, in our mansgemeI
y Of our institutions, too much resemble the chIt
Who in te nder care Of the growth of his corn, du
~ il up every morning to see what progress IT h