Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1838-04-27

H"Cs'"ue UOW uUueT DISCUSSION. neV
, are, his speech of the 18th September, hi.
published letter of the Sd November and
his leading speech at the present session.
These productions are all marked with his
usual ability; they are ingenious, able
condensed, and striking. They deserve
an answer. To some of the observations
in the speech Of September, made reply
on the day Of its delivery; there are olher
parts OF it, however, which require more
deliberate examination.
Mr.. President, the honorable gentleman
declares IN that speech, "that he belongs to
he State Rights party; that that party.
from the beginning of the government, has
been opposed to a national bank as uncon.
stitu'lonal, nexpedlen and dangerous, that
It has ever dreaded the union of the pol'i
cal and moneyed power, and the central
action of the Government, to which it so
strongly ten1s: that the connection of the
Government with the banks. whether it be
with combination of State banks, or with
a national institution, will necessarily cen.
tral,ze the action of the system at the prin
clpal point Of collection and disbursement,
and at which the mother bank, or the head
Of the league Of State banks, must be 10
Gated. From that point, the whole system
through the connection with the Govern
meht, will be enabled to control the ex-
changes both at home and abroad, and
with it the commerce foreign and domes
tic. including exports and Imports"
Now, sir, this connection between Gov
eminent and the banks, TO which he i'm
putes such mischievous consequences, he
describes to be 1.-THE receiving and paying
away their notes as cash; and the use of
the public money, from the tone Of the col.
lection 10 the disbursement"
Sir, if | clearly comprehend the honora-
BILE gentleman, he means no more, after
all, than this that, while the public reve-
nues are collected, as heretofore, through
the banks, they will lie in the banks be.
tween the time Of collection and the time
of disbursement that, during that period,
they will be regarded as one part of the
means of business and of discount possessed
oy the banks. and that, as a greater portion
ofthe revenue is collected m large cities
than in small ones, these large cities will,
Of course, derive greater benefit than the
small ones from these deposites in the
banks In other words, that, as the mpor
ting merchants in great city pay more
duties to Government than those in small
one, so they enjoy an advantage to be do
rived from any use which the banks may
make Of the moneys, while on deposit with
them. Now, sir, | would be very glad to
know, supposing all this to be true, what
there is in it either unequal or uni ns' p
The benefit is exactly in proportion to the
amount Of business, and TO the sums paid.
II individuals in large cities enjoy the Incl.
dental use of more money, it is simply be-
cause they pay more money. II is like
the case Of credit on duty bonds. Who
ever imports goods with the benefit of Civ
ing bond for duties, instead of making pre-
sent payment, enjoys q certain benefit; and
this benefit, in n direct sense, is in proper
ton to the amount of goods imported: the
large importer having credit for large
sum. the small importer having credit for
smaller sum. But the advantage. the
benefit, or the indulgence. or whatever we
cali it, is, nevertheless, entirely equal and
impartial.
How, then, does the collection of revenue
through the banks "centrallze" the action
of the commercial system? II seems to
me, sir, the cause is mistaken for the effect.
The greatest amount of revenue is collected
~ the greatest city, because it Is already
the greatest city; because it's local advan.
tages, its population, its capital, and enter
prise, draw business towards it, Constitute
it a central point IN commercial operations,
and have made it the greatest city. 1t is
the Capitalization of commerce by those
just and proper causes-causes which must
always exist IN every country which pro
duce large collection of revenue in the
favored spot. The amount of capital is
one very important cause, no doubt and
leaving public moneys in the banks Till
wanted, allows TO merchants, in places of
large import, degree of incidental benefit,
in just proportion to the amount of capital
by them employed in trade, and no more.
| ! suppose sir, it is the natural course of
things in every commercial country, that
some place, or few places, should 90
ahead of others in commercial business
Importance. This must ever be so, until
places possess precisely equal natural advan
tages. And | suppose, too, that, instead
of being mlschlevous. it is rather for the
common good of ALL that there should be
some commercial emporium. some central
point, for exchanges of trade. Govern
ment, certainly, should not seek 10 produce
this reso 1t by the bestowal of unequal priv.
leges; but surely, sir, it would be a very
strange and indefensibe policy which
should lead the Government to withhold
any portion of the capital of the country
from useful employment, merely because
that if employed, while all enjoyed the
benefit proporlionateIy, all would not en-.
joy it with the same absolute mathematical
equality.
So much, sir, for concentration, arising
from deposlIng the revenues il the banks.
Let US now look to the other part of the
connection, viz: the receiving of bank
notes for duties. How in the world does