The North-Carolina standard., 1838-06-27

+rocts with the banks not 10 demand specie, out
10 receive, exclusively, the very notes 1t now re-
;ectsq The Government now refuses 70 receive
hen, for no other reason than because the banks
now refuse to nav the1Il-and yet, the Govern
ment is required to receive them, In future, un
der an express stipulation that they are not 10 De
paid For if Government is competed, oy law;
TO receive notes. good faith, in the execullon oi
the law, forbds their presentation for payment
And thus, instead of inducing resumption, ms
measure proposes. in effect to legallze and per-
petuate suspension. so far as Governments con-
rerned. and to the full extent of its revenues
That such will be the effect, does any man
doubt Q Then test the question by extending the
nrincinIe Suppose the whole community should
make the like contract with the banks; should
agree that for an indefinite series OF years thelr
bills should be received as money, and thus IN
cur the obligation, in good faith, not TO present
them for redemption In such case, would the
banks keep a silver dollar on hand +? Would
they have use for one j? And would not the sus
nension be universal and eternal-and that. too,
under the plig hted faith of the publcY what
sir is the language of the substitute 1t says 10
the Government-Take the notes Of the banks
do not present them for payment, express tins
YOUR confidence in them; the people will follow
your example they will do the same; no specie
will then be drawn !; the banks can then resume
we shall then have currency mixed OF paper
and of metal, and all will go we'll But, sir,
what resumption What are the banks to re-
sumo the payment off Who is to ask for pay
ment and "whence is the metal to come which
is to enter into the circulation p How are these
things TO be DONE if both Government and peo-
pie are TO receive nothing bat notes, and never
to ask their redemption No, sir, the only Sc
curity for the banks themselves, and for the com
muni,y against bank excesses & impositions, con-
siss in leaving every one, Government and all,
free to receive, to reject or to present their notes
at pleasure for payment. This being the fact,
there will always exist modified confidence in
the solvency of banks that ale solvent, which,
whilst it is sufficient to sustain their circulation,
will yet be so dislrustfu to excite in them the
apprehension of run upon the appearance of
any ndscretion on their part, and thus impose
all the safeguards of which such institutions ad
NIT. To absolute and unqualified confidence,
they are not entitled. Human experience for
bids such confidence to be bestowed on any man,
or combination of men, whose agency is TO af
feet the well being of others. Government it.
SELF the responsibility of all public unctionaries,
rests upon a degree of distrust in the public
mi. !, sufficient to excite vigilance, and to detect
delinquency. -. ,
Again, sir, what is the substitute but cove
nant with the banks, by which the Government
is to give them credit, indefinite rs to time and
limited in amount only by the total Of its income
And this credit is to be given to the only species
of debtors whose responsibility is always uncer-
tain, whose security is never sufficient and a.
gainst whom it is impossible, in the nature Of
things, ever to enforce the laws of the country.
For is It not manifest, from all past and present
experience, that these institutions have become
so connected with the whole machinery of socie-
ty, so interviewer with the very texture of our
social economy as to defy the enforcement OF
legal obligations. and to compel their creditors
Government and people, to temporize with and
to coax them into compliance with those obliga-
tions Why was the extra session OF Congress
called? Was it because the Government had
no moaey2 No, but because the banks had the |
money Of the government and refused to pay it. |
Was the Government thus arrested in its action, |
and compelled to resusriate itself by forced |
loan from the people ?-was this the case, be-
cause it had no revenue, and because there ex-
listed no specie in the country? No, but because
the banks had possession of its revenues, and
because their vaults withheld the specie from all
their creditors. And yet, when. where, and by |
whom were the laws of the land enforced against
them When did the Government, in a single
instance obtain judgment and enforce execution ?
Who, of allrhe citizens, resorted to that law a
gainst the bLnks. which the banks were daily |
enforcing against them, and which they. the peo-
ple were daily enforcing agans: each other ? |
No, sir, not at all but, the contrary, this uni
versa rebellion OF the banks against all law has
been lcgalzed and extended by the law-making
power. Thus it is that the Government is re- |
quiIed to loan to the bnnks the whole revenue
of the country !. and in effect to double this loan
by receiving their notes, in the first instance, as
money. 1t is to such debtors that the Govern
ment is required to make such loan, whilst it
refuses to credtan honest citizen, with his home
less family. for one solitary acre of its public
domain.
Thus briefly, sir, have l sought to illustrate
the principles and tendency Of this substitute-I
1t is measure rendered equally odious by the
circumstances under which it is presented, by
the assumption on which it rests, and by the
consequences which must inevitably result from
its adoption 1t comes to US in the form OF de-
mand-n demand made political right
made by private corporations upon this Govern
ment and people, for the use of the public money
and for a mortgage Upon the future revenues of
the country. Ii demands, also, that in addition
to this the Government and the people shall
give to these corporations a credit indefinite as
to time and amount, and that, too, without an e.
quivalent, without adequate security, and with
out any necessity for so doing. This demand
of objects important is made at a time when
ttheso how L.