Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1838-04-05

raj at New York. The Secretary u empow
cred 10 enact regulations requiring him spec.
dHy 10 present them, and II he do not. the
( Secretary may order them TO be paid Il 81
Louis At New York they NAV be worth 4
premium or five per cent; gu ~ Louis they
4 may be liable TO n discount % Eve per cent
Z Nov, % a FREQ Goveromeut, who ~o,fl,i eve,
think Of subjecIing the property or money Of
I a citizen % the exercise Of such power by
any Secretary Of the Tressuryi What OPP
Poftuniiy does il not afford to re~ard psrii.
-an, or punish on opponenti u will be i'm.
possible TO msint1iu such an odious AMI use
less restriction for any length Of time. Why
should The debtor (as the Government wssuld
DC m the case of such drafts a. have suppos-
ed require his creditor (as the holder Of the
dram would beN TO apply within a prescribed
lime for his payment No, SIR, the system
would control you; you could not 80 control
the system. But f such n ridiculous restrie-
lion could be 50 continued, the drafts would,
nevertheless, whilst they were ou:, be the time
long or short, perform the Office Of emeuls-
Z ito "a and money.
Let Us trace a little further the operation ui
this Government bank aud FOLLOW IL oct 10
it hnbl explosion. ] have supposed the ap-
preparation of some thirty millions OF dollars
annually by the Government, Co be disbursed
IN the form Of drafts. issued NJ Washington by
the Treasury Department, upon the deposiia-
I ries. OF that amount some ten or fifteen mil
. lions would remain, the first year in eircula-
tioni at the end Of another year, a simi-
lar amount would continue in circulation;
and so on, from year to year, until al the
end Of series Of some FIVE or six wears.
there would be in circulation. 10 SUP.
/ ply the indispensable wants of commerce and
OF general medium OF Uniform value. not
less than some sixty or eighty millions Of
drafts issued by tho Government. These
drai's would be generally upon the receiver
general at New York because, on that point.
they would be preferred over all Others. as
they would command premium. or be a, par.
tthroughOutthe whole extent Of the L. States.
and NC have seen that the Secretary OF the
Treasury Is invested with ample authority to
concentrate al that point the whole revenue Of
the United States
An. experience has demonstrated that in
banking operations a much larger amount Of
paper can oe kept out IN circulation than the
specie which % Is necessary TO retain IN the
vaults 10 meeiit when presented for payment.
The proportions which the same experience
nas ascertained 10 be entirely safe are one Of
I specie 10 Three Of paper. If, therefore, the
Executive Government had sixty millions Of
d n
IN tue hands Of the receiver general, repre-
sented 10y sixty millions OF Government drafts
/ Ia circulation, u would be known that twenty
Of that sixty millions would be sufficient TO
retain TO meet any amount Of drafts which, H.
ordinary times, would be presented for paw
ment- There would then remain forty
millions 10 the vaults, idle and unproductNe
aud Of which no practical use could be made
{ Wen great election is Of hand ia the State
OF New York, the result Of which in seal the
J fate Of M existing administration. the ap-
plicStiun Of ten millions Of that dormant a pi-
tai could savr, AZ some future day, corrupt
Executive from overthrow, can IL be doubted
! that the ten EiilIions would be applied 20 pre-
serve u in power again /. LEI US suppose
some great exigeney 20 arise. a season Of
war, creating se'ere financial pressure and
embarrassment. Would not an issue Of paper,
founded upon and exceeding the specie in the
vaults, IN some such ProportIOnsss experience
had demonstrated might be safely emitted
be autborizedl Finally, the whole amount
Of specie might be exhausted, and then, as /,
- easier TO engraVe and issue bank notes than
TO perform the Unpopular Office Of imposing
taxes and burdens, The discovery would be
made that the eTsjil Of the Government vas
sufficient basis whcreupon TO make emissions
OF paper money, 10 be redeemed when peace
and prosperity Teiurned. Then Nc should
have the days Of continental money. snd Of
assisnois, restored Then We should have
that Government paper medium, which the
Senator from South Carolina mir. CalhouD)
eon,iders The most perfect Of all currency!
Meantime, and during the progress ofui,
vast Government machine, the state banks
would be all pFostratcd Working we'll, a. it
may, II honestly administered, ia the irst Pc
rod OF its existence, il will be utterly impOs-
si0le ior them TO maintain the. unequal com
petition. They could not maintain u, even iC
TIC Government we're actuaird bypo unffisnd-
ly feelings tow ards them But WIN We know
the spirit which animates the present Exeeu-
tive towards them, who can doubt that ihev
must fan IN the unequal conied} Their is.
sues will be discred,ied and di.couDienanced !.
and that system Of bankruptcy which the
President weuld even now put into operation
against them viii, in the sequel, be passed
and enforced iib0ui difficulty
Assuming The dowufsll Of tho local banks,
the Inevitable consequence of tie operations
81 tbs great Government bank, assuming, as
have shown would be the case that The 60
Vermont would monoroiize ihe paper issues o {
The country. ard obtain the possession d
great portion Of the specie % the country. we
should then behold combined ard co1cen-
isated monsyedPower equal 10 that ~ all the
existing banks Of The United States. with nat
81 The late Bank 81 the United states supef-
added. This tremendous poser would be-
welded by The Secretary ~ Che Trcsspry.
artiug under che immediate commands 0f the
President n The United staies Here would
De perfect uul0n a. ne sword and che purse,
here would be no Imaginary. bot aB sttuai,
visible. tangible, c0ns0 iiation ~ the money
I'd power who or What rouid uiihstsud %
The States themselves would bccome sup
plants 90 iir feri n ihe Executive ~ r rof-
iioB % those pepper emissions ~ ihe povss %
issue which tbcy bad been stripped, end which
be nov exclusively preserved
Mr. President ny o1tsrvati1n aud frpa-
rieuce have satisfied ore tbut Toe safety 81 o.
berry and prosperity consists iu no Division Of
poser, whether political ~ reeannry. -
our icicfaiitc system. ogf security BE- % BE
found 10 ihai distribution % POSER which en-
ISIS between tbo Fedsrgl Government and lilc
Stale GoteInmCnis. % our monetary system,
az lately existed Be- excellence re.ulie6
from hsi tesutif4l arfanecmfni. ~ uhrh
Tie States hat their i9siiiGtions far local Psr-
poses, aud lhe Gcncrai cofrrnueni BIZ intti-
tuition or nc more general purposes n tht
whoie tnion. There existed ihs 90 attest
ccuFcnIaliy hftacen 90 fhe g1fis n Dis 90
mifabia iJsIem. AZ vas Homogeneous 81
There Wa 90 srparailon 81 ths Federal Co
rernmeni ffom the states or from ihs People