The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1838-07-26

ofs great principle. and gives him. in my syes. Pc
euliar ssnctiiy and privileged position. uast In God
or dsspondency in him. and that he will act well the
important part which Providence has assigned him IL
is honor enough 10 satisfy the most aspiring ambition to
be Identified with such cause, and TO know that one
cannot fall victim 10 prescription without d0stie
sacrifice
For myself, feel deeply persuaded that in taking
the course which seemed 10 me the best this sub
ject maintaining the Constitution Of our fathers
IN It's original purity aud perfection. am just as sure
that sm maintaining the traditional opinions snd,hs-
reditary honor OF South Carolina. The moss that
have done there in the wsy Of "insruciion has been
to declare wishes and opinions. in order togve them
all the weight which they could derive from such an
authentic and authoritative expiessen OF them In Co.
yernment founded than any other, opinion,
these declarations seasonsby made, were calcuatedi 10
DO some good, and they could (uDess by too frequent
repetiion) do possible harm. remember distinctly
that this was the ground | took on such occasions
whilst was member OF the Lcgisls,ure-but no one,
so far as knew, IN South Carolina professed tho
doctrine established il sbonld seem, Vrgins Of the
obligatory effect Of such things on the conscience,
the conduct, (snce they must he separately Of the
members of the Senate. We left them 10 Judge for
themselves, and TO according 10 their Judgments
the principles considered apply ing To all
representative bod,cs. In the OF my long
necion with the city Of Charleston in the Legislature Of
the State, found the service Of my constituents. as
have always ayowed the most perfect freedom. II they
y
out dlgny, without intelligence, without conscience,
without moral responsibility, am very Isaeh mistaken
IN hr chsracerand II they rapeci 10 rad me 50. they
mosi certainly misunderstood NINE. But have no.
reason whatever think know their enlightened
views, their liberal spirit, their elevated and generous
way Of thinking such subjecs-andsI never shall TO
brought by any thing short OF actual experience to be-
lc,e that conscientious discharge Of my duty, accord
Ing TO the best lights Of my understanding ON such a
SUBJECT. The Snb-Treasuv bal Is 70 i~fe me that
NEE afdr req ard VIII prlz
With these few remarks the preliminary question:,
proceed to state some Of the rsasoss-n addition to-
those have already given ahsh Determined me to-
vote against the hill 10 question.
Of this bill the specie clause II Is called, was con-
slered by those Of colleagues who supp1ted IL, as
an essential ilgredept--a stne qua NON Que Of our
Senators Who had during The whsle dae, stood up as
us most Jealous champion pronounced the measure a.
mere farce, and opposed II rthemeny, soon as ths
feature Was the motion Of gentleman from Geor-
gia, struck OF II. The last aetlsrstion OF the Lee
gislaure required in many words that thai clause
should be retained will, therefore, address myself in
the first place andprncpally, to this part Of the new
policy
The reform contemplated has, all along. in the de-
bates both Of this and the other House, been recon-
mcnd.d tending 10 enlarge the specie basis OF our
clIculaonand the Southern States have been repre-
scented having deeper interest IN II than any other
part OF the country.
Now at the frs, blush il struck mo rather singu-
lar that Of the cotton growing region, Of all Others
should be promised advantages from The mea
sure Ibeleve was the first who distinctly brought 10 the
view Of the House, at the extra session. the very prom
nen agency Of the Bank OF England, in bringing upon
the disastrous revuson under which we have been
Gently suffering cited the very words ofMr. Horsley
Palmer the Deputy Governor Of that institution, to show
that under necessity reai imaginary of protecting
its treasure, had, by sudden cunslmcnt of its
commoda,lons reduced prices in England, the
of very few months, at least thirty per cent. The
consequence Of such an operation YVES necessarily to
spread throughout the whole commercial world. but
especially IN the United States for some time, unpre-
cedenied embarrassment and ruin. Such is almost IN
vsrahy the effect Of these cur,ameIis Of the Bank Of
England Suppose the whole Southern crop to have
been worth at that time $50 ,000, 000-it reduced,
by this interference Of tremendous foreign power to
something more than S6O,0O0,OO0 A sum sinos, equal
tn $50 10000. which commercial men every where
counted for the Of meeting their Isbiitleswas an
initiated at blow. If thousand ships, with each OF
them cargo Of i've or six hundred bags Of cotton had
foundcrcd at sea, mighty confagraton had con-
sumed the quantity OF that commodity, The effects
could not have been The bank justified its
The single gronnd, that the operations Of
commerce aud Government had disturbed the specie
basis of Europe. We had too much coin and bullion,
aud was necessary to force it back TO England by
ducing prices. Whatever the fact. this the
pre,ext did not behave then and do not believe
now that there any adequate excuse for the con-
duct Of the Bank Of England thought that, usual,
1t Inehered too late and pushed its corrective policy
great deal too far. The lately taken ly It's
Government 10 restore the currency Of this countryby
advances TO American houses, a sort Of 0memds
hoaorabic and show that, in this matter, its second
thoughts condemn its first
Now sir, YOU see at glance what important COM
sequences foS from fact like This The price Of our
staple commodities is determined by the state Of the
English msrket-and prices in that country, every
where else depend, material degree upon the state
oil us currency In the Minutes of Evidence before The
House Of Commons in 1892 many striking Illustrations
furnished Of The effect trade OF these expansions
and coilracons Of the issues Of the Bank Of England
That effect Is so much the greater because OF the i'm
operations private bills aud other forms Of
credit IN that country, which ultimately depend upon
con,parai, ely small currency of coin aud bank noes
Thus IN the Of the year 1873 year. is true,
OF extraordinary exciemcnt IN irsde--axchangc TO the
almost incredible amount Of 100000 000i was nego-
tia,,d IN London. MIR Rolhschld mentions that his
house alone discounted, m the course Of tno months,
no less in bills than 500 000i II is evil
Debt tina, the bank has at any gixen me and for
short period at least, powerful contro over the
of meeting such Of these extended engagements hap
pen to be falling due, curtansni-espec'ally an un-
expected one-oi its issues and accommodations may,
aud indeed, must he attended with great arrangement
In the money markets
Such vicssitudes, although undoubtedly they might
be mltigated by skilfu management. result, 10 a
certain extent inevitably from the very nature Of
vertIe currency. IL may be true sege, that
because Of the fluctuations TO which i, thus liable,
such currency inconsistent with the regularity
quired in the operations Of trade II may be too,
that the functions Of the bank Of currency,
ought be separated (as Mr. s. Jones Ioy and others
have urged from those of the Office Of discount.
the lending Of money interest. BE it ! say
nothing these points here. ! am concerned only
with the fsct--a fact which neither change,
neglect with impuny-and its consequences on prices
and trade England is. as Mr.. Roihschild well said,
4" the bank OF the whole world and especially Of
worldt Her monicd operations concern to tho