The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1838-05-16

a
nut every year. and IL 10 al 10 be counted
actually iold nEer dollar sller dollar. ant
gold piece afler gold piece. and how many
times eouniedi Lei u inquire into that
The importing merchant. whose ship haI
arrived. and who has cash dulies 20 pay,
goes 10 the bank for his money. and The
ielleTs count il out that il once. lie car
rIes u 20 the custom house, pays il. and
the clerks count IL over: that 10 twice.
Same days afterwards. the collector takes
u out of his bags and chests, carries il ID
The reeeiEer generals office. and there il
Is counted again, and poured into the bag.
and chests Of that ofIiee: that is the third
time. Presently = warrant comes from
the Treasury, in favor nf some disbursing
officer, and The boxes are opened, and the
necessary sums counted out: this is the
fourth counting. And fifIhly and lastly.
The discussing officer pays il TO the per.
sons entitled 10 receive il, on contracts. OF
Tor pensions, salaries, or other claims.
hlrly millions Of hard money are thus
10 be handled and told over i've times
IN The course Of The year. and If there be
transfers from place 10 place. then. Of
course. Il Is % be counted so much often.
er. Government officers. therefore. are
To count over one hundred and fifty mil
lions Of dollars year, which. allowing
three hundred working days in the year,
gives five bundled thousand dollars .
day. But this is not all. Oree . quarter
lie naval officer 10 to count The collectors
money. and the register in the land Office
Is 10 count the receivers money. And
moreover. sir. every now and then the
Secretary Of the Treasury is to author
Use unexpected and i,nprOmpiu counIings,
IN his discretion. aud jus. 10 satisfy his
own mind!
Sir what . money counting. iinkling.
JInglIng generation we should be! All
the money changers in Solomon's temple
will be as nothing TO US. Our sound will
90 forth into all lands. We shall all be
like the king in the dilly Of the nursery:
" There sat the king. . counting Of his mo.
nry"
You will observe. sir. that these
receipts and payments cannot be made in
parcels, without the actual handing Of
each piece Of coin. The marks on kegs
If dollars. AT! tho labels on bags az gold.
are not ~ be trusted. They are a part of
credit-and all credit. all trust. al con.
idrnce. is 10 be done away with. When
the surveyor. fnr instance. at the custom
house, is To erau'ine Ms mOny on hand.
IN possession Of the collector. or receiver
general, he is. Of course. 10 count the
money. No other examination can come
10 any thing. lie cannot tell. from ex.
lcrnal appearance, nor from the weight.
whether the collector has loaned out the
money. aud G,led the bags and bnxes up
with sand and lead. or mt. Nor can
counterfeit pieces be otherwise detected
than by actual handling. lie must open.
he must examine, he must count. Aud
50 al the land offices, the minis. aud else.
where. If these officers shall have a
taste for silver sounds, they are likely to
be gralifed.
Mr.. President, in all soberness. is not
this whole operation preposierous!
IL begins by proposing to keep the
public moneys. This, itself. in the sense
Of The word as here used. is a perfect
novelty. especially in the United States.
Why keep the public moneys; Iha. is To
say. why hoard them, Why keep them
out of uss! The use of money is 10 the
exchange. Its designed To circulate. not
To be boarded. All that government should
have to do with il. il Ia receive il to-day.
that il NAV pay il away tomorrow. Il
should not receive il before il needs IL:
and i, should part with i. as soon as i,
owes it. To keep is--,ha, is, to de,ain
it, To hold il back from general. use. IN
hoard il, is a conception belonging TO
barbarous times aud barbarous governs
ments. How would il strike us. if we
should see other great commercial nations
acting upon such system! If England,
with a revenue Of fifty millions sterling a
year, were found To be collecting and
discussing every shilling Of IL in hard
money, through all the rani6ca,inns Of
her vast expenditure. should we no, think
her mad! But the system is worse here.
because it wi,hdraws Just so much active
capital from tho uses Of a country that
requires capital, aud is paying interest for
capital wherever il can obtain il.
But nov, sir. allow me TO examine the
operation Of this measure upon the general
interest Of commerce, and upon the gen.
ersl currency Of the country. And in this
poin, Of view. the first grea, question is,
Hhdt amount Of gold and siiUcr Vil
Ibis operation subtract from The circuia'
ton ofthe country and from the use ofth'
banks.
In regard to this important inquiry, We
are no. without the means Of forming some
Judgment. An official report from the
Treasury. made TO the other House
shows that. for the last ten wears, Their,
has been. al the end Of each year, on AZ
average, fifteen millions and four hundre,
Il. A -: L.