Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1838-04-20

pse? Tho use of money is in the ex.
chanre. It is designed to circulate, not to
he boarded. All that Government should
have TO do with It, is to receive It to-day.
tina, it may pay j. away to morrow. 1t
should no, receive it. before it needs it;
and il should part with it as soon rs it owes
it, TO keep it--,hu' Is, to deian il, to
hold it back from general use, TO hoard II,
il n conception belonging to bnrbnrous
times and borbarous Governments. How
would i, strike us, if We should sec other
rrcot commercial nations acting upon such
n system? II England, with a revenue OF
Gnv millions sterling year, were found to
BE- collecting and dlsburslDg every shilling
of it in hard money. through all the taml
6co,ions Of her vast expenditure, should
we mo-, think her mad, But the system is
worse here, because it wllhdraws just so
much active capital FROM the uses of q
country hat requires capital, and is paying
interest for capital wherever 1t can obtain
it.
But now. sir. allow me to examine the
operation of this measure upon The general
| interest of commerce, nnd upon the general
currency of the country. And IN this
point Of Wow, the FIRST great question is,
IVhat ouoant Of gold md S'rer 'cW this
operation sut'rac, from HE circulation Of
the country, ond from The use Of The banks D.?
In regard 10 this important Inquiry, we
are not without the means Of forming some
| Judgment. An official rcport from the
! Treasury, made to the other House, shows
that, for the last ten years, there has been,
at the end Of each year, on an average.
! fifteen millions aud four hundred thousand
dollars in the Treasury. And this sum is
exclusive Of all that had been collected Of
the people, bnt had not yet reached the
Trcasury: and also Of oil that had been
drawn from the Treasury by discussing
officers, but which had not yet been by
them paid to individuals. Adding these
sums together sir, and the result is, that
on an average for the last ten years there
have been at least twenty millions Of doilars
in the Treasury. do not mean, of course,
that this sum is, the whole of it. unnppro-
prla'cd. | mean that this amount has in
fact been in tn, Treasury, either not appro
priated, or not called for under approDrla-
tons: 50 that if this sub,trcasury scheme
had been in operation in times past, OF the
specie in the currency, twenty million
would have been constantly locked up r
he safes aud vaults. Now, sir, do not
believe that. for these ten vears the whole
amount OF silver and gold in the country
has exceeded, on the average, fifty or sixty
millions. do not believe 1t exceeds sixty
millions ut the present moment, and if We
had now the the whole system in complete
operation, 1t would lock up, and keep locket
Up, one full third Of all the specie in The
country. Locked up, say-hoarded-
rendered as useless, to all the purposes o
commerce and business, as If it were car
ricd back to its native mines. Sir, is i
not incnnceIvable that any man should fal
Upon such n scheme of policy as this l.
it possible TINT any one can fail to see the
destructive effects of such Il policy on tbt
commerce and currency of the country,
!, is true, the system does not come into
operation all at once. But it begins it,
der lnds Tor specie Immediately; IT call
upon the banks, and i, calls upon indivldn
ais, for their hard dollars, that they ma,
be pu, away and locked ~ in the ''rcasur,
at The Gerry moment tchen the country i, SV
fering far acant Of more specie in the circ,t
laiion and The 6aafs are suffering for meaa
to enab'e them 10 resume their Payments
And this, it is expected, will improve lh
! currency, and facilitate resumption!
1t has heretofore been asserted, tina, tn
general currency of the COuntry needed t
, be strengthened, by the introduction q
more specie into the circulation. This ha
been insisted on for years. Let il be con
ccded. have admitted il, and indeed
con,cnded for the proposition heretofore
and cndeavorcd to prove it. Dut it mus
, be plain to every body, that any addition c
J specie IN order TO be useful, must either g
into the circulation, as part Of that cir
, Cua'ion, or cl;G It must 90 INTO the bank
to enable them the better TO sustain an
) redeem their paper But this bill is calcu
= lated to promote neither Of those ends, bu
! cx,c,ly the reverse. II wllhdraws spcci
from The circulation and from the bank;
and piles it up in useless heaps in ia
Treasury. 1t weahcns the general clrcu
lalion. by making the portion Of spccl,
which is par, Of 1t, so much tho less;
: weakcns the banks, by reducing the amour
> Of coin which supports their circulation
, The general evil imputed to our currency
. for some years past, Is, that paper h'
), formed too great portion of It, Til
" operation of this measure must be to il
Il crease that very evil. have admitted til
evil, aud have concurred in measures ,
:, rcmedylt. have favored the withdrawn
@ Of small bills from circulation, to the en-
i tina, specie might take their place.
o discussed this policy, and supported
e as early as 1882. My colleague, wiz
shortly after that period, was placed in tt
; chair of the chct magstracy Of Massach,
8 sets, pressed its consideration, at lcngll
: upon The attention Of the Legislature
# that State, slIIl think it was rigl
ID policy. Some of the States had begun
70 adopt it. But the measures Of the admir-
ID ls,ration, and especially this propose
| lhrnNl Ila nnLlnn LII hn q