Litchfield enquirer., 1838-02-15

and they are devising every possible way to get them; but they cannot procure them, be- cause there is no currency by which they can pay for them, though they nave their State Bank Bills, as plenty as we nave them here. And, we too, because they cannot pur- chase ofus, are compelled to stop our n1anu- factures, and our laborers and mechanics find nothing to do.
 Is it not therefore perfectly apparent from this illustration, that we must have some cur rency besides mere SSate Bank Bills! Is it no; certain that We must have some National Uui;ed States currency which will pass e. quail. well in every State in the Union? :? which will restore the trade between the Nortil and the South, the E,-st and the West that is now so completely prostratcd, and bring back prosperity again to every branch oi industry. Can thc.: be d doubt that this effect would bH i.nul uiately produced could our currency hc restored! And yet our President stands ,,in'ged to oppose and veto National Bank it ail hazards.
 We would not brundcrstooI as advocating an United Stutcs Bank precisely like that oi the old Bank. That Bank may have its faults probably had but because that institution may have been corrupt, it docs not follow that another must b.. We believe there may be Bank whose charter shall be so guarded as to secure the people from any m justice or oppreSSion-and oac wairh Will enable our merchants "a carry on trade, Al least we do not believe that 1t eau be more dangerous to cur liberties than the Sao- IrsS'- sury System of Mir Van Buren, which would hold aiI the powc. and influence of a Bank, and vet would no: facilitate the trade between ,sa different parts of the country in the least,
 It has been argued by leading men m the democratic party, that we may and ought to dispense with Banks altogether, and do busi- ness upon a specie currency. It should he re- memberei, however. that when the Banks were first attacked, although we tken had spe- cie in abundance, we now can scarcely pro- cure it at all and tha: the Banks which were then in good condition, arc now thrown into the utmost confusion and disoi der, and have been compelled to suspend specie payments. Nav-worse than this-just at time when specie had almost entirely vanished from among us, our Banks have been prohibited by our Legislature from issuing small b'lls! law that may do we'll enough tor the rlch man, whose pocket book is lined with S5's, SlOs, and $2O's, but which operates lnex- pressibly severe upon the poor man, who needs his DOLLAR at the end of every days labor, for the comfort of himself and his tam- ily. And it is difficult for us to see why, Bank that is good for fre dollars, is not equally good for one dollar.
 Now, even though we had specie in all the abundance with which it has been promised, it would be utterly impossible for our mer- chants to do the business with it. The freight and insurance of specie from the extreme parts of the country to distant parts, varies from ten to fifteen per cent. If then, West ern merchants were obliged to pay ttteen doI- Jars for the transportation of every hundred dollars, it would more than eat up the profits of their business, besides the loss of interest during it's passage and the dangers of theft and robbery It is therefore perfectly absurd to think of doing business with specie, even though we had it ever so abundant.
 Believing therefore that our distress is Ow- ing principally to the breaking up of the cur rency by our Government, we deem it errO- neous and unjust to attribute it wholly to "over- business. over trading and specula- tion ;" that there has been over trading to some extent, no one will dcny-and it is e. qually true that this over trading has been chiefly owing to orer banking. But it should be remembered that although the bank cap- ital of the United States in 1880, was only one hundred and len millions, it now amounts to ihree hundred and seremty-eight millions and that this increase was in consequence of the
  leading men of the Democratic party-and while that party has been in full po,0er. It is evident, therefore, that if that Bank had not been destroyed, or if another had been char tered in its stead, we should not have had this expansion of banking capital, which has led to so much over trading.
 It is an admitted fact that the value of our propcrty-not only real estate, but lumber, hides, manufactures, &c. depends upon the prosperity ofthe country, entirely. If, there- fore, through the injudicious policy of the Ad- ministration, over banking and over trading, and speculation has ensued-our trade be- tween the different States broken up-our currency utterly destroyed-and our pros- perity thereby ruined-it is not just in the Government to turn upon the people and tell them that they have overtraded and specu. lated, and brought their o,on ruin entirely up- on themselves.
 Therc is one measure of our Government which we soberly and unequivocally con- demn. viz :-requiring all its own debts to be paid in specie, and paying out to its office holders ln specie, but paying its other cred !tors in the paper of broken pet banks. All Its custom house duties and post office reve- nues are required to be paid in specie. Not a letter can be procured from the post office without paying tho specie. Our post master in Nashua has been obliged to pay over eight hundred dollars in few weeks. in specie, to the orders of the Government! thus depriving us of our small change, the loss of which is so severely felt among us. We do not see why the Government should not share the hard times with the people-why they should not take the bills of those banks which are known to bc good, and which the people are glad to get.
 With the specie thus collected. all office holders are paid their salaries. The mem.