Madison Whig advocate. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1839-1841, 1839-08-10

f. RI. against Us. we, fhc adgocates Of such
q bank, arc charged with being the au7I
thors Of a disordered currency. No
never had, and never could have had.
any purpozc in wishing the reciiaricr Of
the late Bank except 1oprcrcnt our pre-
,-.u. disorders bni He caHnot have
any purpose, no4s, IL svi>hing the char
tsr Of anothcr, except 70 cure them.
Tfiat the great majority Of rs do enter
tain such , wash Is notofIouss and a re-
solution Of the Contention thai we rep
rescul. eniphalic.lllv declared if
Put we're his not 30, We gould eoaii-
IDENTITY appeal to facts, now matters Of
wellknown iris.nre', 50 disarore the accn-
.at:on. In the government under winch
we 1--we. laws arc established by a map
rity Of votes. And when, We pray, have
the wings been d majority, either IN Con-
gress or the mississippi Legislature!
Never, for ten years past. The Presl-
dent aad both Houses of Congress, III all
that time, have been against Us; AMI 1t
is now too universally admitted, that the
action OF the General Government,
struck the fatal blow at our currency,
for the most reckless 10 hazard a contra
~ opinion. The Van Byren party IS
responsible for that.
The case is not very different IN the
coyernnlent OF the State At the last
general election, in November 1887, the
Van Burca party elected Governor,
clear majority Of the Senate, and about
an equal number in the House of Repre-
sentatives. II is true, that the complex
ion OF the last has undergone a changes;
but we all know that this was effected in
special elections for the supply of vacan-
cies which occurred in 1885. Until this
change was thus effected, the wings new
CT were a majority i'll either House.
and when, we ask, were the Banks es-
tablished, that are so much complained
of? Ali of them, without exception,
during the ascehjency of the Democra-
tic party. The acts of the two last SEES
sions show--not a solitary bank charter
except of the Union Bank; OF this, it
may suffice TO say, that its establishment
10 be desired by large MAORI
ty of the people. lis charter was passed
By the Legislature elected in 1850
body devoted TO The fortunes of Mr.. Van
Buren,; and it was confirmed by the sue
cecding Legislature, before the wings
House of Representatives. OF the man
ncr in which that Bank has been manag-
I'd, it is no part of our duty to speak.
But whether well or ILL.,, we disclaim
equally the praise or the censure; and
The members, true to the interests of their
party, elected a controlling majority off
the board, from their democratic friends.
For all the managers have rightly done,
let them or their party have the credit
and if they have done aught that can
not be approved, let not the censure fall |
upon the wings.
But. 1t is urged, that The act authoriz-
ing the Banks TO issue post notes was a
whig measure. Again we appeal to his
tory. That act was passed at special
session in May, 1897, while the Van Blu
rem party was predominant IN both Hou
ses Of the Legislature. The act reliev- |
ing the Banks from damages on failure
to pay their notes when due, passed at
the session of 1888, by votes of two
thirds of each House. 1t was not a party
vote-no act could have passed the Lee
glslature at that time, by SO large maJC-
rites, without disclaiming all party con-
certainly it could not have
We will not enter into further details
to prove our innocence. against ascharge
which has 50 little plausihiity. We
cannot believe that our enlightened peo-
pie will lay upon the minority, the res
possibility OF acts which they had not
the power to perform.
If the Banks are responsible to the law
courts OF Justice are open TO the COM
-" = lot
who granted the charters, without secur-
ing the community against the abuses
which we have Witnessed, bear the whole
indignation of Tie public.
The occusation is made, in truth, TO
divert from themselves the odium which
naturally falls on the authors of these
calamities. The measures which pro-
duced them are too recent, too notorious,
and were too loudly boasted by the De-
mocratic party, to have been forgotten.
The Bank of the United States was
struck down, and the use of the peoples
money!, for which it had paid heavy
bonus, was distributed as spoils to some
favorite State Banks. The power of the
National Institution was broken--its re-
charter was vetoed, and the State Banks,
relieved of the wholesome control that
rendered them harmless, issued, by the
express direction of the Treasury De-
partment, an amount of notes beyond the
security of their means The tempta-
ton for the creation of other Banks pro-
duced its natural effects,--and before the
bubble burst, their number had nearly
doubled, in period of three years.
Then came the Specie Circular, and the
ruin of those Banks that were within
the reach OF the Land offices were com
plete.
With the expansion of the currency.
produced By the operations of the Gov
ornment, arose spirit of speculation,
restricted by no considerations of pru-
dence But the suspension Of the Banks
was the signal for all 10 pause and ex-
anime their conditions. With a great
foreign debt. no currency could be kept
among Us that could be used abroad; aud
the prediction of great leader OF the
Democratic party, that the measures Of
the Government would cause gold TO
a.. 4 ~