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


i ton of the Treasury Circular furnishe
some experience on that point. All WI
i purchase lands from the government
and all who import foreign goods whic
are subject TO duty. must procure speci
for their purpose. In the ordinar
course of trade, bank notes are prefer
red to specie, because of their NOR
convenient form.
And TO convert them into a currenc'
which the collectors would receive, de
mands are made on the Banks, as tn
easiest and most expeditions method o
procuring it. Thus, at season of larg
| importations, when the aid of the Bank
IS most desired, prudence comPels then
to withhold ii, in anticipation of 4 drain
! Their power of promoting the Interests
of commerce is impaired, when there i
most occasion for its exercise; while
they are kept in a state of perpetua
uncertainty, by the occasional suspen
/ sion of some that are too hardly pressed
and the certain want of public conf
dence in all which such failures ineviia
! bly, occasion. And the specie of the
country, with revenue of thirty-fve
millions, is laying, for q large portion
+ of the time. idle in the vaults Of the sub.
treasury, instead Of circulating tn 'ougt
the channels Of trade, or furnishing the
Banks with the means of assisting the
efforts of the enterprising.
Another argument, which has been
addressed TO the people Of the south, is
the supposed influence of the system in
creating direct trade between the plan
e g i
upon the notion, that our trade WILL al
ways pass through New York, when we
have currency sufficiently uniform to
permit our merchants to deal there with
facility. 1t is proposed, then, to open a
chaane for trade, which has not been
considered advantageous, by obstruc,ing
that in which it has hitherto moved. The
wisdom Of such plans is doubtful at best
and to the southern people, the uniform
advocates of free trade, ii would seem
particularly Objectionable. But, in truth,
even these distractions will not operate
as the advocates Of the Sub-treasury
propose. To prove this, very slight
view of the condition of the country
will suffice.
The custom houses of the large i'm
the points at which the revenues are
principally collected; the district CT
Columbia, New York city, and the mill
tary and naval establishments are the
places at which the far greater portion is
expended Something, too, IS collec-
ted at the post offices; and this, after
paying the expenses of mail carriage
and collection, is transferred to the seat
of government. 1t is undeniablc, that
the money collected at the southwestern
land offices, and the little which south
crn custom houses will afford, with the
surplus from the post offices, will speed
lily be carried to the points of dishurse-
ment. We of Mississippi have not, and
II is scarcely possible tnat we can have,
a military or naval post, or any other
establishment that can draw money from
other states to this, or retain what is
here collected. And system by which
large amounts are annually drawn from
US, to be expended elsewhere, must
weaken, instead of promoting, our abil-
ity to engage in foreign commerce.
With a sound currency, these drains
were made in remittances through the
Banks; under the paraIysing influence of
the Sub-treasury, they must be made
in specie. Thus it is proposed, that our
commerce shall be established by a
system which deprives US of the means
even of ordinary dealings with our
neighbors.
But it is alleged, that the cotton crop
of Mississippi may be sent to Europe,
and the proceeds invested in the foreign
goods required for the consumption of
The state. Doubtless this is practicable,
10 considerable extent. But it is not
more practicable, with bad currency
than a good one. Indeed, such a state
of things operates powerfully against
our means OF exploration, by carrying
to other states the portion of cotton ne
for meeting the demands which
a deprecated currency Is inadequate 10
And the whole argument Is
founded on the assumption, that the
planter who owns a cargo of cotton is
willing to invest its value in a traffic
which he probably does not understand,
instead OF having it returned ia form
in which he can pay his debts, or inn
prove his estate. The history OF the
world furnishes few examples OF such
folly Or, if the advocates of the meas
ure deem this expectation too preposter
Gus for public credulity, and propose that
the planter shall draw bills upon his fac
tor, and sell them Tor ready money in
the market, who will be the purchasersa
None will believe that the merchants of
will bid as largely for such
funds, as the great capitalists of the
northern cities The purchase of the
bills will give them the control of the
proceeds, and trade will then be where
it is now-ia the hands of northern mer-
chants-anl they will determine. as they
now do, whether cargoes shall come d.
rectly from Europe to our ports, or lndi-
rectly through New York and Boston,
Ii would be foreign to our present pur-
pose, to discuss the advantages of d.
rect trade between our state and Eu-
rope Those who most anxiously desire
such change must see that the SUBJ
treasury viii rather resard than pro-
mote Ii.