The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1839-10-17
Fsom ahs ~ fask TisaoA
A GREAT GOVERNMENT BANK
TME HAL OBJECT 90 TnE ADMINS
TKATI0S.


Mhen he sub TfessuEy was praPoseds
ils nOsl distinguished adFsrsaries point
Cd out The real design Of ~ authors,
namely. The creation II . nlghsy. over
spreading. ell eonlrOhing 6oFeEnmsnl
/ Daak. haVing \ legion Of officers. sgenss.
and subardinalss Of Eafiops descriptions,
haldins lheir plaees al The wlll and plea
sure Of The President The voices oi
Webster. Clay, and PrsslOH-of Rises
and Tallmadge-snd their worthy ssso-
states. wrre raised in eloquent warnings
10 The country. and Indignant dsnunela
fion Of the hypocrisy. aud smhiIioss de-
signs Of the eAbsl. We have seldom.
howeFrr, seen The Irndency a Ihe mea-
sure more powerfully exposed Than N the
followiag passage. which we take from
the mastery IeIIer Of Professor Dews re-
ferred 10 in the Tines Of TUESDAY:
ala addition 10 the arguments which !
hare mentioned. IL may be affirmed. that
this scheme must necessarily lead 10 CO.
| vernmenl banking. Regarding this TACT
ss among what. perhaps. mar properly
be termed the pOseiiiuiiiies Of the sys'
ten. I consider IL among the most lormi'
dsble objections 81 il. For example
suppose tho sab Treasury in full opera
ton. and You have your deposiIes Of sill
yer al several different points. A. goes
TO The discussing officer Tor payment OF
his salary. Ii he gets . draft On New
York. 10 consequences ef the exchanges,
IL may 10 worth Eve per cent premium;
if on New Orleans, IL may be al q dis
count ri Eve per esnpm. Nov. that Of
feer Of the Government Who deieraines
this matter. must necessarily have great
power over those who ere 10 be paid.
Here is a great source opened Of patron
age and corruption. Again-when these
drafts are given. IL upon . convenient
point. they would be greatly preferred by
the holders To specie. They would not
consequently be presented; IL not pre-
scented. they soon oil up the channels Of
rireularion. and become 10 all inlents and
purposes, bank paper. n you suppose
this state Of things To last. the sub lrea-
sury would realize the fable uf the lions
den; the specie might il'w in, but would
never aaw oui; and such an operation
of course would break every bank in this
country. But We are here met by the
provision tllai wouli be enacted. that
these drafts should be presented ~ithip a
certain time, or not honored. Nav, In
this We say. that the poSer that made
might easily be tempted 10 unmake; and
so gres, would be the convenience and
profit Of these drafts. compared with spe-
Gle, that The government might, in very
few years. be tempted TO give the holder
. discretion in The matter. The people
themselves would demand il. You
would then have the sub.heasuty bank
ing institution. conducted on principles
similar to Ihnse upon which tie crlsbra-
ted bank az Amsterdam did business.
As in the case Of that bank, il might soon
be discovered, that there would be no
likelihood Of N the silver being called for
at once; and. consequently. that q large
portion might be loaned out. or made way
with by the conductors Of the institution.
But again: supposing your whole bank.
ing system should even be endangered.
and reeolIeci il 10 here, as in mechanics,
The weakest link in the chain is the mea-
sure Of the strength Of The whole system;
the banking system being endangered,
credit and confidence Of course would
fail. a great contraction would take place
in the circulating medium, bankruptcy
and distress would cover the iand--can
you doubt. for one moment. TO what quar-
ter the eyes Of al would be turned Tor re
lief in such q period Of calamity! Most
assuredly 10 your sub treasury. Just al
such 9 period It's strong boxes might he
giuifed with the prerious metals. IL
all then have the le.blood, the very
soul Of the banking system. All that
would be waning would be TO endue il
with the lorn,s aud privileges of tue sys
tent And does any one doubt that =
people, gruund into the very dust by q
rnonc;sry pressure, would hesitate fnr
moment to confer such privileges, when
immediate relief might be the conse-
guence, You might as som expect the
shipwrecked mariner to hesitate in seiz-
ing The plank that fortune had thrown IN
his way, as 10 suppose thai the represen-
tatives al distressed aud suffering com.
munity. would pause TO calculate the re-
mote consequences Of a measure which
would check for the present the over
whelming tide of national calamity. The
experience OF modern times has shown.
but too concIusively. that. in the agony
Of commercial commissions. patriotism and
virtue will be sacrificed on Tie shrine Of
present interests.
So lar. | have been considering what
the people themselves would be willing
TO do--what change they would be likely
10 call fnF in this sub-Ireasury system. ]
have been surprising Tho Executive all
this time entirely passive. But can we
anticipate such conlsntejness, such liner.
tia2 Those who do. have more conf
.lan.o l. sha .a.ar,;.., ami recfsf.dp nj