The Madisonian., 1840-02-15
SPEECH or MIR. DAVIS,
or Massachusetts,
ON L HE B-TREA SURY BILL.
IN sENArE--Jan. q. 1910.


question upon the final passage Of the bill
Mr.. DAVIS said rise, Mr.. President,
with great reluctance at this late hour to ad-
dress the Senate, fatigued as il is with the un-
usually long session, aud exhausted by the de-
bate but, painful as it is, must entreat their
indulgence while | make brief reply to the
new doctrines which have been now, for the
first time, published here, and come to us
through channels that leave no doubt Of their
being the doctrines of the Administration.
They involve and have drawn into this debate
great and momentous Considerations, affect
ing The most cherished interests of the people
! represent, as well as nearly the whole coun-
try. With the exception Of few incidental
remarks made by me day or two ago, no one
from the North and East has addressed you
during this discussion; and as some part of the
debate has been pointed in its character and
directed to me personally, as if the positions
assumed were incapable Of refutation, | feel
urged by an irresistible sense Of duty--nay,
/ cannot reconcile myselft to iorbear from making
some reply.
/ The Senator from Mississippi, Mr.. WAL.
kerr with his usual acknowledged ability,
and the distinguished Senator from Pennsyl-
vania, (Mr. BUcuANAN,) following in his
track, have advanced the propositions thatthe
cnbarrassments and distress with which the
country has been grievously afflicted for seve-
raj years past, and which now paralyze all its
energies, are imputable to the pernicious in
fiuence OF bank paper; that this bill contains
the necessary corrective, as il will check i'm
portatlons of foreign goods, suppress what
they call the credit system, and, by restoring
specie currency, reduce the wages of the la
borer once the yalue of proDerty
This il the character given to the measure
by its friends and, alarming as the doctrines
are, am grafed that they are frankly avow-
ed. have been anticipated, to n considerable
extent, by the Senator from Mississippi (Mr.
HENDERSON, In what have to say, shall,
however, confne myself chiefly to the speech
of the Senator from Pennsylvania, who has
gone more in detail into the subject, for we all
acknowledge his ability on this floor, and his
capacity to do ample justice 10 the subjects
which he discusses.
| do not propose to follow him through a
very large portion of his elaborate argument
to prove that Executive power has Of late been
stunned instead Of being sought after, or that
the present and the old Bank Of the United
States are identical, and both national banks.
Enough has been said on these points. lie
has, however, asserted that we have abandon
ed all the arguments which we have before
used against the Sub-trcasury, because the
progress Of events has proved them unsound.
| Not so; Ear from it. With others, entered
into that debate, which is before the public, and
the arguments unrefued stand as firm as ever;
but it would be pro6tless task to reiterate
| them here, and this is the reason why they are
passed over in the discussion.
| But, sir, will not dwell upon any Of these
matters, but 90 to that in hand. The Senator
says we labor under distressing cmbarrass-
ments, and so we do; no one will have the
hardihood to deny il, for all the country in sor-
row bears testimony to it. We have, il is true
seen on occasional gleam Of light, but it has
/ been soon obscured, and we have been siroud-
ed in a gloomy uncertainty. He says fur
ther, that the cause is excessive issues of bank
1 paper, speculation, and bloated Il use his
words) credit system. He lodges the guilt on
! the shoulders of the banks alone. 1t is ne-
| ther Just nor fair to hold them alone responsi-
BILE, and will make it manifest, by showing
that they were seduced into their errors by the
Administration.
| Before the late President Jackson) seized
the public money and took il into his own
| custody,in 1888, there was no complaint about
the currency; all the people know this, for all,
| even the President himself in one of his mes
sages, united in declaring, in substance, il was
| sound, and equal to that of any nation on earth
There was no complaint, no inconvenience,
! no embarrassment, from this source in doing
business; but contcntmcnt and satisfaction
everywhere. About this there could be noa
mistake, nor will any one here attempt to re-
flute the wellknown facts.
But from the act of the President, which
was the first movement TO reform the curren-
cy, to this day, there has been what the Sc
nator is pleased to call expansion, contrac-
ton, and explosion," in rapid and fearful suc-
cession; crisis upon crisis, pressure upon
pressure, pane upon panic, have succeeded,
tIil we have reached a state Of suspicion and
alarm that has deranged and almost suspend
ed business. The storm in its fury has swept
over the country, once and again uprootng
the stateliest and frmest trees, aud leaving in
| ITS track dreary, desolate waste. It's marks
are too deeply cngraven, too distinct, too well
defined 10 leave any thing uncerain-any
thing equivocal. 1t fell upon US with such
wltherng energy as to leave no doubt when,
| where, and how il began.
Gent,emen may tax their ingenuity, they
may task their inventions, to discover other
causes OF dlstress-they may belabor and hold
up to scorn and execraton the banks as long
as they please--they cannot change the facts,
for they cannot ob!iterate history Things
were well, and every body knows II, till 1888.
Then began the bank reform by the removal
Of the deposites---and then began this rapid
series of "expansion, contraction, and explo-
son"then followed crisis after crisis ---ihen
came the arrangement Of exchanges, and
then the embarTassments which have over