The Charlotte journal. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1835-1851, 1840-06-18
From Me Nashville Republican Banner.
The snb-Treasury scheme.

the extract below, from one Of the most can
did, satisfactory expositons we have eyei
read being a speech recently delivered al
Abingdon by the Hon. John Campbell, late
Treasurer ofthe United States. Mr.. Camp.
bell was in Office several years, and enjoyed
peculiar opportunities of acquiring thor.
oUgh and practical knowledge Of our finan.
cial affairs. He sums up his objections 10
the Sub Treasury scheme in the following
very striking and lorcibe remarks:
hope, fellow citizens, have made my.
self understood. | care nothing about
phraseology, if can be Ineligible. This
is the substance of my rgument-That
this Sub.Treasury system, winch requires
the people to pay up all their public dues
in specie, eau be OF no benefit to the mass
Of the people. That SO far as the General
Government is concerned, il has been tried
by regulation of the Treasury Depart.
ment, after the Banks had suspended specie
payments in S37 and that time and ex
perlence, the best test OF knowledge, has
proved that ii can bring no good to the PEG,
pie. Ttat the great mass Of the people
will be compelled, from the value Of our
political system, and from habit, 70 use
Bank paper or Government paper, for It's
convenience and great facilities. That a
/ Government paper system would be attend.
ed with Infinite more mischief than the
banking system. That as the people are
compelled, from the necessity Of the case,
10 take paper in their ordinary transactions,
and for every thing they sell, the Govern.
ment ought not to require OF them payment
Of specie in its collection of the public dues.
I That the revenue flows out of the Treasury
in discharge of public debts, as fast as ii
/ flows in 10 payment Of the public dues, and
4 instead Of flowing into the circulation from
1 the Sub TFeasyrers, II will flow directly IN
10 the Banks, if al par, or into the hands
of brokers Il above par, and that paper i'll
be used 10 lieu Of il, in consequence Of It's
superior convenience. That tie paper will
be The circulating medium, whether II IS at
par or below par. Whether the Banks
suspend or are making specie payments
That if the paper is al par or equivalent to
specie, II will always be preferred, because
1 il is more convenient. Ii il is below par,
4 that then the specie collected by the Gov.
ernment and paid out to its officers, viii be
/ sold at premium, and not 90 into the cir.
cUla,ion, as we have seen Illustrated at the
seat OF Government when the Banks sus
pended specie payments in 1881 That
the people Of this country, at a distance
from Banks, at a time Of great pressure in
the money market, will find difficulty in
obtaining specie TO pay their pubic dles,
and that their property must be sacrificed
as a necessary consequence It specie IS de
manded for taxes, and that the public mo.
uey would be rendered more unsafe in the
hands of individuals appointed by the Pres.
dent, and removable at his pleasure, than
in the hands OF good sound Bauks that have
10 legs and cant run of. That nothing Of
any consequence has ever been lost by
the Bau.i., except during Mr.. Crawiord's
administration Of the Treasury Department,
who transferred the public money into banks,
not for safe keeping, but to prevent them
from breaking. That although the banks
have suspended specie payments in late
years, in which were deposited the public
money, they have not proved insolvent, and
have paid or will be able to pay, every cent
they owe the Government. That the mere
circumstance of the Banks suspending spe.
Gle payments is no more evidence Of their
insolvency, than the refusal of on lndiyid.
ual TO pay debt on the day it was due,
was evidence of his bankruptcy. That the
State Governments have sustained their
Banks in their suspensions, shelving that
they thought, under the circumstances, 1t
was best for the community that they should
have done so. That il these Banks that
have suspended are to be regarded as in
solvent, and called Bankrupt Banks"
how does It happen that their notes buy
every thing now they did before they sus-
pended That all this clamor against the /
paper system is useless, 10 say the least of
1t, and the statesman who supposes he can
benefit the people by ii, and give them a
specie circulation, only affords evidence that /
he Intends to deceive them, or that he is un
tit, from his ignorance, to be entrusted with
the public confidence. That the subject of +
The currency is very difficult and intricate
one, and ought to be LEFT alone when in
iolorably good state. That experiments
ought not TO be made upon it without the
experimentcrs had given some evidence
hey were masters of their subject, and that
more mischief has been done 10 il by I" linan.
,ial quacks and pretenders, than all the
other classes Of society put together.
Here are twenty six Governments, oil
sovereign and independent Of each other,
md completely sovereign in relation TO
what never will happen, and what never
an happen as long as they exist as Inde.
pendent Governments that if two thirds OF
he States of tins Union would put down c
heir Banks, the remaining third would fur. |
nish a paper system for the whole Union. /
pennsylvania and New York can do it. S
ind yet we are told by distinguished Sen /
or Of the United States, the confidential |
r,on1 ,nI nFuon nf tho pFaSidenI IN tho J 4,