, 1840-03-21
tor relies to establish his great Treasury

But | said that this bill contained an impnr-
tant limitation which had never heretofore
existed. This was introduced at the special
session OF 1897, upon my W suggestion.
1t was then apprehended that the holders OF
these Treasury warrants might not present
them for payment within a reasonable time;
and that a large amount Of them might re-
main outstanding, and be used as bills Of ex-
change. As these outstanding drafts would
necessarily represent an equal amount Of
gold and silver in the hands of the deposita.
ries, /; was a~pprehcnded that, unless they
were speedily Plese.led ,or paymen:,a inass
of them might continue floating in the com.
munitv, and thus produce an accumulation
of specie in the hands Of the depositaries
which might prove injurious TO the banks.
To prevent this evil-to render the draught
upon the banks for specie as light as posi-
ble-and to cause the gold and silver 10 flow
out of the Treasure into general circulation
as rapidly as it had flowed into it, this amend
ment was adopted. 1t now constitutes the
23d section of the bill, and is as follows:
"Sec. 23. Anibe Il further enacted, That
it shall be the duty of the secretary Of the
treasury to issue and publish regulations to
enforce the speedy presentation of all gov
eminent drafts for payment at the place
where payable, and to prescribe the time, ac-
cording to the different distances Of the de-
positaries from the seat Of government, with
in which all drafts upon them, respectively,
shall be presented for payment and, in de-
fault of such presentation, TO direct any 9TH
err mode and place Of payment which he may
deem proper. But in all those regulations
and directions, it shall be the duty Of tho Sc
cretary Of the treasury to guard, as far as
may be. against those drafts being used, or
thrown into circulation. as 4 paper currency
or medium of exchange"
Oae might have supposed, from the eI-
IRENE horror Of the gentleman lest the bill
might contain n treasury bank. that he would
have been delighted with the provisions Of
this section. Not so. On the contrary, he
has declared. in the most solemn manner that
II coniers u tremendous power on the secre-
tary Of the treasury, 10 which no people,
jealous of their liberties ought TO submit
The senator is hard to please. lie first de.
nouuceS, in the strongest terms, The tenth
section OF the bill, because the treasury drafts
issued under its authority will, in his opinion.
become the circulating medium of his trcasn.
~ DtIlh , diiu, diillbsl III lilc SCIN utNi uiCrtu'
he ~dcnounces, in terms eqn lily strong, the
very section which renders 1t impossible tina,
they ever can become such 4 circulating me-
dunn.
And what is this tremendous power vested
in the secretary of the treasury by the 23d
section lndependentlyo az postmasiers, there
are, perhaps 4 hundred and fifty receivers o.
pubiic moneys in the United States. These
are scattered from Maine to Georgia. and
from the Atlantic TO the far west. Some o.
them are at the distance of fifty miles, anu
others are n thousand miles from Washing
ton. From the nature and necessity of the
case, the discretionary power is conferred
upon the secretary 10 regulate 1.-THE speedy
presentation of these drafts, according te
the different distances CT the deposi,arie'
from the seat OF government but even thl!
is TO be done in such 4 manner rs TO preven'
them from being thrown into circulation as
paper currency or medium of exchange
And yet this is the tremendous power ST
much To be dreaded! No other provision
could have been made. 1t would have beer
a work of endless and unnecessary labor tC
have attempted to enumerate each OF Tn,
depositaries in the bill, and TO have prescri
bed the time within which drafts on each o
them should be presented for PAYMENT
This is n mere matter of detail which mus
be yielded 10 the discretion Of the secretary
And now what, in plain English, is this go
vernment bank ! 1t is no other than the
power which has always been exercised by
the treasurer Of the United States, TO pay
the public creditors, and TO advance money
10 the disbursing officers by means Of drafts
on the public deposiiaries; with a new res
friction, however, imposed upon the holder
OF these drafts, requiring their speedy pre-
sentation, for the express purpose Of proven
ting the possibility Of their ever becoming
circulating medium. Any man who can dis
tinguish between a hawk and a handsaw Cal
discriminate between this simple provision
and a great government treasury bank.
The senator, feeling that he has no foun
dation on which to erect his treasury bank ii
the bill, as it is, has taxed his fancy-a neve
failing resource-to alarm our Tears rs t.
what it will become hereafter. He leave
the present far behind, and looks forward t,
the future. He predicts that, in less thai
three wears, necessity will compel US I,