The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1840-07-14
REMARKS or MR.. JOHN W. ALLEN
OF ONO,
ON THE SUB TREASURY BILL,
DeIirersd ia The House Of Representatives.
lime "a, 1910.
[ooNrlNuEp.]

CONTINUED.
Now, Mr. Chairman, II the banks were inc
SwndInc rascally Institutions, we nave oeeh
so often told they were here was game worth
playinr long and boldly for--the stakes were OF
no common order But what did they do SIR,
ask n all candor and seriousness We have
been told what they did prior TO the suspension
BY authority not to be disputed. Now LEI us see
what they did aiterward. BY the 18th Septem-
her when Congress met the forty millions due
the Government were reduced To less than thlr-
teen-n October to eight, and, IN February,
1898. to about six mllons--in December last to
less than one million, and in a report Of Mr..
Woodbury., laid on our desks this morning,
lind a credtof more than FIVE hundred thousand
dollars paid since January last, and the balance is
now therefore but some three or four hundred
thousand dollars, and that we are told, - well
secured
Do gentlemen believe that had this money
been III the hands Of Sub-ueasurers, and great
national calamity had fallen upon us, this I'M
mense amount Of money would have been so
fully and promptly paid? True, sir, owing to a
variety of circumstances, The, banks were com
PEELED to suspend specie payments; but they
met the acquisitions Of the Government IN
manner satisfactory TO its creditors-showlng
wonderful pecuniary ability and high sense Of
The duty they owed those whose confidence they
had enjoyed. The suspension was derogatory to
our national character, and most unfortunate IN
every point, but 1t was inevitable; and when
gentlemen condemn banks as knavlsh and
swindling, because they suspend, without re-
ference to the cause, let me remind them that
suspension was q democratic measure during the
war, and the New England banks were de-
nounced by the friends Of Mr.. Madison on this
floor, and through all the journals in his interest,
as enemies to the country, and their directors
al blue-ght federalists, because they would not
Suspend Suspension then was the test OF de-
uqocyacy, as Sub-treasuryism is now
To solve my interrogatory, IT may be well to
look to the provisions of the bill that are specif
allv intended to secure the safety.of the money,
and we shall find they are frequent inspections
Al the important Offices bonds ample in quality
and amount at all, and Imprisonment for embez-
Element upon each Of which will make a few
observations.
What potency is there in the inspection II
enables the Government to ascertain II the pro-
per amount is in the vaults of the Receiver-Ge-
neral in New York and Philadelphia: but what
security does it constitute that it will remain
there 1t is not proposed to remove il from his
custody, for he is the very man intended by this
bill 10 hold it, Now, beg to know, what is there
toprevent the embezzement the very day after
Inspection? and how is the discovery of il to be
made before the next visit of the commissioners,
week or a month afterwards ? suggest the
difficulty, and gentlemen may obvate as they
can
Now, sir as to the bonds. No honest and
responsible man will give bonds in the large
cues, nor will any responsible man become
surely. The salary of the Receiver-G General in
New York is fixed at $4,000, and he is to col
lect three-fourths of all our revenue from mposts,
varying from fifteen to twenty millions yearly.
Is il TO be presumed that bonds for perhaps five
hundred thousand dollars, will be given by men
having the ability to make them good) when
the only equivalent is $4,000, not merely for the
hazard always incident to the possession of
money, but for the responsibility and labor, and
care and anxiety, Tor a year, necessarily atten-
dant upon the management of so much money,
and in coin too? Again, Mr.. Chairman, have
we not had experience enough to show US that
official bonds are generally in the event little
better than brown paper2 Sir, | venture the
opinion that If gentlemen will examine the ac
counts OF the Treasury Department they will
find little more has been collected from principals
and suretles on official bonds than has been paid
tor expenses in endeavoring to enforce them,
and At this very moment a bill is pending here
Tyr the relief of the sureties of Swartwopt.
But the grand preventive of pecuation is to
re,i n the terrors of criminal law suspended
over the heads of these sub-trcasurers in the
shape oil imprisonment, and thereby il is CON
'rdcd IN advance that there may be rogues
among them Well, sir, has not every civilized
community laws to prevent theft, and robbery,
and piracy, and murders; threatening therefor
'he nlicton OF Imprisonment and even death
and vet we find the files of the courts filed with
indictments for the punishment of men charged
WIN the commission Of these crimes.
But there is one principle in theory and never
departed from in the administration of criminal
law that before you imprison or hang an of
lender YOU must catch him, and what chance is
here, ask, for Selling a sub-treasurer who has
arranged his plans at leisure, with the strongest
Inducements TO do it skfully, and to execute
mem successfully, while the agents of the Gov
eminent were in utter ignorance of them /
nave no hesitation in saying that in three cases
10y q Tour the first inlmation Of trouble will not
itaeh the proper officers before the absconding
ubTeasurer will be halfway to Texas or to
Europe Where was Swartwout with his
eIE33O00 when his accounts were found mi
nus am not certain, sir, but ! think he was al
ready luxurating on the Fat beef and plum prd-
dsls q Old Engand-at all events he was out
y harms way, and has taken good care to keep
80 ana where too was Price so long the idol
ana the orator OF Tammany Hall, as nv friend
n,iore me from the Empire State (Mr. j. G..
ark so well knows, for in the better DAYS of
me party and Of the Republic, they there ouafed
We ioaming beer from the same pewter mug