Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1823-1847, 1840-03-03

/ Aht btiu tht ~ iilc CounHN Us duolbiiH
better and safer currency. Into them was the
revenue put IN enormous sums, and they were
directed TO loan freely upon il by the Prcsi
dent for the accommodation ofthe people, and
IL was his pride and pleasure 10 make known
/ to us that the public money was thss employ
ed, instead OF being locked up; a striking com
men,ary upon the present plan Of vaults and
safes, Mr.. President,
The Senator admits that this was the policy
OF the Administration, and that the disastrous
consequences predicted by the opposition
/ have been verified. He might have gone fur
Their; for il is truth equally undeniable, that
this policy sowed the seed Of nearly or quite
one half of the whole number OF banks--be-
tween eight and nine hundred and or more
than one-half OF the capital; that il was the
parent OF the paper Expansion, contraction
! and explosion" ofwhich he has spoken in
terms Of just severity; that it is alike the par
ent OF the bloated credit system which he at
firms has made us all gamblers and that the
mad speculation which ragged over the country
and has furnished the theme for defamation
and denuncaion in these halls for three years
past, was begotien by it. Such are the facts,
and on the projectors of this policy let the re-
sponsbility rest. We had no expansions,
contractions or explosions" for long period,
that did not fairly belong 10 the vibrations Of
trade none that excited alarm seriously
disturbed public confidence, till we came TO
this reforming policy but since then the pub
lie mind has scarcely been uanqulized In
1884 came the first fell swoop, which over
turned and bankrupted thousands; and it o.
riginated here. In $50, came the great era
OF bank-making. and trading upon public mon
ey then accumulated TO sixty or seventy mil
lions, as nearly as ] remember, which threw
The country into feverish excitement, and G.
firm, all haI. ,,,,,1, Of, I,o,r
adjustment. There was rage for fortune
making and fortune hunting, such as had new
or been witnessed, and which nothing but
this policy was capable Of generating. The
Senator might aud ought to have limited the
bloated credit system that made US all, as he
affirms, gamblers, to this period, and left the
offspring to stand beside its parent as a proof
of the disasters of this policy, and of the fulfil
ment of the predictions of the opposition; for
90 together they must, and live together they
will in history; and no sophis,ry, no ingenuity
can ever separate them. While the Senator
admits this policy to belong exclusively to the
Administration, and to have been strenuously
! opposed by us, and its melancholy consequent
ces predicted, he now repudiates II as errone-
Gus, and We must allow to him and his friends
, whatever credit belongs to an abandonment OF
il after it had literally exploded, and the mis-
chief was accomplished. But, sir, he and thew
must lie reminded that could, if would, read
from the messages of the President and from
the successive reports of the Secretary Of the
Treasury, language of emulation, tTiumphing
in the entire success of the policy, Boosting
that the currency was on a better footing than
ever, that the exchanges were greatly improv-
ed, and that, too, at the very moment when
the bloated credit was most expanded, and
speculation the most rife and rank. Such was
the delusion that the madness which had seiz-
ed multitudes was trumpeted forth as evidence
of success and general prosperity. The Sen
ator clearly reasons from false premises when
nc makes the banks the origin of our embar.
easements, for they were only instruments il
the hands of those who projected the meas
ures that have made them what they are.
But the Senator goes further and traces the
evils of banks and bank paper into England
i and alleges, without qualification that from
this cause business there is as badly paralyz
= ed as it is here and ! am not about to make
an issue upon that point, for | must hurry OF
to other matters, He makes an inference
| however, which must notice. lie says tina
TO this circumstance alone we owe our ability
, to manufacture goods. If England was
hard currency country, our mills and hammer
y would all be silent but the paper system ST
!, raises the price Of wages, and consequently
Il the price of production, that she cannot SEM
: forth her goods so cheap as she otherwise
> could or SO cheap as they were made in har'
money countries, where wages are lower -
And do we owe our success TO this folly =
Il Do we stand on such a slippery basis, havinl
;, no foOthold but upon all error of policy, stu
q pidly persisted in | desire to be iniorme
- how the hard money countries as they arr
called-Italy, Spain. Holland, Franco, ans
"a Germany--iOr they have all been put into tina
= class, though not with strict historical accura
cy-stand the competition of England viii
d her bloated credits Yes, how, sir, do the,
y figure in the competition Who has supple,
. our markets and the markets of the whOl,
Z world IL metallic currency makes prOduc
II ton cheaper-f II gives vantage ground 10
. country IN the general round OF trade how i
! II that these nations have not long since rul
;. England out of our market with their oheape
= goods How is 1t that we draw annually from
y England two-fold more Of imports than from
= all the residue Of Europe Why as it tha
they, especially France, shut their ports a
), gainst most kinds Of English goods, TO proiec
u their own manufactures Why is the sam,
policy pursued elsewhere In these cOun
, tries the hard money scheme has had long
full and faithful trial, and we know the result
7 England, without any advantages over then
y IN our ports, has overwhelmed them with he
> competition and so It is wherever trade Is o
! pen 70 her upon a footing Of equality viii
,; them.
y IL II not, Mr.. President a surprising fact
d that the Senators who have spoken upon TN
subject have selected the TWO most free, mos
u commercial naiions-naiions which, by thsi
h.. -