, 1840-03-28

tuNl CicuilS sSlCiH VI " IcSp1Clitc otdlSS,
md thus strike 1t the root of our calamities
md e.nbarrhss neuts The present Admin
I~stratiun have not hid the slightest agency
IN creatin . the existing distress, and can do
but little tn arrest it, or prevent its recur-
rence. This is duty which devolves upon
the States. Still, we have proposed a meas.
IRE which we believe will produce this Of
ice; To a limited extent. Our chief objects
in adopting the Independent Treasury are,
10 disconnect the G',vern,nent from all banks,
tn Secure the Peoples money frop the wreck
ut the banking system, and 10 have IT always
ready To promote the prosperity Of the coun.
try in peace, and defend it in war. Incl
dentally, however, it will do some good in
checking the ex%travagant spirit Of ~specula-
tim which i. the bank Of the country.
Ii the first place, BY requiring specie in
all receipts and expenditures of the Govern
ment. you will create an additional demand
for gold and silver, to the amount of five
millions of dollars per annum, according to
the estimtte OF the Presi lent. A large pnr-
ton of this sum will be drawn from the
banks. and this will compel them TO keep
more specie in their vaults in proportion to
their circulation and deppsites, and to bank
existing evil. fear, however, that it will
prove 10 be put a very inadequate restraint
U 'on excessive banking.
In the sec"ni pilce. this bill will. in some
degree; diminish our imports, especially after
June. 1912. | most heartily concur with
the Senator in desiring this result. What
is the condition of the importing business at
the present moments II is almost exclu-
sively in the hands Of British agents, who
sell all the manufactures they can dispose Of
10 other portions Of the world, and then be-
gin the residuum here to glut our markets.
According to our existing laws, they receive
4 credit from the Government for the amount
of its duties. They sell the goods for cash,
and this credit becomes so much capital in
their hands, to enable them to make fresh
importitions. The Independent Treasury
bill requires that all duties shall be paid in
gold and silver ; and, after June, 1912, the
compromise law will take away the credits
alto ,ether. We shall then have a system
OF cash duties 10 operation, which will con
tribute much 10 reduce the amount of our
importations, and TO encourage domestic
manufactures.
In the third place, this bill will make the
banking interest the greatest economists in
the country, so far as The government is con-
cerneI. Their nerve of self interest will be
touched IN favor OF economy, and this will
induce them 10 unite with the people in re-
ducing the revenue and the expenditures Of
the government To the lowest standard con
sis,entIy with the public good. They will
hereafter abhor a surplus revenue as much
as they delighted in it formerly, when they
used it for banking purposes. ANY surplus
which may exist in future will be locked up
in gold and silver in the vaults of our depo-
sitaries /; and, in proportion to its amount,
will deprive the banks of so much Of their
specie. They will, therefore, become the
pirtiSans Of reducing the revenue to the &c
lual and necessary expenditures Of the gnv-
ernment /; so that the specie NAV flow out Of
the suE-treasuries with a rlpidity correspon-
ding with its influx. Nothing but a large
surplus can seriously injure the banks
This was demonstrated to me by one of the
most distinguished iinanciers which our coun-
try has ever produced. not himself, ! believe,
friendly Ia the Independent Treasury
Ties. Treasury drafts. in The natural course
Of business. will find their way either into
the banks at the very points where our de-
posiiaries are situated. or int, the hands Of
individuals there having duties to pay to the
Government. Take, for example, New
York. A public creditor receives such a
draft On the encouragement in payment of
his debt. Will he carry it to New York,
receive PAYMENT, and transport the specie
from TINT city? Such instances viii be
rare. He will generally dep,Site it to his
credit in the bank with which he transacts
his business, wherever that may be. This
bunk. if not in New York, will transmit it
for collection tn me Of the banks there !;
and thus these banks will draw the specie
from our depositary as rapidly as it is drawn
from them for the pigment of the public
dues. Thus the equilibrium will be preserv-
ed, SD long rs the Government is without a
large surplus. In other instances, these
drafts will be sought after and procured by
individuals having duties to pay, and they
will be presented to the receivers general.
and accepted by them insteai Of gold and
silver.
come now to another. and the most i'm
portant portion of the gentleman's argument
u the president had taken the senator from
= -. l. L., .l-u-