Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1840-02-13

In Via. mart OF this bill has the Senator discovered
Tho charter of his bank lie has referred TO one ana
only ono clause for the purpose Of proving It's
Th i 10 be found in the tenth section Of The Dill anu
- i - Very brief shall read il to the Senate IL y
as follows: :, ,,,,,;c account, 1t shall
An ." on the he 5, '1 nr" any Of The
said Jeposaries, he think most ., hh
i,sa ar 10 the convenience of the public rIch'tors o '
Tbe1e sir is the charter and what IS II OUT i'.le
recogniticn of the power which nave 'ust oeei "
scribng: and which has existed ana mus. heeess"l.,
have existed ever since the origin oil inc
1t requires the Treasurer OF ines heu - ,ho NH
10th the public interest and the :" tue pun
lie creditor or both, in selecting me aePosi'5 on
which TO draw his warrant THIS he mas Always aohe.
In the first place he must select dePosa'y WIN wIo,
there is an amount ofmoney suiiceh' ~ heet ny '
"a ,nonq such dcposaries he must, unless Tue pun
T are.i forhds draw upon that one where IL VIII De
NOS, convenient for the public creditor 10 receive ms
money why, sir, this clause, so terrnc I" tne mag
| nation of the gentleman, might pe stchen io'h me
Iii l,,retber without producing the sgh'eSt moon
."a;ance The practice which IT Prescribes, is that
| Itch must necessarily be pursued IN paying inc
III of The Government. And yet this simple and
| oas.orr mower is the only part OF the bill on whch
IL sn,;,r relies to establish his great Treasury Bank:
Rut said that this bill contained an important limit.
go which had never heretofore existed THIS was
introduced al the special session OF 1881, upon my own
.nrrestion Ii was then apPrehended that Tue ho'd,s
of these Treasury warrants might not present 'he i
.rn,en, within a reasonable tnie anc thai n large
wonnt Of them might remain outstanding, ana be Used
sL;ls of ex change. As these outstanding drafts Woua
necessarily represent an equal amount OF sosu anu SUI
yer in the hands of the depos,ares It was apprehenae
M unless they were speedily presented tor payment,
. r,ss of them might continue floating in the commu-
pv and thus produce accumulation OF specie IN ue
hands of the Repositories which might prove injurious
10 the banks. To prevent this cv-to render tie drai'
go tho hanks far spso;e light PossiLie-and to
os The eod and silver TO flow out of the Treasury
into rcnoral circulation rapidly as II had flowed INTO
lit, this amendment was adopted II now constitutes
the 23d section of the BILL and IL as follows:
s.Src. further enacted That u shall be the d"is
of Secretary of The Treasury 10 Issue and publish ,cgm"n.
c place where PAYABLE and I" prescribe tue tmc a
rordnc 10 the different distances OF the deoste r" The sra
Shall he presemtrG for payment and
ton, any other mode and place Of anr. winch y,
NAV deem proper But all those regulations ana drectohS
shall be the duty Of the Treasury TO guard as 'ar
may he, against those drafts being , Of THROW" '"' ''"
| One NIGH. have supposed, from the extreme horror
of the gentlemanlcst this bill might contain Treasury
Bank, that he would have been delighted with the pro-
| visions ofths section. Not On the contrary, he
has declared in the solemn manner, that con-
ers tremendous power on the Secretary OF the lrca'
sury, to which no people, jealous OF their LIBERTIES,
ouqit to submit. The Senator Is hard to please" lie
first denounccs in the strongest terms the tenth sec
ton of the BILL because the Treasury drafts issued under
lis authority will IN his opinion, become the cIrcula,-
nu medium OF his Treasury Bank ana almost al the
very next breath, he dcnnunccs III terms equally
strong, the very section when renders IL ihP"ss'p'
that they ever can become such circulating medium.
And what is this tremendous power vested IN the Sc
crcary of the Treasury by the 23d section: lndcpend
emily of postmastes, there are perhaps hundred and
fifty receivers Of public money IN the T. States These
are scattered from Maine to Georgia, and iron the At
lantc to the FIR West Some Of them are al the dis
lance of fifty miles, and others thousand miles
from Washington. From the nature and necessity oil
the case the discretionary power conferred upon the
Secretary regulate 'the speedy presentation othcsc
drafts according The different distances OF the depo-
sares from the seat of Government; but even THIS Is
to be done in such manner as 10 prevent hem from
being thrown into circulation rs paper currency or
medium Of exchange. And yet tbs IS the tremendous
mower so much To be dreaded No ohC provision could
have been made II would have been work of end
less and unnecessary labor 10 have attempted to emu
merate each of the dcposares in the BILL and to have
prescribed the time within which drafts on each OF them
should be presented for payment Tins IS mere mat
ter of detail which must be yielded 10 the discretion OF
the Secretary.
And now what, in plain English, is this Government
Bank: II is no other than the power which has al
WAYS been exercised bv the Treasurer of the United
States 10 pay the public creditors and TO advance mo-
ney 10 the disbursiug officers by means of drafts on
the public dcpostartes, with new restriction, howe
YER imposed upon the holders Of these drafts requiring
their speedy presentations for the express purpose OF
preventing the possibility Of c;r blooming CIR
culaing medium. Any man who can distinguish be-
| tween a hawk and handsaw, can discriminate be-
tween TINS SIMPLE provision and great Government
| Treasury Bank.
The Senator, feeling that he has no foundation on
which TO erect his Treasury Bank in the bill, il is,
has taxed his fancy-a ncrerfailng resource-to alarm
our fears TO what il will become hereafter. de
leaves the present far behind and looks forward to the
future He predicts that less than three years
sity will compel to change the Independent !reasu
ry into bank of issue. Having given his fancy the
rens, he tells us how this will be performed The Sc
cretary of the Treasury, instead of giving single drafts
on the depostnres for the amount due TO public credit
os and the sums to be advanced 10 dsbursng officers,
is to have drafts prepared upon bank paper in the like
ness OF bank notes the denomination of twenty, Of f
IT, and of hundred dollars These drafts he is TO pay
out like bank paper The restriction IS to be repealed re-
curing their speedy presentation TO the deposares.-
They are 10 become the general circulating medium OF
the country In less than ten the
are to have between and 000CG0 Of gold and silver
in their vaults, to be represented by the same amount OF
Treasury drafts in circulation, and IN the possession OF
the banks. The Government then calculating that the
demand upon these depositarics will not require them
10 keep this amount ofspecc hand, Will draw It out
clnndcstnely for their own purposes as was formerly
done from the bank Of Amsterdam; and that some tu
turc President will, by means of this stolen money
subvert the Government, and destroy the Liberties OF
the people.
Now, sir, is moi this the merest fancy picture that
was ever skctchcd; 1t is all the offspring of the Sene
tor prolific mag nation. 1t is all prophecy and
no fact Even by his own showing there is no foun.
daon for il in the bill. On the contrary every precau
ton has been used 10 prevent the possibility oany such
occurrences.
And what has lie to predict that the friends Of
this measure will change all their principles and pnr
poses in less than three years, and by new legislation
convert the Independent Treasury into Government
Bank Has not every Senator perceived the holy
horror with which my friend from Missouri MIR. Ben
ton inspired at the bare idea that the Government
might issue "notes, bills, paper receivable
in payment Of tho public dues: His lynx.eyed jea-
lousy seized hold Of these general EXPRESSIONS in the
9th and Goth sections Of the BILL and although there
was nothing the face Of the earth on which these
words could operate unless possibly struggling
1 Treasury note which might remain unredeemed long az
ter it became payable, yet he had them stricken from
the bill 'sie snuied the tainted breeze from aar; and
although there present danger, yet he pos
sibty that these words might have meaning hereafter
and that in future years the Government might be will
ing to issue ''notes, bills, paper, and therefore
all united with him in voting for his amendment This
was, the phrase of the lawyers the exclusion of any
conclusion which might BY possibility be drawn from
these general words in favor of Government paper
But again did rot the Senator from Kentucky per.
ceye with what alacry the friends ofthc bill snportpd