The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1840-05-21

President Monroe vetoed the OIL Anu III thc 7ena
torial debate Foote'S resolution to authorize IN
Vice President To call To order for words spoken IN tn
Senate, Mr.. Van Buren, alluded TO hrs vote ON TN
Cumberland road bill, and declared that It was thu
only vote he had ever given in the Senate which eouie
be tortured into departure from the principles which
he professed to entertain that he deeply regretted the
vote; that II such question presented 10 him
again, he would vote against il; and he applauded
President Monroe for putting his veto on the bill His
annual message to the present Congress may be re-
garded as proving the sincerity Of these views; the
free expression of which has subjected him the vo-
lent censure Of the Wings who claim for Congress
the constitutional authority to appropriate the federal
revenue to objects of this kind"
Is il not remarkable that while at the South
the friends of Mr.. Van Buren, advocate his
claims because he is opposed to the road that
my colleague is attempting 10 deceive the West
into the belief that he is the friend Of the road
and that it has been defeated by the Wings p
] The West has been traded off for the votes Of
the South, and yet my colleague, with seryili-
| ty unworthy of representative of the great
West ticks the hand that has stricken down the
dearest interest of the people Of the west and
worst Of ALL would conceal the hand which
struck the blow, and lay the charge Of its defeat
| upon those who have been It's uniform and fast
| friends
! NY colleague has assumed another position as
remarkable and as untrue as that taken upon the
subject of the Cumberland road. He said, 81
will be permitted to say that the people Of the
United States are in a more prosperous and VI
gorous condition than they have experienced
| since the formation of the Government" An
assertion of that kind made upon this floor, at
this time, did sound to me very muchlike mock
ing the sufferings of the people, and insulting
| their understandings The people of the U.
States never IN more prosperous condition
Why, sir, has my colleague heard that deep
tone of complaint and suffering which comes
up from every part of the Union2 Will he say
| it is all "Whig panic" The time has been
when such a cry had its effect, but that time is
past He may tell the people of Illinois that
they are laboring under a great mistake, that
there Is no distress, that times were never more
prosperous, that it is all Wing panic; but, sir,
they viii not believe him. They will lay their
hands upon their pockets, and tell him that they
feel it there. They feel it in the scarcity Of
money, in the fall of the price Of property and
of produce.
Times, says my colleague, were never more
prosperous; how stands the ACCOUNT The
balance OF trade is against us, and we owe a
debt to foreigners for goods to the amount of forty
millions of dollars. The States have contracted
debt of nearly two hundred millions of dollars,
| upon which we pay an annual interest Of nearly
twelve millions, mostly to foreigners. Our banks
| in all the South, West, and Southwest, have
suspended specie payments. The currency OF
the country is deranged and deprecated, SO that
| the paper Of one State will not pass current in
another; and worst Of all there is a general
want of confidence pervading the whole com
munity, fearful looking forward to the future
still my colleague says times were never more
prosperous
| The State Of Illinois is not exempt from the
evils growing out of the arrangement Of the cur
rency, and in one respect we, perhaps, feel it
greater than in most other portions of the Union.
! allude to the high rate Of exchange. Former
| ly, we paid from two TO three per cent. on New
York, we now pay ten. Our merchants go TO
the East and buy goods on credit, which are
carried 10 Illinois and retailed to the consumer,
| so that in fact our farmers, the consumers really
owe this debt to the eastern merchant. When
pay day rolls around, our merchant has to
remit to the New York merchant, and pays in
exchange ten per cent In other words, for
every hundred dollars he has to pay the New
York merchant one hundred and ten dollars.
Now, sir l assume that the people of Illinois
thus owe to the eastern merchants two millions
| OF dollars, and this, believe is far below the
real amount; upon this at present rates, we pay
in exchange two hundred thousand dollars 1t
would be idle to suppose that this is paid by the
merchants at home. No, sir, the farmers pay
this exchange. They pay it in the increased
cost Of every article they buy. Then the effect
of Mr. Van Buren's "better currency upon the
people Of Illinois is, that they pay annual tax
of the difference of exchange between two and
and ten per cent, which, upon two millions Of
dollars, would amount to the sum of one hun
dred and sixty thousand dollars. A high tax
upon their Van Burenism and almost, if not
quite as much, as they pay for the support of
their State Government. Still my colleague
says times were never more prosperous
My colleague knows well that all this derange-
ment in the currency, and all the evils which
have followed, have been brought upon us by
the miserable experiments of Mr.. Van Buren,
and his party upon the currency of the country.
They have brought ruin and disaster upon the
business of the country, and amid this general
distress that party turn TO all their complaints
cold and unsympathizing ear, and codly tell
them that they are Mistaken" that they never
were in more prosperous condition. This is
like the fddling of Nero amid the flames Of
Rome.
| But, sir, can very well conceive how my
colleague has fallen into this great error. He has
been absent from the State of Illinois for the
last year. He has been to England, mingling
with the lords and ladies of Queen Victoria's
Court He has been upon the stock exchange
of London talking and dealing with her brokers
in large figures, nothing less than thousands,
hundreds of thousands, millions. He has been
receiving from the State salary, ] believe, of
So, 500 He has been receiving here his eight
dollars per day, all in shining gold, and he may
well eyclaim that times never were more pros
porous! To be continued.
i -----------------------
From The Augusta Ga Chronicle.
THE PEOPLE ARE MOVING.