Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1840-05-14


much more OF policy than of dignity, he was
pledged to follow. Has he come to our State
rights principles! 1t is not to be denied thu.
ne makes an annual profession of some of
these principles; so did his proclamation and
| force blu predecessor. l do not look 10 his
professions; what has been his practice. I
propose to examine that, and to contrast the
opinions of his competitor with his, on every
one OF these points. First, as to the tariff
General Harrison regards the compromise of
1882 as OF the highest obligation, and is dis
posed 10 adhere 10 it; and, if more revenue is
required, not to Increase the duties on protec-
| TED articles, but to impose duties on those ar
tcies which are now duty free-such articles
as the people of the North use and do not
manufacture, and as to which the exemption
from duties Is more beneficial to them than
| to us.
What are the opinions of Mr.. Van Buren,
OH th's SUBJECT! NO one knows. | say no
one knows what are the present opinions OF
MIR. Van Buren,. We do know what his past
opinions are: that he voted for the bill of a.
nominations, the tariff of 1928; and that he
| boasted at Albany, on his return from Wash
lngton, In public speech, of his unvarying
support of the tariff. 1t was then said at tho
South that he gave that vote against his own
| opinions, and under the coercion of Legislative
Instructions. This never believed, and it
has been lately charged, and Mr. Tallmadge,
OF the Senate, referred to rs authority to prove,
from under the hand of Mr.. Van Buren,, that
he wrote to his friends in the New York Lee
glslaturc that those instructions We're only in
conformity to his own fixed opinions; and it
mas not been denied. AS to internal i'm
provements, General Harrison holds precise
ly the opinion of General Jackson-that Con-
gress possesses the power to appropriate mo-
ney to works of a national character. j dis
| sent from that opinion. But he is, at the same
| time, opposed to the exercise of the power.
MIR. Van Buren, processes to believe that Con-
| gress does not possess the power, but habit
ually sanctions its exercise. More m ney
was appropriated for internal Improvements
| in the first year of his administration, than
was done In the whole four years of the adj
mlnistratlon Of Mr.. Adams. Now, | would
rather have President who admitted the
power, but was opposed to its exercise, than
one who denied the power, but habitually OK
| eIted 1t. AS TO internal Improvement, it is 10
more practical question than would be the
embargo, except as to the Cumberland road
and harbors; Mr.. Van Buren, sanctions both
OF these. l regard this as the very worst
form In which the power can be exerted. 1t
Is not only necessarily partial, it is con-
! inec IN Its benefits to the seaboard, but that
is the very region where, from vicinity to
markets, these improvements are not needed,
and, If they are, the people, being wealthy,
can make them for themselves. 1t is in the
remote interior where they are needed, and
Where the people are generally too poor to
make them.
A National Bank. General Harrison de-
MES the power under any express grant in
the Constitutions; but says, that if il shall be
demonstrated that the public revenues cannot
De collected without such an institution, ne
I thinks that Congress may in that event, es-
tabIlSh Il bank. | have never seen any man,
even OF the Strictest sect, who denies the
power thus qualified. No Government can
exist without revenue; it would not, in such
case, be question of convenience, but OF
necessity, absolute, imrerious, and involving
the very existence of the Government. Ii
Congress may not, iii such case, charter a
bank, that clause Of the Constitution which
/ gives all ''powers necessary and proper to the
execution of granted pow ers is a mere null
lily, and It's trainers We're not that body OF
sages that we have supposed them. 1t was
on this ground that this charter of bank IL
1916 received the support of Dallas, Craw-
/ ford, Lowndes, and Calhoun. and the Re
publican party of that day and at later dag,
1t was on this ground that the constitutional
/ ty of bank has been advocated by Mr.. Me-
Dufie, and every leading politician of Soutl,
/ Carolina. expressed these views in let
ter, published during my last canvass. ! do
not, however, think the establishment of
national bank within the powers &c Con-
/ gTesS, as no such necessity has been demon
strated and do not anticipate any such.
But am not disposed TO denource those as
either knaves or fools who think differently,
/ when ] remember that the first charter was
signed in 1891, four years after the adoption
! OF the Constitution, by Gen'l. Washington,
President OF the Convention which formed
that instrument, with ali the debates fresh in
his memory, and the second by the great and
vlrtuous Madison, who was it's great architect
Nor have any such aPprehensions as some
express OF the dangers of such an institution,
when remember that, Of the ffiy-three years
of our national existence, we have had ma.
tional bank for forty years, and that cur lib
critics have not only survived it, but that TO
injurious Influence was either exeTted or at
tempted, and that those forty years were pre-
ciSely the period Of our greatest prosperity
and happiness, and of advances in civilization
and power, unpre ccdented in the history oft the
world; and that the thirteen years when we
have had TO such institution were years of
universal stagnation of all tie employmonts
oflife, and ofthat suffering and distress whic,,
results from deficient or d initiated curren~
cy.
do not doubt that bank, not Sufficiently
} guarded, may become dangerous engine in
the hands Of d corrupt Government. and that
1t may be used iniuriousy to ire South. But.
properly guarded, have just as little doub (
: that the chief benefits Of such an institution
will be TO the South, for the simple reason
41,s,4s 1,oC = Il.