Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1823-1847, 1840-03-03
SPEECH OF MIR. DAVIS.
OF MASSACHUSETTS,,
ON THE SUB-TREASuRY BILL.
In Senate, January %.

u
determination not TO adjourn without taking
the question upon the final passage of the bill,
Mr. DAVIS said rise, Mr. President, with
great reluctance, at this late hour, to address
the Senate, iaiigued as il is with an unusually
long session, and exhausted by the debate
but, painful as !, is. must in,reat their indul-
gence, while make brief reply 10 the new
doctrines which have been now, for the first
time, published here, and come to us through
channEs = that leave no doubt of their being
tho ftsffirs u ire ADMINISTRATION. They
involve, and have drawn into this debate great
and momentous considerations, affecting the
most cherished interests of the people ] rep
resent, as well as of nearly the whole coun-
try. With the exception Of a few incidental
remarks made by me day or two ago, no one
from the North and East has addressed you
during this discussion; and as some part of
/ the debate has been pointed in its character,
and directed TO me personally. as if the posi-
tons assumed were incapable of reiutation, ]
feel urged by an irresistible sense of duty-nay
| canno, reconcile myself to forbear from ma
king some reply.
The Senator from Mississippi, (Mr. Walk
cr) with his usual acknowledged ability, and
the distinguished Senator from Pennsylvania,
Mr. Buchanan following in his track, have
advanced the propositions that the embarrass-
ments and distress with which the country
has been previously afflicted for several wears
past, and which now paralyze all its energies,
are imputable TO the pernicious influence Of
bank paper; that this bill contains the neces-
sary corrective, as it will check importations
of foreign goods, suppress what they call the
credit system, and, by restoring specie cur
| rency, reduce the wages OF the hborer, once
the value of property.
/ iS tha char uiy to ra
! by its friends and, alarming as its doctrines
/ are, am gratified that they are frankly avow-
/ ed. have been anticipated, to a considera-
! bic extent, by the Senator from Miss, Mr.
! Henderson, In what have to say, shall,
however, con6ne myself chiefly to the speech
of the Senator from Pennsylvania, who has
gone more in detail into this subject, for we
all acknowledge his ability on this floor, and
his capacity TO do ample justice 10 the subjects
which he discusses.
! do not propose TO follow him through a
very large portion of his elaborate argument
TO prove that Executive power has flatc been
Stunned, instead Of being sought after, or that
the present and the old Bank Of the United
States are Identical, and both national banks.
Enough has been said on these points. lie
has however, asserted that we have abandon
ed all the arguments which we have before US
ed against the sub-treasury, because the pro-
gress of events has proved them unsound.-
Not so far from it. With others, | entered
into that debate which is before the public
and the arguments unre iuted stand as firm as
ever but it would be profitless task to rcit-
crate them here, and this is the reason why
they are passed over in the discussion.
But, sir, will not dwell upon any of these
matters, but go TO that in hand. The Senator
says we labor under distressing embarrass-
ments, and so we do no one will have the
hardihood TO deny it, for all the country in
borrow bears testimony to it. We have, it is
true, seen an occasional CLEAN oflight, but II
has been soon obscured, and we have beer
shrouded in a gloomy uncertainty. He says
further, that'the cause is excessive issues o
bank paper speculation, and bloaled Il USE
his worlds credit system. He lodges tho
guilt on the shoulders Of the banks alone. i
is neither just nor fair to held them alone re-
sponsible, and | will make II manifest by
showing that they were seduced into their or
rors by the Administration.
Before the late President (Jackson) seizet
the public money and took it into his own Gus
to5y, in 1893, there was no complaint abou
the currency; all the people knew this, for al
+ even the Presideu, himself in one of his mes
sagcs, united in declaring, in substance, il wa
sound, and equal TO that of any nation OF
earth. There was no complaint no inconven
icace, no embarrassment, from this source, il
doing business but contentment and salts
faction everywhere. About this there coul
be no mistake, nor will any one here aitemp
to refue the well known facts.
: But from that act of the President, whic
: was tic first movement 10 reform the cufren
cy, to this day, there has been what the Sena
tor is pleased to call Expansion, contraction
T and explosion" in rapid and fearful succession
crisis upon crisis, pressure upon pressure
PAM: upon panic have succeeded, till we hay
reached a state Of suspicion and alarm tina
has deranged and almost suspended business
The storm in its fury has swept over tho coun
try, once and again uprootlng the staielles
: and firmest trees, and leaving in lis rack
, dreafy, Cesolate waste. Its marks are To-
! deeply engrayen, too distinct, too well define
10 leave anything uncertain-anyinng equiv
ocll. II fell upon US with such whitening en-
orgy as to leave no doubt when, where, an
} how II began.
I Gentlemen may tax their ingenuity, the
may tax their inventions, 20 discover other eau
ses of dis,ress-ihey may belabor and hold u
5 70 scorn and execraiion the banks as long a
! they plcase-they cannot change the facts
1 for they cannot obliieraie history Thing
were well, and everybody knows IL, ill 1899
Then began the bank reform by the remoya
? Of the deposiies--and then began tits rapi
D series Of "expansion, contraction and explo
| sion"-ihen followed crisis after crisis-the
came the arrangement Of exchanges, and the
the embzrrassnents which have oyerwhelmei
| the countIy-tllen came, too, the niHe hLrndre
: banks OF which the Senator speaks, though b
: has probably s~elled the number beyond his