Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1841-06-19

mo n Substitute for IT, He thought the same act /
which repealed, should provide substitute.
This co,rse had been persued IN 1886, and ne
could oerceive no sufficient reason Why 1T should
no, ,,e follows ed now. The friends OF the present
bill had themselves adopted that course then, and
he invited them to cite single precedent whefe
great system OF fiscal operations had been a.
POLISHED without either providing substitute oe-
forehand Inserting some provision IN the act vi
BOLTON itself The effect o: the course the
gentlemen were pursuing, would be TO thto"
back the Treasury on such resources as IL coutu
obtain by construction of previous iaws-'o pun
down the edIfice now existing. without placing
by its side og-cabin or a shantee, leaving
the iumai to seek shelter and security as they
might There was ia his opinion no crisis when
required this urgent haste.
Mr.. Woodbury. wished gentlemen TO act DIS
cretey. To abolish an important existing sys-
tenn, trivial, matter. tie would readily
admit, as some gentlemen had suggested, that
there had been much talk agains, the Sub treas
urv, and some arguments, but no experience IL
had been greatly abused and grossly misTepre-
scented, but he was not prepared 10 admit, what
was claimed by the friends OF the repeal, that
there had been any verdict of the repeal, against
IL. The system was one which had been matur-
ed with great caution, after prolonged consdera
ton and much debate; and he wanted 10 know
what were gentlemens reasons for soaking 10 "a
bolish IT, Ii was a system which he kne" TO be
constitutional. This none denied. or pretended
/ IL
on It's operations by the force of law and not de-
pending upon either States individuals 10
make il effective' IL was. moreover, "perfectly
/ safe;' the friends Of the repeal "cnuld not show
the loss Of sagle dollar under this much abused
system of conducting the fiscal affairs OF the Go
vernment." Mr.. lay, speaking across The
room, said .'tho accounts have no, been settled
/ yet"
s.But the Sub-Treasury system had yet one
other and infinitely greater excelene. 1t did not
4
ton by loaning out the public money. All such
loans were, by that law, strictly prohibited and
declared to be felony, and it was an acknow ledg-
ment and homage paid by the Senator from Ken
lucky to the excellence of that law, that, bent as
he was destroying the system, he retained
! this feature of it, and incorpora ted 1t into his
own bill. That system provided no s,muous for
over trading. On the contrary, its effect was to
subdue and quench that destructive fire which
had consumed the prosperity Of the country 1t
kept tho public treasury where il could be had
when il wanted Every encouragement,
every treasurer Of a mint, must be ready to hand
over every dollar Of the funds in his hands its
demand by Government. But was this tho case
under the Bank? Far from it, When the money
was most wanted by the Government 1t was
most wanted by the banks also But Mr.. w.
would not protract those remarks; he could not,
for his life, see any thing in the system itself to
Justify excuse this hastv and precipitate effort
to get rid Of it at a blow -
Mr.. Woodbury. next referred to the Pet Bank
System, which he said would come into existence
again ''with all its acknowledged imperfec lions
in it's train" if the Sub Treasury were repea ed
without creating a substitute in the same act
"Woud this be better system? Wise men did
not pull down one thing to substitute another un-
less that ,oIher weIa beUegna Ebs .Acii. st aS2g
countervailed by defects These he proceeded
. TO point out. "And were gentlemen he contin-
uet, SCALED upon now to revive such system
as this? Must the Secretary of the Treasury
scatter the public money in eighty banks, and
vivc again the scenes of 1886 1t could not be
done" Other objections to the Pet Bank Sys-
tenn, especially IN contrast with the Sub Treas
ury System. were then urged; and when Mr..
Woodbury. concluded,
4 Mr.. Clay called Tor the question on the pas
sage of the bill. The debate was continued
however, by Messrs. Calhoun, Benton. Wright
Young and McRoberts, against the bill, and Mr.
Tallmadge in its favor. About 7 o'clock the
question put, and the bill passed by the fol
lowing votes
4 Yeas-Messrs. Archer, Barrow, Bates, Bayard
Berrien, Choate, Clay, of Kentucky, Clayton
Dixon, Evans, Graham, Henderson, Hunting ton
Kerr, Mangum, Merrick, Miller, Morehead
Phelps, Porter, Prentiss, Preston, Rives, Simmons
Smith of Indiana, Southland, TaIlmadge, White,
Woodbridge-29.
Nays-Messrs. Allen, Benton. Calhoun, Clay
of Alabama, Fulton. King ,McRoberts, Nicholson
Pierce. SEWER, of Connecticut, Sturgeon. Tap
pan, Walker, Williams, Woodbury., Wright and
Youug-lS.