Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1841-08-06

OU, a
son. Would il be Insufficient plea in his case ,.,
sentence of death being pronounced upon Lm - :.
that It was his private opinion that the las h. b,d
sisted was unconstitutional: Surely not. He -
enjoy his opinion but must not carry il into A.,
AGAINST the settled will of the nation legally ev.
ed Suppose marshal of the United Stat ).
called 10 execute process issued IN behalf o III, p
m,uht he refuse the plea that he Though, III. H. :
unconstitutional? or might court refuse 10 rya -
ment for the Bank in SUIT because one of lie X.
an the bench held that opinion? And why yc,I
do any better for the President Let hm ,,t.
Constitution as others were bound 10 take il, H.
norfectlv free 10 do so, nor would lie be pg,r
conss,encv or breach of duty in setting ., a.
private Opinions just as Judge OF suborlaa,e co
must do If any iunctlonary of the Goycranen, !
bound TO act otherwise, it must be on Tie ali.
ground of his oath 10 support the Cohst4ti,,
did that oath mean that every man must support !.
Constitution .ns he understood II NJ sue, ic,
was in the Constitution. The same oath vas adm,
tered to every functlonary-ii one was bound .
others were. And, in a question Ike tins ge 49,,
as lawfully argue from lower 10 higher, a i,o,-
higher to lower officer. If the marshal gas b.,,,
to take the Constitution etiectually settled =
the President! If the President might i,ss IN
right of private judgment, SO might the MARSHA
so might the Judge, and might, al last, every mn,
citizen and then We should come 10 that glotioi, 49,
of universal confusio where every man iateru,.,
law and constitution 10 suit himself, and cyefy h
did what was right in his own eyes. 4 man n,,
have sold his nelghbor quantity of bank stock
when he demanded his money the other might !,
shall not pay you dollar the bank is uncons,,u,s'
and its stock no more than blank paper.
Here Mr.. SNYDER rose and INSISTED thatt!. n
had expired, and claimed the floor, as did sryc9a o
gentlemen
After some little dispute on the point, tie ;so,
obtained by
Mr. MCCLELLAN Of Pa. who sad lie regarded
Distribution bill and the Loan bill as having 81
brought forward as preparatory to the prcscn, b .
establish Bank
Mr.. SNYDER here claimed the floor; but, after
conversation with the Chair
MIR. MCCLELLAN was ruled to be in order, al!
thereupon proceeded.
He considered these bills as part Of the system
funded debt introduced by Gen. Hamilton IN in.
thought there was striking resemblance between
circumstances of the country and the Legislation
Congress in 1871 and ISL. In 1871, there had n
separation between the revenue and the BANS II
dwell, upon the advantage Of hard money cur..
as an Interchangeable standard of value and ob,er.
that the Government al lis outset had started f.f
unfortunately had been diverted by the influence i.
OF the leading minds of that day who's" nlrI,.
had laid the foundation Of all the financial tl.c..,
experienced by the country ever since. He sd,e'.
with high commentator the result Of Nlr. Nau B.
ren's Administration, which had again produced )
paration between the revenue and the Banks, an
restored the Government TO lis ancient cchs.i,uti
limits. it now proposed 10 tahe fresh depif; :.
and pursue the very track al first marked ~, II II.
milton.
The question of National Bank had aglta,d
country through every period of It's history Tue {.
ple had manifested the most decided hostility ~
an institution from l19 to the present day, aaa
ever continue TO oppose it, as unconstitutional luG I
gerous 10 public liberty. Ii would ever be regart
the landmark which divided the two leading patte 4
this country. or these parties Jefferson and Mad
had been the opponents Of one side, ana llam.io.
the other. Those who opposed II did 50 both iron
letter Of the Constitution, and from It's contenlo'
Gus history, which showed that the power ~as e1l'
" prohibited by the Convention after il had been
posed in that body. If this contemporaries b,
had been admitted, the question which has aglilte
country for fifty years would have been settled %
against the Bank; but it was excluded; ana noy
lS4l, The opponents Of the Bank were met hy tie
trlne that the question was settled, both by tie
ciary and by the appreciation OF the American II
Mr. Mcclellan denied that the Supreme Couf,
ever decided that Congress had power 10 char
Bank 10 subserve such purposes as were the a,
ends of the present BILL namely 10 restore ord
the currency and to regulate the exchanges q,
country. Al that it mad decided was, that Cong /
under resulting power, might establish Elnb
fiscal agent OF the Treasury, II necessary, hHi ln
necessity was to be Judged Of by the two lIg,
Congress. The constI,u,lonallty OF The Bank.
fore, depended on the question whether such 81 &
tuition necessary to the discharge OF the tn.
of Government in collecting and dlshursnG tie
revenue. If established at all, il must be bans
poste and not ofclrculaticn and discount he i.
that The wants of the Government required =
tremendous power rs bank with capital = =
millions, with liberty 10 extend 1t 10 fifty millions
monster like that would possess power L. cont" g.
dustry, business and wealth of the nation, aat
place the State sovereignties as we'll a, tie ~
Government itself At lis mere mercy. 10 Shes
intended object Of the Bank, .lr NJ here ~
pamphlet put forth BY the merchants Of Boston.
ing that they wished for il as fiscal agent o. VI (
vcrnment, but only as an instrument 10 Hood W.
try with a paper circulation and To take from h'
of labor the bread il had earned. lie denied anf
in the Government TO regulate exchanges. u e.
argued only on the compound lever princPie
could no more be established than power N y
ment to provide the people Of OHIO Will! The ne
carrying their beef and pork to the Atlantic Y
i.rred 10 debate in the Senate, some years a.
which it had been contended that 4 Bank vas @
sary to regulate our foreign exchanges, then al Y
two per cent with England but the laws Of
which were uniform and uncomfortable ~ U
| Nature, had of themselves, without any Ba'6
duced the rates Of exchange to eight and u
cent; winch was the true par rate Of t1cH-'s
tween this country and England.
Mr. NJ. traced all the depreciation IN The eur
and all the consequent derangemen, Of e1claa-
bank suspensions. The exchange between Nea
and Charleston, the Banks OF which two cite
nue. to pay specie, was but one per cent. an
would be all over the country, if the banks Wolt
up their notes.
As TO securing uniform currency, the only X
stable, and constitutional currency was gold an
and he denied that the trainers Of the Cou,''
ever intended TO confer on Congress the pow'f
viding paper currency, which must CERTAIN,
out Of circulation the precious metals. That
ment empowered Congress TO coin money, ba
coin paper. Congress never had regulated TIE
Of foreign coin before the passage of the famous
bill IN 1884. Previous to the time gold e.
been undervalued six and two thirds per cent
it could not be retained in the country, being -np
by paper. The consequence Of that bill had be'E
crease the quantity Of gold and silver from iNS'#
lions, as it had been in lS32, to eighty mllIo'''
had been in 1888, and 10 near hundred m'i9oa'
was at present. This was not the result OF il'f !
trade, but of the Gold bill If the present b.
pass all the specie would speedily go out OF "
/ try. Mr.. NJ. here insisted that the Governmeh.
need of any bank, State National, IN the g.
and distribution of the revenue. This propo''
happily been demonstrated by the adminsifat."'
Van Buren,.
In confirmation Of the truth Of this position
Mcclellan went into financial history d tn"
nis,ration lie went back 10 the third OF Slara.