Southern Argus. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1834-1842, 1842-02-08

s.e's' a'iu ~ inc very act positively asser.
ing It's own consiitu.ionalty. Thevcan
tot thus take advantage of the dishones,,,
or ignorance, as-the case MY be. The !,
own elected representatives. If tbev. asil,
oeguIlly ofthe folly of sending sucb . -,
o. men , to their legislative halls, they must
,or me present submit TO the conseauences
- TOT which they have themselves chiefly. ~
pane and for the future profit well hv
lne experience for WHICH they have bcan
mus made to pay. The.unconstitutionol
,.y ~. o. me law, then, clearly viii afford no
Jus'lhcatlon TO the Anli>Bond partyfor the
course threatened by large part of the
press OF mlsslsslPpi,-~assuming that I'm.
censsItulionality 10 be beyond question
ana putting ou;ofview the important fact
1hat Governor McNutt, the prime. mover
o. o. reputation, bihselfsigned the law re-.
i i to, and himself partially carried il
into execution.
Nor is the argument of iIleralitv DER;
vel from the mode of executing the law
much stronger than that Of the unconsti,
tutlonallty OF. the law ITSELF The State
suoscrbes to the stock of the Bank. and
inc I'VE millions of bonds are delivered over
10 the offices of the latter, for the purpose
OF aifordIng 1t the capital necessary to set
!! u IN ooperatIon.-this hcing esteemed, by.
llc ielae and morbil poular 9pnion Of 1fe
aay' an object Of high public concern and
interest. Grant that, in the sale Of them.
ne Bank, throughits agents, the commits
slonerss may have in some respects trims.
9ressed the provisions Of the law; the
otale ought no! to have'intrusled them 10
sIch uniaithful agents. The Circumstance
Of their being changed in form, from "cur.
rent money ofthe United States to ster.
ing currency, IS immaterial in its nature.
unless the former expression is fraudulent.
" -Eeant to give the State the advantage.
IN the payment of its interest, of the de.
prec'ated condition ofthe paper "current
money" of some portions of the United
States. This is not 10 be supposed: and
10 other honorable Interpretation can be
put upon the expression than that of the
true constitutional ''current money of the
United States," gold and silver. The
translation OF the one currency into the
other may or may not have been at the
Just rate OF the par Of exchange. We all
know that extremely vague and loose
Idears have been Cflate years very 2rcya.
lent of the meaning ofthat little monosylIav
Die. "Par" has had very different
meaning with the ono of our political par.
ties than with the other. With the Wings.
including great majority Of the CONNER.
clal community, the current value of a
suspended bank-note circulation has con.
'st'tuied the local standard of spar, "while
specie has been at a'greater or less "pre.
mum; while with the Democratic party
the currency alone afforded the standard
level from which the depreciation of the
respective paper calculations or different
sections have been measured downward.
We cannot perceive in this feature of the
ion, taken even in its strongest
shape, just or honorable ground for the
proposed reputation. 1t IL becomes a
sovereign State--and that State republic
and temacracy--to contest on petty
technical grounds of such character as
this, the payment of debts, however un.
wisely contracted and trusted in the
hands of unfaitbftn agents, on the faith of
which an inloceit foreign creditor has
been Induced TO part with his prope "; to
place it. if notn The Golfers of tie Stat4I
'treasury itself, at least in those of an insti.
tuition in which he State was the largest
stockhoder, and which it c.eated as val
nable object publ, policy, for the pre-.
sumeG benefit and "reiief'' oflisgreat com
merciaI and ag -iculturaI lnte: ests. Nor
does it appear by any means. clear that af-
ter the delivery OF the bonds to the Bank,
IN payment oflhe subscription ofthe State
to its stock, the State has any further Fight
to scrutinize the terms Of any arrange.
ment that may be made by the Bank TO
realize upon them the highest price ad.
mitted of by the condition of the market
provided that thu S ate is credited. wi h
them at the full value Of their face, atl ar
and as cash, on lis subscription TO tie
stock. And tbs we understand to bethe
fact. That the directors of the Union
Bank have wasted their capital in. the
false and dishonest system of banking and
financiering which has prevailed n.that
State, is no fault of the foreign creditor,
who lent his money on the credit, neither
of the Bank, nor of its companjon.in ini-
quty, the Bank of the United States, bat
on that of the State Of Mississippi. The
Slaie.has doubtless sunk its money, as
many a stockholder in many bank in
hat as in other parts of tie country. This
has not been caused by The fact of the loss
sustained by the Bunk on the sale of the
bonds. be the true figure of that loss more
Of less. The same would have been the
case-had the bonds in question comman- j
ded a premium, instead of having been
sold at rate of five and six per cent. de.
probation. The same would doubtless
have been the case had the entire fifteen
millions, originally contemplated, been
consigned TO the same destination. Hap
ply for the people of Mississippi, and
thanks TO the intelligent frmhcss. o Cow
ernor AlcNutt; the State has lost only five
millions, where it might have lost fifteen.
1t deserved richly the smaller ioss-fol
the folly of which it was guilty, in. .crea-
ting the Bank, and thus cndowing it with
the means ofeyi from the pubic freasurys
It.wouid have made no practical.difer-
e1ce in the result whether the contribu
ton of the State had been in The. form. of
a loan of its bonds to she Bank, as con-
fenplated in the original act, on in that