Boon's Lick times. [volume] (Fayette, Mo.) 1840-1848, 1842-02-05
IN SENATE u. S. DEC. 90, IS4l.

Mr.. RIVES said he had no wish to par
ticipate in the present discussion, which
seemed to him both irregular and prema-
ture, and certainly should not have done so,
but for the absence of his honorable friend
from New York, (Mr. Tallmadge) who had
made the motion which has given rise to
this unexpected discussion, and who had
been compelled by indisposition to with
draw from the chamber. On behalf of
that friend. and in some sort as represent
ing him, if he might presume to say so,
from the intimate personal relations which
had so long subsisted between them, he felt
himself called on, by the unexpected range
which the discussion had taken, to make a
few observations. His honorable friend,
in submitting motion to refer the report
Of the Secretary of the Treasury to Sc
lect committee, had expressly stated that
he deemed all remarks on the merits of the
particular plan proposed by the Secretary
as, at that time, out of place, as the paper
was to go into the hands of committee, by
which its shape might be materially chang
ed, and the scheme thereby be freed from
objections to which it was now liable. And
yet the honorable Senator from Pennsylva-
MIA (Mr. BuchanaD has thought it worth
his while, in the very inception of this pro-
cess of inquiry and deliberation, to pro-
nounce an elaborate argument against the
plan proposed to be referred, in the very
shape in which 1t now stands, even to its
minutest details; and in this he has been fol-
lowed and sustained by the Senator from
South Carolina, (Mr. Calhoun.) Admit
ring, as always do, said Mr.. r., the dis
play of ingenuity and ability which both
of these distinguished Senators have made
on this occasion, yet cannot but think
that they might have spared themselves a
good deal of trouble, and not little gratu-
itous denunciation, if they had been con-
tent to await the action of the committee,
and see IN what shape the measure will then
be presented for their consideration. Sure
/ am that nothing will ever be presented to
them, with the concurrence Of my honora-
BILE friend from New York, which shall be
Justly obnoxious to the denunciation of be-
ing great Government Bank. 1t does
seem to me, then, with all Difference to the
honorable Senators, that it would have
been better,in every respect both as il re-
CARDS economy Of time, and, yet more that
temper of sobriety and Cancellation which
is so necessary to the success of legislation
under existing circumstances, if they could
have reserved their remarks until a defnl-
tive and practical question shall be present
cd to them by the report of the committee,
to which the plan Of the Secretary is now
proposed to be referred
Mr. RIvEs said that, although the Sena-
tor from South Carolina (Mr. Calhoun) had
very warmly expressed his concurrence in
the objections taken by the Senator from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Buchanan) to the plan
of the Secretary Of the Treasury, he could
not but be struck with remarkable incon-
gruity between the views severay expressed
by those two Senators. The Senator from
Pennsylvania, in denouncing the scheme as
a great Government Bank, seemed to justi-
fly the imputation of that character to it
mainly on the ground that the proposed
Board of EXchequer was, under certain
limitations, to be allowed TO issue CONVEX
tible paper currency, to fixed amount
But this powef'of issue the Senator from
South Carolina has just told us is thing
entirely distinct from the proper function
of banking, and congratulates himself and
the country that this principle, first laid
down by him, as he seems to intimate, in
the discussion of 1887, is now acknowledge
ed by the Report of the Secretary of the
Treasury The principle is no novelty, sir;
nor was it in 1887; for it had certainly been
announced and ably developed by one of
the most celebrated writers on Political
Economy in England, (Mr. Ricardo) as
long ago as s24, in his plan of a National
Bank 1t has ever since been fructifying
in the public mind of that country, and has
produced new and important views of the
subject of currency among her ablest
theoretical and practical writers; such as
Mr.. Samuel Jones Lloyd, Mr.. Torrens, and
Mr.. Clay, member of the British Paria-
'ment, who has devoted himself with partic-
ular zeal and success to this branch Of fnan-
cial science. During the past year COM
mttee was raised by the House of Com
mons, consisting Of the then Chancellor of