Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1840-1842, 1842-03-31
In SENATE U. s, MA.eH 94rH, 1912.

some amendments to the Resolutions OF the Hon.
Senator from Kentucky, (Mr CLir) sthey were
intended a substitute for portion Of those Reso.
lutons he presumed il would no, be in order to of.
fer them, while the amendments already submitted
by the Senator from New York tMr waieHr)
were yet undisposed Of. He wished, however, to
put the Senate in possession Of them at this tine
that they might be printed, and an opportunity be
afforded TO Senators to consider them, before the
final action upon the subject ofhe Resolutions gen.
orally. He begged leave, in presenting them, to
state very briefly the views and considerations which
had determined him to offer them.
fully participate, said Mr. RrEs, in the feelings
Of deep modification and humiliation which have
been 90 properly and ioroioly expressed by the
Hon. Senator from South Carolina mir PREsrosl
this morning, at the present deploroble condition OF
the finances and public credit OF this great nation.
The evil demands an immediate and practical reno
dy. The painful developments which have been
occurring from day to day have brought my mind
TO the thorough conviction that in the existing con-
dtion Of things, mother the essential branches OF
the public service can be carried on, nor the
public credit be maintained, without the aid, for
the present, in some form other, of all the
oes Of revenue 10 which this Government has been
heretofore accustomed. What, MIR President is the
mortfyng situation to which we are reduced
With current revenue hardly equal to one half of
the current expenditures OF the Government, we
have been driven TO every variety OF desperate shifts
and expedien,s to meet the daily demands of the
public service. Already, since our assembling. the
Secretary Of the Treasury has been compelled 10
come before us again and again with the repor, of
empty and bankrupt Treasury, showing quar-.
tery deficits Of large amount, for each Ct the first
two quarters Of the current year And how have
we been compelled 10 meet theml BY n new is
cue Of the notes OF the Government, which, Gs soon
they were put out, though bearing six per cent.
interest, have been actually sold, learn, IN the
~ h. 81 .oT
iom three to four per cent, At the same time, the
Treasury notes which had fallen due, have been
protested, in repeated instances the public mart,
for non payCent, With the view, rs we are told. OF
securing TO the responsibility of individual endor.
sers. as having become better guarantee than the
credit OF the Government ITSELF And last though
not least pressing have become the necessities of
the Government and so precarious the public ere.
DIT that we have seen the proposition seriously en-
tertaned to put the stock OF a now loan into mar
kct for whatever il will bring.
Is not this, MIR President, state Of things hum
la'ing TO the national pride, and does it not call
upon every one, jealous OF the honor Of The Amer
can NAME to unite in applying prompt ard eftici
caclous remedyl And at what moment is it per
United to exist ln the presence OF foreign dificul
ties, which, to say the east, appeal to every ,enti
mcni OF pride and 10 every principle Of prudence
he prepared for whatever may be their possible
issue. am alarmiS and least OF ALL an advocate
Of war. There is nothing more fervenily impore
for my country. and all mankind, than the blessings
OF peace. But 1t would be, | humbly conceive,
greatly to underrnte the grrvy of questions now
pending between us and one OF the most powerful
nations Of the earth, and TO disregard the deep
sibuy which we have seen recently awakened
elsewhere, well ms among ourselves. in relation
10 OF the most delicate OF these questions TO saw
that there is no danger in the future Of Interrupt
ton at that peace, which we oil, | trust are
aukc anxious TO preserve, long as IL can
be done consistently with the national rights
and honor. Peace, sincerely hope, will be pre-
hnNA gLawA
every kind Of feeling and OF interest," for its preser.
V'ilon But while uncertainty rests on the subject
and at a moment especially when that rlainty
s so rapidly Fastening 10 the crisis of it, final solu-
lion, It Is doubly incumbent on to cherish so vi.
t.l mud important an element OF national strength
as the public credit-"ihe main pillar of the public
safety" as It was emphaticay called by the great
statesman who was first called 10 preside over the
finances Of the nation.
Ii IS time, then, said MIR Rives, that we should
address ourselves. in oil seriousness, TO the re-es
ENLISTMENT Of this main pillar of the public safety
on Its only true and solid basis-a sure, adequate
and sacred provision for the discharge OF the public
debt Our debt had gone on Increasing with such
sweeping velocity shat 1t difficult TO keep pace
with II, and few Of nbie TO say to wha,
amount II had already attained. At the commence
meni OF the present session, we had contracted by
loan, under the authority OF the act OF the extra
&C sion, debt OF FIVE and half millions Of dollars
Inc Secretary Of the Treasury, in his annual re.
port, told US that there would be another debt of
seven millions, on Treasury notes, TO be redeemed
IN tie course Of the present year. We have since
authorized a new issue Of Treasury notes 10 the
amount OF five millions Of dollars more How much
OF the former issue may have been redeemed and
how much OF the new may not yet have gone out,
Know not; but the probability is, that the whole
public debt OF every kind is, al this moment be
tween fifteen and twenty millions. A proposition
Is now pending, as we know, IN the other wing Of
the Capitol, for additional loans to the amount in
the aggregate, Of eleven and half millions of dol
lars. Now, MIR President, will any gentleman con .
sent TO subject the credit OF the Government TO the
risk OF farther dshonor, by gong into Tie market
with this new stock, without previously providing
the means Of its redempton7 IL is cardinal
maxim Of public credit never departed from with
ImpunItY, that "the creation Of every new debt
should be accom- anied with the means Of lis ex,n.
eui.hmcnt;" aud, after the shock which our public
cfcjt has already sustained, these means mus
moreover, be nviolably pleJged TO that object
and none other. This was the principle on which
our system Of public credit was originally built I'd
aud has the sanction alike Of tie great names Of
Hamilton and Jefferson.
Where, then, is the fund which we can set apart
and pieige for the redemption Of the public deb, :
The real estate OF the nation, in the absence Of an
adequate current revenue, is the natural and pro.
per security for the payment Of the public debit
II has been regarded from the origin Of our hnau-
cill system. The Funding act, as it has been
generally called, which laid the foundation Of our
public credit, pledged the public lands, then belong.
ing, or which should thereafter belong, to the
United States, for the redemption OF the public
debt, and declared that "they should be applied
solely 70 that use, until the public debt should bs
fully satisfied" They are now the only certain,
accessible resource which can command for the
support Of public credit The condition, on which
n distribution Of their proceeds among the States
10 take place, having failed ny the demonstra.
ted necessity Of raising the duties on foreign i'm.
ports beyond 20 per cent, unless the land fund be
restored 10 the National Treasury, the distribution
mus stand suspended during the existence oil this
state Of things; and in the mean time, the fund
should, in my humble judgment, be solemnly
pledged FOR the payment OF the interest, and the
final oxtnsushmenl Of the principal, Of the nation.
ul debt With such pledge, the public credit oil
the nation, q think there can be no risk in saying,
would be instantly redeemed from depression and
dishonor, Treasury notes and the stock Of the Go.
vorImont would recover OF once their par value,
81 they Did not 20 above H., and there would be
honcciorward no difficulty in commanding what
ever pecuniary resources might be called for by the
eXigenrios OF the country.
The States themselves have the deepest interes.
in this application OF the Land fund, for The present.
"CfGdit," las been well said s an sniire thing "
the parts OF it have IN intimate and indssolube
sympathy and connection. Ia this country, the
crcGit of the nation Is the key stone Of tho arch
IN which The whole structure Of credit public and
private. rests for support. II that s permitted 10
Iil, The whole system tumbles al once into ruin.
81 the credit and stock OF this Government for the
want Of Just and adequate provision 10 sus,nn them
orc permitted 10 sink those Of the States must sink
in % far greater degree. Universal distrust will
tsLe rosseerfop NJ tho nuhlr mind. and tie IA.