New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1842-11-28
VOL. EH. NO. 1913.
From the United States Gazatte.
Hon. John m. Clayton nnd the United
states Bank.

| EfOu. .SOhn Clayton REQ tHe auItec
states Bank.
Mr.. ED1ToR-1, has been source of continue
regret me, that there was ne competent reporter
at late meeting in Delaware, to report speech
heard delivered by Mr.. Clayton. 1t was an ex
! ceileDt speech in every sense Of the word full o.
instruction great points Of national interest, and
teenng with expositions of subjects upon which
the American People cannot be TOO well informed
| 1 he National Bank of these subjects and
nothing could be more striking and impressive
| than his history Of the downfall OF the United
States Bank and Of the unfortunate institution
which succeeded 1.-THE United States Bank OF
Pennsylvania. His account of this latter institu-
ton removed some of the errors of belief perhaps
some of the bitter preiudces OF many Of hi. audi
tors, and did justice to distinguished citizen,
whom it is now the fashion to sugmatze as the au-
thor of the banks rIin-I allude, of course, to
| Mr. Nicholas Biddle.
At the period, said Mr.. Clayton. when President
Jackson declared war upon the National Bank, no
| one could be so ignorant as not 10 know that the
people Of the United States possessed the best
| and most uniform currency in the world it Is
scarcely to be believed that human ingenuity could
have devised a better one. We had paper cur
rency fully equal TO specie one because it always
commanded specie; and such currency the best
political economists, with common experience 10
back them tells is better currency than specie,
| because it has none of the inconvenences OF the
latter and the rate of exchange between the re-
hottest points of the vast territory of the United
States was actually less than that Of the great cities
of Fra1ce--betwcen Paris and Bordeaux, for in
| stance. 1t was under such circumstances that
| President Jackson, falling into personal quarrel
with Mr.. Bdde, the cause of which is we'll known
| (Mr. Biddle refused TO remove Mr.. Mason from
the Presidency of the New Hampshire Branch OF
the United States Bank al the bidding Of the Old
| Roman. astonshed the world by making war upon
The Bank ITSELF declaring that 1t had failed to effect
| the purpose for which it was created-that is, the
furnishing good currency and an adequate rate Of
exchanges to the country; and insisting that this
object would be better effected by the State Banks.
! This the point, the great point on which the
hole war turned; Mr.. Biddle with nearly the
whole American people, at that time, agreeing
with him. arguing that no currency could be safe,
unless controlled by the General Government, and
that the destruction of the National Bank must be
followed by great increase ofState Banks; which,
| left to themselves, uncontrolled by National
Bank, must speedily destroy themselves, and the
whole currency of the country; while the Jackson
administration, on the contrary, insisted that the
| State Banks offered sufficient, and safer means
| of accomplishing all the purposes of National
| Bank. 1t was under President Jackson's auspices
under his direct advice and exhortations to the
States to charter new banks, and to the banks
themselves to increase their business, throwing of
all the trammels Of and all respect for the United
States Bank, ego back to the Jackson official pa
per- the Globe, of 1888, where this runous course
is strongly urged and the trid are encouraged
by the declaration that "Ohio, Indiana, illinois,
Missouri, and Kentucky, are resolved to take care
of themselves, and no longer depend on the kind
guardianship of Biddle, Clay & CO.." that the
number of State Banks and Branches rose from $50
TO 1913, and afterwards to much greater number,)
and their circulation from sizty-one millions to
one hundred and forty millions of dollars. The
consequence Of this was, as had been predicted,
sus ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. And who was the
cause of this-Mr. Bidde, or President Jackson?
The conversion of the United States Bank after
the expiration Of its charter, from National TO
State Bank, Mr.. Clayton had himself always DIS
approved Of and lamented But was Mr.. Biddle
the cause Of ITS ruin? The radical evil was that
| as State Bank, us capital TOO vast to find
Observation-Disclosures banking employment-no
| commercial business and accordingly 1t was IN
| duced-or rather it was compecd-to invest It's
means in StGte Stocks; and, of course, it lost,
like other purchasers, when these stocks fell. 1t
was this loss-it was this depreciation of State
stocks, which ruined the Bank-oae of the first
and greatest victims of that deliberate pad faith,
now grown into virtual or systema,zed 1epudso-
ton, on The part of the States, which has ruined
so many other NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. or individuals
and covered the American name with dshonor
The ruin of the State Bank Of the United States
was the act, not of MIR. Biddle, Ono single indivd-
ual was, perhaps, competent TO such deed oil de-
structon, but Of the ,States-the free, sovereign
States, which borrowed its money, dishonored the
debt, and left it to sink under load of worthless
State scrip, for which it had given up its gold and
silver Let US remember when we charge this
loss-resu!ting from this investment of the means
Of the Bank in State stecks-as the crime OF Mr.
Biddle, how many other persons committed the
same crime let us remember fact winch has
never yet been properly brought before the coun-
try, that the United States Government, having
the Smithsonian Fund and several millions OF dol
| lars to invest for the Indans-Creeks, Cherokees,
&c.-invested it, in pursuance OF an act OF Coh-
gress, in State stocks; and now the United States
have lost more in proportion upon their invest
ments in State stocks, than the Bank OF the United
| States on the whole of its widespread coecerns,
as appears from the report ef the Bank lnvestlga-
ting Committee of l34l. This Is fact which
ought to dsarm censure.
There is another fact said Mr.. Clayton, which
l mention in justice to MIR. Biddle, and which, IN
J Justice to him, ought never to be forgotten. In
January, l94l, the banks of Philadelphia, which
had been forced into suspension, were compulso-
lily directed TO resume specie payments, just at
the moment when the Legislature wanted to bor-
row $500, 0O0 Mr.. Biddle, then only private
citizen, exhorted the banks not TO resume; he as
snrad End ond az yarea I'm cnnyinc. them, they