The Yazoo Whig and political register. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 1840-1842, 1842-12-16


amendment Of the laws establishing the Treasury
Depaituent has encountered various Objections and
thnt among others Il has beer proclaimed Govern
ment Bank Of fearful and dangerous import. Il is
proposcd 10 confer upon ID no extraordinary powers
Il purports to do moro than pay the debs OF the
Government. with the redeemable paper Of the Gov.
ernmenl-n which respect Il RccOmplisFes precise
" what the Treasury docs daily at this time in Is
suing 10 the public creditors the Treasury notes
which, under law II is authorized to issue.
II has no resemblance 10 az ordinary bank, as il
furnishes no profits TO private stockholders, and
lends no capital 20 individuals. 1fl be objected to
asa Government Bank, and the objection DO avail
ahle-then should all the laws in relation to the
Treasury be repealed, and the capacity Of the Gov
cnmCn 10 collect what 10 due y IT, or pay what II
owes be abrOgatod.
There can be but three kinds Of public
currency. lst, Gold and Silver. ID, the
paper Of State institutions; or, Sd, repre-
sentative Of the precious metals, provided by
che General Government, or under It's author
ity. The Treasury System rejected the
last in any form; and, as il was believed that
no reliance could be- placed on the issues Of
local institutions, for the purposes Of gener-
al circulation, il necessarily and unavoidably
adopted specie as the exclusive currency for
its own use. And this must ever be the
case unless one Of the other kinds be used
The choice, in the present state of pubic
sentiment, lies between an exclusive specie
currency on the one hand, and government
issues Of some kind on the other. That these
issues cannot be made by a chartered lnsil-
tuition, is supposed 10 be concluslVely set
lied. They must DO made, then, directly
by government III,
Mind 10 the true interests Of the country, as
a. resort 10 such an expedient, would in
svitably meet with a Gnal overthrow, in the
fact that, the moment the paper ceased to be
convertible into specie, or otherwise prompt
lv redeemed II would, in the end, dlsh0nor
the government, involve the people in ruin,
and such political party in hopeless disgrace
Al the same time, such view involves
the utter impossibility Of furnishing any cur
Fency other than that of the precious metals,
for. if the government itself cannot forego
the temptation Of excessive paper issues,
what reliance can be placed in corporations
upon whom the temptations of individual
Acknowledgement would most strongly operate!
The people would have to blame none but
themselves for any injury that might arise
from a course so reckless, since their agents
would be the wrongsdoers, and they the pas
sive spectators.
For several yearE past they have been thus
made in the form Of Treasury Notes, & hav
ness has been limited 10y their being transien
aud temporary: theit leasing TO bear inter
est at given periods, necessarily causes thei
speedy return, and thus restricts their rang
Of circulation, and being used only bv IN
l. disbursements Of the government, they car
not reach those points where they are mo,
required. By rendering their use permG
nent, TO the moderate extent already men
toned, by offering no inducemenl for the
return, and by exchanging them for coin an
other values, they viii constitute, to a Gel
tain extent, the general currency so niue
needed TO maintain the internal trade of II
country. And this is the Exchequer plaI
so far as it may operate in furnishing a Gu
rency.
This is the chief purpose Of the propose
Exchequer; and surely If, the accomplish
ment Of a purpose so essential, it affords
sound circulating medium 20 the country an
facilities 10 trade, IL should be regarded as r
slight recommendation Of il to public col
sideratiOn. Properly guarded by the provi
ions Of law, il can run into no dangero,
evil, nor can any abuse arise under it br
such as the Legislature itself will be al
swerable for, If it be tOleratedl since it is b.
the creature OF the law, and is susceptible
all times Of modi6cations amendment
repeal, at the pleasure of Congress.
know that it has been objected that II
system would be liable 10 be abused by q
Legislature, by whom alone it could be abu
ed, in the party conflicts of the day. TIL
such abuse would manifest itself in chan,
of the law which would authorize an exec
sive Issue Of paper for the purpose of infi
ing prices and winning popular favor.
that it may DO answered, that the ascripti
of such motive TO Congress is altogett
gratuitous and inadmissible. The theory
our institutions would lead us 70 a differt
conclusion. But perfect security againt
proceeding go reckless, would be found
exist ia the very nature Of things.
/ cannot forego the occasion TO urge
importance 10 the credit Of the goVernmt
in a financial point Of view. The great
cessity of resoring TO every proper and
coming expedient in order 10 place the Tr
sury on a footing Of the highest response
ity, is entirely obvious. The credit of
government may DO regarded as the v
soil Of the government itself--a principle
vitality without which, all its movements
languid and all lis operations embarrass
In this spirit the Executive felt itself BOT
by the most imperative sense Of duty 70 s
nit 10 Congress, at its last session, the T
Pristy ofmaking specific pledge Of the Il
fund as the basis for the negotiation of
loans authorized 10 be contracted. / Il
thought that such an application Of the p
lie domain would, without doubt, have p
ed at the command Of the governments, an
funds to relieve the Treasury from the Il
porary endorsements under which il lal
ed. l4 rf
American credit has suffered a considt
Die shock in Europe, from the large ind
edness Of the States and the temporary
bility OF some or them to meet the int
on their debts. The utter and disaslT
-.rnnArnlinn nf a. 49, 60 d