Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1842-01-15

rcatlon, ami roaponemfh'i a"s '''''s
npa;pet any action upon II.
| MIR. CALHOUN said he had been requested 70 PIE
sent n petition from several citizens OF 'ew io,"' pa.
1 np that Congress may not interfere win Tue bih"iup
law passed last session, either by repeating a1ef"g'
omendlur IL. or posippnlrg lis operation LUIS P,t
on had been forwarded Ia him with strong appeal 10
mis- symnothes He could not be ignorant that there
r thousands of our most valuable ieow-citlzens al the
presenl moment reduced 10 hopeless state OF in'o'
yrncy-citzens who have Just Grams upon the sy'''
nathies Of the community. lie would go further, ne
woud saw not only that he deeply dcpoed The cond'-
ton 10 which they reduced; but that lie consee
tionsy belle ved most OF the Insovents were
sutfrrers-the victims of unwse and improper eg'sii
;ion on the par; Of this Government and that oil inc
s,aes i; r.l,,on 10 the currency lie held that, to
his c,use was mainly be attributed the insolvency
and bankruptcy, general throughout Inc country.
:; With this impression, he would 70 INTO brei state
men explanatory Of the causes oil Tue present distress
RI What was bank note but an evidence OF debt
Som The bauk To the holder and what did 1t represent
but debt-he debt of those who got accommodation
from the banks The currency Of this country then,
n os almost exclusively debt representing debt; and
what was the effect Of making such paper currency
the circulating medium: What but TO expel from the
country gold and silver which only, under the Constr
tution and laws pay debts, and substitute Tor hem
nothing but evidence Of Indebtedness And what was
the effect of that but 10 decrease inc means OF
debts lust in the proportion that Indebtedness Is
increased In prosperous times, when exchanges are
IN favor of this country, the increase Of TINS BANK pa
ner evidence of Indebtedness would be large IN proper
ton TO the enterprise induced by prosperity. heh
bank activity would be at the highest, and the ex'
mansion of paper currency would be at full tide
expeng from the country all, or nearly all lis
gold and silver. But certain as the tide oil the
ocean succeeded by it, e5b, certain is the toe oil
bank expansion Of being succeeded BY the ebh oil con-
traction Then come ruin and disaster and universal
distress when there The least means lett III the coun-
Try for relieving them, for meeting engagements ana
Indebtedness because the very evidence oil Indebtedness
proceeding from expansion had driven out the means
of paying Indebtedness. THIS thing of making evl.
dence Of Indebtedness basis of currency, has proved
that The result can be nothing else but widespread
Insolvency. IL IS acting upon the same system as
an architect would act upon, who, for every pound
weight Of material he laid upon the supers;ructurc
he was raising, should undermine equivalent por
ton Of The foundation The whole superstructure
must down. This was what brought i've nun
dcd thousand citizens into such extremity as to com
| pei them - make these appeals 70 the sympathlcs
of Congress. But strongly he felt the appeal, he
II could Yield 10 at the sacrifice Of great and I'M
portant principles that 90 far beyond present neon
venence and temporary individual suffering. lie could
not but that 10 yield to the request OF these petit
TONERS would be, in the end, but II agsravatc the eVs
they complain Of, and 10 involve much wider circle III
the ruin which oyerwhclms them. The continuance Of
the Bankrupt Law viii aggravaic instead Of Mitigating
the general distress accustomed b. an inflated and rre
deemable paper currency. II that law is not repealed
millions Of dollars worth OF property Will have been
submitted 10 the auctioncer hammer at tme too that
the country cannot furnish 10 purchase H. unless
ruinous sacrifice 10 both debtor and creditor The
result would lie disastrous than the effects oil
the former Bankrupt Law disastrous they we're
The he sacrificed will lie far beyond any cal
culation based on the effects o. that law What VIII
the creditors benefit BY the operation ot,hs law: Lite.
rally nothing. Scarcely fraction Of their debts WI!
be collected under It's operation And III view OF the
In, harm tpl
one Of the most inquitous laws passed. Whca
the Constitution adopted, there was strong desire
manifested 10 shape the power OF creating uniform
Bankrupt Law 10 authorize insolyents rs well rs
bankrupts 10 be included; but that was abandoned,
aud the power was restricted to bankrups, as de-
fined in the English laws, then existing and prevail
ing. 1t never intended by the trainers OF the
Constitution that the power should reach 10 nsolvents
generally. But there was another objection TO the
Bankrupt law Of The last session. II looks III lie irst
instance the protection Of the debtor and not to the
protection OF the creditor This he held 10 be adverse
10 the intent and meaning Of the Constitutions and
in view cf all this j, would be impossible for hia 10 vote
in compliance with the prayer 81 the petitioners icr Tie
continuance of such an unequal and unjust law. II
might be asked why would he not conscious OF the DIS
,rcss which bowed down many valuable citizens, con-
TO restrict lie law to snch operation rs he admitted
would be constitutional, and By leaving out all that was
exceptoaab!e and combining TO the class Of real bank
rups afford the relief Justly claimed by valuable CT
lizens. His answer was that III the present condition
of the country condition productivity an arcinl and
inflated currency he could not agree that any bankrupt
law would be just lis operation would be unequal ana
improper in every respect. Tie real of payment
in satisfaction OF Indebtedness having been expelled
from the country by inflated and irredcemable paper
currency, the class of persons who would he involunta-
~ bankrups would he the che sufferers under The ope-
ration Of bankrupt law, and that under circumstances
entirely beyond their control and yet under the control
r of those who inflicted bankruptcy upon them Undcr
this aspect Of the effects perspective OF bankrupt
law Of the best kind he could not consent 10
d participation in the formation Of law calculated to
inlct not only wrong, but cruelty. Neither would
he ever agree tn remedy for supposed evs-that
be effected by stretching the powers granted by
the Constitution beyond the strict construction ana OBJ
vous intent of those powers For bis creed, that
upon the restrictions aud nvolabty Of that sacred in
strument, depended the stability Of this Government
and the permanency Of our institutions The Bank
rupt OF last session, he considered among The most
dangerous OF the invasions attempted upon the
Constitution. He could through il the progress OF
Invasions Of unlimited extent. And he could even
view the proposition TO include in It's operation corpora
tons invasion, not alone o the Constitution but
Of the States. And lie would here say TO those in favor
of that proposition that if they could succeed in their &C.
sire Of including corporations they would very soon find
this Government stretching its to every State and
to every city and town III the Union, under the pre-
tence Of regulating their corporations With these Oh
servations he should conclude by moving that the me-
mortal be referred 10 the Committee the Judiciary
! alr. BEERlEN replied al some length 10 Mr. Cal
houn, arguing that bankrups being nsolvens, insol
vents necessarily bankrupts and there could be
distinction contemplated BY the trainers Of the Con-
st,ution and that repeated decisions Of the Supreme
t Court had ruled.
4 Mr.. CALHOUN remarked that the Senator had but
repeated the ar guments he had made in lo21, WHICH
were then conclusively relued by able men, whose
opinions he (Alr Cdlhoun) considered tar more ortho
dox than decisions Of the Supreme Court But if the
Senator DESTROYS to 20 the ground as in
l-27, he (Alr Cahoun) ready TO meet him in DIS
cussIon.
Here the subject dropped and the petition refer
red 10 the Committee ON the Judiciary.
: The PRESIDENT pro tenn. announced the unt-
nished business which the motion to refer to n Sc
lect committee Of nine the plan for Board OF Exche-
, quer.
Mr.. MERRICK occupied the floor in brief speech