Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1843-11-23

a. only one more question to consider !;
and that is, can currency thus UNIVERSAL
ia it's character, thus equsl 10 valGe over
al the country, be iurnished ty any IN
st,.u,ion OF any State whatever We
have all Ind some fxpeiien' OF +; we
eli know 10 he contrary. We all h190lc
the 'ntrary. Take the bills Of any
bank in Massachusetts this day TO Virgin
10, and they will not PISS. Brig bills Of
Virginia banks to Massachusetts, al they
viii not ass. They are State institu-
Tins; and the citiz rs our State are
acquainte With tao Institutions ri th',r
own State. They know the soIdiiy, the
soIveDcy, tie resi- onsib..ty Of their own
bsnks. and will trust tbs paper oftheif
own bank. as far as they ought. And
they know the institutions Of the govern.
n.ent thai is over oil. Thy are bound
10 know those general laws aud tiose gen
ersl institutions which are over al inc
States. But they Go not, and they can.
not know The particular institutions Ut
other Stats S, nor an they lie well inform
ed as TO the credit whl,h is or ought to
be due to tier banks or their paper
An therefore, if one If you wire now at
Richmond or Pct, rsburgh, with plenty OF
MassarhUs, It's mney III your pocket, II
wolld rot ass readily from hand to hand
in daily bust ess, though it is true that II
you sh uld take to a br kcr he might not
oulv give you its value IN its lace, but
psy premium upon II for Northern re-
in.ssi n, because he makes il his business
= 49, k,., ..( a
fercct States.
Tn So three Il ings then, take TO be
con e3e5 -
1. That paper will fern tho great mass
OF our circulat on -
.. That il is d siralle that of this mass
par. should be uiiyers lily acceitsbie,
and Of quail vnlue and
3. That such paper cam 1T BIZ .dr.
shed by any State institution w atever;
but The m IN, mt we ascend - the gov
ernmeht over all the poment we meet
moaey in cir.ulluon with The spread en-
gie upon i, isspe oy authority Of the
uoitrd States we know that it circulates
everywhere.
IN the nature Of things it is both reason
able All just that this should be SO for il
reasonable that al parts Of the Unied
States should have cspect for the insttu.
tons Of the Gene al Government and put
ianh ia the romis, whh h i makts.
Now, gentlemen, where is the power,
where is the power? | say that the pow.
rr is implied in the authority of Congress
10 regulate Commerce. 1t S derived from
iba.-for in order to discharge its duty TO
Comm, rcr, Congress must snperintend
that which lie the great agent OF Com.
nerce--money. C,Bg ess has power TO
regulate the CurrRcy and according 10
Mr.. Madson's IA ,ture judgment, Govern.
,prnt mus: have the power to j, eide what
shall take tho place Of tho currency If 1t
is JisI laced by paper money. | shall not
po a: length over the Constitutional ques-
ii,n. Ssfiice it to say that c'eval wiih
tho Constitution that power las been be-
Iicyed to exist. Those who made the
C,ns itItion dill MT doubt it. General
Wash nston did not doabtit; and he es.
blished Bank, or one was estsbl shed
un Ter his 'm,nisualion, for that very
prrp,se. Madison uid not doubt IT: and
/ ms mi, him because he is eminent
among lhos, who have b, en- supposed to
entertain doubts upon the constitutional
power. Bw Mr.. Madison yi,l led even
il n $ private judgment had Mt been con-
v;nced, he said. as every man of sense
will say, that the thing has teen settled
by the lepea,ed decisions of the Constitu
tlunnl interpreters; its meaning las been
nj he
ton, Ike any other Instrument, is capa-
bile Of doubt but Ike any other, when
it's meaning has been fixed by the proper
tribunal, ii must be taken ss settled. en-
during and no longer TO be doubted
Now we all know that we have had a
bank for forty yeais-yet men say II IS
unconstitutional. win they say 81 forty
wears hence; aad will they thus 60 on
from generation TO geueiaton, Clspos'ng
IA question already settled think not.
We mus, take things settled as se,tled.-
We mus, take the Interpretation oil Courts,
of Stat, s, and OF the people, all OF whom
hay,. adopel a bank, We must take IL as
the m aning, the actual, fixed, definite
meaning Of the Constitution, or we shall
never have any meaning for that Instru-
m"nt.
NV, gentlemen, will not press this
point farther, because agree with those
u no think that at The present moment, in
sh present state of things, especially in
sine Atlantic and Commercial States the
evils which have heretofore distressed the
community, are not so severely ith.-
But they are felt in other parts Of tive
country almost as severely as ever. In
the South Western States and in some OF
the North Western States, there is IN fac,
no current money; they may be sad in
fact to have no standard OF value-no
description Of money which passes at rar.
Men there barter, exchange their COM
modilies grain, provisions, &c Tor
other commodities in the shape oil paper
of unknown value. There is no sound
healthy currency amongst them. II is a
.poor, low, vexa,ous, demoraIISIng sPecu'
aia;ion,--the whole Of il, because II IS an
established principle in all civilized gov
ernments that bad, uncertain, huciua-
ting pare. money IS one OF the most de-
morals ng and deeterious influences that
pary.I of