The Arkansas banner., 1843-11-04

lhto which 1t could crawl. We know how
 It threw its coils around State after State, un-
 til nearly every State in the Union was SC.
 duced into its schemes. Through its seduc-
 tions and commanding powers, the whole
 banking and credit systems ran wild. indi-
 viduals and Legislatures were intoxicated with
 the idea of getting rich through the instru-
 mentality of fictitious paper credits. New banks sprang nP by scores. Debts, foreign
 and domestic were recklessly contracted by
 States, corporations, and individuals, to speclk-
 le the country with towns, to checker il
 with rail roads and canals, and to pamper | extravagance, idleness, and vice in every form. And those who ventured to take les
 sons from past experience, to calculate by
 old fashioned arithmetic, and to look for
 ward to results, with an eye of common
 sense, were scofed at as behind the age, and
 devoid of public spirit.
 But the stern laws of trade, and the stern
 eXactions of the specie standard, though they are sometimes thwarted and baf1led for time,
 cannot long be resisted. Disaster ever has
 been, and ever will be, the result of all at
 tempts so to thwart or resist them, whether
 by laW-givers, banks, or individuals The
 noie 7successuI sucil astoniI5ts, anu tiie long- CT they are persisted in, the more and more general will be the disaster The history of this country, from 1915 to 1924, and from
 1884 to the present time, must convince ev- cry considerate mind of the truth ofthis pro position. The laws of trade and the specie
 standard have trlumphed over all the Bidelles and Biddleites of the land and we have rea- son to deplore the folly and madness of our law-makers, Ill presumlng to set up their schemes, in contempt of those laws and of that standard
 How passing strange it is that any full grown man, in his sober senses, should wish to embark in another career of banking and scheming; under the control and dominion of another boaed of Biddles, invested with the high privileges of making national paper currency; of holding and speculating upon the national treasure; and with the dread power of controlling the whole monetary operations! It seems strange that any man in his senses should ever have lent his inAu- ence in favor of such proposition. But to go forsan old-fashioned United States Bank" new, shows arecklessness amounting to des- peratlon, or thoughtlessness bordering on fatulty. For we have felt, to our sorrow, all the dangerous powers apprehended by the opponents of such an institution The corruptions of the late United States Bank, and lis daring attempts to control the politics of the country by Its eorrupting powers, are as notorious as recorded history can make them. Would James Madison-wouid Wm Ii. Crawford-Would any statesman who had character worth preserving-have ven- tured to vote for chariering 1t in 1916, fore seeing even half of what we have seen and felt of its iniquitous powers and practices No! Alexander Hamilton himself would hardly have dared to defend 1t, although he tolerated the corruptions of the British go- vernment. It is next to sacrilege to couple tie name of Washington with such princi- ples. And yet Henry Clay and his follow CTS even now dare to condemn Jackson for putting down the iniquitous institution-dare to condemn Van Buren and his friends for refusing to re-charter it, or to charter anoth- CT like it-and dare to contend that such an institution IS ''necessary and proper' to con trol our monetary affairs, and keep the wheels of government ill motion!l They offer an insult to the moral sense and common sense ol the community, and can find no apology ill any plea of necessity or otherwise The government has performed its functions for the last nine years, not only without the aid ol such an institution, but in spite of the hostile machinatons of the late United States Bank, and in spite of every difficulty which whiggery, in the uttermost of its power and Iacnnrn.Inn co,lJ tbro,u tln tho CURRENCY is now as sound as 1t ever can be under our present banking system; and 'slhe exchanges" better capitalized and cheaper, the Union throughout, than they have been for thirty years. Where, then, can be found any apology for MT. Clay and his followerss In the want of banking capital' Eh' Then they have changed their form for their former pretence for going for 'great regulator" was to CURB the local banks and to curb the erces8os of the paper-money system. Do they not wish to erpasad the paper sys- tem2 Again, they can find no apology for all well informed capitalists and bankers know that there is now more banking and other capital in the country, than can be pro- ftably employed.
 But have given a wider range to my pen than 1 intended when l sat down to address you. One of my principal objects was to show that Mir. Van Buren was clear of the selfshness and servilty with which his ene- mics charged him, when he promised to "watk n the footsteps of his lllustrous pre- decessor,o and that he deserves even more credit, and has evinced even more moral courage than the old hero himself. For Van Burcn had to encounter Federalism in many-headed form, and strongly reinforced. The old General had, indeed, cut off the head of the monster; but, as before stated, it had put forth new roots from the old stock-it had engrafted itself upon State Stocks and State banks, and enlisted in its service the draft drawers, !" kite-fiyers," "sky-scrapers," and others seeking wealth or power by nak- ed credit, or legislative favoritism. Van Bu- ren was reluctantly forced into war with these allies oi Federal wiliggery; but when forced into it, he struck at the root of the