The daily union., 1846-06-26
CON RES SION AL.
SPEECH OF MR.. JONES,
OF TENNESSEE,

the state of the Union, (Mr. DANIEL, of North Car
ona In the chalr) the bill for the better organi-
Zallon of the treasury, &c,
Mr.. JONES addressed the cOmmitte as follows:
Mr.. CHAIRMAN: This is old and rather thread
bare subject; yet trust il has lost none of its in
terest with It's true friends and advocates but that
they anxious now for the establishment Of the
system contemplated by this bill as they were when
il first recommended TO the consideration Of the
representatives Of the people, and through them, TO
the people themselves. When | first saw the mes
sage Of the President of the United States recon-
mendlng diseonnexion between the business of this
government and the banks Of the country, the prop
ositlon met with my sincere appreciation. | was
then It's friend and advocate; and | have continued
to be so from that day to this. trust that il is
near to its consummaLion. | hope, and believe,
that this Congress will pass this bl and that II is
destined TO remain upon the statute book Of the
country until it shall at least have had the keneht OF
fair trial Of its merits. IT, in practice, it should
DO found TO work delrmentally TO the public inter
ests, or to the safety Of the public funds, shall no
longer be its advocate. But believing that its prac-
tca operation will be the reverse OF all this shall
vote for it, with confident expectation that all the
good which Its friends anticipate from il will be
allied. shall vote for it, because | believe that
this government, under the authority given 10 Il by
the constitution to lay and collect taxes and to ap-
propriate the money, should accomplish these OBJ.
Jecs through the instrumentaiy Of its own officers,
who subject to its control and responsible to il
for their action, and not by means of fictitious law
created, soulIess, bodyess, and corrupt corpora
lions, whether brought into being by the general
government or the governments Of the different
States Of the Union. | shall vote for il, because |
believe It to be the great antagonstlc Of pa
per money and corporations in this country. And
whatever arguments gentlemen on the opposite side
may osensIby urge against the passage Of this bill,
believe that the true Of that opposition is to
be found ia the fact that is the antagonstic measure
of paper money and corporations lis true that the
measure will not, of itself perhaps, annihilate pa
per banks, but, by its adoption, the government
at once refuses to touch or handle the pa
per Of these worthless institutions. Those who
have TO pay money 10 the government and who use
the paper of these banks will be under the necsss
~, when they come to make their payments, to de-
mand from them gold and silver coin, with which to
pay their dues. cannot agree with some Of my
friends who in favor of what they call well lI.regu-
lated State banks In my humble Judgment, such a
thing has never yet been seen or read of by any
man. A wellreguated or an honest hank, prarti.
caly speaking, ls, IN my opinion, something which
II is beyond the sagacity of human nature to make
The history Of the world, | believe can show no
record oI such thing. | believe that those who
established this government intended to create and
thought they had created, a hard-money govern
ded and excluded from the United States all that
worthless trash which we denomnate paper money
What are the facts2 Let US 90 hack for a mo-
ment, Mr.. Chairman, and see what the authority
given IN the constitution ofthe United States on this
subject is 0uc of the clauses OF that instrument
declares that the States shall not emit bills of credit "
AT that day according to my reading bills Of credit
were as well understood to be paper money as gold
and silver are understood To be money now To
sustain this assertion will read an extract from the
address delivered to the legislature of Maryland
relative to the proc edings nf the general convention
held at Philadelphia in 1857, by Luther Martin at.
torney general Of Maryland, and one Of the dele
gates in said convention. He says:
BY the tenth section (othe eon,ution) every State is
prohibited from emitting bills OF credit As reported
by the committee in detail the States only prohibited
from emitting them without the Of Congress; but
The convention was so smen with the rArsRmoSEr dread
that they insisted the prohibition should be absolute II
was my opinion sir that the States ought be totally
deprived Of the right emit bills OF credit and that as
had not given an authority TO the general
that purpose it was the nscessary to retain it in the
States. And il was my opnion if this
power TO be exercised by State hout the per.
to those who the most haunted by the apprehe
sion of PAPER MONET. therefore thought it my duty to
vote against this part OF the system"
tEHotts Debates, roL |, page 37e.
Mr.. J. continued By reference to the debates
in the convention Of the State from which you, Mr.
Chairman, came, assembled for the ratification of
this federal constitution, you will fnd that one of
the first and paramount objections raised against
that ratification was that it did prohibit the ennis
sion of bills of credit by the States Ii was con
tended by some of the delegates there that if the
constitution was ratified with that provision in it.,
not only would it prohibit the future emission of
bills of credit, or "paper money!" as they were
termed, but that Congress could, and in all proba-
bihty would pass retrospective law in relation to
the paper money then in circulation. This it is
true, was not the only reason objection urged
against the ratification of the constitution but it was
one the greatest obstacles to it. And when the
Of that State came finally, as they did ,
to the resolution neither to reject nor to raty the
constitution Of the United States, they adopted an
other resolution advising the State authorities to
call IN and redeem It's paper at as early period
as practicable. will read an extract from speech
delivered in the convention Of North Carolina on
the adoption of the federal constitution, by Mr.
Macaine
In the 10th section of the st article it is provided
among other restrictions that State shall bills OF
credit make ything but gold and silver coin tender in
payment of debts pass any law mpairng the obligation
looks to uturity. It does not look back, hut for
ward 1t does not destroy the p.rER MONEY which is
actually MADE but prevents from making any more"
Eiiioh's Debates, rel 4, pages l73.-l.
will also read extracts from a speech of Mr.
Davie, also member of the federal convention, in
the convention of North Carolina:
f the States had been compelled sink the paper
ey instantly the remedy might be than the disease
As cond not put immediate end to it, con.
with prohibiting its future increase looking forw
its entire extingushment when the States that had an
emission circulating should be able to ca in by gradual
The people Of
and Connecticut had been great sufferers by
the dishonest of Rhode Island and similar complaints ex
iste against this state, This clause became in
ure preliminary with the gentlemen who the
other States You have said they by your niquitous
laws and paper emissions shameully deauded our own
citizens. The confederation prevented compelling you
to do them justice; but before confederate with you
again you must only agree TO be honest but put out
OF your power be otherwise IL Eions Dtbates roL a.
page 1873.
And again, read an extract from a speech of Mr..
Iredell, in the North Carolina convention:
"There is nothing in the constitution which affects our
present paper money II prohibits for the future the emit.
ting of any hut does not interfere with the paper money
now actually in circulation in several States "Eohs
Debates, roh page ls5
Mr.. ]. continued: BY reference to the debates
which took place in the convention of the State OF
South Carolina on the ratification ofthe federal con-
it will be seen that there also it was con-
tended that this provision would prevent the States
from making paper currency, and that it would
exclude everything of that description from the
country. read an extract from speech of Mr..
Charles Pnckney, the tenth section of article
lst of the federal constitution, in the South Carolina
convention:
uTha por,s n this sartion ,s. a.,