The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-08-07
CONG REssIONAL.
REMARKS OF MR.. BENTON,

In n, Senate, Jalg % aud 30, l546-On the lnde-
pendent Treasury bill.
Substance OF Mr.. BEsros's remarks on the motion
10 amend the bill by inserting clause 10 authorize
dsbursing officers to pay out treasury drafts.
Mr. BENTON said; know nothing Of this pro-
posed amendment, though one Of the committee from
which il comes know Of no action upon II in the
eonmittee | never heard of II before. Mr..
LrwIs said il put in al the instance OF the Sec
resrv of the Treasury in an informal communities
ton Mr.. y. II 10 all new TO me, and i cannot
agree 10 IL ID changes the whole character OF the
bill and makes the treasury bank OF issue
bank 70 issue paper money in the shape Of drafts or
orders, limited in amount TO the amount Of the an
nual appropriation, and as small in denomination as
the secretary may choose To make them. He may
issue them for oRe dollar IL he peases; and as the
appropriations Of this year may be for fifty or sixty
Millions that may be the maximum Of this years
issue All this viii be easily understood by reading
the section which is proposed TO be amended The
section is this: ..|
s,c a. Ina De- q GyAsr enacted That no exchange Of
funds shall made by any dsbursng oeers agents Of
govenmsnt Of ssy grade or denomination whstsosysr
man an exchange for gold and silver and every such dis
bursting ocer when the for his disbursement are
furnished him in gold and silver shall make his payments
in money furnished; when those means are fur
nshsd to him in drafts EheA cannot BE- dsbs',sd AZ par
pay men and properly raid according to the law and shall
mako his payments in the money received for the
drafts furnished Insss IN eass he can sxeaa5s.
shall be- and hereby made the duty Of the head Of the
proper department immediately TO suspend IRON duty any
discussing Officer who shall violate the provisions OF this
section and forthwith to report the name Of the oesr OF
agent President with the fact OF the violation and all
knowledge the said secretary TO the end that such officer
agent may he promptly removed from once o. restored
to his trust and the performance Of his duties, az TO the
President may seem just and proper.
This is the section as il came from the House Of
Representatives with the exception OF the six words
in italics, near the middle OF the first sentence,
Leave out these words, and the section is clear and
right and such as IL should be in hard money
treasury. As the act stands, without these words,
the disburslDg officer is TO carry his draft Immediate
ly to the sub-treasury, receive the amount In gold
and silver, and then pay out that gold and silver TO
the public creditors In one case only Is he allowed
TO sell his draft and that is for gold and silver at par
and then he is bound to pay out the gold and silver
thus received. In both these cases, the intent of
money paymentsare maintained All this is right and
fair; but insert the six words proposed 10 be added
and the whole character Of the institution is changed.
Instead Of collecting the draft in SPECIE selling IL
for specie and paying that specie the creditors of
the government the discussing officer is to pay out
the.e drafts money, and for that purpose draft
Of fly thousand dollars must be split up into FIVE
hundred drafts, or orders, of one hundred dollars
each
Drafts given to disbursing officers are always
for large sun" A large draft is given draw the
specie whien WIZ ais cannot be used for current
credlors, H. -~nnot be disbursed They are
iosoy1enss for that. They must be split up into
small sums fit for payment from hand to hand,
transferable by delivery, and constituting new
species Of paper currency; and such, II 10 under
stood, is already the case between the treasury
and the present deposite banks. So implies the
question put by the senator from Maine MIR.
EvANsl to the chairman Of the Committee on
GMr Ian SOS ms his ans
admit; and, in fine, have heard. have heard
that at this time, if money is wanted, (at the Rio
Grande, for example,, instead OF giving a paymas-
ter draf. for fifty thousand dollars on deposite
hank in New Orleans, which he will collect from the
bank in gold, carry with him to the army, and pay
it outinstead Of that oid.fashioned operation, the
report is that the paymaster is furnished with five
hundred little drafts orders, made payable to
himself on the deposite bank, which he carries, not
to the bank for collection, but the army for pay
ment--pays them out to all who will take them,
with his blank endorsement on the back; after which
they are transferable by delivery, like common
bank note, or bankers check and pass into general
circulation. If such is the case--and am induced
to believe it'll have hesitation in qualifying the
practice MS illegal and fraudulent, constituting high
misdemeanor in those who have done it and besides
making the federal treasury an illegal issuer OF pa
per currency, actually makes the federal treasury
stand security for all the depose banks.-for, if
the paper stays out till the depose bank fails, the
treasury will have to take up its dshonored paper.
This is se;d to be the practice now and if il is,
pronounce il an Illegal fraudulent, and dangerous
issue of paper money by the federal treasury. The
six words now proposed to be inserted in this bill, If
put into it, would authorize and iegalize between
the treasury and the SUBJ branch treasures, the
illegal practice which is now sad to prevail, and to
prevail for the first time in history, between the
federal treasury and the deposite banks. The
words are these: (which CANNOT ne DrsBuRsEn
AT PAR" Under the operation of these words, il
they become law, the disbursing officer, instead OF
collecting his draft from the bank, and paying out
gold or silver, would begin with offering his little
drafts, or orders, to the public creditors in pay
ment of what the governme owed. Most OF
them would have no option, and must take what
was offered. When received, he must sell it, OF
trade il, or give it in payment TO somebody; and
thus it is thrown into circulation, and performs .
long circuit beforet gets to the bank which il is
drawn. Thus, government bank of issue would
be created Issuing currency of orders, like those oil
the Bank Of the United States in her latter and mos
degenerate days Ii would give us government
bank, not of discount and deposite but of circula
ton. OF all kinds Of dangerous paper money, that
Off government issue is the most dangerous. From
the time Of John Laws Mississippi scheme TO the
assignas and mandates Of the French revolution
the character of such issues is the same. Having
no superior power to check or control them, TN
government goes on until ruin stops 1t. Mucf
az hn dgalnsth nalOBai Danhi Woupt p'o'O
il to government bank: ii would not be NOR
clearly Unconstitutional, and by no means SO dan
gerous. n .nn -ggrr-s -U
The former sub-treasury act had six fixed fata
words in (which we have omitted from the presen
one; but ifthese six words are put into it, il will max
hfar worse than the former. The words in the twen
y.hrst section which did the mischief were these
"on orHERwIsE PROMOTE THE ruBLIc SERVICE
This, like the general welfare clause in the constitu
ton, was authority for anything that, in the opinion
Of the secretary, would promote the public service
Paper money, and broken bank paper money, wa
daily paid out under that act In the month afte
its passage some millions Of the notes Of the ban
ofthe United States, then dishonored and depreci
aed were sent to the west to paid out to the In
dams. In one instance, the plan was balked. Nea
three hundred thousand dollars Of this trash wa
sent TO Joshua Pitcher, esq, superintendent Of ln
dian affairs at ST. Louis, which he refused to pa
out, and thereby got hard money for his Indians
The correspondence on this subject between IN
Commissioner OF Indian Affairs, acting for the Sec
retaries Of the Treasury and War, and Mr.. Pitcher
deserves to be read now, as showing the manner /
which laws may be evaded by public functionaries
and as an instance OF an honest man who would nc
violate the laws or cheat the Indians. Here are tw
OF the lefter.. H.I"t. .E...f ...H- 1T