Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1848-12-13

hist by the repeal of highly protective and nm
hibitory duties tho revenue has been increased the
taxes on the people have been diminished. 'ihsw
have been relieved from the heavy amounts with
which they were burdened under former laws :,
the form Of increased Prices boun,ies maid 20 c.,
ed classes and pursuits.
The predictions which were made, that tho -,
riff act Of 1916 would reduce the amount Of revenr.
below that collected under the nc, 1912. and wouIJ
PROSTATE the business and destroy the prosperity ~
The country, have not been verified With an in
creased and increasing revenue the finances are il
highly flourishing condition Agriculture. cam
merce, and navigation are prosperous the prices Of
manufactured fabrics, & Of other products are much
less injnrlously affected than was to have been an
I'clpated from the Unprecedented revusions, which
curing Inc last and the present year, have over
whelncd the Industry and paralyzed the credit and
Of Europe.
Severe commercial re,ulsions abroad have al
ways heretofore operated to depress and often 10 af
feet disasrously, almost every branch of American
industry. The temporary depression of portion Of
our manufacturing interests is the effect of foreign,
causes, and is far less severe than has prevailed on
all former similar occasions.
III believed that, looking to the great aggregate
OF all our interests, the whole country was never
more prosperous than at the present period and ne
yer more rapidly advancing in wealth and popula-
ZION. Neither the foreign war in which we have
absorbed
so large portion OF capital, nor the CONNIE
revulsion in Great Britain i'm l847 nor the paralv
Sis OF credit and commerce throughout Europe i'm
1913, have affected injuriously to any considerable
extent any OF the great interests of the country or
arrested our onward march TO greatness, wealth.
and power.
Had the disturbances in Europe not occurred
our commerce would undoubtedly have been still
more extended, and would have added still more to
me national wealth aud public prosperity. But,
Notwithstanding these disturbances the operations
OIL me revenue system established by the tariff act
OF 1910 nave been SO generally beneficial to the Co.
vernment and the business of tho countrv ,b,, ~,
change in It's provisions is demanded by wise nub
lie policy, and none is recommended
The operations OF the constitutional treasury o.
tabllshed by the act of the 9th Of August 1916 in
The receipt, custody, and disbursement of the pub
lie money, have continued to be successful I'm
der this system the public finances have been car
RED through foreign war, involving the necessity
OF loans and extraordinary expenditures and requir
ing distant transfers and disbursements without en-
arrasment, and no loss has occurred Of any of the
public money deposited under it's PROVISIONS
w mist IL has proved TO be safe and useful to the
Government, lis effects have been most beneficial
upon the business of the country. Ii has tend,d
powerfully 10 secure an exemption from that infa-
'!on and hucuation of the paper currency so inju-
rlous to domestic industry, and rendering so uncer-
IAN the rewards OF labor, and il is believed has
from serious commercial revulsion, such as often
occurred under the bank deposite system. In the
year lo4| there was Tevulson in the business OF
Ureat Britain of great extent and intensity, which
was followed by failures in that kingdom unprece-
dented IN number and amount Of losses. This is
believed to be the first instance when such disas-
trous bankruptcies occurring in country with
which we have such extensive commerce. produced
lte or no injurious effect upon trade or crrren-
cy. We remained but little affected in our money
market, and our business and industry were still
prosperous and progressive.
During the present year, nearly the whole CONT
nent OF Europe has been convulsed by civil war and
revolutions, attended by numerous bank ruptcies by
an unprecedented fall in their public securities and
an almost universe paralysis of commerce and in
dustry; and yet, although trade and the prices
OF our products must have been somewhat unflvor-
ably affected by these causes, we have escaped
reyuslon, our money market is comparatively easy.
and public and private credit have advanced and
improved
1t is confidently believed that we have been saw
ed from their effect by the sautary operation of the
constitutional treasury. 1t is certain that if the
twenty four millions Of specie imported into the
country during The fiscal year ending on the Thrift
eth OF June, lS4I, had gone into the banks as to a
great extent 1t must have done, it would in the alb
sence of this system, have been made the basis of
augmented bank paper issues, probably to an amount
not less than sixty seventy millions of dollars,
y
Hated currency, extravagant prices for a time, and
WILD speculation, which must have been followed
on inc TeuX to Europe, the succeeding year, of so
much OF that SPECIE by the prostration of the bust
ness OF the country, the suspension Of the banks
and most extensive bankruptcies. Occurring, as
this would have done, at period when the country
was engaged in foreign war, when considerable loans
OF specie were required for distant disbursements
and when the banks, the fiscal agents of the Gov
eminent, and the repositories of its money, were
suspended, the public credit must have sunk, and
many millions of dollars, the case during the
war OF 1917, must have been sacrificed in discounts
upon loans, and upon the deprecated paper curren.
cy which the Government would have been com
PEELED TO use. I. Or
Under the operations of the constitutional treasu.
ry not dollar has been lost by the depreciation Of
hecuTrency. The loans required to prosecute the
with Mexico negotiated by the Secretary Of
the Treasury above par, realizing large premium
to the Government. The restraining effect of the
system upon the tendencies to excessive paper is
sues by banks has saved the Government from hea-
Wy losses, and thousands of our business men from,
bankruptcy and ruin. The wisdom of the system
has been tested by TIE experience of the last two
years; and 1t is The dictate of sound policy that it
should remain undsturbed. The notifications in
some OF the details of this measure, involving none
of lis essential principles, heretofore recommended
are again presented for your favorable consdera-
ton.
In my message of the sixth Of July last, trans,
hitting TO Congress the ratified treaty of peace
with Mexico, /, recommended the adoption of mea>
sureS Tor the speedy payment of the public bebt.--
IN relterating that recommendation, ] refer you to-
the considerations presented in that message in lis
support. The public debt, including that autho-
'Hed to be negotiated in pursuance of existing laws,
ana including Treasury notes, amounted at that
tnCf I.a1.,