The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1849-08-01


" public funds, and for any failure in other respects to
perform their duties"
This is what the Administration demand
ed of Congress-that the public money
should not be mingled with other funds,
or used for priuate purposes, and thus
placed beyond the control of Government.
The administration insisted that banks were
constantly exposed to defalcations, and the
Government to loss; and that, too, where
the Secretary of the Treasury had taken
collateral security of them in public stocks.
Mr.. Polk insisted that the public money
should be put in the custody Of Govern
ment agents, and then, if there were any
defalcations, Government would be re-
sponsible. In his second annual message
Mr.. Polk alluded to the act of 9th Au
gust previous, which had been passed in
pursuance OF his recommendation, and OBJ.
served that cit is not proposed to depart,
in any respect, from the principles or poll
cy on which this great measure is founded"
In his third annual message, Mr.. Polk
alluded to the fact that by the operation Of
that act, all banks had been discontinued
as fiscal agents, and that bank paper was
no longer receivable in public dues. We
copy from that document the only para
graphs bearing on our present view of the
subject:
"The constitutional treasury created by this act
Z" went into operation on the first day Of January
{" last Under the system established by il the
" public moneys have been collected, safely kept,
and disbursed, by the direct agency of officers Of
" the Government, in gold and silver and transfers
" of large amounts have been made from points of
{" collection to points of disbursement, without loss
" to the treasury, or injury or inconvenience to
" the trade of the country"
"The financial system established by the const-
s tutional treasury has been, thus far, eminently
" successful in its operations, and recommend an
" adherence to all its essential provisions, and espe
/" cialy to that vital provision which wholly sepa-
Z" rates the Government from all connexon with
/" banks, and excludes bank paper from all revenue
:" receipts"
In his fourth annual message, Mr.. Polk
congratulated the country on the success
of the Sub-treasury; told them how well
the act of the 9th August had worked,
how safely and usefully, particularly in
view of the commercial reyuLsions IN En-
rope, from the effects of which we had
been saved by the Sub-treasury. We cite
the passages to which we refer:
"The operations of the constitutional treasury
" established by the act Of the sixth August, 1916,
+" in the receipt, custody, and disbursement of the
(" public money, have continued to be successful.
g Under the system the public finances have been
I" carried through foreign war, involving the ne
:" cessiy of loans and extraordinary expenditures,
+" and requiring distant transfers and disbursements,
F" WITHOUT embarrassment, and no loss has occurred Of
" any Of the public money deposited under its proui
sions Whilst it has proved to be safe and useful
" to the Government its effects have been most be-
" neficial upon the business of the country.
During the present year, nearly the whole con-
F." tnent of Europe has been convulsed by civil war
/" and revolutions, attended by numerous bankrupt
" cies by an unprecedented fall in their public Sc
:" curities, and an almost universal paralysis of
I" commerce and industry: and yet, although our
" been somewhat unfavorably affected by these
causes, we have escaped a revulsion, our money
" market is comparatively easy, and public and
private credit have advanced and improved.
cit is confidently believed that haze been sared
from their effect by the salutary operation Of the
{" stitutonai treasury"
Under the operations of the constitutional trea-
sury, not dollar has been lost by the depreciation
AZ, Ne 4
" the war with Mexico negotiated by the Sec
rotary of the Treasury above par realizing large
premium to the Government. The restraining
" effect of the system upon the tendencies to ex-
cessive paper issues by banks has saved the Gov
" eminent from heavy losses, and thousands of
our business men from bankruptcy and ruin.
The wisdom of the system has been tested, by the
experience of the last two years. and it is the die
tate of sound policy that il should remain unds-
" turbed."
1t turns out that the people have been
cheated in all the benefits they had been
taught to look for in the Sub treasury,
and we care not whether by the badness
of the law or the criminality of the Gov
eminent agents. The Government could
not deal in bank paper-not they-for they
were liable to lose by defaulters. They
could deal in the private drafts of an in
solvent commercial house at Richmond,
however, either by evading or breaking
the law, it is immaterial just now which.
Even under the Sub-treasury, the Gov
eminent could and did suffer by the
commercial revulsions in Europe, which
ruined the French house, which ruined the
"individual agent' at Richmond, who has
ruined Mr.. DEvBY, who has ruined the
elite of the Richmond Democracy Public
money has not only been privately "used,"
but privately abused" 1t has been
lodged in hands where IT has proved to be
less secure than even in the vaults Of
banks, with the collateral security of State
and United States stock
Is it possible that what the "sole organ"
states on this subject can be huef Its de-