The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1852-06-16

erwhelming, and irresistible. An army of h
agents and hrelings might be thrown INTO an
State under pretext of "improving the country
II but in truth to control the electians,-and tn,
grand scheme of espionage and corrupto
would be established before which "Stsf fe riph.
would melt away like before the fire
;" The Democratic par holds that the Gener
"a Government may make Improvements ola M
q t;onal character, but not those of purely loc;
y nature, with moneys from the Public Treasur,
u We contend that Congress should improv
the navigation Of the Mississippi river, becaus
!. it has jurisdiction over its waters as great ma
II tional thronghfare. but we deny that Congre.
} can righ'fully take the money Of the nation I
q !, build road or canal from one county seat
u another in the same State, either to benef
such localities or 'sto improve the county
Congress is adopting this Wing "rieht an
!, duty" must of necessity bank upt the nation
u or be guilty Of great partiality and injustice
Suppose the National Legislature ehoul
' give ten thousand dollars for a harbor or
wharf at keokuk, would not Fort Madison, Bur
lingtnn, Muscntine and all the other towns Of
the Mississippi from one end to the other, hav,
the same right TO ten thousand each, for th,
same purpose Would not all the towns on al
the navgable waters in the United States, anc
on all waters that could be made navigabl,
waters in the Improvement of the country
have an equal right to appropriations Wha
: should be theresult of such policy' Favoritism
special privileges, and class legislation, on the
one hand, and Bankruptcy, National debt
and high taxes on the other.
\ Democrats are charged with inconsistency fol
being in favor of some Improvements and no,
for all. The line that separates National from
State improvements may not be apparent 10
every eve, but it cannot be said therefore not to
exist In all cases where concurrent powers
are vested in the two Governments, the exact
point at which such powers dverge is generally
difficult to find, but 1t is none the less true, that
lines Of demarkation do exist, and that some
things are clearly on one side Of them, and some
things as clearly on the other To remove oh.
structions from the Mississippi river is plainly
national work-to dig out Mud creek in The mid
die of Illinois, is plainly State work The
Democrats are in favor Of using the nation e
money for the former, and opposed to ITS use for
the latter. Whiggery is in favor of using il for
both Donations the public lands to the States
in which they lie for purposes Of improvement,
are alledged to be contrary to our creed This
we deny. Suppose hundred citizens and the
| General Government are contiguous land hold
ers. They agree t, build a railroad through
their possessions, and each one interested con
tributes in proportion to his means, and the work
| is made. This is clearly Democratic. A grant
of one Of land which doubles the value Of
another, is entir. ly different from mere gra,u-
| ity out OF money paid into the Public Treasury
for the support Of Government and mt to BE-
squandered in gifts to its favorites. In the one
case Government loses nothing, in the other
case everything given. We submit, fellow citi
zens, whether as permanent system, securing
the integrity of the Union, the rights Of the
States, and the purity of legislation. the dem
ocratic doctrine on this subject is not wiser and
better than the wh;g. and we confident that
no appeals to prejudice or local feeling will
blind the eyes Of honest men to the value of
great principle9
The whig address assals our State ConStitu-
ton because it does not allt the General As
sembly to create banks. This objection will ex-
cite no surprise. Whiggerv without Bank
is like Chinese household without IFS God
The morning and evening incense Of political
alteration once offered to the "paper Deity is
now "wasted on the desert air. The earth
may pour her fatness into the lap Of the hus
babdman. Education and virture may exat the
people. Health and social comforts may abound,
but from all these uhiggery turns with apparent
Indifference and sighs for a bank .sCome
back my love, let me see thy courtenance. let
me hear thy voice, for sweet is thy voice and
thy countenance is comclv' In relation to this
matter, fellow citizens, the plain question we
propose to ask is this: How much wiser, bet
ter, or happier will the people of Iowa be with
banks than without them Does not the mer-
chant receive fair equivalent for his goods !;
the farmer for his produce and the merchant for
his labor' Do not these who ,rork to thrive do
as well in this Stale with industry and economy
as elsewhere? Suppose bank to be establish
ed, who will he allowed to borrow its pictured
promises? Will our masnns. carpenters, and
blacksmi,hs be it's favoritess viii the day
| 1,hn tho oc -
cabin and quarter section Of land bask in it's
golden smiles? The history IF banking shows
the contrary. Stock holders, directors specuia-
tors, brokers, and shavers, are the socal cater
pillars which it warns into life, and fattens upon
the spoils Of its business. To allow banking as
desired by wings, is 10 allow a few men to con-
troll the monetary affairs Of the State. II is r
| legitimate function of government To provide a
medium Of exchange for the people, and mani
testify wrong for half dozen persons to usurp
and exercise such power TO the exclusion of
others. Currency is the life blood Of the bnsi-
ness world. 1t should be sound and equable
but banks make it the reverse. To day they
may pour out their thousands, to morrow not a
single dollar. Expansion and contraction are
the elements of their existence. Flnc'uation,
unsteafiness, and uncertainty in the money
market are their effects upon the community
But we are told that we must have banks be-
cause other States do, so that we may know
whether our money is good or bad. We ans
wer, that the annals Of banking in any State
where it exists will show, that il has been a
swinding and corrupt business from beginning
to end. The reason assigned for banks here is
without weight. lfa farmer in Davis CO. should
i sell his hogs for bill issued from bank at
1 Keokuk, how much could he know about the
solvency Of the institution. Would he in point
Of fact know more of the valne of such bill
than Of one from the bank of Missouri, Be il
remembered that the 'str,cks Of the trade" are
never exposed to public view. Banks often
times appear most prosperous in the very ago
nies of dissolution. Watching will be of no
avail. When the Canal bank Of Albany made
its celebrated failure who were the sufferers'-
The very men that passed by IFS doors every day
were the principal victims. Before We can ex
: pei our present mixture Of paper we must man
mage in some way to have worse currency
j The meanest will always flow into our marke,
frst as naturally as scum rises to the surface o
boiling water.
: Much is said in favor Of banking secured By
public stocks as under the late law of Illinois
/, One word upon this point. II A wishes to have
bank from which he can issue bills to the
, amount Of fifty thousand dollars. the stock.
9 which he deposites when he receives such bill
should cost fifty thousand dollars to make tn.
OIL nOiOerS sale why cOuI0 mol n then taKt
the money which he pays for the public stocks
and loan and use il as he does the bill which
but represent the money. The people woulG
be as much accommodated, but the truth Is, on,
is a plain, straigt forward business which ever,
: body can understand the other is a crooked ant
' concealed operation with various chances 70
frauds and speculation. Banks produce moth
: ing.-They add nothing to the real wealth o
y society, and the immense fortunes which thei
: managers make are sucked out ofthe substance
/; of the people.-With cur Constitution unchan
J, ged we may not see "The money Kings" rol
$ ling in luxury and wealth. Splendor and mag
}, ni6cence may not dazzle our eyes on ever,
: hand. Mlionaries may not be common, bu
o there win be more equa! distribution Of prop
i erty more men with moderate fortunes AM
+ comfortable homes than under the regime of
!. thousand banks II, however. the people q
= Iowa desire to be ruled by a bankocracy, W
y sav, let the will Of the people be done; bn
e when the healthy shall wish for a fever
3, or the moral man for gambling devices. then d
d we expect that the citizens of this State wi
y want banks; and the hue and cry upon this sui
le lect we think has been chiefly raised hy greed