American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1857-12-18
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
Felloso- Citizens Of tie Senate and
House of Representatives !.

s' In ooedience to the command of the
constitution. 1t has now become nv du.
~ ITO give to Congress information of
the state of the Union, and recommend
TO their consideration such measures -
as judge to-be necessary and expe-
dent"
But FIRST, and above all, our thanks
are due to Almighty God for the nu.
Inerous benefits which He has bestow.
ed upon this people: and our united
prayers ought To ascend to Him that
He would continue TO bless our great
repubiic in time to come as He has bles.
sec 1t in time passed. Since the ad
journment of last Congress our constit.
uents have enjoyed an unusual degree
of health The earth has yielded her
fruits abnndantly, and has bountifully
rewarded the tot! of the husbandm
Our great staples have commanded high
prices, and, up till within brief pc.
riod, our. manufacturing, mineral, and
mechanical. occupations have largely
partaken Of the general prosperity.
We have possessed all the elements of
material wealth in rich abundance, and
yet. notwithstanding all these adyanta.
ges. our country, in its monetary inter-
esis, Is at the present moment in de.
plurable condition. In the midst of un.
surpassed plenty in all the productions
0f agriculture and in all the elements
ot hltioDal wealth. we find our manu-.
factures suspended. our public works
reta' ded, our private enterprises of diff
ferent kinds abandoned, and thousands
s"f'sefu' laborers thrown out Of employ.
ment and reduced to want. The rev.
enue oi The government, which is chief.
W derived from duties on imports from
abroad, has been greatly reduced, whilst
'he appropriations made by Congress
at 'ts last session for the current fiscal
year are very large in amount.
Under these circumstances a loan
may be required before The close Of
Your p'esent session; but this, although
deeply to DO regretted. would prove
to he only Q slight misfortune when
compared with the suffering and dis,
tIess prevailing among the people,
with this the government cannot fail
deeply 10 sympa,hize. though it NAV
DO without tho power to extend relief.
Ii is our duty to inquire what has
d. produced such unfortunate results, and
whether their recurrence can be pre.
vented In all former revnlsions the
blame ieht have been fairly attributed
to variety of cooperating causes /;
but not so upon the present occasion.
IL is apparent that our existing misfor.
tunes have proceeded solely from our
extravagant and vicious system of pa
per currency aud bank credits, exciting
The people to wild speculalions and
gambling in stocks. These reyulsions
must continue to recur at successive
intervals 80 long as the amount of this
paper currency and bank loans and dis,
counts of the country shall be left to the
disc'etion offourieen hundred rrespon
sibie banking institutions, which from
The very law of their nature will con-
suit the interest of their stockholders
rather than the public welfare.
The trainers of the constitution. when
they gave 10 Congress tho power "to
coin money and to regulate the value
thereof" and prohibited the State from
coming money. emitting bills Of credit,
or making anything but gold and silver
coin tender in payment OF ebis, sup.
posed they had protected the people
against The evils of an excessive and
irredeemable paper currency. They
are NOT responsible for the existing an.
omsly that government endowed with
the sovereign attribute of coming mon.
oy and regulating The value thereof
should have no power 10 prevent others
from driving this coin out Of the ,oun-
Try aud filling up the channels of circu.
lation with paper which does not rep.
resent gold and silver,
II is. one of the highest and mos, res
ponsible duties Of government to insure
TO tbe People'a sound circulating medi.
utn. the amount of which ought to be
adapted with the utmost possible wis.
dom and skill to the wants Of internal
trade and foreign exchanges. IF this
be either greatly above or greatly below
the proper standard, the marketable
value ofevery mans property is sincreas.
ed OF diminished in the same proportion,
aud Injustice to individuals as we'll es
iDcalculsble evils to The community arc
the consequence.
Unfortunately, under the construction
OF The federal constitution, which has
now prevsiled too long to be changed,
This iDportsD, end delicate duty has
hcen discovered from the coming pow.
er and virtually transferred to more
than fourteen hundred State banks, &C.
ting independently of each oiber, and
regulating their paper issues almost es-
closiyely by regard to the present in
ierest Of their stockholders. Exotcis.
ing the sovereign power Of providing a
paper currency, iDstead Of coin, for the
country, tho Grst duty which those
banks owe TO the poblic is to keep in
their vaults a sufficient amount Of pol6
.apd SILVER 10 ipsurc the copvertibiity of