The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1857-1858, 1857-12-16

Il FEsEeN 80
v q s.

otit0t1O0. le mas now OoC0oo
i've to Congress infor.saEion Of The eeAse o.
he Union, and rSrnpeed 70 thete psns'd-
Grafton such meAsures' ~ ! judge 70 % me
cessary and expsdienk ..IxT.l
Bat frst and above q, our thanke An
due to Almiety God for the nnmeroas bsne
eta which He has bestowed upon this people
and our united prayers oughtso ascend q
Him th.t He would continue 10 bless, on
greek reusblic in time 70 come - he hal
bleed & in time past Since the sdjoarn-
ment Of the last Congress our constituent
have enjoyed IN unusual degree ofhsalth-
The earth has yielded her fruits abundant
l. and has bountifally rewarded the toll o
*. husbandman. Our great staples hav'
com manded high prices, and, up till within
= brief period, our manutactnring mineral
ana mechanical occupations have iafGel,
nartaken of the general prosperity w
lave possessed al the elements Of malaria
vealth in rich abundance, and vets notwith
standins all these advantages, our country
in its monetary interests, is at the presen
ia : deulorable condition. In t1Sei tkdt q
unsurpassed plenty in al the prcductions o
.or;culture and in all the elements of nation
al wealth, we find our manufacturer suspend
ed. our public works retarded, our private
eneerprises Of different kinds abandosed, ana
thousands of useful laborers thrown oes o.
employment and reduced TO wanh Ane e
venue Of the government, which g cnieny
derived from duties ON imports irom sUroaq
haa been greatly reduced, whinssue Up
nrr;nr;st;o,sssade ~ Congreqp ~ its lest
session.. session. g. ia .srest lscal -. are ery
large in amount
Hinder tbeee circumstances, q loan may be
rscuired before the close Of your present
sssr;on-but this, although deeply 70 he re-
erstted, would prove y b snlyselplighe mis-
fortune when coApared with tho sudsfings
and distress prevailing among the people. =
With this the government cannot fail 70
deeply synpathise, though il nay be with
out tie i5svvrrto o1tsnd felfee SIT
1t : G,k dizzy 70 iaquite what has pfodae.
ed such unfortunate results, and whether
their recurrence can be prevented? In all
former reyulsions the blansmight have been
fairly attributed to a variety OF co operating
causes .but ~ so upon he psensa teseaslop'
Il i1ApSa ! ent That, 6ar exieta6g miSsostdhes
have proceeded solely from our .extEavagant
and vicious system ofpeper currency and
bank credits, exciting the people to Wild spec
and gambling in stocks. These re-
WILSON'S At& continue to recsr q successive
intervals 90 long rs the amount of the paper
currency and bank loans and discounts OF
the country shall be left to the discretion OF
fourteen hundred irresponsible banking insti-
buttons, which fren the very Law o. tbelr ma
ture will consult ths interest," OF thelr own
rather than the public wehere
Tho ftan1rS Of che Constitution when
they kAss Sos Congress ths power sto' ccsn'
money and to regulate the value thereof,
and prohibited the States frem coming mo-
ney emitting bills Of credit, q maedne any
thing but gold and silver oOin q tender IN
payment Of debts, supposed they had pro-
tecteA ~ piople against the evils Of An ex-'
cessive paper currency. They are not res
ponsible for the existing anomaly, that
government endowed with the sovereign at
tribute of coming money and regulating
the value thereof, should havs9nO power q
prevent otl,ers from driving this coin out Of
the country and filing up the channels or
circulation with paper which doss MOI repre-
sent gold and silver. Y
It is one OF the highest andmost RESPONSE
BILE duties Of government TO insure 70 the
people a sound circulating medium, the -
mouAt Of which ought to be adapted with
the utmost possible wieaon and skill to the
wants ofinternaltrade aad foreign exchanges
If this be either greatly above or greatly be-
low the proper standard, the marketable val
uc OF every mans property is increased or
diminished IN the same proportion, and in
JUSTICE to.iiuiividuals, as well Us incalculable
) siis 10 the community, are the consequence.
riortnnately, under the construction Of
the feo' -rnl constitution, which has now pre-
vailed mo long to be changed, this inn
nortant and delicate duty has been discover
al from tLe ,oining power ana virtually
transferred TO mo 70 than fourteen hundred
STATE hanks. acting ihdcpendently Of each
other and regulating their paper issues al
most exclusiyelv bv 4 res. ard to the present
;nterest Of the;r' Stoekhola. srs. Exercising
the sovereign power Of proy,>d iag paper
currency, instead Of coin, for ta..e country,
the 6rst duty which these banks o We 70 the
public is to keep in their vaults su -mcient
amount of gold and silver to Insure the con-
yertiblity Of theit notes into coin at all tines
and under all circumstances. No bank oughs
ever ID. u chartered without such restric-
tons ON its business as to secure this result.
All other restrictions are comparatively vain.
This is the only true touchstone, the only
Efficient regulator of paper currency-the
only one which con guard the public against
over issues and bank suspensions. As .
collateral and eventual security, it is doubt
less wise, and III all cases ought to be re-
CURED, that banks shall hold an amount OF
United States or State securities equal to
their notes in, circulation, and pledged for
their redemption. This, however, furnishes
NO adequate security against over-issues.-
On the contrary, it may be perverted to in
fate the currency. Indeed, it is possible by
this means to convert all the debts Of the
United States and State governments into
bank notes, without reference 10 the speeds
required to redeem them. H0wesee yalua-
BILE these securities may be in themselves,
they cannot be converted into gold and silver
ct the moment Of pressure, rs our experience
teaches, in sufficient time to prevent bank
suspensions and the depreciation Of bank
notes. In England, which is to . consider
able extent paper money country, though
vastly behind our own in This respect il Wa1
deemed adyisable, anterior to the oct Of
Parliament of l044, which wisely separated
the issue of notes from tie banking dersrt-
ment, for The Hank Of. England always. to
keep on hand gold and silver equal % oAe-
third Of it, combined circalation and depos-
its If this proportion was no more than
sufficient 70 secdlA the convertibility ofVts
notes, Ni(h 49, ~ e Nssst RsitDn, tad
to some a2>1t f 43nSnt Of 4nespe . Z
field for its 5irunl i, rendering i almost
impossible that sudden and immediate run
10 . dangerous smoYpts hsa1 bp nade npou