Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1858-01-02
From the Nashville Union.]
LESSONS FOR THE MILLION.

!. g LESSONS FOR THE MILLION.
Il has been truly said that history is philosophy
teaching by example" The entire history Of the
banking system in this and other countries has n.
ways taught the same sad lessons. The rich
ruleh the poor and the borrower is servant to- the
lender" Patriots and sages have warned us Ipf
their evils, AND yet their influence have always been
more potent than the teachings of wisdom For the
benefit OF great, interrupted masses we make the
following collection from the opinions of the vener
ateo dead and living statesmen, which like
"apples OF gold in pictures Of silver"
The wisdom of man. in nv humble opini6h,
cannot devise plan by which the credit of paper
issues would he long supported: const quenty de-
probation keeps pace with the quality of the ennis
sions, articles for which it is exchanged rise in
greater ratio than the sinking value Of the money
Wherein, then, is the farmer, the planter the art-
san beneftteds An evilequaly great is the door It
Immediately opens for speculation, by which the
least designing, and perhaps the valuable part
of the community is preyed upon by the more
knwing and crafty spectators. - Washington,
1887.
1.-The paper system being founded on public con-
fdence, and having in itself no intrinsic value, is
liable 10 great and sudden fluctuations, thereby
rendering property insecure, and the wages of laHor
unsteady and uncertain. The corporations With
create paper money cannot be relied on to keep
CIRCULATING medium uniform in amount In times
prosperity when confidence is high they are tepipe
by the prospect Of gain, or by the influence Of
those who expect to profit by it, to extend their
issues OF paper beyond the bounds of discretion and
the reasonable demands of business, and when
these issues have been pushed from day to day,
until public confidence is shaken, then a reaction
takes place, they Immediately withdraw the credits
they have given, suddenly contract their issues,
produce an unexpected and ruinous contraction of
the circulating medium which is felt by the whole
community. "-Jnckson's FuresceU Address, 1882.
"Of all the contrivances for cheating the labor
sr,r- n1o r~r, ,s,,l
tual than that which deludes them with paper
money. This is the most effecual of inventions to
fertiize the rich mans field by the sweat of the poor
mans brow. Ordinary tyranny, oppression, exces.
sive taxation-these bear lightly the happiness
OF the mass OF the community compared with the
fraudulent cLrrencies and robberies committed by
deprecated paper. Our own history has recorded
enough and more than enough, of the ,lemorafzing
tendency, the injustice and the intolerable oppres-
sion upon the virtuous and we'll disposed, of de-
graded paper currency authorized by law Or any
way conntenanced by government" OF
Daniel Wedster IN the United States Senute IS33
4" cannot but lament from my Utmost soul the
lust of paper money which appears in some parts
of the United States There will never be uni.
form rule, if there is sense of justice, nor any
clear credit, public private any settled con-
idence in public men or measures, until paper
money is done away with."-John adams to John
jay, 1856:
"'No State shall emit bills of credit Can State
charter swarms Of banks to fill the land with bills
Of no credit until they snail eat up and devour our
substance, and bring upon us more plaques than
was ever brought upon Egypt? No! This is clearly
violation OF the Constitution of the United States"
Vim. Lcggett.
Banks tend to aggravate the inequality of for
tune to make rich richer, and the poor poorer to
multiply nabobs and paupers; and to deepen
and widen the gulf which separates Dives and
Lazarus. A great moneyed power is favorable
,St0lc Eo~ tH.o 49,
to favor money. 1t is unfavorabe to the small
capitalist for it is the principle of money eschew
the needy and unfortunate. 1t is injurious to the
laboring class, because they receive avors, and
have the property they wish to acquire raised to
the paper maximum, while wages remain ut the
silver maximum"-T H. Benton
"What effect has this boated system of credit
upon the morals Of the country? In the large
commercial cities it has converted almost all the
business men into gamblers. Where is there now
to be found the old fashioned importing merchant
whose word was as good as his bond, and who was
content grow rich his fathers did, by the
sve and regular profits of many years of patient in
dustry? Such men were the glory and pride of
commerce. and elevated the character of their coun-
try both at home and abroad.
Money, money, money confers the highest dis
tinction in society. The Republican simplicity and
virtue of Macon would be subjects of ridicule in
Wall street Chestnut street. The highest talents
directed by the pures: patriotism, moral worth,
literary and professional fame-in Short every
quality which ought to confer distinction in society
sinks into insignifcance when compared with
wealth. Money is equivalent to title of nobility
in our large commercial cities This is the effect Of
credit system.
"Agan, sir who do you suppose held the greater
part of the worthless paper of the hundred and
sixty-five broken banks to which have referred!
Certainly it not the keen and wary Spectator
who spuffs danger from afar. If you were to make
the Search you would find more broken bank notes
in the cottages of the poor than anywhere else And
these sbinplasters, where they? After the re-
vulsion of 1887, laborers were glad to obtain en-
ployment on any terms, and they often received it
on the express condition thai they were to accept
this worthless trash in payment."-]ames Buchanan
1S4l.
For one l enter my protest against banking as
conducted in this country-a system not to be sup
ported by any sound principles of political economy
"a gross delusion-a dream Of a visionary-a sys |
TEN which has done more to corrupt the morals of
society than anything else-which has introduced !
which governs the actions Of patriot, and makes
ambition virtuous." John Tyler United States Sen
ate, 1919.
"The apprehension of the drain of their specie |
can be sufficient reason for bank suspensions. for
of the principles of their incorporate privileges
is, that they shall keep themselves at all times in
condition to meet their liabilities When q suspension |
of specie payment takes place by bank, their crcu.
aton Immediately deprecates in value, and the loss
falls not the banks but on The people, The labor of
the country bears the loss whilst the banks during
a period of suspension, often doing their most
profitable business. flames r. Folk to the Tonnes
zee Legislature Of 1889.
CENTRAL DEMOCRATIC CLuB.-This organization |
comprises. understand, some six hundred enroll
ed members. Since the resignation Of VIM. j. Rose,
Esq, who was appointed to a responsible position
In the State Department at Washington, G. H. Brack-