Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1859-02-26

0overnInent IN the Wnrld.'1 The other; Sena- |
tor Johnson. OF Tennessee, said, that, if the |
people only knew the extent of the corrup- /
ton, ''they would come to Washington and
pitch the whole concern in the Potomac-o
Such, was not the character of the govern
ment when it came into the hands of this
party. All this corruption has grown up since
then. geE.rrsfr.. TUF<E-fr f-tF s
In published letter. written by President
Buchanan in 1852. in order to explain what
he deemed the then exorDitant expenditure of
the government. be said :. Money from the
national treasury is continually demanded to
enrich Contractors spec''L1tors, and agents. and the
projects are-g ilded- over with every allure
ment which can be impaired by ingenuity or
TALENT Let it he remembered that these
contractors. spectators. and agents are De-
mocrats. and that the gliding is done nv talen-
ted leaders of the party. and his explanation
becomes perfectly satisfactory why the ex-
penditures have so enormously increased un-
der Democratic rule, and especially durinn
the last six years. under the administration
of himself and President Pierce. No men
have done more than these two Presidents
and their Cabinets to fulfill Mr.. Buchanan's
prophecy viz: 1.-THE cOrrIptng power Of
money will be fit throughout the length and
breadth of the land land = the public money
employed nv ar;fIl and ambitions demago-
CUES for their own ACKNOWLEDGEMENT" The
corrupting power is already so felt and the
public money so employed. Every one must
concur with him that " genuine liberty must
soon expire" under such a condition of our
national affairs.
Some twenty years ago the Democracy
found National and State banks a great pow
er in the land not under the direct influence
or control of the party. To remove this in
convenience it broke down the national hank
and in tituted tie notorious pet bank system,
with Democratic promise to give the nation
- better currency" In few years the
banks all exploded and the system with them.
giving. as the result of that Democratic ex
pertinent. the worst currency ever known. and
the most widespread commercial disaster and
ruin ever witnessed. The national loss to
traders, manufacturers, and business men of
all classes was moderately computed by the
hundred of millions.
The Democracy then told the nation that
it must take care of itself in the matter of its
currency; that the Democracy would render
it no aid but that of good example. 1t pro-
claimed its intention to cut the government
entirely loose from all connection with the
nations business currency. make 1t purely
hard MONEY government, which was effect
lively to RESTRAIN undue expansions, and in
every event enable the government to trans
act its own great business in hard money and
in that alone.
Uninfuenced by the example. no State
adopted the experiment, but all made more
banks. which, unnfiucnced by the panacea,
expanded more than they had ever done. and
there occurred one Of those suspensions which
seem to be part of the law of the existence
of State banks. After the lapse of a few
months, the banks resumed specie payments,
and the nation and the State governments
have ever since enjoyed a redeemable cur
rency equal to specie, whilst the Federal gov
eminent has been compelled to resort to
paper circulation of incOnvertihle treasury
notes, which the Secretary of the Treasury
tells us must be kept for two years longer.
This experiment having utterly failed in all
its promised advantages, the Democracy
promptly steps forward and offers the nation
the benefit of still another experiment. 1t
says, through its organ. the President. that
the States are too lenient towards their banks
and hence their undue expansions; only place
them under Democratic control. let them live
in salutary fear of memorable Federal rigor
and there will he no more suspensions. Only
give us a bankrupt law against banks and
railroads and you have our assurance that all
shall he well; the banks shall cease all undue
expansions, and railroads forbear IMPROVE
IDENTIFY to incur debts. But should these just
expectations fail, should the banks and rail
roads fail to act then they are to have mex
orahle law their property and that of their
debtors, including the whole trading commu-
Mtg. shall be brought under the sacrificing
hammer of Federal officials and thus . The
equilibrium restored;" that is, the rapid adj
justment of all debts at whatever sacrifice of
property the experiment may require.
The nation has long been fully aware, as
much as Mr.. Buchanan or his Secretary of
the Treasury can make them, that a periodi-
cal suspension is one of the unavoidable ac-
compartments of its State bank system. But
great as that evil is it is not comparable to
the evil of making our banks and railroads
dependent upon the smiles and frowns of
Federal Democratic rulers for a lcnient or
vigorous enforcement of bankrupt law.
Nor does the evil compare with what would
eusue from the honest, vigorous enforcement
of such law at time of general suspen-
sion. in the unavoidable sacrifice OF every
traders or business mans property. The
nation needs no experiment to tell what
would be the result of sudden enforcement
by law of all individual debts. Every one
onght to know that an almost universal
bankruptcy would be the result. That
the Democracy would be sufficiently inexora-
bic in such a crisis may well be allowed.
Whilst the nation was writing under the
effects Of the ''better currency experiment,
the wall of woe which it sent up to DemOcra-
tic headquarters. was CURLY answered with
the memorable apothegm: ''All who trade on
credit deserve to break Put the power
in the hands of the Democracy a Id it may be
relied on to carry out this its maxim. As
little will the nation be inclined to contine To
the ineXOrable Democracy the power of need
lessly breaking up those very beneficial in
situations, our railroads. by sudden vigor-
Gus enforcement of their debts.
7. 1T l. AN ExTRAvAGAHT, wAsrEFUL PARTY.
The conclusive proof of this lies in the fact
that under its rule the annual expenditures
have increased from less than twenty to more
than eighty millions.
The single item of five millions spent in
two Congressional terms for public printing
and the waste of six hundred thousand dollars
annually in collecting the revenue. as stated
in the report Of even u Democratic committee
superseded the necessity OF any detailed eX-
posure of extravaganza.
In the re published letter of President Blu
chanan. before referred To, he cOmnlai cd that
in 1852 the annual expenditures "hdUe re4siei
Tie enormous sum Of my million, and predicts
that, "unless arrested by the strong arm Of DE
Democracy, may, in the course of few years
reach a hundred million" Il am convinced
our expenditures ought to bs consid .rably
reduced below the present standa d. not only
without dctrment, but with advantage to the
government aud the people, The .'strong
arm Of the Democracy has bad control of
the finances for the last six years. and instead
of arresting waste aud extravaganza, they
have been nearly doubled in amount. Such
is the contrast between Democratic perform
mcs and It's promise whilst seeking popular
favor. Thus Mr.. Buchanan, the most com
potent and reliable witness in such a case,
proves the wasteful extrayagance of the
honest Democracy.
The wasteful donation of public lands
enabled the directors of a single railroad 10
use n million of dollars in blibing the
passage of the scheme through Congress
and the Wisconsin Legislature, as fully proved
before legislative committee. This is one
instance out OF many that might be adduced
D.. ,.r,,.n hn,u national trnn.,,r., ~