The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1896-05-07

General jackson said:
1T il apparent from the whole
eontes. OF the constitution, as well
as the history of the times which
gave birth TO II, that IL was the pur-
pose OF the convention 20 establish
currency consisting OF the precious
metals. These. from their Pc
culiar properties. which rendered
them the standard of value IN all
other countries, were adopted in this
as well TO establish its commercial
standard, III reference &c foreign
countries. by a permanent rule. as
TO exclude the use of a mutual me
dunn of exchange, such as of certain
agricultural commodities, recognized
by the Statutes OF some States, as a
tender for debts, or the still more
pernicious expedient of a paper cur
rency. The last, from the expert
ence of the evils of the issue of pa
per currency during the revolution,
had become so justly obnoxious, as
to suggest the clause in the Consti-
tuition forbidding the emission of
| bills of credit by the States, but also
to produce that vote in the conven-
ton which negatived the proposition
to grant power to Congress to char
ter corporations, a proposition we'll
understood at the time, as intended
to authorize the charter of the Ma
| tlonal Bank, which was to issue a
| currency of bank notes, on capital
to be created, to some extent, out
OF government stocks"
In the same message President
jackson states that
"On the establishment of Ma
tional Bank, it became the inter
est of its creditors that gold should
be superseded by the paper of the
bank as general currency. A val
| ue was soon attached TO the gold
coins which made their expectation
to foreign countries, as q commod-
ity, moro profitable than their reten-
ton and use at home as money. 1t
| followed as a matter of course, if
not designed by those who establish
ed the bank, that the bank became,
in effect, substitute for the mint Of
the United States.
'NarlabieneSS must ever be the
| characteristic of currency of which
the precious metals are not the chief
| Ingredient, or which can be expand
ed or contracted without regard to
the principles that regulate the
value Of those metals as a standard
in the general trade of the world"
April q, 1886, Mr.. Benton, of
Missouri offered the following reso-
luton:
"REsoLvED, That from and after
| the-day of-in the year 1886
nothing but gold and silver ought
to be received in payment for pub
lie lands; and that the commit
tee on public lands be instructed to
report bill accordingly"
President jackson directed the
Secretary of the Treasury to issue an
order to the Receivers of pay for the
public lands in conformity with this
resolution, which was done on July
IL, 1886. And the President in his
next and last annual message from
which | have already quoted, said
of the operations of this order, that
''The effects of an extencion of
bank credit and over issues of bank
paper have been strikingly illustrat-
ed in the sales Of the public lands.
From the returns made by the vari
Gus Registers and Receivers in the
early part Of last summer, it was
perceived that the receipts arising
from the sales of the public lands
were increasing to an unprecedented
amount. In effect, however, these
receipts amounted to nothing more
than credits in banks. The banks
| lent out their notes to spectators ;
they were paid to the Receivers, and
Immediately returned to the banks
to be lent out again. Those credits
on the books of some of tie western
banks, usually called deposits, were
already greatly beyond their imme-
diate means of payment, and were
rapidly increasing.
The safety of the public funds and
| the interest Of the people generally,
required that these operations should
be checked; and it became the duty
Of every branch of the general and
State governments to adopt all le-
gitimate and proper means to pro-
duce the salutary effect. Under
this view of nv duty, l directed the
| issuing of the order, which will be
laid before you by the Secretary of
the Treasury requiring payment
for the public lands to be sold, to be
made in specie, with an exception,
until the fifteenth Of the present
month, in favor of actual settlers.
This measure has produced many
salntary consequences
The view of these last words of Cen
eral Jackson, upon a subject which
his whole public career shows him
to have been consistent, will close
the mouths Of all truth-respecting
monometallists who have been led to
believe that the hero of New Orleans,
for q moment, lent his great name to
the idea of demonetizing silver. And
editors who have given currency to
that falsehood, if they respect truth
more than party allegiance and
party success, will hasten to cor.
rect the error into which tn ey have
been betrayed.
jefferson, Jackson, Benton-twc
of them born in North Corolina-and
all of them devoted to a bi-metallic
currency, and the enemies Of bank
paper. Let no monometalliSt, ne
apostolic follower of John Sherman
take shelter under these grea
names. DANIEL GOODLOE.
QUITE RIGHT!
Neither Can ANY Other Honest Measure