and it will lead to the rankest corruption if it is permitted to continue.

It is said the credit of the Government will be affected if depreciated bank paper should be offered to the public creditors; and it is pretended that the passage of this bill is necessary to preserve the credit of the Government. What credit do gentlemen allude to? If it is pretended that the credit of the Government has not already been tarnishedif it is alleged that its credit is not every day stained by offering depreciated paper in discharge of public debts, it is notorious that the facts are against the argument. Bank and other depreciated paper has not only been offered, but in many cases it has actually been put off upon a portion of the public creditors, and some of them the most deserving. A portion of the volunteers of Tennessee were not only tendered, but actually paid in bank paper, depreciated fifteen per cent. below the par of specie, during the last summer, and when, at the same time, federal officeholders, residing just across the line between Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, received their salaries in gold and silver, which commanded a premium of fifteen per cent. in Tennessee currency! After this, let no one say that there is no difference established, under the present order of things, between the governors and the governed-between the Government and the people; nor let it be pretended that this Government has maintained its credit untarnished by the contact of depreciated paper. But, sir, I affirm that the credit of the Government, in a financial point of view, has not been impaired by the payment of bank or other depreciated paper to its creditors. I mean to say, sir, that the credit of this Government, so far as that credit is the result of the public confidence in the resources of the country and the disposition of the Government to pay its debts, stands as high at this moment as at any time heretofore.

This Government can now borrow whatever money may be necessary to its wants at as low a rate of interest as at any time of its existence. [Mr. SERGEANT said lower.] . The gentleman from Pennsylvania, who sits near me, says that the Government can now borrow money at a lower rate of interest than heretofore. Then it is clear that the Government has sustained no loss of credit by having paid out depreciated paper up to this time. Why not, then, continue the practice? Why not make it uniform? Why not at once raise all the paper of solvent banks to the same standard of value, and pay all the public creditors in the same medium? There is no reason why they should not, except the determination which exists with the administration to persevere in their fatal course of experiments.

What, Mr. Speaker, is this depreciation of bank paper, which, it is said, is an objection to the policy of receiving it in the collection of the public revenue? Suppose this administration were disposed to restore the currency of the country, and should resolve to receive in payment of all public dues the notes of all solvent banks upon such conditions and securities as shall make the Government perfectly safe, what would the depreciation amount to? By this act of the Government the demand for specie would cease in every part of the Union in a great measure; and, when the foreign debt shall be paid, the difference in value between bank paper and gold and silver would be more nominal than real in all the larger cities. The gentleman from New York [Mr. CAMBRELENG] has told us that in the city of New York, the great emporium of our trade, and the centre of exchange, bank paper is now only about four and a half or five per cent. below par. Let the Government, then, resolve to take it in payment of the customs, and from that moment it will assume nearly par value, and in less than sixty days all the Eastern banks can resume specie payments. The merchants then could pay their bonds; they would ask no more indulgence. Millions will immediately be poured into the Treasury. The Government, would be able to indulge the banks in the

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West, and particularly in the Southwest; and, if the administration should be well disposed, every solvent bank in the Union could resume specie payments in a few months. The demand for specie having ceased, the Government being no longer in the market bidding for it, every serious impediment to the resumption of specie payments will be removed. With the crops of the present year in the Southwest, and with proper indulgence and assistance from the Government, the banks in that quarter need not be long in the rear of the Eastern banks, if at all. Sir, I repeat that this Government, if it is so disposed, can promptly restore the present circulating medium of the country to as sound a condition as it was in before the late suspension. Many of the States would no doubt guarantee the safety of all the paper of the banks within their limits now in circulation. Every solvent bank would furnish satisfactory securities, and all would come under such conditions as would guaranty, both to the Government and the country, that no advantage would be taken of the credit thus given to their paper by adding to the amount already in circulation. Then, sir, we should no longer see in this free country the Government harassing and oppressing its citizens by collecting its taxes in gold and silver, to be distributed among those who have the good fortune to be engaged in the public service, while the great mass of the people have no other currency in use among them but bank paper; a state of things which, for the honor and character of free Government, ought not to be permitted a day longer than a remedy could possibly be applied.

Then, sir, as a measure of coercion against the administration as a measure of compulsion-I would reject this bill. We know the administration is hostile to the present circulating medium of the country; that hostility is avowed distinctly in the message. In the newspaper organs of the party, and from a hundred different sources besides, we learn that it is the policy of a large party in the country to make banks and bank paper as odious as possible among the people, and finally to break them down. It is, then, the policy of this party to prevent the banks from resuming specie payments; it is their policy still further to cripple the operations of the banks. To compel the Government to take the course, therefore, which the public good requires, and that is to improve the condition of the present circulation of the country, I would withhold my vote from this bill, if there were no other reason in my mind to justify that course. Withhold the aid required by this bill, and all will be well in ninety days; the Government will be compelled to receive and pay out bank paper, and that is all that is necessary, under proper limitations and precautions, to bring about a general resumption of specie payments by the banks.

The chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means has informed us that one object to be accomplished by this bill will be to supply a medium of exchange, a species of paper which we will find very convenient, and a great relief at this time in the West. I can inform the gentleman that he will do a much greater service to the West by taking Eastern bank notes and disbursing them on our Western frontier. These notes would furnish a cheaper remittance than any Government paper that can be created, and they answer all the purposes we desire. But, sir, I know but too well the real grounds upon which this bill is urged through Congress. It is not because the Government cannot get along without it; it is not because there is any particular interest felt in relieving any particular section of the country. It is because, by this measure, and this measure alone, the administration can venture upon any new experiment upon the currency and finances of the country. This is a principal motive. Another one is, beyond all doubt, to furnish a medium of exchange between the different sections of the Union, so as to silence,

opposition to this bill. As for the bank stock interest, and those whose course is dictated by the grovelling policy of preserving the State banks, for the sake of themselves, or for the sake of individual interests, I know not whether 'I would most pity or despise them. If I were to consult my own personal feelings, I would not suffer an incorporated bank to exist; but, sir, it is the various interests with which these banks are connected; it is the general interest; it is the interest alike of merchant, farmer, and manufacturer; of the laborer as well as of the capitalist, that they shall be protected against the hands which are now uplifted to destroy them.

I regard the proposition to issue Treasury notes, to supply any alleged deficit in the Treasury, and at the same time to supply the circulation of the country, at this particular period, as one of the most mischievous and wicked projects that could be resorted to under any circumstances. The bad tendency of it cannot be doubted, and the bad results are almost as certain. In the first place, this is a resort which ought to be reserved and held sacred for those high emergencies which happen to all nations, at some period or other in their history; emergencies growing out of a state of war; such as threaten danger to the liberties and independence of the country. Then, and then only, should the Government exercise the power of making money, or availing itself, at once, of its power and its credit, by issuing its own notes. The example, in time of peace, is a bad, and may become a fatal one. The object now to be accomplished, and which need not again be pointed out, is sufficiently objectionable, but the consequences which may, and probably will, follow from it are appaling. If there is any member in this House, who considers that economy in the Government ought to be cherished and supported-if there be any who hold that there is any thing in the idea of reform but a mere name, a catch word, to mislead the people; if there are any who think that there is any danger to be apprehended from the increase of Executive patronage, I call upon them to reject this bill. I appeal to the gentlemen of the South-I appeal especially to that portion of them who are the advocates of States' rights, and who would maintain their due influence in the confederacy, to oppose this measure. I call, more especially, upon those who believe that the greatest danger which threatens our system, is a concentration of all power in the General Government, to unite with me in going against this bill. Has the idea of consolidation lost all its terrors? Have all fears of such a result subsided in this House? If there are any remains of that spirit yet left, which in former times filled this hall with remonstrances upon this subject, it is time it should arouse itself. This bill is prepared under the most artful disguises, and the avowed object is attractive and seductive; it is urged as a measure of relief to the people as well as to the Government; it is said that it will furnish a medium of exchange, which will tend greatly to relieve the interior and Southwest. I for one, sir, was not taken by surprise by the introduction of this measure. I foresaw the probable attempt to establish a Treasury bank, and I warned my constituents, during the summer, that the administration might seek to repair the mischief their folly had done the country, by the establishment of a Government bank. I had the high gratification of addressing a large assembly of freemen of my district, not long since, when I took occasion to state to them, that, although no relief could be anticipated from the early establishment of a national bank, yet that the embarrassments which they labored under could all be removed by the administration, by the party in power, if they thought proper; but when I explained to them the means by which it might be attempted; that it would be by issuing a Government pa. per, and, in effect, by establishing a bank (founded upon the credit of the Government; and when I appealed to

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them in behalf of those higher and dearer interests which would be put in jeopardy by such a measure of relief, and called upon them to say whether they were not prepared to suffer still greater evils than those which now oppressed them-whether they were not ready to sacrifice half their estates and property, before they would accept present relief at so much risk to the constitution and public liberty, the general exclamation was: "we will sacrifice the whole first!" Of such materials are the farmers and mechanics, whom it is my pride-nay, sir, my glory, to represent upon this floor.

We hear the severest denunciations pronounced against a paper currency every day upon this floor, yet we are about to add to the stock of paper money now on hand in the country; and while the whole Union is filled with the clamor which has been artfully excited against all banks, the nation, in my opinion, is upon the eve of seeing established, under the disguise of sub-treasuries, at every important commercial point, branches of a great central bank, located in this city, founded upon the public revenues, and under the control of the Executive Department of the Government!

I happen to know, Mr. Speaker, from a source entitled to the highest confidence, and I presume you, sir, know quite as well as myself, that the war commenced upon the Bank of the United States in 1829, by the late President, was entered upon with a determination to establish a bank upon its ruins, founded upon the revenue and credit of the Government. I happen to know that the election of a highly distinguished gentleman of the State of Tennessee to the Senate of the United States was urged by a high public functionary, upon the ground that he would be highly useful to him in executing his plans in relation to a new bank. How long these original views of the late President continued to operate I cannot undertake to state. I had sufficient reason to hope that in 1832 the original design of the President was laid aside, or considerably modified. Judging from certain letters which appear to have emanated from the Hermitage, of a very late date, I would infer that the policy of establishing a Treasury bank had been wholly abandoned in that quarter; but, sir, even as late as last summer, there were some symptoms of an abiding determination to carry out the scheme which was commenced in 1829. The tone of one of the leading journals in that State, and more particularly the course of a gentleman long a member of this House, in his canvass during the summer, were striking facts, and they did not pass unobserved. The gentleman to whom I allude has been reputed to be in the confidence of the late and present administrations, and he openly avowed his intention to support a bank founded upon the credit and revenue of the Government. But, why should I refer to circumstances, to conjectures, when, by referring to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, we shall find the idea of a Treasury bank fully developed and openly recommended, not in name, indeed, but under such feeble disguises that none can mistake the true object? I will quote, in confirmation of what I have said upon this point, a single paragraph from the report of the Secretary of the Treasury. After stating that it is in the power of Congress to furnish "some paper medium of a higher character and other than what now exists," and which can be readily secured without treading upon the debatable ground of either the power or the policy of chartering a national bank," he proceeds to state that "certificates, not on interest, but payable in specie to bearer or order, as well as being receivable for all public dues, could be authorized to be given in payment to the public creditor, whenever preferred by him, and sufficient specie existed in the Treasury. This kind of paper would be very convenient in form, and would differ very little from the drafts now in use on banks, except being drawn on a known specie fund, and expressing on its face not only

this, but its being receivable, in the first instance, for all public dues. It would possess the highest credit allowable in society." Sir, after this development of the plans which have been considered at the Treasury, who will be found hardy enough hereafter to deny that a Treasury bank is not to be-will not be, supported by the party in power?

Regarding it thus as the settled policy of a large and powerful party to establish a bank connected with the public Treasury, and to supply a circulating medium of the country with paper issued directly by the Government, I shall consider the republic in danger until this crisis is past. If, sir, you do no more than pass this bill, you set an example of the most dangerous nature. Once establish the practice of supplying all real or alleged deficiencies in the Treasury by issuing Treasury notes, and it cuts off all hopes of retrenchment-of limitation or moderation in the public expenditures. When an appropriation of money shall hereafter be asked for some new and extravagant work of internal or other improvement, we shall have the objection no longer urged upon this floor that the state of the finances will not admit the expenditure; that there is no money in the Treasury. Every one will know that the fact is not so; that, for the cost of the plates and paper, the Government can make as much money as we desire for every purpose. The argument that we are in want of money will be clamored down. We shall be enabled forthwith to buy all the Indian lands between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains-to enrich all the agents, jobbers, traders, and other favorites upon the whole Western frontier. We can construct as many artificial harbors upon our lake and Atlantic borders as we desire. We shall be able to erect a chain of artificial fortifications upon our whole frontier boundary, on such a plan as to defy the approach of a foreign enemy. We shall be able to place all our public establishments upon a scale of magnificence and grandeur corresponding with our great name and boundless resources; for there will, for a long time, be no want of money in the Treasury. We shall, indeed, have a splendid Government, and be able to challenge the admiration of all the nations; but, whether our wisdom or our folly will most astonish mankind, I leave it for the advocates of this bill to determine. Whether we shall long remain a free people will soon cease to be a question. Sir, when we shall once have set the example of replenishing the Treasury, upon any alleged emergency in time of peace, by issuing Treasury notes, the practice will become permanent. In a Government like ours, we shall never be able to retrieve a false step like this; we shall never be able to correct a policy which will be entwined with so many interests, until a revulsion shall come, which shall shake, ay, prostrate the now seemingly solid columns which support the fabric of our liberty in the dust.

Mr. BELL made some remarks upon the subject of the connexion between commerce and the banking system in this country, and showed how much of the prosperity of the country depended upon the credit system; and concluded by moving to strike out the enacting clause of the bill. Mr. CAMBRELENG asked for the yeas and nays; which were ordered.

Mr. BRONSON said he felt unwilling that the question should be taken on the motion now pending, and that the bill should finally pass from this House, without giving his views upon the measure under consideration; and, from the peculiar character which this debate had now assumed, and particularly since the remarks of the honorable gentleman from Tennessee, Mr. BRONSON said he felt more strongly impelled to state some of the reasons which would influence his vote, and which rendered it clear to his mind that the bill under consideration should become a law. I have (said Mr. B.) regarded this measure as one peculiarly calculated to relieve the pecuniary distresses of the country

[Oct. 7, 1837.

generally, and to benefit the people, as well as to furnish immediate aid to the Treasury; as one which has been viewed in that light by all parties in and out of this House, and even till within the last forty-eight hours, I did not consider that there was any serious opposition to an issue of Treasury notes, or Government stock, in some form. On my journey to this city, I frequently heard it suggested that such a measure would be eminently calculated to give relief, and one which Congress should adopt by all means, if practicable: and, what is worthy of remark, these suggestions, in almost all instances, came from the opposition-from the political friends of those who are now opposing this bill on this floor. After my arrival here, the project was frequently spoken of, and always with favor; in fact, a sentiment decidedly friendly to the measure prevailed here, so far as I heard any expression on the subject, (with one or two exceptions,) until about forty eight hours ago, and after this bill had been some time under discussion, when suddenly it seemed that new light had broken in upon this matter. Yesterday morning, Mr. Speaker, we heard from New York that specie had fallen in that great commercial mart-that Treasury drafts were worth as much all to about 1 per cent. as specie-stocks rising and trade apparently reviving. There was also, Mr. Speaker, every reason for the public then to suppose, not only that this bill would pass, but that duty bonds would be extended, and further time given to the deposite banks to pay the balances due from them as provided by the bills on your table. Now, sir, it is a little singular that on the receipt of this news, and when it would seem that better times were dawning upon the country, when business appeared to be reviving, and when this and other measures recommended by the Executive, which it might be supposed would pass this House, appeared to have the effect to allay excitement and restore confidence-I say it is singular, sir, at such a moment, that a most vigorous ef fort is suddenly made to defeat this bill, and prevent the issue of Treasury notes, which, on all hands, so far as I have understood, has been viewed as a measure so well calculated for the relief of the country. We have heard much, sir, on the subject of the Government taking care of itself without any care for the people. The measures recommended by the administration have been denounced on this floor as having a single eye to that object, and it has been made matter of complaint here that no measures of relief, for the people were proposed. This, however, has been looked upon as a measure calculated to relieve the people as well as the Government; as a measure that would throw into circulation ten million of dollars, which would be equal to so much addition to the specie capital of the country-furnishing great facilities, either as remittances or domestic exchanges, particularly to all classes of the commercial community. And yet, sir, the moment there is a prospect that this measure will be adopted, and carried too as an administration measure, the whole opposition party are arrayed against it; and unless I have entirely misunderstood the scope and tenor of this debate, their hostility to the measure, if it did not originate on reception of the news from New York above alluded to, it did, at least, then assume a more vigorous, obstinate, and powerful shape, so much so as to impress upon my mind most strongly the belief that there was some connexion between the cause and effect.

Did gentlemen of the opposition suppose that if this bill passed it would immediately give relief, restore confidence, and redound to the credit of the administration? That such will be the effect, to a very great extent, I have no doubt; and I had hoped that this consideration might not be entirely overlooked by the opponents of this bill; or, if noted by them, that it would not add zeal to their opposition. I hope it has not.

Mr. Speaker, I have listened to the debates on this bill,

and given them all due attention; and the various objections which have been raised in the progress of this discussion against an issue of Treasury notes, have received from me attentive consideration.

I was in favor of the project from the first, if the state of the Treasury was such as to warrant it, and I have heard nothing yet which to my mind is a sufficient objection against it. Let us look for a moment to the ground which we occupy in relation to this matter, and the point at which we have arrived in this discussion.

Is it not, sir, a conceded point that the Treasury is nearJy or quite exhausted-that in a short time it will be necessary to raise money, either by loan or otherwise, unless the unavailable funds now in hand can be realized? I shall not here go into a review of the financial condition of the country, or the state of the Treasury, as exhibited by the Secretary's report, or the various explanations of that report, which have been made on this floor. I assume the position that there is no money in the Treasury, or that such will be the case very shortly-and that money is needed to carry on the operations of the Government. We are told so by the Secretary of the Treasury, and by the chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means. The whole of this debate has proceeded upon that supposition; and with the exception of the honorable gentleman from Tennessee, [Mr. BELL,] and perhaps one or two others, such has been allowed to be the true state of the Treasury by all who have addressed the House on this subject. There can be no question that such is the fact, and the point that is now presented is simply, in what manner shall we replenish the Treasury; I say merely the Treasury, and not an exhausted or bankrupt Treasury; for, sir, we have ample resources, as soon as they can be realized, without resorting to taxes or duties. It is only necessary to resort to some temporary expedient to enable the Government to go on and to furnish the Treasury with the necessary means, until the debts due to the Government, and the ample but at present "navailable means which we have, can be realized without unnecessary distress or pressure upon the people.

By the strong vote in this House last evening on the subject of selling the United States Bank bonds, it was unequivocally determined that we would not adopt that measure. We must then call upon the deposite banks for the immediate payment of all balances due from them, and also upon the merchants for the instant payment of the duty bonds, or a resort must be had to the issue of Treasury notes or Government stocks for a short time until those claims can be realized. Can gentlemen devise any other course? You have now, sir, upon your table a bill postponing the payment of duty bonds nine months, and another allowing time to the deposite banks to pay the balances due from them, neither of which are yet acted upon in this House, but both of which, so far as any opinion has been elicited, meet with universal favor. In fact, sir, I doubt whether there is a member on this floor who is not prepared to support both of those measures; and gentlemen opposed to the administration and to this bill, are supposed to be particularly favorable to those. Can gentlemen of the opposition, then, fail to see the effect that the defeat of this bill must have upon those measures? Are they sincere in desiring a delay upon the duty bonds, and the allowance of further time to the deposite banks, and yet oppose this measure, which if defeated must necessarily result in the defeat of both those bills? Are they willing to assume the responsibility of denying any extension to the banks, or on the duty bonds, which must be the inevitable consequence of refusing to pass this bill? I apprehend, sir, that gentlemen have not duly weighed these considerations, and yet it would seem impossible that they can have overlooked the fact that, by exacting immediate payment of the duty bonds and bank balances, not only the security or safety of the debts might be endangered, but that increased pressure and VOL. XIV.-84

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distress must be felt through all the ramifications of society; and yet, sir, how can that result be avoided if this bill is defeated?

But, sir, another and more weighty objection is now urged to this bill. After it had been debated nearly two days, it was suddenly discovered to be an enemy in disguise; a scheme fraught with all sorts of mischief to the country, and danger to our institutions; in short, an incipient step towards a Treasury bank, as an entering wedge towards a permanent national paper currency. The changes have been rung upon these words, in all forms and shapes, until the ear is weary of the repetition; and, like the old United States Bank, which the gentleman from Massachusetts insisted had become a kind of "stalking horse" in this House, sir, this idea of a "Treasury bank,' "a Government paper currency," has become a kind of "stalking horse" to this bill, which is led in upon this floor by every speaker of the opposition, to frighten members out of their votes in favor of this measure. Now, sir, I am as much opposed to a Treasury bank as any of the gentlemen who oppose this bill; and I would go as far in opposing any measure which would be an incipient step towards such an institution, or towards the establishment of an irredeemable Government paper currency, as the most patriotic of them; but, after a very candid examination of the subject in all its bearings, and after a careful perusal of the bill, I cannot discover the lurking dangers with which other gentlemen seem to think it is fraught. I am not able to perceive any foundation for a Treasury bank or for a permanent Government paper currency lurking about the bill, or incident to it. It is, sir, a very plain, intelligible bill, just what it purports to be on the face of it, and meaning nothing more than is expressed; a mere temporary expedient, to enable the Treasury, by an issue of Treasury notes to a limited amount, to fulfil its obligations; thus anticipating the moneys due to the Govern ment, and at the same time to do it without laying any taxes or new duties. The issue of Treasury notes is confined to ten millions, beyond which amount no issue can be made; and, to make assurance doubly sure, I will myself propose the amendment offered in Committee of the Whole, by the gentleman from Maryland, [Mr. JOHNSON,] limiting the time within which these notes shall be issued to the first of Junc, 1839, or some other shorter time, so as to throw around the bill all those safeguards necessary to render it, as it is intended to be, and as it purports to be on the face of it, a measure merely temporary. By the passage of this bill, we shall, sir, be able to extend all reasonable indulgence to the Government debtors, at a time when it is not only the interest but the duty of the Government to do so; we shall furnish a temporary circulation which may and will be used, not only as a remittance to Europe, but between the different parts of the Union; which will have a tendency to equalize exchanges, retain our specie from foreign exportation, restore commercial confidence, and in every way relieve the country, without injury to the Government or danger to our institutions. I say without danger to our institutions; for, really, sir, I cannot see the least shadow of foundation for the apprehensions of gentlemen on that point. This is a measure which has before been adopted by this Government, and without any objection as to its constitutionality. It is no new experiment, sir; no trifling with the supposed powers given us by the constitution; but the judicious exercise of those powers clearly granted, and an exercise sanctioned as well by authority of a former Congress, as by sound discretion and a just regard for a suffering country.

But, Mr. Speaker, before resuming my seat, I feel bound to notice more particularly some of the remarks of the honorable gentleman from Tennessee, [Mr. BELL.] That honorable gentleman, sir, addressed himself to vari