i " ' ' r- 1 : :' " 1 r" " : ' - '.'.. ' n rv ' '. ' ' "
I-'
" Ours arc the plans! fair delightful peace, uuwarp'd hy "party rage, to live
Vditors and proprietors.! ,
three dollars
per annum one
SuBHcmmoji,
?
'naif in advance. . i
rtr Persons residing without the Slate will be
required to pay the vr rock' -amount of tn year'
ubscnpuon in aarance. .
RATES OF ADVERTISING, j
for every 16 Fines (this size fype) first insertion
1 1 - . - . r if
ono dollar ; eacn subsequent insenion, io cents.
tatfes to their children and become nominal- '
ly insolvent so as to render a " transaction
commenced in fraud the more complete.
The exeat orincioles involved in these mea-
0 l K - . X .
sures of the late Administration,' ha.ve never
been fairly presented to the people of this
county, who had not the opportunity of
reacting the different publications of the day ,
and some who do read (take one of our for
mer candidates) confine themselves to one
sided papers; and ate; therefore as incapa-
: hie of explaining the true merits of the con-
o uo lar : eacn sui)equeiu insert ion, u cents. I 4 i - . 4i, i-i . i 1t
" . i i i r i a a . s mi 'troversy, as those who did not read at ail.
Court Order and Judicial Advertisements; will ; rrw J . , .. . , r
be ehartred 25 per cent, hiffheri and a deduction
of 33i. per cent, will be made from the regular
iirices,.for advertisers by the year. j
- w v -1 -n i - .1
GT Lcttkis io me riuuors musi oe posi-paiu.
I?lr. IWartin's Xetter.
To the People of Rockingham County:
Fellow-Citizexs: As some of Vou
may be surprised at receiving a letterof this
description irom one! who is not a canaitiaie
tor any kind ot public lavor, u may De pro
per first to say a word or two as to.my jmo
tives in ihus addressing you. Perhaps I
might satisfy some by saying they are purely
of a patriotic character, but so many frauds
have been practised on the people uider
this name, that men of ordinary modesty
have become afraid to apply it to themselves,
and choose to be judged by their acts rakher
than bv 'their professions. 1 will therefore
say nothing about my love of country,! but
content myself on the present occasion by
telling )?gu that if my motives are of a per
sonal 'or sinister character I really do not
know it-my private concerns arc as little af
fected by the prevailing distress of the coun
try, perhaps, as that of any business plan
in the country, and fortunately for my pjeace
of mind, I have no personal favors to ask
either of the people or the Governmeiit.
The public having become much divided as
to the policy of some of the measures df the
late Administration of the General Govern
ment, and there being no candidate for pub
lic favor now before us, I have thd't there
could not well be a more suitable timp for
a calm and dispassionate interchange of
opinions on these important subjectsjthan
the present. Until a few years pas, we
were nearly as one man-on the subject ol
national politics, but we liow- see the! best
friends' and sometimes the nearest connec
tions, widely separated on these quesfions,
and unless we discuss the "matter in a spirit
of harmony, and with minds open to j con
viction, this unpleasant state of things Imust
long continue. Most of you will remem
ber that our first division took place on the
removal of the public money by the Presi
dent, from where it had been placed! by a
law'of Congress-. Up to that period I was
as warm in support of General Jackson as
any rhaa in the country, and, although I
was morally certain of losing a great marry
of my political friends by opposing the
measure, ji could not hesitate on the; sjo-
jecii anu took ine earnest opporiuniiyi oi inr
dutv
The great objection to tlie removal of the
public money, by the President, was not as
to the ' expediency of the measure, but
that - he had no legal or cpnstitutional
right to do so, and although he stated ex
plicitly to his cabinet that it was his mea
sure, and lb be carried out Orr Ms responsi
bility,;, yet the partv always ' avoided this
direct issue, by contending that the power
lay in the secretary ol. the ..treasury, and
that it was right to kill the monster fcc. It
is evident that the President himself believed
at one time, that neither his Secretary or
hunselt had this power, tor it is clearly ad
mitted in his special Message sent to the
previous Congress, recommending that bo
dy to enquire into the propriety of passing
a law on this yery subject. So likewise of
the Specie Circular thi3 proposition was
introduced in the Senate by Mr. Benton,
and rejected by. an overwhelming majority
of his own party, yet in the teeth of this
decision, and directly contrary to a law of
Congress passed in 1816, this Specie Or
der was put forth before some of the mem
bers had time to reach their homes. But
the sequel of this matter shows a still grea
ter contempt of law, and th rights of Con
gress, than even these previous assumptions
of power. A bill was introduced by one of
his political friends, to rescind this Order,
which finally passed the two Houses of
Congress, by almost a unanimous vote; yet
fie Would neither give it the legal sanction
of his name, nor return it to Congress for
further action,, although this , duty is laid
down in tlie Constitution as plain, and as
little liable, to misconstruction as any letter
in the alphabet. Now, Fellow-citizens,
can you who profess to be Republicans--democratic
Republicans, continue to .advo
cate such usurpations In the Executive, or
any other branch of your Government ?
Will you tell your children that this is the
way ta preserve the liberties our fathers ac
quired with so much toil and treasure ?
i eu mem to follow ana sustain every po
pular President who may catch their youth
ful fancies by proclaiming that he "assumes
the responsibility V If you do, my friends,
depend upon it, we hold our liberties by a
very frail tenure. This very expression of
assuming responsibility, and the sanction
it has received from the American people,
has caused me to doubt the stability of our
Republican institutions, more than any other
circumstance in our political history.
Y lii the civil Administration of our : Gov
ernment, there is nothing for any of its of-
Bonaparte is represented as saying th6 term
impossible' was not French we can say
with much more truth that, this sentiment
of Mr. Van Burehs is hot American it is
certainly any thing else' than Republican,
and if he possessed every other qualification
for the Presidency, this sentiment, which
appears to have been deliberately penned
expressly for the public eye, rendered him
totally unfit to govern this great and inde
pendent people. I was opposed to the e-
lection of Mr. van Buren, however, fbr
more reasons than I have here room to
mention, but after he bedame the choice of
the people, I was fully prepared to support
any of his measures at all calculated to be
nefit the country, and really wished that
his policy might turn out to be such as
would tend to heal our unhappy divisions,
but even these hopes have already been
disappointed, for instead ofbnnging the two
- &"o " " " r .i
parties together, his very first public act 5 "J . "w ru,,c muveia.
created a third party. In the two messages
w
forminir vou that a prorer sense of!
constrained me to do so. 1 do not intend fficers to take, or to assume, and leastof all,
to discuss this old subject here further than
to say I am clear in the opinion that if the
people had properly resisted this first un
lawful interference with odr nionied ajffairsi
most if not all our present difficulties would
have been avoided. tVe had at that time
the best regulated currency of any iduntry
on the , Globe, and . if our ruleis had been
content to let welL 65111' alone, we
would yet have been a prosperous. antl hap
py people. But our venerable President
had by this time become surrounded by
new counsellors -all his original friends
were discharged from his cabinet, and their
places filled principally by those t who had
been his most bitter enemies; Tliege' pre
tended friends had their own purposes to
answer, and it now very clearly appears
that one of these designs was to get hold of
the public money for the purpose of land
speculations. The surplus moneyj could
not be reached with sufficient facility from
where Congress had ordered it to be kept,
but with such men as Amos Kendall to
make the contracts with the Pet Ianks,
Reuben Whitney to act as their agent, and
a Secretary Woodbury to stimulate and or
der their discounts, it is not difficult! to ac
count for the many million's of bur rniost va
luable public 'lands that became private pro
perty so soon after the " possession of the!
ior us rxecuuve Drancri ineir uuues are
all prescribed in a written Constitution, and
I have ever, considered it to be the pritfiary
duty of a Republican to resist and denounce
the first assumption of any power, not gran
ted by that instrument whether it be by
an Adams, a Jackson, or a yan Buren.
The History of former Administrations
snow witn wnat caution a wasnmgton, a
Jefferson, and a Madison, approached all
questions of Executive powe, where it
could be considered the least doubtfuL We
heard nothing then of takirig or assuming
responsibilities, but, on the! contrary, all
such matters were duly referred to the re
presentatives of the people in Congress.
Becoming divided on these questions du
ring the last Administration,. -it is not sur
prising that we should coritiritie so on the
election of a successor who f as believed to
be the principal adviser of its most bbnox
ious measures; . I. have often wondered up
on what principle in our, nature it was, that
any of the original friends of Gen. Jackson
could become the advocates of Mri Van
Buren ; for I believe it is generally admit
n
Mr. Van Buren has submitted to the consi
deration of Congress aud the American peo
ple, he has recommended only three mea
sures that are of any very general interest.
Thonefco suspend the last payment to the
States of their proportion of the surplus
money ort hand in 1836, was concurred in
by Congress at its called session"! I should
like to give you my views on the merits of
this question, but have only room here to
say that the whole management of this mat
ter shows U3 with what facility the most
popular law may be rendered nugatory by
a hostile Administration. That law, altho'
passed by a very large majority of Con
gress, was known to be against the policy
of Mr. Van Buren and his Secretary, and
it is now admitted by some of their friends,
that if they had openly avowed their deter
mination to destroy its beneficial effects,
they could not have acted more in confor
mity with such, a declaration, than they
have done in carrying it partly into execu
tion. His last message recommends a war
with the Republic of Mexico, but I believe
neither of the three parties in Congress
shows this recommendation any sort of
countenance.
Some think this matter was presented to
Congresses a ruse de guerre, a stratagem
practised on this same principle as fisher
men sometimes throw a tub to the whale,
to keep its attention from the boat, until
they can properly ti their harpoon. This
idea will not appear extravagant when wc
examine the next prominent measure ot
Mr. Van Buren. It will be. seen, to bear
- " i i
as near a resemblance to a harpoon, as
any paper writing-cart possibly do to
dead I ' instrument. This measure is called
the Sub-Treasury Scheme. It is tlie first
question on which it can be properly said.
that Mr. Van Buren has fairly committed
himself, uwMoie the puoiic sentiment was
believed to be known ; for it cannot be pre
tended that his letter to Sherwood Will
iams pledging himself to go against a Uni
ted States Bank, alter U had received its
mortal wound, wus of this character. There
was just about as much independence or
bravery in this pledge, as Falstaff possess
ed in stabbing Henry relxy alter he had
been slain by the Prince of Wales, and to
my mind, the whole letter presents a scene
equally ludicrous. Mr. Van Buren has,
at length hoWeverJ staked his reputation
with the American people on this, new fi
nancial plan and its details are fully de
veloped in the bill introduced m the Sen
ate by Mr. Wright, his Chancellor of the
Lxchequer. I do not know that I will
personally gain or lose a cent by the fate
of this measure, yet I would freely give
8100,; that every independent voter in N.
Carolina, had a copy of this bill. . In this
event,. I think a fair proportion" of them
would see and begin to understand "what
has been meant for years pastroy the term
"monster." It there ever was a political
What a picture of the American people,
is here held up to Europe and the world
by thir Chief Officer, telling "''them in
substance, that we have become so de
praved, that solemn oaths of office, bond
and security, and the highest penal statutes I
known to our laws, are all insufficient lor
the safe keeping of the public money, but
that to all this must be ! added, a set uf in
quisitorial ofikers to overhaul their affairs,
just as the police officers examine the
rogues of ou r large, cities, periodical ly,
whether any offence has been coininit'ted,
or not. This feature in the bill, clearly
shows us, that it i not contemplated to
select these new officers for their moral
worth" and honest y there will be some
dirty work for them to do about election
reeingftiinesi, for which an honest man is
unfitted, and a set of harpies are to be ap
pointed who can only be kept in harness
I would
here ; seriously ask mv. Van Buren
friends, whether they can countenance a
systern which-thus necessarily holds them
up to jthe scorn and derision of the world ?
There is one charm in this measure how
ever, but for which I should not fear an
armylin each State could ever in force this
law on the j eople,and that is its hard money
feature. ( Mr. Benton has made so many
fancy ispeeci ts on this subject,and depicted
the yellow boys peeping through our silk
purses in such glowing colours, that many
seem disposed to take the whole bill,
merely for one of its provisions. I know
there are many worthy and respectable
men amongst us who oelieve in this poli
cy, but of all delusions that ever blinded
an intelligent people, I think this of re-
turnius to an exclusive hard money cur-
aud it is as
tonishing to me that everv practical man
every man who has the least experience
in the internal commerce, ,or tlie ordinary
transactions of the country, .does not at
once see its Utter absurdity. Knowm the
deep prejudices that exist on this subject
and foreseeing, as I think I do, the great
distress that is likely to be brought on the
country by these hard money advocates, I.
teel it necessary to say something on the
matter, yet I am really at a loss to know,
how; or where to begin. Reason was nev
er yet a match for deep rooted prejudice
anu it may ue as wen nere just io givi
you a short sketch of what the credit sys
tern has done for us, and leave you to rea
son with yourselves, and draw vour own
conclusion, as to what we would have been.
without the aid of paper money. Same 60
years aco, we were Colonies under a for
eign jjovern merit and, where many, of us
now have pleasant fire-side, was then
howling wilderness. A little before this
public money was obtained; This fraud is
now seen by many of both parties, and Will
doubtless be fully investigated as sboti as
the people constitute a Congress thit .can
act on the subject unbiassed by the: tram-.
nels of party. The next important j ques
tion on which we differed was the Execu
tive Order, directing that nothing but .Spe
cie should be received in payment fof pub
lic lands another measure to whiqh the
resident was evidently prompted, ih part,
y tlie same Land Companies. They had
acquired vast quantities of the pubht land
with Bank paper, which they wishjed to
knng into mari-etj and all the obstriiction
"ley could .throw in the Way of further
transactions with the Government, -would
tend to enhance the value of their ownj rands.
ere, however, they were caught in their
own trap this specie order soon rendered it
UlinmiH a. . ... . . i .
i i w uiain money oi any description,
thev vp.t hava. . Jtr u x u
Still k 11 tutu It""", b IIJC JLfUUIVS
sun hold their bonds for 'the purchase mo-
Zi , ?e of these debtors, I understand,
c iateiy transferred these princely es-
production that deserved the name, here
it is, as large as life, and with more heads
than ever were attributed to the fabled
monsters of old. It proposes to appoint
an.additional set of splendid Officers, with
splendid salaries, to be callM 'Receivers
General 1" another set from the Collectors
of the Customs the Officers of the Mint
bU 111 1 k - "
ted there are scarcely any two men in exist- and branch Mints, and a host of Tost
ence more unlike either in person or cha-1 masters are atst to be made depositories
racter:. One is So frank, honest, and bold
in all his actions, that many of us are con
strained to admire the man, while our sense
of duty compels us to oppose his measures.
The other -cliaTracter I shall not attempt to
sketch, but can truly say that I never yet
heard any of his friends recommend him to
the American people, for either 6f these
traits. Some are at a loss tc know how
the Old Hero himself coulp? become so. foifd
of this little magician, as he is called, but
riatu ralrs ts sufficiently xplain this princf
ple when they tell us that one lion will not
permit another to occupy even the same fo
rest, yet they have been often known to
become e.xtre'rnely fond . of the smallest
Spaniel. At first view this, comparison may
be considered harsh, but what else is there
iin nature but the spaniel to which a man
cuuiu ue mure apuy compare u, vviiu
cQUld so , far forget - the dignity, of his
nature as fo utter the sentiment that itras
" glory -enough for him to serve under such
a Chief.M . -
Had I a ten yar old .boy, who could be
made thus io .debase himself, I should con
sider him morally arid politically defunct -lost
to me, jo hirriselfandfto his; eountryt
of the publie money, Tliey are all to be
provided with vaults, iron chests, locks,
bars &c. &c, with an unlimited ntimber
of clerks, porters, and labourers to" roll in,'
and then -again- b rolf out the dollars
and the yellow boys, the very image of
which is enough to make a miser's mouth
water; The whole features of this bill are
repugnant (o every Republican feeling,
but there is one, not yet .mentioned- which
I can hardly believe would be submitted
to, at this day, by the subjects of -the. most
despotic -government of earth.. It autho
rises the appointment of a. set of agents in
the character or spies, to travel over the
country, in disguise for the. purpose of r. ex
amining 'the money and accounts of these
-hundred of depositaries. This provision
in the bill is calculated to prevent, --'and we
may fairly suppose it was interlded to pre
vent every honest or honorable man in the
country, from becoming a depositary. It
would seeni by this, that Mr. Van Buren
is not only determined to destroy the credit
system as io the currency and exchanges,
but also, t6 destroy the oidy species of pro
perty, nta,ny jtofthy; nien ;wilf have left
them' by tUeimethirriew.expCTife gets
in to operattorJ-th etr mo ral elrarac tor.
tune Kinjs: ijeory-e had , 'assumed the re
sponsibility" of taxing us without our con
t 1.4.
sent, out our Fathers resisted the measure
and finally declared -they would no longer
live, under his government, and raised an
army to. repel the invaders. At i his time
the confederated government could not
command specie enough even to pay for
the salt required by the army, and had
at once to-resort to the credit system in
its worst possible form, by issuing paper
money based on nothing but credit, and
from a source that could not be reached
by law; yet this same paper money was
one of ihe main instruments by which we
acquired our liberties. Is our freedom of
less value because it was not paid for in
hard money, or, are you of thesect thatbe-
lieve a rose would not smell as sweet by
any other name ? . Our parents then re
lnainedsoine time under a confederate com
pact, leaving eacTj State to regulate its
own commerce ana provide its own cur
rency, but it was soon perceived that this
state of things would not answer, and in
order to lorm a more nenect union, regu
late commerce &c. they adopted the Con
stitution under which we now live. By
this time it was seen, that to sustain tlie
credit of a paper currency, it was necessary
to found it oh a specie basis,' issued by
such corporate bodies as could be reached
by the ordinary process of raw, and soon
after our present Government was foriri-
ed,- we 'established- the first bank of the TJ-.
nited States, and thus organized he best
of aH citrrencies-i-a mixture of paper and
of coin,' and placed the "credit system on
its proper foundation. The States went
on chartering local banks for local pur
poses, and the national bank kept them all
in their respective sphere by monthly set
tlements, so that carry our property, or
produce, into any of the States for sale, we
had only to enquire, what local paper was
received in that bank to know its value.
It regulated commerce between tlie States,
supplied all the necessary exchanges, and
furnished, a paper ranney at par, equal
to specie in very State in the Union, and
O ! ye hard money men, it was easier then
to get 81000 in specie with that contemn
ed paper, than it is imw . to get as many
cents,, notwithstanding your government
has been endeavoring to . force the article
into circulation ..for more than 6 months.
After thus fixing the currency we Went on
prospering, as utj people, ever prospered
before, until the, .first bank of the -Unifed
States expirect by its own limitation and
died a natural death in 1811 ;There was
a good deal of its paper afloat which aided
the exchanges between the; States some
lime after the Bank went downbut as
soon as, this paper was 'withdrawn, con?
fusion began toprevail, the banlwk suspen
ded payrneht, and we remained under the
shin-plaster system until Congress estab
lished the late U. S. Bank, iu 1816. Soon
after this, TJie fog cleared away, the cur
rency brought to a specie standard, ex
changes made easy, confidence restored,
the creuiiUsystein revived, and we again
went on our way rejoi.cingt until May last,
when the same disease overtook, us and
here we are, on our bearri ends, benumbed
and paraliied with a threatening mous
ter in the shape of a Sub -Treasury la w,
hovering over us, and ready to swallow
up our last and only hrpes. But a word
or two more, to my hard money friends.
We have seen that paper money altho
of such a character as no one ever wishes
to see again, carried us through the first
war a better paper money also carried us
successfully through Our second war of in
dependence (as it was aptly called) with
Great Britain. It paid our armies, built our
navy, forts; steam-boats, Rail-Roads, and
established our various Manufactories'
These twin-sisters, paper money and the
credit system, have also been the principal
means of setding the new States ; clearing
their forests, and rearing numberless Villa
ges, towns, and cities, where a few years
ago there were nothing but savage animals,
and -still mdre savage men. It has been
the means of educating ourselves and Our
children, building up our houses, improving
our farms, employing mechanics, and emi
nently stimulating industry in all the vari
ous branches and pursuits of life. In
short, there is not an individual in the
country who has bettered, his condition,
and who will reflect only for a moment on
the subject, but must see the benefits that
have resulted to himself from this enlight
ened and improved system of credit. The
Christian, too, has abundant cause to ad
vocate a well regulated paper currency,
for besides the other improvements in our
moral condition, it certainly has contribu
ted largely to the general diffusion of the
Gospel ; it has not only distributed the
Bible to all the needy at home, but supplied
the destitute of other countries with many
thousand volums. It built our Churches,
paid the expenses of local and travelling
r reaehers and renuered consiaeraoie am to
foreign Missionaries. At a conference held
at Greensboro' some weeks ago, I under
stand ten or eleven hundred dollars were
contributed tor tne support ol loreign mis
sionaries ! How much do you suppose
would have been given if all the paper
money had been banished from circulation.
Sympathy and charity, like other princi
ples in our nature, may be excited and
stimulated by the pathetic appeals of popu
lar Preachers, but it never can make the
people give what they have not, and I ques
tion whether the same state of feeling
could have produced fifty dollars under a
hard money dynasty. Now, my frieuds,
let me beg you to lay down party feelings
for a moment, and calmly ask yourselves
whether these national and individual im
provements could possibly have been ac
complished, in the same space of time, by
the exclusive use of these precious metals
as a currency.
If you will take time to reflect on this
matter, and be canuid with yourselves and
your country, I shall not fear your failing
to rebuke this Sub Treasury and hard 'mo
ney scheme at the ' next' elections.
Most of the small-fry.ppliticians, whom I
have heard adydcating this measure, speak
of going; back to the good old hard money
times, but to what particular time they al
lude I hive never yet been able to learn.
There certaiuly is no period in the history
of this Glovernment or country, when spe
cie was e61risTf ely used as a currency, to
wheh they can properly prefer. The an
cients speak of a golden age, a silver age",
an age of brass and of iron ; but they seem
to have designated both the" gold and silver
ages as being anterior to Noah's flood, and
as the old Patriarch lias left us no account
of the manner in which the exchanges of
that day were managed, I cannot see on
what authority the example of those ages is
recommended.
Seeing the immense advantages we have
derived from a well organized currency of
coin and convertible paper affording us a
ready market for our produce, and bridging
all the necessaries, and most of the luxu
ries of the world nearly to our doors, why
will you hazard an entife new experiment?
Our first Parents were not satisfied fn Eden
-r-Satan flattered them by promising to imi
prove their condition, and all kndw the aw
ful lesson they have left us in believing himi
I would' not be understood as comparing
the things of this dirty world with spiritual
matters, but this part of divine - history for
ces itself on my mind, when I hear the"
political Satans pf the present day, endea
voring to betray the people into die adop
tion of a measure calculated to destroy their
temporal comfbfts and happiness. But you
say there is. an evil in the system of Banking-
Yes, . my friends, I entirely agree
with you In saying, and Relieving too, that
there-is an evil in the system of Banking,
and when I do this let me at ihe ame time
ask youseriously ask you what human
institution is there on this arth, entirely
exempt! from evil i Man is imperfect and
so are all.his wprks, and it is the demagogue
only whether in , the Senate; r at the bar,'
or at the old-field muster that wUlavail
himself, .of tliis inherent misfortune, and it
is from, our overlooking this law of nature
they have sometimes ben enabled to de
stroy the beslrinstitutions ever devised! r
man..;1- -' :''
Are we to do without the use of fire on
account of its destructive qualities, when
improperly controlled ? To ' abandon tlie
Ocean, arid cut off all commerce with the
world, because it annually swallows' up
some 40 or 50 of our shipsand their crews
-destroy our steam boats because some of
their boilers burst ? In this way we" might
gd on until we come down Jo the necessary
article of bread itself and show that there
is an evil, eiuier moral or.physical, at
tached to every- thing connected with this
earth. Banks jmay be compared to the
edge tool called foot-adze place it in the
hands of an awkward workman, it may
wound, probably destroy him ; but when .
managed by one of ordinary skdl, no tool
in his chest is found more necessary and
useful. There will continue to be impro
vident and unskilful ' men in the manage
ment of their affairs,whether you place them
in a bank or a gold mine, and it is a poor
reason to urge, that because one man has
injured himself by dealing with a Bank, 99
others are to be debarred from the necessa
ry means of carrying on their business.
Some of our old-field politicians tell us, (as
they do many; other things memorised from
the Globe newspaper,) that Banks are dan
gerous to our liberties. Now, in answer
to this, I would again beg you to ask your
selves what possible : motive could the Di
rectors or Stockholders in a Bank have in
destroying the liberties of their country,
"and thereby involve ; themselves and their
property in one. eommon-ruin ? If a man
places a small, portion of, his estate in a
bank for the purpose' of securing a helpless
daughter from being broughtto want by an
extravagant husband, does it necessarily
follow that he must become an enemy to
the institutions of his native country ? The
idea, is too ridiculous to require a serious
refutation. j i , ,
I have thus far endeavored; in a brief man
ner, to bring down the causes of our unhap- -py
diversions to the present period, aud find "
in truth, that there is but one important ques4 .
tion, of a prospective character, at this time
between us, and that is the advocates of a
metallic currency against those in favor of a
mixed currency consisting of convertible pa?
per and coin a new experiment against old
prosperity an untried measure against half
a oentury's successful practice, .i There is a.
charm in, the appearance of tle precious
metals that captivate all sorts of children,
and I have sometimes thought a pretty good
scale to measure . the "match of intellect"
might be produced from this single data.
This bhildish propensity adher.es to alf say
age nations, and to most uncultivated ana
inexperienced persons through life, but 1
can. truly say. ihat I never yet met with a,
man, unconnected with political pursuits,
and of either. literary or practical informa
tion to any considerable extent, that Was an
advocate for an exclusive, hard money cur
rency. In saying this I certainly mean no ,
reflection on any of my county men! I
have already said that many worthy and .
good .men as good as are in this or any t
other country, advocated the measure, but I
must be permitted to tell you, that you are
inexperienced in the:matter arid if the mea
sure be Adopted, in less than, two -years, (I
think one would do it,) tifi you yourselvea
will acknowledge its ruinous consequences.
Some contend that the general Government
might carry on its affairsin specif, and diej ,jfcf
state banks still sstMncrediy stem
4et us for a momenrKKHfiB" ' !:V
I have not the documents beoreh'ijt
have no doubt of its being substantiJgrJ
rect, when I say the receipts in the Treasu.
ry of the U. S. for thejast 3 years, will be
found to average thirty-five millions of dol
lars. Where is this amount in specie to
come from? You and I boW say rfroro Ihe
Banks well, Tet us see how long the Banks
could stand this sort of racket. .. Fromvthei
last exhibition of the affairs of the Banks tp
jtheir respective Legislatures and stockhold
ers, it appears by their own snowmgj al
lowing those who have made noexhibtts an.
equal proportion of specie according to stock,
as those who have, we find evety Bank in
the Union has but little more than thirty-two.
millions of dollars. Thus" you see ef en if
they have this amount in their vaults which!
I very much doubt,1 they would be Vised Up
in less than a year.-; 'There is a very pretty
theory used by some on this subjecti'b'ut
unfortunately it is as falsef aslt is ptetty.
They go on the principle that nafuTibhbrs
a vacuum, snd say that if,we will onljr drive
a way paper money, specie wijl at once Irtrsf!
in and -fill its place." This will do very wefl
when speaking of fluids t but how the prin
ciple is'made to p.xteud in any considerable
degree (o the solids is not so easily seen.
If I had room it could be clearly shown from " j.
tlie best calculations that hitfe.beeii made .
as to tlie probable imount of -the precious .
anetals on the f Idbeahdihe probable amount
of our corncrciand monied transaction 1
founded vtheMJiU system the-last yeaf
of the Df Sanklthat all the mo
ney in existence could not fill the -Vacuum. '
It is said that in "Wall Street, N. Yvsloner "
the dealings, in prosperous times,. often ej- 4
ceed fire millions of dollars per dayVsnd the
transactions of the whole City amount lof ;
more than every man, woman, and child, in - ?
the City cdiild countrduring ihV sadi 4ri
in- jspecie.- This:rphejMmjen6nf jsikii
one dollar in specie sustain "thouiapdr tn5.
perhapa ten thousand in .credits, is one of