25th CoxG....1st SESS. by every body that the debts of the country could not be collected in specie. There has been in the West literally none in circulation since the suspension. The little that was there ceased to circulate, was bought up as a commodity, and transported to the Atlantic cities. It sepined to be agreel, as if by common consent, by every person, as far as my observation went, that where the payments of debts were demanded, specie was not to be exacted, and that if creditors claimed to exercise their consututional right in demanding specie, the whole business of the country must cease, and society resolve into its original ele ments, and its members protect their property and possessions by physical force, until some relief could be afforded. I enter tain not a doubt that, if the debts of the country were now gene. rally sued for and demanded in specie, you would find the offi cers unable to enforce the law, and the best citizens resisting its execution. The Coustitution, which guaranties to every creditor the righ to demand his debt in specie, has been, in the West, from the suspension till now, virually and practically abrogated, because of the physical inab lity of the country to furnish the constitutional medium This matter is spoken of and understood by every man in the land, and it is reaching and affecting every interest in society. This Government, we are told by the administration, can not get on for ten days without relief. The whole people are conducting their affairs, not in reference to the Constitution and laws, but independent of both; yet we are told that our difficulties have not reached the great mass of the people.” The gentleman says the foreign debt, of which we hear so much, is not the debt of the nation, nor of the great mass of the people, but of the wealthy merchants, who have inundated this country with foreign goods, and who, as a class, have ever been venal and destitute of patriotism; who involved us in the late war, and then threw every impediment in the way of its successful prosecution, and therefore deserve no particular favor from Government. Mr. Speaker, I stand here the representative of merchants; and if I was not, as a member of the American Congress I trust I should never be so insensible to tha justice which is due to every class of the community, of whom it may suit the purposes or tastes of gentlemen here to speak disparagingly, to remain silent when such sweeping, unjust denunciations are aimed at so useful and worthy a class. Sir, I feel very little like retraining myself within those bounds which parliamentary usage requires in responding to this extraordinary denunciation. The rules of this House, respect for myself and the place I fill, will not allow me to employ language that would adequately convey what, un ler other circumstances, I should feel inclined to say. I must, however, be allowed to remark that, according to my taste, which I would by no means set up as a test for others, I should feel myself unworthy of the seat I hold here, If I was capable of perpetrating in my place such cauel injustice towards so valuable, so estimable a class, as every gentleman knows the merchants of this country constitute. It sometimes happens that the most erroneous estimates are formed of parti cular classes and communities by those who have never found their way into the better orders of those classes and communities. The merchant is nothing more than an agent or factor of the producer, the instrument by which our products are carried abroad, and exchanged for such foreign commodities as we need; he is as necessary and as useful a constituent part of society as is the producer or laborer; and you cannot blast his prosperity without sweeping with it the prosperity of the community with which he is connected. It is true, the importing merchant owes directly our foreign debt; but the merchant to whom he has sold his imported goods owes him, and the consumer who has bought of the retail merchant owes him; so that the foreign debt is at lastowing by the whole consuming population, the great mass of the people. They have to pay it, thay are willing and able to pay it, if this Government will suger them to have a currency, through the medium of which their surplus products can get to market without their losing from ten to twenty-five per cent, ta The people of all the States owe their proportion of this debt, and they can only pay it off by selling their products for the money, with which to pay the merchants from whom they bought their goods. The farmers of the Western and Northwestern States depend upon the flour, the pork, the beef, the mules, and the horses, which they send to the great staple States of the South and Southwest, out of which to raise the money to liquidate their part of this debt. Our produce or stock, when sent to a southern State, say Mississippi,is sold for the currency of that State, which is inconvertible; it is brought home, and sold for specie, or the local circulation, with which to pay the merchants, at a discount or loss of from 20 to 25 per cent. Thus a fourth of their gross sales are lost; out of the remaining three-fourths they have to supply their families, and appropriate what little balance remains toward paying their proportion of this foreign debt. Sir, if this Government had been in the hands of merchants, you would never have seen your currency in its present condition, and our people ground into the dust as they now are. The inerchants need no eulogy from me. I stand here the eulogist of no class, but as the defender of those whose very name is the best passport which our Countrymen can bear to every foreign land where this Government is known. I will not so far forget what is due to the merchants of this country as to institute a comparison between them and the truckling, ume-serving demagogues of the day, whom fortune has thrown into station, of which they avail themselves to traduce and slander those with whom they are not worthy to be compared. But let us proceed, and examine further into what has been denominated by the member from Ohio as miserable, false, newspaper slang, upon the subject of two currencies, on for the Government, and the other for the people. Ja it not known to all that, in consequence of the deranged state of the currency the people receive their debts and transact their daily business in the paper money of the country, and th, otherwise, the regular business of the country could not continue a single day? And yet no gentleman who has any self-respect can deny that the officers of this Government, who draw high salaries, are paid out of your Treasury in specie; whilst your poor day-laborers, the soldiers who fight your battles, and the old pensioner, who has spent the days of his youth, and worn out his constitution, in fighting for that liberty which our fathers transmitted us, have to receive their pay in paper, eight or ten cents in the dollar less valuable than specie. Instances have occurred under my own observation, which should make this administration blush, if it was not insensible to shame. But the other day I went, with a colleague and a friend of the Postponement of fourth instalment-Mr. Graves. administration, to some of the public offices, to attend to some In a few days afterwards, in passing by some day-laborers Notwithstanding all this, when the opposition says there are two currencies, they are charged with repeating miserable slang. The Government, after bringing this state of things on the country, has convened Congress, and proposes no relief to the people; but only pr. poses means by which the Government can get on, leaving the people to buffet, as best they can, with the insurinou table difficulties that are now overwhelming the country. But, Mr. Speaker, great as are the embarrassments with which our whole country is overwhelmed, I value them all as nothing, when compared with the evils that I perceive the administration has in store for us. We have, thank God! sir, the best population on earth, and a country incomparably beyond any other in its exhaustless resources of wealth and greatness. Our people understand more of the principles of their Government, more of the principles of civil liberty, than any popula tion that has ever existed upon the face of this earth. And all, yes all, sir, has grown out of that hapy form of Government which the wisdom of our athers transmitted to us. As long as we preserve our constitutional liberty, as long as we can maintain the supremacy of our Constitution over the will of our rulers, all is safe. When the emergency requires, I am prepared to yield up all tat relates to the right of property, all subordinate municipal regulations; but I will cling to this Constitution, to the great principles of civil liberty as secured to my country by that Constitution, as the only valuable frag. ment that is left of that mighty wreck which the folly of our rulers has brought upon the land. Executive patronage is the source from whence the Constitution has most to apprehend. Whilst wielded by the popular military chieftain, who has just left the Executive chair, it was believed, by many of the best and wisest in the land, to be too powerful for the Constitution. The administration project of which I speak, and which I so much fear, is the proposed Sub-Treasury system, by which, we are toll by the President, through his organs in this House, that the public funds are to be kept as safely, the fiscal operations of the Government facilitated, and the patronage of the President curtailed! Let us then, for a moment, examine first into the relative safety of the public moneys when in banks, and when in the hands of Sub-Treasurers, or Government agents. In the first place, then, what has been our experience-the best of teachers? For the period of more than thirty-six years, during which the Bank of the United States had charge of the Govern ment deposites, not one dollar was lost by it to the Govern ment, nor did that institution, at any time during this period, fail to perform, as a fiscal agent of the Goverament, every thing that was required of it. Whilst upon the other hand, in the thirty years between 1789 and 1819, as appears from a report of Mr. Crawford, this Governmet lost upwards of $3.000,000 by the defalcations of its collecting and disbursing officers, who had nothing to do with the money, except during the short periods it was passing from those who paid it to the Government till it reached the banks, and then from the banks to the public creditors. If this vast amount of ur revenue stuck to the fingers of the oflcers of the Government whilst it was passing thus rapidly through their hands, how much greater would have been the loss to the Government if they had been permanent kepers of it! But agam, if such heavy losses were sustained at a time when our revenues were comparatively so small, and when officers were selected, according to Mr. Jefferson's rule, for their capacity and integrity, what may we expect our losses to be, if our vast revenues are to be permanently kept by Sub-Treasurers, selected at this day, when officers are proscribed for their lionesty, and their places filled by the most unscrupulous brawling partisans of power! The President, in that portion of his Message where he treats of this favorite project of his, says the objections to it are founded upon the mistaken suppo sition that "a vault in a bank is stronger than a vault in the Treasury." Not at all, sir; but upon very different grounds H. of Reps. do the opponents of his plan rest their objections to it in a pecunia y point of view, which, by the by, is the very least of their objections to it. It is, that the keys of those vaults are to be entrusted to his numberless Sub Treasurers, selected, not as banks select their officers, for meral integrity and capacity, but for their dirty party services! There Sub-Treasurers, when a general election approaches, upon which depends, perhaps, the fate of the "GREAT DEMOCRATIC PARTY," will likely feel themselves called on to use a few thousand dollars of the people's money for the success of the people's cause; and if they are finally defeated, they will feel that for their extra services in the cause of the people they ate entitled to extra compensation; and, as they have the fixing of the amount, it is highly probable they will be well paid. But the safety of the public funds, though a subject of great importance in itself, when compared with the objection to "the Sub-Treasury system" growing out of the enormous increase of Executive power, shrinks into utter insignificance. I hold that the loss of the largest amount of money of which these Sub-Treasurers could possibly rob the Treasury, is not worthy to be compared with a loss of any one of those great principles of civil liberty fo: which our fathers 80 valiantly fought. The principle of spoils and plunder, upon which the late administration has been openly conducted, have justly excited the most solemn and awful apprehensions with all patriots who have taken the trouble to look into the mighty engine through which it was brought in conflict with the freedom of elections. According to the wise organization of our free Government, all political power is derived through the ballot. box; and whenever we place in the Executive the means of corrupting and controlling this fountain of power, we destroy all the checks which the forms of our Constitution have imposed upon him. Bitter experience has taught us, during the late administration, that the hundred thousand office holders, who hold their stations by no other tenure than the President's good will, toge ther with the vast appropriations which an administration Congress annually made, and the unparalleled popularity of the late Executive, gave to him a power to which constitutional restraints offered but a feeble and unavailing | arrier. And the only hope of those who apprehended danger from this source was, that no other President would ever again have such a held on public favor as the then incumbent. No sooner, however was the successor of this remark ble man seated in this chair of State, than he comes forward and proposes to us, and asks our concurrence in a system by which this very executive power will be almost doubly increased. How many officers this system will render it necessary to employ, it is impossible to tell; but, just as is the number increased, so is Executive power increased. We are told by our late Minister to France, in his very able speech delivered a short time since, in the other end of the Capitol, that, while in France he instituted an inquiry upon the subject of the number of officers employed under the Sub-Treasury system of that country, and learned there was the enormous number of one hundred thousand. I that is the number thought to be actually necessary in France. where the throne is hereditary, and where the King has no mo tive, such as he would have if he were to be elected every four years, to increase that number in order thereby to increase his power and the better to secure his election; what would be the number to which the officers under the system would be run up in this country, where there would be every possible mc. tive for increase? It is impossible to tell. No mortal twenty years since would have supposed the ingenuity of man could have devised ways and means by which to employ fifty thousand officers in this Government, whilst new we perceive we have twice that number. So it will be in this country if this Sub-Treasury system, this new engine of power, is organized: the number will increase from year to year, until in all probability it will become as great as that now employed in France. Already, sir, we have one twentieth man in the Union an offi cer dependent upon the Executive. Organize your Sub Treasury system, and you double that number, and make every tenth man an officer. For be it recollected that we have less than 2,000,000 votes in this Government And what a spectacle shali we then have presented for our observation. A President of the United States, ex-officio commander-in-chief of our army, with 209.000 dependent stipendiaries, with the whole Treasury in their absolute, unqualified control, waiting, anxiously waiting, to do his bidding! I ask you, sir, I ask every man here who has a particle of patriotism left, is a inammoth power like this consistent with liberty? If it be once organ zel, will the form of our free government, as embodied in our on. stitution, be worth contending for? The President will be ab solute, and the people will be slaves! And not less slaves because our President may be a merciful man. The good man's slave may live through life insensible of his chains, but he is not therefore less a slave And notwithstanding all this, what is the language employed by the President through his lead. ing organs on this floor? Here it is, in the language of the honorable gentleman from Ohio. He remarked, "Here is the Executive of our Government voluntarily proposing to relinquish patronage, and those who are in opposition striving to retain it in his possession, to force it upon him. It is perhaps the first instance in the history of free governments where such a proposition has been made, an! has met with opposition in such a quarter." That the leading debater of the Administration, upon whose words, as they dropped, his party hung in rapturous delight, around whom, upon the conclusion of his speech, t cy flocked to take him by the hand and congratulate him on his effort, shoul! upon the floor of Congress, in the face of the American people, assert that the President, in submitting this scheme, was "voluntarily proposing to relinquish patronage," presents the strangest and most melancholy scene that I have ever beheld in this ha!!! There was a period in British history similar to the present in ours, when there was an excited contest carried on for years between the King, in favor of regal patronage and power, and the People against them. The People saw that the growing influence which the King brought to bear through his officeholders upon elections was increasing with alarming rapidny; they believed it was endangering English liberty; they resolved to check it, and by a single act of Parliament, which the King did not dare to veto, but was compelled to sign, forty thousand office-holders, one-sev nth of all the voters in the kingdom, were disfranchised, and prohibited, by the heaviest penalties, from interfering in any manner with elections. What if during this struggle, so analogous to that now going on between 25th CONG....1st SESS. the People of this Government and the President, a member of Parliament, a leading and acknowledged organ of the King, had arisen in his place, and submitted a proposition to organize a fiscal agent of the Government, which would devolve upon the King the appointment of a hundred thousand new officers, to holl their stations at his will, and had denominated it a measure calculated to curtail the patronage of the King, how many members of Parliament, upon his concluding his speech. do you suppose would have gathered around him, taken him by the hand, congratulated him upon his effort, and endorsed the sentiment? The President, Mr. Speaker, underrates the intelligence of the age. He is inistaken if he supposes he can gull the great mass of the American People into the support of this measure, as one calculated to curtail Executive patronage. If he is not, the experiment which we are now testing by our form of Government must inevitably fail! SPEECH OF MR. FILLMORE, In the House of Representatives, September 25, 1837.On the bill to postpone the fourth instalment of deposite with the States. Mr. FILLMORE then said it was with extreme reluctance that he ventured to throw himself upon the indulgence of the committee, at that late hour of the day, and after such a protracted debate. But (he continued) it is not my fault, sir, that I address you at this time. I have made every reasonable effort, that a modest man could make, for some days, to obtain the floor; and now, for the first time, I have been successful. I am now prepared, sir, notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, to offer what I have say on this subject; but if the committee prefer to rise, and continue the discussion to-morrow, it will suit me quite as well. For the purpose of testing the sense of the committee on that point, I will cheerfully yield the floor for a motion to rise. [Here a motion was made to rise, which was negatived, and Mr. F. proceeded.] I am content, sir, with the determination of the committee to hear me to-night. What then, sir, is the history of this surplus revenue, upon which the bill upon your table is to operate, and which has elicited such a warm discussion? It is this, sir-our revenue had been graduated upon a scale sufficiently large, for many years, to collect from the people, chiefly by duties, a sum, which, together with the moneys received from the sale of public lands, not only defrayed all the expenses of Government, but left annually a large surplus to be applied in payment of the national debt This debt, sir, which, at the adoption of the Federal Constitution, was upwards of $75,000,000, had, by the operation of this system, been gradually reduced, so that, in 1812, before the commencement of the last war, it was only about $45,000,000. The expenses of that war, sir. again increased this debt, so that, in 1816, it was upwards of $127,000,000. A wise forecast had made ample provision for its payment, and year by year it was lessened, until 1834, when it was finally extinguished. It was apparent, sir, to all, before this debt was finally liquidated, that when that event did occur, the same system of indirect taxation, which could not suddenly be changed without injury to our manufactures, must throw a large amount of surplus revenue into the Treasury. This money having been thus collected from the people, or being the avails of the public lands, it was thought no more than reasonable, as it was not wanted for Government purposes, to return it again to the people, from whom it had been taken, and whose it was. I shall not now stop, sir, to inquire into the justice or constitutionality of the measure. It was clearly just. The Government had this fund as the agent of the people. I hold, sir, that the Government, in all cases, is but the agent and instrument of the people, constituted to execute their collective will. To restore this large amount of money to the use of those from whom it had been taken, with as little injury as possible to the country, Congress passed a law on the 26th day of June, 1836, by which it was declared that the Secretary of the Treasury should, on the 1st day of January, 1837, ascertain how much money there was in the Treasury, and deduct from the whole sum thus found $5,000,000, and that the remainder should be deposited with the several States, or such of them as Postponement of fourth instalment-Mr. Fillmore. should consent to receive the same, one-fourth on each of the 1st days of January, April, July, and October, in 1837, upon the conditions prescribed in the act; which were, that the States should keep it safely, and return it again to the United States, in sums not exceeding $10,000 per month, from any one State, and so in the like proportion from other States, when wanted for the use of the Government, and demanded by the Secretary of the Treasury. But the Secretary was authorized to draw for $20,000 on giving thirty days' notice. I do not pretend, sir, to give the words of the act verbatim, as I have it not before me, and I only speak from recollection. But this is the substance of the act of Congress. This, sir, was the proposition on the part of the United States, of the terms upon which they were willing to deposite this money with the States. This, too, was a proposition emanating from the highest-nay, from all the separate departments of this Government. It was pledging the national faith in the most solemn manner that it could be pledged, by a law which received the assent of both houses of Congress and the approbation of the President. The State of New York, sir, by an act of its Legislature, passed, I think, in January, 1837, agreed to accept this proposition made by the United States, and to receive the money, and safely keep and return the same when called for, according to the terms of said act of Congress; and pledged the faith of the State for the faithful performance of these acts. This, then, constituted the contract or compact between the parties. The Secretary of the Treasury, as directed by the act of Congress, ascertained, on the 1st day of January last, the amount of money in the Treasury, and after deducting, as he supposed, $5,000,000 from that sum, found there remained to be deposited with the States $37,468,859 97. I say, as he "supposed," sir; for it now appears by his late report to this house, that there was $1,670,137 52 in the Treasury, (that is, sir, in the pet banks,) on that day, of which he had received no account. So that, in reality, he reserved $6,670,137 52, instead of the $5,000,000, as directed by the act. Well, sir, the portion of this which belonged to the State of New York by the terms of the compact was $5,352,694 28, three-fourths of which has been received by that State, and the bill now on your table proposes to postpone the payment of the remaining $1,338,173 57, to which that State will be entitled on the 1st day of October next, by the terms of the compact. Now, sir, let it be borne in mind that this is one entire contract, in reference to one entire sum of money, and that it has been partially performed. I say, sir, the sum is entire. Although it was to be paid at different times, yet the appropriation was of the entire sum that should be found in the Treasury on a certain day. That sum, when ascertained in the manner prescribed by the act, was the money set apart for this specific purpose. It was in legal intendment as definite and fixed as though the money had then been counted out at the several banks where it was deposited on that day, and laid aside for this object. True, it was to be paid out at different times. But this was to accommodate the banks, and prevent a derangement of the currency, and consequent distress of the community, by calling for too large sums at once. But, Mr. Chairman, I am opposed to the bill upon your table. I am opposed to it, first, sir, on the ground that it is hypocritical and false in its language. The title of the bill is an "act to postpone" the payment of this fourth instalment. This is a false label, sir, to the door through which we are to enter into the mysteries of this bill. But let us look to the bill itself. It declares that the payment of this instalment "shall be postponed until further provision by law." What is this then, sir, but a repeal of so much of the act of 1836 as anthorizes the payment of this fourth instalment? It does not merely postpone the payment to a definite time, then to be made without any further legislative action; but it postpones it until further " vision by law," that is, until by a new Imo Congress shall direct this payment to be made. If this bill pass, nothing short of a new law can ever give this pro H. of Reps. money to the States. Then the effect of this bill is to repeal the law of 1836. Why not say so, then? Why profess to postpone when you absolutely revoke? Why not call things by their right names? Is there some iniquity in the transaction that it is necessary to conceal? Is it intended to excite expectations among the people that are never to be realized? Sir, I disdain such a course. I will never give my vote for a law that on its face bears evidence of fraudulent concealment and hypocritical designs. I am aware, sir, that an amendment has been offered by the gentleman from South Carolina, (Mr. Pickens,) that, if adopted, would obviate this objection. But as that amendment is undoubtedly intended to sugar over this nauseous pill, to make it a little more palatable to some who loathe it now, and as I should still be opposed to the bill if the amendment were adopted, for reasons which I shall hereafter give, I am inclined to let those who are prepared to swallow any thing take the dose as it is, and vote against the amendment as well as the bill. If this money be not now paid, I have no idea that the States will ever receive it. Let us have it now, according to the promise, or tell us at once that we have nothing to expect. Do not tantalize us by exciting further hopes that are never to be realized. But, sir, I am also opposed to the bill for another reason, and that is, that this sudden change of the destiny of near ten millions of dollars is calculated still further to derange the currency and business operations of the country, and add to the accumulated distresses of the community under which they now labor. If there be one truth, above all others, well settled in political economy, it is this: that if you would make a nation prosperous and happy, give them a uniformn and unchangeable currency. It is as essential as uniformity and stability in your weights and measures. This currency is the lifeblood of the body politic. Its supply should be equal and uniform. Every throb of the heart is felt to the utmost extremities. If the regular flow and pulsation fail, languor and faintness follow; but "overaction," as the President calls it, often produces instantaneous paralysis and prostration. The political empirics have administered dose upon dose, and tried experiment after experiment, until the patient is prostrate and helpless, writhing in agony and imploring for relief. If ever there was a nation or an individual, to whom that epitaph was peculiarly appropriate, it is this nation and this Administration: son. "I was well; I wished to be better; I took physic, and here I am." I am also opposed to this bill, sir, for another reaIts object and intent is to violate the plighted faith of this nation. I shall not enter into an examination to see whether the offer on the part of the United States, which was acceded to by the State of New York, in the manner that I have already stated, was or was not a pecuniary contract, according to the strict rules of the common law, which might be enforced in a court of justice. This point has been most fully and eloquently discussed by my colleague immediately in front of me, (Mr. Sibley.) I could add nothing to what he has said on that subject. It is said that the United States have received no consideration for the promise. But, sir, I am disposed to place this question on higher grounds. Does it become this nation or the American Congress to stand here paltering about the redemption of its plighted faith to one of the daughters of this Union, on the ground that it has received no consideration for the promise which it has made? Has this nation, indeed, sunk so low that it takes shelter from its engagements, when it finds it inconvenient to perform them, behind the statute of frauds? The reason why a consideration is required to enforce a contract between individuals does not apply to this case. That is a rule adopted by the courts to protect the inconsiderate and the unwary from the consequences of their own folly, in making hasty promises without consideration. But, sir, even as between individuals, if the manner in which the contract has been made evinces a due degree of deliberation, then the courts will enforce it. If, for instance, the contract be sealed, that is regarded as So solemn an act, and evidences such caution and 25th CONG....1st SESS. 'deliberation, that the courts, by the common law, preclude all inquiry into the consideration, and compel the obligor to perform his contract. This case shows the reason of the rule, and I submit that it has no applicability here. Will gentlemen say that Congress was surprised into this promise? that there was not due deliberation had on the subject? or that the congregated wisdom of this nation requires such a miserable subterfuge as this, to justify to its own conscience the violation of its plighted faith? Sir, was not the contract sufficiently solemn? It is among the sacred archives of your nation. It is of the same high and solemn character with your treaties with foreign nations. Nay, if possible, sir, it is still higher, and more obligatory upon the nation. A treaty is only sanctioned by the President and Senate. This, sir, has been sealed with the national honor, and attested by the national faith of both branches of Congress and the Executive; and you may call it contract, compact, or treaty, it is clearly a promise by the nation, in the most solemn form that a promise can be made. Sir, have gentlemen who are in favor of this bill duly reflected upon its nature and consequences? Have they duly considered the value of the national honor? Would any one dare to make a proposition to break our national faith, if it had been pledged to a foreign power, as it has been to the several States of this Union? I trust not. Then, sir, is the obligation less sacred to the various States of this Confederacy, especially when made for the benefit of the people themselves, in reference to their own money? I hope not. But, sir, if we violate our plighted faith here, may we not do it in other cases? Your pension laws, passed for the relief of the war-worn veteran and hardy mariner, promise to those individuals a mere gratuity. It is the bounty which a generous nation bestows upon its brave defenders. But it has no elements of a pecuniary contract. There is no such reciprocity in those cases, as in this, to constitute a contract. No promise or service is required from the pensioner, as a quid pro quo for the bounty which you bestow. But in this case you have required and received the plighted faith of the State of New York to receive the money, keep it safely, and repay it in certain proportions. Would any member of this house have the hardihood to propose a bill to withhold the payment of these pensions, and then assign as a reason that there is no valid contract for paying them? I presume not. Sir, there is some thing of more value to a nation than money. It is untarnished honor-unbroken faith. They should te as spotless as female chastity. "One false step in vain we may deplore; We fall like stars that set to rise no more." The reason why every promise should be performed is, that it has raised expectations which in justice ought not to be disappointed. The whole business of life is an endless chain of confidence growing out of these promises, express or implied. And frequently the breaking of one link sunders a thousand. "Whatever link you strike, Tenth, or ten-thousandth, breaks the chain alike." Look at its effects, in this case, upon the single State of New York. That State, relying upon the plighted faith of this nation, has gone on and agreed to loan out all this money to citizens throughout the State, giving to each town and ward their ratable proportion. Bonds and mortgages have been taken for the whole amount; and the three-fourths which has been received by the State from this Government, has been paid over to the borrowers, and promises in the shape of certificates given to pay over the remaining fourth on the 1st of October. The State has relied upon the promises of this Government for the money to pay these certificates. Now, sir, unless the money can be raised in some other way by the State, if this be withheld, all those numerous borrowers must be disappointed. Those who have struggled from day to day, and from week to week, to bear up against the pressure of the times, until they could obtain this pittance of relief, are to sisk down in utter despair. But, sir, what is the difference between the prom. ise on the part of the State to loan this money to individuals, and the promise on the part of this Government to deposite this money with the States? Postponement of fourth instalment-Mr. Fillmore. A deposite is a loan; and the person with whom the deposite is made becomes the borrower, liable to repay the money according to the terms agreed. This Government, then, has agreed to loan the money to the State of New York; and has taken the bond and mortgage of that State, in the shape of a solemn act of its Legislature, to repay it on certain terms. The State has agreed to loan the same sum to individuals, and has taken their bonds and mortgages for the repayment of the same. Then, if this Government can be justified in breaking this agreement, much more will the State of New York be justified in the breach of the agreement to the individual borrowers. The State may not only plead the high example of this nation in the breach of its promise, but may urge, with perfect justice, that the breach of faith by the United States, on which the State had unfortunately relied, had prevented the State from fulfilling its engagements. Will any of my colleagues who now urge a breach of faith on the part of the United States, in withholding this instalment, say that they believe the State of New York will be guilty of a similar breach to the borrowers of this money? I know they will not stain her honor by such an insinuation. Then how can they justify themselves to their God or their country, in lending their votes or their voices to dishonor this nation in such a manner as would be regarded a reproach and disgrace to the State in which we live? I hope gentlemen will pause and reflect before they finally act. But, sir, one of my colleagues (Mr. Parker) has attempted to justify this breach of faith on the part of this Government, by saying that the States of New York would sustain no damage, because there was a large amount of money belonging to the canal-fund of that State, now on deposite in the banks, drawing an interest to the State of only four or five per cent., and this money could be taken to make up the fourth instalment of the loans to individuals; which would thereby be invested on interest at seven per cent., and the State, instead of being a loser, would be a gainer of two or three per cent. per annum on this money. Sir, this is not a question of damages. It is a question of national honor. It is a question of national faith. Can you measure the value of these by the base standard of dollars and cents? But, sir, if this statement be true, that this immense treasure belonging to the canal-fund in our State has been for years loaned to the banks at four or five per cent. interest, when it could have been loaned to the people on bond and mortgage at seven per cent, then it does not reflect much credit upon the financial skill of those in our own State who have had charge of this fund. But, leaving them to the tender mercies of their friends upon this floor, let us see whether my colleague is correct in his inferences. If his reasoning be correct, the whole sum that has been deposited with the States has been an injury instead of a benefit. This must appear a strange paradox indeed. The State had it from the United States without interest, and loaned it out at seven per cent., thereby making annually upon the whole sum of $5,352,694 the no less sum than $374,688 58, being nearly four times as much as is annually distributed from the State treasury for the support of common schools in that great State, where about 500,000 children are annually educated. I think my honorable colleague, on reviewing his calculation, will see that he has made a slight mistake in arriving at this result, and that it is somewhat better to have money for nothing, than to pay even four or five per cent. for it. But, sir, if my colleague (Mr. Foster) is right in the construction which he gives to the deposite act of 1836, then it is equally clear that in no event is this money, if once deposited with the States, to be repaid again to the General Government. I believe that no one ever expected it would be recalled. The money was deemed the property of the citizens of the several States. It had been collected from them in the shape of duties, or was the avails of the public lands. In either case, if not wanted for the uses of the Government, it was deemed just to return it to the people, to whom it belonged. To avoid constitutional objections, the law by which this return was made was christened “a deposite H. of Reps. act," instead of a distribution act." But, sir, I care not what form or shape it assumes. Do justice -restore the money to whom it belongs; and let it be appropriated to the sacred object of educationan objeci dear to the heart of every patriot. If we use due economy here, our revenue is abundant. If it is to be squandered, the less there is, the better for the people. Let my colleagues who believe in the infallibility of the Argus listen to an extract which I will read from that paper, and then vote against this bill. Remember that this extract is the honest, unbiased opinion of that oracle of wisdom, in view of an exhausted Treasury, before party prejudice began to operate. It is as follows: "A remedy for any such contingency may be provided by Congress, an issue of Treasury notes, or some other expedient measure, that would be less objectionable than any interference with the arrangements made with the States for the disposition of the surplus." Sir, we are told that this bill should pass, because there is no money in the Treasury to make the pay ment. This, then, sir, is a distinct admission that your Treasury is bankrupt. Yes, sir, in less than one short year from the time this Government, through all its official organs and its hundred presses, was boasting of its wealth and prosperity, with an overflowing Treasury and no national debt, it now comes like an humble suppliant to the Representatives of the people, and says it is bankrupt and cannot pay. If the Treasury be empty, why pass this law? Will it withhold what you have not got? Will it postpone what does not exist? Our legislation seems to be a work of supererogation. It is making laws for a non-entity. But some say we should pass the law as a direction to the Secretary of the Treasury. Why pass it for him? He is not bound to furnish the money if it does not exist. His duty is discharged if he pays it over when we provide it. But, sir, we have passed one law, distinctly appropriating this identical money then in the Treasury to this object, and directing him to pay it over. Why has he not obeyed that law, and kept the money to be applied to this object? He had no authority to take this and apply it to any other purpose. The act was imperative, that the identical money in the Treasury on the first day of January last should be deposited with the States. I think, sir, instead of attempting to legalize this breach of trust on the part of the Secretary in using this money, not only without law, but against law, we had better institute an inquiry into his conduct for laying his hands upon this sacred treasure, and see if he has any justifica tion. But is the pretence true, that the money is not in the Treasury? This seems to be a difficult question to answer. I shall not venture into that labyrinth of mysteries-the Secretary's report. The bewildered senses and contradictory reports of those who have attempted to pass through its intricate windings and involutions, admonish me to beware how I venture. No two have been able to agree as to what they saw there. Some saw treasure; others saw nothing but "confusion worse confounded;" and in this state of doubt and uncertainty it becomes us to inquire if there be no collateral aid, by the light of which the mysteries of this report may be unravelled. In the absence of positive proof, let us look at probabilities. The last Administration professed to be one of "retrenchment and reform;" and the present Executive has declared that he intends "to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor." We have, therefore, a right to expect, and the people did expect, economy in both. Have they been deceived? Has this promise been made to the ear and broken to the hope?" Have these professions, that elevated the present dynasty to power, been hollow and hypocritical? Let us look at the facts, and see how the matter stands, if the Treasury be nów bankrupt, as is alleged by those in this house who support the Administration. From a careful examination of the expenses of this Government for twelve years, that is, from 1819 to 1833, exclusive of the national debt, I find that they averaged about $13,000,000 per year. I give them in tabular form as follows, from the best estimates I can make : Average expenditure for the whole twelve years, $13,010,903 25. Now, sir, let us see what money has been received into the Treasury since the 1st day of January, 1835, and then we may form some conjecture whether there is any there now; or, at all events, we and the People may know whether this and the last Administration have been economical in the use of the People's money, or whether they have squandered it with a profusion and extravagance never before equalled. There was received into the Treasury, during the years 1835 and 1836, together with what there was in the Treasury on the 1st day of January, 1835, -$88,461,942 04 And during the first halof the present year 13,687,182 00 4,562,394 00 $106,711,518 04 28,101,644 90 And it leaves no less than $78,609,863 05 applicable to the ordinary expenses of Government, which has been poured into your Treasury within two years and three-fourths, averaging nearly $29,000,000 per year. Where is it, sir? The empty vaults of your Treasury echo, Where? I will tell you, sir, where it is. It has been wasted, squandered, and profusely lavished upon party favorites and parasites; and the people, from whose hard earnings you collected it, are now to be cheated out of it. Sir, the people will look into this matter. They will scrutinize this unparalleled profligacy of their public servants; and, in making up their minds, they will not forget that all these extravagancies have been the bitter fruits of an Administration having a large majority in both houses of Congress, and constantly uttering the hypocritical cry of "retrenchment and reform?" Sir, there is one more proof that the money is in the Treasury, notwithstanding we are told it is not, by the chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, (Mr. Cambreleng,) which I hope will be entirely satisfactory to him and the Administration members of this committee; and that is, the statement of the President himself in his message. I will read it. "There are now in the Treasury $9,367,214 directed by the act of 23d of June, 1836, to be deposited with the States in October next. These, sir, are the words of the message itself. To those who credit the veracity of their author, I hope they will be satisfactory. They are too explicit to admit of doubt or to require comment. But, sir, my chief objection to this and all the other measures recommended in the President's message, and proposed by the Committee of Ways and Means, is, that they hold out no prospect of permanent relief to the country. True, sir, the issuing of Treasury notes, on which you are to borrow money to replenish your exhausted Treasury, may afford a little temporary relief to those who owe the Government, and indirectly to the community; and the extension of time for the payment of the merchants' bonds to the Government will afford present relief to that class of citizens, or enable them "to put off the evil day" a little longer. But Postponement of fourth instalment-Mr. Fillmore. these are mere expedients, temporary and partial Let me not be misunderstood in what I am about But, sir, I said I was opposed to these measures because they promised no permanent relief to the country. Why has the President, after witnessing the sufferings of this community-after calling us together, as every one supposed, to propose some measure of relief-turned thus coldly away, without recommending any thing to restore a uniform currency? Are the prayers, and tears, and groans, of a whole nation, suffering all the horrors of impending bankruptcy, not worthy of his consideration? Are members of the Administration prepared to return and look their constituents in the face, without making one effort for the relief of the country? We of the minority can do nothing. We are powerless. But you have all power. Then why not exert it to bring back the days of prosperity and sunshine that existed before this fatal war upon the currency, and commerce, and business of our country. Sir, do the President, and those who support him, expect to find a justification for the apathy they manifest towards a suffering country, by charging all our distresses to the follies and extravagance of the community, and by carefully concealing every thing which shows that those very follies and that very extravagance, which are held up for universal reprobation in the President's message, had their origin in the wickedness or folly of this Government? So it would seem. The President, after adverting to the distresses and embarrassments of the country, in his message, says: "The history of trade in the United States for the last three or four years affords the most convincing evidence that our present condition is chiefly to be attributed to orer-action in all the departments of business; and over-action deriving, perhaps, its first impulse from antecedent causes, but stimulated to its destructive consequences by excessive issues of bank paper, H. of Reps. and by other facilities for the acquisition and enlargement of credit." Sir, I agree with him, that excessive issues of bank paper have stimulated to destructive consequences. Of this fact there can be no doubt; and it is a precious confession from the head of that party, that, for years past, has wielded the legislative power of this nation, and also the legislative power of most of the States in this Union, and constantly charged their opponents with being the bank party. I say, sir, this is a precious confession from the head of that party, that banks have been multiplied by this no-bank party, until their "excessive issues have produced destructive consequences." But, sir, if it were decorous to the Chief Magistrate, I would ask if ever such shameless hypocrisy, when exposed, was met by such unblushing impudence. But, sir, what are those "antecedent causes" that gave the "first impulse to this over-action?" Why are they concealed from the people? They are the true causes of all our sufferings; and, sir, let me tell you, that they had their origin in the war against the United States Bank. That was to be put down; and, to effect that object, and reward the pure patriotism of this no-bank party, new State banks were chartered. Let us look at facts. In 1830, all the banks in the United States were only 320. They have been increased in seven years to 677, and 146 branches, making in all 823 banks ! The capital of all the banks to $145,192,268 378,719,168 Add to this the $40,000,000 of surplus revenue that has been bestowed on the pet banks since 1833, when the deposites were removed from the United States Bank, and you have the antecedent causes that stimulated to that over-action, and those destructive consequences, mentioned by the President. And all these, sir, are chiefly chargeable to the dominant party in these United States. They removed these deposites without law, and gave them to the pet banks. They invited these pet banks to extend their accommodations. They have created nearly three times as much banking capital in the United States, since General Jackson came into office, as all that existed before. Yes, sir, as strange as it may appear, this no-bank party, that has for seven years cried out against the bank monster, until the people trembled for their liberties, have, within the same time, created nearly three times as much bank capital as all that existed in the United States before. Was there ever such unparalleled hypocrisy ? But, sir, this war against the United States Bank, got up for political effect, regardless of the peace of society or the interests of the country, was made to unite the extremes of society. The more intelligent of the middle class never engaged in it ; or were drawn into it, from political associations, with reluctance. It was.really a war of the State banks against the United States Bank, got up by artful politicians to elevate Mr. Van Buren to the presidency. They tempted the cupidity of the thousand officers and stockholders interested in these banks, with the bribe of the public deposites, and the prospect of destroying a hated rival that kept them in check, and loaned money at six per cent. It was a Shylock feeling of avarice and revenge. On the other hand, all the affiliated presses connected with State banks cried out against the monster, until the more ignorant part of the community thought their liberties in danger, and joined the strong bank party against the weaker, to put down the United States Bank. Having effected this, and brought the country to the verge of ruin, and overwhelmed these State banks with infamy and disgrace, is it strange that the same unprincipled course should be pursued against them, that has been pursued against the United States Bank? It is what they had a right to expect. It is but "commend ing the poisoned chalice to their own lips." We may pity their folly; we may condemn the heartless perfidy that first seduced them from their duty, and prostituted them to the vilest purposes of partisan warfare, until their infamy has rendered them useless, and now casts them aside; but we cannot 25th CONG....1st SESS. deny that the retributive hand of justice is seen in their sufferings. Sir, in corroboration of what I have said about this being a war of the State banks against the United States Bank, got up by designing politicians, I will mention a few facts connected with a little secret history on this subject in my own State. It is known, sir, that we have a peculiar system of banking in the State of New York, called the safety-fund system. It had its origin with Mr. Van Buren, when Governor of that State in 1829. Although he did not claim the merit of an original inventor, yet he adopted it as his own, and recommended it to the legislature. This system, sir, establishing a community of interest between the banks, and being under the immediate supervision of three bank commissioners, is admirably well calculated for use as a political engine. It was no sooner put in operation, than it was brought to bear upon the legislature of that State. In 1830 or 1831, while I was honored with a seat in the legislature of that State, resolutions were introduced into that body against a recharter of the United States Bank. These resolutions, sir, originated with the banks in that State. Not one solitary petition from the people on that subject had been presented to the legislature. The bank then had three branches in that State: one at New York, one at Utica, and one at Buffalo; and the people were contented with the currency which they furnished. No murmur, no complaint, was heard from the people. But, sir, day by day, as these resolutions were under discussion in that legisla ture, the birds of ill-omen, that deal in bank stock, hovered round that hall, and watched the progress of this unholy proceeding with an intense anxiety. But no farmers, no mechanics, were there. They had not been consulted; they took no interest in the proceeding. They had no share at that time in this conspiracy of the State banks against their interest. They were delving at their labor, and slumbering in security, while these banks were forging the chains with which they have since bound them. Yes, sir, I was informed, and I believe it, that nightly, during the discussion of those resolutions, their supporters in the legislature met in conclave, in one of the principal banks in that city, to devise ways and means to carry them through. They were carried. These banks, with the aid of the party screws, proved too powerful for the independence and honesty of that body; and the result was proclaimed as the sense of the people of that great State against the United States Bank. This State bank, sir, had its reward-it shared the spoils. But, sir, my colleague (Mr. Foster) has taken occasion to eulogize this safetyfund system. He says it works like a charm. I shall not deny, sir, that it has some good qualities; but I am far from thinking it so charming as my honorable colleague. I doubt not it appears so, sir, to many who share in its golden harvest, and enjoy its exclusive privileges; but to the great majority of the people, who, like myself, deal not in bank stock, but occasionally see or feel the tyranny of these little monsters, the working of this political engine is any thing but charming. Sir, I conceive it had its origin in the foul embraces of political ambition, and cunning, heartless avarice. "It was conceived in sin, and brought forth in iniquity." It has spread its baleful influence over that State, corrupting the fountains of power, and demoralizing the whole community, by the manner in which its privileges have been granted and its stock distributed. Banks have been granted, and the stocks distributed, to party favorites, as a reward for party services. They have been the mercenary bribe offered to the community to sap the foundations of moral honesty and political integrity. But I will not enter into the disgusting details. As to those who wish to see the workings of this charming system of my colleague, I will refer them to an examination of our State legislature last winter, and the proceedings of that body upon the report of their committee upon a single bank. I believe the very day on which the report was made, it showed such abominable corruption and abuses, that a bill was introduced to repeal its charter, and, within one or two days, passed through all the forms of legislation in the popular branch without a dissentive vote; Postponement of fourth instalment-Mr. Fillmore. and also passed the Senate with but three or four votes against it. Does my honorable colleague think that a system which produces banks like this, works like a charm? But, sir, I perceive that this incestuous connexion between the politics and banks of that State has been festering and corrupting until it is about to fall asunder from its own rettenness. I, for one, have no tears to shed at the dissolution. I only regret that many of these banks, since they were chartered, have passed into the hands of honest and honorable men. I fear that the odium which rests upon this corrupt system, and which, in my opinion, is nowise necessarily connected with banking, will sink the whole, without discrimination. The vengeance of an insulted and oppressed community is terrible and overwhelming in its course. It stops not always to discriminate between the just and the unjust, between the proper use and improper abuse of a particular system; but, in the wild madness of popular fury, they hurl the whole to destruction. I warn them to stay their desolating hands. All sudden changes are dangerous. Let us not destroy, but purify this odious system. We cannot live without banks and banking. Credit in some shape is indispensable to our prosperity. Were we reduced to a specie circulation, as now proposed by the President, property would not be worth twenty-five per cent. what it now is, and would soon be wholly absorbed by the wealthy capitalists of our country. The debtor part of the community would be utterly ruined. Then let us purge this vile system of its corruptions and abuses, and strip it of its odious monopoly, and open the privilege of banking to all who comply with such prescribed rules of the legislature as secure the bill-holder and public generally from fraud and imposition. I hope, sir, to live to see the day when this shall be done, and the moral pestilence of political banks and banking shall be unknown. Mr. F. here went into an examination to show that the pretence in the message, that there had been the same over-banking and over-trading in England as in this country, was not true. He exhibited tables that show the following results: October 1, 1833, circulation of the Bank of England £19,800,000 17,300,000 December 27, 1836, do do June 25, 1836. circulation of all the banks in England and Wales £27,621,104 29.386,196 Mr. F. then spoke of the hostility of the Administration to the deposite law, and its attempts, by means of the specie circular and transfer drafts, to oppress the banks, and, through them, the people, and render the law odious; and that the last effort was to declare the Treasury bankrupt and withhold the funds. He then exhibited a statement showing that the banks in the State of New York, had on In circulation. Specie. Discounts. Jan. 1, 1837. $24,198,000 $6,557,020 $79,313,188 Sept. 1, 1837. 13,740,318 2,747,642 59,367,815 Red. in 8 mos. $10.457,682 $3,809,378 $19,945,373 Sept. 1, 1837, {Individual deposites $15,134,968 United States deposites $728,571 Now, sir, it appears from these facts, that the banks in the State of New York, in eight months, have reduced their discounts one-fourth; their circulation near one-half; and their specie almost two-thirds. The people of that State are literally gasping for breath, like an animal under the exhausted receiver of the experimentalist. And if you pass this bill, you authorize the United States to take all but $2,000,000 of the specie now remaining in that great State, and lock it up in your vaults of this new sub-Treasury system. And you leave the bill-holders and individual depositors of that State with upwards of $25,000,000 due them from the banks, and only $2,000,000 of specie to pay them with. Sir, however solvent these banks may be, it is impossible that they should ever resume specie payments under circumstances like these. This sub H. of Reps. Treasury scheme, which I regard as the germ of a Treasury bank. will draw the specie from our banks faster than they can collect it. The Post Office now acts as an absorbent of all the small change in the country. Where the edict of the officer at the head of that department is faithfully executed, all the specie is gathered into the Post Office, paid out to the mail contractors, and by them sold to the brokers, by whom it is sold as a commodity, and shipped out of the country. In this way it daily grows more and more scarce, and has almost ceased to be used as a circulating medium among the people. This sub-Treasury system is calculated to carry out this infamous distinction between the Government and the people-to absorb all the specie for the use of the Government and its favorites, and leave the people to irredeemable bank paper; and this bill, with the bankrupt law recommended by the President, is calculated to take "peaceably if they can, but forcibly if they must," all the specie from the banks, and hoard it up for the use of the office-holders under this Gorernment. Sir, there are evils between which a man is not bound to choose; he may reject both. And I regard this sub-Treasury system, and the union of the Government with the State banks, as evils of this character. I will not choose: I am opposed to both. But have my colleagues, who profess to be the guardians of these State banks, who call themselves “conservatives," duly considered the awful precipice upon which we stand in the State of New York? Are you willing, instead of adding $1,300000 to our circulation in this time of distress, to pass this bill, and thereby not only withhold that, but take from us the $700,000 now there in specie? Recollect that all our safety-fund banks are incorporated under a law that declares that they shall be deemed insolvent, and their charters dissolved by the Court of Chancery, if they neglect, for ninety days after demand, to redeem any evidence of debt issued by them in specie. The effect of that law has been suspended for one year, and for one year only, from the 11th day of May last. It will then expire by its own limitation, and can then only be renewed by the concurrence of each branch of the legislature. Is there not much reason to doubt whether this law will be extended? It was passed in a moment of alarm, when the cry of bankruptcy and ruin broke upon the astonished ear of the legislature like a peal of thunder from a cloudless sky. But they and the people have since had time to reflect. This is a state of things that cannot be endured, and most of the measures here recommended are calculated to aggravate it in a ten-fold degree. Men become desperate, and already the deep sea of popular commotion begins to heave its rising billows. I confess I watch its motions with solicitude and alarm. And I have been surprised to find, in the papers of the day, a letter from Gen. Jackson, the former patron and eulogist of these pet banks, speaking of them in the following language: "The history of the world HAS NEVER RECORDED SUCH BASE TREACHERY AND PERFIDY as has been committed by the deposite banks against the Government, and purely with the view of gratifying BIDDLE AND THE BARINGS, and, by the suspension of specie payments, degrade, embarrass, and RUIN, IF THEY COULD, THEIR OWN COUNTRY, for the selfish views of making large profits by throwing out millions of depreciated paper upon the people, selling their specie at large premiums, aud buy. ing up their own paper ut discounts of from twenty-five to thirty per cent., and now looking forward to be indulged in these speculations for years to come, before they resume specie payments." But, sir, although I have been surprised to see the foregoing charge, I must confess that I have been more surprised to see it published to the world, week after week, and meet with no response or denial from any man on this floor or elsewhere. Are gentlemen Conservatives aware of the effect of such a publication upon the popular mind? Let me tell them it bears upon its tainted breath, if false, a charge too foul for honest and honorable men to submit to in silence. It distils into the ignorant and credulous mind a poison more dangerous to the peace of society than foreign invasion or individual treason. And is there no honorable man connected with these institutions, or who stands upon this floor as their guardian, that will deny the foul charge of treachery and perfidy thus made against them? Why this unaccountable silence under a |