gress to grant future donations of land, should not be impaired, and the bill was ordered to a third reading, yeas 23, nays 18. The next day the bill received its final passage, yeas 26, nays 18, and was sent to the House for con

currence.

The subject had already been examined in that body, and the cominittee upon public lands, through its chairman (Mr Wickliffe), had presented a report, recommending certain modifications in the land system of the United States.

The report altogether disapproved of the plan of the Secretary of the Treasury, to dispose of the public lands, to the several States within which they lie, and to divide the proceeds among the States. The proceeds are regarded as part of the public revenue, and the power to divide the same is denied by the report. Assuming it then to be the duty of the government to reduce the revenue to the reasonable demands of the public service, the committee declare themselves opposed to abstracting the proceeds from the revenue of the government; but urge that the price of the public lands should be reduced for the two-fold purpose; first, of reducing the amount of revenue derived from the sales thereof; and secondly, with the view of placing it more immediately within the power of every man, however poor, to acquire a home for his family.

The report adverts to the effects upon the Western States, of annually withdrawing so much money from the West, as the price

of these lands amounts to, and expending it in other portions of the Union, under the present system; and deprecates the state of things, which it declares to be inevitable, should the funds arising from the sales of the public lands, be divided in any form, and in any ratio, among the several States, for State purposes.

The report recommends, that Congress should retain the unrestricted control over the public domain, and that the national legislation over the same, should be guarded by a policy which shall regard it rather as a means to build up flourishing communities, than as a profitable source of revenue to the general government, or of wealth to the individual States. Upon this subject we will conclude this abstract, by quoting the language of the report itself, as follows.

'The general government should dispose of them upon terms accommodated to the wants of the community, and when the unsold lands in the respective States shall become refuse, and no longer worth the expense of federal superintendence and care, a relinquishment of them, to the State in which they lie, or to individuals, would be the better policy.

It is not probable that the government will again be placed in a condition, when it will become necessary to resort to her public domain, either as the means of raising an army, or borrowing

money.

The committee have expressed the opinion, that the period is approaching, if it has not already arrived, when it would be sound

policy to reduce the price of the public lands. Arguments other than the necessity of ridding the treasury of the revenue derived from sales at the present prices, in favor of a reduction of the price of the public lands, could be advanced, if that were the question now under the consideration of the committee. The price was reduced in 1821, from two dollars to one dollar and twentyfive cents per acre. Real estate, in common with every other species of property, has decreased in value since that time. The price of labor has lessened. The appreciation in the value of the circulating medium, since 1821, has been very considerable, and still the price of the public land is the same now as then. It should not be forgotten, either, that in most of the new States, the best and choice lands have been sold.'

With a report thus conflicting with the views embodied in the bill from the senate, it would have been difficult to have satisfactorily adjusted the details of a bill, so

as to have reconciled all parties, at that late period of the session. Still, however, it was deemed important to have an expression of the opinion of the House on this question, and a disposition was manifested by the friends of the bill, to press for a decision.

This was not acceptable to the friends of the administration, and with the view of avoiding any decision, they concluded to urge its postponement to another session. A motion was accordingly made by Mr Wilde on the third of July, to postpone the further consideration of the bill, until the first Monday of December next, which was equivalent to a rejection of the bill. This motion was carried, yeas 91, nays 88, and a motion made the next day by Mr Condict of New Jersey, for a reconsideration, was negatived, yeas 88, nays 100.

The subject was thus postponed, and it remains for future adjustment, as one of the great unsettled questions of American politics.

new colonies, there is a strong tendency to substitute the credit of public bodies in the place of capital, or in other words, a paper for a metallic currency. The want of capital is so great, and the opportunities of investment so abundant, that the issues soon become excessive; and it is not until the channels of circulation are entirely filled, that the holders begin to look to the fund provided for its redemption; and the first reaction generally results in the depreciation of the currency and in the universal distress of the community.

In this country, this evil had been so often felt under the colonial governments, and during the revolution, (when the necessity of the public service compelled, if it did not excuse excessive emissions of bills of credit by the individual States,) that upon forming a government for the United States, after the termination of hostilities, all power over the currency was taken from the State governments; and they were expressly prohibited from coining money, issuing bills of credit, or making anything but gold and silver a tender in payment of debts. It was intended to vest in Congress the power to establish a uniform currency, instead of the fluctuating medium formerly used; and to place it out of the power of the States, to invalidate or alter the terms of contracts by tender, relief, or bankrupt laws, or by any tampering with the currency. It was a wise endeavor to elevate the commercial credit of the country, by placing its principles under the guardianship of the na

tional government, and to establish the currency upon an immovable basis, by making it of gold and silver. The effort, though well meant, was at that period of our history almost too great for the ability of the country. A circulating medium composed entirely of the precious metals, could not be furnished, without abstracting too large a share of its capital from active employment.

Certificates of public debt were already too abundant, and the name of continental money was of itself sufficient, to prevent government bills from becoming current. A bank, whose issues should be founded on real capital, convertible at pleasure into gold and silver, would furnish a circulating medium not so expensive as a metallic currency, and still not liable to the objections made to treasury bills. So long as the credit of the bank should be fully sustained, a large amount of bills would be kept in circulation, and an additional capital provided, on which it might safely discount to a certain extent. The experiment had been already successfully tried, in the bank of North America, chartered in 1781, under the authority of the continental Congress. This institution subsequently accepted a charter from the Legislature of Pennsylvania, and of course lost its character as a national bank. This step was also unfortunate, as the commencement of State banking, and being speedily followed by the incorporation of the banks of New York and Massachusetts, by the Legislatures of those respective States, established the prac

tice of incorporating State banks upon a footing, that could not be overthrown. As these banks were all established on real capital, and were prudently managed, their paper soon formed a large part of the circulating medium; and by the operation of causes more powerful than legislative enactments, a victory was finally obtained over the policy and spirit of the constitution; and a currency, chiefly composed of the notes of incorporated banks, was substituted in the place of a metallic currency. With such a circulating medium, it is clear that the State governments, in exercising the power of incorporating banks, have materially diminished the practical control of Congress over the currency of the Union. These notes, indeed, are not, and cannot be made a legal tender in payment of debts. The federal constitution has there interposed an effectual prohibition. But although the power, which is secured to each creditor of enforcing payment of his debt in specie, has served as a check to the excessive issue of Bank notes, still a paper currency has existed in the United States, which, by dispensing with and superseding the use of the precious metals, has in fact compelled every one to receive such currency in nearly the same manner, as if it had been made a legal tender.

The old United States Bank, which was chartered by Congress in 1791, shortly after the adoption of the federal constitution, by the salutary control it exercised over the State banks, prevented any great and general injury

from growing out of this change. in the character of the currency. It carefully guarded against all excessive issues by the local banks, and compelled them to make their paper equivalent to specie. Even this check did not always prove sufficient; and the natural tendency of banking institutions in new countries to over issues, was occasionally illustrated by the bankruptcy of country banks, to the great detriment. of the mercantile community. When this check was withdrawn by the refusal to renew the charter of the United States bank, in 1811, the evil became incomparably greater. Availing themselves of the pecuniary distress of the government during the war that ensued, the local banks, out of New England, came to a determination to suspend specie payments, and by continually increasing their issues, they finally flooded the country with bank notes, which constituted the sole circulating medium, and which, though nominally convertible into specie upon demand, were in reality at twenty per cent discount.

Even this currency was received, as if it had been made a legal tender. An outery had been made against those, who enforced the payment of specie, as engaged in a combination to drain the country of the precious metals; and the only alternative presented to the creditor was, a lawsuit in the face of public opinion for his legal rights, or the acceptance of the depreciated paper currency from his debtor.

Protected by this popular prejudice, the banks went on issuing