accruing interest en borrowed money—;mid faith, directed to that end; and ha,
\
a sum exceeding half the ordinary rove men so continued to the present moment.
noes of the whole United States. Th , l'he estimates and appropriations for tht
pretext which this relation affords to for tear 1838 (the first over which I had any
signers to scrutinize the management of control ) were somewhat diminished The
our domestic affairs, if not actually to in. expenditures of 1839 were reduced six
termeddle with them, presents a subject ]nillions of dollars. Those of 1840, ex•
for earnest attention, not to say of serene. elusive of disbursements for public debt
alarm. Fortunately the Federal Govern. Ind trust claims, will probably not exceed
ment, with the exception of an obligation twenty two and a half millions; being be.
entered into in behalf of the District of tween two and three millions less than
Columbia, which must soon be discharged, those of the preceeding year, and 9 or 10
is wholly exempt from any such ember- millions less than those of the year 1837.
rassment. It is also, as in believed, the Nor has it been found necessary, in order'
only Government which, having fully and to produce this result, to resort to the
faithfully paid all its creditors, has also power conferred by Congress, of post.
relieved itself entirely from debt. to, finning certain classes of the public
maintain a die tinction so desirable, and ' works, except by deferring expenditures
so honorable to our national character, for a short period upon a limited portion
should be an object of earnest solicitude. of them; and which postponement terinin-
Never should a free people, if it he possi- ated some time since, at the moment the
We to avoid it, expose themselves to the Treasury Department by further receipts
necessity of having id treat of the peace, from indebted banks, became fully assure
the honor, or the safety of the Republic, ed of its ability to meet them without pre
with the Governments of foreign credi.judice to the public service in other re-]
tors, who, however well disposed they spects. Causes are in operation which'
may be to cultivate with us in general will, it is believed, justify a still further , ,
friendly relations, are nevertheless,
by reduction, without injury to any impor
the law of their own condition, madehos.. tent national interests. The expenses
tile to the success and permanency of po• of sustaining the troops employed in Flor
litical institutions like ours. Moss humil ida have been gradually and greatly re 1
Wing may be the embarrassments conse. duced, through the persevering eflbrts of
quent upon such a condition. Another the War Departmet; and a reasonable
objection less formidable, to the coin- hope may be entertained that the necessi
mencement of a new debt, is its inevita• for military operations in that quarter
ble tendency to increase in magnitude, will soon cease. The removal of the In
and to foster national extravagance. lie diens from within our settled borders is
has been an unprofitable observerof events nearly completed. The pension list, one
who needs at this day to be admonished of the heaviest charges upon the Treasti•
of the difficulties which a Government, ry, is rapidly diminishing by death. The
habitually dependent on loans to sustain most costly of our public btildings are
its ordinary expenditures, has to encoun- either finished or nearly so; and we may,
ter in resisting the influences constantly I thing, safely promtse ourselves a con
exerted in favor of additional loans ; by tinued exemption from border difficul
capitalists, who enrich themselves by ,ties.
Government securities for amounts much I The available balance in the Treasury
exceeding the money they actually a d. on the first of January next is estimated
vanes —a prolific source of ag grandize. at one million and a half of dollars. This
ment in all borrowing coun tries; by ] sum with the expected receipts from
stockholders, who seek their gains in the ,all sources during the next year, will, it
rise and fall ot public stocks ; and by the is believed, be sufficient to enable the
selfish importunities of applicants fur ap- Government to meet every engagement,
propriations for works avowedly for the ' and leave a suitable balance in the treas.
accommodation of the public, but the real ury at the end of the year, it the remedial
objects of which are, too frequently the measures connected with the customs and
advancement of private interests. Th e the public lands, heretofore racommen.
known necessity which so many of the'ded, shall be adopted, and the new ap-
States will be under to impose taxes for Propriations by Congress shall not carry
the payment of the interest on their debts, the expenditures beyond the official esti
furnish an additional and very cogent rea- mates.
son why the Federal Government should The new system established by Con
refrain from creating a national debt, by gross for the sate keeping of the public
which the people would be exposed to money, proscribing the kind of currency
double taxation for a similar object. We to be received for the public revenue, and
possess within ourselves ample resources Providing additional guards and securities
tor every emergency; and we may b e against losses, has now been for several
quite sure that our citizens, in no future months in operation. Although it might
exigency, will be unwilling to supply the be premature, upon ex periance of such a
Government with all the means asked for limited duration to furm a definite opins
the defence of the country. In tune of ion in regard to the extent of its influen
peace there can, at all events, be no justi- cos in correcting many evils. under ‘vhich
fication for the creation of a permanent the Federal Government and the country
debt by the Federal Government. Its have hitherto suffered, especially those
limited range of constitutional duties may that have grown out ot banking expan
certainly under such circumstances, b e sions, or depreciated currency, and official
performed without such a resort. It has, defalcations, yet it is but right to say
it is seen, been avoided during four years that nothing has occured in the practical
of greater fiscal difficulties than have ex- operation of the system t o weaken in the
isted in a similar period since the adop. slightest degree, but much to strenglithen
tion of the constitution, and one also re- the confidant anticipations of its friends.
markable for the occurrence of extraordi The grounds of these have been hereto
nary causes of expenditures. fore so fully explained, as to require no
But to accomplish so desirable an ac- recapitulation. In respect to the facility
ject, two things are indispensable: first and convenience it aff o rds in conducting
that the action of the Federal Govern• the public service, and the ability of the
went to be kept within the boundaries Government to discarge through its agen
prescribed by its fouudcrs, and secondly, cy every duty attendant on the collection,
that all appropriations for objects admit transfer and disbursement of the public
ted to be constitutional, and the expendi• money with promptitude and success, I
can say with confidence that the apprehen.
tare of them also, be subject to a standard
of rigid but well considered and practical sions of those who felt it to be their duty
economy. The first depends chiefly on to oppose its adoption, have proved to be
the people themselves, the opinion they unfuunded. On the contrary, this branch
form of the true construction of the Con • of the fiscal of the Government has been
stitution, and the confidence they repose and it is believed may always be, thus
in the political sentiments of these they se- carried on with every desirable facility
lect as their representatives in the Fed- and security. A few chang es and im
eral Legislature ; and the second rests Provements in the details of the systeni,
upon the fldelitywith which their more without affecting any principles involved
immediate representatives, and other in it, will be submitted to you by the
public functionaries, discharge the trust Secretary of the Treasury, and will, I ant
committed to them. The duty of econo- sure, receive at your hands the attention
mixing the expenses of the public service to which they may on examination, be
is admitted on all hands ; yet there are found to be entitled.
few subjects upon which there exists a I have deemed!this brief summary of our
fiscal affairs necessary to the due per.
wider difference of opinion than is con
formance of a duty special enjoined upon
stantly manifested in regard to the &telt
ins by the Constitution. It will serve,
ty with which that duty is discharged.—
Neither the diversity of sentiment, nor also to illustrate more fully the principles)
b
even mutual recriminations, upon a pointy which 1 have been guided in reference
in respect to which the public mind is so to two contested paints in our public poll
justly sensative can well be entirely avoi- cy, which were earliest in their develop
ded; and least so at periods of great po- mews, and have Leen more important in
litical excitement. An intelligent people their consequences, than any that have
however, seldom tail to arrive in the end, arisen under our complicated and difficult,
at correct conclusions in suet a matter. yet admirable system of Government; 1
Practical economy in the management of allude to a national debt and a national
public affairs can have no adverse influ- bank. It was these that the political
ence to contend with more powerful than contests by which the country has been
a large surplus revenue; and the unusual. agitated ever since the adoption of the
ly large appropriations of 1838 may with. Constitution in a great measure origina
out doubt, independently of the extraors led; and there is too touch reason to eap
dinary requisitions fur the public service Prehend thot the conflicting interests and
growing out of the state of our Indian re- opposing principles thus marshelled, will
lotions, be, in no inconsiderable degree, continue as heretofore, to produce similar
traced t o this source. 'rite sudden and if not aggregate consequences.
rapid distribution of the large surplus Coining into office the declared enemy
then in the Treasury, and the equally of both, I have earnestly endeavored to
sudden and unprecedented severe revul- prevent a resort to either.
sion in the commerce and business of the The consideration that a larg e public
country, pointing with un erring certainty
to a great and protracted reduction of
the revenue, strengthened the propriety
et the earliest practicable redact ion of the
of the public expenditures.
But, to change a system operating upon
so large a surface. and applicable to such
numerous and diversified interests and ob.
jade, was more than the work of a day.
The attention of every department of the
Government was immediately, and in
debt affords an apology, and produces in
some degree, a necessity also, fur resorts
ing to a system and extent of taxation
which is nut only oppressive throughout,
but likewise so apt to lead, in the end, to
the commission of the most odious of all
offences against the principles of Repub-
lican Government—the prostitution of
political power, conferred for the general
benefit, to the agrandizement of particu
classes and the gratification of individual
cupidity—is alone sufficient, independent
ly of the weighty objections which have
tlready been urged, to redder its creation
end existence tile eources of bitter and
inappeasable discord. 11 we add to this,
is inevitable tendency to produce anti
foster extravagant expenditures of the
public money, by which a necessity i:•
created for new loans and new burden,
In the people; and, finally, if we refer to
the examples of every Government wide!)
has existed, for proof, how seldom it is
that the system when once adopted and
implanted in the policy of a country, has
tailed to expand itself, until public credit
was exhausted, and the were no longer
able to endure its increasing weight, it
seems impossible to resist the conclusion,
that no benefits resulting from its career,
no extent of conquest, no accession of
wealth to particular classes; no• ally, nor
all its combined advantages, can counter
balance its ultimate but certain resul ts—
a splendid Government, and an impover
ished people.
Ha National Bank was, as is undeniable
repudiated by the framers of the Consti.
tution, as incompatible with the rights of
the states and the liberties of the people
if from the beginning, it has been regarded
by large portions of our citizens as coming
In direct collision with that great and vi
tat emendment of the Constitution, which
declares that all powers not conferred by
' that instrument on the General Govern
ment are reserved to the States and to the
people; if it has been viewed by them as
the first great step in the march of latitu
. dinous construction, which, unchecked,
would render that sacred instrument of as
little value as an unwritten Constitution,
dependent, as it would alone be, for its
meaning, on the interested interpretation
of a dominant party, and affording nu
security to the rights of the minority ; if
such is undeniably the case, what rational
grounds could have been conceived tot
anticipating aught but determined opposi
tion to such an institution at the present
day.
Could a different result have been ex
pected when the consequences which have
flowed from its creation, and particularly
from its struggles to perpetuate its exis
tence, had confirmed in so striking a
manner, the apprehensions of its earliest
opponents; when it had been so clearly
demonstrated that a concentrated money
power, wielding vast a capital, and
combining such incalculable means of in.
fluence, may in those peculiar conjectures
to which this Government is unavoidably
exposed, prove an overmatch for the po
litical of the people themselves; when the
true character of its capacity to reg ulate
according to its will and its interests, and
the interests of its favorites, the value and
production of the labor and the property
of every man in this extended country,
had been so fully and fearfully developed;
when it was notorious that all classes of
this great community had by means of the
power and influence it thus possesses,
been infected to madness with a spirit of
heedless speculation; when it had been
seen that, secure i,i the support of the
combination of influences by which it was
surrounded, it could violate its charter,
and set the laws at defiance with impuni
ty, and when, too, it hail become most
• apparent that to believe that such an ac
cumulation of powers can ever be granted
' without the certainty of being abused, was
. .
to indulge in a fatal delusion:
To avoid the necessity of a permanent
debt, and its inevitable consequences, I
have advocated and endeavored to carry
into effect the policy of confining the ap%
propriations for the public service, to
such objects only as clearly within the'
constitutional authority of the Federal
Government; of excludin g from its expen
sea those improvident an d unauthorized
grants of the public money for works of
internal improvement, which were so
wisely arrested by the constitutional in-
terposition of my - predecessor, and which
if they had not been so checked, would
long before this time have involved the fi
nancesof the General Government in em
barrassments far greater than those which
are now experienced by any of the States
of limiting our expenditure to that sim
ple, unostentatious, and ecunninical ad..
ministration of public affairs, which is a
lone consistant with the character of our
institutions; of collecting annually from
the customs, and the sales of public lands
a revenue fully adequate to defray all the
expenses thus incurred, but under no pre
Witco whatsoever, to impose taxes upon
the people to a greater amount than was
actually necessary to the public service,
conducted upon the principle I have sta
ted.
In lieu of a national bank; or a depen•
dance upon banks of any description, for
the management of our fecal affairs, I re.
commend the adoption of the system
which is now in successful operation.--
That system affords every requisite hien
ity fur the transaction of the pecuniary
concerns of the Government; will it ;s
confidentially anticipated, produce in oth
er respects many of the benefits which
have been from ° time to time expected
from the creation of a national bank, but
which have never been realized; avoid
the inanitold evils inseparable from such
an institution; diminish, to a greater ex
tent than could be accomplished by any
other measure of reform, the patronage of
the Federal Government—a wise policy
in all Governments, but more esi.eciall)
so in one like ours, which works well on
ly in proportion as it is made to rely foi
its support upon the unbiassed and unad
ulterated opinions of its constituents; lb.
away, forever, a!l dependence on corps
rate bodies, either in the raising, collec
king:safe-keeping or disbursing the pub
'lc revenues, and place the Government)
•qually above the temptation of fostering
t dangerous and unconstitutional institu
tion at home, or the necessity of adopting,
.ts policy to the views and interests of a
,till more formidable money power
woad.
It is by adopting and carrying out these
principles, under circumstances the must
mrduous and discouraging, that the at•
tempt has been made, thus far successful
ly, to demonstrate to the people of the
(Jolted States that a National Bank at all
times; and a national debt, except it be in
curved at a period wnen the honor and
safety of the nation demand the tempora
ry sacrifice of a policy, which should on.
ly be abandoned in such exegencies, not
merely unnecessary, but in direct and
deadly hostility to the principles of their
Government, and to their own permanent
welfare.
The progress made in the develope
ment of these few positions, appears in
the preceding sketch of the past history
and present state of the financial concerns
of the Federal Government. The facts
there stated fully authorize the assertion,
that all the purposes for which this Gov
ernment was instituted have been accom
4ilished during four years of pecuniary'
lembarressmentthan were ever before ex
perienced in time of peace, and in the
Lace of opposition as formidable as any
that was ever before arrayed against the
policy of an Administration; that this has
been . done when the ordinary revenues
of the Government were generally de
creasing, as well from the operation of
the laws, as the condition of the country,
without the creation of a permanent pub
lic debt, or incurring any liability, other
Chan such as the ordinary resources of
the Government will speedily discharge,
and without the agency of a National
Bank.
If this view of the proceedings of the
Government, for the period it embraces, '
be warranted by the facts as they are
known to exist; if the army and navy 4
have been sustained to the full extent au•
thorized by law, and which Congress ;
deemed sufficient fur the defence of the
defence of the country and the protection
of its rights and its honor; it its civil and
diplomatic service has been equally sue
tamed; if ample provision has been made
for the administration of justice and the
execution of the laws- '
if the claims upon
public gratitude in behalf of the soldiers
of the Revolution have been promptly
met and faithfully discharged; if there
have been no failures in defraying the
very large expenditures growing out of
that long continued and salutary policy
of peacefully remoNing the Indians to re
gions of comparative safety and prosperi
tj —it the public faith has at all times,
and every where been most scrupulously
maintained by a prompt discharge of the,
numerous extended, and diversified,
claims on the treasury; if all these great,
and permanent objects, with many others
that might be stated, have for a series of
years, marked by peculiar obstacle and
difficulties, been successfully accomplish
ed without a resort to a permanent debt,
or the aid of a national batik, hive we not
a right to expect that a policy, the ob
ject of which has been to sustain the pub
lic service independently of either of
these fruitful sources of discord, will re•
ceive the final sanction of a people whose
unbiassed and fairly elicited judgment up
on public affairs is never ultimately
wrong?.._
[The remainder next week.
Toestated wail of Scire Fic•
cias Sur Mechanics Lien, issued out of
the Court of Common Pleas of Hunting
don county, has been placed in my hands
for service, &c., of which all persons in
terested will take notice.
JOSEPH SH NNON
HUNTINGDON COUNTY, ss.
- 41 - !IF,' Commonwealth of Pennsylva
nia to the Sheriff of said County ,
Greeting: whereas John M. Cunningham '
and Thomas Burchnell, acting under the
firm of Cunningham and Burchnell, have
filed a claim in our County Court of coin
mon Pleas for the county of Huntingdon
aforesaid against Rev. James Stevens late
of the said county, for the sum of One
Thousand and Ninety-six dollars for
work done to, and materials furnished
for a certain building, to wit, "All that
certain two story frame Warehouse, situ,
ate in the borough of Petersburg in said
county, fronting on the basin foi ty-feet,
and extending back forty-five feet, and
being situate on a certain lot in the said
borough of Petersburg lately purchased
by the Rev. James Steevens from a cer
tain Valentine Wingert.
And whereas it is alleged that the said
sum still remains due and unpaid to the
said Cunningham and Burchnell. Now
we command you, that you make known
to the said Rev. James Stevens, and to
all such persons as may hold or occupy
the said building, that they be and appear
before the judges of our said court
at a court of common pleas to be
held at Huntingdon on the second Mon
day of January next, for the said coma.'
ty of Huntingdon, to shew if any thing
they know or have to say, why the said
sum of one thousand and ninety-six dol
lars, should not be levied on the said buil
ding to the use of the said Cunningham
and Burchnell, according to the form and
effect of the act of Assembly in such ca
=es made and provided if to them it shall
seem expedient, and have you then and
here this writ. Witness the Honorable
fhomas Burnside, Esq., President of our
-old court at Huntingdon the nineteenth
lay of NAvember, A. D. 1840.
JAMES STEEL, Proty.
Dec. 2.-4 t.
THE JOURN IL.
One country,one constitution ,one deeti
Iluntmgdon, Dec. 23, 1 S4O
Democratic
COUNTY CONVENTION.
The friends of GEN. HARRISON within
the several townships and boroughs of Hun
tingdon county are requested to meet at thei
usual places of holding elections, on or be
fore Saturday the 9th day of January next,
and appoint two persons trom each town
ship and borough in said county, to meet in
convention at Huntingdon on Tuesday even
ing the 12th of January, for the purpose of
choosing two delegates to represent this
county in the State Convention which will
meet in Harrisburg on the 4th of March
next, to nominate a candidate for Governor.
BY THE COUNTY COMMITTEE,
Home at last.
After a long absence, much longer than
we either wished or anticipated, we have
arrived at home at last, and assumed our
labors in the editorial chair.
The cause of our absence most of our
readers are aware of; and the cause of our
detention, was beyond our control, —bad
weather--disappointment—and the diffi
culty attending transportation, were
among the most prominent causes of our
stay.
We regret, not a little, that our tempo.
rary absence, for a few weeks, should be
the occasion for the wit, the jeers, and the
malignancy of some, who should at least
know enough to be cunning if not honest.
We have not run away, nor are we to be
got rid of in so easy a manner. Nothing
except driving us off, can make us leave a
county that each returning year tells u 5
contains so large a body of our blends.
.Ve are back again ; and as willing, awl
as able to enter the field, as we ever have
been. "We have scotched the snake, not
killed tt." We have much, very much
that remains to be done, ere the people
will find themselves :id of the curses of
the corrupt administration of Loco Foco
ism ; and we have returned, invigorated
by relaxation, to mount again the watch
tower, and send our warning voice, how
ever feeble, among the honest and toiling
sons of the hills and vallies of Hunting
don county.
We have returned, not only to watch
the fully and corruption of our opponents,
but to speak as freely, as boldly, and as
fearlessly of the madness and folly of our
own friends, who shall so far forget their
professions of honesty, as to enter the
f• field of our party's triumph, indulging in
. the same sins which have been so manifest
and so much censured ha opponents.
We fear, and we think we have some
cause to fear, that many of our friends
look upon the triumph of truth over false
hood and corruption, as the triumph of
party. We say it is emphatically the tri
umph of the people.—That people who
have seen the powers of Goveratnent used
solely for the success of party—regardless
alike of justice or 'wegrity.—That peo
ple who have seen the ermine rube soiled
by the filth and mud of party strife. That
'people who have seen every official func
tionary, from the resident of the White
House, to his pettiest underling, using
their power of place, to subjugate and op
press, instead of relieving and benefitting
them—and we have returned to say that
we shall watch those who claim now to be
the successful party, with the jealous eye
that we have the others. Has the strife
for office already commenced ? have
those who wish—and some of whom per
, haps deserve preferment—already enter•
' ed the arena as political gladiators, to
hack and mar each other's character and
t fame? If it be so, our fears are but too
well founded.
To the people, who have been victori
ous, we have only to say, you have "done
your own voting"—now do your own
thinking, and our word for it, the day is
not far distant that you will nut only take
care of the Government, but you will make
the Government take care of your inter
est and welfare. But we have diverged
from our subject,—we are home at last—
and we have but to request a little pa
tience, and our paper shall again be as
regular as usual—and we will humbly try
to do our duty, "without fear, fervor, o n
.kffrction." 1
Congress
Is now in session. As may be imagin
ed, it is a chilly business for the poor Lu.•
co Focus to meet there, as one might say .
at the funeral of all their hopes. Mr. Van
Buren and his party have been signally r.-
buked by an injured and indignant peo
ple, for their recklessness, we might al
most say, infamous course. Still„even,
in this very Congress, they contend that
the people did riot disapprove of their
,measures—the ISub-treasury Standing
Army, &c. Oh! no, say they, it was the
Coon Skins, the Log Cabins, and the
Hard Cider, which deluded the people.
How very complimentary to the honest
yeomanry of our Republic I—shame on the
heartless traitors to a confiding people.
It is openly contended in Congress that
these questions were not placed before
the people. Now we unhesitatingly say,
that there is not one homiest man of either
party in Huntingdon county who will nut
say, that at every public meeting these
'• very measures we used as the principle
reasons why the administration should be
Changed
Thank Prvvidence, the people knew
what they did want, and in a voice too
plain to tie ►misunderstood, declared their
wishes; and proved that "public opinion
is the unfailing corrective of all aluses
in a free government."
We will endeavor to keep our readers
acquainted with the doings of the present
Congress, that in, if they do anything.
We learn thitt they have already agreed
Ito pay the New Jersey members for their
time spent in„Washington, although they
gave their seats to the Usurpers.
We insert this weck, a part of the Pres
ident's message. It is a document of very
little interest, and characterised by noth
ing, but the fully of adhering to the Sub.
treasuiy--and a Quixotic tilt at the ghost
of the united States llank. There are,
perha;:s, one or two other things which
we may notice hereafter.
• Rumor says that the honest portion of
the Loco Foco 's are endeavoring to run
off 'their own Iron Grey," and make him
give place to some one that they can trust.
some of them in this vicinity speak out
very boldly, and say that honest Davy It.
must make up his mind to take a back
seat. It is all one to us for we think that
the people have made up their minds to
attend to their affairs themselves and of
course will not sustain the best men in
the ranks of Loco Focoism for any office
of trust. But who cares about their
family quarrels ? Let them flight it out;
like the fight between the pole eat and
badger we don't care which gets beat.
The Resumption
The 15th of January is the day fixed by
law fur the banks to resume. When we
!elt the city on Tuesday of last week, the
impression was general, that the banks
would be ready to comply with the re
quirements of the law, although some
knowing ones seemed to be disposed to
doubt.
So far as our opinion is good for any
thing, we think that they will resume ou
that (lay; but we are equally well satisfi
ed that the resumption will not relieves
the money market. In the city, the banks
have nearly all of them called in most of
their circulation. While in the city, wit
did not see a note on any city bank in
circulation escept of the tr. S. Bank. If
then they ha no notes in circulation,
resumption in name will be easy. But it
will be very difficult for the people to ob.
tain the specie out of their vaults, unless
they have some of their paper.
Philadelphia is literally filled with small
notes of other States; and where the
people are to find a circulating medium to
supply their place, is more than we can at
present see. If our banks resume, these
small issues will be victimised by the.
brokers, by taking oWthe biggist kind of
shaving, and then pay for them in $5
(notes of country banks; at least such is
our opinion.
OBITUARY RECORD
"In the midst of lye we are in death."
DIED —On Monday evening the
21st inst., Mrs. ELIZARETH consort of
Ulrich FRIDLEY, late of Franklin county.
aged 65 years.
Temperance Meeting.
A Temperance Meeting will be held in
the Presbyterian Church, on Friday eve
ning next, at early candle light. All per
sons friendly to the cause will please at
tend. Several addresses are confidently
expected.