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SPE ECM OF
RH% James Cooper, of Pa.,
ON THE SUB•TREASURI BILL.
Delivered in the House of Representatives
June 2:i, 1840
ECONCLUDED.3
M r. Chairman, I now turn to inquire whet
is to be the effect of this measure upon the
prosperity of the country—what is to be its
practical operation? One portion of the
supporters of this bill, avow its object to be
the establishment of an exclusive metallic
currency; another portion say, that it is de
signed to separate the Government from the
banks, without any intention to destroy Medi; '
that is, the Government will not USO . client
as fiscal ag ents , or receive their notes in
payment of any debt duo to it. I shall first
inquire, what efFect an exclusive metallic
currency will produce upon the country ;
and then I shall examine what is to be the
result of a separation of the Government
from the banks, in the sense contemplated
by those who advocate the bill upon this
principle.
The money in circulation in any country,
including specie and convertible bank paper,
is the representative-of theevalue, not of the
whole property of the country, but of that
part of it (including labor) which is in the
market to be sold and bought; or, in the
language of the Senator from Pennsylvania,
( ll r. Buchanan) in his - speech upon this bill,
it is the representative, of "the entire ex
changeable property of a country;" that is,
if the entire circulating medinin of this coun
try, including specie and' bank paper, be two
hundred nod twenty five millions of dollars,
( the probable amount,) and you reduce it
two-thirds, by striking nut of circulation one
hundred and fifty millions of dollars. or the
paper portion of it, you bring' down the pro
perty of the country to one third of its ?res
ent value, and you reduce the price of its
products and the wages of the laborer in the
same proportion. Lot me illustrate my
meaning: A man owns a farm, which, in
the present state of the cm rency, (two thirds
being paper,) is worth $3,0011 Strike out
of circulation the paper portion, or two
thirds of the whole currency of the country,
and you reduce the value of the farm to
$l,OOO. Or, suppose that in the present
state of the currency, wheat is worth one
dollar per bushel, and corn forty-five cents;
reduce the circulating medium of the coun•
try two thirds, and you reduce the price of
these products two thirds; wheat will then
sell but fur thirty-three cents per bushel, and
corn but for fleen cents. As things now
stai.d, the common day laborer can earn
fifty cents per day; but reduce the currency
to one-third of its present amount, or to the
hard money standard, and you reduce his
wages in the same proportion. He can then
earn but seventeen cents per day. And the
mechanic will be affected in'tho same way.
The job for which he now gets three dol
lars, will then bring him but a dollar. But
the reduction which would take place in the
value of property, in the price of the pro.
ducts of the farmer, and in the wagesof the
laborer, by converting this into a hard in I.
nay Government, would be much greater
then I have supposod,particularly the Wages
of the laborer. Let us look at the price of
labor and the condition of the laborer, in
some of the hard money Governments of
Europe, to which we have been refered for
examples.
in Germany, common laborers receive on
no aver age less then six pence per day, with
t board. The faro of the laboring classes
is exceedingly coarse.
In South flatland, laborers receive from
three pence to four pence per day,with board.
At Antwerp, five pence per day.
In Sweden, laborers who are well skilled,
receive sereu pence or eight pence par day;
tee unski!led but three pence or four pence,
and board themselves. They live chiefly on
salt fish and potatoes.
in France, common laborers receive less
than six pence per day ; and M. Dupin, an
eminent French statesman, says that "two-
thirds of the population, or twenty millions.
sire deprived of the nourishment of animal
food, and live wholly on ckesnuts, maize, and
potatoes."
This is the condition of the laboring clas
ses in the hard motley countriew of Europe;
his is the condition to which the' policy of
the present Adinineatratioi will reduce the
American laborer. But I will perhaps be
gold, that , it is not the design to make this an'
I.xelnsrvety hard money Government; and
I know that, there are certain' Junus-fac;gt
gentlemen, who can quote one part of their
speeches 1.1 provn that it is col, and another,
''l'" i" is the design. But there are others
• • have spokeu out without prevarication.
The 9enritor froth M ississippi,( Mr. Walk
er,) a leading friend of the Administration,
nays in his speech on this bill: "%Vu have
heard much, Mr. President, of a contortible
currency; it is injurious, as I have shown,
by inflated prices and diminished industry,
even when convertible."
And again, he says:
"During the recent canvass in my own State, I
called the attention of my constituency to the condi
tion of the agriculture of Cuba, within three days'
sail of our coact, as contrasted with that of Louisiana
and Missitsippl. And what is the result? Why,
that Cuba, though laboring under the disadvantage of
a wretched Government. still, with her exclusive spe
cie currency, conquering the tariffs of Europe and
America, filling the world with her exports, sold at a
profit, and enjoying, through her great and prosper
ous cities, an annual commerce of forty-three millions
of dollars, from a population of less than a milhou,and
but little more than half d million of Whites. Sir, as
a Mississippian, I will not draw the gloomy picture
of our own eMb rrrrrr meats. But, sir, I will ask the
cause of the difference. We bait, in Miisissippi an
infinitely better Goireinment than Cuba, • much
more enlightened and energetic people, a more fertile ,
soil, and a richer staple. Why, then, are we thus
embarrassed, while Cuba is so prosperous? No other
cause Can be assigned than the bank paper system of
the one, and the solid specie currency of the other.
Again,
"All reason, then, and all experience, arc againa
the [banking] system, even while the paper is con•
vertible; and it ought to be safely and gradually, Lai
ultimately, entirely abandoned."
The Sumter from Missouri, (Mr. Ben
ton,) who is to be the successor of General
Harrison, provided the crumbling party of
the present Administration can ever be rah
lied in sufficient strength, says
"To our Southern States—to the Whole cotton,rice,
tobacco, and sugar growing region, now lingrieitouslr
afflicted with the curses of the paper system—to all
this region, I would say,
.study the financial history
of Holland, France, and Cuba'. Follow their exam
ple. Emulate their solid currency. Imitate them!"
Again, ho says:
"To this Government it belongs to preserve the
sacred currency of the constitiitiou. To this Govern
ment it belongs to do this; and to'a long' derica of
theasures pursued for this purpose,' rot the litet ten
years, the establishment of the Independent Treasu•
ry now comes In as the citiawning act to seal and con
summate the whole."
•
The Senator from . South Carolina, (Mr.
Calhoun,) now the Fabius of the present
Administration, but who formerly claimed
to be tho Marcellug of the countryiafter a
tong argument to prove that all bank paper
is unconstitutional, concludes by asking,
"can you doubt that the currency [of the
constitUtionl was intended to be specie?"
The gentleman from Ohio, (Mr. Dun.
,can,) the leader of the Administration par
ty in this House, says:
"BM what if tlibru is distress and panic in the
country? What is the cause of it, but your miserable
banking and credit system?—a system that the united
efforts of democracy have been directed to overthrow,
PO far as it is exclusive ntonopolizing,and partial in its
operation; a system which, so long as it exists, will
produce periodical derangements of the cutrency of
the country, and distress with those who trade upon
capital not their own."
Mr. Chairman, I will do the gentlem n,
whose remhrlts I have just quoted, the jus
tice to say, that with them there is on pre
varication or contradiction. They all,bold
ly and openly avow the object of the present
measure; to be the establishment of an ex
clusive metallic currency in this country.—
"Study" (exclaims Mr. Benton) "the finan
cial history of France, Holland, and' Cuba.
Emulate their solid currency. imitate
them" What! Emulate the policy of
France and Holland, whoso laborers receive
but Tou* pence or six pence a day, and who
are compelled to subsist Wholly upon chest
nuts, maize, and pothtoes!' Is this the pol
icy to he pursued towards the free laborers
of the United States? Are they to be redu
ced to the condition of the oppressed, down
trodden poor of the old, decaying nations
of Europe? This measure, sir, will bring
thorn to that condition, and it is advocated
on thnt ground. Hear the Senator from
Pennbylvania, (Mr. Buchanan;) he says:
"la Germany, where the currency is purely metal
lic, and the cost of every thing is reduced to a harif
money standard, a piece of broad cloth can be manu
factured for fifty dollars, the manufacture of which iu
'our country, from the extdrision of our paper curren
cy. would cost one hundred dollars. What is the
consequence? The foreign, trench. or German man
ufacturer, imports his cloth into our country, and sells
it for a hundred donut'. Does not every persba
perceive that thirredundancy of our currency is equal
to a premiuin'of one hundred per cent. in favor of the
foreign manufacturer? No tariff of protection, unless'
it amounted to prohibition, could couhteract this ad
vantage in favor of foreign manufacturers. I would
tolleaven that I could arouse the attention of every
manufacturer of the nation to this important itibject.
"The foreign manufacturer will not receive our
bank notes in payment; lie will take nothing home
but gold and silver, or bills of exchange, which are
equivalent. He does not expend this money here,
where he would'be compelled to support his family;
and to purchase his labor and materials at the same
rate of prices whichte receives for his manufactures.
On the contraryhe goes home, purchases his tabor,
his wool, and all other articles which enter into his
manufacture, at half their Boost in this country, and
again returns tb inundatis tis with foreign woollens,
and to ruin our domestic manufactures. I might cite
many other examples; but this, I trust, will bo suffi
cient to drawpublic attention to the subject. This
depreciation of our currency is, therefore, equivalent
to a direct proteetion granted to the foreign over the
domestic manufacturer. It is Impossible that our
manufacturers should bb able to sustain such an une.
qual competition.
'Sir I solemnly believe that if We could but reduce
this inflated paper bubble to any thing like reasona
ble dimensions, New England would become the
most prosperous manufacturing country that the sun
ever shone upon. 'Why cannot we manufacture
goods, and especially cotton goods. Which will go'
into successful competition with British' manufactu.
rers in foreign markets? Have we not the necessary
capital? Have we not the industry? Have we not
the machinery? And, above all, are not our skill,
energy, and enterprise proverbial throughout the
world? Land is also cheaper here than in arty other
country on the face of the earth. We possest every
advantage which Providence can bestow upon as for
the manufacture of cotton; but they are all counter
acted by the folly of man. The raw material costs
us less than it does the English. because this is an ar
ticle, the price of which depends upon foreign mark
ets, and is not regulated by our own inflated current
cy. We, therefore, save the frieght of the cotton
across the Atlantic, and that of the manufactured ar
ticle on its return here. What is the reason that,
with all these advantages and with the protective
duties, which our laws afford to the domestic manu
facturer of cotton, we cannot obtain exclusive posses
sion of the home market, and successfully contend for
the markets of the world? It is simply becaued, the
,1
nusuuticture at the nominal prices of our own inflated
currency, and are compelled to sell at the real prices,
of other nations. Reduce our nominal to the yeat
standard of prices thioughout the world, and you cov
er the country with bleirsings and benefits I wish to
Heaven I could speak-in a voice loud enough to be
heard throughout Net England; becanse, if the at
tention of the manufacturers weld once be directed to
the subject, their own intelligence and native sagacity
would teach• them bow injuriouily they are a ff ected'
by oar bleated. bankintnnd credit system; and Would
enable them to Apply thepropor corrective."
a-. 127.4.13H2110T017 nowzirr, mbITOR, & rnorraziTon.
46 The liberty to know, to utter, and to argue, freely; is above all other libertlea:iP—MwroN.
orefewzroziaPras. iPcLtva wanclea)dizr o awastbnie ua o agasc,
IHere, sir, wo have the doctrine advan
ced, that the obstacle to the prosperity of
the American manufacturer, is the high
wages of labor, and that nothing can "coun
teract the advantage in favor of foreign man
ulacturers," but the reduction "of our nom
inal to the real standard of orices throughout
the world." What does this mean, but to
bring down the Rages as low hero as they
are in Germany or France? These are
new doctrines—startling doctrines! The
interests of the manufacturer are to be ad
vanced at the expense of the interests of the
laborer. His wages are to be reduced, in
order that the profits of the manufacturer
may be increased. And this is the substi
tute the Senator proposes for a tariff: He
says, "I would to Heaven I could arouse the
attention of every manufacturer of the na
tion to this important subject." For what
purpose? Why, to show them that a hard
money system, such as is proposed to be es
tablished, would lessen the cost of produc
tion; in other words, reduce the wages of
labor, and enable them to contend with the
manufacturers of France and Germany, who
hire their laborers at six pence a day.
Mt. Chairman, I desire to see our menu•
facturers prosperous, and shall aid with the
most hearty good will in affording them
protection; bill God forbid that 1 should ever
so legislate, as to build up fortunes for them,
at the expense of the happiness and comforts
of the laborer. But it is not oily the wan es
of the laborer that would be reduced by this
system; the whole property of the country,
the grain and cattle, and all the produce of
the farther', and the prieeg of the Mechanic,
will fall to the specie standard; or, if the
position'l which before assume d, be true, to
one-third of their present value. But, it is
said, if the price paid for labor should be re
duced, (which is adiniffed,)'by redircing the
circulating medium to the specie standard,
that this will not injure the laborer, Locauiie
all the necessaries and comforts of life will
be reduced in the same proportion. But is
pis so? lithe American laborer were con
tent with the mere necessaries of life, it
would be partly true; but he is not satisfied
to live on "maize and potatoes," with a little
meat once a week; he wants his coffee, and
his tea, and his sugar; habit has made them
'necessary to his comfort and that of his fain
ily. Will the price of these bo reducedl—
aro foreign products. Will they be
regulated .in price by the state of our cur
rency? Not at all. The price of these
things will remain the same, while his ability
to procure them has been reduced to one
third of what it was before. 13to there are
many other things which will not be reduced
in the same proportion as the wages of labor.
The cloth, necessary to clothe himself doll
his family, will not be reduced in as great a
proportion as the wages of labor; or the ob•
ject esteemed so desirable by the Senator
from Pennsylvania, ( Mr. Buchanan,) wine
defeated. His object, as avowed, was to
increase the profits of the manufacturer, by
reducing the wages of the laborer; but if
the price of the manuflictures be winced in
the same proportion as the wages of the la
borer, the prtas of the manufacturer are
not increased, and he is no bolter off than he
was before the reduction in the price of la
bor took place.
Thus, sir, you see that there are twiny
things necessary to the comfortable subsist
once of the laborer, which' will not be retitle
ed in price by thU operation of the hard
money system. Foreign products, groat
quantities of which are consumed by the
American laborer, will not be reduced at all.
The clothing necessary for hi mself and fam
ily, will not undergo a corresponding re
duction. The taxes which be must help to
pay, directly or indirectly, for the support
of the Government, will not be diminished;
for those who are so anxious to reduce his
wages, and the price of the products of the
farmer,will take good care that their salaries
shall not be cut down. So, sir, we see it is
not true that the laborer will not be injured,
by bringing down his wages to the hard mo
ney standard of Holland and Germany.—
There aro many things necessary to his
comforts and convenience, as we have seen,
which will undergo no reduction, or but a
small one; and all these must be purchased
out of wages diminished to one-third of their
former amount. Is not this a cruel policy
which falls with such blighting effect on the
helpless poor man?
But, Mr. Chairman, I now proceed to
examine the effect to be produced by "sever
ing the connexion betweeribank and State,"
as it is expressed by gentlemen. The gen
tleman from Massachusetts,(Mr. Williams,)
—I mention him because I . was present
when he pronounced big oration upon the
bill—declared that the connexion between
bank and State ought to be severed; but, that
he was not for destroying the banks. My
colleague (Mr. Wegener,) declared himself
to the same effect. Now, sir, what is meant
by "severing the connexion between bank
and State?" How far is the separation to
take place ?* Banks, wheth3r specie paying
or otherwise, are no longer to be used as the
fiscal agents of the Government;' and after
a certain periods, fixed in tie bill, (the 30th
of June, 1848;) all "duties, taxes, sales of
public lands, debts and sums of money, ac
cruing or becoming payable to the United
States, and all sums due for postages," shall
be collected in gold and silver. The banks;
however, - are not'to be destroyed, and will
still exist. But the Government,
.in none
of its departments; for any purpose, will re
ceive'a'dollar of that paper. Duties taxes.
postage;.every thinria to be paid in gold or
silver.. Who will use the paper of the banks?
The Govt.rnment will ntit take a dollar of it.
that'it shall not, after the
rosti4d - to . wlnChi cordivid,. What,
then, 1 repeat, will use the paper of the
banks? Why the people. Is not ibis estab
fishing two currencies—one for the Govern
ment, and another for the people? Certainly
it ia. The Government and the officehold
era wall have, (as they have now,) god and
silver. The people must take, as they take
now, depreciated bank paper. But it will
be depreciated to a far greater extent then
than it is now, because the specie basis will
be reduced, by locking up the gold and silver
of the country in the vaults of the receivers.
In this way, at least ten millions of dollars
will be subtracted from the specie capital
on which the banks carry on their tranrac•
tious, or from the general circulation of the
country. And what would be the condition
of the country, if we should hereafter have,
as we have once had, a surp'us revenue of
fifty millions of dollars ? This revenue must
be collected in specie, and will be locked up
in the vaults of the receivers; add to this,
the ten millions which is necessary to be kept
on hand to defray the current expenses of the
Government, and there will not be loft a
specie dollar to circulate in the country; and
besides this, ynu render bank paper entirely,
utterly worthless. But I will be told, that
in future there is not likely to be an accumu-
lotion of• surplus revenue; and certainly this
seems probable, when the Government is
every day going into debt. But if our inan
coo were managed With the lime economy
that they have been by other administra
bons, an accumulation of revenue would take
lithe°, which' would produce the consequen•
ces 1 have pointed out. Thus has the policy
of this administration placed the people, in
the strange position, where they must re
gard wild extravagance as a smaller evil
than a prudent economy I
But, sir, I will proceed to show that the
effect of this bill must be, either to establish
an exclusive metallic curroncy,or create two
currencies—one fur the Government and
another for the people. The bill provides,
flat after the 30th of June, 1843, the Gov
ernment shall not receive, for any purpose,
any thing but gold and silver. lithe people
as well as the Government, receive nothing
but gold end silver, then we have an exclu
sive metallic currency, and of course, along
with it, "the blessings and benefits" which
will flow from diminished prices ! But it
the banks continue to exist, they must exist
fur the people. The Government will have
not dna to do with them—will not receive
a d liar' of their paper. If their paper con
tin es to circulate, it must circulate amongst
th people. Is not this to establish two
cu encies, the better for the Government,
an the baser for the people? Gentlemen
ca take which twin of the dilemma they
ple se. 'they can either take their stand
along with the hard money admirers of Ger
many and Holland, where wages are six
pence a day, or along with those who are
for paying all the dues of Government in
gold and silver, while the people are to be
left to use depreciated bank paper.
But, Mr. Chairman, there is another por
tion, and a very large portion of tho commu
nity, upon whom this measure will operate
with most disastrous force—l mean the in
debted portion of the community. Willi
every other civilized, - enlightened nation, it
has been the' phlicy in latter times, to melio
rate as far as possible the condition of the
unfortunate debtor class. The legislation
of the civilized world is tending in that di
rection, producing the enactment of bank
rupt laws—laws' for the relief of insolvent
debtors; and imprisonment for debt, that
relic of barbarism, has been abolished in
several of the States of the Union.
.But
what do we propose? IVe are not only be
hind the ago, but we are going backwards.
We do not only refuse to legislate for the
benefit of the poor man, and the indebted
man, as a wise and humane policy would
dictate, but we legislate to destroy them;
ay, sir, to destroy them. I have already
shown that the effect of this measure will
be to reduce the price of property, and all
the products of thb country, - in the' same
proportion that it will reduce the circulating
medium'of the country. That is, if it should
reduce the circulating medium to . one-third
of what it is at present', property and produce
and labor will be Worth in money just' one
third of what they are Worth now. Indeed,
the adiocates of the bill admit this; and it
was ono of their arguments, Clint the reduc
tion in the wages of labor, would not injure
the laborer, because .the property of the
country; its product's, every thing necessary
for his subsistence, would be brought down
ie the same proportion.
Have you considered, sir, the vast amount
of indebtedness existing in this country—
the amount of debt Owed by its citizens to
foreign nations and to one another? Have
you reflected how much this measure will
curtail their means of payment, by reducing
the value of property and the profits of in
dustry? Look at the condition of the man
who has purchased a farm for ees,ooo, on
which he has paid one-half; relying on his
industry and a liberal price for his produce.
to enable him to pay the balance. In the
mean time this measure becomes a law; hie
farm—all his property and produce are
brought down to one-third of what they were
worth when he purchased; nnd.the means
upon which he relied for payment of the
balance, are se greatly reduced; that it is
with difficulty he can provide subiistence
for his family, without paying his debts. To
pay hie debts, his farm must be sold;- but
under the operation of this hard money
system, it will sell but fOr $2,000, or one
third of what he paid for it in better times.
This will not pay the debt; and hie inthistry
will no longer avail him to pay it; for indus
try as'well as . property will be blighted by
this meature.' Thus r ofier lus farm is gone,
and all his former earnings with it, a debt
will be left hanging over his head, to para.
lyze his efforts and create despondency. Let
geutlernen consider how many thousands
of their fellow citizens are in this condition
—how many farmers have purchased farms
which are unpaid for—how many mechanics
and laboring men of all descriptions, have
purchased homes for their families, relying
upon their industry to pay for them, for
which they are still in debt—hew many are
in debt for the means upon which they
started in business, 'which will be rendered
unproductive by the operation of this meas•
ure. We can only approximate the truth
on this subject; but from the best informa
tion I can obtain, I am satisfied that at least
four : Ohs of the voters of the,Uhited States
are in debt at this lime. And can you daubt,,
air; are you so far blinded by party feelings
as to doubt, that this measure will be injuri.
ous to all who are in debt? Will it not re
duce the value of the property out of which
these debts are to be paid? Will it not di
minish the profits of industry and the rewards
of labor of these who have nothing else to
rely on to pay what they owe? For whom,
then, do you legislate? For the many or
,the few? I had thought, sir,that Goiernment
was established for the benefit of the gov
erned, and to promote the greatest good of
the greatest number; and that this was cirni.
nently the design of a Republican Govern
inent. But, I repeat the question,for whom
do you legislate? For whose benefit is this
measure of Government, which has been
pressed with such pertinacity upon the peo
ple, intended ? Not for the benefit of the
many; for four fifths of the people wiil be
injured, greatly, permanently injdred by it
—not only those who are in debt, but the
laboring man, who is out of debt, whose
comforts will be reduced, by.reducing the
wages of hie labor, the means by Which he
provided these comforts. It is upon this
class, the laboring class, upon whom the
,effects of this measure will fall with greatest
force, and upon whom the greatest and most
permanent injury will be inflicted. It will
reduce the American laborer, to the condi.
tion of the laboring classes of Europe. He
will not only be deprived of the comforts
and conveniences which he has enjoyed, but
he will be fettered down to the condition of
his birth never to rise from it. Heretofore,
by his labor, he could not Only proenre the
comforts and conVenieffeei of life; lilt he
could educate his children, and fit them for
those stations of honor and usefulness, which
are open, in this country, to the generous
ambition of the son of the poor man, as well
as of the rich. But hereafter, industry will
be unavailing to this end; it will enable him .
to earn but a bare subsistence for himself
and his family; while his children will be
depri'ved of the blessings of knoWledge.
But, Mr. Chairman, it is not one clasi of
our population alone which is to be injured
by this measure. It is not so partial as that.
It will affect the whole. The progress of
the country in Improvement will be chocked'
—it will no longer advance, to greatness and
wealth and power, with a
,rapistfly which
caused the world to look on and Marvel.—
tieneefoith' we the idgofortiflrd , at the slow
and laggard pace of other flattens, whom it
has required centuries to perforth what to us
has been but the work of a genertitinn: But
the decree has gone forth; credit must per
ish, and with it industry
s and enterprise and
commerce; and prosperity already parulyz
ed will . be utterly destroyed. Such, sir, is
to be the effect of this measure. But doubt
less these great evils will be counterbalanc
ed by still greater benefits. Let us inquire
what these are to be.
Thii bill is intended "to proiide for the
'collection, safekeeping, transfer, and dis-
Iniisement, of the public revenue." It has,
therefore, three objects: the collection; the
safe keeping: and the transfer and disburse
ment, of this revenue. Under the provisions
of this bill, the collection of the public rev
enue will be effected in the same manner as
heretofore. So far, therefore, nothing will
be gained; nor any thing lost.
But the manner of keeping, or safe•keep,
ing, the revenue, is to be entirely changed.
ft was formirly kept in banks, and' if it hap.
pened to be stolen, the banks and not the
Goiernment had to belie the lois:, Under
the provisions of this bill, it is to be kept ib
"dates and vaults" in the Treasury kidding
in this city, and in the custom housee at the
different points, by ree.inyers to be
ed by the President; and tf it be stolen out
of the vaults by strange thiefes, or by the
receivers themselves, the lose falls upon the
Government. But 1 will read you a short
paragraph from the Globe of 1834, which
contains my views upon this subject, both
as to the safety of the public funds, and the
increase of Executive poWer:
"It is enipalpahre as thC sun that the effect of the
Isub•Treasury]. scheme wield be to bring the public
treasury much nearer the actual custody and control,
Of the President than it is now, arid expose it to be
plundered by a hundred hands, where one cannot noes
reach it:"
Again :
"Had such a suggestion coma from General Jackson,
it would have been rung through the did Dominion
as conclusive proof of all the aspirations whieh may
have been charged to the hero of New grletMs.—
See here, (they would say,) he wishes to ,put the
public money diredtly into the palms of his friends
and partisans, instead of keeping it on depositeln
banks, whence it cannot be drawn for other than pub
lic, purposes, without certain detecticn. In such a
case, we should feel that the people had just cause for
alarm, and ought to glee then most watchfui attention
to such an effort to enlarge Esientiee power, and put
in its hands the means of corruption.
But in addition to this; which consider
strong evidence, 1 have Borne furnished by
the record.
In the report of Mr. 'Woodbury of the 91h
December, 1889, it appears that the f ✓ opow•
mg sums were lost by the Government,
through the agency of indivalnalst
UPIIIVIIai alPtc. 84100
feeling, keeping, and disbursing tho rubad
revenue, from 1789 up to 1837.
Losses by collectors of the customs $1,193,979 91
of internal revenue 442,265 7tl
receive-s of proceeds of sales of
public lands
gg disbursingofficers incivil depart
tneut
' 11 Hilary and NIIYaI
4.058,549 97
1,225,000 00
50,000 00
Departments
Include loss by S. Swartwout
W. Price, (suppoied)
Total loss by the sub• Treasury system, •
or individual moots $8,270,123 31
Lou by the use of banks u
depositories of the public
money $1,151,890 85
Since paid of the last men
tioned sum
Total loss by banks
87.412,232 a
From this it appears that the Government
has lost 57,412,272 52 more by individuals'
than banks. It does not appear, therefore,
that this bill will Fromotii the safe keeping
of the revenue. I shall now inquire into the
cheapness ofthis kind ofagency in the trans
fer and disbursement of the public funds.
By the act of its incorporation, the bank
of the United Stales was made the deposi
tory of the public funds, and was required
to hanger and disburse them to the public
creditor, without charge, at whatever point;
the Government should designate,. During
all the time of the exiitenee of this inetitu-
Con, the public funds were kept safely; not
a dollar was lost; nor teas the Government
at one cent of expense in paying its credi-:
tors. Does this continue to be the case? Below as a bill for the expense of transport
ing aboiit 827,000
~from St. Louis to Wiii
consin, and disbursing the same.
United States to J., D. Selhors, for transport
ing specie, - s3al 00
Do. ' t' 't 158 00
Do. ~ ". 227 50
Do: ~ II 114 00
Do. .. . " 126 OS
Do. II ~ 8.00
Wm. B. Slaughter, for his aerrscer and cx. ,
penses for transporting $7,000 in specie, 200 00'
Wm. B Slaughter, leir transporting money
from Milwauhie, ~ 810 00
Wm. B. Slaughter, for going to St. Louis, . .
negoeinting,, receiving and transpoltiug • ,
$20,000, and disbursing the same, 800 00
$2,510 75',
Twenty•five hundred and ten dollars and'
seventy-five cents for transporting , about
$27,000 from St. Louis to Wisconsin and
disbursing the same. This.bill is now be;
fore.the imam. for Settlement.
.One of the arguments urged against this
measure is, that it will reduce vvages. The
friends of the Administration may answer
this argument by its liberality to its disbar-,
sing agents. . . . . . •,
Mr. Chairman, I state' in the beginning
of my remarks ?, that while tbe Bank Of the
United' Stales was the depository of the pub
lie funds, and had the disbursement of them,
the character of the Government for punct
uality in all, its transactions, was maintained
with the most scrupulous care. This is
not now the case., There is not only a want
of punctuality, but the public creditor is of 7
ten put to the greatest indonyenießce. , Net
long since, a draft wag drawn in favor of
Rufus Freeman,a pensioner,of Wayne coup.
ty, Ohio, by the Treasurer of the United
States, for 810, on Judge Henderson,
,the
receiver at Cincinnati. This draft was pre
sented, by 111 r. the agent of the pen;-
sioner,"to the receiver, who refused to pay
it, on the ground that he had no funds of the
Government in his pctse,e,soon: The OA
was then returned to Washington, altered
by tho Treasurer;and made payable at the
Louis Ville Savings fnstitution, and sent back"
to the pensioner.. Thus, atter three months
spent since the pensioner began to collect
this . pittance—after having been first sent
100 miles to Cincinnati, whOre" his draft
was dishonored, ho is' now furnished with
another ( on' Lbuhwille; 156 miles west of
Cincinnati, in another State, whero he must
go or send for his money,.or be shaved by
some broker. Undei the old,. system of
keeping and disbursing , the public money,
there was no dishonoring of drafts; no dia.,
graceful failures on the part of the Govern
ment to meet its engagements; no oppres#,
sion of the publid creditor; by delaying
priymerit When' his money Was due, or by
sending him to - renriote places to receive it.
Let the,e.sita of the old pensioner speak for
the convenience and punctuality which dis-,
tnignish the Government at present, in the
payment of itecredi'tors through the agency
of aLib:treasurers. AR it turns out that there
iine Mier' sa fsty, cheapness, nor convenience'
in the Contemplated mode of keeping and,
disbursing tke public money, we must look'
for other rations for *sing this bill.—'
Where shall we find them?
One of the prominent argumentd, and on&
long dwelt upon by the supporters of this:.
bill, is that it
. has' received the sanction 'of
public opinion; and that, therefore we are
bound to pass it. The evideiiie upon which'
gontlemen rely to prove that public opinion'.
is in faior of this measure,' is the result or
last year's elections," and the Administra- :
tion majority in this House. They should
not rely upon the latter circumstance as ev
idence of public opinion; for it is more tha&
probable that if the Representatives elected,
by the people of New Jersey were in the
seats occupied by those gentlemen elected •
by this House, the majority On this question',
would be the other Way. And the evidence
furnished by last year's election isno, be tter:'
sub Treasury bad been ofien'rejecW
ed by Congress tliit it was !oolitic! 4011 by
The people as a settled question. 7 -one which
_had been abandoned; and, indeed, it .wasi
brought:prommently forward into the can.
Vass. It was hinted at, to be sure, but it
was not made the turning point of the con-'
troversy. If it had been, the result would'
probably have been the same u it Wu ia'
1837—the overthrort of the part 7.•
397,304 14
893,023 59
300 n 000 00
857,890 Eld