Full text of Mr. Webster's Second Speech on the Sub-treasury Bill

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MR. W E B S T E R ' S
it

SECOND SPEECH

ON

THE SUB-TREASURY BILL.

DELIVERED MARCH 12, 1838.

WASHINGTON:
rBlHTBD BY AALSS AHJ> 8KATOK.

1838.

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MB. WEBSTER'S SECOND SPEECH
o*

THE SUB-TREASURY BILL.

Mr. PRESIDENT :

Having at an early stage of the debate expressed, in a
general manner, my opposition to this bill, I must find an apology
for again addressing the Senate, in the acknowledged importance
of the measure, the novelty of its character, and the division of
opinion respecting it which is known to exist in both Houses of Congress.
To be able, in this state of things, to give a preponderance to that
side of the question which I embrace, is, perhaps, more than I ought
to hope ; but I do not feel that I have done all which my duty demands, until I make another effort.
The functions of this Government which, in time of peace, most
materially affect the happiness of the people, are those which respect
'commerce and revenue. The bill before us touches both these great
interests. It proposes to act directly on the revenue and expenditure
of Government, and it is expected to act, also, indirectly, on commerce and currency; while its friends and supporters altogether abstain from other measures, deemed by a great portion of Congress and
of the country, to be indispensably demanded by the present exigency.
We have arrived, Mr. President, towards the close of a half century from the adoption of the constitution. During the progress of
these years, our population has increased from three or four millions
to thirteen or fourteen millions; our commerce, from little or nothing,
to an export of a hundred and ninety millions, and an import of a
hundred and twenty-eight and a half millions, in the year 1836.
Our mercantile tonnage approaches near to two millions. We have
a revenue, and an expenditure, of thirty millions a year. The manufactures of the country have attained very great importance, and,
up to the commencement of the derangement of the currency, were
in a prosperous and growing state. The produce of the fisheries
ias become vast; and the general production of the labor and capital of the country is increasing, far beyond all example in other

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countries, or other times, and has already reached an amount which,
to those who have not investigated the subject, would seem incredible.
The commerce of the United States, sir, is spread over the globe.
It pursues its objects in all seas, and finds its way into every port
which the laws of trade do not shut against its approach. With all
the disadvantages of more costly materials, and of higher wages, and
often in despite of unequal and unfavorable commercial regulations
of other States, the enterprise, vigor, and economy which distinguish
our navigating interest, enable it to show our flag, in competition
with the most favored and the most* skilful, in the various quarters
of the world. In the mean time, internal activity does not lag nor
loiter. New and useful modes of intercourse and facilities of transportation are established, or are in progress, everywhere. Public works
are projected and pushed forward, in a spirit, which grasps at hign
and vast objects, with a bold defiance of all expense. The aggregate value of the property of the country is augmented daily. A
constant demand for new capital exists, although a debt has already
been contracted in Europe, for sums advanced to States, corporations,
and individuals, for purposes connected with internal improvement ;
which debt cannot now be less than a hundred millions of dollars.
Spreading over a great extent, embracing different climates, and with
vast variety of products, we find an intensely excited spirit of industry and enterprise to pervade the whole country; while its external commerce, as I have already said, sweeps over all seas. We ate
connected with all commercial countries, and, most of ail, with that
which has established and sustained the most stupendous system of
commerce and manufactures, and-which collects and disburses an
incredible amount of annual revenue; and which uses, to this end,
and as means of currency and circulation, a mixed money of metal
and paper.
Such a mixed system, sir, has also prevailed with us, from the
beginning. Gold and silver, and convertible bank paper, have
always constituted our actual money. The people ace used to this
system. It has hitherto commanded their confidence, and fulfilled their expectations. We have had, in succession, two national
banks ; each for a period of twenty years. Local or State banks
have, at the same time, been in operation; and no- man of intelligence or candor can deny that, during these forty yeans, and
with the operation of a national and these State institutions, the
currency of the country, upon the whole, has been safe, cheap* convenient, and satisfactory. When the Government was established,
it found convertible bank paper, issued by State banks, already jn
circulation; and with this circulation it did not interfere. The United States, indeed, had themselves established a bank) under the old
Confederation, with authority to issue paper. A system of mixed
circulation, therefore, was exactly that system which this constipation, at its adoption, found already in existence. Them is not the
slightest evidence of any intention, in establishing the constka-

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tion, to overthrow or abolish this system, although it certainly
was the object of the constitution to abolish bills of credit, and all
paper intended for circulation, issued upon the faith of the States
alone. Inasmuch as whatever then existed, of the nature of money
or currency, rested on State legislation; and as it was not possible
that uniformity, general credit, and general confidence could result
from local and separate acts of the States, there is evidence—I think
abundant evidence—that it was the intention of the framers of the
constitution to give to Congress a controlling power over the whole
subject, to the end that there should be, for the whole country, a
currency of uniform value. Congress has heretofore exercised this
authority, and fulfilled the corresponding duties. It has maintained,
for forty years out of forty-nine, a national institution, proceeding
torn its power, and responsible to the General Government With
intervals of derangement, brought about by war and other occurrences, this whole system, taken altogether,has been greatly successful in
its actual operation. We have found occasion to create no difference
between Government and people—between money for revenue, and
money for the general use of the country. Until the commencement
of the last session, Government had manifested no disposition to look
out for itself exclusively. What was good enough for the people, was
good enough for Government. No condescending and gracious preference had, before that period, ever been tendered to members of
Congress, over other persons having claims upon the public funds.
Such a singular spectacle had never been exhibited, as an arnicabie, disinterested, and patriotic understanding, between those who
are to vote taxes on the people, for the purpose of replenishing the
Treasury, and those who, from the Treasury, dispense the money
back again among those who have claims on it. In that respect I
think the Secretary stands alone. He is the first, so far as I know,
m our long list of able heads of Departments, who has thought it a
delicate and skilful touch, in financial administration, to be particularly kind and complaisant to the interest of the law-makers,—those
who hold the tax-laying power; the first whose great deference and
cordial regard for members of Congress have led him to provide, for
them, as the medium of payment and receipt, something more valuable than is provided, at the same time, for the army, the navy, the
judges, the revolutionary pensioners, and the various classes of laborers in the pay of Government.
Through our whole history, sir, we have found a convertible paper
currency, under proper control, highly useful, by its pliability to circumstances, and by its capacity of enlargement, in a reasonable degree, to meet the demands of a new and enterprising community.
As I have already said, sir, we owe a permanent debt of a hundred
millions abroad; and in the present abundance of money in England,
and the state of demand here, this amount will probably be increased.
But it must be evident to every one, that, so long as, by a safe use of
paper, we give some reasonable expansion to our own circulation,
4ft at least do no* unreasonably contract it, we do, to that extent,

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create or maintain an ability for loans among ourselves, and so far
diminish the amount of annual interest paid abroad.
But let me now, Mr. President, ask the attention of the Senate to*
another subject, upon which, indeed, much has already been said: I
mean that which is usually called the CREDIT SYSTEM.
Sir, what is that system ? Why is credit a word of so much solid
importance, and of so powerful charm, in the United States ? Why
is it that a shock has been felt through all classes and all interests,
the first moment that this credit has been disturbed ? Does its importance belong, equally, to all commercial States? Or are there
peculiarities in our condition, our habits, and modes of business,.
which make credit more indispensable, and mingle it more naturally, more intimately, with the life-blood of our system?
A full and philosophical answer to these inquiries, Mr. President,
would demand that I should set forth both the groundwork and the
structure of our social system. It would show that the wealth and
prosperity of the country have as broad a foundation as its popular
constitutions. Undoubtedly there are peculiarities in that system, resulting from the nature of our political institutions, from our elementary laws, and from the general character of the people. These
peculiarities most unquestionably give to credit, or to those means
and those arrangements, by whatever names we call them, which are
calculated to keep the whole, or by far the greater part, of the capital
of the country in a state of constant activity, a degree of importance
far exceeding what is experienced elsewhere.
In the old countries of Europe there is a clear and well-defined
line, between capital and labor: a line which strikes through society
with a horizontal sweep, leaving on one side wealth, in masses,
holden by few hands, and those having little participation in the laborious pursuits of life; on the other, the thronging multitudes of
labor, with here and there, only, an instance of such accumulation
of earnings as to deserve the name of capital. This distinction, indeed, is not universal and absolute in any of the commercial States of
Europe, and it grows less and less definite as commerce advances ?
the effect of commerce and manufactures, as all history shows, being,
every where, to diffuse wealth, and not to aid its accumulation in few
hands. But still the line is greatly more broad, marked, and visible in
, European nations, than in the United States. In those nations the gains
of capital, and wages, or the earnings of labor, are not only distinct in
idea, as elements of the science of political economy, but, to a great
degree, also, distinct in fact; and their respective claims, and merits,
and modes of relative adjustment, become subjects of discussion and
of public regulation. Now, sir, every body may see that that is a
state of things which does not exist with us. We have no such visible and broad distinction between capital and labor; and much of
the general happiness of all classes results from this. With us, labor
is every day augmenting its means by its own industry; not in all cases,
indeed, but in very many. Its savings of yesterday become its capital,
therefore, of to-day. On the other hand, vastly the greater portion of

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the property of the country exists in such small quantities that itsholderSscannot dispense altogether with their own personal industry;
or if, in some instances, capital be accumulated till it rises to what
may be called affluence, it is usually disintegrated and broken into
particles again, in one or two generations. The abolition of the
rights of primogeniture; the descent of property of every sort to
females as well as males; the cheap and easy means by which propierty is transferred and conveyed; the high price of labor; the low
price of land; the genius of our political institutions; in fine, every
thing belonging to us, counteracts large accumulation. This is our
actual system. Our politics, our constitutions, our elementary lawa>
our habits, all centre in this point, or tend to this result. From
where I now stand, to the extremity of the northeast, vastly the
greatest part of the property of the country is in the hands and
ownership of those whose personal industry is employed in some
form of productive labor. General competence, general education,enterprise, activity, and industry, such as never before pervaded
any society, are the characteristics which distinguish the people who
live, and move, and act in this state of things, such as I have described it.
Now, sir, if this view be true, as I think it is, all must perceive
that,
in the United States, capital cannot say to labor and industry,.
u
Stand ye yonder, while I come up hither;" but labor and industry
lay hold on capital, break it into parcels, use it, diffuse it widely,,
and, instead of leaving it to repose in its own inertness, compel it to.
act at once as their own stimulus and their own instrument.
But, sir, this is not all. There is another view still more immediately affecting the operation and use of credit. In every wealthy
community, however equally property may be divided, there will
always be some property-holders who live on its income. If this
property be land, they live on rent; if it be money, they live on its
interest. The amount of real estate held in this country on lease, is
comparatively very small, except in the cities. But there are individuals and families, trustees and guardians, and various literary and
charitable institutions, who have occasion to invest funds for the purpose of annual moneyed income. Where do they invest ? where can*
they invest ? The answer to these questions shows at once a mighty
difference between the state of things here, and that in England.
Here, these investments, to produce a moneyed income, are made in
banks, insurance companies, canal and railroad corporations, and
other similar institutions. Placed thus immediately in active hands,
this capital, it is evident, becomes at once the basis of business ; it
gives occupation, pays labor, excites enterprise, and performs, in
short, all the functions of employed money. But, in England, investments for such purposes usually take another direction. There is,
in England, a vast amount of public stocks, as eight or nine hundred
millions sterling of public debt actually exists, constituting, to the
amount of its annual interest, a charge on the active capital and
industry of the country. In the hands of individuals, portions of this

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debt are capital; that is, they produce income to the proprietors, and
income without labor; while in a national point of view, it is mere
debt. What was obtained for it, or that on account of which it was
contracted, has been spent in the long and arduous wars, which the
country has sustained, from the time of King William the Third, to
our own days. There are thousands of individuals, therefore, whose
fixed income arises, notfromthe active use of property, either in their
own hands, or the hands of others, but from the interest on that part of
this national charge to which they are entitled. If, therefore, we use
the term capital not in the sense of political economy exactly, but as
implying whatever returns income to individuals, we find an almost
incalculable mass so circumstanced as not to be the basis of active
operations.
To illustrate this idea further, sir, let us suppose that, by some occurrence, (such as is certainly never to be expected,) this debt should
be paid off; suppose its holders were to receive, to-morrow, their full
amounts; what would they do with them ? Why, sir, if they were obliged to loan the one-quarter part into the hands of the industrious classes, for the purposes of employment in active business ; and
if this operation could be accompanied by the same intelligence and
industry among the people which prevail with us, the result would do
more toward raising the character of the laboring classes, than all reforms in Parliament, and other general political operations. It would
be as if this debt had never been contracted ; as if the money had
never been spent, and now remained part of the active capital of the
country, employed in the business of life. But this debt, sir, has created an enormous amount of private property, upon the income of
Which its owners live, which does not require their own active labor
or that of others. We have no such debt; we have no such mode
of investment; and this circumstance gives quite a different aspect
And a different reality to our condition.
Now, Mr. President, what I understand by the credit system is,
that which thus connects labor and capital, by giving to labor the use
of capital. In other words, intelligence, good character, and good
morals bestow on those who have not capital, a power, a trust, a
confidence, which enables them to obtain it, and to employ it usefully for themselves and others. These active men of business build
their hopes of success on their attentiveness, their economy, and their
integrity. A wider theatre for useful activity is under their feet, and
around them, than was ever spread before the eyes of the young and
enterprising generations of men, on any other spot enlightened by the
sun. Before them is the ocean. Every thing in that direction invites
them to efforts of enterprise and industry in the pursuits of commerce
and thefisheries.Around them, on all hands, are thriving and prosperous manufactures; an improving agriculture, and the daily presentation of new objects of internal improvement: while behind them is almost half a continent of the richest land, at the cheapest prices, under
healthful climates, and washed by the most magnificent rivers that
on any part of the globe pay their homage to the sea. In the midst

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of all these glowing and glorious prospects, they are neither restrain
ed by ignorance, nor smitten down by the penury of personal circumstances. They are not compelled to contemplate, in hopelessness and
despair, all the advantages thus bestowed on their condition by Providence. Capital though they may have little or none, CREDIT supplies
its place ; not as the refuge of the prodigal and the reckless; not as
gratifying present wants with the certainty of future absolute ruin ;
but as the genius of honorable trust and confidence; as the blessing,
voluntarily offered to good character and to good conduct; as the
beneficent agent, which assists honesty and enterprise in obtaining
comfort and independence.
Mr. President, take away this credit, and what remains ? I do not ask
what remains to the few, but to the many? Take away this system of
credit, and then tell me what is left for labor and industry, but mere manual toil and daily drudgery ? If we adopt a system that withdraws capitalfromactive employment, do we not diminish the rates of wages ?
If we curtail the general business of society, does not every laboring
man find his condition grow daily worse ? In the politics of the day,
sir, we hear much said about divorces; and when we abolish credit,
we shall divorce labor from capital; and, depend on it, sir, when we
divorce labor from capital, capital is hoarded, and labor starves.
The declaration, so often quoted, that "all who trade on borrowed
capital ought to break," is the most aristocratic sentiment ever uttered
in this country. It is a sentiment which, if carried out by political arrangement, would condemn the great majority of mankind to the perpetual condition of mere day-laborers. It goes to take away from them
all that solace and hope which arises from possessing something which
they can call their own. A man loves his own; it is fit and natural
that he should do so; and he will love his country and its institutions,
if he have some stake in it, although it be but a very small part of the
general mass of property. If it be but a cottage, an acre, a garden,
its possession raises him, gives him self-respect, and strengthens his
attachment to his country. It is our happy condition, by the blessings
of Providence, that almost every man of sound health, industrious
habits, and good morals, can ordinarily attain, at least, to this degree
of comfort and respectability; and it is a result devoutly to be wished,
both for its individual and its general consequences.
But even to this degree of acquisition, that credit, of which I have
already said so much, (as its general effect is to raise the price of
wages, and render industry productive,) is highly important. There
is no condition so low, if it be attended with industry and economy,
which this credit does not benefit, as any one will find, if he will
examine and follow out its operations.
Such, Mr. President, being the credit system in the United States,
as I understand it, I now add, that the banks have been the agents
and their circulation the instrument, by which the general operations
of this credit have been conducted. Much of the capital of the country, placed at interest, is vested in bank stock, and those who borrow,
borrow at the banks: and discounts of bills, and anticipation of pay-

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ments, in all its forms, the regular and appropriate duty of banks,
prevail .universally.
In the North, the banks have enabled the manufacturers of all
classes to realize the proceeds of their industry at an early moment.
The course has been, that the producers of commodities for Southern
consumption, having despatched their products, draw their bills. These
bills are discounted at the banks, and with the proceeds other raw
material is bought, and other labor paid; and thus the general business is continued in progress. All this is well known to those who
have ha4 opportunity to be acquainted with such concerns.
But bank credit has not been more necessary to the North than to
the South. Indeed, nowhere has interest been higher, or the demand
for capital greater, or the full benefit of credit more indispensable, than
in the new cotton and sugar-growing States. I ask gentlemen from
those States if this be not so ? Have not the plantations been bought,
and the necessary labor procured, to a great extent, on credit ? Has
not this credit been obtained at the banks ? Even now do they not
find credits, or advances on their crops, important in enabling them
to get those crops to market ? Aud if there had been no credit—
if a hard-money system had prevailed, let me ask them what
would have been, at this moment, the condition of things in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas? These States, sir,
with Tennessee and the South Atlantic States, constitute the great
plantation interest. That there has been a vast demand for capital
to be invested in this interest, is sufficiently proved, by the high price
paid for the use of mqney.
In my opinion, sir, credit is as essential to the great export of the
South, as to any other interest. The agriculture of the cotton and
sugar-producing States partakes, in no inconsiderable degree, of the
nature of commerce. The product and sale of one great staple only,
is an operation essentially different from ordiuary farming pursuits. The exports of the South, indeed, may be considered as the ^
aggregate result of various forms and modes of industry, carried
on by various hands, and in various places, rather than as the
mere product of the plantation. That product itself is local;.
but its indispensable aids and means are drawn from every part of the
Union. What is it, sir, that enables Southern labor to apply itself so*
exclusively to the cultivation of these great articles for export ?
Certainly, it is so applied, because its own necessities for provision and
clothing are supplied, meanwhile, from other quarters. The South
raises to sell, and not to consume ; and with the proceeds of the sales
it supplies itself with whatever its own consumption demands.
There are exceptions; but this is the general truth. The hat-makers,
shoe-makers, furniture-makers, and carriage-makers of the North, the
spinners at Lowell, and the weavers at Philadelphia, are all contributors to the general product both of cotton and sugar, for export abroad;
as are the live-stock raisers of Kentucky, the grain-growing farmers,
and all who produce and vend provisions, in Indiana, Ohio and Illinois.
The Northern ship-owner and the mariner, who carry these products to*

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market, are agents acting to the same end; and so are they too who, little thinking of cotton-fields, or sugar estates, are pursuing their adventurous employment in the whalefisheries,over the whole surface,
and among all the islands, of the Pacific and the Indian oceans. If wetake the annual cotton crop at sixty millions of dollars, we may, perhaps, find that the amount of forty-five millions is expended, either
for interest on capital advanced, or for the expense of clothing and
supporting labor, or in the charges which belong to the household,.
the education of families, and to the domestic expenditure of the proprietor.
Thus, sir, all the laborious classes, are, in truth, cotton-growers and
sugar-makers. Each, in its own way, and to the extent of its own
productiveness, contributes to swell the magnitude of that enormous
export, which was nothing at the commencement of this Government, and which now has run up to so many millions. Through all
these operations the stream of credit has constantlyflowed,and there
is not one of them that will not be checked and interrupted, embarrassed and thwarted, if this stream be now dried up. This connexion of the various interests of the country with one another forms
an important and interesting topic. It is one of the natural ties of the
Union. The variety of production, and mutual wants mutually supplied, constitute a strong bond between different States; and long
may that bond last, growing with their growth, and strengthening
with their strength!
But, Mr. President, that portion of our productions which takes
the form of export, becomes distinct and visible; it is prominent and
striking, and is seen and wondered at, by everybody. The annual
returns all show it, and every day's commercial intelligence speaks
of it We gaze at it with admiration, and the world is no less admiring than ourselves.
With other branches of industry the case is quite different. Theproducts of these branches, being put in the train of domestic exchanges, and consumed in the country, do not get into statistical
tables, are not collected in masses, and are seldom presented, in the
aggregate, to the public view. They are not of the character of a
few large and mighty rivers, but of a thousand little streams, meandering through all the fields of business and of life, and refreshing
and fertilizing the whole.
Few of us, Mr. President, are aware of what would be the amount
of the general production of the country, if it could be accurately
ascertained. The Legislature of Massachusetts, under the recommendation of the intelligent Chief Magistrate of that State, has
caused to be prepared and published a report on the condition and
products of certain branches of its industry, for the year ending in
April, 1837. The returns of the authorities of each city and town
were made, apparently, with much care; and the whole has been
collated by the Secretary of State, and the result distinctly presented
in well-arranged statistical tables. From a summary of the statements in these tables, I will take the liberty of selecting a few arti-

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cles, and of adverting to them here, as instances, or specimens, of the
annual product of labor and industry in that State.
And to begin with a very necessary and important article: I find,
that of boots and shoes, the value of the whole amount manufactured within the year exceeds fourteen millions and a half of dollars. If
the amount of other articles of the same class, or material, be added,
viz: leather, saddles, trunks, harness, &c, the total will be not far
from eighteen millions and a half of dollars.
I will read the names of some other articles, and state the amount
of annual product belonging to each :
Cotton fabrics
- ' - $17,409,000
Woollen fabrics 10,399,000
Fisheries 7,592,000
Books and stationary, and paper ••
2,592,000
Soap and candles 1,620,000
Nails, brads, and tacks
2,500,000
Machinery of various kinds
1,235,000
Agricultural implements 645,000
Glass
831,000
Hats
700,000
Clothing, neckcloths, &c. 2,013,000
Wool
539,000
These, sir, are samples. The grand total is ninety-one million
seven hundred thousand dollars. From this, however, deductions
are to be made for the cost of the raw material When imported, and
for certain articles enumerated under different heads. But, then, the
whole statement is confined to some branches of industry only; and
to present an entire and comprehensive view, there should be added
the gains of commerce within the year, the earnings of navigation,
and almost the whole agricultural product of the State.
The result of all, if it could be collated and exhibited together,
would show that the annual product of Massachusetts capital and
Massachusetts industry exceeds one hundred millions of dollars.
Now, sir, Massachusetts is a small State, in extent of territory. You
may mark out her dimensions seven or eight times on the map of Virginia* Yet her population is seven hundred thousand souls; and the
annual result of their laborious industry, economy, and labor, is as
I have stated.
Mr. President, in looking over this result, it is most gratifying to
find, that its great mass consists in articles equally essential and useful
to all classes. They are not luxuries, but necessaries and comforts.
They belong to food and clothing, to household conveniences, and
education. As they are more and more multiplied, the great majority
of society becomes more elevated, better instructed, and happier in
all respects. I have looked through this whole list, sir, to find what
there is in it that might be fairly classed among the higher luxuries
of life; and what do I find ? In the whole hundred millions, I find but
one such item; and that is an item of two or three hundred thousand

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dollars for u jewelry, silver, and silver-plate." This is all that belongs
to luxury, in her annual product, of a hundred millions ; and of
this, no doubt, the far greater portion was sent abroad. And yet we
hear daily, sir, of the amassing of aristocratic wealth, by the progress
of manufactures, and the operations of the credit system! Aristocracy, it is,said, is stealing upon us, and, in the form of aggregate wealth,
is watching to seize political power from the hands of the people! We
have been more than once gravely admonished that, in order to improve the times, and restore a metallic currency for the benefit of the
poor, the rich ought to melt down their plate! Whatever such a
melting process might find to act upon elsewhere, Mr. President, I
assure you that in Massachusetts it would discover little. A few
spoons, candlesticks, and other similar articles, some old family
pitchers and tankards, and the silver porringers of our nurseries
would be about the whole.
Sir, if there be any aristocrats in Massachusetts, the people are all
aristocrats; because I do not believe there is on earth, in a highly
civilized society, a greater equality in the condition of men, than exists
there. If there be a man in the State who maintains what is called
an equipage, or drives four horses in his coach, I am not acquainted
with him. On the other hand, there are few who are not able to
carry their wives and daughters to church in some decent conveyance.
It is no matter of regret or sorrow to us that few are very rich: but
it is our pride and glory that few are very poor. It is our still higher
pride, and our just boast, as I think, that all her citizens possess
means of intelligence and education; and that,, of all her productions /
she reckons, among the very chiefest, those which spring from the
culture of the mind and the heart.
Mr. President, one of the most striking characteristics of this age
is the extraordinary progress which it has witnessed in popular
knowledge. A new and powerful impulse has been acting in the
social system of late, producing this effect in a striking degree.
In morals, in politics, in art, in literature, there is a vast accession
to the number of readers, and to the number of proficients. The
present state of popular knowledge is not the result of a slow and
uniform progress, proceeding through a lapse of years, with the same
regular degree of motion. It is evidently the result of some new
causes, brought into powerful action, and producing their consequences rapidly and strikingly. What, sir, are these causes ?
This is not an occasion, sir, for discussing such a question at length:
allow me to say, however, that the improved state of popular knowll
edge is but the necessary result of the improved condition of the great
mass of the people. Knowledge is not one of our merely physical
wants. Life may be sustained without it. But, in order to live
men must be fed, and cbthed, and sheltered; and in a state of
things in which one's whole labor can do no more than procure clothes
food,;and shelter, he can have no time nor means for mental improvement Knowledge, therefore, is not attained, and cannot be attained
till there is some degree of respite from daily manual toil, and never-

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ending drudgery. But whenever a less degree of labor will produce
the absolute necessaries of life, then there come leisure and means,
both to teach and to learn.
But if this great and wonderful extension of popular knowledge
be the result of an improved condition, it may, in the next place,
well be asked, what are the causes which have thus suddenly produced that great improvement ? How is it that the means of food,
clothing, and shelter, are now so much more cheaply and abundantly
procured than formerly ? Sir, the main cause I take to be the progress of scientific art, or a new extent of the application of science
to art. This it is, which has so much distinguished the last half century in Europe and in America; and its effects are everywhere visible,
and especially among us. Man has found new allies and auxiliaries,
in the powers of nature, and in the inventions of mechanism.
The general doctrine of political economy is, that wealth consists
in whatever is useful or convenient to man, and that labor is the
producing cause of all this wealth. This is very true. But, then,
what is labor ? In the sense of political writers, and in common
language, it means human industry ; but, in a philosophical view, it
may receive a much more comprehensive meaning. It is not, in that
view, human toil only—the mere action of thews and muscles; but it is
any active agency which, working upon the materials with which the
world is supplied, brings forth products useful or convenient to man.
The materials of wealth are in the earth, in the seas, and in their
natural and unaided productions. Labor obtains them, works upon
them, and fashions them to human use. Now, it has been the object
of scientific art, or of the application of science to art, to increase
this active agency, to augment its power, by creating millions of laborers in the form of automatic machines, all to be diligently employed, and kept at work by the force of natural powers. To this
end these natural powers, principally those of steam and falling water,
are subsidized and taken into human employment. Spinning machines, power-looms, and all the mechanical devices, acting, among
other operatives, in the factories and work-shops, are but so many
laborers. They are usually denominated labor-sawn^ machines, but
it would be more just to call them labor-doing machines. They are
made to be active agents; to have motion, and to produce effect; and
though without intelligence, they are guided by those laws of science,
which are exact and perfect, and they produce results, therefore, in
general, more accurate than the human hand is capable of producing.
When we look upon one of these, we behold a mute fellow-laborer,
of immense power, of mathematical exactness, and of ever-during
and unwearied effort. And while he is thus a most skilful and productive laborer, he is a non-consumer—at least, beyond the wants of
his mechanical being. He is not clamorous for food, raiment, or shelter, and makes no demands for the expenses of education. The
eating and drinking, the reading and writing and clothes-wearing world,
are benefited by the labors of these co-operatives, in the same way as
if Providence had provided for their service millions of beings, like

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ourselves in external appearance, able to labor and to toil, and yet
requiring little or nothing for their own consumption or subsistence ;
or rather, as if Providence had created a race of giants, each of whom,
demanding no more for his support and consumption than a common
laborer, should yet be able to perform the work of a hundred.
Now, sir, turn back to the Massachusetts tables of production, and
you will see that it is these automatic allies and co-operators, and
these powers of nature, thus employed and placed under human direction, which have come, with such prodigious effect, to man's aid,
in the great business of procuring the means of living, of comfort, and
of wealth,and which have so swollen the products of her skilful industry. Look at these tables once more, sir, and you will see the effects
of labor, united with and acting upon capital. Look yet again, and
you will see that credit, mutual trust, prompt and punctual dealings, and .commercial confidence, are all mixed up as indispensable
elements' in the general system.
I will ask you to look yet once more, sir, and you will perceive
that general competence, great equality in human condition, a degree
of popular knowledge and intelligence, nowhere surpassed, if anywhere equalled, and the prevalence of good moral sentiment, and extraordinary general prosperity, is the result of the whole. Sir, I
have done with Massachusetts. I do not praise the old "Bay State*'
of the Revolution ; I only present her as she is.
Mr. President, such is the state of things actually existing in the
country, and of which I have now given you a sample. And yet
there are persons who constantly clamor against this state of things.
They call it aristocracy. They beseech the poor to make war upon the
rich, while, in truth, they know not who are either rich or poor.
They complain of oppression, speculation, and the pernicious influence of accumulated wealth. They cry out loudly against all banks
and corporations, and all the means by which small capitals become
united, in order to produce important and beneficial results. They
cany on a mad hostility against all established institutions. They
would choke up the fountains of industry, and dry all its streams.
In a country of unbounded liberty, they clamor against oppression.
In a coimtry of perfect equality, they would move heaven and earth
against privilege and monopoly. In a country where property is
more equally divided than anywhere else, they rend the air with
the shouting of agrarian doctrines. In a country where the wages of
labor are high beyond all parallel, and where lands are cheap, and
the means of living low, they would teach the laborer that he is but
an oppressed slave. Sir, what can such men want ? What do they
mean ? They can want nothing, sir, but to enjoy the fruits of other
men's labor. They can mean nothing, but disturbance and disorder:
the diffusion of corrupt principles, and the destruction of the moral sentiments and moral habits of society. A licentiousness of feeling and
of action is sometimes produced by prosperity itself. Men cannot
always resist the temptation to which they are exposed by the very
abundance of the bounties of Providence and the very happiness of

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their own condition ; as the steed, full of the pasture, will, sometimes,
throw himself against its enclosures, break away from its confinement,
and, feeling now free from needless restraint, betake himself to the
moors and barrens, where want, ere long, brings him to his senses,
and starvation and death close his career.
Having said so much, sir, on the general condition of the country,
and explained what I understand by credit, I proceed to consider the
present actual state of the currency.
The most recent Treasury estimate,, which I have seen, supposes
that there are eighty millions of metallic money now in the country.
This I believe,however, to be a good deal too high; I cannot believe
it exceeds sixty, at most; and supposing one-half this sum to be in,
the banks, thirty millions are in circulation, or in private hands.,
We have seven hundred banks and branches, with capitals assigned
for the security of their notes and bills, amounting to two hundred
and eighty millions. The amount of bank notes in actual circulation
is supposed to be one hundred millions; so that our whole circulation is about one hundred and thirty millions. The amount of debts
due to the banks, or the amount of their loans and discounts, may be
taken at four hundred andfiftymillions.
Now, sir, this very short statement exhibits at once a general outline of our existing system of currency and credit. We see a great
amount of money or property in banks, as their assigned and appropriate capital, and we see a great amount due to these banks. These
bank debtors generally belong to the classes of active business, or are
such as have taken up credits for purposes of investment in lands or
merchandise, looking to future proceeds as the means of repayment.
If we compare this state of circulation, of bank capital and bank
debt, with the same things in England, important differences will not
fail to strike us.
The whole paper circulation of England, by the latest accounts, is
twenty-eight millions sterling—made up of eighteen millions of Bank
of England notes, and ten millions of the notes of private bankers
and joint-stock companies; bullion in the bank, nine and a half millions; debts due the Bank of England, twenty-two and a half millions.
The amount of loans and discounts by private bankers and joint-stock
companies is not usually stated, I'believe, in the public accounts. If
it bear the same proportion to their notes in circulation, as in the
case of the Bank of England, it would exceed twelve millions. We
may, therefore, take the amount of bank debts in England to be thirtyfive millions. But I suppose that, of the securities held by the Bank
of England, exchequer notes constitute a large part; in other words,
that a large part of the bank debt is due by Government. The amount
of coin in actual circulation is estimated to be thirty and a half millions. The whole amount of circulation in England, metallic amj
paper, is usually stated, in round numbers, at sixty millions; which.
rating the pound sterling at $4 80, is equal to two hundred ana
eighty-eight millions of dollars.
It will be seen, sir, that our paper circulation is one-half less than that

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of England, but our bank debt is, nevertheless, much greater; since
thirty-five millions sterling amount to only one hundred and sixtyeight millions of dollars; and this sum, too, includes the amount of exchequer bills, or Government debt in the form of such bills, which the
bank holds. These facts are very material to any just compai'ison of
the state of things in the two countries. The whole,or nearly the whole
capital of the Bank of England, is lent to Government, not by means of
exchequer notes, but on a permanent loan. And as to the private banks
and joint-stock companies, though they issue bills for circulation, they
have no assigned or appropriated capital whatever. The bills circulate
on the private credit of the individual banker, or of those who compose
the joint-stock companies. In the United States, an amount of capital, supposed to be sufficient to sustain the credit of the paper and
secure the public against loss, is provided by law, in the act of incorporation foreach bank, and is assigned as a trust-fund for the payment of
the liabilities of the bank. And if this capital be fairly and substantially advanced, it is a proper security; and, in most cases, no doubt
it is substantially advanced. The directors are trustees of thi3 fund,
and they are liable, both civilly and criminally, for mismanagement,
embezzlement, or breach of trust.
This amount of capital, thus secured, is the basis of loans and
discounts *, and this is the reason why permanent, or at least long
loans are not considered so inappropriate to banking operations, with
us, as they are in England. With us, it is evident that the directors
are agents, holding a fund intended to be loaned, and acting between
lender and borrower; and this form of loan has been found exceedingly convenient and useful in the country.
In some States, it is greatly preferred to mortgages, though there
are others in which mortgages are usual. Whether exactly conformable to the true notion of banking, or not, the truth is, that the
object and operation of our banks is to loan money; and this is
mostly on personal security. The system, no doubt, is liable to abuse,
in particular instances. There may be directors who will loan too
freely to themselves and their friends. Gross cases of this kind have
recently been detected and exposed, and, I hope, will be suitably
treated ; but, considering the great number of banks, these instances, I think, are remarkably few. In general, the banks have
been well conducted, and are believed to be solvent and safe.
We have heard much, sir, in the course of this debate, of excess in
the issue of bank notes for circulation. I have no doubt, sir, that
there was a very improper expansion some years ago. When President
Jackson, in 1832, had negatived the bill for continuing the Bank of
the United States, (which act I esteem as the true original source of all
the disorders of the currency,) a vast addition was immediately made to
the number of State banks. In 1S33, the public deposites were actually removed from the Bank of the United S(ates. and placed in selected State banks. And, for the purpose of showing how much better the public would be accommodated without, than with, a Bank
of the United States, these banks were not only eucouraged, but
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admonished, to be free and liberal in loans and discounts, made on
the strength of the public moneys, to merchants and other individuals. The circular letter from the Treasury Department, addressed to>
the new deposite banks, under date of 26th September, 1833, has this
significant elause, which could not have been misunderstood:
* The deposites of public money will enable you to afford increased facilities to commerce, and to extend your accommodation to individuals ; and as the duties which are payable to the Government
arise from the business and enterprise of the merchants engaged in
foreign trade, it is but reasonable that they should be preferred in the
additional accommodation which the public deposites will enable
your institution to give, whenever it can be done without injustice to
the claims of other classes of the community."
Having read this letter, sir, I ask leave to refer the Senate to the
20th section of the bill now before us. There we find that, " if any
officer, charged with the safe-keeping of the public money, shall loan
the same, or any portion thereof, with or without interest, such
act shall be deemed an embezzlement and a high misdemeanor, and
the party convicted thereof shall be sentenced to imprisonment." Sir,
what a pretty piece of consistency is here I In 1833 the depositories
of the public money were not even left to their own desire for gain,
or their wishes to accommodate others, as being sufficient incentivesto lend it out: they were admonished and directed to afford increased
facilities to commerce, and to extend their accommodation to individuals, since the public moneys in their vaults would enable them to give
such additional accommodation ! Now, sir, under this bill, any officer who shall do any one of the same things, instead of being praised,
is to be punished : he is to be adjudged guilty of embezzlement and
of a high misdemeanor, and is to be confined, for aught I know, in
cells as dark and dismal as the vaults and safes which are to contain
our metallic currency. But although I think, sir, that the acts of
Government created this expansion, yet I am certainly of opinion
that there was a very undue expansion created. A contraction, however, had begun ; and I am of opinion, that had it not been for the
specie order of July, 1836, and for the manner in which the deposite
law was executed, the banks would have gone through the crisis
without suspension. This is my full andfirmbelief. I cannot, however, discuss these points here. They were treated with very great
ability, last year, by a gentleman who then occupied one of the seats
of Georgia on this floor. Whomsoever he did not satisfy, I cannot
convince. Still, sir, the question is, whether there was an excess in
the general amount of our circulation, in May last, or whether there be
now such excess.
By what standard is this to be judged? If the question be,
whether there be too much paper in circulation, it may be answered, by reference to the amount of coin in the banks from
which the paper issues; because I am unquestionably of opinion—
an opinion which I believe nothing can ever shake—that the true criterion by which to decide the question of excess, in a convertible

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jJajier dirrerifcy, is the amount of that paper, compared with the gold
and silver in the banks. Such excess would not be proved, absolutely
and certainly, in every case, by the mere fact of the suspension of specie
payments; because such an event might be produced by panic, or other
sudden cause, having power to disturb the best regulated system of
paper circulation. But the immediate question now is, whether, taking
the whole circulation together, both metallic and paper, there was an
excess existing in May, or is an excess now existing ? Is one hundred
and thirty millions an excessive or undue amount of circulation for the
'United States? Seeing that one part of this circulation is coin,
and the other part paper, resting upon coin, and intended to be
convertible, is the whole mass more than may be fairly judged necessary to represent the property, the transactions, and the business
of the country ? Or, in order to sustain such an amount of circulalation, ana* to keep that part of it which is composed of paper in a
safe state, should we be obliged to attempt to draw to ourselves more
than our just proportion of that metallic money, which is in the use of
ajS the commercial nations ? These questions appear to me to be but
different modes of stating the same inquiry.
Upon this subject we may, perhaps, form some general idea, by
comparing ourselves with others. Various things, no doubt, exist,
in different places and countries, to modify, either by enlarging or
diminishing, the demand for money or currency in the transactions
of business; still the amount of trade and commerce may furnish a
general element of comparison between different states or nations.
The aggregate of American imports and exports in 1836 was three
hundred and eighteen millions; that of England, reckoning the pound
sterling at $4 SO, again, was four hundred and eighty millions, as near
as I can ascertain; the currency of England being, as already stated,
sixty millions sterling, or two hundred and eighty-eight millions of
dollars. If we work out a result from these proportions, the currency of the United States, it will be found, should be one hundred and
ninety millions, in order to be equal to that of England ; but, according to the estimates of the Treasury, it did not, even in that
"year, exceed one hundred and eighty millions.
* Our population is about equal to that of England and W*les. The
amount of our mercantile tonnage, perhaps, one-fifth less. But then
we are to consider that our country is vastly wider; and our facilities of internal exchange, by means of bills of exchange, greatly less.
Indeed, there are branches of our intercourse, in which remittances
cannot be well made, except in currency. Take one example : The
agricultural products of Kentucky are sold to the South; her purchases of commodities made at the North. There can be, therefore,
Trery little of direct exchange between her and the places of purchase
and sale. The trade goes round in a circle. Therefore, while the
Batik of the United States existed, payments were made to a vast
amount in the North and East by citizens of Kentucky, and of the
States similarly situated, not in bills of exchange, but in the notes of
the Bank.

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These considerations augment the demand for currency. More than
all, the country is new, sir; almost the entire amount of our capital
active; and the whole amount of property, in the aggregate, rapidly
increasing. In the last three years thirty-seven millions of acres
of land have been, separated from the wilderness, purchased, paid
for, and become subject to private individual ownership, to transfer and sale, and all other dispositions to which other real estate
is subject. It has thus become property, to be bought and sold for
money; whereas, while in the hands of Government, it called for no
expenditure, formed the basis of no transactions, and created no demand for currency. Within that short period our people have bought
from Government a territory as large as the whole of England and
Wales, and, taken together, far more fertile by nature. Tlus seems
incredible, yet the returns show it. Suppose all this to have been
bought at the minimum price of a dollar and a quarter per acre; and
suppose the value to be increased in the common ratio in which we
know the value of land is increased, by such purchase, and by the
preliminary steps and beginnings of cultivation ; an immense augmentation, it will readily be perceived, is made, even in so short a
time, of the aggregate of property, in nominal price, and, to a great
extent, in real value also.
On the whole, sir, I confess I know no standard by which I can
decide that our circulation is at present in excess. I do not believe
it is so. Nor was there, as I think, any depreciation in the value of
money, up to the moment of the suspension of specie payments by
the banks, comparing our currency with the currency of other nations.
An American paper dollar would buy a silver dollar in England, deducting only the charge of transporting a dollar across the ocean, because it commanded a silver dollar here. There may be excess, however, I admit, where there is no present depreciation, in the sense in
which I now use the term.
It is hardly necessary to dwell, Mr. President, on the evils of a suddenly depreciated circulation. It arrests business, puts an end to it,
and overwhelms all debtors, by depression and downfall of prices.
And even if we reduce circulation—not suddenly, but still reduce it farther tharv is necessary to keep it within just and reasonable limits—we
produce many mischiefs; we augment the necessity of foreign loans;
we contract business, discourage enterprise, slacken the activity of
capital, and restrain the commercial spirit of the country. It is very
important to be remembered, sir, that, in our intercourse with other
nations, we are acting on a principle of equality; that is to say, we do
not protect our own shipping interest by peculiar privileges; we ask a
clearfield,and seen: no iavor. Yet, the materials for ship-building are
high with us, and the wages of ship-builders and seamen are high also.
We have to contend against these unfavorable circumstances; and
if, in addition to these, we are to suffer further by unnecessary restraints on currency, and by a cramped credit, who can tell what may
be the effect ? Money is abundant in England, very abundant; the

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rate of interest, therefore, is low, and capital will be seeking its investment wherever it can hope tofindit. If we derange our own
currency, compulsively curtail circulation, and break up credit, how
are the commerce and navigation of the United States to maintain
themselves against foreign competition ?
Before leaving, altogether, this subject of an excessive circulation,
Mr. President, I will say a few words upon a topic which, if time
would permit, I should be glad to consider at more length; I mean,
sir, the proper guards and securities for a paper circulation. I have
occasionally addressed the Senate on this subject before, especially
in the debate on the specie circular, in December, 1836 ; but I wish
to recur to it again, because I hold it to be of the utmost importance
to prove, if it can be proved, to the satisfaction of the country, that
a convertible paper currency may be so guarded as to be secure
against probable dangers. I say, sir, a convertible paper currency:
for I lay it down as an unquestionable truth, that no paper can be
made equal, and kept equal to gold and silver, but such as is convertible into gold and silver, on demand. But, I have gone farther,
and still go farther than this; and I contend that even convertibility,
though itself indispensable, is not a certain and unfailing ground of
reliance. There is a liability to excessive issues of paper, even while
paper is convertible at will. Of this, there can be no doubt. Where,
then, shall a regulator be found ? What principle of prevention may
we rely on ?
Now I think, sir, it is too common with banks, in judging of their
condition, to set eff all their liabilities against all their resources. They
look to the quantity of specie in their vaults, and to the notes and bills
becoming payable, as means or assets; and, with these, they expect
to be able to meet their returning notes, and to answer the claims of
depositors. So far as the bank is to be regarded as a mere bank of
discount, all this is very well. But banks of circulation exercise another
function. By the very act of issuing their own paper, they affect the
amount of currency. In England, the Bank of England, and in the
United States, all the banks, expand or contract the amount of circulation, of course, as they increase or curtail the general amount of
their own paper. And this renders it necessary that they should be
regulated and controlled. The question is, by what rule ? To this
I answer, by subjecting all banks to the rule which the most discreet of them always follow—by compelling them to maintain a certain fixed proportion between specie and circulation; without regarding deposites on one hand, or notes payable on the other.
There will always occur occasional fluctuations in trade, and a
demand for specie, by one country on another, will arise. It is too
much the practice, when such occurrences take place, and specie is
leaving the country, for banks to issue more paper, in order to prevent a scarcity of money. But exactly the opposite course should be
adopted, A demand for specie to go abroad should be regarded as conclusive evidence of the necessity of contracting circulation. If, indeed,

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in such cases, it could be certainly known that the demand would be of
short duration, the temporary pressure might be relieved by an issue
of paper to fill the place of departing specie. But this never can be
known. There is no safety, therefore, but in meeting the case at the
moment, and in conforming to the infallible index of the exchanges.
Circulating paper is thus kept always nearer to the character, and to
the circumstances of that, of which it is designed to be the representative—the metallic money. This subject might be pursued, I think,
and clearly illustrated; but, for the present, I only express my belief
that, with experience before us, and with the lights which recent discussions, both in Europe and America, hold out, a national bank might
be established, with more regard to its function of regulating currency, than to its function of discount, on principles, and subject to
regulations, such as should render its operations extremely useful;
and I should hope that, with an example before them of plain and
eminent advantage, State institutions would conform to the same
rules and principles; and that, in this way, all the advantages of convertible paper might be enjoyed, with just security against its dangers.
I have detained the Senate too long, sir, with these observations upon
the state of the country, and its pecuniary system and condition.
And now, when the banks have suspended payments, universally;
when the internal exchanges are all deranged, and the business of
the country most seriously interrupted, the questions are—
Whether the measure before us is suitable to our condition ? and
Whether it is a just and proper exercise and fulfilment of the
powers and duties of Congress ?
What, then, sir, will be the practical operation and effect of this
measure, if it should become a law ?
Like its predecessor of the last session, the bill proposes nothing for
the general currency of the country ; nothing to restore exchanges;
nothing to bring about a speedy resumption' of specie payments by
the banks. Its whole professed object is the collection and disbursement of the public revenue. Some of its friends, indeed, say, that
when it shall go into operation, it will, incidentally, produce a favorable effect on the currency, by restraining the issue of bank paper.
But others press it as if its effect was to be the final overthrow of all
banks, and the introduction of an exclusive metallic currency for all
the uses of the country.
Are we to understand, then, that it is intended, by means, of which
this is thefirst,to rid the country of all banks, as being but so many
nuisances, and to abolish all paper currency whatever ?
Or is it expected, on the contrary, that after this system shall be
adopted for the use of Government, there will still be a paper currency in the country for the use of the people ?
And if there shall still be a paper currency, will that currency
consist of irredeemable Government paper, or of convertible bank
notes, such as have circulated heretofore ? These questions must

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be answered, before we can judge accurately of the operation of this
bill.
As to an exclusive metallic currency, sir, the Administration on
this point is regularly Janus-faced. Out doors, and among the people, it shows itself "all clinquant, all in gold." There, every
thing is to be hard money—no paper rags—no delusive credits—no
bank monopolies—no trust in paper of any kind. But in the
Treasury Department, and in the Houses of Congress, we see
another aspect—a mixed appearance, partly gold and partly paper;
gold for Government, and paper for the people. The small voice
which is heard here, allows the absolute necessity of paper of some
sort, and to some extent But the shouts in the community demand
the destruction of all banks, and the final extermination of all paper
circulation.
To the people, the lion roars against paper money in all the loudness and terror of his natural voice; but to members of Congress,
he is more discreet; lest he should frighten them out of their wits,
he here restrains and modulates, and roars " as gently as any sucking
dove, or, as it were, any nightingale." The impracticability of an
exclusive metallic currency, the absurdity of attempting any such
thing in a country like this, are so manifest, that nobody here under. takes to support it by any reasoning or argument. All that is said in
its favor, is general denunciation of paper, general outcry against the
banks, and declamation against existing institutions, full of sound
and fury, signifying nothing.
The moment any one considers it, he sees how ridiculous any such
attempt would be. An exclusive metallic circulation for the second
commercial country on earth, in the nineteenth century! Sir, you
might as well propose to abolish commerce altogether.
The currency of England is estimated at sixty millions sterling :
and it is Mr. McCulloch's calculation, that if this currency were
all gold, allowing only one quarter of one per cent, for wear
of metals, the annual expense, attending such a currency, would
be three millions and a quarter a year, or nearly five per cent, upon
the whole. With us, this charge would be much greater. The loss
of capital would be more, owing to the higher rates of interest; and
besides all this, is the cost of transportation, which, in a country so
extensive as ours, would be vast, and not easily calculated. We should
also require, proportionally, more specie than is requisite in England,
because our system of exchange, by means of bills of exchange, is,
at present, and would be, under such a system as is proposed, much
less perfect and convenient than that of England. Besides, the English
metallic circulation is mostly gold, gold being in England the standard
metal. With us, silver and gold both are made standards, at a fixed
relation; and if we should succeed to keep this relation so true as to
preserve both of the precious metals among us, (which, indeed, is not
very probable,) our circulation would be still more expensive and cumbrous, from the quantity of silver which it would contain. The silver
in the world is estimated to befiftytimes that of gold in amount, and
consequently something more than three times in value. If both

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should circulate, therefore, equally, in proportion to value, the currency would be three parts silver, and one gold.
Now, sir, the annual expense of such a circulation, upon the basis*
of Mr. McCulloch's estimate, would exceed the whole annual expenditure made for our army and our navy. Consider, sir, the amount
of actual daily payments made in the country. It is difficult to estimate it, and quite impossible to ascertain it, with any accuracy.
But we can form some notion of it, by the daily amount of payments in the banks in some of the cities. In times of prosperous
business and commerce, the daily amount of payments in the banks*
of New York alone has been equal to eight millions. Whether
we call this a tenth, a twentieth, or a fiftieth part of all payments
and receipts made daily in the country, we see to what an aggregate
result the whole would rise. And how is it possible that such
amount of receipt and payment could be performed by an actual
passing of gold and silver from hand to hand ?
Such notions, sir, hardly require serious refutation.
Mr. President, an entire metallic currency would necessarily create banks immediately. Where would the money be kept, or how
could it be remitted ? Banks of deposite must and would be instantly
provided for it. Would the merchants of the cities be seen, in their
daily walks of business, with servants behind them, with bags of
gold and kegs of silver on their wheel-barrows ? What folly is
great enough to imagine this ? If there were not now a bank-note, nor
a bank in the country, and if there should be an exclusive specie
currency to-morrow morning at nine o'clock, there would be fifty
banks before sunset. From necessity, there would be created at once
places of deposite; and persons having money in such depositories
would draw checks for it, and pass these checks as money, and from
one hand they would pass to another; or the depositary himself
would issue certificates of deposite, and these would pass as currency. And all this would do no more than just to carry us back
two or three hundred years, to the infancy of banks. We should
then have done nothing but reject the experience of the most civilized nations, for some centuries, as well as all our own experience,
and have returned to the rude conceptions of former times. These
certificates of deposite would soon be found to be often issued
without any solid capital, or actual deposite. Abuses arising
from this source would call for legislative interference, and the
Legislature would find it necessary to restrain the issue of paper intended for circulation, by enacting that such issues should
only be made on the strength of competent capital, actually provided and assigned, placed under proper regulation, and managed
by persons responsible to the laws. And this would bring us again
exactly to the state of things in which we now are; that is to say, to
the use of the paper of banks, established, regulated, and controlled by
law. In the mean time, before this process could be carried through,
half the community would be made bankrupt by the ruin of their
business, and by the violent and revolutionary changes of property

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wfcieh the process would create. The whole class of debtors, all that
live more by industry than on capital, would be overwhelmed with
undistinguishing destruction.
There will then* sir, be no such thing as an exclusive paper currency. The country will not be guilty of the folly of attempting it*
I should have felt that I had occupied too much time with such a
senseless and preposterous suggestion, were it not the manifest object
of partisans to press such notions upon the attention of the people, in
aid of the war against the banks.
We shall then, sir, have paper of some sort, forming a part of our
ctrrrentiy. What will that paper be? The honorable gentleman from
South Carolina, admitting that paper is necessary as a part of the
currency, or circulation, has contended that that paper ought to be
Government paper—Government paper, not convertible nor redeemable, only so far as by being receivable for debts and dues toGovernment. My colleague has endeavored to satisfy the Senate,
that the aim of the whole system, of which he regards this bill as but
part, is to establish a circulation of Government paper and a Government bank. Other gentlemen have taken the same view of it. But,
as the bill itself does not profess any such purpose, I am willing to
discuss it in the character in which it presents itself. I take it for
what its friends say it is—a bill-making further provision for collecting the revenues. ••
*' •
We are, then, sir, still to have paper as a general medium of circulation; that paper is to be the paper of banks; but Government
is to be dfvorced from these banks, altogether. It is not to keep its
funds in them, as heretofore. It is to have nothing to do with them,
but is to collect and disburse its revenues by its own means, and its
own officers.
The receipt of the notes of specie-paying banks is to be partially
allowed for some time, but it is to be gradually discontinued; and
six years hence, we are to arrive at the maturity and the perfection
of the system. When that auspicious day comes, Government is
to receive and to pay out gold and silver, and nothing but gold and
silver.
Now, Mr. President, let us anticipate this joyous epoch; let us
suppose the six years to have expired; and let us imagine this bill,
with its specie payments and all, to be in full operation at the present hour. What will that operation be ? In the first place, disregarding all question of public convenience, or the general interests
of the people, how will this system work as a mere mode of collecting and paying out revenue ? Let us see.
Our receipts and expenditures may be estimated, each, at thirty
millions a year. Those who think this estimate either too high or
too low, may make the necessary allowance. Here, then, is the sum
of thirty millions, to be collected and paid out every year; and it is
all to be counted, actually told over, dollar after dollar, and gold piece
after gold piece; and how many times counted ? Let us inquire
into that. The importing merchant, whose ship has arrived, and

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who has cash duties to pay, goes to the bank for his money, and the
tellers count it out: that is once. He carries it to the custom-house,
pays it, and the clerks count it over : that is twice. Some days afterwards, the collector takes it out of his bags and chests, carries it
to the receiver general's office, and there it is counted again, and
poured into the bags and chests of that office : that is the third time.
Presently a warrant comes from the Treasury, in favor of some disbursing officer, and the boxes are opened, and the necessary sums
counted out: this is the fourth counting. And, fifthly and lastly,
the disbursing officer pays it to the persons entitled to receive it, on
contracts, or for pensions, salaries, or other claims. Thirty millions
of hard money are thus to be handled and told over five times
in the course of the year; and if there be transfers from place to
place, then, of course, it is to be counted so much oftener. Government
officers, therefore, are to count over one hundred and fifty millions
of dollars a year; which, allowing three hundred working days in
the year, gives five hundred thousand dollars 2. day. But this is
not all. Once a quarter, the naval officer is to count the collector's
money, and the register in the land office is to count the receiver's
money. And moreover, sir, every now and then the Secretary of
the Treasury is to authorize unexpected and impromptu countings,
in his discretion, and just to satisfy his own mind !
Sir, what a money-counting, tinkling, jingling generation we shall
be ! All the money-changers in Solomon's temple will be as nothing
to us. Our sound will go forth unto all lands. We shall all be like
the king in the ditty of the nursery:
" There sat the king, a counting of his money."

You will observe, sir, that these receipts and payments cannot be
made in parcels, without the actual handling of each piece of coin.
The marks on kegs of dollars, and the labels on bags of gold, are not
to be trusted. They are a part of credit—and all credit, all trust, all
confidence, is to be done away with. When the surveyor, for instance, at the custom-house, is to examine the money on handy in
possession of the collector, or receiver general, he is, of course, to count
the money. No other examination can come to any thing. He
cannot tell, from external appearance, nor from the weight, whether
the collector has loaned out the money, and filled the bags and boxes
up with sand and lead, or not. Nor can counterfeit pieces be otherwise detected than by actual handling. He must open, he must examine, he must count. And so at the land offices, the mints, and
elsewhere. If these officers shall have a taste for silver sounds, they
are all likely to be gratified.
Mr. President, in all soberness, is not this whole operation preposterous ?
It begins by proposing to keep the public moneys. This, itself, in
the sense the word is here need, is a perfect novelty, especially in
the United States. Why keep the public moneys; that is to say, why
hoard them, why keep them out of use? The use of money is in
the exchange. It is designed to circulate, not to be hoarded. All

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that Government should have to do with it, is to receive it to-day, that
it may pay it away to-morrow. It should not receive it, before it needs
it; and it should part with it as soon as it owes it. To keep it—that
is, to detain it, to hold it back from general use, to hoard it, is a
conception belonging to barbarous times and barbarous Governments.
How would it strike us, if we should see other great commercial nations acting upon such a system ? If England, with a revenue of
fifty millions sterling a year, were found to be collecting and disbursing
every shilling of it in hard money, through all the ramifications of her
vast expenditure, should we not think her mad ? But the system is
worse here, because it withdraws just so much active capital from the
uses of a country that requires capital, and is paying interest for
capital wherever it can obtain it.
But now, sir, allow me to examine the operation of this measure
upon the general interest of commerce, and upon the general currency of the country. And in this, point of view, the first great
question is, What amount of gold and silver unit this operation
subtract from the circulation of the country, and from the use qf
the banks?
In regard to this important inquiry, we are not without the means
of forming some judgment An official report from the Treasury,
made to the other House, shows that, for the last ten years, there
has been, at the end of each year, on an average,fifteenmillions and
four hundred thousand dollars in the Treasury. And this sum is exclusive of all that had been collected of the people, but had not yet reached
the Treasury; and also of all that had been drawn from the Treasury by
disbursing officers,but which had not yet been by them paid to individuals. Adding these sums together,sir,and the result is,that on an average for the last ten years, there have been at least twenty millions of
dollars in the Treasury. I do not mean, of course, that this sum is, the
whole of it, unappropriated. I mean that this amount has in fact been
in the Treasury, either not appropriated, or not called for under appropriations; so that if this sub-treasury scheme had been in operation, in
times past, of the specie in the currency, twenty millions would have
been constantly locked up in the safes and vaults. Now, sir, I do not
believe that, for these ten years, the whole amount of silver and gold
in the country has exceeded, on the average, fifty or sixty millions.
I do not believe it exceeds sixty millions at the present moment; and
if we had now the whole system in complete operation, it would
lock up, and keep locked up, one full third of all the specie in the
country. Locked up I say—hoarded—rendered as useless, to all
purposes of commerce and business, as if it were carried back to its
native mines. Sir, is it not inconceivable that any man should fall
upon such a scheme of policy as this ? Is it possible that any one
can fail to see the destructive effects of such a policy on the commerce and the currency of the country ?
It is true, the system does not come into operation all at once. But it
begins its demands for specie immediately; it calls upon the banks,and
it calls upon individuals, for their hard dollars, that they may be put

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away and locked up in the Treasury, at the very moment when the
country is suffering for want of more specie in the circulation, and
the banks are suffering for means to enable them to resume their
payments. And this, it is expected, will improve the currency, and
facilitate resumption !
It has heretofore been asserted, that the general currency of the
country needed to be strengthened, by the introduction of more specie
into the circulation. This has been insisted on, for years. Let it be conceded. I have admitted it, and, indeed, contended for the proposition
heretofore, and endeavored to prove it But it must be plain to every
body, that any addition of specie, in order to be useful, must either go
into the circulation, as a part of that circulation, or else it must go into
the banks, to enable them the better to sustain and redeem their paper.
But this bill is calculated to promote neither of those ends, but exactly
the reverse. It withdraws specie from the circulation aridfromthe
banks, and piles it up in useless heaps in the Treasury. It weakens the
general circulation, by making the portion of specie, which is part of it,
so much the less; it weakens the ban^cs, by reducing the amount of coin
which supports their circulation. The general evil imputed to our currency, for some years past, is, that paper has formed too great a portion
of it The operation of this measure must be to increase that very evil.
I have admitted the evil, and have concurred in measures to remedy
it. I have favored the withdrawing of small bills from circulation,
to the end that specie might take their place. I discussed this policy,
and supported it, as early as 1832. My colleague, who, shortly after
that period, was placed in the chair of the chief magistracy of Massachusetts, pressed its consideration, at length, upon the attention of
the Legislature of that State. I still think it was a right policy.
Some of the States had begun to adopt it But the measures of the
Administration, and especially this proposed measure, throw this
policy all aback. They undo at once all that we have been laboring.
Such, and so pertinacious has been the demand of Government for
specie, and such new demand does this bill promise to create, that
the States have found themselves compelled again to issue small
bills for the use of the people. It was a day of rejoicing, as we hare
lately seen, among the people of New York, when the Legislature
of that State suspended the small-bill restraining law, and furnished
the people with some medium for small payments, better than the
miserable trash which now annoys the community.
The Government, therefore, I insist, is evidently breaking down
its own declared policy; it is defeating, openly and manifestly defeating, its own professed objects.
And yet, theory, imagination, presumptuous generalization, the application of military movements to questions of commerce and finance,
and the abstractions of metaphysics, offer us, in such a state of things,
their panacea. And what is it ? What is. it ? What is to cure or
mitigate these evils, or what is to ward off future calamities ? Why,
sir, the most agreeable remedy imaginable; the kindest, tenderest,
most soothing, and solacing application in the whole world! Nothing,

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sir, nothing upon earth, but a smart, delightful, perpetual, and irreconcilable warfare, between the Government of the United States and
the State banks! * All will be well, we are assured, when the Government and the banks become antagonistical! Yes,sir,"antagonistical!"
that is the word What a stroke of policy, sir, is this ! It is as delicate a stratagem as poor old King Lear's, and a good deal like it.
It proposes that we should tread lightly along, in felt or on velvet, till
we get the banks within our power, and then, "kill, kill, kill!"
Sir, we may talk as much as we please about the resumption of
specie payments, but I tell you that, with. Government thus warring
upon the banks, if resumption should take place, another suspension
I fear would follow. It is not war, successful or unsuccessful, between
Government and the banks; it is only peace, trust, confidence, that
can restore the prosperity of the country. This system of perpetual
annoyance to the banks, this hoarding up of money which the
country demands for its own necessary uses, this bringing of the
whole revenue to act, not in aid and furtherance, but in direct hindrance and embarrassment of commerce and business, is utterly irreconcileable with the public interest. We shall see no return of
former times till it be abandoned—altogether abandoned. The passage of this bill will create new alarm and new distress.
People begin already to fear their own Government. They have
an actual dread of those who should be their protectors and guardians.
There are hundreds of thousands of honest and industrious men, sir,
at this very moment, who would feel relieved in their circumstances,
who would see better prospect of an honest livelihood, and feel more
sure of the means of food and clothing for their wives and children,
if they should hear that this measure had received its death. Let
us, then, sir, away with it. Do we not see the world prosperous
around us ? Do we not see other Governments and other nations
enlightened by experience, and rejecting arrogant innovations and
theoretic dreams, accomplishing the great ends of society ?
Why, sir, why are we, why are we alone among the great commercial States ? Why are we to be kept on the rack and torture of these
experiments ? We have powers, adequate, complete powers. We
need only to exercise them; we need only to perform our constitutional duty, and we shall spread content, cheerfulness, and joy, over
th£ whole land.
This brings me, sir, to the second inquiry.
Is this measure, Mr. President, a just exercise of the powers of
Congress, and does it fulfil all our duties ?
Sir, I have so often discussed this point, I have so constantly insisted, for several years past, on the constitutional obligation of Congress to take care of the currency, that the Senate must be already
tjred of the speaker, if not weary of the topic; and yet, after all, this
is the great and paramount question. Until this is settled, the agitatio%.cau never be quieted. If we have not the power, we must
leavetbe whole subject in the hands of those who have it, or in no
fi&nds; but if we have the power, we are bound to exercise it, and

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every day's neglect is a violation of duty. I therefore again insist,
that we have the power, and I again press its exercise on the two
Houses of Congress. I again assert, that the regulation of the general currency—of the money of the country, whatever actually constitutes that money—is one of our solemn duties.
The constitution confers on us, sir, the exclusive power of coinage.
This must have been done for the purpose of enabling Congress to
establish one iiniform basis for the whole money system. Congress, therefore, and Congress alone, has power over the foundation,
the ground-work, of the currency; and it would be strange and
anomalous, having this, if it had nothing to do with the structure, the
edifice, to be raised on this foundation! Convertible paper was al' tlBttdy in circulation when the constitution was framed, and must have
been expected to continue and to increase. But the circulation of
paper tends to displace coin; it may banish it altogether: at this
very moment it has banished it. If, therefore, the power over the
coin does not enable Congress to protect the coin, and to restrain any
thing which would supersede it, and abolish its use, the whole power
becomes nugatory. If others may drive out the coin, and fill the
country with paper which does not represent coin, of what use, I beg
to know, is that exclusive power over coins and coinage which is
given to Congress by the constitution ?
Gentlemen on the other side admit that it is the tendency of paper
circulation to expel the coin; but then they say, that, for that Very reason, they will withdraw from all connexion with the general currency,
and limit themselves to the single and narrow object of protecting the
coin, and providing for payments to Government. This seems to me
to be a very strange way of reasoning, and a very strange course of
political conduct. The coinage-power Was given to be used for the
benefit of the whole country, and not merely to furnish a medium for
the collection of revenue. The object was to secure, for the general
use of the people, a sound and safe circulating medium. There can
be no doubt of this intent. If any evil arises, threatening to destroy
or endanger this medium or this currency, our duty is to meet it, not
to retreat from it; to remedy it, not to let it alone; we are to control
and correct the mischief, not to submit to it. Wherever paper is to
circulate, as subsidiary to coin, or as performing, in a greater or less
degree, the function of coin, its regulation naturally belongs to the
hands which hold the power over the coinage. This is an admitted
maxim by all writers; it has been admitted and acted upon, on all
necessary occasions, by our own Government, throughout its whole
history. Why will we now think ourselves wiser thau all who have
gone before us?
This conviction of what was the duty of Government led to the establishment of the bank in the administration of General Washington.
Mr. Madison, again, acted upon the same conviction in 1816, and
Congress entirely agreed with him. On former occasions, I have
referred the Senate, more than once, to the clear and emphatic opinions and language of Mr. Madison, in his messages in 1815 and

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1816, and they ought to be repeated, again and again, and pressed
upon the public attention.
And now let me say, sir, that no man in our history has carried
the doctrine farther, defended it with more ability, or acted upon it
with more decision and effect, than the honorable member from South
Carolina. His speech upon the Bank bill, on the 26th of February,
1816, is strong, full, and conclusive. He has heretofore said that
some part of what he said on that occasion does not appear in the
printed speech; but, whatever may have been left out by accident,
that which is in the speech could not have got in by accident. Such
accidents do not happen. A close, well-conducted, and conclusive
constitutional argument* is not the result of an accident or of chance;
and his argument on that occasion, as it seems to me, was perfectly
conclusive. He founds the right of regulating the paper currency
directly on the coinage power. " The only object," he says, " the
framers of the constitution could have in view, in giving to Congress
the power to coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign
coin, must have been to give a steadiness and fixed value to the currency of the United States." The state of things, he insisted, existing
at the time of the adoption of the constitution, afforded an argument
in support of the construction. There then existed, he said, a depreciated paper currency, which could only be regulated and made uniform by giving a power, for that purpose, to the General Government.
i
He proceeded to say that, by a sort of under-current, the power of
Congress to regulate the money of the country had caved in, arid
upon its ruin had sprung up those institutions which now exercised
the right of making money for and in the United States. " For gold
and stiver (he insisted) are not the only money ; bu^whatever is the
medium of purchase and sale; in which bank paper alone was now
employed, and had, therefore, become the money of the country."
* The right of making money," he added " an attribute of sovereign
power, a sacred and important right, was exercised by two hundred
and sixty banks, scattered over every part of the United States."
Certainly, sir, nothing can be clearer than this language; rmdf
acting vigorously upon principles thus plainly laid down, he conducted the Bank bill, through the House of Representatives. On that
occasion, he was the champion of the power of Congress over the
currency, and others were willing to follow his lead.
But the Bank bill was not all. The honorable gentleman went much
farther. The bank, it was hoped and expected, would furnish a good
papercurrencytotheextentofitsownissues ;buttherewasa vast quantity of bad paper in circulation, and it was possible that the mere influence of the bank, and the refusal to receive this bad money at the
Treasury, might not, both, be able to banish it entirely from the
country. The honorable member meant to make clean work. He
meant thr.t neither Government nor people should suffer the evils of
irredeemable paper. Therefore, he brought in another bill, entitled
" A bill for the more effectual collection of the public revenue." By
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the bills of State banks; and all notes of nomspecie-payrag banks
were, by this stamp, to be branded with the following words, in
distinct and legible characters, at length—" NOT A SPECIE NOTE." For
the tax laid on such notes, there was to be no composition, no commutation ; but it was to be specifically collected, on every single bill
issued, until those who issued such bills should announce to the Sec*
retary of the Treasury, and prove to his satisfaction, that, after a day
named in the bill, all their notes would be paid in specie on demand.
And now, how is it possible, sir, for the author of such a measure as
. this, to stand up and declare, that the power of Congress over the
currency is limited to the mere regulation of the coin ? So much for
our authority, as it has heretofore been admitted and acknowledged,
under the coinage power.
Nor, sir, is the other source of power, in my opinion, at all more
questionable.
Congress has the supreme regulation of commerce. This gives
it, necessarily, a superintendence over all the interests, ageucies, and
instruments of commerce. The words are general, and they confer
the whole power. When the end is given, ail the usual means are
given. Money is the chief instrument or agent of commerce;
there can, indeed, be no commerce without it, which deserves the
name. Congress must, therefore, regulate it as it regulates other
indispensable commercial interests. If no means were to be used to
this end but such as are particularly enumerated, the whole authority would be nugatory, because no means are particularly enumerated. We regulate ships; their tonnage; their measurement; the
shipping articles; the medicine chest; and various other things belonging to them; and for all this we have no authority but the general power to regulate commerce; none of these, or other means or
modes of regulation are particularly and expressly pointed out.
But is a ship a more important instrument of commerce than
money ? We protect a policy of insurance, because it is an important
instrument of ordinary commercial contract; and our laws punish
with death any master of a vessel, or others, who shall commit a
fraud on the parties to this contract by casting away a vessel. For
all this we have no express authority. We infer it from the general
power of regulating commerce, and we exercise the power in this case,
because a policy of insurance is one of the usual instruments, or means,
of commerce. But how inconsiderable and unimportant is a policy
of insurance, as the means or an instrument of commerce, compared
with the whole circulating paper of a country ?
Sir, the power is granted to us; and granted without any specification of means; and therefore we may lawfully exercise aU the usual
means. I need not particularize these means, nor state, at present,
what they are, or may be. One is, no doubt, a proper regulation
of receipts at the custom-houses and land offices. But this, of itself,
is not enough. Another is a national bank, which, I fully believe,
would, even now, answer all desired purposes, and reinstate the currency in ninety days. These, I think, are the means to be first tried

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and if, notwithstanding these, irredeemable paper should overwhelm
us, others must be resorted to. We have no direct authority over Stato
banks; but we have power over the currency, and we must protect
it, using, of course, always, such means, if they be found adequate,
as shall be most gentle and mild. The great measure, sir, is a bank;
because a bank is not only able to restrain the excessive issues of
State banks, but it is able also to furnish for the country a currency
of universal credit, and of uniform value. This is the grand desideratum. Until such a currency is established, depend on it, sir, what
is necessary for the prosperity of the country can never be accomplished.
On the question of power, sir, we have a very important and striking precedent.
The members of the Senate, Mr. President, witl recollect the controversy between New York and her neighbor States, fifteen or sixteen years ago, upon the exclusive right of steam navigation. New
York had granted an exclusive right of such navigation over her waters to Mr. Fulton and his associates; and declared by law> that no
vessel propelled by steam should navigate the North river or the
Sound, without license from these grantees, under penalty of confiscation.
To counteract this law, the Legislature of New Jersey enacted, that
if any citizen of hers should be restrained, or injured, in person or
property, by any party actiug under the law of New York, such citizen should have remedy in her courts, if the offender could be caught
within heT territory, and should be entitled to treble damages and
costs. New Jersey called this act a law of retortion; and justified
it on the general ground of reprisals.
On the other side, Connecticut took fire, and as no steamboat could
come down the Sound from New York to Connecticut, or pass up from
Connecticut to New York, without a New York license, she enacted
a law, by which heavy penalties were imposed upon all who should
presume to come into her ports and harbors, having any such license.
Here,-sir, was a very harmonious state of commercial intercourse!
a very promising condition of things, indeed! You could not get from
New York to New Haven by steam ; nor could you go from New
York to New Jersey, without transhipment in the bay. And now,
sir, let me remind the country, that this belligerant legislation of the
States concerned was justified and defended, by exactly the same arguments as those which we have heard in this debate. Every thing
which has been said here, to prove that the authority to regulate commerce does not include a power to regulate currency, was said in tint
<ase, to prove that the same authority did not include an exclusive
power over steamboats or other means of navigation. I do not know a
reason, a suggestion, an idea, which has been used in this debate, or
which was used in the debate in September, to show that Congress has
no power to control the currency of the country and make it uniform,
which was not used in this steamboat controversy, to prove that the
authority of this Government did not reach the matter them in dispute.
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i

Look to the forensic discussions in New York! Look to the argument
in the court here f You willfindit every where urged that navigation
does not come within the general idea of regulating commerce ; that
steamboats are but vehicles and instruments; that the power of Congress is general, and general only; and that it does not extend to agents
and instruments.
And what, sir, put an end to this state of things ? What stopped
these seizures and confiscations? Nothing in the world, sir, but
the exercise of the constitutional power of this Government. Nothing in the world, but* the decision of the Supreme Court, that the
power of Congress to regulate commerce was paramount; that it
overruled any interfering State laws; and that these acts of the
States did interfere with acts of Congress, enacted under its clearconstitutional authority.
As to the extent of the power of regulating commerce, allow me to
quote a single sentence from the opinion of one of the learned judges ot
the Supreme Court, delivered on that occasion; a judge always distinguished for the great care with which he guarded State rights : I mean
Mr. Justice Johnson. And when I have read it, sir, then say, if it does
not confirm every word and syllable which I have tittered on this subject, either now, or at the September session. " In the advancement of
society," said the judge," laboTy transportation, intelligence, care, and
various means of exchange, become commodities, and enter into
commerce ; and the subject, the vehicle, the agent, and these various operations, become the objects of commercial regulation*'
These just sentiments prevailed. The decision of the Court quieted the dangerous controversy ; and satisfied, and 1 will add gratified, most highly gratified, the whole country.
Sir, may we not perceive; at the present moment, without being
suspected of looking with eyes whose sight is sharpened by too much
apprehension—may we not perceive, sir. in what is now passing
around us, the possible beginnings of another controversy between
States, which may be of still greater moment, and followed, if not
arrested, by still more deplorable consequences? Do we see no
danger, no disturbance, no contests ahead ? Sir, do we not behold
excited commercial rivalship, evidently existing between great States
and great cities ? Do we not see an emulous competition for trade,
external and internal ? Do we not see the parties concerned enlarging,
and proposing to enlarge, to a vast extent, their plans of currency,
evidently in connexion with these objects of trade and commerce ?
Do we not see States* themselves becoming deeply interested in great
bonking institutions? Do we not know that, already, the notes
and bills of some States are prohibited by law from circulating in
others?
Sir, I will push these questions no farther : but I tell you that
it was for exactly such a crisis as this—for this very crisis—for
this identical exigency now upon us—that this constitution Was framed,
and this Government established. And, sir, let those who expect to
get over this crisis without effort and without action; let those whose

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hope it is that tliey may be borne along on the tide of circilmstancesaiid
favorable occurrences, and who repose in the denial of their own powers and their own responsibility—let all such, look well to the end,
For one, I intend to clear myself from all blame. I intend, this day,
to free myself of the responsibility of consequences, by warning you
of the danger into which you are conducting our public affairs, by
urging and entreating you, as I do now urge and entreat you, by invoking you, »s>l do invoke you, by your love of country, and you*
fidelity to the* constitution,to abandon all untried expedients; to put no
trust in ingenuity and contrivance; to have done with projects which
alarm arid agitate the people ; to seek no shelter from obligation and
duty; but whh manliness, directness, and true wisdom, to apply to
the evils of the times their proper remedy. That Providence may
guide the counsels of the country to this end, before even greater disasters and calamines overtake us, is my most fervent prayer !
Mr/ President, on the subject of the power of Congress, as well a*
on other important topics, connected with the bill, the honorable gentleman from South Carolina has advanced opinions, of which I feel
bound to take some notice.
That honorable gentleman, in- his recfcnt speech, attempted to exhibit a contrast between the course of conduct which I, and other
gentlemen who act with me, at present pursue, and that which we
have heretofore followed. In presenting this contrast, he said, he
intended nothing personal; his only object was truth. To this I could
not object. The occasion requires, sir, that I should now examine
hit opinions; and I can truly say, with him, that I mean nothing
personally injurious, and that my object, also, is truth, and nothing
else. Here I might stop; but I will even say something more.
It is now five and twenty years, sir, since I became acquainted with
the honorable gentleman, in the House of Representatives, in which
he had held a seat, I think, about a year and a half before I entered
it. From that period, sir, down to the year 1824,1 can say, with
great sincerity, there was not, among my political contemporaries,
any man for whom I entertained a higher respect, or warmer esteem.
When we first met, we were both young men. I beheld in him a
generous character, a liberal and comprehensive mind, engrossed by
great objects, distinguished talent, and, particularly, great originality
and vigor of thought. That he was ambitious, I did not doubt; but
that there was any thing in his ambition low or sordid, any thing
approaching to a love of the mere loaves and fishes of office, I did
not then believe, and do not now believe. If, from that moment
down to the time I have already mentioned, I differed with him oa
any great constitutional question, I do not know it
But in 1824, events well known to the Senate separated us; and
that separation remained, wide and broad, until the end of the memorable session which terminated in March, 1833; With the events of
that session, out occasions of difference had ceased ; certainly for th*
time, and, as I sincerely hoped, forever. Before the next meeting of
Congress, the pttblic deposites had been removed from their lawnd

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custody by the President. Respecting this exercise of the Executive
power, the houorable gentleman and my self entertained the same opinions ; and, in regard to subsequent transactions connected with that,
aid growing out of it, there was not, so far as I know, any difference
of sentiment between us. We looked upon all these proceedings but
as so many efforts to give to the Exet utive an unconstitutional control over the public moneys. We thought we saw, everywhere,
proofs of a design to extend Executive authority, not only in derogation of the just powers of Congress,, but to the danger of the public
liberty. We acted together, to check these designs, and to arrest the
march oi Executive prerogative and dominion. In all this, we were
but co-operating with many other gentlemen here, and with a large
and intelligent portion of the whole country.
The unfortunate results of these Executive interferences with the
currency had made an impression on the public mind. A revolution
eeemed in progress, and the people were coming in their strength, as
we began to think, to support us and our principles.
In this state of things, sir, we met here at the commencement of
the September session: but we met, not as we had done; we met, not
as we had parted. The events of May, the policy of the President in
reference to those events, the doctrines of the message of September,
the principles and opinions which the honorable gentleman, both to
my surprise and to my infinite regret, came forward then to support,
tendered it quite impossible for us to act together, for a single moment longer. To the leading doctrines of that message, and to the
policy which it recommended, I felt, and still feel, a deep, conscientious, and irreconcilable opposition. The honorable gentleman supported, and still supports, both. Here, then, we part. On these
questions o{ constitutional power and duty, and on these momentous
questions of national policy, we separate. And so broad and ample
is the space which divides us, and so deep does the division run,
touching even the very foundations of the Government, that, considering the time of life to which we both have arrived, it is not probable that we are to meet again. I say this with unfeigned and deep
regret. Believe me. sir, I would most gladly act with the honorable
gentleman. If he would but come back, now, to what I consider his
former principles and sentiments; if he would place himself on those
constitutional doctrines which he has sustained through a long series
•f years; and if, thus standing, he would exert his acknowledged
Ability to restore the prosperity of the country, and put an end to the
mischiefs of reckless experiments and dangerous innovation,—I would
not only willingly act with him, I would act under him; I would
follow him, I would support him, I would back him,at every step, to
the utmost of my power and ability. Such is not to be our destiny.
That destiny is, that we here part: and all I can say further is, that
be carries with him the same feeling of personal kindness on my part,
tite same hearty good-will which have heretofore inspired me.
There have been three principal occasions, sir, on which the
henorable gentleman has expressed his opinions upon the questions

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now under discussion. They are, his speech of the 15th Septenv
ber, his published letter of the 3d November, and his- leading
speech at the present session. Tiiese productions are all marked with
his characteristic ability; they are ingenious, able, condensed, and
striking. They deserve an answer. To some of the observations in
the speech of September, I made a reply on the day of its delivery;
there are other parts of it, however, which require a more deliberate
examination.
Mr. President, the honorable gentleman declares in that speech,
" that he belongs to the State Rights party; that that party, from the
beginning of the Government, has been opposed to a national bank
as unconstitutional, inexpedient, and dangerous; that it has ever
dreaded the union of the political and moneyed power, and the central action of the Government, to which it so strongly tends; that
the connexion of the Government with the banks, whether it be with
a combination of State banks, or with a national institution, will necessarily centralize the action of the system at the principal point of
collection and disbursement, and at which the mother bank, or the
head of the league of State banks, must be located. From that point,
the whole system, through the connexion with the Government, will
be enabled to control the exchanges both at home aud abroad, and,
with it, the commerce, foreign and domestic, including exports and
imports."
Now, sir, this connexion between Government and the banks, to
which he imputes such mischievous consequences, he describes to be
"the receiving and paying away their notes as cash; and the use of
the public money, from the time of the collection to the disbursement."
Sir, if I clearly comprehend the honorable gentleman, he means no
more, after all, than this: that, while the public revenues are collected,
as heretofore, through the banks, they will lie in the banks between
the time of collection and the time of disbursement; that, during that
period, they will be regarded as one part of the means of business
and of discount possessed by the banks; and that, as a greater portion
of the revenue is collected in large cities than in small ones, these
large cities will, of course, derive greater benefit than the small ones
from these deposites in the banks. In other words, that, as the importing merchants in a great city pay more duties to Government
than those in a small one, so they enjoy an advantage to be derived
from any use which the banks may make of these moneys, while on
deposite with them. Now, sir, I would be very glad to know, supposing all this to be true, what there is in it either unequal or unjust ?
The benefit is exactly in proportion to the amount of business, and
to the sums paid. If individuals in large cities enjoy the incidental
use of more money, it is simply because they pay more money.
It is like the case of credit on duty bonds. Whoever imports
goods with the benefit of giving bond for duties, instead of making
present payment, enjoys a certain benefit; and this benefit, in a direct
sense, is in proportion to the amount of goods imported—the large

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•

importer having credit for a large sum, the small importer having
credit for a smaller sum. But the advantage, the benefit, or the indulgence, or whatever we call it, is, nevertheless, entirely equal and
impartial.
How, then, does the collection of revenue through the banks
"centralize" the action of the commercial system? It seems to
me, sir, the cause is mistaken for the effect. The greatest amount
of revenue is collected in the greatest city, because it is already the
greatest city; because its local advantages, its population, its capital
*nd enterprise, draw business towards it, constitute it a central
point in commercial operations, and have made it the greatest city.
It is the centralization of commerce by these just and proper causes—
causes which must always exist in every country which produce a
large collection of revenue in the favored spot. The amount of capital is one very important cause, no doubt;and leaving public moneys
in the banks till wanted, allows to merchants, in places of large import, a degree of incidental benefit, in just proportion to the amount
of capital by them employed in trade, and no more.
I suppose, sir, it is the natural course of things in every commercial
country, that some place, or a few places, should go ahead of others in
commercial business importance. This must ever be so, until all places
possess precisely equal natural advantages. And I suppose, too, that,
instead of being mischievous, it is rather for the common good of all,
that there should be some commercial emporium, some central point,
for the exchanges of trade. Government, certainly, should not seek to
produce this result by the bestowal of unequal privileges; but surely,
sir, it would be a very strange and indefensible policy which should
lead the Government to withhold any pdrtion of the capital of the
country from useful employment, merely because that, if employed,
while all enjoyed the benefit proportionately, all would not enjoy it
with the same absolute mathematical equality.
So much, sir, for concentration, arising from depositing the revenues in banks. Let us now look to the other part of the connexion, viz :
•he receiving of bank notes for duties. How in the world does this " centralize" the commercial system ? The whole tendency and effect, as
it seems to me, is directly the other way. It counteracts centralization. It gives all possible advantage to local currency and local
payments, and thereby encourages both imports and exports. It tends
to make local money good everywhere. If goods be imported into
Charleston, the duties are paid in Charleston notes. New York
notes are not demanded. Nothing, certainly, can be fairer or more
equal than this, and nothing more favorable to trie Charleston importers.
But how would that system work, which the gentleman himself
proposes ?
If his plan could prevail, he would have the duties collected
either in specie, or in a Government paper to be issued from the
Treasury. He would reject all bank notes whatever. If the gentleman, sir, fears centralization, I am astonished that he does not seecen-

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tralization in all its terrors in this very proposition of his own. Pray
allow me to ask, sir, where will this Government paper, inthe course
of its issue and circulation, naturally centre ? To what points will it
tend ? Certainly, most certainly, to the greatest points of collection
and expenditure; to the very heart of the metropolitan city, wherever
that city may be. This is as inevitable as the fall of water or the
results of-attraction. If two-thirds of the duties be collected in New
York, it will follow, of course, that two-thirds of any Government
paper received for duties will be there received; and it will be
more valuable there than elsewhere. The value of such paper would
consist in its receivability, and nothing else. It would always tend,
therefore, directly to the spot where the greatest demand should exist
for it for that purpose. Is it not so at this moment with the outstanding Treasury notes ? Are they abundant in Georgia, in Mississippi
in Illinois, or in New Hampshire? No sooner issued, than they
commence -their march toward the place where they are most valued and most in demand: that is, to the place of the greatest
public receipt If you want concentration, sir, and enough of
it—if you desire to dry up the small streams of commerce, and nil
more full the deep and already swollen great channels, you will act
very wisely towthat end, if you keep out of the receipt of the
Treasury all money but such paper as the Government may furnish,
and which shall be no otherwise redeemable than in receipt for debts
to Government while at the same time you depress the character of
the local circulation.
. Such is the scheme of the honorable member in its probable commercial effect Let us look at it in a political point of view.
The honorable member says he belongs to the State-rights party;
that party professes something of an uncommon love of liberty ; an
extraordinary sensibility to all its dangers; and of those dangers, it
most dreads the union of the political and money power. This we
learn from the authentic declaration of the gentleman himself. And
now, oh, transcendental consistency! oh, most wonderful conformity
of means and ends! oh, exquisite mode of gratifying high desires! behold, the honorable member proposes that the political power of the
State shall take to itself the whole function of supplying the entire
paper circulation of the country, by notes or bills of its own, issued at
its own discretion, to be paid out or advanced to whomsoever it
pleases, in discharging the obligations of Government, bearing no
promise to pay, and to be kept in circulation merely by being made receivable at the Treasury! The whole circulation of the couutry, excepting only that which is metallic, and which must always be
small, will thus be made up of mere Government paper, issued for
Government purposes, and redeemable only in payment of Government debts. In other words, the entire means of carrying on the
whole commerce of the country will be held by Government in its
own hands, and made commensurate, exactly, with its own wants,
purposes, and opinions; the whole commercial business of the country being thus made a mere appendage to revenue.

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Butj sir, in order that I may not misrepresent the honorable member, let me show you a little more distinctly what his opinions are
respecting this Government paper.
The honorable member says, sir, that to make this sub-treasury
measure successful, and to secure it against reaction, some safe and
stable medium of circulation, " to take the place of bank notes in
the fiscal operations of the Government, ought to be issued;" that,
" in the present condition of the world, a paper currency, in some
form, if not necessary, is almost indispensable, infinancialand commercial operations of civilized and extensive communities;" that
" the great desideratum is to ascertain what description of paper
has the requisite qualities of being free from fluctuation in value,
and liability to abuse in the greatest perfection;" that bank notes
do not possess
these requisites in a degree sufficiently high for
this purpose.,, And then he says, " I go farther. It appears to
me, after bestowing the best reflection I can give the subject,
that no convertible paper, that is, no paper whose credit rests
upon a promise to pay, is suitable for currency.,, "On what, then,
(he asks,) ought a paper currency to rest ?" " I would say," he answers, " on demand and supply simply: which regulate the value of
every thing else—the constant demand which Government has for
its necessary supplies." He then proceeds to observe, " that there
might be a sound and safe paper currency, founded on the credit of
Government exclusively." " That such paper, only to be issued to
those who had claims on the Government, would, in its habitual state,
be at or above par with gold and silver ;" that " nothing but experience can determine what amount, and of what denominations, might
be safely issued; but that it might be safely assumed that the country would absorb an amount greatly exceeding its annual income.
Much of its exchanges, which amount to a vast sum, as well as its
banking business, would revolve about it; and many millions would
thus be kept in circulation beyond the demands of the Government."
By this scheme, sir, Government, in its disbursements, is not to pay
money, but to issue paper. This paper is no otherwise payable or
redeemable, than as it may be received at the Treasury. It is expected
to be let out much faster than it comes in, so that many millions will
be kept in circulation ; and its habitual character will be at or above
par with gold and silver! Now, sir, if there is to be found anywhere
a more plain and obvious project of paper money, m all its deformity,
I should not know where to look for it.
In thefirstplace, sir, I have suggested the complete union which
it would form, if it were, in itself, practicable, between the political
and the money poAver.
The whole commerce of the country, indeed, under such a state of
law, would be little more than a sort of incident to Treasury opera^
tions —rather a collateral emanation of the revenue system, than a
substantial and important branch of the public interest. I have referred also, to its probable consequences, upon that which the gentle-

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man regards as so great an evil, and which he denominates "the centralization of commercial action."
And now I pray you to consider, Mr. President, in the next place,
what an admirable contrivance this would be to secure that economy
in the expenses of Government which the gentleman has so much at
heart. Released from all necessity of taxation, and from the consequent responsibility to the people; not called upon to regard at all, the
amount of annual income; having an authority to cause Treasury
notes to issue whenever it pleases,
" I n multitudes, like which the populous North
Poured never from her frozen loins, to pass
Rhene, or the Danau ;"

^
what admirable restraint would be imposed on Government, how
doubly sure would assurance be made for it, that all its expenditures
would be strictly limited to the absolute and indispensable wants
and demands of the public service !
But, sir,fortunately,very fortunately, a scheme so wild, and which
would be so mischievous, is totally impracticable. It rests on an assumption, for which there is not the least foundation, either in reason
or experience. It takes for granted that which the history of every
commercial state refutes, and our own, especially, in almost every
page. It supposes that irredeemable Government paper can circulate
in the business of society, and be kept at par. This is an impossibility. The honorable gentleman rejects convertible bank notes,
which are equivalent'to specie, since they will always command it,
and adopts, in their stead, Government paper, with no promise to
pay, but a promise only to be received for debts and taxes; and he
puts forth the imagination, as I have said, so often and so long refuted, that this paper will be kept. in circulation in the country, and
will be able to perform the great business of currency and exchange,
even though it exist in quantities exceeding, by many millions, the
demands of Government.
If it be necessary, sir, at this day, to refute ideas like these, it
must be because the history of all countries, our own included,
is a dead letter to us. Even at the very moment in which I am
speaking, the small amount of Treasury notes which has been
issued by Government, hardly a fifth part of the ordinary annual
revenue—though those notes bear an interest of five per cent—
though they are redeemable in cash at the Treasury, at the expiration of the year—and though, in the mean time, they are everywhere
received in Government dues, are not only of less value than specie,
but of less value, also, than the notes of non-specie-paying banks f
those banks whose paper is daily denounced here as " rags, filthy
rags." In my opinion, sir, the whole scheme is as visionary and
impracticable as any which the genius of project ever produced.
Mr. President, toward the close of this speech of September, I find
a paragraph in which several other subjects are brought together,
and which I must ask permission to read.

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Having commended the wise and noble bearing of the little Staterights party, of which he says it is his pride to be a member
throughout the eventful period through which the country has passed
since 1824, he adds :
" In that year, as I have stated, the tariff system triumphed in the
councils of the nation. We saw its disastrous political bearings ;
foresaw' its surpluses, and the extravagancies to which it would
lead; we rallied on the election of the late President to arrest it
through the influence of the executive department of the Government. In this we failed. We then fell back upon the rights and
sovereignty of the States; and, by the action of a small but gallant
State, and through the potency of its interposition, we brought the
system to the ground, sustained, as it was, by the opposition and the
administration, and by the whole power and patronage of the Government."
Every part of this most extraordinary statement well deserves
attention.
In thefirstplace, sir, here is an open and direct avowal that the
main object for rallying on General Jackson's first election, was to
accomplish the overthrow of the protecting policy of the country.
Indeed! Well, this is very frank. I am glad to hear the avowal
made. It puts an end to all suspicions.
It was, then, to overthrow protection, was ity that the honorable
gentleman took so .much pains to secure General Jackson's first
election ? I commend his candor, in now acknowledging it. But, sir,
the honorable member had allies and associates in that rally. They
. thronged round him from all quarters, and followed his lead. And
pray, sir, was his object, as now avowed by himself, the joint object
of all the party ? Did he tell Pennsylvania, honest, intelligent, straightforward Pennsylvania, that such was his purpose ? And did Pennsylvania concur in it ? Pennsylvania wasfirstand foremost in espousing the cause of General Jackson. Everybody knows she is more
of a tariff State than any other in the Union. Did he tell her
that his purpose was to break the tariff entirely down ? Did he
state his objects, also, to New York ? Did he state them to New
Jersey ? What say you, gentlemen from Pennsylvania ? gentlemen
from New York ? and gentlemen from New Jersey ? Ye who supported General Jackson's election, what say you? Was it your purpose, also, by that election, to break down the protective policy ? Or,
if it were not your purpose, did you know, nevertheless—pray let us
understand that—did you know, nevertheless, that it was the purpose, and the mam purpose, of the honorable member from Caro: Una? and did you, still, co-operate with him?
The present Chief Magistrate of the country was a member of this
body in 1828. He and the honorable memberfromCarolina were, at
that time, exerting their united forces, to the utmost, in order to bring
about General Jackson's election. Did they work thus zealously together, for the .same ultimate end and purpose ? or did they mean

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merely to change the Government, and then eachlotookoutforhimself?
Mr. Van Buren voted for the tariff *bill of that year, commonly
called the " bill of abominations;" but, very luckily, and in extremely good season, instructions for that vote happened to come from Albany ! The vote, therefore, could be given, and the member giving
-it could not possibly thereby give any offence to any gentleman of
the State-rights party y with whom the doctrine of instructions is so
-authentic.
Sir, I will not do gentlemen injustice. Those who .belonged to
.tariff States, as they are called, and who supported < General Jackson
for the Presidency, did not intend thereby to overthrow the protecting policy. They only meant to make General Jackson President,
and to come into power along with him ! As to ultimate objects,
each had his own. All could agree, however, in the first step. It
was difficult, certainly, to give a plausible appearance to a political
union, among gentlemen who differed so widely, on the great and leading question of thetimes^-thequestion of the protecting policy. But
this difficulty was overcome by the oracular declaration that General
rJaekson was in favor of a " JUDICIOUS TARIFF."
Here, sir, was ample room and verge enough. Who could object to
a judicious tariff? Tariff men and Anti-tariff men, State-rights
•men and Consolidationists, those who had been called prodigals and
those who had been called radicals, all thronged andflockedtogether
-here, and with all their difference in regard to ultimate objects,
agreed to make common cause, till they should get into power.
The ghosts, sir^ which are fabled to cross the Styx, whatever different hopes or purposes they may have beyond it, still unite, in the present wish to get over, and therefore all hurry and huddle into the
leaky and shattered craft of Charon, the ferryman. And this motly
throng of politicians, sir, with as much difference of final object, and
a s little careforeach other, made a boat of" Judicious Tariff," and all
rushed and scrambled into it, anal they filled it, near to sinking. The
authority of the master was able however, to keep them peaceable
and in order, for the time, for they had the virtue of submission, and
though with occasional dangers of upsetting, he succeeded in pushing
them all over with his long setting-pole.
"Ratem conto subigit."

Well, sir, the ho&ecahle gentleman tells us that he expected, when
Gen. Jackson should be elected, to arrest the tariff system through the
. influence ofthe Executive Department Here is another candid confession. Arrest the tariffhy Executive influence ! Indeed! Why,
air, this seems Kite hoping, from thefirst,for the use of the Veto.
Haw, but by the Veto, could the Executive arrest the tariff acts ?
iAnd is it true, sir, that,, at (hat early day, the honorable, member was
looking to the Veto* not with dread, but with hope ? Did he expect
it*and did he rely upon it ? Did he.make the rally of which he speaks,

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in order that he might choose a President who would exercise it ?
And did he afterwards complain of it, or does he complain of it now,
only because it was ill-directed—because it turned out to be a thunderbolt, which did not fall in the right place ?
In this reliance on Executive influence—sir, I declare I hardly can
trust myself that I read or quote correctly, when I find, in what I
read, or from what I quote, the honorable member from South Carolina, by his own confession, hoping or expecting to accomplish any
thing by Executive influence; yet so was it spoken, and so is it printed—in this reliance, or this hope, or expectation, founded on Executive influence, the honorable gentleman and his friends failed ; and,
failing in this, he says, they fell back on the sovereignty of the States,
and brought the system to the ground " through the potency of interposition ;" by which he means neither more nor less than Nullification. So then, sir, according to this, that excessive fear of power
which was so much cherished by the nullifiers, was only awakened
to a flame in their bosoms, when they found that they could not accomplish their own ends by the Executive power of the President.
I am no authorized commentator, sir, on the doctrines or theories
of nullification. Non nostrum. But, if this exposition be authentic,
I must say it is not calculated to diminish my opposition to the sentiments of that school.
But the gentleman goes on to tell us that nullification, or interposition, succeeded. By means of it, he says, he did bring the protective system to the ground. And so, in his published letter o£ November 3d, he states that " State interposition has overthrown the
protective tariff, and, with it, the American system."
We are to understand, then, sir, first, that the compromise act
of 1833 was forced upon Congress by State interposition, or nullification.
Next, that its object and design, so far as the honorable gentleman was concerned in it, was to break' down and destroy, forever,
the whole protective policy of the country.
And lastly, that it has accomplished that purpose, and that the last
vestige of that policy is wearing away.
Now, sir, I must say, that, in 1833,1 entertained no doubt at ail
that the design of the gentleman was exactly what he now states.
On this point, I have not been deceived. It was not, certainly, the design of all who acted with him ; but, that it was his purpose, I knew
then, as clearly as I know now, after his open avowal of it; and this
belief governed my conduct at the time, together with that of a great
majority of those in both Houses of Congress, who, after the act'of
1824, felt bound to carry out the provisions of that act, and to maintain them reasonably and fairly. I opposed the compromise act with
all my power. It appeared to me every way objectionable : it looked
like an attempt to make a new constitution;.to introduce another
fundamental law, above the power of Congress, and which should
control the authority and discretion of Congress, m all time to come.

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This, of itself, was a conclusive objection with me; I said so then,
have often said so since, and say so now. I said, then, that I, for
one, should not be bound by that law more than by any other law, except that, as it was a law passed on a very important and agitating
subject, I should not be disposed to interfere with it, until a case of
clear necessity should arise. On this principle I have acted since.
When that case of necessity shall arise, however, should I be in
public life, I shall concur in any alteration of that act, which such
necessity may require. That such an occasion may come, I more
than fear. I entertain something stronger than a doubt upon the
possibility of maintaining the manufactures and industry of this country, upon such a system as thecompromise act will leave us, when it
shall have gone through its processes of reduction. All this, however, I leave to the future.
Having had occasion, Mr. President, to speak of Nullification and
tne Nullifiers, I beg leave to say, that I have not done so for any
purpose of reproach. Certainly, sir, I see no possible connexion,
myself, between their principles or opinions, and the support of
this measure. They, however, must speak for themselves. They
may have intrusted the bearing of their standard, for aught I know,
to the hands of the honorable member from South Carolina ; and
I perceived last session, what I perceive now, that in his opinion
there is a connexion between these projects of Government and
the doctrines of Nullification. I can only say, sir, that it will be
marvellous to me rf that banner, though it be said to be tattered
and torn, shall yet be lowered in obeisance, and laid at the footstool of Executive power. To the sustaining of that power, the
passage of this bill is. of the utmost importance. The Administration will regard its success as being to them, what Cromwell said
the battle of Worcester was to him—" a crowning mercy." Whether gentlemen, who have distinguished themselves so much by
their extreme jealousy of this Government, shall now find it consistent with their principles to give their aid in accomplishing this
consummation, remains to be seen. .•
The next exposition of the honorable gentleman's sentiments and
opinions, is his letter of November 3d.
This letter, sir, is a curiosity; As a .paper, describing political
movements, and exhibiting political opinions, it is without a parallel.
Its phrase is altogether military. It reads like a despatch, or a bulletin from headquarters. It is full of attacks, assaults, and repulses.
It recounts movements and counter-movements; speaks of occupying
one position, falling back upon another, and advancing to a third;
it has positions to cover enemies, and positions to hold alhes in check.
Meantime, the celerity of all these operations reminds one of the rapidity of the military actions of the King of Prussia, in the seven
years' war. Yesterday he was in the South, giving battle to the Austhan—to-day he is in Saxony, or Silesia; instantly he is found to have
traversed the Electorate, and is facing the Russian and the Swede on

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his Northern: frontier. If you look for his place on the map, before
you find it the has quitted it. He is always marching, flying, falling'
back, wheeling, attacking, defending, surprising; fighting everywhere, and fighting all the time. In one particular, however, the
campaigns, described in this letter, differ from the manner in which1
those of the great Frederick were conducted. I think we nowhere
read,imthe narrative of Frederick's achievements, of his taking a position to cover an enemy, or a position to hold an ally ih check. These
refinements, in the science of tactics and of war, are of more recent;
discovery.
Mr. President, public men must certainly be allowed to change their
opinions, and their associations, whenever they see fit. No one doubts
this. Men may have grown wiser, they may have attained to better and more correct views of great public subjects. It would be
unfortunate, if there were any code which should oblige men, in
public or private life, to adhere to opinions once entertained, in spite
of experience and better knowledge, and against their own convictions of their erroneous character. Nevertheless, sir, it must be
acknowledged, that what appears to be a sudden, as well as a great
change, naturally produces a shock. I confess, for one, I was shocked,
when the honorable gentleman, at the last session, espoused this bill
of the Administration. And when I first read this letter of November, and, in the short space of a column and a half, ran through snch
a succession of political movements, all terminating in placing the
honorable member in the ranks of our opponents, and entitling him
to take his seat, as he has done, among them, if not at their head, I
confess I felt still greater surprise. All this seemed a good deal too
abrupt. Sudden movements of the affections, whether personal or
political, are a little out of nature.
Several years ago, sir, some of the wits of England wrote a< mock
play, intended to ridicule the unnatural and false feeling, the senti-'
mentality, of a. certain German school of literature. In this play,
two strangers are brought together at an inn. While they are
warming themselves at the fire, and before their acquaintance is
yet five minutes old, one springs up and exclaims to the other, " A
sudden thought strikes me ! Let us swear an eternal friendship !"
This affectionate offer was instantly accepted, and the friendship
duly sworn, unchangeable and eternal! Now, sir, how long thw
eternal friendship lasted, or in what manner it ended, those who
wish to know, may learn by referring to the play.
But it seems to me, sir, that the honorable member has carried
his political sentimentality a good deal higher than the flight of the
German school; for he appears to have fallen suddenly in love, not
with strangers, but with opponents,
Here we all had been, sir, contending against the progress of
Executive power, and more particularly^ and most strenuously;
against the projects and experiments of < nWAriminisrration, upon
the currency;' The honorable member stood 'among us, not only «g

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an associate, but as a leader. We thought w* were making some*
headway. The people appealed to be coming to our support and1
our assistance. The country had been roused; every successive
election weakening the strength of the adversary, and increasing our
own. We were in this career of success carried strongly forward
by the current of public opinion, and only needed to hear the cheering voice of the honorable member,
" Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!"

and we should have prostrated, forever, this anti-constitutional, anti- •
commercial, anti-republican, and anti-American policy of the Administration. But, instead of these encouraging and animating accents, behold! in the very crisis of our affairs, on the very eve of
victory, the honorable member cries out^-to the enemy—not to us,
his allies—but to the enemy—" Holloa! A sudden thought strikes
me! I abandon my allies! Now I think of it, they have always
been my oppressors! I abandon them, and now let you and me
swear an eternal friendship!"
Such a proposition, from such a quarter, sir, was not likely to be
long withstood. The other party was a little coy, but, upon the whole,
nothing loath. After proper hesitation, and a little decorous I flushing,
it owned the soft impeachment, admitted an equally-sudden sympathetic impulse on its own side; and, since few words are wanted where
hearts are already known, the honorable gentleman takes his place
among his new friends, amidst greetings and caresses, and is already.
enjoying the sweets of an eternal friendship;
In this letter, Mr. President, the writer says, in substance, that he
saw, at the commencement of the last session, I hat affairs had reach-»
ed the point, when he and his friends, according to the course they
should take, would reap the full harvest of their long and arduous
struggle, against the encroachments and abuses of the General Government, or lose the fruits of all their labors.
At that time, he says, State interposition (viz. Nullification) had
overthrown the protecting tariff and the American system, and put
a stop to Congressional usurpation ; that he had previously been
united with the National Republicans; and that their joint attacks
had brought down the power of the Executive; but that, in joining
such allies, he was not insensible to the embarrassment of his position ; that, with them, victory itself was dangerous; and that therefore he had been waiting for events; that now, (that is to say, in
September last,) the joint attacks of the allies had brought down Executive power ; that the Administration had become divested of
power and influence, and that it had become clear that the combined
attacks of the allied forces would utterly overthrow and demolishit. All this he saw. But he saw, too, as he says, that in that case
the victory would enure, not to him or his cause, but to his allies and
their cause. I do not mean to say that he spoke of personal victories;
or alluded to personal objects, at all* He spoke of his cause.
He proceeds to say, then, that never was there before, and never,;

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probably, will there be again, so fair an opportunity for himself and
his friends to carry out their own principles and policy, and to reap
the fruits of their long and arduous struggle. These principles and
this policy, sir, be it remembered, he represents, all along, as identified with the principles and policy of nullification. And he makes
use of this glorious opportunity, by refusing to join his late allies in
any further attack on those in power, rallying anew the old State
Rights party to hold in check their old opponents, the National
Republican party. This, he says, would enable him to prevent the
complete ascendancy of his allies, and to compel the Southern division of the Administration party to occupy the ground of which he
proposes to take possession, to wit, the ground of the old State-rights
party. They will have, he says, no other alternative.
Mr. President, stripped of its military language, what is the amount
of all this, but that, finding the Administration weak, and likely to
be overthrown, if the opposition continued with undiminished force,
he went over to it, to join it; to act, himself, upon nullification principles ; and to compel the Southern members of the Administration
• to meet him on those principles ?—in other words, to make a nullification Administration, and to take such part in it as should belong
to him and his friends. He confesses, sir, that in thus abandoning his
allies, and taking a position to cover those in power, he perceived a
shock would be created, which would require some degree of resolution and firmness. In this he was right. A shock, sir, has been
created; yet there he is.
This Administration, sir, is represented as succeeding to the last,
by an inheritance of principle. It professes to tread in the footsteps of its illustrious predecessor. It adopts, generally, the sentiments, principles, and opinions, of General Jackson—Proclamation and all: and yet, though he be the very prince of Nullifiers,
and but lately regarded as the chiefest of sinners, it receives
the honorable gentleman with the utmost complacency ; to all
appearance the delight is mutual; they find him an able leader, he
finds them complying followers. But, sir, in all this movement, he
understands himself. He means to go ahead, and to take them
along. He is in the engine-car; he controls the locomotive. His hand
regulates the steam, to increase or retard speed, at his own discretion.
And as to the occupants of the passenger-cars, sir, they are as happy
a set of gentlemen as one might desire to see, of a summer^ day.
They feel that they are in progress; they hope they shall not be
run off the track; and when they reach the end of their journey, they
desire to be thankful!
The arduous struggle is now all over. Its richest fruits are all
reaped; Nullification embraces the Sub-Treasuries, and oppression
and usurpation will be heard of no more.
On the broad surface of the country, sir, there is a spot called " the
Hermitage." In that residence is an occupant very well known, and
not a little remarkable both in person and character. Suppose, sir,
the occupant of the Hermitage were now to open that door, enter the

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Senate, walk forward, and look over the Chamber to the seats on the
other side. Be not frightened, gentlemen, it is but fancy's sketch.
Suppose he should thus come in among us, sir, and see into whose
hands has fallen the chief support of that Administration, which was,
in so great a degree, appointed by himself, and which he fondly relied on to maintain the principles of his own. If gentlemen were
now to see his steady military step, his erect posture, his compressed
lips, his firmly knitted brow, and his eye full of fire, I cannot help
thinking, sir, they would all feel somewhat queer. There would be,
I imagine, not a little awkward moving, and shifting in their seats.
They would expect soon to hear the roar of the lion, even if they
did not feel his paw.
I proceed, sir, to the speech of the honorable member, delivered
on the 15th of February last, in which he announces propositions,
respecting the constitutional power of Congress, which, if they can
be maintained, must necessarily give a new direction to our legislation, and would go far towards showing the necessity of the present
bill.
The honorable member, sir, insists that Congress has no right to
make general deposites of the public revenue in banks; and he denies, too, that it can authorize the reception of any thing but gold
and silver in the payment of debts and dues to the Government
These questions, sir, are questions of magnitude, certainly, and
since they have been raised, ought to be answered. They may be
considered together. Allow me in the first place, however, to clear
them from some extraneous matter. The honorable member puts
thefirstquestion thus: Have we the right to make deposites in the
banks, in order to bestow confidence in them, with a view to enable
them to resume specie payments ? And, by way of illustration, asks the
further question, Whether Government could constitutionally bestow
on individuals, or a private association, the same advantages, in order
to enable them to pay their debts? But this I take not to be the ques*
tion. The true inquiry is, May not Congress authorize the public revenue, in the intervening time between its receipt and its expenditure,
to be deposited in banks* for the general purpose of safe-keeping, in
the same way as individuals deposite their own money ? And if this
mode of safe-keeping be attended with incidental advantages, of
considerable importance to the community, is not that a reason
which may properly govern the discretion of Congress in the case ?
To benefit the banks, or to benefit the community, is, in this case,
not the main object; it is only the incident; and as to the case put
for illustration, it would not be expected of Congress, certainly, to
make deposites with individuals with a view, principally, of enabling such individuals to pay their debts: it might, nevertheless, be
very competent to Congress, in some cases, and a very proper exercise of its power, to deposite money, even with individuals, in such
manner as that it might be advantageous to the depositary. This
incidental or consequential advantage results, often, from the nature
of the transaction, and is inseparable from it. It may always be
4

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enjoyed, more or less', by any one, who holds public money for disbursement. In order to the necessary exercise of any of its powers,
Government doubtless may make contracts with banks or other corporations as well as with individuals. If it has occasion to buy bills of
exchange, it may buy them of banks. If it has stock or Treasury notes
to sell, it may sell to banks, as the Secretary of the Treasury has lately
proposed. It may employ banks, therefore, at its discretion, for the
keeping of the public moneys, as those moneys must be kept somewhere. It can no more need a specific grant of power in the constitution
for such a purpose, than one merchant, becoming agent for another to
receive and pay out money, would need a particular clause in his
authority, enabling him to use banks for these purposes as other persons use them. No question has ever been raised in this Government
about the power of Congress to authorize such deposites. Mr. Madison,
in opposing thefirstbank charter in 1791, argued, strenuously, that
. a Bank of the United States was not necessary to Government as a depository of the public moneys, because, he insisted, its use could be
supplied by other banks. This sufficiently shows his opinion. And
in 1800, Congress made it the duty of the collectors of customs to
deposite bonds for duties in the bank and its branches for collection.
When the charter of thefirstbank expired, in 1811, almost every
gentleman who opposed its renewal contended that it was not necessary for the purpose of holding deposites of revenue, because State
banks could answer all such purposes equally well. A strong and
prevailing tone of argument runs through all the speeches on that
occasion, tending to this conclusion, viz; that Government may derive
from State banks all the benefit which a Bank of the United States
could render. In 1816, when the charter of the last bank was granted,
it contained, as originally presented, no provision for making the public deposites in the bank. The bill was probably drawn, in this parcular, from the mpdel of thefirstcharter, in which no such clause was
contained, without adverting to the law of 1800; but a section
was introduced, on my motion, making it the duty of collectors
to deposite the public moneys in the bank and its branches.
It was this section of the law which some of us thought, was
violated by the removal of the deposites.. The main object of the
deposite bill of 1836, as we know, was to regulate deposites of the
public money with the State banks; so that, from the comfiaencement of the Government to the present time, nobody has thought of
making any question of the constitutional power of Congress to make
such arrangements.
The gentleman's other proposition^ and which he lays down with
still more confidence and emphasis, is, that Congress cannot, constitutionally, authorize the receipt of bank notes, though they be notes
of specie-paying banks, in payment of debts to Government; because,
-he says, that would make them money; and if we make them money,
then we are bound to control and regulate that money. Moat certainly, sir, I agree with the honorable member, that when bank notes
become money, we are bound to control and regulate them. I thank

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hn%fbr this admission; since it goes a great way to support that
proposition, for which I have been contending. That bank notes have
become money in fact, that they answer the uses of money, that,i*
many respects, the law treats them as money, is certain. Why, then,;
are we not already bound to control and regulate them ? The gentle-.
man will say, because we have not, ourselves, made them money.
But is that any answer ? If they have become money in fact, they
require the same regulation, and we have the same authority to bestew it, as if they had acquired that character by any acts of our
dwi< r-because our power is general; it is to take care of the money
dTttib otamtry, and to regulate all the great concerns of commerce.'
Buttefcus see how this opinion of the honorable member stands'
upon the authorities in our own history.
Wben'the first bank wad established, the right of Congress to create
sbdi a corporation was, as we all know, very much disputed. Large*
majorities, however, in both Houses, were of opinion that the right
existed, and they therefore granted the charter; and in this charter
fftere was an express provision that the bills of the bank should be
receivable in all payments to Government. Those who opposed the'
bank did not object to this clause: on the contrary, they went even
mutch farther; and Mr. Madison expressly insisted that Congress
naigfft grant or refuse, to State banks, the privilege of having their
notes received in revenue. In 1791, therefore, men of all parties sup- •
posed that Congress, in its discretion, might authorize the receipt of
bank notes. The same principle was incorporated into the bank charter of 1816 : indeed, it was in the bill which the gentleman himself reported; and it passed without objection from any quarter. But this
is not all. Mr. President, let us look into the proceedings of the session of 1815-> 16, a little more closely. At the commencement of that
session, Mr. Madison drew our attention to the state of the currency;
by which he meant the paper currency of the country, which was
then very much disordered^ as the banks had suspended specie pay-.
rhent during the war, and had not resumed. Burly in the progress
of the session, the honorable member from South Carolina moved that
this part of the message should be referred to a select committee. It
was so ordered. The committee wasr raised, and the honorable gentleman placed at its head. As chairman of the committee, he introduced the bank bill, explained it, defended it, and carried it trinmphantly through the House, having in it the provision which I have
before mentioned.
But there is something more. At the same session the gentleman introduced the bill for the further collection of the revenue,
to which I have already referred, and in which bill he carried th£
receivabilitv of bank notes much further, and provided that notes'o/
any bank or bankers which were payable and paid, on demand, in
specie, might be allowed and accepted in all payments to the.
United States. So that tlie honorable gentleman himself drew, with
his own pen, the very first legal enactment in the history of this Gov-*
eminent, by which it was provided that the notes of State banks should

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be considered and treated as money at the Treasury. Still further,
sir. The bill containing this provision did not pass the House; and
as I deemed some provision necessary, indispensably necessary, for
the state of things then existing, I introduced, I think the very next
day after the failure of the honorable gentleman's bill, three resolutions. The twofirstwere merely declaratory, asserting that ail duties,
taxes, and imposts, ought to be uniforfr, and that the revenues of the
United States ought to be collected and received in the legal currency,
or in Treasury notes, or the notes of the Bank of the United States, as
by law provided. These two resolutions I agreed to waive, as it was
thought they were not essential, and that they might imply some
degree of censure upon past transactions. The third resolution was
in these words:
"" And resolved, further, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and
he hereby is, required and directed to adopt such measures as he may
deem necessary to cause, as soon as may be, all duties, taxes, debts,
or sums of money accruing or becoming payable to the United States,
to be collected and paid in the legal currency of the United States, or
Treasury notes, or notes of the Bank of the United States, as aforesaid; and that from and after the 1st day of February next, no such
duties, taxes, debts, or sums of money accruing or becoming payable
to the United States as aforesaid, ought to be collected or received
otherwise than in the legal currency of the United States, or Treasury
notes, or notes of the Bank of the United States, as aforesaid."
The Senate will perceive that, in this resolution of mine, there was
no provision whatever for receiving bank notes, except of the Bank
of the United States, according to its charter. Well, what happened
thereon ? Why, sir, if you look into the National Intelligencer of a
succeeding day, you will find it stated, that Mr. Calhoun moved to
amend Mr. Webster's resolution by "extending its provisions to the
notes of all banks which should,9 at the time specified therein, pay
their notes in specie on demand. '
This-amendment was opposed, and for a time defeated; but it was
renewed, and finally prevailed. It was incorporated into the resolution, became part of the law of the land, and so remains at this very
moment. Sir, may I not now say to the honorable member, that if
the constitution of the country has been violated by treating bank
notes as money—" Thou art the man !"
How is it possible, sir, the gentleman could so far forget his own
agency in these most important transactions, as to stand up here, the
other day, and with an air not 'only of confidence but of defiance,
say: "But I take a still higher ground; I strike at the root of tin*.
mischief. I deny the right of this Government to treat bank notes
as money in its fiscal transactions. On this great question I never
have before committed myself, though not generally disposed to abstain from forming or expressing opinions."
I will only add, sir, that this reception and payment of bank notes
was expressly recognised by the act of the 14th April, 1836; by the
depoeite act of June of that year, and by the bill which passed both

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Houses in 1837, but which the President did neither w»«w« n****^
turn. Ift all these acts, so far as I know, the honorable member from
South Carolina himself concurred.
So much for authority.
. But now, sir, what is the principle of construction upon which the
gentleman relies to sustain his doctrine? "The genius of our constitution/' he says," is opposed to the ^uwpuuu ui puwei;."
This
is undoubtedly true : no one can deny it. But he adds, u whatever
power it gives, is expressly granted."
But I think, sir, this by no means follows from thefirstproposition,
and cannot be maintained. It is doubtless true that no power is to
be assumed ; but then powers may be inferred, or necessarily implied.
It is not a question of assumption, it is a question of fair, just, and
reasonable inference. To hold that no power is granted and no> means
authorized, but such as are granted or authorized by express words,
would be to establish a doctrine that would put an end to the Government It could- not last through a single session of Congress.
If such opinions had prevailed in the beginning, it never could hafe
been put in motion, and would not have drawn itsfirstbreath. My
friend, near me, from Delaware, has gone so fully and so ably into
this part of the. subject, that it has become quite unnecessary for
me to pursue it- Where the constitution confers on Congress a
general power, or imposes a general duty, all other powers necessary
for the exercise of that general power and for fulfilling that duty, are
implied, so far as there is no prohibition. We act every day upon
this principle, and could not carry on the Government without its
aid. Under the power to coin money, we build expensive mints—fill
them with officers—punish such officers for embezzlement—buy bullion—and exercise various otlier acts of power.
The constitution says that the judicial power of the United States
shall be vested in certain courts. Under this general authority we not
only establish such courts, but protect their records by penalties against
forgery* and the purity of their administration by punishing perjuries.
The Department of the Post Office is another, and signal instance, of
the extent and necessity of implied powers. The whole authority of
Congress over this subject is expressed in very few words; they are
merely "to establish post offjees and post roads." Under this short
and general grant, laws of Congress have been extended to a great
variety of very important enactments, without the specific grant of
any .power whatever, as any one may see who will look over the
post-office laws. In these laws, among otlier provisions, penalties
are enacted against a great number of offences ; thus deducing the
highest exercise of criminal jurisdiction, by reasonable and necessary
inference, from the general authority. But I forbear from traversing
a field already so fully explored.
There are one or two other remarks, sir, in the gentleman's speech,
which I must not entirely omit to notice.
In speaking of the beneficial effects*of this measure, one, he says,
would be, that " the weight of the banks would be taken from
i

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the side of <fte tax-consumers, where it has been, from the commencement of the Government, and placed on the side of the taxpayers, This great division of the community
necessarily grows out
. of thefiscalaction of the Government.,,
Sir, 1 utterly deny that there is the least foundation, fn fact, for
this distinction. It is an odious distinction, calculated to inspire
envy and hatred j and being, as I think, wholly groundless, its suggestion, and the endeavor to maintain it, ought to be resisted, and
repelled. We are all tax-payers, in the United States, who use
articles on which imposts are laid; and who is there that is excused
from this tax, or does not pay his proper part of it, according to his
consumption ? Gertainly no one.
On the other hand, who are the tax-consumers ? Clearly, the army,
the navy, the laborers on public works, and other persons in Government employment. But even these are not idle consumers; they
are agents of the Government and of the people. Pensioners may be
considered as persons who enjoy benefit from the public taxes of the
country, without rendering present service in return; but the legal
provision for them stands on the ground of previous merits, which
none deny. If we had a vast national debt, the Annual interest of
which was a charge upon the country, the holders of this debt might
be considered as tax-consumers. But we have no such debt. If the
distinction, therefore, which the gentleman states exists anywhere,
most certainly it does not exist here. And I cannot but exceedingly
regret that sentiments and opinions should be expressed here, having
so little foundation, and yet so well calculated to spread prejudice and
dislike, far and wide, against the Government and institutions of the
country.
But, sir, I have extended these remarks already to a length for
which I find no justification but in my piofound conviction of the
importance of this crisis in our national affairs. We are, as it seems
to me, about to rush madly from our proper spheres. We are to
relinquish the performance of our own incumbent duties; to abandon the exercise of essential powers, confided by the constitution to
our hands, for the good of the country. This was my opinion in
September—it is my opinion now. What we propose to do, and
what we omit to do, are, in my judgment, likely to make a fearful,
perhaps a fatal, inroad upon the unity of commerce between these
States, as well as to embarrass and harass the employments of the
people, and to prolong existing evils.
Sir, whatever we may think of it now, the constitution had its
immediate origin in the conviction of the necessity for this uniformity,
or identity, in commercial regulations.
The whole history of the country, of every year and every
month, from the close of the war of the Revolution to 1789, proves
this. Over whatever other interests it was made to extend, and
whatever other blessings it now does, or hereafter may, confer on
the millions of free citizens who do or shall live under its protection;
even though in time to come, it should raise a pyramid of power and

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grandeur, whose apex should loo); down, on the loftiest political structures of other nations and other ages, it will yet be true, that it w«*
itself the child of pressing commercial necessity. Unity and identity
of commerce among all the States was jts seminal principle. It had
beih found absolutely impossible to excite or foster enterprise in
trade, under the influence of discordant and jarring State regulations.
The country was losing all the advantages of its position. The Revolution itself was beginning to be regarded as a doubtful blessing.
Th¥ ocean before us was a barren waste. No American canvass
whitened its bosom—no keels of ours ploughed it waters. The
fonrWlj of the Congress of the Confederation show the most constant,
unceasing, unwearied, but always unsuccesful appeals to the States
andt%e people, to renovate the system, to infuse into that Confederation at once a spirit of uuion and a spirit of activity, by conferring on
CobSress the power over trade. By nothing but the perception of
its indispensable necessity—by nothing but their consciousness of
sufTerfng from its want, Were the States and the people brought, and
brought by slow degrees, to invest this power, in a permanent and
competent Government.
Sir, hearken to the fervent language of the old Congress, in
July, f 7S5, iu a letter addressed to the States, prepared by Mr.
Monroe, Mr. King, and other great names, now transferred from
the lists of living men, to the records which carry down the fame
oi the distinguished dead. The proposition before them, the great
objects tfif which they so solicitously endeavored to draw the attention of the States, was this, viz: that "the United States, in Congress
assembled, should have the sole and exclusive right of regulating the
trade of the States, as well with foreign nations as with each other."
This, they say, is urged upon the States by every consideration of
local as well as of federal policy; and they beseech them to agree to
it, if they wish to promote the strength of the Union, and to connect
it by the strongest ties of interest and affection. This was in July,
1735.
. In the same spirit, and for the same end, was that most important
resolution which was adopted in the House of Delegates of Virginia,
on the 21st day of the following January. Sir, I read the resolution
enure.
"Resolved, That Edmund Randolph, and others, be appointed
commissioners, who, or any five of whom, shall meet such commissioners as may be appointed by the other States in the Union, at a
time and place to be agreed on, to take into consideration the trade
of the United States; to examine the relative situations and trade of
the said States; to consider how far a uniform system in their commercial regulations may be necessary to their common interest and
their permanent harmony, and to report to the several States such an
act relative to this great object, as, when unanimously ratified by
them, will enable the United States, in Congress assembled, effectually to provide for the same: that the said commissioners shall immediately transmit to the several States, copies of the preceding res*

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lution, with a circular letter requesting their concurrence therein, and
proposing a time and place for the meeting aforesaid."
Here, sir, let us pause. Let us linger, at the waters of this original fountain. Let us contemplate this, thefirststep, in that series of
proceedings, so full of great events to us and to the world. Notwithstanding the embarrassment and distress of the country, the
recommendation of the old Congress had not been complied with.
Every attempt to bring the State Legislatures into any harmony of
action, or any pursuit of a common object, had signally and disastrously failed. The exigency of the case called for a new movement;
for a more direct and powerful attempt to bring the good sense and
atriotism of the country into action upon the crisis. A solemn assemly was therefore proposed—a general convention of delegates from
all the States. And now, sir, what was the exigency ? What was thb
crisis ? Look at the resolution itself; there is not an idea in it but trade.
Commerce! commerce! is the beginning and end of it. The subject
to be considered and examined was "the relative situation of the
trade of the States';" and the object to be obtained was the " establishment of a uniform system in their commercial regulations, as
necessary to the common interest and their permanent harmony."
This is all. And, sir, by the adoption of this ever-memorable resolution, the House of Delegates of Virginia, on the 21st day of January, 1786, performed the first act in the train of measures which
resulted in that constitution, under the authority of which you now
sit in that chair, and I have now the honor of addressing the members
of this body.
Mr. President, I am a Northern man. I am attached to one of the
States of the North, by the ties of birth and parentage, education, and
the associations of early life; and by sincere gratitude for proofs of
public confidence early bestowed. I am bound to another Northern
State by adoption, by long residence, by all the cords of social and
domestic life, and by an attachment and regard, springing from her
manifestation of approbation and favor, which grapple me to her with
hooks of steel. And yet, sir, with the same sincerity of respect, the
same deep gratitude, the same reverence, and hearty good will, with
which I would pay a similar tribute to either of these States, do I
here acknowledge the Commonwealth of Virginia to be entitled to
the honor of commencing the work of establishing this constitution.
The honor is hers; let her enjoy it; let her forever wear it proudly;
there is not a brighter jewel in the tiara that adorns her brow. Let
this resolution stand, illustrating her records, and blazoning her
name through all time!
The meeting, sir, proposed by the resolution was holden. It took
place, as all know, in Annapolis, in May of the same year; but it was
thinly attended, and its members, very wisely, adopted measures to
bring about a fuller and more general convention. Their letter to
the States on this occasion is full of instruction. It shows their
sense of the unfortunate condition of the country. In their meditations
on the subject, they saw the extent to which the commercial power

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must necessarily extend. The sagacity of New Jersey had led her, in
agreeing to the original proposition of Virginia, to enlarge the object
of the appointment of commissioners, so as to embrace not only commercial regulations, but other important matters. This suggestion
the commissioners adopted, because they thought, as they inform us,
"that the power of regulating trade is of such comprehensive extent,
and will enter so far into the general system of the Federal Government, that to give it efficacy, and to obviate questions and doubts
concerning its precise nature and limits, might require a correspondent adjustment of other parts of the Federal system." Here you
see, sir, that other powers, such as are now in the constitution,
were expected to branch out of the necessary commercial power;
and, therefore, the letter of the commissioners concludes with recommending a general convention, "to take into consideration the whole
situation of the United States, and to devise such further provisions
as should appear necessary to render the constitution of the Federal
Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union."
The result of that convention was the present constitution. And
yet, in the midst of all thisfloodof light, respecting its original objects and purposes, and with all the adequate powers which it confers,
we abandon the commerce of the country, we betray its interests, we
turn ourselves away from its most trying necessities. Sir, it will be
a fact, stamped in deep arid dark lines upon our annals; it will be a
truth, which in all time can never be denied or evaded, that if this
•constitution shall not, now and hereafter, be so administered as to
maintain a uniform system in all matters of trade; if it shall not protect and regulate the commerce of the country, in all its great interests, in its foreign intercourse, in its domestic intercourse, in its
navigation, in its currency, in every thing which fairly belongs to the
whole idea of commerce, either as an end, an agent, or an instrument, then that constitution will have failed, utterly failed to accomplish the precise, distinct, original object, in which it had its being.
In matters of trade, we were no longer to be Georgians, Virginians, Pennsylvanians, or Massachusetts men. We were to have
but one commerce, and that the commerce of the United States.
There were not to be separate flags, waving over separate commercial systems. There was to be one flag, the E PLURIBUS UNUM;
and toward that was to be that rally of united interests and affections,
which our fathers had so earnestly invoked.
Mr. President, this unity of commercial regulation is, in my
opinion, indispensable to the safety of the union of the States themselves. In peace it is its strongest tie. I care not, sir, on what side,
or in -which of its branches, it may be attacked. Every successful attack upon it, made anywhere, weakens the whole, and renders the
next assault easier and more dangerous. Any denial of its just power is an attack upon it. We attack it, mostfiercelyattack it, whenever we say we will not exercise the powers which it enjoins. If the
Court had yielded to the pretensions of respectable States upon the
•ubject of steam navigation, and to the retaliatory proceedings of other

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States; if retreat and excuse, and disavowal of power had been prcr
vailing sentiments then, in what condition, at this moment, let me ask,
would the steam navigation of the country be found ? To us, sir, to
us, his countrymen, to us, who feel so much admiration for his genius,
and so much gratitude for his services, Fulton would have lived almost in vain. State grants and State exclusions would have covered
over all our waters.
Sir, it is in the nature of such things, that the first violation, or the
first departure from true principles, draws more important violations
or departures after it; and the first surrender of just authority will
be followed by others more to be deplored. If commerce be a unit, to
break it in any one part, is to decree its ultimate dismemberment in all.
If there be made a first chasm, though it be small, through that the
whole wild ocean will pour in, and we may then throw up embankments in vain.
Sir, the spirit of union is particularly liable to temptation and seduction, in moments of peace and prosperity. In war, this spirit is
strengthened by a sense of common danger, and l»y a thousand recollections of ancient efforts and ancient glory in a common cause.
In the calms of a long peace, and the absence of all apparent causes
of alarm, things near gain an ascendency over things remote. Local interests and feelings overshadow national sentiments. Our attention, our regard, and our attachment, are every moment solicited
to what touches us closest, and we feel less and less the attraction of a
distant orb. Such tendencies, we are bound by true patriotism, and
by our love of union, to resist. This is our duty; and the moment,
in my judgment, has arrived when that duty is summoned to action.
We hear, every day, sentiments and arguments, which would become
a meeting of envoys, employed by separate Governments, more than
they become the common Legislature of a united country. Constant appeals are made to local interests, to geographical distinctions,
and to the policy and the pride of particular States. It would sometimes appear that it was, or as if it were,, a settled purpose, to convince the people that our Union is nothing but a jumble of different
and discordant interests, which must, ere long, be all returned to
their original stale of separate existence; as if, therefore, it was of
no great value while it should last, and was not likely to last long.
The process of disintegration begins, by urging the fact of different interests.
Sir, is not the end obvious, to which all this leads us ? Who
does not see that, if convictions of this kind take possession of th,e
public mind, our Union can hereafter be nothing, while it remains,
but a connexion without harmony; a bond without affection ; a
theatre for the angry contests of local feelings, local objects, and
local jealousies ? Even while it continues to exist, in name, it may, by
these means, become nothing but the mere form of a united Government. My children, and the children of those who sit around me,
may meet, perhaps, in this Chamber, in the next generation ; but if
tendencies, now but too obvious, be not checked, they will meet as

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strangers and aliens. They will feel no sense of common interest or
' common coimtry: they will cherish no common object of patriotic
love. If the same Saxon language shall fall from their lips, it may
be the chief proof that they belong to the same nation. Its vital
principle exhausted and gone, its power of doing good terminated,
now productive only of strife and. contention, and no longer sustained
by a sense of common interest, the Union itself must ultimately fall,
dishonored and unlamented,
The honorable member from Carolina himself, habitually indulges
in charges of usurpation and oppression against the Government
of his country. He daily denounces its important measures, in
the language iu which our revolutionary fathers spoke of the oppressions of the mother country. Not merely against Executive
usurpation, either real or supposed, does* he utter these sentiments; but against laws of Congress, laws passed by large majorities, laws sanctioned, for a course of years, by the people. These
laws he proclaims, every hour, to be but a series of acts of oppression. He speaks of them as if it were an admitted fact, that
such is their true character. This is the language which he utters,
these the sentiments he expresses, to the rising generation around
him. Are they sentiments and language which are likely to inspire
our children with the love of union, to enlarge their patriotism, or
to teach them, and to make them feel, that their destiny has made
them common citizens of one great and glorious republic? A principal object, iu his late political movements, the gentleman himself
tells us, was to unite the entire South; and against whom, or
against what, does he wish to unite the entire South ? Is not this the
very essence of local feeling and local regard ? Is it not the acknowledgment of a wish and object, to create political strength, by uniting
political opinions geographically ? While the gentleman thus wishes
to unite the entire South, I pray to know, sir, if he expects me to turn
toward the polar-star, and, acting on the same principle, to utter a cry
of Rally! to the whole North? Heaven forbid! To the day of my
death, neither he nor others shall hear such a cry from me.
Finally, the honorable member declares that he shall now march
off, under, the banner of State rights! March off from whom? March
off from what? We have been contending for great principles.
We have been struggling to maintain the liberty and to restore the
prosperity of the country; we have made these struggles here, in
the national councils, with the old flag, the true American flag, the
Eagle, and the Stars and Stripes, waving over the Chamber in which
we sit. He now tells us, however, that he marches off under the
State-rights banner!
Let him go. I remain. I am, where I ever have been, and ever
mean to be. Here, standing on the platform of the general constitution—a platform, broad enough, and firm enough, to uphold
every interest of the whole country—I shall still be found. Intrusted with some part in the administration of that constitution, I
intend to act in its spirit, and in the spirit of those who framed it.

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Yes, sir, I would act as if our fathers, who formed it for us, and who
bequeathed it to us, were looking on us—as if I could see their venerable forms, bending down to behold us, from the abodes above. I
would act, too, sir, as if that long line of posterity were also viewing us, whose eye is hereafter to scrutinize our conduct.
Standing thus, as in the full gaze of our ancestors, and our posterity,
having received this inheritance from the former, to be transmitted to
the latter; and feeling, that if I am bom for any good, in my day and
generation, it is for the good of the whole country; no local policy, or
local feeling, no temporary impulse, shall induce me to yield my
foothold on the Constitution and the Union. I movex>ft, under no
banner, not known to the whole American People, and to their constitution and laws. No, sir, these walls, these columns
"fly
From their firm base as soon as I."

I came into public life, sir, in the service of the United States. On
that broad altar, my earliest, and all my public vows, have been
made. I propose to serve no other master. So far as depends on
any agency of mine, they shall continue united States; united in
interest and in affection; united in every thing in regard to which the
constitution has decreed their union; united in war, for the commou
defence, the common renown, and the common glory; and united,
compacted, knit firmly together in peace, for the common prosperity
and happiness of ourselves and our children.

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