1816, did not rely on curtailment alone. They had the aid of the then new-created Bank of the United States, and all the countenance, assistance, and friendly support which the government could give them. Still, I would not discourage the efforts of the banks. I trust they will succeed, and that they will resume specie payments at the earliest practicable moment; but it is, at the same time, my full conviction, that, by another and a better course of public policy, the government might most materially assist the banks to bring about resumption, and that by government aid it might be brought about with infinitely less of public inconvenience and individual distress. For an easy resumption of specie payments, there is mainly wanted a revival of trust, the restoration of confidence, and a harmonious action between the government and the moneyed institutions of the country. But instead of efforts to inspire trust and create confidence, we see and hear nothing but denunciation; instead of harmonious action, we find nothing but unrelenting hostility.

Mr. President, you and I were in Congress in 1816, during the time of the suspension of specie payments by the banks. What was the spirit of the government at that time, Sir? Was it hostile, acrimonious, belligerent towards the State institutions? Did it look on them only to frown? Did it touch them only to distress? Did it put them all under the scourge? You know, Sir, it was far otherwise. You know that the Secretary of that day entered into friendly correspondence with them, and assured them that he would second their efforts for resumption by all the means in his power. You know, Sir, that in fact he did render most essential aid. And do you see, Sir, any similar effort now? Do you behold in the bill before us any thing of the spirit or the policy of Mr. Madison, on an occasion very like the present? Mr. Madison was a man of such subdued selfrespect, that he was willing to yield to experience and to the opinion of his country; a man, too, of so much wisdom and true patriotism, that nothing was allowed to stand between him and his clear perception of the public good. Do you see, Sir, any thing of this spirit, of the wisdom, of the mild, and healing, and restoring policy, of Mr. Madison, in this measure? Another illustrious man, now numbered with the dead, was then with us, and was acting an important part in the counsels of 36

VOL. IV.

the country. I mean Mr. Lowndes; a man not deficient in force and genius, but still more distinguished for that large and comprehensive view of things which is more necessary to make great men, and is also much rarer, than mere positive talent, and for an impartial, well-balanced judgment, which kept him free from prejudice and error, and which gave great and just influence to all his opinions. Do you see, Sir, any thing of the spirit, the temper, the cool judgment, or the far-sighted policy of Mr. Lowndes, in the projects now before us? And Mr. Crawford, then at the head of the treasury, arduously striving to restore the finances, to reëstablish both public and private credit, and to place the currency once more upon its safe and proper foundation; do you see, Sir, the marks of Mr. Crawford's hand in the measure now presented for our approbation?

Mr. President, I have little to say of the subordinate provis ions of this bill, of the receivers-general, or of the dangerous power given to the Secretary, of investing the public money in State stocks of his own selection. My opposition to the bill is to the whole of it. It is general, uncompromising, and decided. I oppose all its ends, objects, and purposes; I oppose all its means, its inventions, and its contrivances. I am opposed to the separation of government and people; I am opposed, now and at all times, to an exclusive metallic currency; I am opposed to the spirit in which the measure originates, and to all and every emanation and ebullition of that spirit. I solemnly declare, that in thus studying our own safety, and renouncing all care over the general currency, we are, in my opinion, abandoning one of the plainest and most important of our constitutional duties. If, Sir, we were, at this moment, at war with a powerful enemy, and if their fleets and armies were now ravaging our shores, and it were proposed in Congress to take care of ourselves, to defend the Capitol, and abandon the country to its fate, it would be certainly a more striking, a more flagrant and daring, but in my judgment not a more clear and manifest dereliction of duty, than we commit in this open and professed abandonment of our constitutional power and constitutional duty over the great interest of the national currency. I mean to maintain that constitu tional power, and that constitutional duty, to the last. It shall not be with my consent that our ancient policy is overturned. It shall not be with my consent that the country is plunged

farther and farther into the unfathomed depths of new expedients. It shall not be without a voice of remonstrance from me, that one great and important purpose for which this government was framed is now utterly surrendered and abandoned for ever.

SECOND SPEECH ON THE SUB-TREASURY.*

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, relying solely on this, 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, toward the close of a halfcentury 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

* Delivered in the Senate of the United States, on the 12th of March, 1838.

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 has become vast; and the general production of labor and capital is increasing, far beyond all example in other 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 object 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 high 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 cannot now be less than a hundred millions of dollars. Spreading over a great extent, embracing different climates, and with a 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 every sea. We are connected with all commercial countries, and especially 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