and a great debtor. It collects and it disburses large sums. In the loss, therefore, of a proper medium of payment and receipt, Government is a sufferer. But the people are sufferers from the same causes; and inasmuch as the whole amount of payments and receipts by the people, in their individual transactions, is many times greater than the amount of payments and receipts by Government, the aggregate of evil suffered by the people is also many times greater than that suffered by Government. Individuals have means as ample, in proportion to their wants, as Government; but they share with Government the common calamity arising from the overthrow of the currency. The honorable member from Mississippi [Mr. WALKER] has stated, or has quoted the statement from others, that while the payments and receipts of Government are twenty millions a year, the payments and receipts of individuals are two or three hundred millions. He has, I think, underrated the amount of individual payments and receipts. But even if he has not, the statement shows how little a part of the whole evil falls on Government. The great mass of suffering is on the people.

Now, sir, when we look at the Message, the bill, and the proposed amendment, their single, exclusive, and undivided object is found to be, relief to the Government. Not one single provision is adopted or recommended, with direct reference to the relief of the people. They all speak of revenue, of finance, of duties and customs, of taxes and collections; and the evils which the people suffer, by the derangement of the currency and the exchanges, and the breaking up of commercial credit, instead of being put forth as prominent and leading objects of regard, are dismissed with a slight intimation, here and there, that in providing for the superior and paramount interests of Government, some incidental or collateral benefits may, perhaps, accrue to the community. But is Government, I ask, to care for nothing but itself? Is self-preservation the great end of Government? Has it no trust powers? Does it owe no duties, but to itself? If it keeps itself in being, does it fulfil all the objects of its creation? I think not. I think Government

exists, not for its own ends, but for the public utility. It is an agency, established to promote the common good, by common counsels; its chief duties are to the people; and it seems to me strange and preposterous, in a moment of great and general distress, that Government should confine all its deliberations to the single object of its own revenues, its own convenience, its own undisturbed administration.

I cannot say, sir, that I was surprised to see this general character impressed on the face of the Message. I confess it appeared to me, when the banks stopped payment, that the administration had come to a pass in which it was unavoidable that it should take some such course. But that necessity was imposed, not by the nature of

the crisis, but by its own commitment to the line of politics which its predecessor had adopted, and which it had pledged itself to pursue.

It withdraws its care from the currency, because it has left itself no means of performing its own duties, connected with that subject. It has, voluntarily and on calculation, discarded and renounced the policy which has been approved for half a century, because it could not return to that policy without admitting its own inconsistency, and violating its party pledges. This is the truth of the whole

matter.

Now, sir, my present purpose chiefly is, to maintain two propositions

I. That it is the constitutional duty of this Government to see that a proper currency, suitable to the circumstances of the times, and to the wants of trade and business, as well as to the payment of debts due to Government, be maintained and preserved; a currency of general credit, and capable of aiding the operations of exchange, so far as those operations may be conducted by means of the circulating medium; and that there are duties, therefore, devolving on Congress, in relation to currency, beyond the mere regulation of the gold and silver coins.

II. That the Message, the bill, and the proposed amendment, all, in effect, deny any such duty, disclaim all such power, and confine the constitutional obligation of Government to the mere regulation of the coins, and the care of its own revenues.

I have well weighed, Mr. President, and fully considered, the first of these propositions; to wit, that which respects the duty of this Government, in regard to the currency. I mean to stand by it. It expresses, in my judgment, a principle fully sustained by the Constitution, and by the usage of the Government, and which is of the highest practical importance. With this proposition, or this principle, I am willing to stand connected, and to share in the judg ment which the community shall ultimately pronounce upon it. If the country shall sustain it, and be ready, in due time, to carry it into effect, by such means and instruments as the general opinion shall think best to adopt, I shall coöperate, cheerfully, in any such undertaking; and shall look again, with confidence, to prosperity in this branch of our national concerns. On the other hand, if the country shall reject this proposition, and act on that rejection; if it shall decide that Congress has no power, nor is under any duty, in relation to the currency, beyond the mere regulation of the coins; then, upon that construction of the powers and duties of Congress, I am willing to acknowledge that I do not feel myself competent to render any substantial service to the public councils, on these great interests. I admit, at once, that if the currency is not to be preserved by the Government of the United States, I know not

how it is to be guarded against constantly occurring disorders and derangements.

Before entering into the discussion of the grounds of this proposition, however, allow me, sir, a few words by way of preliminary explanation. In the first place, I wish it to be observed, that I am now contending only for the general principle, and not insisting either on the constitutionality, or expediency, of any particular means, or any particular agent. I am not saying by what instrument or agent Congress ought to perform this duty; I only say it is a duty, which, in some mode, and by some means, Congress is bound to perform. In the next place, let it be remembered, that I carry the absolute duty of Government, in regard to exchange, no farther than the operations of exchange may be performed by currency. No doubt, sir, a proper institution, established by Government, might, as heretofore, give other facilities to exchange, of great importance, and to a very great extent. But I intend, on this occasion, to keep clearly within the Constitution, and to assign no duty to Congress, not plainly enjoined by the provisions of that instrument, as fairly interpreted, and as heretofore understood.

The President says, it is not the province of Government to aid individuals in the transfer of their funds, otherwise than by the use of the post-office; and that it might as justly be called on to provide for the transportation of their merchandise.

Now, I beg leave to say, sir, with all respect and deference, that funds are transferred from individual to individual, usually for the direct purpose of the payment and receipt of debts; that payment and receipt are duties of currency; that, in my opinion, currency is a thing which Government is bound to provide for and superintend; that the case, therefore, has not the slightest resemblance to the transportation of merchandise, because the transportation of merchandise is carried on by ships and boats, by carts and wagons, and not by the use of currency, or of any thing else over which Govern ment has usually exclusive control. These things individuals can provide for themselves. But the transfer of funds is done by credit, and must be so done; and some proper medium for this transfer it is the duty of Government to provide, because it belongs to currency, to money, and is therefore beyond the power of individuals.

The nature of exchange, sir, is well understood by persons engaged in commerce; but as its operations are a little out of the sight of other classes of the community, although they have all a deep and permanent interest in the subject, I may be pardoned for a word or two of general explanation. I speak of domestic exchanges only. We mean, then, by exchange, this same transfer of funds. We mean the making of payment in a distant place, or the receiving of payment from a distant place, by some mode of paper credits. If done by draft, order, or bill of exchange, that is one form; if 26

VOL. III.

done by the transmission of bank notes, through the post-office, or otherwise, that is another form. In each, credit is used; in the first, the credit of the parties whose names are on the bill or draft; in the last, the credit of the bank. Every man, sir, who looks over this vast country, and contemplates the commercial connection of its various parts, must see the great importance that this exchange should be cheap and easy. To the producer and to the consumer, to the manufacturer and the planter, to the merchant, to all, in all classes, this becomes matter of moment. We may see an instance in the common articles of manufacture produced in the north, and sent to the south and west for sale and consumption. Hats, shoes, furniture, carriages, domestic hard-ware, and various other articles, the produce of those manufactories, and of those employments which are carried on without the aid of large capital, constitute a large part of this trade, as well as the fabrics of cotton and wool. Now, a state of exchange, which shall enable the producers to receive payment regularly, and without loss, is indispensable to any useful prosecution of this intercourse. Derangement of currency and exchange is ruinous. The notes of local banks will not answer the purpose of remittance; and if bills of exchange cannot be had, or can be had only at a high rate, how is payment to be received, or to be received without great loss? This evil was severely felt, even before the suspension of specie payment by the banks; and it will always be felt, more or less, till there is a currency of general credit and circulation through the country. But when the banks suspended, it became overwhelming. All gentlemen having northern acquaintance, must know the existence of this evil. I have heard it said, that the hitherto prosperous and flourishing town of Newark has already lost a considerable part of its population by the breaking up of its business, in consequence of these commercial embarrassments. And in cases in which business is not wholly broken up, if five or six per cent., or more, is to be paid for exchange, it by so much enhances the cost to the consumer, or takes away his profit from the producer. I have mentioned these articles of common product of northern labor; but the same evil exists in all the sales of imported goods; and it must exist, also, in the south, in the operations connected with its great staples. All the south must have, and has, constant occasion for remittance by exchange; and no part of the country is likely to suffer more severely by its derangement. In short, there can be no satisfactory state of internal trade, when there is neither cheapness, nor promptness, nor regularity, nor security, in the domestic exchanges.

I say again, sir, that I do not hold Government bound to provide bills of exchange, for purchase and sale. Nobody thinks of such a thing. If any institution established by Government can do this, as might be the case, and has been the case, so much the better.

But the positive obligation of Government I am content to limit to currency, and, so far as exchange is concerned, to the aid which may be afforded to exchange by currency. I have been informed that, a few years ago, before the charter of the late bank expired, at those seasons of the year when southern and western merchants usually visit the northern cities to make purchases, or make payment for existing liabilities, that bank redeemed its notes to the amount of fifty or even a hundred thousand dollars a day. These notes, having been issued in the west, were brought over the mountains, as funds to be used in the eastern cities. This was exchange; and it was exchange through the medium of currency; it was perfectly safe, and it cost nothing. This fact illustrates the importance of a currency of universal credit, to the business of exchange. Having made these remarks, for the purpose of explaining exchange, and showing its connection with currency, I proceed to discuss the general propositions.

Is it the duty, then, of this Government, to see that a currency be maintained, suited to the circumstances of the times, and to the uses of trade and commerce?

of

I need not, sir, on this occasion, enter historically into the wellknown causes, which led to the adoption of the present Constitution. Those causes are familiar to all public men; and among them, certainly, was this very matter of giving credit and uniformity to the money system of the country. The States possessed no system money and circulation; and that was among the causes of the stagnation of commerce. Indeed, all commercial affairs were in a disjointed, deranged, and miserable state. The restoration of commerce, the object of giving it uniformity, credit, and national character, were among the first incentives to a more perfect union of the States. We all know that the meeting at Annapolis, in 1786, sprang from a desire to attempt something which should give uniformity to the commercial operations of the several States; and that in and with this meeting, arose the proposition for a general convention, to consider of a new constitution of government. Every where, State currencies were depreciated, and continental money was depreciated also. Debts could not be paid, and there was no value to property. From the close of the war to the time of the adoption of this Constitution, as I verily believe, the people suffered as much, except in the loss of life, from the disordered state of the currency and the prostration of commerce and business, as they suffered during the war. All our history shows the disasters and afflictions which sprang from these sources; and it would be waste of time to go into a detailed recital of them. For the remedy of these evils, as one of its great objects, and as great as any one, the Constitution was formed and adopted.

Now, sir, by this Constitution, Congress is authorized to "coin