SENATE.]

Maine Petitions.

[FEBRUARY, 1834. present suffering, and to avert the threatened deposits; and that it was not necessary to redanger of still greater injury. They do not un-tain but a limited amount of specie in the vaults, dertake to point out in what that relief shall with a view to meet any rare and extraordinary consist, or the mode in which it shall be ob- occasion, because if one dollar was taken out, tained; but leave it, with confidence, to the another was deposited; and thus, what was wisdom and enlightened patriotism of Congress. removed by one depositor, was replaced by anThey come here to the legislature-they do not other. In this view, he arrived at the conclugo to the Executive-because they do not be- sion, that it was not necessary for the United lieve that it belongs to the Executive depart-States Bank to retain specie to an amount bement of this Government to produce and sus-yond two or three millions, whereas it had now tain a sound currency, any more than that it twenty-two millions to meet and fifteen millegitimately appertains to it to produce a de- lions to meet it. ranged and unsound currency. This memorial is signed by all classes of citizens-merchants, mechanics, artisans, and laborers of all parties; and from personal acquaintance with many of the memorialists, I bear willing and cheerful and decided testimony to their high respectability-to the entire confidence which ought to be reposed in all their statements. And, from the knowledge that I have of those who have transmitted the memorial, and given me their certificate as to the high respectability of those with whom I am personally unacquainted, I am confident in the belief, that all the memorialists are highly respectable.

The petitions having been read

Mr. SHEPLEY rose and said, that very soon after he was called to take a seat in this chamber, he had made a few remarks on the subject of the public distress. He had then borne testimony, that, when he came into the Senate, he was unacquainted with any extraordinary distress then existing in the money market. He had not had occasion to believe, at that day, that he was mistaken in the view which he had presented. He now understood, that, when Congress met, there was no greater distress in the money market in his section of the country, than frequently existed under ordinary circumstances. He wished that it was in his power to believe that the same state of things now existed; but he was now satisfied that it was far otherwise, and that there existed in the money market a distress unparalleled, pervading all classes of the community. It was never his desire to state any thing more than the truth. He had waited during the last eighty days, to understand wherefore it was that, day after day, they were to be told that there was an existing distress, and that this distress was increasing. He thought that he had now obtained so much knowledge, as enabled him to understand the subject. He held in his hand a statement of the condition of the United States Bank on the 1st of this month, which came from a friendly hand, and which he would now beg permission to read to the Senate.

[Here Mr. S. read the monthly statement of the condition of the bank.]

He then went on to say, that, in relation to the deposits in the United States Bank, every experienced banker, as well as every man of good sense, knew that a bank soon became experimentally acquainted with the average of its

He had understood that the President of the United States Bank had, on more than one occasion, complained of the accumulation of specie; had at one time transported a quantity to Europe, because there was a surplus in the vaults; and had given it as his opinion, that seven millions of specie was sufficient to meet the greatest circulation of paper. He believed that the president of the bank was correct in this view, and that one dollar in specie was sufficient for an issue of five dollars in paper.

He inferred from this view that it was in the power of the bank, on the 1st of February, to circulate twenty millions more of its bills than it had circulated, and without any danger to itself, and the circulation of ten millions would have greatly relieved the country. The bank had sometimes expressed a desire to relieve the country, but what now was its conduct? It had curtailed, instead of extending its accommodations; and what was to be expected in the future? He held in his hand a paper, which spoke the sentiments of the bank to the people. He wished it to be well understood what the people had to expect from this quarter. A few days since, a communication appeared in a newspaper, asking of the United States Bank to extend its loans to the community. There was now another paragraph in the same newspaper,speaking in a somewhat singular tone, and as if by authority, and adopting such language as no one could use who was not in a situation of some power. If the writer had not the power to carry his suggestions into effect, he must have been a very presumptuous man to use such language. He referred to an article in the National Intelligencer, in the form of a communication, which he would now read.

[Here Mr. S. read the article referred to.]

Mr. S. continued. What did this paper say? It was directed to public opinion, and declared what the bank would do; and that was nothing, until the State banks should be prohibited by their stockholders from receiving the public deposits; thus causing them to be restored to the Bank of the United States. Let this be done, and every thing will go well; distress and anguish will no longer exist. All the evils so loudly complained of will at once be remedied, and confidence and security again prevail. But if the stockholders of the State banks will not move, so as to prohibit their institution from receiving the deposits, why, then,

Removal of the Deposits.

things must grow worse and worse, the dis-ence of opinion, I should feel it my duty, as tresses of the country become deeper and deep- one of the representatives of Virginia on this er, until it ends in absolute ruin. He knew floor, to conform to the views expressed by her not who were authorized to use the language legislature, if, in the circumstances in which I of this paper, but he believed they spoke from am placed, I could do so without dishonor. I some authority; and that, if they did so speak, hold it, sir, to be a vital principle of our politit was one which sought to control the councils ical system, one indispensable to the preservaas well as the finances of the nation. They say tion of our institutions, that the representative, that not only deep distress is felt throughout the whether a member of this or the other House, land, but that, unless the deposits are restored is bound to conform to the opinions and wishes to the Bank of the United States, it will become of his constituents, authentically expressed; or, still deeper. Much as he deplored the existence if he be unable to do so, from overruling and of distress of any kind, he had rather bear any imperious considerations, operating upon his that might arise from pecuniary causes, than conscience or honor, to surrender his trust into submit to a declaration of the kind given in the the hands of those from whom he derived it, paper he had referred to; and he well knew that they may select an agent who can better that the people of his State would endure the carry their views into effect. severest privations, no matter from what causes they might arise, sooner than be dictated to by an authority coming from a moneyed institution.

SENATE.]

Removal of the Deposits.

[FEBRUARY, 1834.

of the State-that of the people. On the contrary, my firm and clear conviction is, that the sentiments of the people, in the present instance, are not in unison with the proceedings of the legislative authority. The manifestations of popular sentiment already commencing in various quarters of the State-the principles and opinions heretofore steadily cherished by Virginia-multiplied communications received from the most respectable sources and my own knowledge, I may be permitted to add, of a people with whom I have been connected, in the relations of public service, for now near twenty years-assure me that they are not; and the revolution of a few months will, I con

the world. But, in the regulation of my official conduct here, I am not permitted to look beyond the constitutional expression of the opinion of the State, by its regular and proper organ. If a Senator were allowed to set up against the public opinion of his State, as officially and solemnly declared by her legislature, a hypothetical public opinion, which may or may not be that of the people of the State, it is obvious that a door would be opened for the total evasion of all effective responsibility of this body to public opinion. It is on the legis latures of the States that the constitution has devolved the choice of members of this body, and the same legislatures must be the interpreters of the public opinion of their respective States to the Senators chosen by them, whenever an occasion shall arise which may call for a solemn manifestation of that opinion.

conduct of the President, with reference to the removal of the public deposits, was a dangerous and unconstitutional assumption of power; the second, declaring the reasons assigned by the Secretary of the Treasury for that removal, to be unsatisfactory and insufficient. When the latter of these resolutions, together with the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, was referred some days ago to the Committee on Finance, that committee did not report a bill or joint resolution for the restoration of the deposits, but simply a recommendation that the Senate should adopt the declaratory resolution of the Senator from Kentucky. In short, it is now avowed and understood, on all hands, that all that is deemed necessary, or will be pro-fidently believe, render the fact manifest to all posed here, to effect the restoration of the public moneys to the Bank of the United States, is a mere declaration, by Congress, of the insufficiency of the reasons assigned for their removal. The only measures, then, on which I shall be called to carry into effect the instructions of the legislature of my State are, the declaratory resolutions moved by the Senator from Kentucky, and now depending before the Senate. That these resolutions are, in the estimation of the General Assembly of Virginia, proper measures-that the opinions and principles declared by them are believed by the General Assembly to be correct and well founded-it would be unpardonable blindness to the language and tenor of their instructions not to see. At the same time, it is well known to the Senate that, on each of the propositions declared in these resolutions, I had (and I will take leave to add, after the most careful and anxious investigation) This is indeed the only practicable mode of come to opposite conclusions, which I had ear- bringing the opinion of the sovereign communestly asserted and maintained on this floor. I nity, represented in this body, to act, with auam, therefore, placed, by the instructions of thoritative influence, on its proceedings; and the legislature of my State, in this dilemma- when it is considered that the Senate is, by the either to vote for the declaratory resolutions of greater permanency of its official tenure, farther the Senator from Kentucky, and thereby ex- removed from the salutary controls of the reppress opinions which I not only do not enter-resentative system than any other branch of tain, but the reverse of which I have sincerely and earnestly maintained on this floor; or, by voting against them, to oppose the only measures which are likely to come before this body, having in view the restoration of the public deposits to the Bank of the United States, and thus appear in the attitude of disregarding and thwarting the declared_wishes of the General Assembly of Virginia. I am sure I but respond to the honorable feelings of all who hear me, in saying that the first branch of the alternative is impossible, while the latter is no less forbidden by my principles, and a proper sense of duty to the constituted authorities of my State. The only course left to me, then, is one which the Senate can be at no loss to anticipate.

Before I close the few remarks with which I have felt myself called on to trouble the Senate, I beg leave to say, that, while I recognize implicitly the resolutions just read as the legitimate and contitutional expression of the opinion of my State, I wish not to be understood as saying that they express the real public opinion

the Government, all will see the necessity of keeping open a clear and designated channel by which public opinion may promptly reach it, in an authoritative form, and be made effectual on its deliberations. It is thus essential to the practical supremacy of the popular will itself, that the State legislatures should be recognized as the authentic and constitutional exponents of the popular opinion of the respective States, in all relations with this body. If, in any instance, the legislatures of the States shall mistake the opinions of the people, it is, as I conceive, for the people themselves, and not for us, to correct the mistake.

These, Mr. President, are, very briefly, the opinions I entertain on the delicate questions presented for my consideration by the instructions of the legislature of my State, just read; and the only alternative they leave me, in the circumstances in which I am placed, is to surrender the trust with which I have been honored, as a member of this body, into the hands of those from whom I received it. I know

well, Mr. President, and I feel, how much of honor and of satisfaction I give up in abandoning my seat on this floor. I abandon what I have ever regarded the highest honor of my public life-an honor than which none higher, in my opinon, can be presented to the ambition of an American citizen. I sacrifice social and kindly relations with many members of this body-I would fain hope with all-which have been the source of the highest satisfaction to me here, and the remembrance of which I shall cherish with sincere pleasure in the retirement whither I go. I know and feel the weight of these sacrifices, but, great as they are, I make them without a sigh, as the most emphatic homage I can render to a principle I believe vital to the republican system, and indispensable to the safe and salutary action of our political institutions.

The resolutions were then referred to the Committee on Finance, and ordered to be printed.

MONDAY, February 24.
Public Distress.

Mr. SMITH said that he had had committed to his care, with a view of their being presented to the Senate, sundry petitions and resolutions. Two of these petitions were from the town of New Haven, one signed by about 700 citizens of that place. This memorial described the sufferings and the distress under which the petitioners labored, but without going into further detail. Some delay had occurred in the reception of this petition. Finally, another meeting of the citizens was called, and took place at the City Hall, at which sundry resolutions were passed, describing the severity of the public sufferings, ascribing these sufferings to the removal of the deposits, and expressing the opinion of the meeting that the Bank of the United States ought to be rechartered. To this last petition were attached the signatures of about 900 citizens of New Haven.

TUESDAY, February 25.

New Jersey Resolutions.

[SENATE.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN presented the resolutions adopted at a county meeting of the citizens of Cumberland county, in the State of New Jersey, and the memorial of the same meeting, containing eight hundred and ten signatures on the subject of the distressed condition and deranged currency of the country, which they ascribe to the removal of the public deposits from the Bank of the United States, and praying for their restoration. Mr. F. spoke at large in favor of the object of the petitioners.

WEDNESDAY, February 26.
Public Distress.

Mr. CHAMBERS said he had been charged by a committee of gentlemen, deputed for that purpose, to present the memorial of sundry merchants, mechanics, laborers, and others, of the city of Baltimore, on the subject of the embarrassments of the money market, which the memorialists said had been occasioned by the course pursued by the Bank of the United States, and intended for the purpose of forcing a renewal of its charter. The memorialists, Mr. C. said, express their entire confidence in the Executive, declare that the restoration of the public deposits to the bank would be highly injurious to the country, and pray that they may not be restored. The committee, with whom he was personally acquainted, Mr. C. said, were highly respectable, and, from the character given of the signers of the memorial, he was confident they were equally so. committee stated that the number of signers to the memorial was 3,558, and he had no doubt of the correctness of the statement. He moved that the memorial be read, printed, and referred to the Committee on Finance. He also asked that the names appended to the memorial be printed, as it was a duplicate of one intended to be presented to the House of Representatives, but, from the press of business in that House, had not yet been done.

The motion of Mr. CHAMBERS was carried.

Pennsylvania Memorials.

The

Another of these petitions was from the city of Hartford, in Connecticut, and was signed by about 300 citizens of that place. He held, also, in his hand, resolutions adopted by the Hartford Bank, in which the directors of that insti- Mr. McKEAN said he held a memorial signed tution ascribed the sufferings under which the by 1,858 inhabitants of Berks county, Pa., reitcommunity were laboring, to the removal of erating the daily lamentation of pecuniary disthe public deposits; and expressed it as their tress, and remonstrating against the recent acgrave opinion, that the Bank of the United tion of the Government in removing the public States should be rechartered, with modifica- deposits from the United States Bank. This tions. memorial, and the accompanying letter, Mr. From the Phoenix Bank he had received res-M. said he was requested to lay before the Senolutions similar in their purport. The Connecticut River Bank, established in the same place, had transmitted to him resolutions of the like character. And he had received resolutions, looking to the same object, from the Fire Insurance Company of Hartford, a corporation of great business and high respectability.

ate, by a highly respectable deputation who had visited the seat of Government for that purpose, and who instructed and especially requested him to state that the memorialists are without distinction of political parties, and, indeed, he said, it could hardly be otherwise, as, he believed, the election returns would show, that scarcely more than half the number that had

SENATE.]

Louisville (Ky.) Memorial.

[FEBRUARY, 1834.

signed the memorial were, at any time, opposed | good market existed for all the products of into General Jackson, in Berks county. He knew dustry. The people were out of debt, fulla number who were the fast friends of General handed, in good health; grateful for the nuJackson, among which he recognized the name merous blessings which they enjoyed, and withof his friend William Addams, who was asso- out the smallest presentiment of approaching ciated with him (Mr. M.) on the Jackson elec- calamity. This gratifying picture was now toral ticket in 1832. His (Mr. M.'s) objections sadly reversed, and he was charged with the to the United States Bank remained unchanged, duty of presenting to the Senate a memorial and had never been disguised; but, it was due from a large and highly respectable portion of to truth, and to this respectable portion of his his fellow-citizens, exhibiting the contrast, and constituents, to make these statements. imploring redress from Congress of their grievances. Louisville is the third, if not the second, of the three largest cities on the banks of the Ohio River, and, from its location at the rapids of that beautiful stream, is decidedly the first in commercial importance. Her two great sisters, Pittsburg, and Cincinnati, have already addressed their complaints to Congress, and Louisville now comes to unite her voice and her supplications to theirs.

He also had in charge the proceedings of a meeting of the mechanics and working men of the Northern Liberties, in the county of Phila- | delphia, in favor of the bank and a restoration of the deposits; and a memorial signed by fifty-one citizens of Schuylkill county, against the bank and the restoration of the deposits; all of which he desired to send to the Chair, and asked that they be each read, referred to the Committee on Finance, and printed.

sentatives representing Louisville, to be offered to that House. This copy he now submitted to the Senate. Upwards of 1,000 signatures were attached to it, embracing individuals of both parties, almost the whole of the mercantile

that rising city. He knew personally many of the memorialists, among whom are the presi dent and all the directors who were in Louisville, of the bank which had been selected to receive the Government deposits, and he hazarded nothing in saying that the memorialists constituted the great majority of the men of business, wealth, and respectability of Louisville. That bank, he had understood, by a unanimous vote of the board of directors, had rescinded the contract with the Secretary of the Treasury relating to the public deposits.

He held in his hand the copy of a petition, Mr. CLAY said he wished to make an obser- the original of which has been confided to the vation or two. He imagined that the support-charge of the member of the House of Repreers of that Executive who holds in his hands the means of affording relief to the distressed people of this country, would no longer insist upon the fact that these various memorials emanated from party feeling. They had found themselves already, in the progress of the ses-class, and men of every pursuit in business in sion, greatly mistaken in point of fact as respects the distress prevailing in the community. They had been compelled to own their mistake; and he (Mr. C.) trusted that they would now see that the language which is transmitted in the various memorials to Congress, does not proceed from those only who are opposed to the administration, but that it issues from all parties -that the struggle which is now going on is not a party struggle, but one resulting from universal, deeply felt, wide-spread distress throughout the whole country. Let Senators take the case before them as an example. He had it in his power to state, for he had understood it from the gentleman who was charged with the presentation of the memorial, that in 1828, the whole amount of votes given against the Chief Magistrate by the county of Berks, were but 937, whilst he had nearly 5,000 votes; and in 1832, there were 4,544 given for him, and 1,166 against him. This memorial he (Mr. C.) understood was subscribed by 1,860 individuals, and it ought to be added that it came only from a part of the county. In five or six other townships, as he had been informed, of the same county, memorials were in circulation, but the subscriptions to them were not completed, and therefore could not be forwarded with the pres

ent one.

The motion of Mr. MOKEAN was agreed to.

Louisville (Ky.) Memorial. Mr. CLAY rose to present a memorial. When he left, last September, the State of which he was a Senator, he had never beheld it in a condition of higher prosperity. The earth had yielded an abundant crop; and a ready and

The existence of deep, wide-spread, and unexampled distress, is no longer disputed. It cannot be controverted. Intelligence of it is borne from every quarter, by every mail, in every form of private communication, as well as public petition and public proceedings. Those who were at first incredulous, are now forced to confess it. It stretches from the wild lands of Maine to the alluvial formations of the Mississippi. All parts of the Union feel, and are writhing under it. The Senator from Georgia (Mr. FORSYTHI) had denied its existence at Augusta; but at Augusta we had seen a call, from a large number of citizens, for a public meeting to take into consideration the prevailing distress. He had hoped that Kentucky would have been among the last that would suffer, although he knew it would be among the first to feel and manifest its sympathy for the sufferings of others. But the blight has reached her;, and what State, what interest, sooner or later, must not feel its influence?

[Mr. Clay continued to speak at great length upon the topics of the memorial, and was followed by Mr. Tallmadge and Mr. Clayton on the same side.]