Hide Article Text (OCR)
/Jan. 27.P A HAMSWrai.tii,:r. Tm k or tinAT.tS PRO-1837. 5the Senate given that21.7,000 (i,70,000onthment of re-t i111r 'he •lt;1U of the ury «lraIts lt;'1U't-t(irs •V returned t.lv w ntild deposited aped sper.iejury,e TreasuryMR. ADAMS.We give a letter from Mr. Adams to Mr. Poster, touching the late conduct of the banks. As to remedy, he thinks “i| is the essential system of the present administration “ to detach the Governmentfrom all banking. So far we go tvith him; and we believe he will find “ Mr. Van Iluren j* mode of staff to go through srith this operation. Will he help him, as well as “ wish him well out of it 7The fling at Mr. Jefferson's gun-boats may be set down to an old grudge, lint coming from him as a blow at the banks, will he pardoned by many democrats. lie should remember that the gunboats fought bravely before New Orleans, and never deserted lo the enemy.The allusion to the Virginia and New York legislation, giving lime to the banks, goes beyond the mark. The Legislatures, we believe, meant to save the people, rather than the banks; and it is surely well to temprVthr fury of the storm, raised by alien interests, to innocent sufferers. Mr. Adams ought, however, lo know that the people and Legislatures of the States arc competent to manage their own business, and Ilia! lire President and the Federal Government ought to be, on the other hand, as independent of “other co-operators” in the management of national concerns.operatThe sion of their s lion, c or und of thei they si lion blt; paid ii Slate i free ol pay mi hereto debts i the an of the in dcfRNING. ents lo sig-outd surely the Monu-icre foreign ;ip last war if the fede-e of foreign leir allies— ns, embar-.1 the rhan-y of money,“T the pe canipr the tit of the of the Galigt | with trantho: arrcsr lish a F.mpe death, was jbinmqucrors—ancli of dais currency, uchsafe the s from rail-nn k notes.” d to render; Columbus, bration was tr. 'Webster ch that city earanee, the reception ofFrr'ii the Boston Courier of July 30.Mrt. Adams’s opinion.—The Daily Advocate of I yesterday contained a correspondence between Messrs. William Foster and .Tulin CL Adams. Mr.Foster requested Mr. Adams to favor the public with bis views on the appropriate policy of the Government m relation to the revenue. Mr. Adams’s reply is as follows:Ucincv, 1st July, 1837.ICii l.iill Foster, Esq. Boston.Dfar Sir: Your friendly letter of the 21st ult. has perhaps remained already too long unanswered; but when I received it, I had expressed opinions respecting the present condition of our public affairs, in answer to inquiries from some of my constituents of the 12th Congressional District, which have since been published, and which I presume are as explicit as you may think they ought to be at this time, and which will pass for what they are worth in the community.I still believe it the duty of every good citizen lo contribute, according to his ability, toward the forming and modifying of public opinion, because more iban ever the queen of the world ; but ■ the regulating of my own conduct, a lung and ing experience lias taught me two lessons, though t always to square mv conduct by them. The j aceoi s’t is, to distrust the correctness of my own opi- ! vjvj(| ms upon cverv thing prospective and conjectural : the second, never to Halter myself that my opi- | moU ns will have any influence upon the action of j affori y oilier human being. | deligThus, in the present condition of our country, I j an(| very decided opinions upon the past; differ-j * perhaps, considerably from yours; certainly I ol’Jec differing from lliose of a large majority of the ! sped eople of the United States. And as our views I he u of the expedient action for the future, might, in a I ^ ( it degree, depend upon the conclusions lo which | have come upon the past, it is impossible that j co^cshealtera convi timcl. ture c“Itlu me. wouh has, \ the ai nicnl “CoiIt iprom truth, yet ihavi in fotisrr took placei the Inteli t. But th: ■ssion. The r begins lhlt;d in the 1 ty of the ;■o and three ■ngth of tha t no ichig can ■neral result riends of the m the Sta'c shown at th ' eonsiderahl the State hv aents.”—JVulor of the In-phyous; outr: that the 1 prodingtir. Turner's— !/ (the ailminis-in at all; and dministrntion. ■er its enemy.I! (ICO and three iter say of Mr. rhen no whigthe measures which I should derm the only effective ions remedies for our complaints should be acceplable amin to the ruling power of the country. I am, and j luring a great part of my life have been, in a minority. It is the business of the majority to propose and accomplish measures. It is too much he practice of minorities to expend all their ener-:ies upon devices to defeat tile measures of the majority- The question of right and icrong, so far as mv experience goes, is of usn to either party only for the purpose, of making professions.We are now in the midst of a national bankruptcy—occasioned by the insolvency of multitudes of i indiviiuats. We are now told that all the banks I w in the United States have suspended specie payments. ' | beof property at defiance1? If the | Qn ertor* of a bank have issued a j _ ilhon of bills, promising lo pay five dollars lo die holder of each and every one of them, the -nspension of specie payments is, by one act, ihc breach of one million of promises. What is this but fraud upon every holder of their bills? And what difference is there between the preside ill and directors of such a band, and the skil-•ul artist who engraves a bank bill, a fae-simile of j onr die bill Sliced by the President and directors, and saves thrm the trouble of signing it, by doing it for '.heird The only difference that I can see in the two operations is, that the artist gives evidence of supe-iur skill and superior modesty. It requires more ali-nt to sign another man’s name than one’s own; lid the counterfeiter dues at least his work in the ark, while the suspenders of specie payments irazen it in the face of day, and laugh at the vic-ns and dupes who have pul faith in their presetting the presidentCongressional n the choice of cti. Thcv areYon ask what is to be the remedy for this stale of things? There are two remedies, both of which may he practicable. One is, that the Congress of ihe United States should exercise its powers lo regulate the currency; hut they must do this (whichhey will not) without consulting hanks, their preward,Kim,’homas.ct. Kt. 1835.•e “ F all IlurenNow he says of the adminis-.atc—the same 3 last election nnsiderabte in-e State by thele Intelligencer has had a gain1 in the feliow-apable of prar-.1 from ;'J! the lected by a malic same districtBanks aihe ivane in thornicrs arc are asccnding,Co,.-t Johns..edhimself lit011the rotoriencls of the ad-nmoi, the regu-Thc election of j Ficuts, and directors. The Legislature of New York and Virginia have already shown what the president and dirccters of hanks will advise. And ilie proposal of the president of a broken bank in Charleston, South Carolina, to begin with an imcndment to the Constitution granting powers to Congress, which have already been granted ilirm, end which they have twice exercised lo the great benefit of ihe nation, is an insult at once to our understanding, and upon our misfortunes.As liule do I relish his oilier proposal of a general convention.of broken bank presidents and directors, to enlighten Congress with their advice: a convention of bankrupts to teach Congress reverence for the obligation of contracts, and how to make nothing but gold and silver a tender for the payment of debts!—of all remedies for existing evils the last I would resort to would be a spurious coin from ihe mint of nullification.The other remedy which I believe practicable is that of Solon—a sponge upon the account of debtor and creditor—wipe out alt old scores and begin again. This is the hard money system, and so far is I can judge, it is the essential system of the prc--oiit administration—it is to detach the Government from all banking, and deal in nothing but the precious metals. If Mr. Van Buren is made of stuff to i ii through with this operation, 1 wish him Well out of it; hut he will want other co-operatois than the Legislatures of New York and Virginia; and other advisers than presidents or directors of broken banks, or land-jobbers upon loans from dcposite hanks.I think of this as I thought of die dry-dock gunboat restrictive anti-navy system of Mr. Jefferson. It cost the nation a terrible war to be delivered of that; but the nation was effectually cured of its hydrophobia. The war was a drastic purge; but ii oll’i etualiy worked its cure. I fear that our present bankruptcy e.ffl need a still more violent course of alteratives, huf li:e cure will come when the people arc prepared to receive it. They are certainly not :o now—they will most piohably not he so during the remnant of mv term of life. I hope you will mss and enjoy the convalescence the freedom with which i have aivercdform party, and j ’our letlcpent, youme to he, with great r J. Q. ADAMS.;ant,
Newspaper Details
Washington Globe
Washington, Washington-DC, US
Tue, Aug 01, 1837
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Victoria H.
USA 01 Aug 2024
Other Publications Near Washington, Washington-DC
Washington American Eagle
Washington National Intelligencer
Washington Globe
District of Columbia Evening Star
Washington Garfield Memorial
