Speech Of Mr Davis Upon The Bill Reported By The Committee Of Finance And Commonly Called The Sub Treasury Bill Delivered In The Senate On The 28th Of February And 1st Of March 1838

Author : Mr. Davis
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781332519064
Total Pages : 22 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (19 download)

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Download or read book Speech of Mr. Davis of Massachusetts on the Sub-Treasury Bill in the Senate of the United States, January 23, 1840 (Classic Reprint) written by Mr. Davis and published by . This book was released on 2015-08-09 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Speech of Mr. Davis of Massachusetts on the Sub-Treasury Bill in the Senate of the United States, January 23, 1840 I have been anticipated, to a considerable extent, by the Senator from Mississippi, (Mr. Henderson.) In what I have to say, I shall, however, confine myself chiefly to the speech of the Senator from Pennsylvania, who has gone more in detail into the subject, for we all acknowledge his ability on this floor, and his capacity to do ample justice to the subjects which he discusses. I do not propose to follow him through a very large portion of his elaborate argument to prove that Executive power has of late been shunned instead of sought after, or that the present and the old Bank of the United States are identical, and both national banks. Enough has been said on these points. He has, however, asserted that we have abandoned all the arguments which we have before used against the Sub-Treasury, because the progress of events has prove them unsound. Not so; far from it. With others, I entered into that debate, which is before the public, and the arguments unrefuted stand as firm as ever; but it would be a profitless task to reiterate them here, and this is the reason why they are passed over in the discussion. But, sir, I will not dwell upon any of these matters, but go to that in hand. The Senator says we labor under distressing embarrassments, and so we do; no one will have the hardihood to deny it, for all the country in sorrow bears testimony to it. We have, it is true, seen an occasional gleam of light, but it has been soon obscured, and we have been shrouded in a gloomy uncertainty. He says further, that the cause is the excessive issue of bank paper, speculation, and a bloated (I use his words) credit system. He lodges the guilt on the backs of the banks alone. It is neither just nor fair to hold them alone responsible, and I will make it manifest by showing that they were seduced into their errors by the Administration. Before the late President (Jackson) seized the public money and took it into his own custody, in 1833, there was no complaint about the currency; all the people know this, for all, even the President himself in one of his messages, united in declaring, in substance, it was sound, and equal to that of any nation on earth. There was no complaint, no inconvenience, no embarrassments, from this source, in doing business; but contentment and satisfaction everywhere. About this there could be no mistake, nor will any one here attempt to refute the well-known facts. But from that act of the President, which was the first movement to reform the currency, to this day, there has been what the Senator has been pleased to call "expansion, contraction, and explosion," in rapid and fearful succession; crisis upon crisis, pressure upon pressure, panic upon panic, have succeeded, till we have reached a state of suspicion and alarm that has deranged and almost suspended business. The storm in its fury has swept over the country, once and again uprooting the stateliest and firmest trees, and leaving in its track a dreary, desolate waste. Its marks are too deeply engraven, too distinct, too well defined, to leave any thing uncertain - any thing equivocal. It fell upon us with such withering energy, as to leave no doubt when, where and how it began. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com