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is not without a foundation in fact, though the Whigs both misunderstand and misname it. It grows simply out of the fact that the one party does possess a certain set of definite and distinct general principles, and the other does not. The difference is that between a fleet of vessels united for a common voyage and provided each with a compass, and one deprived of that means of safe and independent self-direction, in the forward way along which all are bound, and compelled to watch only the signals and flags of uncertain leaders. We do sail together much better in squadron than the Whigs-because we all collectively and individually know whither we are going, and why; and because we steer by a steady guide common to all while distinct for each; while our leaders are fain compelled to keep true to the same general tack, under the necessary penalty of ceasing to be either our leaders, or of us at all. The nomination of such candidates as Harrison and Tyler-(we mean candidates occupying similar relative political attitudes towards their party and the public)-never could have happened to us, nor could we therefore have been plunged into a similar confusion by the death of any individual. No man could be nominated in our party, no man would be voted for by it, whose opinions were not so thoroughly known, and his character proved, as to assure a perfect harmony between us and him in the administration of the government.

To carry the question a step farther back, to a higher general principle, or rather to a more general statement of the law of which the present state of things in the Whig camp is the result -no party can govern a free republic whose character is not in harmony with the genius of the people and their fundamental institutions. That genius is democratic, and the Democratic party can alone govern this country. The natural and proper attitude for the Whig party to occupy is that of opposition-a vigilant and severe opposition to check the tendency of power to abuse and misuse. A combination of accidental circumstances can alone ever bring them into power-transferring them from the negative to the positive pole, in the electrical equilibriumand then it can only be by such very means as must necessarily make it im

possible for them to frame and maintain any conceivable administration, in consistency with itself and harmony with its party. This can only happen occasionally and at distant intervals; it cannot continue beyond a single term of administration; and after effecting the good for which it was designed, in the order of Providence, as a lesson to the proper dominant party, a moderating check on their natural tendency to over-action, and a re-purification from the corruptions and abuses of prolonged political power, the anti-democratic party must naturally and necessarily recede back into its accustomed and proper place, of minority and opposition.

We speak here of the characters and tendencies of principles. We know indeed that among a considerable portion of the Whig party themselves, there is as much of the democratic sentiment and spirit as among any portion of our own. Vast numbers whose more natural position would be on our side, are misled by the confusion in which some of the principal issues between the parties are kept by the clamors and misrepresentations of an active press; others by those protestations of a democratic character which have been so freely plied, notwithstanding the unconcealed disgust and contempt of other portions, as expressed in the intercourse of private life; others by difference of opinion on one point or another of practical policy from that of the controlling majority of our party. We speak of the general tone and tendency of their principles, and that is essentially anti-democratic. For they are the party that never fails to advocate strong and splendid government— to favor all latitudinarian constructions of the Constitution-to oppose all new projects of reform in the direction of popular liberty and the extension of power of the numerical masses-and to discountenance the adoption of universal suffrage in other communities, even when compelled to a silent acquiescence and submission to it at home.

For their leaders, we have not the same respect, nor the same confidence in their honesty of intention and principle, that we cheerfully accord to the great body of their followers. In a democratic country, the leader of a party essentially anti-democratic in character cannot, as a general rule, be honest politicians-excepting, of course,

the small number of prouder and braver spirits, who, sincerely imbued with anti-popular principles, have the courage and the truth to avow and maintain them in defiance of their unpopularity. They must perpetually dissemble, pretend, conceal, intriguethey must have recourse to the vile trickeries of demagoguism-they must cheat the people, indirectly if not directly, to gain their support, even though they console their consciences with the belief that it is for their own best good; and they must always and every where address themselves as eagerly as possible to all great special interests, and accumulations of wealth and power; such as banks, manufacturing interests, corporations, &c., &c. to gain their favor and support, by those concessions, to their special advantage, which can only be made at the corresponding injury to the rights and interests of the people at large.

And look at the spectacle of all their shuffling, shifting, shambling, and shameful manoeuvring now at Washington! See one cabinet minister sticking to his place, for the manifest sole sake of the place, after a full participation in transactions which compelled the withdrawal of the rest of his colleagues--though on which side rested the imputation of bad faith in those transactions, may well be a question. See another, within a few days after penning with his own hand a violent political and personal denunciation of the President, coolly and quietly walk over to take a seat at his very council board; thus proving an admirable fitness for the place, so far at least as regards his knowledge of one of the manœuvres of military tactics, the "right about face!" See, in the composition of a cabinet, the harmonious fraternization of nullification with federalism, the ultra-latitudinarianism of a Webster with the ultra strictness of construction of an Upton. See all the intriguing chica nery of legislation, the unblushing bargaining and selling of mutual votes, the train-band discipline of caucussing, the undisguised subordination of patriotic duty and right to personal animosities, jealousies, and ambitions, in a degree which has never before disgraced the action of any Congress. See a Bankrupt act bought by a Land Fund Distribution act. See a Land Bill secured by the concession of an essential proviso

VOL. XI.-NO. XLIX.

13

to guard against a violation of the faith of the Compromise act-and then see the insertion of a clause in a subsequent bill repealing that proviso, in disregard of all the indignant outcries against the bad faith of the transaction, raised by those who, most deservedly, were made its dupes. See those repeated instances of vacillation in action on the most important measures, which proves it in neither case to be prompted by any higher motive than shifting calculations of a petty expediency,—as, for instance, on the Apportionment Bill in the Senate, when a strict caucus-trained party vote reverses one day a proposition undeniably reasonable and right which had been adopted on the day before by a large majority. And again, in the other House, in its action on the Senate amendments to the same Bill,-after elaborate discussion they had been rejected, by decisive votes, accompanied by every indication of a very determined spirit; when suddenly, behold, one fine morning after an evening caucus, the House, with beautiful precision of drill, wheels short round, abandons its position and all the arguments by which it had been sustained, and without even a committee of conference, or any attempt at compromise, gives in a submissive adhesion to the dictation of the party leaders of the other branch! See, too, in the one body the purely factious rejection of nominations of the most unexceptionable personal character-in one marked case even after the same individual had been but a short time before confirmed without objection for an office of a higher value and responsibility;-and in the other body, the adoption of legislation for the undisguised object of

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heading" the President, and of coercing his assent to an obnoxious principle by coupling it as a proviso with an indispensable Revenue Bill for the very continuance of the government. Who can behold such a spectacle as is thus daily exhibited to the world by the present dominant majority in both branches of Congress, without a blush of shame and a sigh of sorrow,-and an earnest prayer that Time would speed the slow wheels of his car, and expedite the welcome hour which shall soon witness the country's riddance from the ascendency of the Whig Régime at Washington!

MONTHLY FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL ARTICLE.

In the spring of 1837, owing to a complication of causes that have frequently been discussed, the banking system of the States reached its culmination and exploded, prostrating in bankruptcy every institution of the country. In the short space of one year the banks of New England and New York returned to specie payments, and have since firmly maintained their position. In all other sections of the country, west, south, and south-west, a false system has been pursued, and for five years an unremitting struggle has been kept up between the bank debtors on one hand, and their creditors on the other. The banks themselves have supposed it for their interest to side with the former, and have refused to pay their own debts, under the plea that they could not do so without oppressing their debtors. At times, however, public opinion has expressed itself so fcrcibly in favor of a sound currency, that the banks have been compelled to attempt specie payments. On the 1st January, 1839, the United States Bank took the lead, and resumption became general throughout the Union. The inherent weakness of the dreadfully mismanaged institution at the head of the movement was such, however, that it soon became evident that specie payments could not be maintained. The catastrophe was hastened by threatened hostilities between Great Britain and the United States, in January and February, 1839, growing out of difficulties in relation to the boundary question. The immediate effect of the war panic was to prevent the negotiation of American stocks in the London market. The sale of these stocks was the only means by which the United States Bank could hope to sustain itself. The stocks of the several States were obtained by it on credit, and as long as they could be sold in the foreign market, the bank was supplied with active means. As we have stated, this was checked by the apprehension of hostilities, and it became evident that nothing could save the institution

from bankruptcy. Just at this juncture, therefore, Mr. Biddle, with commendable foresight, resigned the presidency of the bank. This was in March, 1839. His letter of resignation stated that the bank was in "a sound and prosperous condition." This statement was endorsed by the directors, who voted him a service of plate, valued at $25,000, equal to one ton of pure silver, as a compliment for his services. On the 11th of October, 1839, five months after this occurrence, the bank failed, and was followed in suspension by all the banks of the south and west. The delusion was still kept up that the institution was suspended, not broken, and an irredeemable paper currency was continued fourteen months longer, until January, 1841, when public opinion again enforced resumption, which became general. Practical men had, however, no confidence in it. The United States Bank was felt to be insolvent; accordingly that monster, raised upon its legs by artificial means, staggered on six week's and then fell prostrate to rise no more. Shortly after it was put in process of liquidation. Its stock now sells for $3 per share, and its circulating notes at 63 per cent. discount. After the failure of this ghost of a national bank, the sound banks in different parts of the Union began to discover that to save themselves they must resume on their own footing. The South Carolina and Savannah banks accordingly successively returned to specie payments, and have since maintained it, with the exception of some weak ones, which gave way. The cloak of suspension no longer served to screen the insolvent institutions, and they were forced to wind up-to what extent, the list furnished in our last number gives evidence. We would here mention, however, that in that list we stated that the "Planters' Bank" of Georgia had stopped. It should have been "Planters and Mechanics' Bank." The people in all parts of the Union became so impatient of the depreciated currency furnished by the banks, that

several State legislatures were forced to take the matter in hand, and fix days on which payments were to be resumed, under pain of forfeiture. The Ohio banks did so in March, those of Pennsylvania and NewJersey, in April, and were followed by those of Baltimore, and at the date of our last, the following banks were paying specie:

Ohio,
Maryland,
Georgia,
Pennsylvania,

Michigan,
Delaware,
North Carolina,
New Jersey,

Missouri.

The banks of the following States have since returned to specie pay

ments:
Illinois,
North Carolina,

Kentucky,
New Orleans,

Indiana.

The banks of Tennessee were required, by law, to resume within 20 days after those of Kentucky and New Orleans should have done so. The law of Louisiana required the banks of that State to resume on the first Monday of December, 1842. The

same state of the public mind which
forced resumption in Philadelphia was,
however, operating to produce the
same effect in New Orleans, and at the
date of our last, discredit had forced
five institutions into liquidation. There
then remained ten, five of which were
in favor of immediate resumption. The
others being insolvent, wished to put
it off as long as possible. Hence disa-
greements arose, in the midst of which
specie payments were resolved upon,
and were perfected on the 16th of May
by 17 banks. In a few days the
remaining three came into the
measure. The resumption effected
under these circumstances, did not
command public confidence, and the
demands upon the banks for coin were
constant. Their liabilities were ra-
pidly returned upon them for payment,
and the continued disagreement among
the banks created a panic which ended,
on the 3d of June, in the failure of five
banks. The following is a table of
the liabilities and assets of the five
banks which failed, and of those which
continue to pay their debts:

ASSETS AND LIABILITIES OF THE NEW ORLEANS BANKS, MAY 28, 1842.
Suspended Banks.

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Citizens' Bank, 2,824, 868 10,886,593
Commercial Bank, 1,026,301 4,306,683

Consolidated Bank, 968,595 3,604,437 Mec. & Trad. Bank, 414,104 2,843,728

Specie-paying Banks.

Assets.

Liabilities. Assets.

Bank of Louisiana,
Carrollton Bank,
City Bank,

840,095 5,503,152

120,311 2,409,725

1,312,113 3,932,687

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This table indicates how powerfully the test of specie payments acts in discriminating the sound from the unsound banks. It is to be hoped, that the remaining banks may be enabled to sustain themselves. If so, the purification that has taken place will be of vast benefit to the whole community. New Orleans being the great market for the sale of western and southern produce, it is of the highest importance to the whole community that a sound currency should be maintained there.

We have thus rapidly sketched the leading events that have overtaken the

paper system since the great revulsion, in order to bring them down to the present time. The great struggle is, however, by no means yet complete. Alabama, Virginia, Florida, and other sections, have yet to go through the ordeal; and the probability is, that few institutions, more especially those based upon borrowed capital, will remain. The country is slowly but surely returning to that state of things which existed during its earlier history, when its whole capital was applied to production, thereby increasing the actual wealth of the country. At that period the trade of the country, or the

exchange of commodities, was conducted in the Atlantic cities with very little aid from bank paper. Men were then patient, industrious, frugal, and, of course, prosperous. The aggregate wealth of the whole country rapidly increased. The morals of the people were of a grade much higher than now, when the paper system has left its corrupting influence; and credit, or that moral confidence in the integrity of the borrower, which enabled the young and enterprising to obtain the capital of the wealthy on easy terms for a length of time, existed to a much greater extent now. The great Franklin states in his memoirs, that his industry and good conduct procured him the offer of a loan of money at six per cent. for a term of two or three years, to purchase a press and type wherewith to prosecute his business. Such an instance, we will venture to say, does not take place under the rule of the banking system. If Franklin should have lived in our day, and been in want of money to buy a press, capitalists would have told him that their money was invested in bank stocks. The banks would have told him, that if he could get two responsible endorsers, they would lend him the money for 90 days! Of what use would that have been to him? Could he have earned the price of his press and returned the money in 90 days? Certainly not. The operation of banks is, therefore, to destroy that credit which, under a specie system, enables the industrious poor to obtain the means of prosecuting their labor. Banks cannot, from the nature of their business, lend money for more than 60 to 90 days. Hence it is that their usefulness is confined to traders and commercial towns. In industrial and productive countries their presence is a detriment rather than a benefit. Where they are carried to excess, as has been the case in this country, their demoralizing effects are soon apparent -a fact that has been made too painfully evident during the past month in the conviction of a forger whose operations were so extensive and so skilfully conducted, that, at the moment of their discovery, commercial men were paralysed, and paper of any kind was with difficulty negotiated. Another case has been a defalcation of near $153,000 by the officer of an insurance company.

The defalcations and frauds that have been discovered in moneyed institutions during the past three years, amount to near $15,000,000, a fact which speaks volumes for the state of morals brought about by the use of paper money.

The state of commercial affairs during the month has been one of great uncertainty, growing mostly out of the action of the federal government, in relation to its financial affairs. The leading events of the past year are known to most of our readers; but it may be well to sum up the events here, in order to arrive at a correct understanding of the present most disgraceful position of things. The tariff law of 1832-3, commonly called the compromise act, was essentially protective in its nature. The mass of the people composing the great south and west were opposed to the aristocratic principle of "protection," or taxing the many for the benefit of the few. The north and east, however, who were of the interest that wished to be protected, exerted themselves powerfully to procure the imposition of the required taxes, which was done in the tariff of 1832. They stated that if the protection was extended to them for a few years, they should become so strong as not to need it for the future. Accordingly the masses of the people yielded to their entreaties, and high duties were imposed. These were, however, to be diminished by biennial reductions until June, 1842, when the rates would yield a uniform duty of 20 per cent., which it was then supposed would be, thereafter, sufficient for the revenues of the government. This arrangement was continued with great success, and under the high duties, $28.000,000 of surplus revenue was accumulated, which was divided among the States. With the revulsion in the banking system, however, the revenues fell off, and it was found that the receipts were not equal to the expenditure, especially during the Florida war. The deficiency was supplied by treasury notes, and never reached more than about $5,000,000 until the close of last year, when the present administration came into power. The late able Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Woodbury, in making his report, showed clearly that by levying a duty of 20 per cent. on articles heretofore free, the revenues of the government would be increased

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