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LETTER 
 
 OF 
 
 • RICHARD M^'YOUNG, 
 
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 Declining his nomination as a candidate for Governor, made hij 
 
 the Democratic citizens of Morgan county, Illinois, on Satur- 
 day, the 29ih of May, 1842, at the Court-house, in Jackson- 
 ■ mile, and addressed to the Committee appointed to notify him 
 of that nomination. 
 
 Washington City, June 30, 1842. 
 
 Gentlemen : Yours of May 29, advising me of my having been nomina- 
 ted for the office of Governor, at a meeting of the democratic citizens of 
 Morgan county, held at the court-house in Jacksonville, on Saturday, the 
 2Sth of the same month, came to hand some days ago, and has received due 
 consideration. In common with my democratic friends, I deeply regret the 
 recent melancholy event which has created the necessity for this new expres- 
 sion of the public sentiment. I see from the newspapers w^hich I receive, 
 that a mutual spirit of concession has prevailed, and that, by common consent, 
 Judge Ford is to be our candidate. Without intending to institute a com- 
 parison between him and others who have been named for that responsible 
 station, myself included among the rest, I will only say, that in my judgment 
 a better selection, under existing circumstances, could not probably have been 
 made. I have known Judge Ford for many years, and during one period in 
 our lives, our official and neighborly intercourse was almost daily; and 1 will 
 simply add, that I have always considered him a man of talents and inregrity. 
 Having, therefore, a candidate in every way qualified lo perform the high duties 
 which will devolve upon him in the event of his election, already in the field, 
 under the favorable circumstances I have mentioned, I lake this occasion to 
 tender to you individually, and through you to my democratic fellow-citizens 
 of Morgan county, my heart-felt acknowledgments for their kind partiality 
 in selecting me for their candidate, and beg leave most respectfully to dechne 
 the nomination. 
 
 Perhaps I should stop here. But as our country is at this time laboring 
 under an extraordinary degree of embarrassment, and seems to be verging with 
 rapid strides towards a still more ruinous condition of things, in all our public 
 and private relations, I trust that I will be excused, if I should embrace the 
 present opportunity as an auspicious one of expressing through you to my 
 fellow-citizens of Illinois some of the causes which, in my opinion, have 
 brought us to this condition, and the great necessity of a thorough reform 
 in all the departments of life, if we would be a happy and prosperous 
 people. This task 1 undertake with much diffidence, and with a conscious 
 
distrust of my ability to perform such an undertaking^ even satisfactorily to 
 myself. 1 see difficulties surrounding me on every side — obstacles presented 
 at every step; for I know full well, from experience, that such reforms are 
 not the work of a day. Preconceived opinions — habits long indulged in — 
 are not often relinquished without an effort, even where the intentions are 
 favorable to such changes ; but when prejudices, in addition to these conside- 
 rations, are likewise to be overcome, it seems indeed almost a hopeless task. 
 
 CONSTRUCTION OF THE CONSTITUTION LANDMARKS OF PARTY. 
 
 » 
 
 Although the elder Adams, x\lexander Hamilton, and all that class of 
 politicians, were unquestionably patriots at the commencement and during 
 the continuance of the revolutionary war, and performed much service for 
 their country, yet it was very soon discovered, when that great contest for 
 liberty was ended, that they were for substituting, in place of the British 
 monarchy, a much stronger form of government than suited the genius of the 
 times. The American people had too recently thrown off the shackles of 
 monarchy and arbitrary rule, to submit quietly to a new yoke, to be imposed 
 by their own countrymen. Mr. Hamilton, for instance, was, during the con- 
 vention, in favor of a President and Senate for life. He distrusted the capa- 
 city of the people for self-government, and believed in the necessity of a 
 strong executive power to control and hold in check the imprudence and tur- 
 bulen'ce of the people. The British form of government was his model. He 
 was also for abstracting from the State governments as much of their power 
 as possible, and for centralizing it at the seat of the Federal Government. 
 " I despair," said he, " that any republican form of government can remove 
 the difficulties that Greece and Rome encountered. I have well considered 
 the subject, and am well convinced that no amendment of the articles of con- 
 federation can answer the purposes of a good government, so long as the 
 State governments do in any shape exist." The party in favor of these 
 measures were called Federalists ; the class of politicians who sided with Mr. 
 Jefferson resisted all such encroachments, and contended for a liberal form of 
 government. Hence the struggle for the ascendency, which commenced with 
 great bitterness between the parties, shortly after the adoption of the consti- 
 tution of the United States ; the one for power, the other for liberal princi- 
 ciples. The first were called Federalists, the latter Democrats — who at that 
 day were called by their federal opponents, jacobins and agrarians, as they 
 are now called locofocos and destructives, by way of ridicule, by the_ Whigs. 
 Alexander Hamilton became the acknowleged leader of the Federalists, and 
 Thomas Jefferson, the great author of the declaration of our independence, 
 the leader of the Democrats. 
 
 Notwithstanding a majority in favor of liberal principles succeeded in the 
 convention, the Federalists immediately turned round and advocated the con- 
 stitution, with the intention, as has since appeared, of obtaining their ends by 
 forced constructions of that instrument, which they had failed to procure by 
 fair and open enactments. Hence we perceive, from the history of these 
 times, the reluctance with which the constitution was adopted by the people 
 in their State conventions. They feared some deception, and in almost all 
 of their articles of ratification, we find clauses of protests, explanations, pro- 
 posed amendments, &c. But that provision which most tended to remove 
 their doubts and fears, was article 10th in the amendments to the constitution, 
 in these words; "The powers not delegated to the United States, nor pro- 
 
hibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States Respectively, or to the 
 people." 
 
 The Federalists got possession of the first, and several succeeding Con- 
 gresses, and very early commenced the work of arbitrary and forced con- 
 structions of the constitution. The first encroachment of magnitude was in 
 the establishment of a Bank of the United States, notwithstanding the power 
 to create incorporations had been expressly refused in the convention. But 
 all power was now to be assumed by implication. The Federalists, with 
 Hamilton at their head, were its advocates, while the Democrats, with but 
 few exceptions, took ground against it, as an unauthorized monopoly ; and 
 Mr. Niles says, " that it afterwards became one of the landmarks of party." 
 
 The next encroachment upon the rights of the people was in the enact- 
 ment of the celebrated " Alien and Sedition Laws," during the administration 
 of the elder Adams. Under the first, the President had the extraordinary 
 power conferred upon him by Congress, of " ordering dangerous or suspected 
 persons to be imprisoned, at his discretion, or to depart from the territory of 
 the United States," upon his own mere motion, and without the intervention 
 of judicial authority, except in case of refusal to enforce his order. A trial 
 by jury, which ought not to have been denied to the most abandoned male- 
 factor, was not provided for — the suspicion of the President, according to the 
 law, being deemed sufficient. The persons most to be affected by the ope- 
 ration of this law, were the emigrants from Ireland ; who, being generally 
 democrats in principle, In consequence of the oppressions in their own coun- 
 try, were to be proscribed. Is there not some reason to fear, that the same 
 feeling prevails to a considerable extent up to the present day ? 
 
 Under the sedition law, as it was called, the most respectable citizens of 
 the United' States were fined and imprisoned for speaking disrespectfully of 
 the President. Matthew Lyon, then a citizen of Vermont, was fined one 
 thousand dollars and imprisoned four months, for saying, that, " as to the 
 executive," meaning President Adams, " when I shall see the efforts of that 
 power bent on the promotion of the comfort and happiness and the acccm- 
 raodatlon of the people, that executive shall have my zealous and uniform 
 support ; but whenever I shall, on the part of that executive, see every con- 
 sideration of the public welfare swallowed up in a continual grasp for power^ 
 and an unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation, and selfish 
 avarice, I shall not be their humble advocate," &ic.; and was soon afterwards 
 elected out of jail to Congress by the people. Mr. Randolph said, in a 
 speech delivered in Congress some time ago, that he also well recollected when 
 Mr. Professor Cooper was escorted to jail for a similar offence. And courts 
 and juries were found in that day to execute such laws. 
 
 These high-toned and oppressive federal measures gave rise to the celebra- 
 ted Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, (which, it is said, were penned by Mr, 
 Jefferson,) in which the distinguishing landmarks of the republican party 
 were set forth, and vindicated with signal ability. The people resisted, and 
 successfully resisted, these tyrannical laws, which were declared to be uncon- 
 stitutional ; and within a few years past, the fine of one thousand dollars which 
 was taken from Matthew Lyon has been restored to his family, by a vote of 
 Congress. 
 
 These arbitrary and oppressive measures, and the total disregard of the 
 restrictions imposed by the constitution, and the reserved rights of the peo- 
 ple, brought Mr. Jefferson into power, at the end of the first term of Mr. 
 Adams's administration : and so great was the Indignation of the people aga'.nsk 
 
him at that time, says Mr. Randolph, tliat at the close of his term, '• he left 
 the seat of the Federal Government in the night, that the light of heaven 
 might not witness his retreat." 
 
 But the power they had lost by the vote of the people was not to be relin- 
 quished without a struggle — a death struggle, which, for a short time, seemed 
 to threaten the very overthrow of the Government. The Federalists, being 
 defeated in their attempt to re-elect Mr. Adams, and still holding nearly an 
 equal vote in the House of Representatives, turned round and endeavored, 
 by a powerful and well concerted effort, to force Aaron Burr, of New York, 
 into the presidential chair, over the head of Mr. Jefferson, who had been 
 elected by the people. Mr. Burr had been run upon the same ticket with 
 Mr. Jeflerson, by the democratic party, for the office of Vice President, and 
 was during the canvass, and had been for a long time before, recognized as one 
 of the most talented and influential of the party ; and to his untiring persever- 
 ance, the success of the democratic ticket was in a great degree attributed. 
 But he yielded to the gilded bait held out to him by the Federalists, and his 
 ruin was the consequence. So equally were the parties divided in Congress 
 in this contest, that the ballotings were continued for several successive days 
 with equal success, when at last, and fortunately for the country, INIr. Jeffer- 
 son was declared to be elected by the casting vote of a single State. In this 
 case Mr. Burr had not been voted for, for the office of President, by the peo- 
 ple, and yet the Federalists came within one vote of perpetrating this enor- 
 mous outrage upon their rights under the constitution. Mr. Burr was, in a 
 few years after tried for high treason, and upon being discharged retired from 
 the country for a time, and afterwards returned in his old age and died in 
 obscurity and disgrace. The Federalists afterwards sought the occasion of 
 the " Embargo law," which proved to be a very unpopular measure in New 
 England, of striking another blow at the Government, which was still under 
 the" guidance of Mr. Jefferson. John Quincy Adams, who is admitted to 
 have°been familiar with their designs, charged them openly with treasonable 
 purposes. " It was in those letters of 1808 and 1809," says Mr. Adams, 
 " that I mentioned the design of certain leaders of the federal party, and the 
 establishment of a northern confederacy, he. This plan was so far matured, 
 that the proposal had been made to an individual at the proper time to be 
 placed at the head of the military movement, which it was foreseen would 
 be necessary for carrying it into execution. The intervention of a kind Pro- 
 videqce averted the most deplorable of catastrophes, and turning over to the 
 receptacle of things lost upon earth, the adjourned convention from Hartford 
 to Boston, extinguished, by the mercy of Heaven, may it be forever ! the 
 projected New England confederacy." This is the testimony of Mr. Adams. 
 The repeal of the embargo alone, perhaps, frustrated their designs, and saved 
 the country from dismemberment. 
 
 The eccentric but highly gifted John Randolph of Roanoke, said in his 
 great speech on retrenchment and reform, just preceding the first election of 
 General Jackson, that during the presidency of the elder Adams, no expe- 
 dient was left untried to put down the Republicans; that the pen and the 
 pencil were employed, and songs were made and sung to bring them into ri- 
 dicule ; that the military, who were also attached to the federal interest, went 
 so far as to play the Rogue's March under the windows of the houses in which 
 Mr. Gallatin, and Mr. Nicholas, and other members of Congress lodged ; that 
 nicknames were also resorted to. Mr. Nicholas, who had lost an eye, was 
 called Polyphemus ; and old Mr. Macon, of North Carohna, of whom it was 
 
said, " that he had not changed his politics or the cut of his coat for forty 
 years," was called Monsieur Macon, the better to denote him a Frenchman, 
 and of consequence a jacobin, a radical, and a destructive. That old General 
 Sumpter, of South Carolina, a distinguished officer of the revolution, had 
 his hat pulled off at the.theatre, and his hands forcibly made to clap, by the 
 myrmidons of the Adm*inistration, by way of incense to the idol of that day, 
 when President Adams entered, and the tune of" Hail Columbia" was struck 
 up by the band. 
 
 We have seen some of these things again resorted to in our times, in the 
 re'cent election of General Harrison. Who can forget the display that was 
 made of the " cider barrels," and the " coon skins," the songs, and the mid- 
 night revelry, and the "log cabins" of our Whig opponents. Are not the 
 sober reflecting part of the people, who permitted themselves at the time to 
 be carried away by the prevailing excitement, ashamed of having been en- 
 gaged in such exhibitions ? 
 
 After Mr. Jefferson served out his eight years, the Government passed 
 through the successive Republican administrations of Mr. Madison and ?.lr. 
 Monroe; each one serving through his two terms of four years each. But 
 an interruption was again experienced, and the will of the people defeated 
 in the election of the younger Adams, in 1825, by the House of Represen- 
 tatives. His administration, like his father's, was brought to a close at the 
 end of his first term, by an overwhelming vote of the people, in the election 
 of General Jackson. Democracy was now once more in the ascendant ; 
 General Jackson was re-elected, and served out his two terms ; when he was 
 succeeded by Mr. Van Buren, who was defeated at the end of his first term 
 by General Harrison, under the circumstances I have mentioned. 
 
 What has followed since is now undergoing the test of that purifying scru- 
 tiny of public opinion which seldom fails, in the end, to judge correctly ; as 
 the great mass of the people, unlike interested politicians, are actuated alone 
 by the desire to promote their country's good. This is a brief history of the 
 distinguishing landmarks which have separated the two great political parties 
 in this country, through a succession of administrations, commencing with 
 that of the elder Adams, down to the present day. During this period in 
 our past history, the Federalists, having failed to accomplish their purposes 
 under their original name, which became very unpopular with the people, 
 changed it first to that of " National Republicans," and subsequently to that 
 of "Whigs;" and in some instances very recently, since their numerous de- 
 feats in niany of the States, to that of " Democratic Whigs." The Democrats, 
 on the contrary, still retain their old name, which v;as assumed in the days of 
 Mr. Jefferson. There are doubtless many good Republicans to be met with 
 in the Whig ranks ; but taking the party as a whole, their distinguishing prin- 
 ciples continue to be the same. 
 
 UNITED STATES BANK ITS UNCONSTITUTIONALITY ITS EFFECTS, AND THAT 
 
 OF A PAPER CURRENCY GENERALLY, UPON TRADE, AND THE MORALS AND 
 HAPPINESS OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 The first bank of which we read in history, was the old Bank of Amster- 
 dam, in the Netherlands, which was merely an office oUhposit and transfer, 
 and not a bank of issue and discount. Of the great amount of treasure pos- 
 sessed by it, there have been various and very extravagant conjectures. By 
 some it\vas estimated at four hundred millions of gilders, and by others as 
 high as from eight hundred to nine hundred millions ; the first sum being one 
 
hundred millions of our dollars, and the second from three hundred and twenty 
 to three hundred and sixty millions of dciiars. But the average sum gene- 
 rally agreed upon by writers was from one hundred and forty-five to one 
 hundred and seventy-four millions of dollars — an enormous sum to be col- 
 lected in one place, consisting, as it did, exclusively of the precious metals. 
 When the new stadthouse was erected, the bank ofcce was removed into a 
 large vault under that magnificent structure, " where" Sir William Temple, 
 who was at that time an ambassador from the Court of England to the 
 Hague, says, in his observations on the United Provinces, " is the greatest 
 treasure, either real or imaginary, that is known any where in the world ; aftid 
 whoever is carried to see this bank, shall never fail to find the appearance of 
 a mighty real treasure, in bars of gold and silver, plate, and infinite bags of 
 metals, which are supposed to be gold and silver, and may be so for aught I 
 know. But as the burgomasters only have the inspection of the bank, it is 
 in)possible to make any calculation or guess what proportion the real treasure 
 may hold to the credit of it." But it was held by the writers of the day in 
 which its solvency was unquestioned, that there was on deposit at all times, 
 either in cash, or bullion, or spare jewels, an amount equal to the whole cre- 
 dits of the bank. 
 
 It was universally admitted that this bank was conducted with great fidelity 
 by its successive directors ; and so particular were its officers, to all appear- 
 ance, that " whenever a deposit was withdrawn from the bank, that it was 
 always delivered out in the same bag in which it was originally deposited." 
 And yet it appears from history, that millions of this money, which was sup- 
 posed to be safely lodged in the vaults, had been lent to the East India con;- 
 pany, and to the provinces of Holland and West Frieslaiid. This fact was 
 long kept a secret, and was not discovered until the French army entered 
 Amsterdam, in 1794; when the bank suddenly closed its doors, the vaults 
 were ascertained to be empty, and universal distress was brought upon the 
 country, from which it did not entirely recover for many years. 
 
 Such is the first great bank which for a long time was regarded as one of 
 the wonders of the world. But in order to show the fallacy of the banking 
 system, and the evil effects of a paper currency upon the industry and labor 
 of the producing classes, I will draw some striking illustrations from, the his- 
 tory of our own country. And here I will premise, that money is intended 
 to perform tivo important functions; the first, is that of a standard of value, 
 the second, is that of a circulatijig medium. Paper money, you will at once 
 perceive, falls entirely short of the first of these requisites, as it contains 
 within itself no intrinsic value, and can never therefore be regarded with pro- 
 priety as a standard of value, which is wanted to regulate the exchange of 
 commodities ; a metallic currency can alone furnish a standard free froiv. an 
 ever-varying fluctuation. I am fully aware that banks are at this day so in- 
 terwoven with all the business afl'airs of the country, that we are some- 
 times too apt to believe that the evil is without a remedy ; and often almost 
 despair of ever seeing it corrected. There are no errors of opinion so diffi- 
 cult of correction as those which relate to the currency. The time has at 
 length arrived, however, that will make many reason, who, I fear, will pay 
 dear, very dear, for their experience. 
 
 At the commencement of the revolutionary war, the colonies were without 
 money to carry it on, and had, from necessity, to resort to the expedient of 
 issuing paper money, known at that day, and up to the present time, by 
 the name of " continental money." According to an estimate by the Re- 
 
gister of the Treasury in the year 1790, the issues of continental money, 
 commencing in 1775 and running clown through the intermediate years to 
 1781, amounted to about three hundred and sixty millions of dollars. The 
 first emission was dated May 10, 1775 ; but the notes were not actually in 
 circulation till the August following. According to the statement of Mr. 
 Jefferson, this money passed at first at its nominal value. Every effort was 
 made by the old continental Congress, and arbitrary means often resorted to, 
 to force its circulation and sustain its credit. Until the issues exceeded nine 
 millions, Mr. Jefierson says, it was taken currently at par; but that the de- 
 preciation afterwards was very rapid and great. On the 31st of May, 1781, 
 it ceased to circulate as money ; at which time it had run down, at Philadel- 
 phia, to five hundred dollars for one; and was shortly afterwards bought up 
 on speculation as low as one thousand dollars for one. It was never redeemed 
 by the Government, and the loss fell heavily upon the country. A respec- 
 table writer of that day, who was himself an eye witness and a participator 
 in the sufferings which were caused by its great depreciation, says: " We 
 have suffered more from this cause, than from any other calamity ; it has 
 pervaded and corrupted the choicest interests of our country ; and done more 
 injustice than the arms and artifices of our enemies. Frauds, cheats, and 
 gross dishonesty have been introduced ; and a thousand idle ways of living 
 attempted, in the room of honest industry, economy, and diligence, which 
 have heretofore enriched and blessed our country." This account of it was 
 written in 1780. 
 
 The first bank established in the United States was the "Bank of North 
 America," in the year 1781. Its location was in Philadelphia. The plan 
 was concived by Mr. Robert Morris, and submitted to Congress in the month 
 of May of that year; and on the 26th of the same month it was approved by 
 that body. Up to the month of October following, only seventy thousand 
 dollars of the stock had been subscribed for. About this time a Spanish 
 ship arrived at Boston with a remittance of about four hundred and seventy 
 thousand dollars in specie. This was brought to Philadelphia and deposited 
 in the vaults of the bank. In November, 1781, the directors were elected, 
 and in January, 1782, the bank commenced operations. Mr. Morris then 
 subscribed lor two hundred and fifty four thousand dollars of the stock for the 
 United States, by which they were constituted much the largest stockliolder ; 
 respecting which subscription Mr. Governeur Morris remarked, " that the 
 sum subscribed by the Government was paid in with one hand, and borrowed 
 with the other ; leaving the bank with only seventy thousand dollars for its 
 proper operations." The experience of the evils resulting from the depre- 
 ciation of the continental paper being fresh in the minds of the people, much 
 difficulty was encountered at first in giving currency to the notes. The writer 
 remarks, that in order to remove this prejudice, " the gentlemen concerned 
 in the bank resorted to the practice of requesting the people from the country, 
 and the laboring men about town, to go to the bank and get silver for their 
 notes. When they went, they found a display of silver on the counter, and 
 men employed in raising boxes, said to contain silver, from the cellar into 
 the banking room, or lowering them from the banking room into the cellar." 
 By contrivances like these the bank soon olatained the reputation of possess- 
 ing immense wealth ; but its emptiness was very near being discovered on 
 one occasion, when one of the co-partners withdrew a deposit of only five 
 thousand dollars ; at which time, it is said, the whole stock of specie on hand 
 did not probably exceed tv^-enty thousand dollars. By the year 1785 the 
 
8 
 
 effects of its operations began to be apparent in the business of the commu- 
 nity — sometimes a great plenty of money, followed by a great scarcity — ruin 
 to the many, and riches to the few. The people petitioned for a repeal of 
 its charter, and the repeal took place by the legislature of Pennsylvania, by 
 which it was originally chartered, on the 13th September, 1785. Notwith- 
 standing, it claimed the right, and afterwards continued its business, but on a 
 more limited scale, under the act of Congress referred to. 
 
 I come now to the first Bank of the United States. It is said that the 
 celebrated William Pitt exclaimed, when he heard our propensity for bank- 
 ing and credit : " Let the Americans adopt their funding system [which 
 means National debt] and go into their hanking institutions, and their boasted 
 independence will be a mere phantom." By this he meant they would be- 
 come the slaves of avarice and debt, which never fail to excite the worst 
 passions of our nature. I will not deny that banks to a certain extent, if 
 honestly conducted, may be of advantage to a well regulated commercial 
 community. But how shall we avoid the abuses constantly growing out of 
 such monopolies ? Does not the evil more than counteract the good ? Is 
 not their inevitable tendency to create privileged classes — to enrich the few 
 at the expense of the many ? The opposition to banks by Thomas Jefferson, 
 the great leader of the democratic party, was of the most decided and un- 
 compromising character ; and he seldom let slip an opportunity of expressing 
 his abhorrence of their whole scheme of operations : while Alexander Hamil- 
 ton, the great leader of the Federalists, took the opposite side ; and thus the 
 two political parties very early in our constitutional history divided upon this 
 as a leading question. In opposing the eld Bank of the United States, which 
 was brought forward as a financial measure by Mr. Hamilton, when Secretary 
 of the Treasury, Mr. Jefferson said : " I consider the foundation of the con- 
 .^titution as laid on this ground, that all powers not delegated to the United 
 States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to 
 the States or the people. To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus 
 specially drawn around the power of Congress, is to take possession of a 
 boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of definition. The incorpo- 
 ration of a bank, and other powers assumed, have not, in my opinion, been 
 delegated to the United States by the constitution. It is known that the 
 very power now proposed as a means, was rejected as an end, by the con- 
 vention which formed the constitution. A proposition was made to them to 
 empower Congress to incorporate, which was rejected, upon the ground that 
 they would have power to create a bank, v.'hich would render the great cities, 
 where there were prejudices or jealousies on this subject, adverse to the re- 
 ception of a constitution.'" He also objected to all paper money establish- 
 ments, on economical principles, and as demoralizing to the community. 
 
 The bank made application for a renewal of hs charter in 1810, and on 
 the 24th of January, 1811, the bill was indefinitely postponed. The bank 
 then simply asked for a short extension of its charter, to enable it to wind up 
 its concerns. But the committee of the House of Representatives to which 
 the memorial was referred, reported, through their chairman, Mr. Clay of 
 Kentucky, " that, holding the opinion, as a majority of the committee do, 
 that the constitution did not aiiihorize Congress originally to grant the 
 charter, it follows, as a necessary consequence of that opinion, that an ex- 
 tension of it, even under the restrictions contemplated by the stockholders, 
 is equally repugnant to the constitution." Trustees were then appointed, 
 and the concerns of the bank rapidly wound up and brought to a close. 
 
9 
 
 Of the late Bank of the United States, we are all familiar with the history 
 of its rise, progress, downfall, and final catastrophe — that it sunk thirty-five 
 millions of capital for its stockholders ; reduced thousands of widows and or- 
 phans to beggary and want : and spread bankruptcy and ruin over the entire 
 country. During its existence every thing was attempted to be brought 
 within the vortex of its operations, or made to feel the powerful effects of its 
 influence. Its hold upon all the vital interests of the community were deep 
 and pervading, and its terrible consequences will not soon be forgotten. If 
 its managers desired, for any cause, to raise the price of property, or of labor, 
 it was only necessary to extend their issues of paper, make money plenty, 
 and their object was obtained. If, on the contrary, it was their interest to 
 produce the opposite effect, they had nothing to do but to create a panic, by 
 the opposite policy of contraction, by which money was made scarce, and 
 both property and labor were at once brought down from the highest to the 
 lowest prices. But this made no difference to the bank, if, in so doing, its 
 interests were promoted. The first long panic was got up in 1819, and con- 
 tinued through the years 1820, 1821, and 1822, during which, if you recol- 
 lect, we had exceedingly bad times in Illinois. In 1819 and 1820, just pre- 
 ceding the establishment of the old State Bank of Illinois, such was the 
 scarcity of money, thai; a cow and calf would hardly sell for enough to pay 
 the costs on the execution ; produce would not command money at any 
 price. In 1825 there was another panic, which only lasted for a short 
 period. In 1832 we had another, in consequence of the veto of the bank 
 charter by General Jackson, then President of the United States. Again in 
 1833 and 1834, on account of the removal of the deposites ; and still again 
 in 1836 and 1837, in consequence of the specie circular ; and last of all in 
 1840, about the time of the establishment of the Independent Treasury. 
 During these several periods of fluctuations in the currency, persons engaged 
 in business were often subjected to heavy, and sometimes ruinous losses. 
 Will not the objections I have mentioned, in regard to these ruinous fluctua- 
 tions, apply also with full force to the other banks of the country ? 
 
 In regard to the constitutionality of a Bank of the United States, I will 
 now show you upon what slender ground it rests, according to the several 
 views of its own advocates ; and how unsafe and improper it is to exercise 
 such a power by implication. I Vv'ill take Mr. Clay and Mr. Webster, \v-ho 
 are deservedly admitted to be two of the ablest lawyers and statesmen on the 
 Whig side, as examples. 1 have heard both of them express their opinions 
 on this subject in the Senate of the United States, since I have been a mem- 
 ber of that body, and do not therefore speak at random. Mr. Clay contends, 
 that the power to establish a Bank of the United Slates, is to be found as an 
 incidental power in the 1st clause of the 8th section of the 1st article of the 
 constitution, which provides, that " the Congress shall have power to lay and 
 collect taxes, duties, impests and excises, to pay the debts and provide for 
 the common defence and general welfare of the United States," as a power 
 necessary to be exercised for the convenient collection and disbursement of 
 the public revenue. Mr- Webster, on the contrary, insists, that the power 
 is to be found in the third clause of the same section, which provides that 
 Congress shall have power " to regulate conimerce with foreign nations, and 
 among the several States, and with the Indian tribes," as a necessary means 
 for the carrying on of our commerce^ How different the construction ! 
 May not even Whigs doubt, therefore, whether such a power is to be found 
 2 
 
10 
 
 at all ? Surely Democrats will be excused for denying its existence, under 
 such circumstances. 
 
 In regard to the power of the States to establish banking institutions, a dif 
 ferent question is presented. I will not now inquire whether banks, paying 
 specie at all times for their notes, may or may not be created. The suspended 
 banks, in my judgment, however, stand upon a very different footing. No 
 State has the power, under the constitution of the United States, either to 
 "coin money," or to "emit bills of credit." It follows, as a necessary con- 
 sequence, that it would be equally a violation of that instrument, to authorize 
 a bank, either to coin money, or emit bills of credit. Such a bill of credit, 
 is a paper medium issued by, or under the authority of a State, and intended 
 to circulate through the country for its ordinary purposes, as money redeem- 
 able at a future day. A bank chartered by a State would, during any period 
 of its suspension, present just such a circulation — a paper currency repre- 
 senting money, and redeemable, if at all, at a future day. The old State 
 Bank of IHinois was declared to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court 
 of the United States, because it did not pay specie for its notes, and they 
 were redeemable at a future day. These suggestions are thrown out for 
 reflection without much consideration, as the time has come, in my judgment, 
 when these evils must be corrected, and provided against in future. 
 
 If banks may be tolerated at *11, they are only desirable in commercial 
 
 communities — issuing large bills for commercial convenience, and furnishing 
 
 gold and silver for all the ordinary transactions in life ; such as the Bank of 
 
 France, for example. It issues no notes of a less denomination than five 
 
 hundred francs, equal to about ninety-'bur dollars in our money ; and the 
 
 specie in its vaults has for many years been on an average nearly equal to 
 
 the notes in circulation. In some years the specie in the vaults of the bank 
 
 has actually exceeded the amount of its notes in circulation. This was the 
 
 case in the years 1838 and 1839. In 1838, the average of specie on 
 
 hand was ^50,430,500, and of notes in circulation only ^39,375,000 
 
 In the same year, the specie in all our American banks amounted to 
 
 only ^35,000,000, while their circulation exceeded ^116,000,000. Gold 
 
 and silver constitute the currency for all ordinary purposes, while paper 
 
 furnishes a convenient remittance in large commercial transactions. Under 
 
 this system, France is forever free from fluctuations in her currency 
 
 and business, and has on an average a larger circulation of the precious 
 
 metals than any nation in Europe. The Bank of England issues no 
 
 notes of a less denomination than five pounds sterling, equal to about 
 
 twenty-four dollars of our money. In England, as in France, all tne smaller 
 
 transactions between man and man are made with gold and silver. Il we 
 
 must have banks, why not profit by the experience of France and England ? 
 
 They have tried the system of paper banking under various inodificationc, 
 
 and all experience proves, that it is the small note circulation which banishes 
 
 the specie from circulation : and then in case of failure by the banks, we 
 
 have no circulation at all ; whereas, if the Bank of France should fail, an 
 
 immense amount of gold and silver would still remain in the hands of the 
 
 people. Bank failures and bank suspensions havn become so common in our 
 
 country, tliat they may be regarded as a part of the system ; and unless they 
 
 are subjected to the wholesome restraint of a bankrupt law, the individual 
 
 stockholders made responsible for their issues, and their circulation restricted 
 
 to a larger denomination of notes, I see no remedy for the evil. 
 
 Durinor General Jackson's administration he attempted this reform in 
 
11 
 
 our circulating medium, by increasing our coinage at the mints, and im- 
 porting large sums of specie from abroad. The entire French indemnity 
 for instance, was brouL'ht home in gold, and a small additional quantity of 
 alloy used in the gold coinage at the mint, to prevent its exportation. The 
 amount of specie imported from abroad during the eight years of General 
 Jackson's administration, commencing the 4th of ftlarch, 1829, and ending 
 the 4th March, 1837, as near as can be ascertained from the custom house 
 returns, is ^'80,287,353, while the exports from the United States during the 
 same period were only ^36,494,492 ; leaving a balance gained at the time 
 he went out of office, of ^43,792,861. During the same period the coin- 
 age at the mints went up to ^'37,374,723. Every exertion was used, and 
 every facility was afforded to increase the quantity of gold and silver in the 
 country ; and we see the results. Mr. Van Buren came into office the 4th 
 of March, 1837, and went out the 4th of March, 1841. In these four 
 years the imports of specie amounted to ^'42,720,606, and the exports to 
 ^'25.393,133; leaving a baknce gained during Mr. Van Buren's adminis- 
 tration of ,^'17,327,473. The coinage at the mints in the meantime amount- 
 ed to ^12,560,952. For the first year succeeding Mr. Van Buren's ad- 
 ministration, and since the election of General Harrison, to wit, 1841, the 
 imports of specie have only amounted to ^4,908,408, while the exports for 
 the same year have run up to ,^10,020,044 ; showing a balance sheet against 
 us in a single year, of .^5,1 11,636. The coinage at the mint within the same 
 year, 1841, tumbled down to only ^1,206,901. At this rate the specie will 
 leave the country quite as fast as it came in under the democratic adminis- 
 trations of General Jackson and Mr. Van Buren ; and the coinage will be 
 frittered down to nothing. This change is attributed by the democratic party 
 here, in a great degree, to the repeal of the Independent Treasury law. By 
 that law nothing but gold and silver was received by the Government in the 
 collection of its revenues, and nothing but the like currency paid out in the 
 various public disbursements — now paper again is substituted for coin, and 
 the true standard of value is departed from, for one of uncertainty, and of al- 
 most daily fluctuation. How can our country prosper under such a condi- 
 tion of things ? Already have we seen in the bank note tables of exchange, 
 paper depreciated from five to ten per cent, quoted at jjar, as the standard of 
 prices, and gold and silver, at the same place, quoted at a premium of five 
 and ten per cent. ; thus reversing the true order regulating the affairs of trade, 
 by which specie should have been quoted as the par standard, and the paper 
 as depreciated from five to ten per cent. 
 
 HIGH PROTECTIVE TARIFF HOME LEAGUE, ETC., AND A TARIFF FOR RE- 
 VENUE AFFORDING INCIDENTAL PROTECTION. 
 
 Here the parties again dilTer ; the V/higs being in favor of a high protect- 
 ive tariff of duties, in many instances amounting to an exclusion of the for- 
 eign article, while the Democrats are in favor of a tariff for revenue, affording 
 incidental protection only. It has been seen that the current ordinary expen- 
 ses of the Government, judging from the actual expenses of 1841, and the 
 expenditures estiuiated and recommended for 1842, are to be arranged under 
 this Administration, at about ^25,000,000 per year. It has been also seen 
 that we have a debt already authorized, and which is now or will soon be 
 contracted, amounting to twenty-four millions and three quarters, the annual 
 interest upon which will be more than one million and a half, while the prin- 
 cipal should be gradually paid. 
 
12 
 
 Can the money for these purposes be raised by a tax upon imports, with- 
 out imposing unreasonable burdens upon the people, if indeed it can be so 
 raised at all ? It is impossible to make any precise and certain calculations 
 upon these points, because it is impossible to tell, with certainty, what our 
 exports, or our imports, will be for any future year or number of years. 
 The members in that branch of Congress to which 1 belong who ought to be 
 most competent to make estimates upon these points, (I mean Mr. Clay, of 
 Kentucky, upon the one side of politics, and Mr. Woodbury, of New Hamp- 
 shire, late Secretary of the Treasury, upon the other,) have made their cal- 
 culations. They both assume, what it is very plain must be true, that the 
 imports must be principally regulated by the exports, and that, however, this 
 rule may vary for a single year, occasioned by the fluctuations of trade, or by 
 the making of loans abroad by associations. States, or exportations, the avails 
 of a large portion of which are always brought home in the shape of goods 
 imported, it must always be a sound rule in practice, when applied to a series 
 of years. It matters not whether our exports. consist of the products of our 
 labor, ojj^f gold and silver, so far as this comparison is concerned. All are 
 alike oiff%xports, and they must go to pay our debts abroad, to purchase our 
 foreign merchandise, or must be sold for gold and silver to be imported. In 
 that sense too all are alike our imports. But all our imports are not alike du- 
 tiable, and the gold and silver coin and bullion, coming into the country, are 
 among the few articles not now taxed. 
 
 Blaking the necessary variations, in their various calculations, for the fluc- 
 tuations in trade, for our foreign debt, national,- State, corporate, and com- 
 mercial, the interest upon which must be paid, these great financiers have not 
 varied very widely in their estimates, and have supposed that our imports 
 which can be taxed to raise a revenue will, for a series of years to come, not 
 exceed from ninety to one hundred millions per year. This, of course, is 
 excluding from the calculation all the articles of import which are to be im- 
 ported free from duty ; but I believe that the calculations to which I allude 
 more particularly did not, upon either side, exclude tea and coffee, but con- 
 templated that they would be taxed. I believe all the estimates were made 
 upon the basis that gold and silver coin and bullion should be free articles. 
 
 A further point was much agitated, and upon it there was a wide difference 
 of opinion, in many respects. I refer to the question of what duty any given 
 article of importation, or class of merchandise, would bear, before either the 
 importation would stop on account of the tax, the article be smuggled, or the 
 consumption in the country be suspended in consequence of the fticrease of 
 price. As one instance, it was urged, that if a high duty should be placed 
 upon jewelry, precious stones, and the like, there would be no revenue ob- 
 tained upon their importation ; because all would be smuggled, as the bulk was 
 so small and the value so great as to afford every inducement and facility. 
 Again, it has been suggested that if a high duty be imposed upon tea and 
 coffee, the consumption of those articles will be so much diminished, and con- 
 sequently the import, as to afford less revenue than a low duty. So with the 
 coarse and cheap cottons. If a high duty be imposed, though it may benefit 
 our manufacturers, it must exclude the importation, and consequently produce 
 nc revenue. These remarks might be extended to great length, but a few 
 examples will suggest to you the whole importance of the point discussed. 
 
 All these articles, and hundreds of others which stand upon the same foot- 
 ing, are put down to make the ninety or one hundred millions of dutiable 
 imports ; and if the arrangement of our tariff shall exclude any of them, or 
 
13 
 
 shall diminish the amount of either ordinarily imported, to precisely that ex- 
 tent must the gross amount of dutiable imports be diminished, and c6nse- 
 quently the amount of revenue collected, at any fixed rate of duty. Still I 
 will assume that the ivhole amount of dutiable articles will be one hundred 
 millions, and then we see that a tax of twenty-five ceuts on every dollar must 
 be realized to the treasury, over and above all the expenses of the collection, 
 merely to raise the twenty-five millions of revenue to be raised to meet the 
 ordinary expenses of the Government. If, then, a part of this amount of im- 
 ports will not bear a duty of twenty-five per cent., without stopping the im- 
 portation, some other part, equal in amount, must bear as much more than 
 twenty-five per cent., as that may be less, or we fail to get the aggregate of 
 ^25,000,000, of revenue. It is confidently believed that a large amount of 
 the imports will not bear more than twelve and a half per cent., without 
 either stopping the importation, or promoting smuggling, which is destructive 
 of all revenue. If this be so, then another large portion must bear thirty- 
 seven and a lialf per cent, duty, or the treasury will be in want. So the 
 pressure of the times may diminish the imports for some years yet to come, 
 and the fluctuations and changes of trade may bring with them disappoint- 
 ments as to this source of supply for the treasury. 
 
 It will not have escaped your observation that, in these remarks, I have 
 left the interest and principal of the public debt \vholly unprovided for. The 
 interest is more than a million and a half per annum, and certainly we ought 
 not to think of providing a sinking fund for the principal of less than a mil- 
 lion and a half, for at that rate it will take about seventeen years to pay it off. 
 
 Can we then spare the three millions of revenue from the public lands for 
 distribution, and not certainly create the necessity of a direct tax to exactly 
 the same amount to meet the interest and principal of this national debt ; for 
 we must not forget that when we cannot raise money enough to supply the 
 treasury by a tax upon imports, the only other way to raise it is by a direct 
 tax ? So if we make a tax to protect our manufactures which shall exclude 
 imports, we must make up to the treasury its loss of revenue by direct taxa- 
 tion. I know that some of our honest and patriotic people have been accus- 
 tomed to think that there was no limit to our power to raise revenue by a 
 tarift', and that the more tariff we have the more revenue we shall get, and 
 the more protection our domestic manufactures will receive. Will they not 
 recollect the truth of the old adage, " That we cannot have our cake and eat 
 it ;" that if we do not import, we cannot raise a revenue by a tax upon im- 
 ports ; that if we do not consume foreign goods, they will not be brought to 
 the country ; and that if we do not get our revenue by|a tax upon imports, it 
 must come from a tax upon. our property, our houses, and our farms? 
 
 I will give you a few simple facts, in the way of statistics taken from offi- 
 cial and authentic tables to show how these things operate. It is contended 
 by many, that our country would be more independent, and our condition in 
 every respect better, if foreign merchandise could be excluded altogether, and 
 our own manufactures encouraged — that, we of the West and South should 
 purchase the manufactured articles of the East and North, and they in return 
 would purchase our produce: never was any thing more fallacious. It is of 
 course known that all our revenue is derived, under existing laws, through 
 the custom house, by duties imposed on the importation of foreign merchan- 
 dise ; and the amount of money required to support the Government was 
 stated by JMr. Clay at twenty-five millions of dollars. Now stop this impor- 
 tation of foreign goods, and what becomes of your revenue ? How is the 
 
14 
 
 deficiency to be supplied? The question is not difficult of solution. It must 
 be supplied by a direct tax on the people, as it is in part supplied in England 
 at the present day. We should then have domestic imposts, excises, and 
 United States taxes to pay, in addition to our State, county, corpoiation, and 
 road taxes. Such a tax would fall peculiarly heavy upon the peo[)le of the 
 West, as direct taxes by the constitution of the United States are to be ap- 
 portioned among the several States, " according to their respective numbers,'" 
 and not according to the wealth of the respective States. Thus one of the 
 old States, having ten times the wealth of Illinois, but with no more federal 
 population, would pay the same tax only. Those who were old enough, will 
 remember, during the late war with Great Britain, when our importations of 
 foreign merchandise were nearly cut off for a time, in consequence of the 
 war, and we were reduced to the necessity of resorting to a direct tax, how 
 It operated upon the Slates. For nothing is more odious to the people of 
 this country than a direct tax. 
 
 Besides this, what would become of our ships and men engaged in this 
 foreign commerce ? We have in all about fifteen thousand ships — making 
 together 2,180,764 of tonnage, and manned by S0,000 seamen. Of these 
 it is estimated, by competent persons, that 4,493 ships, with 889.764 of 
 tonnage, and employing about 30,000 seamen are employed in our foreign 
 trade ; constituting by far the best part of our commercial marine; the largest 
 and best ships, and most experienced officers and seamen being always required 
 lor the foreign service. 
 
 Again if we tax British and French commodities unreasonably high, upon 
 what will they retaliate? Not upon the manufactured articles of IXew En- 
 gland, but upon the cotton, tobacco, and bread stuffs, mainly, of the South and 
 W^est. The burdens to be borne in support of such a contest would not there- 
 fore be reciprocal ; and this has been the constant complaint of the South 
 against the high protective principle. For instance, the annual product of 
 cotton is estimated by Mr. Walker, of Mississippi, at 2,000,000 of bales, of 
 which he says only about 300,000 bales are consumed in the United States ; 
 1,700,000 bales, therefore, must seek a foreign market. Of the tobacco grown 
 in the United States about 130,000 hogsheads are annually sent abroad for a 
 market. In 1840 the number was 119,000 hogsheads, and in 1841 upwards of 
 147,000 hogsheads. And so with our wheat and other procjj^ce. Liverpool 
 and Havre are our two best markets. Tlie proportion of American cotton 
 used in the French consumption is stated at eighty-seven out of every one 
 hundred pounds, including all other countries ; while four-fifths of the French 
 imports of foreign tobacco are from the United States. In regard to En- 
 gland, it is stated in Hunt's Merchants' Magazine,, from a pamphlet recently 
 published in that country, by a Manchester cotton manufacturer, " that a 
 population of upwards of a million of the inhabitants of England are supported 
 by the various branches of cotton industry, and are dependent for the raw 
 material on the United States." Ilemp is also a leading article dmong our 
 staple commodities, is intimately connected, and must depend in a great 
 degree on the success of the cotton trade — inasmuch as a very large portion 
 of it is manufactured into bagging and bail rope, and is used at the South 
 and Southwest, in the bailing up of cotton intended for the market. If we 
 do not purchase from them will they purchase from us ? But our opponents 
 say, why purchase such luxuries as wines and silks from France. I admit 
 that wines are not in very good odor at present ; but I answer the question 
 by asking in return, are not silks quite as useful as tobacco? And if England 
 
15 
 
 purchases some of our raw cotton, why not purchase some of it from them 
 when it assumes the form of the manufactured article? Nations, like indi- 
 viduals, must live and let live, and exchange commodities when both are 
 accommodated by the arrangement — ^just as a farmer is, when he gives a few 
 bushels of wheat for a sack of coffee or a barrel of sugar. Still we must 
 have a revenue to support the Government, and to that extent we may levy 
 duties favorable to domestic industry ; as we should always give the prefer- 
 ence to our own manufacturers, when the other great interests of the country 
 are not injured by it. 
 
 A word now in regard to the English corn laws, which are supposed in a 
 great degree to exclude our bread stuffs from the British market. Although 
 this is ostensibly the case, yet in its effects upon our trade, it does not so ope- 
 rate; as a large portion of our wheat and flour has found a market there of 
 late, at good prices, through the Canada market, as colonial produce. It is 
 moreover said, that this course of trade is even winked at by the British 
 ministry, who are not ignorant of it, but who at the same time would be un- 
 v.'ilHng perhaps to repeal the corn laws on account of the landed interest of 
 the kingdom. One of the best informed gentlemen in this city expressed to 
 me the opinion a kw days ago, that the last thing that should be desired 
 by the wheat growing States bordering on the lakes ought to be the repeal 
 of the English corn laws. "Now," he said, "you have a good market 
 through Canada, with more than a fair chance with the Continent; when, if 
 these laws were repealed, the Continent and the Black sea might prove to be 
 more than a match for you." One of the greatest advantages they would 
 possess over us in such a competition, is, that their bread stuffs are not so 
 liable to damage in the transportation as ours. 
 
 THE RHODE ISLAND CONTROVERSY. 
 
 Here again the Democrats and Whigs are divided ; the Democrats, as a 
 party, being in favor of the free right of suffrage, and the Whigs against it. 
 The Rhode Island case, as it is called, is one which has caused much feeling 
 here, and, I presume, in our own State. The facts, material to the real 
 question, are few and simple, and from them every man who has a vote to 
 give, or who, being denied that highest right of a freeman under our institu- 
 tions, ought to enjoy it, can form his opinion for himself, upon the whole case. 
 
 The Government of the State of Rhode Island is, at this day, organized 
 under a charter granted by Charles II, King of England, to the Colony of 
 " Rhode Island and Providence Plantations," in the year 1663, more than 
 a century before the American Revolution. That charter was an exceed- 
 ingly liberal one for the day and tiine of its date, and as a grant from a 
 British king to British subjects ; and it is but fair to the whole people of 
 Rhode Island to assume that, on that account principally, it has been per- 
 mitted to remain to this day. Yet it is, in many senses, but the charter to 
 a land company, as it was contemplated evidently, upon the face of the 
 charter, that the freemen under it were to be proprietors of the colony, the 
 soil of which was granted to the association. Hence the qualifications of 
 voters, with a very general expression that they should be men of suitable 
 standing and property, or something to that purport, was left to the legisla- 
 ture. So also the representation in the popular branch of the legislature of 
 the colony, of a few of the towns then organized, was fixed and specified in 
 the charter, with the provision that all other towns, thereafter to be organized, 
 should be entitled to eicct to that branch of the Legislative Assemblv two 
 members each. 
 
16 
 
 Under this charter the legislative council of the colony, before the Revo- 
 lution, and the legislature of the State, since, have continued to pass laws to 
 regulate the right of suffrage of the citizens of the United States, resident in 
 that State, always confining that right to a freeholder to a certain amount in 
 value, and to the oldest son of such freeholder, and excluding from the ballot 
 box all other persons, however worthy, however wealthy, and although 
 natives of the State, or however long residents therein. This has been one 
 of the great causes of the popular struggle in that State. 
 
 The representation by towns in the legislature has always been according 
 to the old charter, and, as a consequence, the town of Newport, w'ith a popu-_ 
 lation by the last census, of 8,333 souls, sends six members, while the city of 
 Providence, with a population of 23,171 souls sends but four members. 
 This is a specimen of the inequality of representation of the people of the 
 State, to say nothing of the inequality of the right of voting ; and this has 
 grown out of the change of population in the difierent towns, compared with 
 each other, since the charter v/as granted, now almost two hundred years 
 ago. Still the charter does not give the legislature any power to change 
 this rule of representation, as it does not contain any provisions for its own 
 alteration or amendment. These it would not contain, as a matter of course ; 
 because, being a charter granted by a sovereign to his subjects, all changes 
 in it, if any w^ere to be made, must depend upon his will and pleasure, not 
 upon the action of those to whom he had gra^ited what he then pleased. 
 
 Under this state of things, that deep wrong and injustice prevails in that 
 State, both as to the right of suflrage, and the inequality of representation, 
 no reasonable man can doubt, and the only question is, w-ho is authorized to 
 redress these wrongs and remedy that injustice ? To me the question seems 
 one of easy solution. Who could have done it, if the American Revolution 
 had not taken place, and Rhode Island had yet remained a British colony ? 
 Not, certainly, the colonial legislature. Their powers would have remained 
 limited by the charter of their sovereign, under which only they would have 
 held legislative powers at all. That sovereign alone would have had the 
 power to change the charter. When the American Revolution had termi- 
 nated in the acknowledgment of the British king that Rhode Island was a 
 free, sovereign, and independent State, upon whom did the powers of that 
 sovereign over that charter fall ? Upon the colonial legislature ? No. 
 Upon the governor electe'd under that charter ? No. Upon whom then ? 
 Is any American unable to answer for himself, and for his countrymen in 
 every corner of this broad Union ? No. The universal answer will be, as 
 he true one is, upon the people of the State of Rhode Island. Who, then, 
 after that Revolution, held the power, and now holds it, to abrogate that old 
 charter by a free and equal and proper constitution of government for that 
 State? The People of Rhode Island, who held the present sovereignty 
 of that State by conquest from the King, who granted the charter. Rhode 
 Island has become one of the most extensively manufacturing States, accord- 
 ing to its population, in the whole Union, and the smallness of its territory 
 and its location, within the most commercial and trading portion of the Union, 
 has made that condition a most natural one. It is said, with the strongest 
 confidence, and probably with perfect truth, that the free adult males within 
 the territory, citizens of the United States, and not fortunate enough to be 
 the " oldest sons" of freeholders, could not, by any possibility, if they had 
 the means to do so, procure a freehold interest within the limits of the State 
 which would entitle them to a vote — that the profitable and useful occupancy 
 of the soil of the State would not allow of the subdivisions which would be 
 
17 
 
 vequii-ecl to piodLice thirf result. VVlio then, again 1 ask, are the People ol 
 Rhode Island, in a political sense, under our free institutions, and who are 
 authorised to pronounce the sovereign will of the State, in reference to the 
 formation of a system of government? The whole body of American free- 
 men will answer, the free adult male citizens of the United States, perma- 
 nently domiciliated within the State. 
 
 What, then, is the Rhode Island case? It is that these citizens of the 
 United States and of that State have, through the medium of the ballot boxes, 
 and by quiet and peaceable and orderly representative assemblies, attempted 
 to abroo-ate that old British charter, and substitute in its place a constitution 
 of government conformable to our American institutions; but that they have 
 attempted to do that without the authority, or leave, or sanction, of the 
 charter's legislature, elected by the freeholders and the oldest sons of the 
 freeholders of the State. This is the offence, and this is called treason here 
 by some, and is enacted to be treason by that charter legislature. 
 
 I do not attempt to say that the people of Rhode Island have, by their 
 voice, abrogated the old charter and established a constitution. After what 
 has taken place in that State, and elsewhere, upon this subject, I have as 
 little disposition as I have right to pronounce upon the fact ; but I do, with- 
 out a shadow of doubt or hesitation, pronounce my opinion in favor of the 
 right of the people of that State, as 1 have defined the term '' people," to 
 have done that, at any time since the American Revolution, or to do it now; 
 and if treason should grow out of such peaceable and orderly proceedings on 
 the part of that people, it would, in my judgment, be upon the consciences 
 of those, in or out of the State, who should, by violence or otherwise, resist 
 that popular voice, and not of those who should act as the servants of the 
 people in carrying it out and making it effective. 
 
 " The charter of King Charles jirescribcd the number of members of the Lcgishiture for 
 each town ; and, by examining the following table, every man can sec how tliis royal docu- 
 ment enables a mmority of less than one-third to govern the other two-tliirds of the people 
 
 of Rhode Island : 
 
 No. 
 Population. Menibcr.r. 
 
 Nowport county, - 16,874 20 
 
 Washington county, - 14,324 14 
 
 Town of Harrington, - 549 2 
 
 Town of East Greenwich, 1,509 2 
 
 
 No. 
 
 Population. 
 
 Mcmbci 
 
 Providence county, - 58,073 
 
 22 
 
 Bristol county, except Bar- 
 
 
 rington, - - - 5,927 
 
 4 
 
 Kent county, except East 
 
 
 Greenwich, - - 11,574 
 
 8 
 
 33,256 38 
 
 75,574 34 
 
 " Thus, 33,256 people govern and control 75,574, under a royal charter to a land com- 
 pany, bearing date in the year 1663 I" 
 
 What would the people of Illinois say, if none but freeholders and the 
 oldest sons of freeholders, were permitted to vote in our State ? 
 
 THE CREDIT SYSTEM. 
 
 " Ferish credit, perish commerce,'' has been a favorite motto with our op- 
 ponents. And many of them were carried to such extremes by their favorite 
 system of credit as to maintain the doctrine that " a national debt was a 
 national blessing." The funding system (in other words a national debt) 
 appears to have been a favorite scheme with Mr. Hamilton. Mr. Jefferson 
 denounced it as at war with the genius of a republican government. General 
 Jackson believed it to be the greatest curse that could befall a free country ; 
 for, in his judgment, nothing was so corrupting as a great money oligarchy. 
 The paramount object with him, therefore, when he came into the office of 
 President, on the 1th of March, 1829, was the extinguishment of the public 
 3 
 
18 
 
 debt. It anioLuited at that tiiue to upwards of sixty-live millions of dollars ; 
 and, strange as it may seem, it was all paid off during the first seven years of 
 his administration. The last dollar was paid in the year 1836, while in the 
 meantime all the other demands upon the Government were promptly met, 
 and the payments punctually provided for. During this period all the nations 
 of Europe, I believe without exception, instead of diminishing, were increas- 
 ing theirs, under the funding system. Doctor Benjamin Franklin, who was 
 justly considered one of the most celebrated of practical economists of this 
 country, in his many beautiful maxims on this subject, under the assumed 
 name of " Poor Richard the Scribe," uniformly condemned the credit 
 system as now understood and practised upon in these times of embarrassment 
 and pecuniary distress. If our citizens, many of whom have been sobered 
 down of late by disappointments in speculation, would study and practise 
 upon the truth of the following beautiful maxim, 1 think that no harm, to say 
 the least of it, would result from the reflection in the future : 
 
 " Neither a debtor nor a lender bo ; 
 For CREDIT blunts tlie edge of husbandry. 
 And DEUT dolh often lose itself and friend." 
 
 The eccentric but highly gifted John Randolph, of Virginia, according to 
 an anecdote which is related of him, was once in the act of delivering one of 
 his most eloquent speeches in Congress, when he suddenly stopped, and 
 after a moment of apparent reflection, changed entirely his tone and manner, 
 and addressing himself to the speaker, said : " Mr. Speaker, a thought has 
 struck me, sir ; 1 believe, sir, that I have discovered the philosopher's stone ; 
 and it all consists in these four, plain, English monosyllables, to wit : pay — 
 
 as you — go." After which he resumed, and concluded one of the best 
 
 speeches he had ever before made in that body. 
 
 Unfortunately for our countrymen, we are so eager in the pursuit of 
 wealth, that we altogether forget that it requires industry and economy to 
 procure it. We are so dazzled, and so much occupied with the speculations 
 floating before our excited imaginations, that we have no leisure to study the 
 laws which regulate the production and distribution of property, by which 
 alone wealth, as a general rule, can be obtained. Hence the reason why so 
 many of our schemes for growing rich of late years fail in their very incep- 
 tion, and hence the reason why w^e have so much legislation in relation to 
 contracts between man and man, often in efiect impairing their obligation, 
 when we should have no legislation at all ; when the few and simple natural 
 laws which govern and regulate the acquisition and distribution of property, 
 if timely attended to, would arrest the evil and its consequences. It was not 
 so with our ancestors; and many of our old, practical farmers,! have no 
 doubt, could teach a lesson to some of our young legislators on this subject 
 that would be worth remembering. 
 
 The pernicious eftects growing out of this false notion of the credit sys- 
 tem are now seen and fell in every branch of our Federal and State Goverri- 
 ments, and in our neighborhood aftairs in every part of the country. It is 
 credit that enables the spendthrift to live upon the property and money oi 
 his confiding neighbors. It is credit that induces one man to go security for 
 another, by which so many are broken up and ruined. It is credit that tempts 
 the husbandman to eat u[) and wear out in luxuries his crop before it is 
 made. The English manufacturer sells to the New York merchant on cre- 
 dit ; the New York merchant sells to the lUinois merchant on credit ; and 
 the Illinois merchant sells to the people on credit ; and out of the people, by 
 a reversed process, the English manufacturer nuuit get his money. At first 
 
19 
 
 the merchant is very clever and obh'ging, and seems to have no use for money, 
 and by way of inducement, tells the farmer if he will purchase, that it makes 
 no difference about the time of payment, &ic.; but soon afterwards, and per- 
 haps when the farmer is least able to pay his account, he sees in the news- 
 paper of his village, advertisements which he well understands when perhaps 
 it is too late, somewhat after form? like these: "Last notice," " Must have 
 money," " Come up to the rack," &c., when it is not unfrequent that his 
 necessaries are sold at a ruinous sacrifice, to pay for things which might have 
 been dispensed with. " He has short credit who has money to pay at Easter," 
 is among the sayings of Doct. Franklin; and never was there a greater truism. 
 It is credit that causes so many of late years to die insolvent, and leave their 
 widows and orphans destitute of the means of support. It is credit which 
 often makes the bankrupt, the drunkard, and the suicide. It is credit that 
 has ruined so many of the States, broken the banks, and those who have 
 borrowed from the banks. Alas ! What has not this credit system done to 
 blight the prospects, and destroy the iiopes almost, of this fairest portion of 
 the earth? 
 
 EXTRAVAGANCE OF GENERAL JACKSOn's AND MR. VAN BUREn's ADMINISTRA- 
 TIONS PROMISED REFORM BY THE WHIGS. 
 
 I have shown that when General Jackson entered upon the administration 
 of the Government, in March 1829, that the " National debt" amounted to 
 ^65,532,603, and that the whole of it was paid off the year before he went 
 out of office. During his time large sums of money, amounting to many mil- 
 lions, were recovered through his negotiations from foreign nations, on account 
 of spoliations on our commerce ; some of them extending back to periods 
 beyond the quarter of a century — such, for instance, was the large claim 
 against the Government of France. By his uncommon energy, perseverance, 
 and devotion to the interests of his country, every nation was not only com- 
 pelled to bring the long negotiations which had been pending under the ad- 
 ministrations of his predecessors to a close, but to acknowledge the justice of 
 our claims, as far as they were proper, and provide for their immediate pay- 
 ment. The rule of his conduct was, " to award justice to all nations prompt- 
 ly, and to take nothing less in return." When speaking of the French in- 
 demnity, he said : " It is too much to wait a quarter of a century for the 
 recognition of our claim, and then another quarter of a century for the pay- 
 ment of it." And we all remember how near we were, several years ago, 
 under his administration, making reprisals upon France to compel her to 
 perform her treaty stipulations in regard to this same payment, which had 
 been unreasonably delayed beyond the time agreed. But the money came, 
 and the old veteran again took Louis Philippe by the hand. There were also 
 paid during b's 'ind Mr. Van Buren's administrations large sums, amounting 
 to a great many millions, in the payment of pensions, in the purchase of lands 
 from the Indians, and in the prosecution of the war in Florida, for the increase 
 of the navy and the like, besides the ordinary expenses of the Government. 
 Besides this, over twenty-eight millions of dollars was paid out of the 
 national treasury as a surplus, to the several States of the Union, in form as 
 so many deposits to the credit of the LTnited States, but virtually a distribu- 
 tion amono- the States. The first instalment, exceeding nine millions of dol- 
 lars, was paid to the States the 1st of January, 1837; this was during Gene- 
 ral Jackson's administration. The second instalment, also exceeding nine 
 millions of dollars, was paid the 1st of April, 1837 ; and the third instalment, 
 of the like amount, was paid the 1st of July, 1837 — making over twenty- 
 
20 
 
 p.ighi mitlioiis in ilie wliole ; of which two instahnenls, exceeding eighteen 
 iviTuions of dollars in amount, were paid over after Mr. Van Buren came into 
 office — of this money it appears from an official statement from the Secretary 
 of the Treasury, the Slate of Illinois received $A11,9]9. It also appears 
 from an official statement from the Engineer department, that from the year 
 1830 to 1833 inclusive, embracing the last six of GeneralJackson's, and the 
 first two of Mr. Van Buren's administrations, the aggregate sum of ,^'746,000, 
 was expended on the Cumljerland road in Illinois alone. Tliis embraces all 
 the money thai was ever expended in Illinois on account of that road, with 
 the exception of a fraction of ^10,000 only, which was originally expended 
 in laying out the road through the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, which 
 was charged to the account of Ohio on the books of the department. From 
 the year 1833 to 1838 inclusive — during the last four of General Jackson's, 
 and the first two of Mr. Van Buren's administrations, there was also expend- 
 ed, according to the official statements, on the harbor and lighthouse at Chi- 
 cago, in IlliiTois, the further sum of .'j^ 197,000, besides a considerable sum 
 expended in improving the navigation of the Mississippi, at the rapids, in 
 which Illinois was interested. These sums amount in the whole to a sum not 
 varying much from one million five hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 When Mr. Van Buren came into office in 1837, the reductions in the tariff 
 of duties under the compromise act of 1833, had begun very sensibly to di- 
 minish the revenue, and like a wise and prudent statesman, as I believe him 
 to be, he recommended a corresponding relrenchment in our expenditures. 
 Congress nevertheless constantly exceeded by their appropriations the esti- 
 mates of the departments, all of which had been graduated by a scale of 
 expenditure commensurate with the falling off in the income. All reforms 
 to be judicious should be gradual. For the year 1837, the first of Mr. Van 
 Buren's administration, the expenses of the Government are officially stated 
 at ^31,010,003 ; for 183S, ^31,544,396— a reduction of ^65,607 only ; but 
 this was something by way of a beginning. In 1839 tlie expenses were 
 brought down to ,^25,443,716, a saving of ^6,100,680 from the expendi- 
 ture of the preceding year; and 1840, the last year of his administration, 
 the expenses were reduced to ^'22,389,356. In some portions the of coun- 
 try he was charged with extravagance ; while in other portions, along the 
 Atlantic seaboard, which had been accustomed to very large annual appro- 
 priations, he was charged with being parsimonious and niggardly. He 
 regarded neither, but kept a steady eye upon the best interests of his 
 country, by using every effort to keep the expenditures within the income. 
 Mr. Woodbury, who was his Secretary of the Treasury, informed me a few 
 days ago, that it was Mr. Van Buren's intention to have brought down the 
 expenses of the Government to about eighteen or twenty millions; and by 
 examining his last reports on that subject, he says, it will be seen, that all 
 his estimates were framed with that view. 
 
 His estimates, assuming eighteen millions as the proper sum, which I have 
 taken from a memorandum which he gave me, are as follows : 
 
 Civil, diplomatic, and miscellaneous expenses, - - - - ^'4,000,000 
 
 Military, including Indians, pensions, Sic, 9,000,000 
 
 Navy, and naval expenses, 5,000.000 
 
 ^18,000,000 
 
 Making a total of eighteen millions; and this in his judgment, he said, was 
 
 amply sufficient. When Mr. Van Buren retired from the administration of the 
 
 Government on the 3d of March, 1841, there were only about five millions 
 
 of Treasury notes outstanding which had not been redeemed ; which was al! 
 
21 
 
 that could be regarded in the liglil of a national debt. Now if the ,^28,000; 
 000 of surplus, which was taken from tlie national treasury and deposited 
 with the Slates should be brought back, (and if not brought back, a credit 
 should be allowed for it,) and the J{j,' 5,000,000 of Treasury notes deducted, 
 it would leave during the adnainistrations of General Jackson and Mr. Van 
 Buren, a balance saved to the Government over and above all the expendi- 
 tures of twenty-three millions of dollars. 
 
 Mr. Clay, of Kentucky, in his 4th of July Speech, 1840, when condemn- 
 ing Mr. Van Buren's administration, which he contended had destroyed all 
 confidence in the credit of those engaged in business; had reduced the prices 
 of produce and wages of labor; said, "that the fact of General Harrison's 
 election, will of itself powerfully contribute to the security and prosperity of 
 the people. Confidence will immediately revive ; credit will be restored ; 
 active business will return ; and the prices of produce and the wages of labor 
 will rise." 
 
 Thus you perceive, that our Whig opponents came into office promising 
 better times; and many an honest man was induced with the best of motives^ 
 to join in the cry of change ! change I ! against Mr. Van Buren, in the con- 
 fident hope of speedily seeing, in case of his defeat, these same better times. 
 But alas! how fleeting such expectations. The promise was made to the ear 
 it is true, but it has been broken to the hope — and having scarcely lasted for a 
 night, has vanished with the mists of the morning. Already has a national 
 debt, exceeding twenty millions of dollars in amount, been brought upon the 
 country through extravagance and mismanagement — the treasury is bank- 
 rupt — the credit of the Government run down. Confidence as promised, has 
 not been revived ; credit has not been restored ; active business has not re- 
 turned ; the prices of produce and of labor have not risen ; Mr. Clay has 
 resigned his seat in the Senate, and gone home to Ashland ; and universal 
 distress, and a total want of confidence, pervades the entire country. And 
 yet the Whigs have a large majority in both Houses of Congress, and although 
 we have been in session now for seven months, have not been able to find 
 a remedy, except in promises. 
 
 POLICY IN RELATION TO THE PUBLIC LANDS DISTRIBUTION PRE-EMP- 
 TION GRADUATION, ETC. 
 
 I have always been opposed to any proposition in relation to the public 
 lands, which had for its object distribution simply, and which did not carry 
 along with it a just regard for the future settlement, population, and advan- 
 cing prosperity of that part of the country embraced within the limits of the 
 new States; as I am clearly of opinion diat the rateable proceeds of the 
 sales which would fall to the share of Illinois, would but poorly compensate 
 for the injuries that would be, and have already been inflicted under such a 
 system. I always feared the cupidity of the old States, from the moment 
 they could lay their hands upon this money, or upon the lands. As far back 
 as December, 1829, Mr. Foot, of Connecticut, then a senator in Congress 
 from Connecticut, introduced a resolution into the Senate instructing the Com- 
 mittee on Public Lands to inquire into the expediency of limiting the sales 
 of the public lands for a certain period, to such only as had been before that 
 time offered for sale, and subject to private entry ; and, also, whether the office 
 of Surveyor General might not be abolished without detriment to the public 
 interest. This proposition, if carried into eflect, would have restricted the 
 settlements to the lands which had been surveyed, and were subject to pri- 
 vate entry only ; the object being such, as would govern a private land' 
 
22 
 
 speculator in bringing his lands into market only so fast as they could be 
 sold for money. It has always been regarded as a money measure in such of 
 the old States as have been in favor of it, with an eye single to the dividends. 
 It is this class of persons who have always opposed our pre-emption laws, 
 and laws for the reduction of the price. But it is only necessary to go back 
 to the bill which was passed at the late extra session of Congress, for the 
 distribution of the proceeds of the sales, to show the feelings of its advocates. 
 By that bill the right of pre-emption was denied to foreigners not naturalized, 
 and to all who had gone upon the lands in advance of the public surveys, 
 notwithstanding they were told again and again upon the floor of Congress, 
 that it would deprive thousands of the citizens in northern Illinois of this 
 right, who had gone upon these lands, as has always been the custom, before 
 they were surveyed. Again, we protested against any restriction which 
 should interfere with the right of a sovereign State, to provide for the settle- 
 ment of its whole territory. Since distribution has become a favorite mea- 
 sure of the Whigs, what I anticipated in a speech made in ihe Senate, in 
 January, 1841, has already been verified to the letter: we have had already 
 resolutions presented to Congress, from several of the old States, protesting 
 against pre-emptions, and reductions in the price, and against any cession to 
 the neiv States in which they lie ; and if they had the power they would 
 limit the sales to such lands as were subject to private entry only, for they 
 have quite as much interest in retarding our settlement, as they have in the 
 money to be derived from the sales. Our increase in population, and their 
 loss, has absolutely astounded them. For now, Illinois will have more mem- 
 bers in the 2Sth Congress, under the new apportionment, than Connecticut, 
 New Hampshire, Vermont, or New Jersey, and as many as Maine, Ala- 
 bama, or South Carolina ; and in the next ten years, she will probably be 
 the fifth or sixth State in tlie Union. Many years ago, when this distribution 
 policy, was first brought to the attention of Congress, it u'as universally con- 
 demned as unjust by the members from the new States. I allude to that 
 period when Governor Edwards, of our State, who v/as then in the Senate 
 of the United States, made his unanswerable speech against the " Maryland 
 Resolutions." But this policy is unjust to Illinois, in denying our right to tax 
 the lands within our limits. For 1 see no diflerence in principle, whether as 
 a permanent system, the lands themselves or their proceeds are distributed. 
 If the lands were to be distributed at once among the States, and become 
 their separate property, it is very clear we would have the right to tax them ; 
 which we cannot do so long as they remain the property of the United States. 
 There are as yet unsold in our State, eighteen millions of acres of the public 
 lands. These, at a tax of three cents per acre, or ^4 80 per quarter section, 
 would produce an annual revenue exceeding ^500,000. The doctrine con- 
 tended for by those in favor of distribution is, "that these lands do now ac- 
 tually belong to the individual States as a comrann property, and not to the 
 United States." If this be true, then the United States, in the sale, and 
 subsequent distribution of the money, acts only as a trustee for the States ; 
 and we may rightfully tax such lands within our limits, as they no longer are 
 the property of the United States. It was contended by Governor Edwards, 
 and very properly, that no distribution would be just to the new States, which 
 was not equal to an annual tax upon the lands. The taxing power is indeed 
 inseparable from the idea of sovereignty ; and so long as these public lands 
 remain unsold, and consequently not subject to taxes, we remain to that ex- 
 tent subject to a species of vassalage unknown, and unfelt in the old States, 
 and which they would not willingly submit to. It is to this cause, to wit: 
 
23 
 
 that more than one half of the lands in Illinois are not taxable, more than 
 any thing else, that we are now unable to pay the interest on our State debt, 
 and to prosecute the work on the canal ; as I have shown that this tax which 
 is now wholly lost to the State, at three cents an acre, would amount an- 
 nually to five hundred thousand dollars. But the idea of a distribution has 
 always gone upon the supposition of a surplus in the National Treasury. 
 For of what possible advantage can it be to take money from the treasury, 
 and distribute it among the States; if the deficit should have to be supplied 
 by a tax upon the people? We may borrow, it is true, as seems to be the 
 present policy of the Whigs, but will not the principal, with accumulated in- 
 terest, have to be paid in the end ? It was for this reason that when the dis- 
 tribution law was passed at the late extra session, a clause was inserted, 
 " that in case of war, or the necessity of increasing the tariff of duties above 
 twenty per cent, ad valorem, the di'=;tribution should be suspended." And it 
 was for this reason, that President Tyler very properly vetoed a tariff bill on 
 yesterday, which had been passed by the Whig members in Congress, pr-)- 
 viding for a duty above twenty per cent, for a limited period, and yet so 
 framed, as to withhold the land money from the treasury. It is now under- 
 stood that the President will not approve any bill whatever, for the raising of 
 revenue, which violates the compromise section in the law of the extra ses- 
 sion referred to. 
 
 ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL STATE CREDIT TAXES, &C. 
 
 I have long considered the success of the "Illinois and Michigan canal" as 
 vitally connected with the best interests of our State — I regard it as second in im- 
 portance only to the Eric canal of New York; and as indispensably necessary 
 to revive the drooping prospects of our State, What shall not be thought of a 
 work which is destined to connect the waters of the lakes with those of the Mis- 
 sissippi? Nor is it a sectional work, intended to benefit one section of the State 
 at the expense of another, as has been supposed, and honestly no doubt, by many, 
 who have not had the means of correct iuformation. Are not we on the Missis- 
 sippi, in fact, more interested in its completion, than our fellow-citizens at Chica- 
 go? Let a fact or two suffice to show. I take, for instance, a fact in relation to 
 the price of wheat, copied from the Peoria Register sometime ago, as compared 
 with the price of wheat at Chicago at the same time. The editor says, " wheat is 
 a dull article here, (Peoria,) at forty cents a bushel ; while the sale is brisk at Chi- 
 can-o at ninety cents." I estimate the quantity of new wheat in Peoria county at 
 50,000 bushels. Now see how much our farmers will lose in this one article by 
 not having the facilities which the canal would furnish for transporung their pro- 
 duce at Chicago. 
 
 50,000 bushels of wheat at Chicago at 90 cents, is ... f 45,000 
 
 Ditto. ditto. at Peoria at 40 cents, is ' . - . 20,000 
 
 Difierence - $25,000 
 
 E.xpense of transportation to Chicago eight cents a bushel - . 4,000 
 
 Loss - - $21,000 
 
 Leaving a loss in one year on wheat alone, says the editor, " which would be 
 sufficient to pay the debts of all the farmers in the county." Our citizens pur* 
 chase most of the pine lumber used in building our houses at St. Louis, at the rate 
 of from three to five dollars per hundred feet. The same kind of lumber can be 
 purchased at Chicago, and in any quantity, at one dollar per hundred ; and if our 
 canal was completed, could be furnished on the Mississippi, and all along the 
 Illinois river at from %\ 50 to $2 per hundred — but the greatest advantage would 
 be derived in transporting our produce, and especially our wheat, m that direction, 
 to* the Eastern markets, or for exportation through Canada to England as 
 mentioned in a former part of this letter. Flour and wheat, moreover, are often 
 
24 
 
 damaged, and become unsaleable, on account of the hoi ncalher and humid aU 
 nlosphcre of the South, when no such injury would probably happen by taking 
 the northern route. The convenience of- travelling- would take thousands iji thai 
 direction, who prefer that route, but who now go by the Ohio for the want of this 
 grand link in our chain of water communication. Are we not all then alike in- 
 terested, and is not our State and the adjoining States also interested in its comple- 
 tion ? But this must be done, and will be done, without imposing a lax upon the 
 people during their embarrassments. Other means must and will be resorted to, 
 without the necessity of taxing or borrowing, under such unfavorable circum- 
 stances as at present. We are now endeavoring to procure an additional grant of 
 land from the United States for that purpose, and trust that we shall be suc'cessful. 
 The time is also equally unpropitious in my opinion to think of levying a tax to 
 pay our State debt; but we must not repudiate. It will not do to let our beautiful 
 Slate sink down into hopeless bankruptcy. If we cannot pay the Whole, we must, 
 as soon as we recover from our depressed condition, pay what we can without 
 oppression ; and our creditors, seeing our disposition to perform to the uttermost of 
 our ability, will be satisfied. But oppressive taxes ought, under no circumstances, 
 to be resorted to ; for it does not follow because a man is in debt that he is not to 
 live. The following beautiful extract from a late message of Governor Carlin, 
 in relation to our State indebtedness, and against the doctrine of repudiation, is 
 couched in so much more appropriate language than I have at command, that I 
 beg leave to copy it for the benefit of those who have entertained doubts upon these 
 important subjects. 
 
 "Those embarrassments," says the Governor, (alluding to the debt of our State,) "have 
 grown out of our system of internal improvements, adopted by improvident legislation, at a 
 time when the delusive phiintQiii^.^spuculatioa seemed to have taken possession of the human 
 inind, and led the world iiUo exl^i^uganco and error; and however deeply we may regret 
 the evil, which this syst^vj^as ^tailed upon us, it would be unwise and unpatriotic, to 
 shrink from the responsibility ^f applying our best efforts in the pecuniary redemption of the 
 .State and the preservation of ficr honor." 
 
 Here is&e language of an honest and unsophisticated man, brought up among 
 the farmers of the country, possessing all their feelings, and understanding their 
 interests. And what more can be said? But our resources are greater than we 
 are apt to believe. The entire quantity of lands sold, or patented to soldiers in our 
 State, according to tjie latest returns, is, 14,897,571 acres. The lands patented, 
 and purchased, at the present time, cannot be less than 15,000,000 of acres. This 
 quantity at three cents an acre, or $4 80 the quarter section, would produce an 
 annual revenue of $450,000. Now suppose we fall back upon the old system of 
 taxation, and levy a- tax only on the land, without including the improvements, 
 except in towns for corporation purposes; so as to equalize the tax in some degree 
 between improved and unimproved lands; could not such an amount, as soon as 
 the times become better, be realized? This, I am aware, would operate heavily 
 upon non-resident proprietors owning large quantities of unimproved land ; but 
 still their condition would be made better in the end, by restoring the credit of the 
 State, in the enhanced price and salcability of their lands. This, instead of in- 
 creasing, would in many instances reduce the taxes upon the former ; and all this 
 money might be made applicable to State purposes, the debt and interest included, 
 when such a measure may be adopted with propriety, while the taxes oh personal 
 property might be applied in discharge of the county expenses. But I have neither 
 time nor room to enter furtlier into details, and must bring these desultory reflec- 
 tions to a close. Hoping that in the coming elections, as I cannot be with you, 
 that you may have a fair field; and that your efforts may be crowned with the 
 triumph of democratic principles, I subscribe myself your fellow-citizen, 
 
 RICHARD M. YOUNG. 
 To Messrs. .Tames M. Neely, Spencer Howard, Lee Hamilton, H. Gill- 
 more, and William J. Miller, 
 
 Committee nf a meciinfi' of the Dc7Hocratic citizens of 
 
 Morgan Courili/, Illinois ,* 
 
 LB,]' '03 
 
I 
 
 i 
 
?bbW5?congbess