Alexandria gazette. [volume], January 04, 1834, Image 2

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ALEX.1V3RI1 GAZETTE*
MR. POLK’S SPEECH
On the Removal of the Deposited — Continued.
When l had the honor to address this House,
two dav* ago, I endeavored to establish, by argu
ment and from authority, the position, that in
removing the late Secretary of the Treasury, the
President of the United States had exercised on
ly the ordinary power conferred on him by the
Constitution, and fully sanctioned by precedent;
ami l also endeavored to establish, from reason
and usage, that the present Secretary of the
Treasury, in ordering the removal of the pubbc
tlnposites from the Bank of the United States,
had done nothing that was novel or unprecedent
ed. but had exerted a power over the funds of
the Government conferred upon him by law, and
which hU predecessors had used in like manner,
and that he had assigned to this House good and
sufficient reasons for so doing.
i shall now, with what brevity I may, proceed
to examine the reasons adduced by him, together
with the objections which have been urged against
such an exercise of power.
The first objection we have heard is ol a po
pular character, and is one which, at first view,
might seem to have something in it; it is, that
the*removal was ordered within only sixty days
from the meeting of Congress. Why, it is ask
ed, did not the Secretary wait? Why did he
not submit a question of this moment to the Re
presentatives of the People? This seems spe
cious. But, let it be remembered, that Con
oress, bv the Charter of the Bank, had divested
itself of all charge of the deposited, or control
over them, and had vested it exclusively in the
Secretary of the Treasury; and, therefore, had
this body been in session at fhe time, it would
have had no power to interfere as to the place
where the public moneys should be deposited
Why, then, ought the Secretary to have waited?
And* for what? To send a letter to this House,
and ask our advice? Sir, would he not have
been laughed to scorn, had he taken such a
course? Would it not have been said—why, here
is a high financial officer of the Government who
fears to take the responsibility which the law de
volves upon him. and who applies to otheis to
stand before him as his shield while ill the dis
charge of his duty? Sk, it would justly have
been%aid. But, had he done so, the deposites
could not have been removed until he decided to
give the order His reasons for removing them
are required bv the charter to be given to this
Houte, not before, but subsequent to, their re
moval. Well, sir, and what would have been
said, had he removed the deposited three days af
ter Congress had adjourned at the last session?
Whv, then, we should have been told that he on
ly waited till the Representatives of the People
had turned their backs; and this would have
been said with still moie reason than the
Other.
Suppose again that he had waited until three
days after Congress had assembled. The po
pular argument then would have been (though
there would have been nothing in it) that here
we had a mere Secretary, in the very face of the
People’s Representatives, venturing, without
their concurrence, upon this high handed mea
sure, for*such it would have been called. So
that, as it seems to me, objections as to the ([me
of the removal might have oeen urged '-vith equal,
if not with greater force. Hail any other period
been selected than that which was actually chosen
for the removal. 1 think that the tun- selected
was a fortunate one: it enabled the People's re
presentatives to consider the subject, and to give
at least some expression of their will to those
whom they should send here. Here are Repre
sentatives from all portions of the Union, who
have now an opportunity of bringing with them
some expression of the public sentiment on the
measure. So much for this objection, which, to
a merely casual observer, might appear to have
more in it than it really contains.
f /.n.no nniu t ,, t I \ IT 1 V P 9 .*14 H 1 *4
prominent reason for the measure he adopted,
vithe probable expiration of the Bank Charter
about two years hence. It was no part of the
Government’s contract with the Bank that
the Deposites should remain in its custody dur
ing the whole period of its existence: on the
contrary, it was expressly stipulated that they
might be withdrawn by the Secretary at will —
Nor was any reason stated as the ground of re
moval. If was not necessary, to render the re
moval lawful, that the deposites should be un
safe in the hands of the Bank; other reasons
might operate to produce the Secretary’s deter
mination. This was conceded in the argument of
the gentleman from South Carolina—he granted
that tnere might be other sufficient reasons for
such a measure. The Secretary has assigred
the probable expiration of the Charter in 1836,
anti the necessity in anticipation of the state of
things which must necessarily take place at that
time, of providing a currency for the public use,
and a place of safe keeping for the public moneys
without disturbing the channe's of trade, and
occasioning the great shock to the country which
would otherwise he inevitable. Sir, the gentle
man from South Carolina ha9 not attempted to
me**t the argument of the Secretary. Ills whole
argument is based on the assumption that the
Bank Charter is to be renewed.
The gentleman spoke of the embarrassments
of the country, the condition of tilings in 1817
and 18, ami what would be the state of the cur
ren. v if there were no Bank of the United States.
The Secretary proceeds on a different assump
tion—he goes on the principle that the Bank is
not to be re chartered. He considers himself
bound to take the laws as they are; in addition to
which, he has the further grouud of the public
sentiment to a pretty great extent. On that
point, l mav boldly appeal to gentlemen here.
Sir, how many of these Representatives of the
People’s will do believe that the Bank will be re
chartered? H..w many, with the knowledge
they possess of the public opinion, will express
inch a beliel? 1 guess you will find but few
gentlemen on this floor willing to stake their re
putation on such an opinion. The difference be
tween the Secretary and the gentleman from
South Carolina lies in tins: that the one assumes
that the Bank is to be re chattered, and the
Other assumes the contrary—which has the right
of the question? T.rne mu*t determine. The
state of public opinion we all know. If this is
not the inference o'* the gentleman from South
Carolina, I ask wh-n then could the deposites
have beta removed at a better time than uow?—
i
Sir the argument of the gentleman amounts to
an assumption that the Bank charter is to be per
^ But, it is said that the removal of the depo*
9ites has been productive of great distress, and .
an unusual pecuniary pressure. I shall contro* |
j vert that position; but, admitting it ior argu- j
! ment’s sake to be true, I ask, at what time would
their removal have been productive of le*s. I
this Bank is to expire, if it is not to be reclidrter- j
j ed, and it the deposites must have been with
drawn at some lime, I beg gentlemen to point;
! their finger to the time when the pressure ( which
they assume to be the effect of the withdrawal
alone) would have been any less than it is now.
Nay, sir, when would it not have been grea.er
i than it is? Will gentlemen answer, at the mo- j
1 ment when the Bank Charter shall expire? What,
sir? When the eighteen or nineteen millions ot j
I its circulation shall ail be returning upon the
Bank, and the institution shall be in the act of (
: Winding up its affairs? Would less pressure be
caused then?
| But, sir, on this subject of pecuniary pressure,
' let tne call the attention of the House to the actu
al state of facts, it appears from the statement
of the Secretary of the Treasury, and his state-,
I ment is verified bv the Bank returns themselves, ]
! that although the charter of the Bank was about (
1 to expire 10 1835, yet the Bank, nevertheless j
continued to extend its discounts, until, lor rea- ;
sons best known to the Bank, about the 1st of
August last, the policy of the institution was to-,
tally changed, and a curtailment of its accomnio- j
dation9 took place, more rapid than had ever
been known since it went first into operation, and
a proportionate pressure was felt throughout the j
country. But to be more accurate, and I feel
j this necessary, because the gentleman from
South Carolina said, in no very measured tenns,
; that the Secretary, in his report to this House,
has been guilty of a misrepresentation, and of a
! gross attempt to impose upon Congress. Now,
«f.r 1 Kfand here before this House and this Na
lion, pledged to prove to the satisfaction of every
human being that the statement of the Secretary
of the Treasury is true to the letter.
The statement of the Secretary is, that the cur
tailments of the discounts of the Bank from Au
gust l. to October 1, 1833, amounted to $4,
066,146. I have here belore me the returns of
the Bank, and they shew the statement to be
accurate to a farthing, according to the Bank’s
own statement. Mr. P. made some other com
parative statements, which the Reporter could {
not catch, concluding by saying that the state
ments of the Secretary of the Treasury were per
fectly and literally accurate and true. 1 lie
Secretary attempts no mistatement. Me express
ly savs, that the amount consisted ol loans and
domestic bills. But the gentleman from South
Carolina insists that domestic bills are not to be
considered as discounts. A strange doctiinc in
deed, and totally new, at least to me. i can
shew, bv the statement of the Bank itself, that
the amount of domestic bills discounted in a sin
gle vear was forty eight millions of dollars^ but
the gentlemen will have it that these are not dis
counts. Not discounts, sir? I thought that the
established rule was to set down all that tome in
as credit. I present a note: the Bank discounts j
it: a merchant draws at Boston, payable at (
New York: bills thus drawn are taken up by I
j cash, or by the proceeds of notes discounted.—
Tim doctrine as to these bills is so clear and set
tied, that I had not supposed it possible it could
ever be doubted.
Mr. P. here went into a view of the operation
of discounts of domestic Bills of Exchange, &c.
and consequent drafts, and redrafts, which made
this sort of discounting the profitable and favor
ite business of the Bank. Yet it is said that
i these Bills of Exchange, thus paying interest and
premium, are not discounted bills! The Secre
tary, in his statement of the curtailments by the
Bank, expressly stated these bills to be included
in the sum total of them. Where, then, was the
intention to deceive?
But it is said by the gentleman from South
Carolina, that the Secretary of the 'Treasury has
been guilty of a gross attempt to impose upon this
I House, by misrepresenting the amount of curtail
ments by the Bank, during the months of Octo
tober and November. What the Secretary states J
on this point is, that the receipts into the Treasu
rv during those months had been unusually large,
and that in, consequence, the amount of the pub
lic deposited in the Bank of the United States
had increased $2,268,000, in addition to its in
crease of means by its curtailments of more than
four millions of dollars, making the aggregate a
j mount, thus collected from the community, $6.- !
334,000. Well, sir, is this not true? I- it not
laterally true? The Bank had increased its
means and could have accommodated the com
munity, bv discounting to, at the least, the ex i
tent of that increase. Instead of which, it had
curtailed its discounts within the same period j
$4,066,000. And, sir, is there here any mis- i
statement? Hus not the Secretary of the Trea
sury stated the fact as it is? The terms which
the gentleman has applied to an officer of the
Government, who in the discharge of his high du- ;
tv thus makes official statements to the House,
were unmeasuied, and not expected. If they
hail not been made, sir, I should not have trou
bled the House with these and the following,
views.
The gentleman from South Carolina went on
to say, sir, that he never in his life had seen so
uoraodid a statement, for the purpose of throw
ing the blame of the existing pressure upon the
, Bank of the United States, that of the Se
cretary of the Treasury. Sir, said Mr. P., the
Government did not make the curtailment of dis
counts. It there be any pressure in consequence
I of it, then the responsibility for it must rest with
( the Bank, which did make it. The Secretary
states that there was no occasion for the Bank to
I have produced this pressure, or pursued this
grinding policy; but that, with accumulated de
posites, and an unusual amount of specie, it was
in its power to have accommodated the communi
t ty, and sustained it against the pressure Now,
[ sir, as to the amount of specie, how was the fact?
1 On the \st of October, the Bank had on hand of
specie, $10,663,000, having increased its specie
$640,000 within the two months preceding. Mr.
Biddle, in his letter of April, 1832, speaks of the
Bank having, on some occasion therein referred
to, parted with its surplus specie. According to
the view which he there takes of it, all over $6,
700,000 of specie, on hand on the 1st October,
was surplus; and yet the Bank continued to col
lect specie from the State Banks, at the same
tune that it made its own excessive curtailments, j
until it had on hand $10,600,000 of specie, be
ing a surplus of millions beyond its wants. The
Sectary of the Treasury expresses the. opinion
that, in the months of August f“d Septemb r,
the curtailments by the Bank of the United States
and State Banks did not fall much abort of nine
millions of dollars; and he makes a P^ 'c' 0',.
further, that, in two months more, the additional
curtailment bv the Bank of the doited states
would have been five millions and by the S
Banks an equal amount; and that this car -
ment from the first of August to tie r
cember, to the aggregate of nineteen millions.if
dollars, would have almost put an end to the
course of trade. And. sir, the Secretary has
predicted admirably what would have been the
consequence, if the deposiles had not been re
moved when they were. We find that the cur
tailment, by the Bank of the United States, dur
in<r the months of October and November, amount- j
ed”to 85.461,000, of which the notes discounted |
amounted to more than three millions of dollars, j
This amount ol curtailment, added to the curtail- j
ments in August and September, made an aggre- j
gate curtailment in the four months of 9.r00,000 j
dollars. ... , , !
If the State Banks had, as they probably would
have done, but for the transfer of the deposites,
curtailed their discounts in the same proportion,
the whole curtailment in the four months would
not have fallen much short of the amount pre
dicted bv the Secretary. The Government de
posites in the State Banks, however, have ena
bled them, pro tanto, to mitigate the pressure:
but, so far as concerns the Bank of the United
States, not a dollar has been permitted to come
out of its vaults to relieve the community.
[Mr. Polk then went into an argument, quot
ing largely from the Report of the Government
Directors, to show that the Bank itself was cre
ating the present pressure by its curtailment of
the Domestic Bills of Exchange.]
GENERAL AS^ \1 BLY OF VIRGINIA.
House of Delegates, Tuesday, Dec. SI, 1833.
Mr. Barbour, from the Seiect Committee on
the DeDosites,reported sundry resolutions. Mr.B.
stated that a report would have accompanied these
resolutions, but for his indisposition. He a*ked
that the resolutions be read — which being done,
Mr. Roane said he had had the fortune to be
one of the Committee, and the misfortune to be
in a minority upon it. He had differed in all
things from the majority, hut had thrown no im
pediment in their way. As one of the minority,
he desired promptly "to submit his views on this
grave, novel, and important subject, and he had
put thom in the form of resolutions, which he
hoped would be printed and issued to the world
in company with the resolutions of the committee.
Mr. R. wished his resolutions to be considered as
a substitute.
Resolutions of the Select Committee on the Z>e*
jjo sites
The Select Committee to whom was referred
so much of the Governor’s Message as relates to
an agreement entered into on the 22d of October
last, between the Bank of Va. and its office of
Discount at Norfolk, and the Secretary of the
Treasury of the United States, have according to
order had the same under consideration, and
now report in part, thereon, the following resolu
tions.
1 Resolved, as the sense of this Committee,
That the said agreement is injurious to the Peo
ple of this Commonwealth and ought to he re
scinded: that its terms and conditions mav be
greatly prejudicial to the Bank of Va by subject
ing its dealings to an inspection more full and
rigid than th it which is reserved to this state bv
the charter of incorporation: that allurements to
overtrade and make excessive issues or its paper
upon expectation* which may be fatally illusory,
mav bring upon the country heavy calamities,
and upon the solvency of the Institution perils
and jeopardy that may only be averted, by sub
mitting to any impositions however severe, that
the Secretary of the Treasury will dictate.
r\ 'l’l. » * i U » aaI li/\n to ii l\1 f hn
ft II Cl l I l I V I min' CAUUiinumMi i u " VM » "V
Bank has agreed to submit its books, and trans
actionSy not to the Secretary atone, but to any
agent or agents, that he may appoint (tending ne
cessarily to a disclosure of the affairs of the peo
ple, arid fi-cal means of the Commonwealth) is
degrading to the Slate and hurtful to its citizens
and its several Banks: That the stipulation to
give collateral security for its fidelity and ability
to perform this new duty, at the will of the Se
cretary, gives a more absolute dominion to that
federal officer, over the acts of the Bank, ami by
the power which he retains to discharge it at
pleasure from the service of the Government, the
stability of the Institution, the rights of the Stock
holders, and the interests of the State, are sub
jected to the caprice of an individual holding of
fice under another Government, and who is in
no wise, responsible to tire power of this Com
mon wealth.
3 That while this Committee disclaims the
expression or intimation of any opinion in refer
ence to the constitutionality of the existing Bank
of the United States, it nevertheless conceives
that the power of the Secretary of the Treasury
to establish and supply a national currency
through the agency of the State Banks, or other
wise, is not san< tioned by the federal constitu
tion, and if such attempt be persevered in, much
of harm may follow to the good people of this
Commonwealth as well as to its other banking
establishments already in existence; by giving to
the favored Bank an undue ascendancy, over the
circulating medium of the country, visiting it
with the evils of a vicious and spurious currency
in which, the speculator, the broker, and the po
litician, may prosper, at the expense and hazard
of the farmer, the laborer, the mechanic, and the
merchant.
4 That the recent removal of the Federal De
posites from the Bank of the United States and
its branches, at the instance, and upon the re
sponsibility of the President of the United States,
ought to be, and is regarded, as an alarming
usurpation of power, and a breach of the public
faith, most seriously felt in the distress which its
sudden and unexpected operation inflicts upon
the community, and which if submitted to, con
verts our free system, founded and secured to us
by a government of Law, into one guided, con
trolled, and acting by will.
5. And regarding the assent of Virginia to the
said agreement as giving countenance to this
act of unwarrantable power in the Federal Exe
cutive, the Commonwealth owe9 it to itself and to
the Constitution, to employ promptly, all proper
means to revoke and annul the same, to the end
that this portion of the public treasure may here
be lodged in the place* where bv law it
ou *lit h> be deposited, and that it may be again
subject to the constitutional control ot Con
8r<AS Resolved That the Treasurer of the Com
mon wealth be instructed to use all the influence
N ation, «<* Procure a rescis.on of the con
tact between the Bank of Virginia and its office
at Norfolk, and the Secretary of the treasury o
the U. States.
Mr. lloane's Substitute.
1. Resolved, by the General Assembly of Hr
ninia. That the recent removal by the Secretary
ft the Treasury, of federal deposites from the |
Bank of the Uniied Slate* to the Stale Banks,
was premature, injudicious, impolitic, ami not
called for bv the exigencies ot the countrr;
and is furthermore, deeply to the deplored, he
cause inasmuch as they were admitted to be safe
in said Bank, their removal al that time under
all the attending circumstances, d it does not
compel the institution to cause premature dis
tress throughout the country, at least affords it a
plausible pretext for hastening and increasing
that derangement of the circulating medium,
which must inevitably to a certain extent, pre
cede and attend a dissolution of its charter,
and therefore increases its claims ot perpetua
ting its existence. . IT .
2. Resolved, That the Congress of the Uni
ted States is not vested by the Constitution
thereof with the power to 'incorporate a Na
tional Hank, and that our Senators are hereby
instructed and our representatives earnestly re
quested 10 oppose all attempts which may be
j made to recharter the present bank, and to aid in
I passing ail needful and proper laws to compel or
tenable the directors thereof to biing its con
| cerns to a final close, in the manner least inju
rious to the currency of the country, and the
I 1. -__ ♦ li a nu/ll'.lo
najjpii**
3. Resolved, That as the Federal Deposits
were thus removed, it became a matter of deep
solicitude throughout the Union, that they should
be transferred to places of entire safety; and
this Assembly feel gratified to learn that such
portion of them as are destined to be disbursed
iri Virginia, for the immediate benefit of her
own citizens should have been confided to a
Bank, which, having for many years been the
faithful depository and disburser of the funds of
this Commonwealth, and thereby secured and
enjoyed the full and uninterrupted confidence of
its citizens, and of this Assembly, has given
the best possible evidence that the funds thus
confided to its care, will be used to the advan
tage of ns own stockholders, and at all times
faithfully paid over to those entitled to receive
them. And that this General Assembly judg
ing from the past prudence and fidelity of the
said Bank, can see no reason whatever to believe
that it would fora moment, continue the deposi
torv of the said funds, if it was required to do
so, to submit to any thing repugnant to the in
terests of its stockholders, derogatory to the
dignity of the State, or in violation of the char
^ •
ter of its own existence.
Mr Bah noun said he had d ired, and the
Committee had earnestly desired, to avoid blend
ing the consideration of the two questions of the
deposited, and the constitutionality of the Bank
of the U. States In that wish he had thought
—but in this perhaps he was mistaken—the gen
tleman from Hanover (Mr, Roane) had concurred.
He believed it the anxious wish of a majority of
the committee to forbearthe dis< ussion of a subject
which was not embraced in the Governor’s Meg
sage, the basis of the enquiries of the Commit
tee, which was not included in the circle of their
duties, and which therefore, had no proper place
in the discussion Mr. B. observed that the re
solutions embraced questions near and dear to
all. in their consequences* and upon which it
became the freemen of Virginia to speak in a
voice which would compel itself to the heard, or
consent to see every thing they held sacred, |
their liberty and rights put in jeopardy by law
less usurpation. fie had no desire to con
ceal his opinions on any subject allied to that
embraced in the resolutions of the Committee,
and when a tit occasion offered, be promised the
gentleman from Hanover, to come out; nay more,
he thanked that gentleman for an opportunity of
making known his opinions on the subject of the
existence of the U. States Bank—or, he should
have been willing to thank him, but for the neces- i
sitv of speedilv acting upon the other matter. — j
It that valuable Institution was to be struck ,
down, he would conjure the House, in the Ian- j
guage of a celebrated Grecian, “ strike but hear.” !
Mr. Colston wished to know in what char
acter the gentleman from Hanover presented his
resolutions—as a member of the House only,
or as a member of the Select Committee.
Mr. Roane replied, as a member of the
House—as a substitute.
Some conversation ensued between Messrs.
Barbour. Colston, and Roane, as to the day
for the discussion of the Report, in which length
ened discussion was deprecated on all hands,
and the necessity of speedy action, assented to. ;
Friday was then designated at Mr. Barbour’s
instance, as the day for considering the report
and substitute, and 500 copies of each, ordered
to be printed
I he laie heavy fall of snow has been followed
up, in the mountains 20 or 30 miles west of us,
by the greatest destruction of deer that we have
ever heard of in this section of country. Two
neighbors, living near the North mountain, in the
course of a few days, killed no less than 71 or 72,
and others in the same neighborhood nearlv as
large a number. The snow was in many places
3 or 4 feet deep, and was not sufficiently crusted
to bear the deer, while the hunters, by fastening
boards—or snow-shoes, as they are called — to
their feet, were enabled to walk upon the sur
face. The consequence was that the hunters,
as one of them said to us, found it unnecessary
to “ waste their ammunition,” but could pursue *
and overtake the deer without any difficulty, and
capture them without fil ing a single snot. j
Win. Virginian.
tur Ua^ea.
\\f RIGHT &. MADDOX have received in addition
Tv al supply of HANIJSOVIB FUK CAPES, of
various colors, which are offered at reduced prices.
They have also received more CLOTHS, which
makes their assortment very general. jan l j
ViroumY Waster,
For sale by the Ton, Barrel, or Bushel.
THE subscriber has on hand, and intends keeping
during the season, Ground Plaster, which will be
sold at as low prices as it can be procured at in the Dis
trict JONA. JANNKY.
ALEXANDRIA, (D. C.)
SATURDAY MORNING* JANUARY 4, 1834.
DISTRICT AFFAIRS.
In the Senate On Thursday, Mr. Chambers
moved the reference to the Committee on the
District of Columbia, of the report of tlie joint,
committee, who were at the last session charged
with the duty of preparing a system of civil and
criminal laws.
Mr. C. said that the joint committee had re
ported a system of laws lor the District at a late
period of the gessiun, and had induced the Se
nate to cause it to be printed, in expectation that
its delivery, at an early period iti the reccas,
would enable intelligent and professional gentle
men, and others in the District, to be prepared
at the opening of the present session with sugges
tions for alteration and amendment, which the
committee did not doubt were necessary to the
greater perfection of the system. Unavoidable
circumstances, and especially the time necessari
ly devoted to the preparation of a lull and satis
factory index, had delayed the publication until
the commencement of toe present session.
The deep interest to all classes of persons re
sidents in the District, in this subject, arid the
imperative duty of Congress to act promptly and
efficiently, were so obvious, that the Committee
on the District had already made it an object of
their attention; and it was believed that the most
eligible nlan of proceeding would be, to refer it
to the Standing Committee, to whom could be
proposed such views as might occur to practical
and professional men, for the fuitlu'P improve
ment and perfection of the proposed system.—
He had presented these remarks for the purpose
of making known, to those who might be dianov
ed to avail themselves of the information, the
course designed to be pursued by the committee,
and to announce the willingnes ol the committee
to art finally at the present session, it it should
be found practicable to do so.
Mr. Tomlinson presented the petition «*f citi
zens of some of the wards of the City ot \\ ash
ington, on the subject ot taxes; which wasrefei
red to the Committee on the District of Colutr
bia, and ordered to be printed.
That “ Looker on in Venice,” who sees a
the way to Washington, and then tells what he
sees in Winchester, must, as Major Jack savs,
be an “ amazin smart crittur.” He thinks the
country, for some months past, “ has hail the
dyspepsia ” and that the Deposite business is
pill.” Yes, and a most confounded bitter pi 1
in the bargain.
We publish, to-day. the proceedings of the
Virginia Legislature on the Deposite question, as
far as they have progressed. It will be seen the'
even Mr. Roane, in his substitute to Mr. Bar
hour’s resolutions, pointedly condemns the re
moval. There donut seem in Virginia to be two
opinions on that point.
Vulgar fashion has for a long time set the
seal of its condemnation on that in reality most
genteel and serviceable of all garments, the blur
cloth coat and metal buttons. We see it grave
ly announced in one of the Northern papers that
Mr. Clay made his recent great speech in the
proscribed blue cloth coat and plain gilt buttons.
As he is one of the lions of the day, possibly fa
shion may mould itself accordingly.
On two or three late occasions, the decorun.
and dij;nity of the Senate Chamber have been
violated by the thoughtless, but improper, cor
duct of persons who have expressed their adm;
ration of the eloquence there displayed by au<)
ble manifestations of applause. The Vice Pre
sident, on Thursday last, very properly remark
ed, “ that all expressions of opinion on the part
of the spectators, concerning the matters in de
bate, were improper, and would on no account
be tolerated. He adverted to what hail taken
piace in the galleries during the 1 a-t two or three
days, by which the decorum due to the Senate had
been violated, and stated that the officers were
i nstructed to do their duty, and that, in case cl
any repetition ol the impropriety, effectual means
would be resorted to, lor the purpose of suppress*
ing it, bj instantly clearing the galleries.”
Appointment by the Post Master General.—
Mr.-to be ransacker of Gales & Sea
ton’s old accounts lor Advertising and Printing
for the P. O. Department, and compiler of tin*
same for the use of the Globe.
Can it be possible?
Gen. Lafayette has sold to three geutleuu'i ■
ol Florida, the township of land granted \o him
by Congress. The price is not mentioned, but
the land is described by the FloGtiian as the vc
rv best in the territory, and die sale and settle
inent ol the tract, it is believed, will add very
much to the prosperity of Tallahassee, in the
immediate neighborhood of which it lies.
An unusually large meeting ol the PhilaGei
phi?i Board of Trade was held on Thursday at the
Merchants’ Coffee House. A preamble and res*
olutions were offered to the meeting, and adopt
ed, with only two dissenting voices, instructor
the Board of Directors to memorialize Congress
and request the return of the public deposites t>1
the Bank of the United States.
Sugar Crop of Louisiana.—The New Or
leans Bulletin says, that, instead of making I29r
000 hogsheads of sugar this year, as was eS
pected, the planters of that State will fall at least
50,030 short of it. Involving the immense los*
of four millions of dollars—all owing to the ev
|v frosts.