Where there were none of these people, or but an insig nificant number, a lively sympathy was felt for them when it was seen that their race was fast melting away after it came into contact with the whites; that those who roamed over this continent knowing no superior, except what war would occasionally give to victors of the same race, were gradually circumscribed in their huntinggrounds by the white intruders on their soil: that, finally, their exclusive property in it was denied, and they were compelled, by every thing short of personal violence, to abandon the lands on which they were reared, and where the bones of their fathers were buried, for a strange and distant wilderness: all this, too, after the lands they occupied had been repeatedly guaranteed to them by the most solemn treaties. The feelings of humanity, the principles of justice and good faith, and a regard for the character of the American people, all pleaded most forcibly in behalf of the Indians, who, moreover, uncivilized as they were, and exhibiting the vices of the savage, also displayed some of those noble traits of character which are man's proudest ornaments, whether savage or civilized.

But in those States in which the Indians were so numerous as to be styled nations, and to be even under a system of government adapted to their simple notions, resources, and wants, the case was very different. There, sympathy for the sad fate of the Indian race was smothered by the animosity caused by the perpetual conflicts between them and the whites.

In these conflicts there is reason to believe that the stronger party were commonly the aggressors. But however the dispute originated, after it once existed it was carried on, in their ruthless mode, against women and

children as well as men, and with a degree of cunning, added to their native bravery, which supplied the place of numbers. With a people thus radically differing from them in character, habits, and even color, between whom amalgamation was impossible, and over whom they could exercise no legal control, it was impossible they could be reconciled to such a neighbor; for, on any outbreak or affray, brought on by lawless and desperate men of either race, of whom there were some on both sides, they were liable at any time to have their houses invaded at midnight, and their wives, children, and themselves swept off in one common massacre. It is not wonderful, then, that they were unceasing in their efforts to get rid of such inconvenient and dangerous neighbors by buying their lands, and, if that was found impracticable, to adopt every expedient to make their residence uncomfortable; and lastly, on the great plea of self-preservation, to insist that they must consent to be either subject to the laws of the State, or to abandon it. Nor is there a people on earth who would have shown more forbearance, and probably very few who would have shown as much.

This local diversity of sentiment may serve to explain the several amendments that were proposed to the bill in the Senate for the removal of the Indians, by one party, and the rejection of them by the other, who being a majority, may be presumed to have had right on their side.

When the bill from the Senate was before the House of Representatives, similar amendments to those proposed in the Senate were there offered, and shared the same fate, except that they were rejected by smaller majorities; and the bill finally passed the House by one hundred and two votes to ninety-seven- a small number

of members from the Southern States voting with the North on the question.'

Though the tariff, or the protection of manufactures, was, at this time, the most interesting and important question before the nation, yet, as the policy which was favored by a majority of the Legislature was considered to be settled by the act of 1828, the chief interest it excited rather concerned the measures pursued by the opposing States, and chiefly South Carolina, which, having gone a step farther than any other State, had thus seemingly placed herself at the head of the opposition. But in Congress no one measure excited as much interest as the bank question-the institution having now ingratiated itself into favor with most of its members, by its utility in affording loans, as well as in facilitating the transmission of money from one State to another; and also, by the quiet with which it had performed its useful functions, thus escaping all complaint, and even all public notice. The President's censure on the bank, consequently, excited considerable surprise, and was disapproved by no small number of his avowed friends, as the measures brought forward in Congress during the ensuing session fully demonstrated.

A committee which had been appointed in the Senate, in December, for inquiring "into the expediency of establishing a uniform national currency," made a report on the twenty-ninth of March.

They first consider the plan of a system of papermoney issued by the Government, which they unhesitatingly condemn, on considerations of political expediency. The objections to it they regard as fatal and insuperable: that the present currency of the United States, consisting

1

These were Messrs. Doddridge, Mercer, and Randolph, of Virginia; and Letcher, of Kentucky.

of gold and silver, of paper of the United States bank, and of the solvent State banks, is practically sound and uniform, appears from the fact that the Government receives it indiscriminately at eight hundred and fortythree custom-houses, forty-two land-offices, and eight thousand and four post-offices; through one hundred and thirty-four receivers of internal revenue, thirty-seven marshals, and thirty-three clerks of courts; from whom it has received, in ten years before January, 1830, two hundred and thirty millions fifty-eight thousand eight hundred and fifty-five dollars, which amount has been disbursed, without any cost to the Government, at places thousands of miles from the points where it was collected.

They say that if the currency is thus sound and uniform for the Government, it is not less so to the community that the paper of the local banks, being readily convertible into gold and silver, is good; and there is a general currency more known, more trusted, and more valuable than the local currency, which is employed in the exchanges between different parts of the country. This is furnished by the notes of the National Bank. In all commercial places they are received without any reduction in value, and never, under any circumstances, does the the paper from the remotest branches vary beyond a quarter of one per cent. in its actual exchange for silver. Here, then, is a currency as safe, beside being more convenient and more valuable than silver; which, through the whole Western, Southern, and interior parts of the Union, is eagerly sought in exchange for, and which there often bears a premium over silver; and which, whenever silver is needed, will command it without the slightest charge. By means of it, funds are transmitted at a less expense than in any other country.

Its drafts are preferred to bank-notes, and they can be always obtained from the bank at a charge never exceeding the half of one per cent. They contrast this state of things with that which existed before the National Bank was established. They say that the soundness of the currency may be further illustrated by the condition of foreign exchanges; since a person wishing to send money abroad can do so on better terms by sending bank-notes, or drafts purchased by bank-notes, than by sending silver. The committee therefore conclude that the present state of the currency is safe for the community, and useful to the Government. Under these circumstances, they deem it prudent to abstain from all legislation, to abide by the practical good the country enjoys, and to put nothing to hazard by doubtful experiments.

Another report upon the subject of the Bank was made by the Committee of Ways and Means, to whom it had been referred. The Committee discuss the following questions:

First. Has Congress the constitutional power to incorporate a bank, such as that of the United States?

Second. Is it expedient to establish and maintain such an institution?

Third. Is it expedient to establish a National Bank founded upon the credit of the Government and its revenues?

In considering the first question, they relied upon the fact that the power had been so long recognized by the different departments of the Government, as to establish its constitutionality; and that Mr. Madison, who had first denied the power, had afterwards given his sanction to it. To this they add the fact that both the great political parties have pronounced it to be constitutional; and lastly, the solemn decision of the Supreme Court.