The Life of George Washington, Vol. 4: Commander in Chief of the American Forces During the War; which Established the Independence of his Country and First; President of the United StatesMarshall, John
History
The Life of George Washington, Vol. 4: Commander in Chief of the American Forces During the War; which Established the Independence of his Country and First; President of the United States
Marshall, John
Generals -- United States -- Biography; Presidents -- United States -- Biography; Washington, George, 1732-1799
The banishment of coin would be completed by ten millions of paper
money in the form of bank bills, which were then issuing into
circulation. Nor would this be the only mischief resulting from the
institution of the bank. The ten or twelve per cent, annual profit
paid to the lenders of this paper medium would take out of the pockets
of the people, who would have had, without interest, the coin it was
banishing. That all the capital employed in paper speculation is
barren and useless, producing like that on a gaming table no accession
to itself, and is withdrawn from commerce and agriculture, where it
would have produced addition to the common mass. The wealth therefore
heaped upon individuals by the funding and banking systems, would be
productive of general poverty and distress. That in addition to the
encouragement these measures gave to vice and idleness, they had
furnished effectual means of corrupting such a portion of the
legislature as turned the balance between the honest voters. This
corrupt squad, deciding the voice of the legislature, had manifested
their dispositions to get rid of the limitations imposed by the
constitution; limitations on the faith of which the states acceded to
that instrument. They were proceeding rapidly in their plan of
absorbing all power, invading the rights of the states, and converting
the federal into a consolidated government.
That the ultimate object of all this was to prepare the way for a
change from the present republican form of government to that of a
monarchy, of which the English constitution was to be the model. So
many of the friends of monarchy were in the legislature, that aided by
the corrupt squad of paper dealers who were at their devotion, they
made a majority in both houses. The republican party, even when united
with the anti-federalists, continued a minority.
That of all the mischiefs resulting from the system of measures which
was so much reprobated, none was so afflicting, so fatal to every
honest hope, as the corruption of the legislature. As it was the
earliest of these measures, it became the instrument for producing the
rest, and would be the instrument for producing in future, a king,
lords, and commons; or whatever else those who directed it might
choose. Withdrawn such a distance from the eye of their constituents,
they would form the most corrupt government on earth, if the means of
their corruption were not prevented.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account