magnitude of whose deposits commands enormous discounts at all times, and who, being behind the curtain, know when to buy and when to sell. I am of opinion that these vibrations inflict evils which close not with mercantile speculation; that they tend to unhinge and disorder the regular routine of commerce, and introduce at one moment a spirit of wild and daring speculation, and at another, a prostration of confidence, and stagnation of business: that these feelings are transferred from the counting-house to the fire-side; that the visionary profits of one day stimulate extravagance, and the positive losses of another engender spleen, irritation, restlessness, a spirit of gambling and domestic inquietude.
"I appeal to the commercial history of our country, during the last seven years, and to the aching hearts of many of my fellow-citizens, for the truth of these reflections.
"I wish not to be misunderstood. Let no one suppose me so weak as to attribute every unfortunate speculation, and every fluctuation in prices, to an undue management or organization of our Banking Institutions. That would be a folly, from the imputation of which I trust the preceding remarks will rescue me. There are commercial fluctuations, and they are wholesome. They invigorate enterprize, and their benefits are directly felt by all. There are Banking fluctuations, and they are highly deleterious. They intoxicate enterprize, only to enfeeble it; and the benefits are restricted to a few.
"This evil of Banking fluctuation, ends not with the mercantile community. It extends to every thing that commercial enterprize reaches. It injures the farmer and the meclianic, in the precise ratio of the vacillations of public feeling.
"The injuries which it has inflicted have been as universal as the insinuation of bank paper; and the peculiar manner of its operation renders it doubly distressing. It does not aficct the wealthy man, because he can always control discounts; but it falls with single and dreadful severity upon the industrious poor man, whose capital is not sufficient to command permanent accommodations; upon the inexperienced, who purchase knowledge by a sacrifice of property, and upon the merchant whose skill and sagacity are superior to his wealth. ******
