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year, whose capitals were wholly lost, and whose notes were in great measure a loss to their holders.

One of the most striking illustrations of the monetary history of the time, as well as of the character of the people whom General Jackson led so gallantly to the attack of the United States Bank, is that afforded by the State of Mississippi. That young but ambitious member of the Confederacy, aroused by the General's attack, thought it becoming her interest and dignity to provide a system of her own. In 1830, she chartered the Planters' Bank of Mississippi; which, however, did not get into operation before 1832. In 1833, desirous of giving the Bank the means of making a respectable show in the world, and to enable it to aid in "developing the resources of the State," she issued bonds to it to the amount of $2,000,000, bearing interest at the rate of 6 per cent. These were sold in New York at a premium of 13.25 per cent; realizing an advance of about $250,000, of which the State prudently invested $212,740 in the Bank, increasing her interest in it to $2,212,740. Great success appeared to attend this operation; for, with the money obtained on the bonds, the Bank was for a time enabled to pay the interest accruing on them and magnificent dividends. On the 1st of January, 1834, its paid-up capital was reported to be $2,666,805; of which, it appears, the public held $464,065. Its loans and discounts, at that time, equalled $5,461,464; its circulation, $1,510,426; its deposits, $545,353; its specie, $113,220. Encouraged by all this, nine new Banks were chartered that year, which, with the Planters' Bank, reported on the first day of January, 1835, a paid-up capital of $5,890,162; loans and discounts to the amount of $10,379,651; circulation, $2,418,475; deposits, $1,888,762; specie, $359,302. There was a rapid increase in the number and operations of the Banks until 1838, when the State, unwilling to allow the people, individually, to bear off all the emoluments and honors, again entered the field, and chartered the "Union Bank of Mississippi," with a capital of $15,500,000, subscribing thereto $5,000,000; for the payment of which she issued her bonds for a like amount, bearing interest at the rate of 5 per cent. These bonds were sold in Europe, chiefly in Holland, through the agency of the United States Bank, by which the payment of the interest accruing thereon was guar

anteed. The bonds realized their par value, which was paid over to the Union Bank, bringing into the State a sum of money of which the like was never before heard of. The Genie of the fable was again let loose. All the Banks of the State did their best to rival the young giant rising in their midst. At the close of 1839, the amount of paid-up capital of the State, including that of the Union Bank, was reported at $30,379,403; the loans and discounts, at $48,333,728; note circulation, at $15,171,639; deposits, at $8,691,601; specie, at $867,977. The free white population of the State at that time numbered about 170,000. The paid-up capital per head of population equalled $180; loans and discounts, $285; circulation, including deposits, $140. Had all been gold, the touch of Midas could hardly have effected more.1

While all were gazing in silent wonder upon this meteor, which swept with dazzling brilliancy across the horizon, came a sudden crash, and, for the moment, total darkness. A few

1 The following statement will show the extent of the banking operations in this State, on Jan. 1, 1840, compared with those of the States of New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.

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Mississippi

170,000 26 $30,379,403 $48,333,728 $15,171,639 $8,691,601 New York 2,400,000 98 37,101,460 79,313,188 24,198,000 30,883,179 Massachusetts 730,000 117 34,478,110 56.643,172 10,892,249 8,784,516 Pennsylvania

$867,977

6,857,020

1,455,230

1,700,000 49 23,750,338 44,601,930 13,749,014 12,902,250

3,113,990

The amount of loans and discounts of the Banks of Mississippi equalled $285 per head of free population; their circulation, including deposits, $140 per head. Those of the Banks of the State of New York equalled $30 per head; their circulation, including deposits, equalled $23 per head.

The following statement will show the number, amount of paid-up capital, loans and discounts, note circulation, deposits and specie, of the Banks of the State of Mississippi, from Jan. 1, 1834, to Jan. 1, 1840, inclusive:

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fragments, a few pieces of scoria picked up here and there, were all that remained. The nucleus which was provided by the State bonds served for hardly a mouthful for the rapacious and barbarous crew by which it was seized. That which appeared to the public was the merest shadow, as vapory and unsubstantial as the trail of a comet. The $30,000,000 of reported paid-up capital was, with the exception of that borrowed on the bonds of the State, paid in in "stock notes," which were discounted by the Banks, the proceeds going to pay up their stock subscriptions. The operation was simply a change in the form of the credits; so that, after the money borrowed on the State bonds was exhausted, nothing remained but entries upon the books and papers, representing indebtedness, from which hardly a dollar was ever realized. The $18,000,000 of loans were never paid; the $23,000,000 of notes and deposits never redeemed. The whole system fell, a huge and shapeless wreck, leaving the people of the State very much as they came into the world. Their condition at the time beggars description. Society was broken up from its very foundations. Everybody was in debt, without any possible means of payment. Lands became worthless, for the reason that no one had any money to pay for them. The only personal property left was slaves, to save which, such numbers of people fled with them from the State, that the common return upon legal processes against debtors was in the very abbreviated form of "G. T. T.,” gone to Texas, a State which in this way received a mighty accession to her population.

The interest of the bonds issued to the Planters' Bank was paid by it up to 1840. That of those issued to the Union Bank were paid by that institution, or by the United States Bank, by which their payment was guaranteed, up to and including Nov. 1, 1840. That falling due on May 1, 1841, not being paid by either Bank, Messrs. Hope & Company, of Amsterdam, as agents of the bondholders, addressed, on the 22d of May, 1841, a courteous communication to the Governor of the State; calling the delinquencies to his attention, and respectfully urging him to take proper action in the premises. This communication received from him a prompt and characteristic reply; informing Messrs. Hope & Company that his State, in her sovereign capacity, had repudiated payment of her bonds!

The bondholders were not silenced by this communication, for the reason that it was not believed that the action of the Governor would be sanctioned by the people. To get rid of their importunities, which were as annoying as they were urgent, the legislature, in 1841, formally took up the matter, and referred it to a Committee of its own body; which reported, on the 10th of February, 1842, the payment of the bonds to be incompatible with the honor and dignity of the State. We have room here to give only the last paragraph of the Committee's report :

"The Committee, in coming to the foregoing conclusion, are aware that they differ from many worthy men in opinion. But they cannot believe that if this subject be examined free from all party influences, and determined by an application of law and morals to the facts, any other conclusions can be arrived at than those which they have adopted. Entertaining, as we believe, mistaken views as to the true principles of this government, as well as of the facts in this case, men have taken the liberty of slandering the State, both at home and abroad, on account of the stand she has taken. It was so at the memorable era when our fathers leagued together and pledged "their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor" to resist an unconstitutional invasion of their rights as British subjects. They, also, were slandered. Every opprobrious epithet was heaped upon them that the ingenuity or malice of their enemies could invent. Many of their fellow-citizens, under mistaken views of the principles upon which they acted, denounced them as disorganizers, agrarians, and rebels, and joined their enemies to force them into submission to an unconstitutional law. The result of the memorable and eventful contest that ensued is now known. The decision of the civilized world has been had as to the correctness of the principles and conduct of that much abused and slandered, but noble race of men. Through scenes of toil and blood they maintained the position they assumed, and have transmitted to their posterity their principles, together with the rich inheritance of liberty, secured by a well-regulated and constitutional government. Their names are stamped on the page of immortality, and their memory is embalmed in the hearts and affections of a grateful people; and distant generations will pronounce with exultation the names of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Hancock, Franklin, and a host of worthies who struggled together through that gloomy period in our history. The people of Mississippi have taken a similar stand. They are not controlled by selfish or mercenary motives. The low and grovelling consideration of dollars and cents has nothing to do with the merits of this question. Their honest obligations they will fulfil, should they have to divest themselves of the comforts and necessaries of life to do so. Higher and holier motives than mere pecuniary acquisitions actuate them. They have determined that they never will submit to an invasion of their Constitution by either foreign or

domestic foes. The rights secured to them under that sacred instrument they will maintain at all hazards; and, relying on the correctness of their principles and the justness of their cause, they will with confidence and cheerfulness submit to the verdict of posterity."

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Glowing as was the eloquence of this Report, it was fairly eclipsed in a speech delivered in the halls of Congress by Mississippi's favorite son, Mr. Jacob Thompson, then a member of the House, a man whom his people delighted to honor, and who, from one elevation after another, became under Buchanan, as Secretary of the Interior, one of his cabinet, and serving during his whole term, and till the outbreak of the Rebellion, as one of the chief administrators of the affairs of the nation. In 1842, it became convenient for the United States to borrow a few millions. The question was as to the mode. In the debate which took place in the House upon the subject, the firm of Prime, Ward, & King, of New York, was referred to (Mr. King, one of its members, being the gentleman whom General Jackson so successfully bullied in 1833) as having expressed opinions unfavorable to the negotiation of a loan in Europe, in consequence of the discredit thrown upon American securities by the action of the State of Mississippi. This insinuation brought her gallant son to his feet. He gloried in the act of repudiation, and indignantly hurled back upon its authors the foul stigma sought to be cast upon the fair fame of his State:

"From the late action of the State of Mississippi," he said, "I feel a renewed, a deeper confidence in the intelligence, the honor, the firmness, and patriotism of that people. Frowned upon at home by those who denied their power to inquire into their rights, denounced and misrepresented by their enemies from abroad, they have gone on in the even tenor of their way, seeking truth and asserting right. And I am now prepared to say to the friends of liberty, of the rights of freemen, of constitutional government, everywhere, Stand firm! be of good cheer! Here is a people who will extend to you sympathy and succor and effective aid. Doubt not their courage, their honor, or their willingness. Let the hour and the necessity come, and Mississippi will go forward, and take as bold a stand in asserting the rights of mankind, in resisting oppression, in vindicating the integrity of constitutions, as any other State in the Union. . . .

"Mississippi has passed through some severe trials. While the credit system was considered a blessing, and others were sipping of its delicious and intoxicating poison, she slaked her thirst

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