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Show 47± INAUGURAL AND Jl'AH~W.I£LL ADDR.I£SSES. torious from such a contest; yel, if you had not conquered, the government would have pas:ed from the hand:) of the many to the Lands of the few; and this organized money power, from its secret conclave, would have uictalcd the choice of your highest offices, anLl com polled you to make peace or war, us best suited their own wi heR. 't'he forms of your government might, for a lime, have remained, but its living :pirit would have dcpnrtcd from it. 'l'he distress and sufi'erings iu ilicted on tbe pcoule l;y 1 he bank arc some of tbc f1·uits of that ·ystem of policy which is continually striving to enlarge the authority of the federal govcrnmcut beyond the limits fixed by the Con. titution. 'l'be powers enumerated in that instrument do not confer on Congress the right to establish such a corporation as the Bank of the United States, and the evil consequences which followed may warn us of the danger of departing from the true rule of construction, and of permitting temporary circumstances, or the hope of better promoting tbe public welfare, to influence, itJ any degree, our dcei ·ions upon the extent of the authority of the general govcmment. Let us abide by the Constitution as it is written, or amend it, in Lhe constitutional mode, if it is found to be defective. The severe lcs ous of experience will, I doubt uot, be sufficieut to prevent Congress from again chartering such a monopoly, even if the Constitution did not present an iusupcrable oLjccLion io iL. But you must remember, my fellowcitizens, that eternal vigilaucc by the people is the price of liberty; and that you must pay the price if you wish to secure the ble sing. It behooves you, therefore, to be watchful in your States, as well as iu the federal govcmmcnt. The power which the moneyed interest cau cxerci ·c, when concentrated under a inc:rle head and with our b I pre:ent . yslcm of currency, was sufiiciently demonstrated in the struggle made by the Bank of the United States. Defeated iu the general govemmeut, the same class of in- INAUGURAL .AND FAH..I£W.I£LL ADDH..I£S~.l£S. -475 trigucra and politicians will now resort to the Slates, and cndearor to obtain there the same organization which thry f:.t.iled to perpetuate in the Uuion; and with Rpecious and deceitful plans of 1 ublic advnntageR, and State interest~, and StaLe pride, they will endeavor to cstauli ·h, iu tl1c diiTcrcnt StateR, one moneyed im;ti tution, 'vvith overgt·own capital, nncl exclu::>ivc privilt:g·es, SllfHcient to enable iL lo control the operations of the other banJo.;. nell an inst itntion wiH be pregm111t with the Rame evils produced by the Bank of Lhc United States, nlthough itH Fipherc of action is more confined; and, in the tate in ·whieh it is chartered, the money power will be al>le to cml>otly its whole strength, aud to move together witb undi vidt•d force to accompli ·h any object it may wi ·h to attain. You have already had abundant evidence of its power to inilict i11j11ry upon tl10 acrricultural, rncchaoical, and laboring cia. ses of society; 0 and over those who. c engagements in trade or specula tion render them ucpcndent on bank fuciliti cE~, the dominion of the State monopoly will be ab olutc, and their obedience unlimited. With such a bauk and a paper currency, tho money power would, in a few years, govern the State and control its measures; and, if a sufiicicnt numucr of SLates can L>e ind uccd to create such cstablishmcn ts, the time will soon come when it will again take the field against tho United States, and succeed in perfecting aud perpetuating its organization by a charter from Congress. It is oue of the serious evils of our present system of banking, that it enables one class of society, and that by no means a numerous one, by its control over the cniTcncy, to act injuriou. Iy upon the interests of all the others, and to exercise more than its just proportion of influence iu political affairs. 'l'he agricultural, the mechanical, and the laboring classes, have little or no shai'C in the direction of the great moneyed corporations; and, from their habits, ancl the uatnre of their }Jlli'Suits, they are incapable of form- |