currency soon rallied to it. Mr. White gave up the bill which he had first introduced, and adopted the Spanish ratio. Mr. Clowney of South Carolina, Mr. Gillet, and Mr. Cambreleng of New York, Mr. Ewing of Indiana, Mr. McKim of Maryland, and other speakers gave it a warm support. Mr. John Quincy Adams would vote for it, though he thought the gold was overvalued, but if found to be so the difference could be corrected hereafter. The principal speakers against Page 259 it and in favour of a lower rate were Messrs. Gorham of Massachusetts, Selden of New York, Binney of Pennsylvania, and Wilde of Georgia, and eventually the bill was passed by a large majority, 145 to 35. In the Senate it had an easy passage. Messrs. Calhoun and Webster supported it, Mr. Clay opposed it; and on the final vote there were but seven negatives—Messrs. Chambers of Maryland, Clay, Knight of Rhode Island, Alexander Porter of Louisiana, Silsbee of Massachusetts, Southard of New Jersey, Sprague of Maine. The good effects of the bill were immediately seen. Gold began to flow into the country through all the channels of commerce, old chests gave up their hordes, the Mint was busy; and in a few months, as if by magic, a currency banished from the country for thirty years overspread the land and gave joy and confidence to all the pursuits of industry."
The panacea thus magnificently lauded soon proved itself worse than inefficient. The ratio was too high, and the silver dollars could not be maintained. They were unduly exported, especially between