美国学生历史 第140期:安德鲁·杰克逊的任期(6)

 　　311. Jackson's Specie Circular, 1836. 311．杰克森的《金属通货公告》（1836年）

　　The first result of the removal of the deposits was very different from what Jackson had expected. 取消存款的第一个后果让杰克森始料未及。

　　At this time there was active speculation¹ in Western lands. 此时对西部土地的投机十分猖獗，

　　Men who had a little spare money bought Western lands. 有一点闲钱的人都要买西部的土地，

　　Those who had no money in hand, borrowed money from the banks and with it bought Western lands. 那些没钱的人从银行借钱来买西部的土地。

　　Now it happened that many of the "pet banks" were in the West. 而现在碰巧许多"宠儿银行"都在西部，

　　The government's money, deposited with them, tempted² their managers to lend money more freely. 政府存入这些银行的那些钱诱惑着他们的管理者将钱更轻易地借出去，

　　This, in turn, increased the ease with which people could speculate. 这样投机分子就更加容易得手。

　　Jackson saw that unless something were done to restrain this speculation, disaster would surely come. 杰克森意识到若不做些事情来打压这种投机，就必然会出现一场灾难。

　　So he issued a circular to the United States land officers. 因此，杰克森向国家土地官员发出一份通报，

　　This circular was called the Specie Circular, 这份通报被称为《金属通货公告》，

　　because in it the President forbade the land officers to receive anything except gold and silver and certain certificates in payment for the public lands. 因为在这个通告中总统要求他们在出卖土地时只接受黄金、白银和和执照，而不能接受其他任何东西。

　　312. Payment of the Debt, 1837. 312．偿还国债（1837年）

　　The national debt had now all been paid. 现在国债已经全部还清，

　　The government was collecting more money than it could use for national purposes. 政府的收入足以支付国家的各种费用，

　　And it was compelled to keep on collecting more money than it could use, 而国家被迫继续收集更多的钱，

　　because the Compromise Tariff³ made it impossible to reduce duties any faster than a certain amount each year. 因为《折中关税》使得削减关税只能以每年某个确定的数目进行，不能更快。

　　No one dared to disturb the Compromise Tariff, because to do so would bring on a most bitter political fight. 没有人敢碰《折中关税》，因为这么做将导致一场最为痛苦的政治斗争。

　　The government had more money in the "pet banks" than was really safe. It could not deposit more with them. 政府存在"宠儿银行"中的钱达到威胁政府的地步，政府已经不能再向这些银行中存钱。

　　313. Distribution of the Surplus, 1837. 313．散去盈余（1837年）

　　A curious plan was now hit upon. It was to loan the surplus revenues to the states in proportion to their electoral votes. 这时候突然冒出一个奇怪的计划，这就是将盈余的税款按照选民的比例借贷给各个州，

　　Three payments were made to the states. 并为此制定三种支付方式，

　　Then the Panic of 1837 came, and the government had to borrow money to pay its own necessary expenses. 于是就有了1837年恐慌，政府不得不借钱支付其必要的开支。

　　Before this occurred, however, Jackson was no longer President. 然而，在这发生之前杰克森不再是总统，

　　In his place was Martin Van Buren, his Secretary of State, who had been chosen President in November, 1836. 在总统位子上的是马丁·凡·伯伦（杰克森政府的国务卿），他于1836年当选为总统。

1 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

2 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

3 tariff   

n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表

参考例句：

• There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
• The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。