Part 34 (1/2)

Mr Adams commenced his administration in March, 1825 He had been elected by the House of Representatives, and began his career as President under a powerful opposition From the very first day, he armly, even violently, opposed in all his measures; and this opposition, as we all know, continued without abateh his whole term of four years Gentlemen, I am not about to say whether this opposition ell or ill founded, just or unjust I only state the fact as connected with other facts

The Bank of the United States, during these four years of Mr Ada the fiscal duties enjoined on it by its charter; it had established nue circulation, and transacting a vast business in exchange Its character, conduct, and manner of administration were all well known to the whole country

Now there are two or three things worthy of especial notice One is, that during the whole of this heated political controversy, fro to produce a change of ade of political interference against the Bank of the United States If any thing, it was rather a favorite with that party generally Certainly, the party, as a party, did not ascribe to it undue attach ad the whole of the same period, those who had espoused the cause of General Jackson, and who sought to bring about a revolution under his name, did not propose the destruction of the bank, or its discontinuance, as one of the objects which were to be accomplished by the intended revolution They did not tell the country that the bank was unconstitutional; they did not declare it unnecessary; they did not propose to get along without it, when they should come into power themselves If individuals entertained any such purposes, they kept them much to themselves The party, as a party, avowed none such A third fact, worthy of all notice, is, that during this period there was no complaint about the state of the currency, either by the country generally or by the party then in opposition

In March, 1829, General Jackson was inaugurated as President He came into power on professions of reforreat and leading object of his future adural address he pointed out the main subjects of this reform

But the bank was not one of them It was not said by him that the bank was unconstitutional It was not said that it was unnecessary or useless It was not said that it had failed to do all that had been hoped or expected froard to the currency

In March, 1829, then, the bank stood well, very well, with the new adarded, so far as appears, as entirely constitutional, free frohly useful

It had as yet found no place in the catalogue of abuses to be reforht a wonderful change New lights broke forth before these e to Congress in Decee and h the bank had then five or six years of its charter unexpired, he yet called the attention of Congress very pointedly to the subject, and declared,--

1 That the constitutionality of the bank ell doubted by many;

2 That its utility or expediency was also well doubted;

3 That all must admit that it had failed to establish or maintain a sound and uniform currency; and

4 That the true bank for the use of the government of the United States would be a bank which should be founded on the revenues and credit of the government itself

These propositions appeared to me, at the ti A bank founded on the revenue and credit of the governed and administered by the executive, was a conception which I had supposed nothe chief executive power in his own hands would venture to put forth

But the question now is, what had wrought this great change of feeling and of purpose in regard to the bank What events had occurred between March and December that should have caused the bank, so constitutional, so useful, so peaceful, and so safe an institution, in the first of these months, to start up into the character of a erous, in the last?

Gentlemen, let us see what the events hich had intervened General Jackson was elected in Decein in March, 1829 A session of Congress took place, therefore, between his election and the commencement of his ad this session, and a little before the commencement of the new administration, a disposition was eress undertook to nominate or recommend individuals as directors in the branches, or offices, of the bank They were kind enough, sometimes, to make out whole lists, or tickets, and to send the the names of those whose appointments would be satisfactory to General Jackson's friends Portions of the correspondence on these subjects have been published in some of the voluminous reports and other docuenerally heeded or noticed At first, the bankwith these and sian to show themselves from many quarters, and a very marked case arose as early as June, 1829 Certain islature of New Hae in the presidency of the branch which was established in that State A member of the Senate of the United States wrote both to the president of the bank and to the Secretary of the Treasury, strongly reco very distinctly at political considerations as the ground of the overne; and the Secretary hi it The time had come, then, for the bank to take its position It did take it; and, in ment, if it had not acted as it did act, not only would those who had the care of it have been hly censurable, but a claiovernment of laws, and subversive of the very foundations of republicanis correspondence between the Secretary of the Treasury and the president of the bank ensued The directors deterhts or their duties to the control or supervision of the executive government They said they had never appointed directors of their branches on political grounds, and they would not rerounds They had avoided politics

They had sought for men of business, capacity, fidelity, and experience in the ement of pecuniary concerns They owed duties, they said, to the government, which they meant to perform, faithfully and impartially, under all administrations; and they owed duties to the stockholders of the bank, which required theard political considerations in their appoint into the fall of the year, and finally terminated in a stern and unanimous declaration, made by the directors, and transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury, that the bank would continue to be independently administered, and that the directors once for all refused to submit to the supervision of the executive authority, in any of its branches, in the appointents This resolution decided the character of the future Hostility towards the bank, thenceforward, becae of December, 1829, was the clear announcement of that policy If the bank had appointed those directors, thus recoress; if it had submitted all its appointments to the supervision of the treasury; if it had removed the president of the New Has, showed itself a co, political, party machine, instead of an independent institution;--if it had done this, I leave all e of opinion, as to its constitutionality, its utility, and its good effects on the currency, would have happened between March and December

From the moment in which the bank asserted its independence of treasury control, and its elevation above mere party purposes, down to the end of its charter, and down even to the present day, it has been the subject to which the selectest phrases of party denunciation have been plentifully applied

But Congress manifested no disposition to establish a treasury bank

On the contrary, it was satisfied, and so was the country,In the su the charter of the bank, by strong majorities in both houses In the House of Representatives, I think, two thirds of the ative; and as there were not two thirds of the Senate, though a large majority were for it, the bill failed to becoh that a continuance of the charter of the bank was thus refused It had the deposit of the public money, and this it was entitled to by law, for the few years which yet remained of its chartered term But this it was determined it should not continue to enjoy At the corave and sober doubt was expressed by the Secretary of the Treasury, in his official communication, whether the public moneys were safe in the custody of the bank! I confess, Gentleestion, thus officially made, so serious in its ireatly injurious to the credit of the bank, and injurious, indeed, to the credit of the whole country, I cannot but wonder that anyto make it I read in it, however, the first lines of another chapter I saw an attempt was now to be made to remove the deposits of the public money from the bank, and such an atteress was not to be prevailed upon to accomplish the end by its own authority It ell ascertained that neither house would consent to it The House of Representatives, indeed, at the heel of the session, decided against the proposition by a very largebeen thus invoked, and invoked in vain, it was resolved to stretch farther the long arm of executive power, and by that arm to reach and strike the victim It so happened that I was in this city in May, 1833, and here learned, from a very authentic source, that the deposits would be removed by the President's order; and in June, as afterwards appeared, that order was given

Now it is obvious, Gentlees in our financial and fiscal systeress, but by the executive; not by law, but by the will and the power of the President Congress would have continued the charter of the bank; but the President negatived the bill Congress was of opinion that the deposits ought not to be removed; but the President re withdrawn from the custody which the law had provided, by executive power alone, that sa Particular banks, existing under State charters, were chosen With these especial and particular arrangements were made, and the public moneys were deposited in their vaults

Henceforward these selected banks were to operate on the revenue and credit of the governated in the annual e of December, 1829, was substantially carried into effect Here were banks chosen by the treasury; all the arrangements with them made by the treasury; a set of duties to be performed by them to the treasury prescribed; and these banks were to hold the whole proceeds of the public revenue In all this, Congress had neither part nor lot No law had caused the removal of the deposits; no law had authorized the selection of deposit State banks; no law had prescribed the terms on which the revenues should be placed in such banks Fro of the chapter to the end, it was all executive edict And now, Gentlemen, I ask if it be not overnes in one of its ht about without any change of laithout any enactislature whatever? Is such a power trusted to the executive of any government in which the executive is separated, by clear and well-defined lines, froislative departround as the commerce of the country Both are intial, not of executive, regulation

It is worthy of notice, that the writers of the Federalist, in discussing the pohich the Constitution conferred on the President, made it ether frorasp ”He can prescribe no rules,” say they, ”concerning the commerce or _currency_ of the country” And so we have been all taught to think, under all former administrations But we have now seen that the President, and the President alone, does prescribe the rule concerning the currency He makes it, and he alters it He makes one rule for one branch of the revenue, and another rule for another He makes one rule for the citizen of one State, and another for the citizen of another State This, it is certain, is one part of the treasury order of July last

But at last Congress interfered, and undertook to regulate the deposits of the publicthe subject under legal control, restraining the power of the executive, subjecting the banks to liabilities and duties, on the one hand, and securing theainst executive favoritism, on the other But this law contained another important provision; which was, that all the money in the treasury, beyond as necessary for the current expenditures of the government, should be deposited with the States This measure passed both houses by very unusual majorities, yet it hardly escaped a veto It obtained only a cold assent, a slow, reluctant, and hesitating approval; and an earlylist of objections But the law passed The o to the States It has so gone, and the treasury for the present is relieved from the burden of a surplus But now observe other coincidences In the annual e of December, 1835, the President quoted the fact of the rapidly increasing sale of the public lands as proof of high national prosperity He alluded to that subject, certainly withof the tone of exultation There was nothing said about monopoly, not a word about speculation, not a word about over-issues of paper, to pay for the lands All was prosperous, all was full of evidence of a wise adovernment, all was joy and triumph

But the idea of a deposit or distribution of the surplushappiness The color of the rose was gone, and every thing now looked glooratulation, on account of the rapid sales of the public lands; no more of this most decisive proof of national prosperity and happiness The executive Muse takes up a s of monopolies, of speculation, of worthless paper, of loss both of land and er of paper issues; and the end of the canto, the catastrophe, is, that lands shall no longer be sold but for gold and silver alone The object of all this is clear enough It was to diminish the income from the public lands No desire for such a di as the money was supposed to be likely to re conviction that some other disposition must be made of the surplus, awakened attention to thethat surplus