Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1833-12-12

0S
il my duty when ! had the honor to re-
ceive from you, your exposition Of the
18th instant, TO ask you, whether was to |
consider myself directed to remove the |
deposites, and you replied that was di- !
rected on your responsibility.
was preparing to lay before you, an
exposition Of our relative position and
views, from the first moment Of my entry
into your administration, when your de.
cision was authorita,ively announced IN
the Globe,--a proceeding unsanctioned
nv me, that rendered all further discussion
| needless, and any attempts of the kind de-
rogatory TO myself.
A communication, justi6catory OF my
course under present circumstances which
! delivered 10 you yesterday, having been
returned, on account Of alleged objection
/ able matter therein, the presence OF which,
If disrespectful, regret; it now becomes
my duty, in reply to your letter returning
that communication, respectfully to an
nounce my unwIllngness to carry your
direction as to the depos!tes into effect; =
and in making known that decision, with
out meaning any sort Of disrespect, TO pro
tect myself, by protesting against all that
has been done, or is doing. to divest the
Secretary Of the Treasury. Of the power
to exercise, independently OF the Presi
dent, the discretion committed to him by
law over the deposites.
| I have already, sir, on more than one
occasion. and recently, without contradic
ton, before the Cabinet, stated that did
not know, until after my induction into
office, that you had determined, that the
deposites should be removed without any
further action by Congress; il had known
that such was your decision, and that
should be required to act, | would not
have accepted office. But, as soon as
understood, when in office, what your in.
ten,ion was. sought for all information
calculated to enable me to act uprightly in
the embarrassing position in which was
Unexpectedly placed.
You were so good as to transmit to me,
to that end. from Boston, not only the
opinions of the members Of the Cabinet.
hut your own views in detail. upon the
deposite question; but, instead Of intimat
ing to me. that my disinclinaiion to carry
those views into effect, would be followed
by call for my retirement. you emphati
cally assured me, in your letter Of the 26th
June, that you ibid not intend to inter
fere with the independent exercise Of the
discretion, committed to me by law over
the subject"
Fully confiding in the encouragement
thus held out, entered into an exposi
ton Of my objections to the proposed
measure. Discussion ended in an under.
standing that we should remain uncom
mitted until after an enquiry which your
agent was TO make, should be completed,
and until the discussion Of the cabinet
But pending the preparation for this in,
quiry, received your letter Of July 22d,
conveying what | understood to be an in
timation that must retire, unless would
then say that | would remove the depo
sites, after the inquiry and discussion, in
case you should then decide to have them
removed
| would have at once considered this
letter as an order to retire, and would have
obeyed it. if had not thought it my duty
to hold the post entrusted to me, as long
as could do so with benefit TO the coun
try. and without dscredit to myself; in.
stead, therefore, Of retiring voluntarily or
otherwise, | subjected my feelings to re
straint, and stated, as you quote in your
letter of this day, that, if / could not, at
|
sible agent of the law, carry into effect
the decision that might be made, would
afford you an opportunity to select sue.
cessor, Sc.
Under these circumstances, the inquiry
was entered upon: it ended in showing,
as 1 had predicted, that the plan submit
ted to me on the 26th June. was imprac
ticable, and in report without any de
fined substitute, according to my compre
heDsion of it.
After consideration Of the subject in
the cabinet, you gave directions, as stated
at the commencement Of this letter, and |
wrote to you that would make a com
munication to you on Saturday 2lst in
slant, and accordingly did so, as herein
before stated.
Unto the present time, therefore, have
been struggling. under painful circumstan.
ces, not to retain post that | never
, sought, and the loss of which | shall not
regret on my own account, but TO main
tain it for the country, under serious
sense of duty to it, and to avert mea
sure that | honestly feared might affect
yourself
Without entertaining or desiring to
manifest towards you, Sir, the slightest
disrespect, but solemnly impressed with
consideration Of my responsibility to the
country, and my duty to myself now
definitely declare that | will not 10 any
way aid or assist TO cause the public mo.
ney to be deposited in any other institu.
ton. bank, or place, than that provided
by the 10th section of the Act chartering
the United States Bank, until Congress
shall direct or authorize such change to
be made, unless good canse shall arise,
such as in my judgement does not now
exist
am further constrained, owing to oc
currences and circumstances, that in part
have come to my knowledge, or have ia