Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1834-04-16

l respectfully contend that Congress
have right to decide whether reno
val should or should not be made at iu-
ture day, for they are to Judge of the
reasons. Nor do | admit that the re-
sponslbilny rests upon the Executive
branch OF 'be Government; on the CON
'ra'v, you grant, in your letter of the
29tn OF June, th"t the Secretary of the
Treasury has by law discretion, which
he may use independently. lndepend-
ensly of whom? Surely of every author
| ity, bu' HAT of the law, and of Congress,
to whom his conduct is to be submitted.
! may, indeed, be in error, but it would
appear 10 me to be at least singular, that
the Secretary Of the ! reasurv should be
clothed with a power, which his supe-
riors could not exercise, guide, or CON
! tr"l without, his previous action; that If
they should think the public funds in
danger, they could not protect them, if
he thought Otherwise. According to
! my Impressions, the power of Congress
must be wholly unsuited to its objects, if
! 1t may not be exercised to instruct its
agent to do, or how to do, or not to do,
the act for which, il done, he is Obliged
to give them his reasons. So that in
the absence ot all necessity, | desire to
submit the que stion of the removal of the
depostes; al fist, to those who are to
decide upon It at last. 4"
| Whether l was correct or not, these
were the positions which maintained in
discussion with the President, and the
then Attorney General, as they must
both remember. So that it is wholly fall
laclous to pretend, either that declined
to be governed by the will of Congress,
or that the President had the least in
clination to await their action. On the
contrary, if the official paper is to be
credited, the President determined To-
break down the Bank ere he had left
Tennessee, and Of course long before
any OF these occurrences took place,
upon which he rested the propriety Of
removing the depositcs. And will here
remark, that this hostility could not have
been founded Oh constitutional scrupIes.
Tor, when ] introduced into the ins,ruc-
tions for his agent, declaration that the
President was opposed to any National
! Bank, he struck this out, and substituted
"a declaration, that he was only opposed
to an institution organized upon the prin-
ciPles of the existing bank, decIara-
tion meaning any thing or nothing
Notwithstanding the facts which have
stated in this letter, the official paper de-
clares, that The President refused to lis
ten to any application for delay, because
he considered my effort "a mere fines
se," "a stratagem," "ior the benefit of
the Bank" of the United States.
l ask you, fellow citizens, TO mark
this, and compare it with prior decIara-
tions Of the same paper. Behold the
character given Of your Chief Magis-
trate by his official Organ! Some time
! ago, it asserted that the President had
been uniformly kind to me; and admit
that his professions were occasionally
very ardent, so much so that ! thought
them sincere; l also admit, that he Of
fered the mission to Russia. But, ob.
serve what his official paper now con-
fesses. 1t declares that the President
was secretly delaming me, at the time
he was publicly protesting the utmost
y friendship to my self. He was a>sailng
the reputation of n member of his own
Cabinet, although he had not a solitary
fact to give color even for suspicion
This charge of duphcity is not made by
me. 1t is the official paper which places
the President in this odlous position.
do not determine upon the question,
whether am to believe what the Presi-
dent said to me, or what his official pa
per now asserts to the public.
w. }. DUANE.
Philadelphia, March 5, 1884.