Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1834-02-11

resolution had been adop,ci nv H. e N
ives on 'ne i9h December, 1870 requiring the Secieta
o. me treasury, among other things TO repo. "what
viii be the probable OF the depo.i,es in of
the United States in any oil the said Banks" (U s. and
eate or their branches and which Of them ON The Is
OF March, 1911" The Secretary OF the Treasury in an
s"er TO this CALL repored"It is probable the amount of
specie in the Treasury will the ls day March next
SZooO,OO0 and that the proportion deposited in
,ne Banks Other than that OF the United States and its
branches VIII not materially vary from what il pre-
sent Here we see, Mr.. President that the Secretary
OF me Treasury speaks OF the whole OF this sum- though
distributed IN various Banks both of the United States
ana 'he States as being in The Treasury, because. whe
hef ~ one or the other equally the gal cuso.
ny and under the control OF the ireosmer
s'nilar illustration is furnished by the very law es.
MAT act declares. that "a receipts Tor moneys received
by nm" (be TreasureD "shali be endorsed upon war.
which warrant So signed acknow for none
received into The public Treasury shall be valid" Here
VIII, oe perceived that the receipt given by the Urea
sure Sniorsed on the warrant signed by the Secretary
o. me ireasnry) is treated synony " h ept INTO
,ne puohe Treasury When the Treasurer thus executes
ms ,eeep, Tie money, wherever itmay be- stands TO his
credit and IS subject TO his coAtro and i'm
tme pubic Treasury continues in the public Tredsu-
nme may be repeatedly shifted from place TO place: and
goes o"f 81 the Ireosary only when passes from him
20 some creditor OF the Government whom il paid u
uer warrant OF disbursement. Another illustration of
sue same KIND furnished by that clause of the act which
makes 1t the duty Of the Treasurer on the third day of
perfect account of the state of the Treasury by which
certainly, Is not that he should Law be fore Con-
account oil the nj
ne.e 'ne pubic moneys may be deposited, but % the
amount o! the public moneys wheresoever deposited'
lear, Mr. President, tina, may have been little mi.
hue h tese explanations but, sir the charge OF VIC.
aiing the public Treasury and of eognng The public
money, IS very grave one. and might well justify the
tediousness OF little detail in developing Inisconcep
ton, and confusion OF ideas which alone the charge
rests IL these explanations have entirely fruit
,ess, may now confidently appeal to gentlemen TO say
where Is there any thing give color of pausi-
oi'y to the charge that the public in being re-
moved from the Bank Of the United States to other pla
hayR haan fala M
sWy Are they not STILL (and equally before the remoy
a IN that legal and responsible custody the Treasurer
"hch constitutes in fact the public Treasury? Do thew
MOI siad IN ms name aud TO his credit in the State Banks
they did ia the u. s. Bank? Are thew anv more access
Ole 10 nisaPplicaon or unau Sized now, than they
were 'hen! Are they exempted where they are from any
oil The safeguards and barriers whche and the con-
stuon have thrown around the public moneys! Can YOU
reach them, in the State Banks, any more than in the "
Sstes Bank, without those precautionary forms which
have been established for tie toe cion of the public
Treasury Can single shilling be disbursed now, any
more thaf heretofore, without warrant drawn by the
ciet"ry oil the Treasurer counersgned by the Comp
olie and recorded by the Register And yet sir from
he sweeping and vehement denuucatons have heard,
one would suppose that the whole public treasure was
now at The unlimited disposition of the President 10 be
expended by him ia any way and for any he might
choose Tree from all restraint Of law form Of law.
mldpas5 a-asgree>s must lbe sagacious mind of The
against the President, 10 have invoked applicable 10
this occasion, the solemn warming oil Patrick Henry in the
Virginia Convention against the union of the purse and
the sHord which shat gifted orator and patriot pronounc-
Imagination, and fervid The oraory that great man.
he could have in the simple ministerial opera
ton OF transferring the public moneys from place of
deposNe 10 another, in pursuance Of authority given
by law, that formidable assumption Of the pOtOer of the
purse which united with ha, of the sword he denounced
as fatal 10 liberty. Ii the honorable Senator had read
lew brief sentences immediately preceding the passage
he quoted he would have in what Mr.. Hen
ry spoke OF the power Of the purse and the sword He
would have seen thai Mr. Henry, UncOmpromsng adver-
sary he OF the constitution, arguing
the powers proposed to be vested in Congress- Of
ton, OF raising armies, and OF control militia
What said the Orator, sir? COngress, by the power of
fdratOn, by that of raising army and by their
troll over the militia have The spord in one hand and the
purse in the other Shall be safe without either
Congress have an unlimited power over both-they
entirely givenup by us" Then followed, in immediate
uxaposiiion, the passage quoted by the honorable Sena
tor "Let any candidly tell me when and where did
freedom esisi, when the sword and the purse given
up from the people," SC.
IL is obvious them Mr. President that Patrick Henry
spoke Of the power OF the purse in the in which
have already explained it, the power OF taxation
and its incident, tdt of superintendent the subor
dinate ministerial functions OF collecting, receiving,
keeping, depOsitng the public moneys under authority of
law We see, ase he spoke OF the pow err
OF the SWoFd that OF raising armies and Of general
troll the military force OF the country Ii is in this
sense we have that the King oil England is said
10 hold the power of the sword. But there is color,
the slightest for saying that the President of the United
States holds the power OF the sword He cannot raise
pne and cali forth The militia. All these powers which
constitute the power Of the stoord expressly vested in
Congress lie is, by the Constitution is true comman
derinchiei Of the army when it is raised, and OF the
militia when they called forth by Congress- but this
gives him the power oil the stcoTd in the true
political sense than the function devoved upon executive
agents OF collecting and receiving the public taxes after
they have been imposed by Congress- gives him the pow
er of the purse This omnous conjunction of the stcord
and The purse then, in the hands Of the President, is
creation o. the imagination, which, like other straw heads
and bloody bones of the day, Tighten only while Ii
| is unspproached and unexamjDed.
Here Mr. Clay and said il the Senator will inspect
the passage, the expression will satisfy him, that il has
some pertnency. Patrick Henry against the union
OF the purse and the sword in the hands Of the General
Goveranen il was the whole power Of the country; and
under such a union, liberty gone. My argument
was that IT, when The pur.c and sword in the hands of
the entire Government checked and balanced as il is by
means Of its various dopsf Bts there is still danger,
how much immense when they in the hands Of
one of them, when all did not Furnish competent
tity liberty, Mr.. G. also said that in his remarks
the union Of the purse and sword in the hands Of the Pre-
sden did moi aude solely to his seizure Of the public
money but 10 the power which he bad claimed and ex
ercised of saying Secretary, "You get out of
oaice you will do bid YOU" aud TO another Of.
cer 81 dismiss yoV unless you consent 10 be governed
and controlled by me-.
10 still seems to me- continued Mr. Rives that the hon
orabe Senator has tailed TO show The apple ability OF his
quotation from Patrick Henry to the power exercised in
the removal Of the depOsiles The honorable Senator
now recognises the broad and only sense, in which
Mr. Henry spoke OF the powers Of The purse and the
word and argues IL those power, when possessed by tho
whole Government, thus dangerous TO liberty, how
much must they be when united IN me hands OF
gle branch OF the Government 10 make this rca
soping lust them and The quotation applicable, IL must be
shawn that i'm The same In which those powers
posssssed by The hole Government rather by Con-
re tbey have been exercised attempted be exer-
Scns,or will contend, that the President has exercised
IN the which