The Arkansas advocate., 1834-12-26

which shall not have been first approved oy the Representatives of the People & the States in Congress assembled. It vests the power of declaring fur nat purposes the public money shall be expended, in the Legislative Department of the Govern ment, 10 the exclusion of the Executive and Judicial, and it is not within the con stitutional authority of either ofthose De- partments, to pay 1t away without law, or to sanction its payment. According to this plain constitutional provision the claim Of ihe 'a,,s paid w propriatIon by an act of congress. But the Bank has never asked for an appropriations l attempts to defeat the provision of tie constitution, and obtain payment without act of Congress. Instead of awaiting an appropriation passed by both Houses, and approved by the President, 1t makes an appropriation for itself, and invites an appeal to the Judiciary to sanction it. That the money had not technically been paid into the Treasury, does not affect the principle intended to be established by the constitution. The Executive and Judici- ary have as little right to appropriate and expend the public money without authori- ty Of law, before 1t is placed to the credit Of the reasnry, as to take il from the Treasury. In the annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury, and in his cor l respondenee with the President of the Bank, and the opinions of the Attorney ssenerai accompanying it, you will ind a further examination of the claims of the Bank, and the course it has pursued
 II seems due to the safety of the public l funds remaining in the Bank, and to the honor of the American people, that meas ures be taken to separate the government l entirely from an institution so mischiev- ous to the public prosperity, and so regard less of the constitution and laws. By transferring the public deposites, by ap- pointing other Pension Agents, as far as if had the power, by ordering the discontin- nance of the receipt of Bank checks in payment of tine public dues after the lst of Jan. next, the Executive has exerted all its lawful authority to sever the con nexion between the Government and this 1 faithess corporation.
 l The high handed career of this institu- 1 tion imposes upon the constitutional fnnc- tionaries of this Government, duties of the gravest and most imperative charac- ter--dutes which they cannot avoid, and from which trust there will be no incli- nation on the part of any of them to shrink. Ny own sense of them IS most clear, as is also my readiness to discharge those which may rightfully fall on me- To continue any business relations with the Bank of the United States that may be avoided without violation of the nation. al faith, after that institution has set at open defiance the conceded right of the Government to examine it's affairs; after 1t has done all in its power to deride the public authority in other respects, and to l bring itinto disrepute at home and abroad ; after 1t has attempted 10 defeat the clearly expressed will of the people, by turning ] against them the immense power intrusted to it's hands, and by involving a country otherwise peaceful, fiourishing and happy, }In dlssension, embarrassment and distress would make the nation itself party to the degradation so seduIously prepared for it's public agents--and do much to destroy the confidence of mankind in popular gov ernments, and to bring into contempt their authority and efficiency. Tn guarding against an evil of such magnitude, consid- I cratlons of temporary convenience should be thrown out of the question, and we should be influenced by such motives only as look 10 the honor and preservation of the
 republican system. Deeply and solemnly
 impressed with the justice of these views a l feel it to be my duty to recommend tc
 you that law be passed authorizing the sale of the public stock that the provis-
 ion of the charter requiring the receipt ol
 notes of the Bank in payment of public
 dues, shall, in accordance with the power
 reserved to Congress in the I4th section of the charter, be suspended until the
 Bank pays to the Treasury the divd ends
 withheld ; and that all laws connecting the Government or its officers with the Bank directly or indirectly, he repealed. and that the institution be left hereafter to
 it's own resources and means.
 Events have satisfied my mind, and
 think the minds of the American People
 that the mischiefs and dangers which flow
 from National Bank, far overbalance all
 it's advantages. The bold effort the pre-. sent Bank has made to control the govern
 ment, the distresses it has wantonly pro- dnced, the violence of which it has been the occasion in one of our cities famed for
 its observance of law and order, are but
 premonitions of the fate which awaits the
 American people, should they be deluded
 into perpetuation of this institution, oi the establishment of another like it. It is
 feryently hoped, that, thus admonished
 those who have heretofore favored the es.
 tablisbment of a substitute for the present
 Bank, will be induced to abandon it, as i!
 is evidently better to incur any inconven-
 fence that may be reasonably expected,
 than to concentrate the whole monied
 power of the Republic in any form what
 ever, or under any restrictions
 Il HapuiIy if s already illustrated that
 the agency of such an institution IS not
 necessary to the fiscal operations of the Government. The State Banks are found to