Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1834-02-01

,,ern,,,ent towards the Bank of the United
states. or to the attitude of the State Banks, ne
denied Had it been shewn that the state
Ranks had curtailed their discounts, unless IN
| consequence of the curtailnients of the Bank of
the United States2 Yet we had the records OF the
Bank of the u. S. to shew that, in four months
they curtaed their discounts by an amount
exceeding nine millions six hundred thousand
dollars, and that, too, in times OF pecuhar pres
sure, when the business OF the country required
pecuniary facilities.
Need we. continued Mr.. w. 60 abroad to
search out the causes of these pecuniafy embar,
|rassment when they stand before us in words ana
figeurs, from the Bank itself, leaving us no Elk
cuse for pretending to nlisunderstand tneLis-.
Did any of the friends of the Bank, potn mere
and elsewhere deny that the causes OF ais sI.
were to be found here? Had they not Doasted that
the means of the Bank were ample; and where
was the necessity for this large curtallmenti-
He had looked carefully, he continued, into the
Instructions of the Secretary OF the treasury,
and he unhesitatingly averred, that no cause
was to be found in them why the acts OF the Co
yernment should Cypress the Bank. he had eX-
amined the cases OF the transfer drafts, and they
showed, conclusively, the Government had en-
tertained no wish or Intention to wrong or OPP
press the Bank The only ground OF complaint,
on the part ofthe Bank, waste be found III us
charter, which authorized the Secretary OF the
Treasury to remove the public deposltes wnen
he saw sufficient reason for Sc, dong. Again,
that in consequence of the constitutional obJec-
tons of the President to the renewal Of the char
ter of the Bank, it has been urged to wreak It's
vengeance on the community, he neither alleged
nor believed nor did he believe that distress had
been caused by the removal otthe deposlteS 10
the State Banks. What, then, had caused it,
1t had been caused by the Bank ITSELF in or
der-to produce panic and distress in the coun-
try which would extort, from the force Of pub
lie sentiment, a renewal of the Bank charter
He now. he said, proceeded to the remedies to
be applied to the existing evils; he would give
his own views simply, without entering into
political or constitutional argument.
The Senator from Massachusetts had told us,
and told us confidently, that the remedy was
not to be found but in renewal OF the Bank
charter The candid avowal of the gentleman
did him infinite credit, and he, for one, thanked
him for it.
But while he gave every credit to the gentle
man from Massachusetts, for the maniiness and
candor with which he had eXpounded the cause
of the evil which pressed on the country, he diff
fered from him, toto cello, as to the remedy. He
knew of nothing which could induce him to
vote for the chartering of National Bank He
should oppose the re-charter of the present
Bank, on account of its open and fragrant vio
lations of its charter. And he should vote
against the charterng of the present Bank, or
of any Bank by Congress, whether it was to be
other of the States. He was SO opposed, on the
broad ground that Congress had not the con-
stitutional power to charter any Bank. He
might be too sanguine, but he fully believed, that
in addition to the invaluable services which had
been rendered to the country by the President
of the United States, he was yet destined, by
Providence to render one service which would
eclipse all that had preceded it, by bringing
back the Constitution to the construction intend
ed to be given to it by the wise men who fran
ed it, and by the People who adopted it. He
believed that the high destiny was still reserved
for that distinguished individual, which was con-
tanned in the eulogy pronounced upon him by
the great apostle of republicanism, that he had
filled the measure of his country's glory. He
had it yet reserved to him to accomplish what
Thomas Jefferson had not been able to achieve,
by proving, in addition to the nvulnerabllity of
her arms, that, on this one spot OF earth, every
thing was rendered subservient to a written
Constitution. He knew the difficulty which
was to be encountered, and that on the success
of the great design which, with such high mo-
raj courage the President bad undertaken, he
had staked the hard-earned fruits of long and
laborious career Of public glory, and that the
country would be put to the SevereSt test. But
he felt happy to think that the fortitude and pa
tfiotiSm of the People were equal to the trial.
On this question, as on all other questions, the
President had thrown himself on the fortitude
and patriotism of the people, and these had
never failed him, or any one who had proved
faithful to his country in any great emergency
The Senator from Massachusetts had said,
with great confidence, that things could not re-
main as they were; that the powers assumed by
the Secretary of the Treasury were too broad,
and could not be carried into effect without the
aid of legislation; and that this legislation would
be withheld. In answer he could only say that
the Secretary exercised precisely the power
which the Department had before possessed
The change of the deposites from the United
States Bank merely restored that power over
the places for the safe-keeping of the public
funds which the Department had previously
possessed, and that power had been only sus-
pendedby the charter until the Secretary should
find it expedient to remove the deposites. He
would further express it as his confident OPT
Mon, that the act of the Secretary, which had
been so much complained of had restored to
Congress their original power and jurisdiction
over the whole matter.
Of the course which the State of New York
might take, it became him, as a humble voice
from that State to speak with greatrespect. In
reference to part of the subject, the State had
spoken for itself; and as to the other, his parti
cular knowledge of the people led him to the