The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1837-11-24
A SUBSCRIBER.

|
fatality to be in exact proportion to its apparent po-
pularity.
A SuBscRmER
| PESDLEroN, Oct. 30, 1887.
| Dear Sir-I did not receive your letter of the
| llth instant, In consequence of my absence from
home until day or two since, and leave this place,
which is my summer residence, tomorrow. These
facts will account for this late reply and the imper
| feet character OF this communication. | am sorry
il is out Of my power TO furnish the newspaper
tanning my effort 10 justify my administration Of the
bank. The only copy had is either destroyed or
| mslaid
You request my views on the subject of Nation
al Bank, and the proper course of policy in
onal councils, on the present emergency Il is out
OF my power, under the circumstances before men
toned TO do much more than give you my opinions,
and these coming from one so long and entirely
unconneced with the political concerns of the
try am, can be OF little value, and il of more
value would have little weight with the community
But the earnestness with which you have requested
them, must be my apology for giving them, and wiIl
| hope, exempt me from the imputaton or presump-
ton, In giving opinions unsupported by full expo
sition Of the reasons which they are sustained.
am ofopinion, that National Bank will not aid,
but embarrass the restoration Of the currency Of the
country; and, that afterwards il would be an nsli-
| tuition infinitely dangerous under many circum-
stances and In many views. admit, that, under a
| very wise and circumspect management, it might
be useful; but II is as certain any thing depending
on human action and human WILL that 1t win not be
so managed. Besides, have no doubt. Con-
| gress have no constitutional power to establish
such an institution; and this, think, has been the
clearly expressed judgment Of that school Of public
men who claim Mr.. Jefferson as their head and
who have administered the Government for almost
forty years. The institution of the late bank, was
departure from the principles of that school, badly
justified, rather lamely excused at the time since
generally regretted by them, and finally, by them
IN tha irf hair
by putting it down.
In reference to the course of public policy required
at this time, there is part of the suffering of the
country for which there Is no Legislative remedy
The legislature Of the nation cannot pay the debs of
insovent persons, aid those who embarrassed.
This evil can only be remedied or mitigated, by the
exertion of the debtors. But that exertOn is embar
raised and even parayzed, by the state of the cur
rency and i Is in the Congress to aid great
| ly in this object and by very simple means.
Unfortunately, the Chief Magistrate has not only
abandoned the people their fate not only proposing
no relief but urging measure calculated 70 destroy
the recuperatve powers Of the banks and the people
to work out their own salvation. have no particu-
lar intimacy with the Chief Magistrate, but know
him sufficiently to be satisfied that he is man of
high talents well qualified to fill his eminent station,
and OF pure motives and principles as those of his
accusers, and my wonder and establishment have
therefore been excited, as well by what he has adj
vised by his silence what 1t was his imperative
duty to have spoken at this eventful and critical mo-
ment
The Sub Treasury scheme, as 1t has been called,
Is in my opinion, one of the most unwse and pre-
posterons measures that could be suggested. II ex-
hibits an ignorance or disregard OF the character
and circumstances of the age in which we live and
equal ignorance or disregard Of the great lights
and Improvements of modern times IN finance, ere
dit currency and the principles of political ccono
my. We must go back centuries for its prototypes,
when we will find them in the strong box Of tyrants
and autocrats, who required no divorce from the
thaxd
govern and to whom they were not responsible. A
people jealous of their liberties it would seem, could
not fail TO discover, at glance the unpopular cha
racter of such a measure, and its anti-democratic
classics, will find the proof in a few pages of Roman
history where he will see Cesar in the Capitol, pill
Laying the public treasure, and threatening with
death the guardian of it, who urged the ars in its
defence. Inter arma silent sges, was the reply OF
that usurper and il Is ready and efectual one for
any future Cesar; and will it be said by people
who love and value their free institutions that there
is danger from an instrument under which we have
those of race the most renowned for their love
and jealousy Of their liberties utterly perish. Ii we
look to the dawn of modern liberty in English his
tory-f we pursue ii in that history till 1t was formed
into the frees government known TO the world until
we ourselves furnished a more perfect example; II
we regard our own Constitutional instruments-in
all of them shall that the effort is to put the
public treasure as much as possible under the guar
dianship of the people and not under that OF the
Chief Magistrate to effect divorce between him
and the money of the nation and not between it and
the people. The last thought has been put, as be-
leve the fable has it, the lamb under the protection
of the wolf. Happily our modern lights and habits
in finance and currency had dispensed with strong
boxes to be placed under the peculiar control of the
Chief Magistrates of nations. Happily for there
was an absolute, and, thought, an irrevocabe d.
vorce between our Chief Magistrate and the public
treasure but, as If governed by infatuaion, at the
very moment we are, some OF us, loudly decaiming
against this danger, about fear, to commit
Ito hands created by his word, who live or die, as
functionaries at his pleasure and who can be ami
Inflated by his nod Might it not safely be put, in
times when our institutions shall be in danger, at
once, absolutely into the Presidents own hands =
| Who cam in candor, deny lit That jealousy which
should guard free institutions generally should be
more exceable and stronger with us from the pc
culiar character of our governments and from the pc
culiar situation of some of them.
| We ought not only to guard against the tsurpa-
ion of ambitious men but against the ambition of the
government of the Confederacy, under which we
have suffered, and of which we are in danger The
powers granted to that government were meant
| only to embrace those that were Indispensable They
have already been much increased BY construction,
increasing, and ought, if possible, TO be diminish
ed. II is wise the part Of all the States to limit
these powers by the true construction of the Consti
tuition as it came from the peoples hands. But the
vital security of the weak States, and particularly of
the Southern States requires that these powers should
receive no increase that any dependence OF the Ge-
neral Government upon the States which exists
should be preserved, and, one would think none
could be so blind not to see that dependence the
| State institutions is dependence on the States; but
| the Treasury scheme is to make the General Go.
vernment, in the matter Of the public purse (where
the safety and the danger Of free institutions so pc
culiarly are reposed) entirely independent Of the
States. This too, is but the premier pas. Already
| by one of the most distinguished advocates of this
scheme. paper system (is it possible that we are
speaking of realities and not indugng some dream
ing phantasy y proposed to be appended to it, with
| out which Il is alleged to be incomplete. Unite
Them and if il be inconvertible truth that the
ncy poDer possessed without control limitation, is
/ more Than ennal 10 the Constitution and the sword