The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1838-09-22
THE MADISONIAN.
THOMAS ALLEN.
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
TO THE REPUBLICANs OF THE UNITED
STATES.

A wear has elapsed since we first issued our Pros
pectus for the publication Of the MApsoNIAN. Dur
Ing this eventfal period we have been engaged in a
severe conflict, interesting and important to the
Republic, as any that has lranspired since its organi
cation The cause, and our course have attached
to us many interests which will not permit US to re-
tire as we contemplated.
A period has arrived, therefore, when Il has be-
come necessary In justice to ourself and the public
to indicate our course for the future,
II is well remembered that the MADIsoNiAN was
established in the conviction that the great character
and interests Of the country, as well as The success OF
the administration required another organ at the seat
of the National Government Born in the Republic
can faith, and nurtured in Republican doctrines, we
DESTROYS of seeing the leading principles OF The
party to which we were attached preserved ana car
ried out, not only In theory, but In practice. We
pledged ourself TO sustain the principles and doc
trines Of the Republican party, as delineated by Mr.
MADISON, and came here in good faith TO support the
present administration upon Me principles which go
upon the pledges By 1hicA that election tcas secured
We have, throughout, strictly adhered to those prn
ciples Had the Executive of this nation done the
same; had he received in the spirit in which Il was
offered the advice Of his best friends, the continu
ance of this paper would not have been necessary,
should have beheld the distracted counsels BY
which he is governed or have seen the disjointed
and defeated party by which he Is surrounded
No Chief Magistrate, since the days Of washing
ton ever came 10 that high station under favor
able auspices than Mr. Van Buren,. combination
OF circumstances, which seldom transpire, clearly
indicated the way TO the affections of the people, and
gave him the power to have disarmed opposition by
the very measures which would have established his
popularity But, ill-omened and evil counsels pre-
vailed and the hopes OF that political millennium,
which many Republicans cherished as the fulhment
of their creed were disappointed and postponed
Whilst the MAplsoNIAN and its friends were en-
deavoring to restore the prosperity of the country
the Executive and his advisers were urging forward
measures directly calculated to destroy ito keep
he
subversve Of The principles Of Republican govern
ment and tending TO the establishment Of an unmit-
tigated despotism. Accompanied as they We're by
war upon the CREDIT SYSTEM of the country, and an
unusual spirit of intolerance, denunciation and
prescription, justice could not have required nor
honesty expected any support from consistent Republi
cans. In that spirit OF independence and love OF
freedom which characterized the founders Of our
institutions we resisted these nefarious attempts 10
depreciate and destroy them with the best Of our
ability The same spirit which prompted to do
this, finds no justification in supporting the men who
made it necessary .a
II is an inconroverlible truth that every prominent
act of this administration has been an open, une-
quivocal violation of every principle and profession
upon which Mr.. Van Buren, was elevated to the
Chief Magistracy by the people.
In his unfolding the specie circular, which made
determinations unauthorized by law and which
had been twice condemned by Congress-
In his recommending the Sub Treasury scheme,
contemplating union Of the purse and the sword,
and the subverson Of the entire practice OF the GO
vernment and still persisting in it, notwithstanding
it has been four times condemned by the Represen-
tatives of the people;
In his Recommendation of Bankrupt law 10 be
passed by Congress, applicable only to corporations,
so that this government should possess an absolute
control all the State institutions and be able to
crush them ALL at pleasure; and taking all jurisdic-
ton over them from the hands of the State tribunals:
In his breaking faith with the States, by recon-
mendng repeal of the distribution law;
In his repeated recommendations of the issue of
Treasury notes, to supply the place Of legal money,
recurring thus to the EXPLODED and runous practice
lating medium; thus exercising a power derived
only from loose construction Of the Constitution,
and repudiated by the best Republican authorities;
In his attempt 10 establish Treasury Bank with
an irredeemable paper money circulation; ,...
In his effort to overthrow the State Bank Deposite
system, established by President Jackson, and take
the public moneys into his actual custody and con-
troll
In his attempt to divorce the government from the
interests and sympathieS OF the people;
In his attempt to create a multitude of new Off
ceS, and TO send swarmS of officers to harrasS our
people, and eat out their substances"
In his attempt to take away our charters abolish
our most valuable laws and alter fundamentally, the
powers of our governments"
In his display Of sectional partially;
In his cold indifference to the interests and wants
of the people during period of extreme suffering;
In his attempt TO throw discredit upon, and even
tually to crush the State banks through the revenue
power OF lne government, anu einDdTTdSS the re-
sumption of specie payments;
In permitting the patronage of his office to come
in conflict with the freedom of elections;
In his open contempt of the will of the people as
expressed through the ballot box a..
In his attempt to cram obnoxious measures down
the throats of dissenting brethren by unbecom-
ing magnanimous Chief Magistrate;
In his refusal to acquiesce in the decisions OF the
majority; and "
In the despotic attempt of his partisans in the U.
s. Senate, on the I'd July, inst. to seize the public
treasure, by abolishing all law for its custody and
safe keeping
into power, and consequently, the duty which they
prescribed and he has so obsnately persevered in
his erroneous course as to preclude all reasonable
hope of his retracing it.
And finally, to this long catalogue of grievances,
we may add, what may be considered minor Of
fence, but certainly a very obnoxious one, that con-
trary to all preconceved opinions of his character,
Mr.. Van Buren, has rendered himself the most
inaccessible both TO friends and adversares of all the
Chief Magistrates that ever filled his station,
And from all these considerations, 10 what conclu-
sion can the nation come, but that their Chief Magis-
rate is either wanting in integrity, or wanting in
capacity?
We need not say that we expected different things
of a public servant bound by his sacred pledges, to
regard the national will as the supreme law of the
Republic. That blind infatuaton which.has needed
not this rule of the American people, must and
ought to meet its reward and sink in indiscriminate
and everlasting overthrow. .. ... ~.
The financial policy OF this Administration cannot
be sustained upon any principle Of necessity expe-
dency, utility practical philosophy, or sound econo-
my. Its plain object, the perpetuity Of power, and
its plain effect the destruction Of the banking system,
require, Of course loo great sacrifice from the
American people to be, for moment tolerated.
The greadesderatum, sound, uniform, and con-
vcnien currency, and system that will equalize as
nearly as practicable, the domestic exchanges, is de-
manded by the practical wants of the people, and,
sooner or later, in form or another will be OBJ
tanned by them To accomplish this end, and 10
preserve and regulate" the credit system of the
country, which this administration has attempted TO