The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1838-02-06
THE SEIZURE OF THE PUBLIC MONEYS
RJJNDER AS WELL AS ~ CRIME.

IN ."r their own ACKNOWLEDGMENT in the seizure of
,o Inubc treasurer and in the attempt to contraze
, ,ho Whole monied power OF the country in their
a a hands, bv n monopoly of the specie, and n
nros,raiIon Of the credit system They have at
Inst fallen victims to their own policy. They have
lost not only all that influence and power, which
cmanate from the favor of the majority Of the peo-
ME- but they have been crushed beneath the eXpe-
rimont, which was des gned by them for the de-
struction Of others. Like the inventor of the bra
zen bull Of Phalaris, they have themselves been
compelled to try the efficiency of their own engine
of torture. Their fate affords another memorable
instance Of the retrlbutVe Justice, which so often
overtakes tho perpetrators of evil in this world,
and which would almost make us believe that
there is a suicidal principle in crime which works
out its unavoidable punishment
The first movement of General Jackson and ms
poltizans toward usurpng tho monled power OF me
country was made in his attempt TO coerce lhe
MANNERS of tho u. S, Bank into removing those a.
,ents Of the institution, who were politlcaliy I'M
friendly to himself This high. handed intereren
was renecd with becoming irmness, and the I'M
Unsuitable demands of the Executive were rejected
IIemneratev but firmly. From that moment The fate
or the bank was decided. 1t had refused to be de-
GRADED into an instrument of partIzan reward and
punishment, and it was to be- overthrown IN order
That the money p0ecGr night be grasped in differ
ant manner by the administration. In the month
ofOctober, 1888, the depositcs were removed from
the Bank of the United Safes, where the law and
our contract had placed them, and where they should
have remained till the eXperation of the contract,
nil thew were ed by law. In pcrpGtrating this
act of violence, was declared by the Senate that
the President had assumed Il power unknown to the
constitution and the laws, and in derogation OF both
But the voice of expostuIa,ion was drowned by a
huzza for the hero of New Orleans The pet Ganks
greedy received their respective apportionmcnts Of
the plunder.-Thc money which they had wrong
fully accepted, because they knew its custody legal
" belonging to olhcrs-was made the basis of the
most hair Drained and ridiculous speculation. And
who were the authors and fomentors ofthosc spec.
ulatons-the oiignators of the vast land spccula-
nnItI Inc q he ma
MES? Why the very men, who instigated tho Pres
ident f!ch the public money, and who afterwards
sustained him in the act Of depreciation. The Off
cal hlrelings of the adninistration-the prominent
parz,ns, with ''liberty and economy on their lips
and tyranny and plumber in their hearts,, who went
far the spoils, and were rewarded aoM the spoils.
The receivers of the plumber were the men who
employ ed it for their advantage.
The public money Immediately made the
basis of vast land speculations, into which all the
faithful, who could obtain share of the public
money plunged at once head over hecls-postmast-
ers, custom house officers, navy agents, pet bank
directors cashiers, and presidents, district attorneys,
government printers, secretaries OF state, postmast
ers general, attorneys general, Presidents secrea-
rics, and, if fame speak true, the President him
self-Wh no furnishes the means of those specula-
tons? The pet bank, by means Of the public mo-
ney, which had been illegally wrestod from its
authorized depository. No bank conducted on prop
or banking prjnciGle-by experienced fnanicierrs
would have had the ability or inclination to loan
money for speculation in real estate-uness it had
specific and steady fund which it could depend
upon retaining fora considerable period. No well
conducted bank would have crippled its customers
loan two. three, four or five Hundred thousand
dollars for speculatlons in real estate. No other
than the deSp0SIc banks acCyc 0bic to do IL.
In vain did distinguished statesmen rcmon-
strate against this system of plumber and expansion
In vain did Mr.. Adams distinctly prophecy that
'the experiment a1ond end aniUerSaj baakrUptcy
The Wing members were dcrided throughout the
country by the stpondiary presses Of tho admins.
tration us [57PANiC MAKERS 81 and the Globe used
to assert that the session during which the oppos-
tiGn had presumed to sgmulizD the seizure of the
act derogatory to the constitution and
The laws would be hereafter ridicued in history as
the 05'PANIc SESSION III got up by the ''bani aris-
1ocras' for the purpose of frightening the people
into compliance with their acquisitions Well had
it been for tho country had the voice of the panic
makers" been heard and respected
The President and Secretary Of the Treasury
sured us that their experiment was operating to
charm-Ihere was no mistake about it. The peo
pie asked for committee ofinvesugaton. General
Jackson and Mr. Woodbury. vouched for the purity
and soundness OF their pets. 'Then why not per-
NIT investigator" demanded the people and
the President replied in tn language ofshy lock, 'bc
it is my humor.'
Well, at length tho predictions oftho Wings were
verified The experiment exploded, and its rotten
ness fully exposed. What did the authors of
the mischief in the moment of their discontinue
and disgrace? Osrich-ite they thought to conceal
gency in the affairs They cried "stop thief" at
the top of their lungs, while the very evidence
Of their crime was upon{them. They could no Ion
ger deceive an intelligent people to the corrup-
lion and prohgacy of the administration.
And now the impolicy and folly, as we'll as the
presumption and wickodness of the act of seizing
the public money, inducing and stimulating spccu.
lation, and waging against the CURRENCY are
fully developed. The ultimate explosion has pros
tmted and disgraced the administration, and result
ted in the potcal-and in many instances-thc
pecnniary ruin ofthe who contrived and abet-
ted the project of plumber. The event has shown
that the seizure ofthe public money and the conse-
quen war upon the currency. were not only crime,
but-what we believe in the ethics of MIR Van Blu
Zen is something worse,-a blunder.
The principle whbh Mr. Van Buren, and his |
was the Talleyrand maxim that, THAT which policy
renders necessary, justice must of course author
'ze ). thus openly placing interest in dametrical
opposition to that which is honorable and honest
or, in other words making the excess of the tempt
t t9on Justification for the immortality ofthe action
IN. ms Is the same principle" says Scott, (which
SENDS the robber on the high road, and upon Which
utmost spocin of yiIlnny is