The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1838-12-25
TO THE REPUBLICANS OF THE UNITED
STATES.

ing this eventiul period we have been eas"s.u ~
severe conflict as interesting and iapoItant 70 me
Repubic as any thai has transprea since its organi
cation. The cause, and our coarse, nave auached
10 us many interests which will not permit US TO re-
tire as we contemplated.
come necessary in Justice TO oursef and the public,
10 indicate our course for the future.
II Is we'll remembered that the MADIsoNIAN was
established in the conviction that the great character
and interests OF the country well as the success OF
RE administration required another organ at the seat
of the National Government. Born in the Repubi-
can faith and nurtured in Republican doctrines, we
were DESTROYS of seeing the leading principles of the
party 10 which we were attached, preserved and car
ried out, not only in theory, but in practice. We
pledged ourself TO sustain the principles and doe
rines of the Republican party, delineated by Mr..
MADISON, and came here in good faith 10 support the
present administration upon DE principles lcAich go
reraed Ms party icAieh elected Mr.. Pan Buren, and
upon the pledges By ohieA that election lcas secured
We have throughout strictly adhered to those prin-
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 we have beheld the distracted counsels by
which ne is governed or have seen the disjonled
and defeated party by which he Is surrounded.
No Chief Magistrate, since the DAYS of Washing
ton, TO that high station under more favor
able auspices than Mr.. Van Buren, combination
of circumstances, which seldom transpire, clearly
indicated the way to the affections of the people, and
the very measures which would have established his
popularity But, iil-omened and evil counsels pre-
vailed and the hopes Of that political millennium
which many Republicans cherished as the fulflment
oftheir creed were disappointed and postponed.
Whilst the MAprsoNiAN and its friends were en-
deavoring to restore the prosperity of the country,
the Executive and his advisers urging forward
measures directly calculated to destroy tito keep
the country convulsed and prostrate-measures,
subversive of The principles of Republican govern
ment and tending to the establishment of unmit-
tigated despotism Accompanied as they were by
war upon the CREDIT SYSTEM Of the country, and an
unusual spirit of intolerance, denunciatlon 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, resisted these nefarious attempts To
depreciae and destroy them, with the best Of our
ability The same spirit which prompted us to do
this, finds no justification in supporting the men who
made it necessary.
It is an incontroverlible 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-Treasuay scheme,
contemplating union of the purse and the sword,
and the subyeIsion OF the entire practice OF the GO
vernmen 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 over all the State institutions and be able to
crush them all at pleasure; and taking all jurisdc-
ton over them from the hands ofthe State tribunals;
In his breaking faith with the States, by recon-
mending 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 ruinous practice
NJ fUyp1 ,;r
lating medium; thus exercising power derived
only from loose construction of the Constitution,
and repudiated by the best Republican authorities
In his attempt to establish Treasury Bank with
an lrredeemabe paper money circulation;
An his effort 70 overthrow the State Bank Deposite
system established BY Presfdenr jackson, and take
the, public moneys into his actual custody and
In his attempt to divorce the government from the
interests and sympathies Of the people;
In his attempt TO create multitude OF new Off
ces and to send swarms OF officers TO harraSs our
people and eat out their subslance;"
In his attempt to take away our charters, abolish
our most valuable laws and alter, fundamentally, the
powers Of our governments" H.
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 dscredit upon, and even
tuay to crush the State banks, through the revenue
power Of the government, and embarrass the re-
sumption of specie payments;
In permitting the patronage of his office TO come
in conflict with the freedom Of eleclions;
In his open contempt of the will OF the people as
expressed through the ballot box;
In his attempt to cram obnoxious measures down
the throats of dissenting brethren by means unbecom-
ing magnanimous Chief Magistrate;
In his refusal acquiesce in the decisions OF the
majority and
In the despotc attempt of his partisans in the U.
s. Senate on the ID July, inst. to seize the public
Treasures by abolishing all law for its custody and
safe keeping.
IL, ,,la In, nh; oh he
into power, and consequently the duty which they
prescribed; and he has SO obsinately Persevered in
his erroneous course to preclude all Reasonable
hope Of his retracing il. ......
we may add what may be considered minor Of
fence, but certainly very obnoxious one, that con-
trary to all preconceived opinions OF his character
Mr. Van Buren, has rendered himself, the most
inaccessblc both 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 Mags-
trate is either wanting in integrity or wanting in
capacity?
We need not say that. we expected different thing
of a public servant bound by his sacred pledges TO
regard the national will as the supreme law OF the
Republic. That blind infatuaion which has needed
not this rule of the American people, must and
ought to meet its reward and sink in indiscriminae
and everlasting overthrow.
The financial policy OF this Administration cannot
be sustained upon any principle Of necessity expe-
diency utility practical philosophy or sound econo-
my. It's plain object, the perpetuity Of power, and
its plain effect the destruction Of the banking system,
require, of course, too great sacrifice from The
American people to be, for moment tolerated
The greadesideratum, a sound, uniform, and con-
venient currency and system that will equaize as
nearly practicable, the domestic exchanges is de-
manded by the practical wants of the people, and,
sooner or later, in one form or another will be OBJ
tanned by them. To accomplish this end, and 10
"prcscrve and regulate" the credit system of the
country, which this administration has attempted 10
impair, will be one of the great objects for which
we feel constrained to continue our labors
No Administrator of this Government can pros
lae IN 10