The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1838-07-14

own control. through officers appointed by him and
removable at his pleasure II has been ayowed on
this floor, that II this proposition succeeds WIN
not be deposited with the banks as General Jackson
deposited It. How, then, Is i TO be kept There -
no other mode than The one have mentioned. Can
II be possible that have already come TO this thai
we are willing 10 surrender the purse Of the nation
TO the hand that already holds the sword Have the
American people already become so abased thai
they will tanely submit 10 such an usurpali0n F.
Shallhe President dictate his schemes TO Congress,
and hem AFTER the most violent struggle ever known
10 the history Of this Government, between Repre-
sentative independence and Executive diciaion,
those schemes are rejected shall II De tolerated mat
he shall extort from you, without restraint and with
would not entrust TO him, even with all the guards
and restrictions which the suggestions OF his inge-
nuity could throw around i'll Is The American
Senate 10 sit here like the Roman Senate IN the days
of Tiberius, merely TO register imperial edcis Let
me not be accused Of attempting TO raise unnecessary
alarm or TO invoke imaginary fears. II Is the false
security in which we reposing that most excies
my approximations. The first encroachments on The
liberty OF any country are always by the sieallhy,
noiseless step Of usurped and unsupported power
| The blind confidence reposed in party leaders, the
base submission 10 party dctation, the tame surren-
der of the independence Of the Representative cha
Tacter 10 the Executive will ALL all combine 10 raise
the most painful forebodings in the mind OF every
one who loves his country and 'cherishes her free
/ institutions
Sir, we have every cause for apprehension and
alarm We have seen the country 10 the pamest
days OF her prosperity, suddenly plunged into The
deepest embarrassment and distress, through Execu
| tive fundamentally. We have seen our merchflts
sacrificing their ample means to sustain sinking
credit-snkng by the adverse action Of the Govern
/ ment upon the confidence Of the people. We have
their families abandoning their homes and their
resides TO pine in penury and want, and suffering
for the ordinary comforts and conveDences OF life
/ We have seen the husband and the father, after
struggling to sustain his wife and his children
! against the unfeeing action Of his own Government,
finally sink to untimey grave, the victim OF OPP
preston and despair We have seen the sturdyope-
rations of the mechanic industry of The country sus
pended. We have seen the looms and the spindles
Of the manufacturer stopped. We have seen The
farmer with his hand TO The plough look back 10 see
II he too was TO be overaken by the "desolang tor
! made" which had swept away every other occupa-
ton around him. Sir, he is the last 70 be reached;
but his time is yet TO come II the administration per-
| sist in these destructive measures. When The pro-
ducts Of his industry shall remain upon his hands
when by of the destruction OF other branches
| of business il shall not pay the cost Of production
when the price Of his lands shall sink so far as not
| to meet the incumbrance which may chance to rest
upon it, he will then wipe the sweat from his brow,
and with his brawny arm hurl from the high seats OF
power those who have forgotten the great interests
Of the country in the ignobe pursuits of party. Sir,
! we have seen the Government itself become bank
rupt under the very operations BY which II has bank
rupted the community We have seen the Execu-
| tive asking OF Congress the means Of keeping its
wheels in motion, and at the same time debating,
through his organs, the amount and the manner in
which those means should be granted. We have seen
the administration punging the country into nation
al debt without the ngenuousness TO acknowledge II.
We have seen them resorting to every expedient 10
meet the current expenses of the Government, and
at the time, by their destructive policy, cutting
off the sources Of revenue by which alone the means
can be supplied and we shall see still farther APP
plication Tor supplies, rendered necessary by the
blindness the faulty, the wiiulness nay the incom-
peency of those who have brought to this state Of
bankruptcy, Of shame, and Of degradation We have
~ IL. 81 IL ~fr frltNS rosti
utterly and rrerevaby ruined by the hostile attitude
of the Government towards the banking institutions
and the credit system OF the country. Yes, Mr Pre-
sident thousands and thousands who but for this at
titudc, would have saved from the wreck OF their
fortunes an ample competency for themselves and
their families-thousands and thousands, who would
have bent beneath the storm of adversely which
howed around them, and would have again risen TO
bask in the sunshine Of returning prosperity. But
the spirit Of Loco F0coism was the very fiend which
mingled in the tempest; and although i put the
lav t Mems Amidsi he desoia.ion and darkness
which surrounded the unhappy victims of this poll
Cyl their cries and their entrealies were sent up TO
ed. Even the few that survived the wreck Of their
fortunes, and whilst they were yet struggling TO
keep their heads above water rari nantes in
gHrgae ras0, received no aid nor even encourage
ment from Executive clemency. Appeals, which
would have melted the hearts Of an Ocracoke wreck
err found that his was not made Of such "penetrable
!, stuff" Wrapped in mysterious and unapproach-
able dignity neither the advice of friends nor the
fear of foes could reach him. Shut out from a real
knowledge Of the extent OF the disasters which his
own measures had brought upon the country, he
neither sympathised with the suferings of the peo-
pie, nor came 10 their relief
i Mr. President, we have seen all these, and much
more than all these things; and what do now be-
hold As if the cup of humiliation and of misery
was not yet full as il constituents had not al
ready drank il TO the very dregs, my colleague now
"commends the ingredients Of a poisoned chalice
TO our own lips, not as an act OF even handed JUS
ftraD hftfo t,hf hah
low, by way of showing the complete supremacy of
Executive control both the will of the represen-
tatve and the wishes of The continent. Sir, 10 him
and to the Executive whose opinions he is supposed
to represent, this may be contamination devoutly
to be wished" But 10 the people, it will be a con-
summation of that power in the hands Of the Execu-
tive, which converts the Government into an abso
lutte monarchy, no matter by what name your Chief
Magistrate may be called or by what idle forms of
an elective franchise he may rule over you. He has
by the Constitution, the command of the army and
navy-he has shown you that his will can already
4 aceH nigh control the Legislative power-give him
the money power also, and you will have given all
that the most perfect despot could desire that the
friends Of civil liberty could fear
Let il not be said that all this us idle defamation
The signs of the times have filled me with the most
fearful apprehensions-this is a bold and daring eff
fort, appalling from It's very boldness to cothe the
Chief Magistrate with apower which Gen. Jackson
himself, dared not retain, and which he said should
never be entrusted for one moment to Executive dis
erection. The President outstrps his illustrous
predecessor" He is no longer the "Ascanian boy
who followed him with unequal steps He has in
turn become Eneas himself and footsteps" it as
If he could carry old Anchises on his shoulders
Sir, what are we to infer from this proposition Z
Nay, what may we not fear from il Having thrice
failed to force the Sub-treasury scheme upon Con-
gress having received the most unequivocal de-
monstrations of the popular will against it, from the
ST. Croix 10 the Sabine; instead Of acquiescing in
thatpublic sentiment, which he himself has told us
is the supreme law of the Republic" there san