The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1839-02-21


and in one instance forty-six millions. Bless
ings often come upon US in disguise, and ne
yer was there more fortunate circumstance
in the political life Of any man than was that
TO the honorable gentleman from Massachu-
sets, (Mr. Adams, that he should have been
turned out Of Office by Gen. jackson. There
were many acts Of that administration which
! oisapprove, and few of its principles with
winch ! agreed. But upon some great aud
,eaa'ng matters, especially that of economy
ana accountability of devotion Of the time and
.a'sn.s Of able men, exclusively TO their public
ProscnDe no subordinate officer for opinion
sake tne highest eulogy which history can
succeeded il. The gentleman from Mass. and
myseH are, Deheve, more frequentlyopposed
in debate than any two members on this fioor
many more cuffs than compliments have
passed between us. But, sir, IL / had any feel
ing of unkindness to him personally, which
have not, should be the more disposed to say
what have as il is no more than justice.
And now as to the great question of the day,
the question of delverance and liberty" as
I'll called, whether in irony and burlesque, or
IN sober seriousness, it is difficult to say
There are some strange things IN the Presi-
dents message on this subject. / call upon
the gentlemen Of the South to notice them
Those gentlemen who first gave their support
to the "royalists, corruptionists and usurper,"
as they were wont 10 call them on account Of
concurrence, honest, no doubt. on their part,
in their views on this finance a. estion. told
some OF them then what il would come to-
That II it was in itself good thing, they were
going into il under bad auspices, and with those
who would not stick to it one moment longer
than il was their interest to do so. How has
my prediction been fulflledl The President
tells you, in his message, that the Govern
ment should be left free to select banks
or individuals as its fiscal agents. Aye has
it come to that The advocates Of the
separation tell you that the power Of the
banks is so very great, that the public liberty
can never be maintained against the terrible
combination Of bank and state. That you
must give the Government no control over the
banks, or else that the great power of the banks
VIII be welded in subserviency to the Govern
ment, and, therefore, say they, you must not
think Of selecting banks, owned by the states
themselves, where the patronage will enure to
the benefit of the whole state--or where that
cannot be done, to have banks selected and
the terms Of their agency fixed by Congress.
When in fact and truth, the President will have
no more power than in the payment of a pen
sion. But that it is perfectly safe and harm
less to have nothing fixed by Congress, but to
leave the whole matter to the unrestricted
and unregulated discretion of the Executive.
Where there is no discretion in the exer-
else of power or the choice Of agents, there
can be no patronage; there is no hing to
stimulate the hopes Of one man, nor to excite
the fears Of another. But give, as proposed
to the President, the power to use the banks,
or not, and il these agencies for the Govern
ment are half as important as they are repre-
scented to be, you at once place the banks at
the feet of the Executive, debased suppli-
ants and subservient vassals. Regulate it
by law, and there can be none of the blan-
dishments of Executive patronage on the
ton on the oleff. But f Il IT, indeed, Soa-
BILE remedy for the dangers of Executive pa
tronage and power, to double that patronage
and power. Is it Machiavelism, lor want
of knowledge of the subject? One or the
other it must be-. The President attributes
the restoration Of the currency to state of
soundness, amongst other things, to the stern
determination Of the Government not to de-
posite Its funds except on special deposite-
on special deposite-a more impudent i'm
posture was never attempted upon the coun-
try The President may not himself have
known it. What do we understand by the erm
special deposite? Every one knows that
we mean deposite for safe keeping, and
not to be used by the banks. Does the Sc
cretary mean this! Not at all. He should
have then told us what he did mean, and not
have thus misled us. What did he mean?
He meant this, as drawn from him on cross
that it was deposite not to
be paid on demand, but at future and stpulat-
ed times. In other words, credit given to
the bank deposite more favorable to the
banks than a general deposite, and all that
was special in it was for the benefit Of the
bank.
Yes, sir, it is true, that all the money the
Government has had for the last six months,
has been on deposite with banks, and what is
worse, with that monster Of the apocalypse
with seven heads and ten horns, the Bank of
the United States. say all, for the Govern
ment has been living from hand to mouth, and
living at all only by the resource of the spend
thrift after he has squandered his money, 10
have his bonds shaved. You have had no
money but the proceeds Of the bonds Of the
bank which have been sold. That is all;
for YOU have struck down the struggling
energies of the country. If your iron hand
were one moment Withdrawn, they would rise
up like the strong man from his sleep, and by
their nappreciable resources and power would
pour into your Golfers overlooking revenues. 4
But these resources are now dried up, and
YOU maintain stinted existence, from dayto
day, by shaving your bonds And what is
more, by the terms Of that negotiation the
monster has, have not the least doubt, made
more clear money than it ever before made
in any one year from its connexion with the
Government.