Madison Whig advocate. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1839-1841, 1839-03-02

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i In like manner, the President bears
i in my opinion, the most impressive les
l,iu,ony TO the superior safety OF BANKS as
Idepositories, by the extraordinary ana
/ unusual provisions he recommends 70
/ Guard against The dcfalcations OF pubic
Officers. He expressly says, indeed, tnas
athe experience of every country nas
shown that public officers are not al al
times proof against temptation 10
Icountervail the force of this temptations
linyokes the penal Legislation ofConSress
i to .visitn the infidelity of these agents
"with severe and ignominious punish
/ ment.r But of what avail would be
.leven the bloody code of Draco, when the
1 improved methods of locomotiou to
i which the enterprising and inventive
/ genius of the age has given birth, and
/ of which two of our Sub-Treasurers
/ have already awaited themselves, afford
i so ready a means of escape. and OF con-
sequent impunity, under foreign lurts-
diction? Far better would IL be, IN my
humble judgement, TO heed the prayer
which Divine Wisdom has taught 20 su-
man weakness, and to slead mott public
officers (who are but men) into '-tempta-
tion,n by committing TO their custody
large sums of the public treasurer
But the President, as if conscious that
neither the rigors of legislative enact
ment, nor the vigilance of Executive SUI
pervision, could adequately provide for
the safety of the public moneys in the
hand of individual agents, has gravely
Submitted to Congress a proposition
which, | must with all Difference say.
appears to me the most extraordinary
ON record, and utterly opposed TO the
spirit at least, of the constitution. What
is it? Why, that Congress should APP
paoint an ambulatory committee of their
own body to look after the Presidents
Sub Treasures, to make '1frequent ex-
ami nations their affairs and accounts
of which these officers, the President
adds, 1'should have no previous notice.
and then to"report to the Executive such
defalcations as are found to exist" Yes,
sir, Committee of Congress TO hunt up
defaulters, and report them to the Exec
utive? Whose duty is it, | would ask,
under the Constitution, to supervise and
| inspect the conduct of public officersl
sThe Executive power" by the Consti-
tuition, is expressly '.vested in the Presi-
dent" He appoints the public officers,
who are his agents and assistants In the
| performance of his high trust; he alone
has the power of removing them, and
upon him alone should rest the respon-
| sibility for their conduct, and the meas
ures necessary to ascertain their fideli-
ty or unworthiness. Congress is the
| Legislative department, whose province
it is to enact laws, the execution of which
| III h.,
gress can have nothing to do with the
functions and details of administration,
| the responsibility of which rests on the
President alone. A proposition, then,
making them shares in that responsible
tv through a committee of their BODY,
| to which should be assigned the subor-
dnate and ministerial duty of '-inspec-
ting the affairs and accounts" OF Sab
| Treasurers, and reporting '-thsir defal
cations to the Executive" | must repeat,
appears to me utterly opposed to the
principles of the Constitution. and Who'll
ly incompatible with the dignity of Con
gress. No, sir, even if the occasion
were legitimate one, we shall never
see, | trust, a committee of Congress re- !
porting TO any other body than to Con- T
gress itself. If the President will nave 4
Sub-Treasurers, he must look after them
by agents of his own. As much as Ex- /
ecutive~ power, lament to say, has in
vaded and subdued the lofty spirit and 4
rightful independence of the legislative
department, we are not yet, l trust, pre-
pared for the humiliation of appointing
a committee of the American Congress
as a corps of beadles to hunt up default
ting Sub Treasures, and report them TO
the Executive. That so novel and ex-
traordinary a measure should have been
proposed by the President as a necessa-
ry means of guarding the public money
from delalcation in the hands of Sub
Treasurers, is the most emphatic ac-
acknowledgement he could have made of
the inherent insecurity OF that system.
Notwithstanding, however, all these
admissions, express or implied, of the
superior safety and convenience of banks
as repositories and fiscal agents, the
President recommends again the Sub
Treasury scheme to Congress. and even
says his opinions in favor of it shave
been strengthened by recent eventsm
What the President can find In Ssrecent
events" to sustain his renewed recon-
mendation of the Sub-Treasury scheme,
1t utterly surpasses my powers of COM
prehension to imagine. Recent erents,
sir! Let us, for a moment, inquire what
these recent events have been, and how
they bear on the two rival systems pro-
posed for the safe-keeping of the public
moneys First, as 10 the system of
State banks as public repositories. What
is the testimony of recent events with
regard to them? Have we not recently
seen them. within fifteen months after n
general suspension of specie payments.
brought upon them by an unprecedented
combination of adverse circumstances.
among which not the least was the hos
tile policy of the Government ITSELF
have we not seen them, within this short
period, without even a cheering voice
from the Government amid the difficult
ties which surrounded them, resurning
their payments in specie, meeting all l.
their engagements to the country with
mr. IL. II