The spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1840-1844, 1840-05-15
(CoAtiaaet from first page.)


pc /, ,an interest ;ull, contributed 10 swell the
Tide of the Executive hhaence, Now, sir, was
there ever a lure mere ping 10 Executive AMI
bitten ihln this power Of putrirg out the public
tre;sur1 10 benefit, and, III theif estimation, 10
bless large proportion of,hc people Of this couli-
tr,: Whist was the conduct Of the cd Roman in
regard to his question: Tor the good his coun-
Try, h. sacrificed all his power ANA all his patron
pgt. His veto of The MHysve road hill arrested
Tia whole slsttm' and, strange as II may seem, :;
portion oitho grniltmGn's seven years war against
til, Executive, consisted in denouncmg this Volunta-
~ rrrrder Of The Executive power and influence
IL ruii,Ars 10 tha be-, Interests Of the country.
Again the very bill now before the Senate, IL
g.nst which the gentleman has been waFlng,, Is
onc Of the strongest proofs wh the present hief-
NigStrurt could give, that he Is wiling 10 abandon
II barge portion Of Executive influence. In 1887,
there were between eighty and ninety Government
dcpos!e banks, scattered over every State in the
l'ni1n. What an immense political power might
have been exercised by the President through the
agency of these banks ! We know from letters
read at the called session, that they were 10, very
s,raprIous, ''where thrift would follow EIwning.
Affiliated as they WERE if the President had been
disposed TO exert an improper influence over Them,
t,lay might have been used with prodgious effect
to accomplish his purposes. The selection oil 'hese
dcpo ,itaries-the amount Of the public money with
which they should conduct their business-all, all
WAS left to Executive discretion. What bound
less field for Executive influence Is that which the
present President now desires to abandon And
yet The Senator, both, at the called session. and the
session succeeding it, warred in favor ofcompeng
him TO retain in his hands this unbounded source OF
political patronage and power lie preferred then,
and such is his detcs,ation for the present bill,
would presume even now prefer, the deposlte
bank system to the Independent Treasury.
Can any man, in sober earnest, compare the In
huence which the executive will acquire, under this
bill by the appointment ofour rccelvers-general OF
public money, with that over this affiliated league
Of State banks, which h. now desires to abandon
Think We, sir, tina. if any of the headings officers
of Government, or any of the favored ninonS OF
Executive power, had desired loan from one OF
these banks, that he would have asked IN vain -
Under the Independent Treasury bill, such iavors
can never be extended without s.bjectins both the
officer granting them, and the recipient to punish
ment in the penltentlary.
The Senator complains that the power of re-
moval fom office should exist in the president,
and SAYS that he is not at all satisfied with the ar
gnnent in the first congress on which was rested
This power has been eNersclsed, without inter-
rupton, ever since 1889. 1t is not, then, recent
usuypaion. The first Congress of the United
States wh,h ever assembled by their construction
of the constitution, solcmny declared that the pow
or Of removal was vested in the President : and
many Of the members of this Congress had them
selves been members of the Federal Convention,
Since the gentleman addressed the Senate, nave
examined the debate, and particularly Mr. Mudl-
sons ranurks upon this subject, and lilink lhey
ough, to prove satisfactory to every mind, lie
sketches the argument III favor Of the power with
n master i hand
How could the president execute the laws at all,
if tl, power did rot exist; Suppose he should
discover that one Of the receivers general created
by this very bin was applying The pablo money 10
his own use--if he were deprived OF the power
and rislt of removing him from office, he might
be obliged to LOOK patiently on and suffer hun to
embezzle millions. Suppose foreign minister
were violating his Instructions, ard be'rnl NJ the
hest interests Of lis country ubrcad-what Is to be
done, Without the exercise ii this power, the
president would be compelled TO wait Until the mis-
chief might be entirely ConsumHm'ed-un'il the
country nliah, be ruincd--hciJrc he could recall
this corrupt or wicked minister. might present Il
hundred similar instances. This power Is essential
to the performance Of the duty imposed upon the
prrsilant of seeing that the laws are iiihlGily
ryccu,cd. Without it, he would be deprived ct
the necessary means Of executing this high 'r"S'
ronosed in him Nv the Consultation. Is, therefore
wonderful how the existence Of this power could
ever have been seriously contested,
If Ills power of removal did not exist III the
President, i, would follow as necessary c0'iSe-
auenc, that the Senate must remain III permanent
s.aiUl for the purpose Of sanc,oning removals from
offices, II. they might become Necessary, throughout
this vast and growing country. The public interest
in,peripusly dcmuts that some power should always
Nis, competent instantly TO remove all oihcers
the moment they are discovered to be bclrayng
their trust. But the Constitution never con,enph-
I'd that the senate should b. III session 3rnaheht y
Heaven forbid that this should ever be the ease -
Arer having been in the political atmosphere Of
Washington for six months II Is necessary 'hht we
should 40 home to mingc with our constituents AM
10 breathe the pure air OF the country. me A.
nerican people never will consent, ana never ought
10 consent, tina, our sessions shall become eriia-
nent. -,
Having now replied to all the arguments addu-
cod by ,he Senator under his second general head,
and having, think, demonstrated thai he bl!i con-
,,ins no Government Treasury Bank, shall pro-
coed TO rcpy to those which he urged under the
Gr., rrnerul head. 1t will be recoec,cd that this
WA, 10 consider the bill according to the conslruc-
,ion placed upon ii by its friends, which, | have
.ndeayorcd to prove, is the true construction.
Before address myself directly to the senator's
arrumet, allow me to indulge i'll some general OBJ
sCrvai!0ns.
VIVA, has been the financial history of this coun-
FRY for III, last twenty-five wears: ! can speak
with positive knowledge upon this subject during
the period Of eighteen years since llrst came INTO
uDbic life. ii has been Il history Of constant vi
Gra,on-cxtravagan expansions in the business Of
the country. succeeded by runous contradictions
AZ successive intervals man, of the best and most
,nlerpr.iur men Of the country have been crushed.
They have fallen victims at the shrine OF the nsa-
tate and Unsuitable spirit of exravasant banking
and speculation. Starting at the extreme point OF
depression Of one of these PERIODS we lind that the
ocun,r, has been guttcd with foreign merchandise,
and II requires all our efforts to pay the debt thus
contracted to foreign nations. At this crisis the
banks can do nothing TO relieve the people. In
order to preserve their own existence, they are
compe,led TO contract their loans and their issues.
In the hour Of distress, when their assisetnce is
most needed, they can do nothing for their yotares
Fyery article sinks in price, are unable TO pay
their debts, and wide spread ruin pervades the
land Uurinr this first year Of the cycle, we are