Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1840-01-10

be remembered, that his open war
fare upon that system commenced
with an attempt to convert the u.
States Bank, the then fiscal agent of
the government, into an engine of
party intrigue and corruption. In
one OF the earliest movements to-
wards the accomplishment of this
end, he was met, foiled, and exposed
by one of the wisest and best of the
statesmen of New England, who
then, fortunately for his country,
was at the head of an Eastern
Branch Bank. From that moment,
the rage of the President and his
advisers knew no bounds, and the
alternative was, obliquely, but intel
Lightly enough, presented to the
Bank, of becoming the'organ of the
President and his party, or surren-
dering its privileges, on the expira-
ton OF its charter. The result is
known to all. The Bank, with a
virtuous firmness, which will confer
the most lasting honour on its con-
ductors, refused the advances of the
government, and was Frustrated. A
substitute, commonly called the
Pet Bank system, was next attempt
ed, with what success, we need not
inquire, and then followed the ia
vorite scheme of the present admin
istration of placing the whole pecun-
larry resources of the nation in the
immediate control of irresponsible
officers, appointed by the executive:
holding their Offices during its
pleasure, selected upon no other
principle than their unhesitatine
devotion to the will of an unscrupu.
lous administration-thus recogniz.
ing and adopting the infamous prin.
ciple openly avowed by them thro
a conspicuous organ, that TO THE
vICToRs BELONG THE spoILs OF
OFFICE. This scheme indeed, in
its original connection, proved toe
gross even for the party, and the
administration has been compelled
to yield to certain notifications and
to encompass it with certain safe
guards, which render it, however
rotten and mischievous at the bot
tom, if not really less Objectionable
at least more specious. That all
the pecuniary distress of the coun.
try for the last three years is to be
attributed to the refusal of Congress
to re-charter the United States
Bank is contended by none, but that
70 this, and other measures of the
dominant party, forming a part OF
the same system of policy, they are
in a great degree, directly or indi-
reclly, to be ascribed, is beyond all
question. The administration and
it's supporters tell us that our embar-
easements are entirely occasioned
by ovcrtrading. According to the
theory of these political quacks,
'overtrading' is the 'impurity of the
blood, the one disease which has
infected the community, and alone
occasioned the commercial revul-
sions, land huctuation ofprices, which
have given so severe a shock to our
national prosperity. But what ex-
cited, and who fostered, this spirit
of overtrading' TO this question
our opponents stand mute, conscious
that it is the measures of the present
dynasty, which have furnished both
the inducement and the means OF
carrying on the specializing system,
which is charged with so much mis-
chief--a system, by the way, to
which most of the leading partizans
of the administration, not excepting
our exalted and aristocratic Presi-
dent himself, owe the private wealth
with which they are gorged. The
immense increase of local banks,
trust companies, and other institu-
tons loanlng money, was the natu-
raj consequence of the downfall OF
the United States Bank and the
withdrawal of its Branches, and the
unlimited extension of credit, which
those new institutions created, fur
nishcd the means, while the policy
of the government in relation to the
national domain, and their conni-
vance at the evasion of the revenue
laws by foreign importers, supplied
the induccment and occasion for the
speculations alluded to.
But it is now too late to dwell
upon the currency question. The
past cannot be retraced. Expert
ence has shown us, that the weakest