Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1840-04-23

"My commission bore the date Of May 2Nh,
1898, and on tho 80th, ! reached Washington.
Aiier waiting upon the President, on tho next
day, ] went 10 tho Treasury Department, aud
took the oath Of office on the LIST Of June. On
the evening Of that day, MIR. Reuben NJ. Whit
new called upon me at my lodgings, at the de-
sirv. As hs said, of the President, To make known
TO me what had been done, and what Wds 10 be
done, in relation to the United States Bank. Tie
stated, that the President had cone luded to take
upon himself The responsibility oi directing inc
Secretary Of the Treasury 10 romo'e mo Puo'ie
deposites from thai bank, aud TO transfer them 10
ftate Banks that he had asked Tho members "'
the cabinet, TO give him their opinions ON the
subiect thatth President had said, " MIR. Ia
ney and Mr.. Barry had come out like men lor 'he
removal - that Mr. M'iane had given long
opinion against it that Mr.. Cass was supposed
to be against il, but had given no written opIn-
ions and that Mr. Woodbury." had given an
opinion which was "yes +" and "no /" that
the President would make the act his own, by
addressing paper or order 10 the secrelnry o'
the Treasury; that Mr.. Amos RendoH,who w"S
high in the PRESIDENTS contdrnce, uas noD
preparing that paper: that there had been de-
lay owing to The affair NJ Alexandria but no
doubt the President would soon speak to mo on
The subject that the paper referred to, would
be put forth as tho Proclamation hat been, and
would be made "A raiiying point that he (Mr.
Whitney, had, ut the desire Of the President,
drawn memoir or exposition, showing that the
measure might bs safely adopted, and that the
State Banks would be fully adequate to all the
purposes ef government. lie then read the ex-
position to me, and as | desired to undersla nd
matters so important and so singularly presented
to NO. ! asked him TO leave The paper with me,
which he accordingly did lie also read to me
divers letters, from individuals connected with
State Banks [regency.l The drIl Of his further
observations was To satisfy me that the execu-
tive arm alone could be relied Oh TO prevent II
renewal Of the U. s. Bank Charter"
On the next evening, (Sunday,) Mr. Whitney
again called on me in company With II stranger,
whom he introduced as Mr.. .An,os Kendau, a
gentIornan in the Presidents conf lence, and
who would give mo any further explanation, iha;
might desire, as to what was meditdted IN re-
lation to the u. s. Bank, and who then called on
mo because he tcas ABOUT to pr0ceedfO Bdii-
more did not invite, nor check co'nn'unica-
ton. Very lil,e was said, and perhaps because
could not wholly conceal my modification at AN
attempt, apparently with the sanction OF the
President, to reduce mo to II mere cypher IN the
administration.
"rhe President left Washington on the 9th Of
June During his absence, further circunlstan-
ces came to my knowledge which induced me to
believe, that the removal Of the deposites was
not advocated with any view To pnbiic utHH y
JW urged 10 accom- iish selfish, II not tdctious
purposes. | sought no Intercourse with those
who, | felt satisfied, had an undue influence
over The President, al least in relation 10 the
grave questions connected with the removal of the
deposites. Whenever any Of them called on me
there was no hesitation IN urging me TO accord
in the proposed measure. II was Contended
that the removal Of the depostcs would he made
II raiiying point, at the opening Of Congress, or
u fag up, for the nt,o members. Whenever
urged u recourse, in the first inst ,nce, to Con-
qrLss, or The Judiciary, such II step was secuted,
and delay represented as hazardous.
] had heard rumors of the existence Of an in-
lucnce at Washington, unknown to the consll-
tuition The conviction, that such an influence
existed, nt least in relation to tho matters then
pressed upon me, tcas irresistible. Knew
,!lat four Of the sic members of the cabinet, be-
fore became member Of it, had been opposed
to any present action in relation to the dcpos'tes
and also knew that .foW Of the SIR members OF
the existing cabinet entertained The same VIEWS
lelt shllsHfui HOi t'io ""'
not in tho hands Of his Constitutional advisers, but
that their advice was successfully resisted by
persons whose views | considered dt variance
with tho public interest * tho Presidents fame "
All the efforts of Kendall to ind ce Mr..
Duane to remove the deposits proving with
out avail, on The 4ih of July, General Jackson
unexpectedly returned to Washington. For
some weeks after his arrival, every induce
mcnt was again used To prevail upon .Hr. Du'
dne 10 remove the deposltcs, and TO place
them in the State Banks as arranged for by
Amos Kendall, but without success. AT
length finding that Mr.. Duane could not be
prevailed upon to remove them, without an
act OF Congress being passed requiring such
a course, he was accused by the Globe OF
being an emissary of the Bank, and abruptly
dismissed OH the Did of Sept. by General
Jackson, and Mr.. Tancy was appointed IN his
place for the express purpose (as stated by the
writer IN previous number) ul removing the
dcposites, which were accordingly ordered
to be placed IN the State Banks selected by
Amos Kendall after the lst of October, 1888.
1t will be remembered that in General
Jacksou's last annual message, he was made
to doubt the so!voncy Of the Bank. In his
next message, delivered Dec. g. 1888, he is
made to accuse the bank OF being too Soipent
and rich. The average amount OF govern
ment dcposlies IN the United States bank was
at that time about ten millions of dollars
on the removal of the dcposItes
the bank was obliged TO call in its circulation to
about the same amount-Inore especially as
the charge OF insolvency from the President
and his mlnions had not been entirely with.
ont effect in causing runs on the bank. In
this message, after making the most fllmsy
and false charges conceivable against the
bank with regard to the use of their money
in influencing the elections of the country,
Gen. Jackson is made 10 say--
"At this time the efforts OF the bank to con.
troll public opinion through the dlstresses ol
some, and the fear Of others, are equally ap.
parent, aud if possible more bjectlonabIc.-
By curtallmcnt Of its accommodations, more
rapid than any emergency requires, and even
while 1t retains specie to an almost unprece-
dontcd amount in its vaults, it is attempting
TO produce great embarrassment in one por
ton OF the community, while through presses
known to have been sustained by ITS money.
It attempts by unioundcd claims to create q
panic in all"
This was no doubt the language of the
Kitchen Csbnet-snd to show the nature of
he testimony used, to prove the charges Of
!lectlonecrlng brought against the bank rs
well as the practice Of its accuscrs in the