Boon's Lick times. [volume] (Fayette, Mo.) 1840-1848, 1841-10-09

Such information as ! could hastily collect
from the heads of the principal disbursing
bureaus of the Department / handed to
him on the evening of the same day, know
| ing that time was of the utmost import
ance in the state in which the question then
was. He received 1.-The statements gave
him with manifest indifference, and alarmed
me by remarking that he began to doubt
whether he would give his assent Gas I'M
derstood him) to any bank.
The next day, "Wednesday, 18th Aug)
was the stated time for the weekly meeting
of the Cabinet with the President Mr..
WEBSTER, Mr.. EWING, and myself went
at ten O'Clock in the morning; and were
informed that the President was engaged
with Messrs. BERRIEN, SERGEANT, and
think, Mr.. DAWSON, of Georgia. We
waited until they retired, and the PREsI-
DENT made his appearance about three
quarters of an hour afterwards. Mr..
| BADGER came in soon after the PRESIDENT
Joined us. Messrs. CRIrrENDEN and GRAN
GER did not attend. The conference which
ensued was long one, lasting two hours
at least, according to my recollection. |
cannot pretend to detail all that was said;
neither can | undertake to give the Ian
guage employed by the PRESIDENT upon
every point, nor of the members of the
Cabinet. | can only state the substance
of what was said upon those points which
most attracted my attention.
The President commenced by stating
that he had been waited upon that morn
ing by committee of Members of Con-
gress who desired TO know his views upon
the subject of a bank-such one as he
could sanction. He had given them no
satisfaction upon that subject, but had in
;. formed them that he would first consult
with his constitutional advisers-his Cabi-
net-throngh whom he thought it most
regular that his views should be commune
Gated. He asked the opinion of his Cab
met upon the correctness of the ground
he had taken; rcmarking at the same time,
that the habit of expressing his views to
Members of Congress upon subjects Of so
much interest objected him to great en-
barrassment and much misrepresentation.
That question being disposed of, the Presi-
dent adverted briefly, but without much
come xion, TO the relation in which he
stood to the Bank question, and his dis
position TO go as far as he could to comply
with the wishes of his friends. He spoke
of the relation that existed between him
and his Cabinet, and how necessary it
was that he should have their support.
Would they stand by him He much
preferred that the whole sub ject should be
postponed until the next session; but if it
was necessary to act now, he thought a
plan might be devised which. with their
cooperation, might be carried through
He wondered why the Senate continued
to postpone acting upon his Veto Message,
which was yet to be disposed Of He sup
posed it might be to hold It as rod over
his head; and had sor9e doubts whether
it was proper that he should consider fur
Their upon the subjQct until The Senate had
decided what they would do with the bill
then before them. Some one present as
sured him that the postponement of the
question pending in the Senate was intend
ed to give time for reflection, and to pre-
vent an Incorporate debate.
The President then gave the outline Of
such a bank or fiscal institution as he
thought he could sanction. Ii was to be
in the District Of Columbia, to nave the
privilege of issuing its own notes, receive
moneys on deposite, and to deal in bills
of exchange between the States and be-
tween the United States and foreign
States But he wished to have the opinion
of his Cabinet upon ii. His own consist
ency and reputation must be looked to.
He considered his Cabinet his friends,
who must stand by and defend whatever
he did upon the subject. Ii, appealed
particularly to Mr. WEBSTER for his opin-
ion upon the point Of consistency; and
whether there was not clear distinction
between the old Bank of the United
SiGtes-a bank Of discount and deposite-
and the one he now thought Of proposing;
and whether the constitutional question
was not different. He reminded us that,
in all his former speeches and reports, he
taken the ground that Congress had no
constitutional power TO charter a bank
which had the power of local discount.
Mr.. WEBSTER pointed out the distinction
between the two plans IN manner which
appeared to be satisfactory to him. The
substance of what he said was, as | under
stood him, as follows: He had decided
preference for bank upon the plan then
proposed over either Of those which had
been pre- viously spoken of. He reminded
the President that he had expressed his
preference for bank which would be
restricted in its dealings to bills of ex-
change, when certain gentlemen from the
city of New York were present several
weeks before. He then thought, as he did
now, that it would answer all useful pur-
poses. One ground Of this preference was,
and it had great weight with him, that the
plan did not contemplate the consent Of