Southern Argus. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1834-1842, 1841-10-12
MR. JNO. BELLS STATEMENl


called to see the President on Official
business on the morning (Monday, 10Th
August) before the first Veto Message
was sent in. | found him reading the
Message to the Secretary of the Treasu-
~. He did me the honor to read the
material passages TO me. Upon reading
that part of it which treats of the superior
importance and value ofthe business dor e
by the late Bank of the United States in
furnishing exchanges between the diff
ferent States and sections Of the Union, ]
was strongly impressed with the idea that
he meant to intimate that he would have
no objection to a bank which should be re-
stricted to dealing in exchanges, that ]
interrupted him in the reading, and asked
i'll was to understand, by what he had
Just read, that he was prepared to give his
assent to bank in the District Of Colum.
bia, with officers or agencies in the States,
having the privilege, without their assent,
to deal in exchanges between them and
foreign bills. He promptly replied that he
thought experience had shown the neces-
sity Of such power in the Government.
/ could not restrain the immediate expires.
sion of my qualification upon hearing this
avowal. | said TO the President at once,
that what had feared would lead to fatal
dissensions among our friends, / now re-
garded as rather fortunate than otherwise;
that this veto Of the bill then before him
would lead to the adoption Of a much bet
ter one. l also congratulated him upon
the happy circumstances of the delay
which had taken place in sending IN his
Veto Message. The heat and violence
which might have been expected if the
veto had been sent in Immediately upon
the passage Of the bill, would now be
avoided. Time had been given for cool
reflection, aud as the Message did not ex-
clude the idea of a bank in some form, no
unpleasant consequences would be like
ly to follow. He expressed his great
surprise that there should be so much ex-
element upon the subject; said that he had
had his mind made up on the bill before
him, from the first, but had delayed his
Message that there should be time for the
excitement to wear off; that nothing could
be more easy than TO pass bill which
would answer all necessary purpose, that
it could be done in three days. The next
day, having occasion to see the President
again, he requested me to furnish him
with such information as the War De-
partment afforded, the embarrassment
attending the transfer and disbursement
of the public revenue to distant points on
the frontier, in Florida, &c. He at the
same time requested me to draw up brie
statement of my views upon the subject
showing the practical advantages and ne
cessity Of such fiscal institution as he
had Thought ofproposing. Such informa
ton as ! could hastily collect from the
heads of the principal disbursing bureau:
ofthe Department. handed 10 HIM on The
evening of the same day, knowing tina
time was the utmost importance in thC
state in which the question was. He re
ceived the statements | gave him will
manifest Indifference, and alarmed me
by remarklng that he began TO doub
whether he would give his assent (as un
derstood him) to any bank.
The next day "Wednesday, 18th Au
gust) was the stated time for the weekly
meeting of the Cabinet with the PresI
dent. Mr.. Webster, Mr.. Ewing, ant
myselfwent at ten o'clock in the morning
and were informed that the President wa
engaged with MessrS. Berrien, Sergeant
and, think, Mr.. Dawson of Georgia. -
We wahedI until they retired, and the
President made his appearance about three
quarters of an hour afterwards. Mr.. Bad
ger came in soon after the President join.
cd us. Messrs. Crittenden and Granger
did not attend. The conference which
ensued was long one-lasting two hour;
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 upor
every point, nor of the members of The
Cabinet. | can only state the substance
ofwhat 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 a committee Of Members of Con
gress, who desired to know his views or
the subject Of bank-such a one as he
could sanction. He had given them nc
satisfaction on that subject, but had in.
formed them that he would first consult
with his constitutional advisels-his Cab.
met through whom he thought it most re.
gular that his views should be communi.
Gated. He asked the opinion of his Cab.
met upon the correctness of the ground
he had taken, Iemarking at the same
time, that the habit of expressing his views
to Members of Congress upon subjects Of
so much interest subjected him TO great
embarrassment and much mis.representa-
ton. That question being disposed of, the
President adverted briefly but without
much connexion. to the relation in which
he stood TO the Bank question, and his
disposition TO go as far as he could to
comply with the wishes ofhis friends
He spoke of the relation that existed be-
tween him and his Cabinet, and how ne
cessary it was that he should have their
support. Would they stand by himl He
much preferred that the whole subject
should be postponed until the next session
but if il was necessary 10 act now, he
thought plan might be devised which,
with their cooperation, might be carried
through. He wondered why the Senate
continued TO postpone acting upon his We.
to message, which WINS yet to be disposed
OF. lie supposed it might be to hold