Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1841-10-15

IIl0HUS' VINO InuSl sluHu OV ana Oelen0
whatever he did upon the subject He
appealed particularly to Mr.. Webster
for his opinion upon the point Of consis
tency, and whether there was not a
clear distinction between The old Bank
OF the United States "A bank of dis
count and depOSite - and The one he now
thought Of proposing; and whether the
constitutional question was not different.
lie reminded Us that, in all his former
speeches and reports, he had taken the
ground that Congress had no consllu-
tIona power 10 charter bank which
had the power Of local discount Mr..
Webster pointed out the distinction be
tween the two plans in a manner which
appeared TO be satisfactory to him. The
substance Of what he said was, as un
derstood him, as follows: He had de.
cided preference for a bank upon the
plan then proposed over either Of those
which had been previously spoken OF.
He reminded the President that he had
expressed his preference Tor a bank
which should be restricted in its deal
ings TO bills Of exchange, 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 purposes. One
ground Of this preference was, and it
had great weight with him, that the
plan did not contemplate the consent OF
the States, as in any way or at any time,
necessary to its existence or efficiency
He thought the plan proposed al the
commencement Of the session, general
y known as Mr.. Ewing's bill, as incon
gruous and Objectionable on this ground
His general course Of thinking on such
subjects led him TO prefer that, whatever
power this Government asserted or was
authorized TO assert should be exercised
independently Of Slate authority, and Of
the interference of the States He
thought there could be no doubt OF the
constitutional power TO charter such a
bank as was then proposed, according to
the Presidents ewn modes OF thinking
rpon the subject if he understood them
Certainly there was clear distinction
between such a bank and the late Bank
of The United States.
The one now proposed was 10 be Inn
tied in its operations TO such objects as
wera clno ri % within enpoa oC thu uanar
al provisions Of the Constitution, or such
as were clearly necessary in The execu,
ton Of others, The privilege Of lssu.
ing its own notes, Of dealing in exchan
ges, and of receiving moneys on depoS,
Ite, all appeared to have immediate ref
erence to, or connection with the pow
ers given in The Constitution, over CON.
merce between the States, over the
currency, and the necessary fiscal oper
ations of the Government in the col
lection, safe keeping, and disbUrseme
OF the public revenue. These were all
subjects Of national, and not local or
State concern The distinction between
this plan and the late Bank Of The Uni
ted States lay in this: the privilege en-
joyed by Tho old bank, Of dealing in 10.
cal paper, or discountng notes having
no circulation. as it might be, but be-
tween the different streets or CONNER
ciai points of the same city, had no con.
nexion with the trade or commerce
between tbs States aud remote sections
Of The Union, nor with the transfer oil
The public money from one point TO an.
other; and it had, therefore, no necessary
connexon with any OF the great nation
al objects for which the bank was char
tered; nor could it be claimed as an To-.
cident 10 any of The powers given 10
Congress by the Constitution. That
privilege he apprehended, was confer
red upon the late bank from the belief
that without it the stock of the bank
could not be made profitable; and it
was therefore considered as a necessary
incident to an institution which was
itself but the offspring Of an incidental
power Experience, he thought, had
shown clearly that such privilege was
no longer important or necessary By
confding the dsrounting privilege of
the proposed bank 10 bills Of exchange
between this country and foreign STATES,
and between The several States of The
Union, this objection would not lie
against It.
The President expressed his regret
that he had moi used the words Bank
Of discount and depOsite" in his late
message, SO that the distinction he now
took might be clearly inferred from that
message, and he could not then be char.
ged with inconsistency Mr.. Badger
said he thought nothing would have
been gained by the use of the terms
"bank Of discount and deposiie" in his
message; for as to The charge of incon.
sistency, it might, and probably would,
be made against him for party effect,