The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1841-10-07

ne exercise OF the Veto, Il is said, is an obi
Gus act II so, the more certain is il that il will
be rarely exercised by any President and that
when he does exercise il, he does so from pro-
found convictions Of conscience, and overpower-
ing sense of public duty
The President, IL is said, has defeated the
wishes OF the Wing party in Congress and the
country, and by his mere will, deprived the ma
uon Of what II so much needs, TO wit, Nation
al Bank.
Is il true that the. President is responsible
solely, or in any reprehensibe sense for the fail
ure OF Congress, al the late session, to establish
Bank2 To answer this question let us look
at facts and dates.
On the I'd OF June the Senate called on the
Secretary OF the Treasury to present to them
plan Of Bank and Fiscal Agent, which he
communicated on the 18th of June.
To similar call made by the House on the
2lst OF June, the Secretary replied in the same
way on the 23d of June
In each House this plan was committed to a
Select Committee on the Currency.
II was known generally, and il was known
particularly TO those members Of Congress, who,
by their experience and political position, had
the best opportunity and the greatest induce
ments to obtain clear understanding of the
facts in this respect, that the President Of the
United States had strong and fixed convictions
| concerning National Bank that il was his
anxious wish, so far as his conscientious opin-
ions would permit, 10 conform his action in this
matter TO the wishes of Congress that, accord
ingly, he had reflected much, and counselled
with his constitutional advisers on the subject !;
| and that, among other conclusions to which he
had arrived was this:
Either no discounts, or, if discounts, then as
sent of the States.
The President, in considering this great
question, looked beyond words, at ideas and
things.
What is Bank2 1t seems to be assumed,
in most of the newspaper discussions Of the
subject that Bank is of necessity an institu-
ton combining deposites, discounts, and crcu-
lation, or the issue of bills to circulate as mo.ey.
Not so. Neither of those things is, in itself, of
the essence of a Bank. A Bank may be Bank
of deposites without discounts or issues, or of
deposites and issues without discounts, or of de-
postes and discounts without issues, or of depo-
| site, discount, and circulation. Examples of
each of these forms Of Bank exist in MANY coun-
tries, and may be found in our own.
| The President had considered these things,
and the fundamental idea in his mind touching
the proposed Fiscal Bank either no discounts,
| or, il discounts then assent of the States, was
incorporated in the 18th article Of the 18th sec
| ton of the plan of Fiscal Agent communica-
| ted to the Senate and the House by the Secre-
tary of the Treasury.
| On the 2lst OF June, Mr.. Clay, of Kentucky,
| from the Select Committee of the Senate, to
which the bill of the Secretary of the Treasury
had been referred, submitted a report, accompa-
MED by a bill, framed in part according to the
plan Of the Secretary, but in the rifdl matter OF
the constitutional question, involved in the 18th
article Of the lth section, differing from the Sc
cretary Of the Treasury, and proposing to esta-
blish discount Offices in the several States with
out their assent
| In the House of Representatives, Mr.. Ser
geant, from the Select Committee of the House,
reported bill on the 2lst day Of July substan-
TALLY the same as that reported by the Commit
tee Of the Senate
This difference between the plan of the Sc
cretary and the plan Of the Senate Committee,
| became at once, the great question OF the day
| Mr.. Rives, on the 1st day OF July, moved, as
an amendment to the Senate bill, to restore, in
this respect, the precise language Of the bill
proposed by the Secretary of the Treasury =
His amendment was not, as it seems to have
been generally supposed new thing, hut was
| the provision of the Secretary, and consisted OF
his very words cut from the printed Senate do
cument and wafered on sheet of paper, with
nothing but the formal words of motion to
amend prefxed in manuscript
The two Senators from Massachusetts, Mr..
Bates and Mr.. Choate, advocated this amend
ment, that is, the adoption of the plan OF the Sc
cretary in this respect in preference TO the plan
of the Senate Committee.
| There is every reason to believe that, if the
opinion of Mr. Bates and Mr.. Choate had been
followed and the amendment of Mr.. Rives
| adopted, there would now be in existence a new
| United States Bank,--no dissolution Of the Ca
binet would have occurred, no difference of Opt
Mon between Congress and the President, and
no schism in the Wing party.
| For the opinions expressed by Mr.. Bates and
Mr.. Choate al that time, in the advocacy of this
amendment, they incurred censure in some
quarters. | appeal to you, and TO the rhOie peo-
pie Of Massachusetts, the constituents of those
two Senators, to consider well these facts, and
to do justic. 10 the wisdom, PATRIOTISM and
foresight of the Senators of our Common
wealth.
Was there, in this 18th article of the plan of
the Secretary, any thing so Objectionable as to
preclude its adoption on the part of Congress?
That there ,ods not, is conclusively proved
by the fact that, when it was asccrtained in the
Senate that the bill could not pass that body
without inserting the principle of State assent,
it was inserted. Whatever there was objec-
tionable in this respect, in the plan of the Sc
cretary, is to be found in the compromise provi-
sion, so called of the Fiscal Bank, as il finally
passed the Senate, and without any change, the
House. Did the former plan involve the diff
Guilty OF referring the agitation of the Bank
question to the political forum of each of the
States? So also did the latter. Did the former
involve an implied surrender of Federal power 2
SO also did the latter This was most ably de-
monstrated in the speeches in the House made
by Mr.. Marshall, Of Kentucky and Mr. Adams,
of Massachusetts. In fact, the compromise
provision, so called, was drawn up with such
peculiar felicity, to contain all the evil of both
schemes without the benefits of either, and TO
be equally obnoxious TO the condemnation of
both classes OF opinion, that Of the Federal
school as well as the State Rights school.
When the Bank Question came into Con
gross there were two courses TO be pursued, in
either OF which there was moral certainty that
ia Bank would be obtained, or, at any rate, all