Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1841-06-11

ho n,sent changed state of The country and contain
;no new principle. Under the law as u before s,oou
smbezzlement of the public money was maze ie'"'
but in its practical application difficulty arose ,r,s
public officer neglected to pay over al Inc Pr"pe
,hs b,l,nce in his hands; demand ct the money VIZ
made by Government and the officer re useG' anu Va
question arose whether, IN such case, Tue oi'' r. I
| rr copld not be prosecuted Tor embezzlemehI :Jd
| via,e this difficulty hereafter, the present pi I'll
III, no refusal of an officer under such dt'han" 1
| - h,J ~ hr ,rima face evidence Of embezziemeh''
and unless the individual shall be able Clearly -
that the refusal was unacconPaneo ny ~, my ,;ded
intent he shall be subject to all the Pehais ph,y
| in another part oil Inc pii dga'"ss
wy A. {, weut on 10 observe, that should The D Pass
IN its form as reported, The consequence e., h,nk
,ev;V,l Of the act of 1896, establishing TIC To-;
system He supposed, however 'nc'e ~, ,rs,em-
H., nm anv side of the House To revive That oyS'e"
Wv. .an which had been found i'll practice 50 very
,,norv,nient and which would now oe sun ino'e ~
fom The changed circumstances oil lhe county az
,ba hanks By that law the Secretary was Pioi''''s
from making any dePosite OF the pnoic inoHey - -
hank which did not pay specie on demand anu aso -
INV hank issuing promissory notes under NE oenon''
o;on of FIVE dollars; prohibition which, ieh'oiceu -
This time, would exclude him from large maJoi'S ~
,he banks of the whole country. Mr.. =. sa'a ne uo
M, introduce section repeating the act Oh ioao W
,se he cherished the confident hope that should the
Nh, mass into law would be speedily followed by ano
,ber hill providing for n Bank OF the United states,
or for some competent fiscal agent such rs shou"
furnish TO the people that which, OF all Things, ey
/, might. however by possibility, happen, though ne
could scarce anticipate such thing IN the least Ike
~ 10 occur that no such bill might be passed, or al
leas, not for month or six weeks perhaps, during
which interval this law of Ie.'G coming up IN revived
force migbt operate exceedingly to embarrass the Sc
creary Of the Treasury in conducting the fiscal opera
firms of The Government. With view to avoid both
viz either Of no bills passing or oil It's
passage being delayed, Mr. c. had prepared an amend
meD To come in third section OF the bill IN The WORDS
| following. -,
San act to regulate the depostes of the public money!
which passed on the Odd June, $780, except the 18TH
and 18th sections thereof, and the act supplementary
thereto approved 18th July, 1885, entitled San act sup
elementary to an act regulate the deposeS OF the
publc money" passed Gid June, 1896, be- and the
same are hereby repealed Prorided That this repeal
shall mol affect impair any securities winch may
have been taken for The safe keeping of the public mo-
news deposited with any OF the banks IN the SAID act
mentioned nor any remedies 10 enforce the said secu
rites which have been, may hereafter be, prose.
| cuied.
By this section the whole of the act of 1886 would
he rrpraled save the two sections which provide tor
the depose of the sur ns funds III The Treasury with
the eyera Suites; this proyison he presumed, was 10
be considered Of permanent character, and not to
be repealed.
Mr. G. added he did not mean 10 say one word on
the policy of the Sub Treasury system, or attempt TO
rearrue that question: and if he had misapprehend-
ed the temper and disposition Of the Senate gentlemen
on all sides of the house little DESTROYS OF this
as lie could be- Out of respect to the Country to the
Senate, and 10 himself, he should rcsouiely abstain
from gain entering on question WHICH had been al
ready sufficiently argued, and needed rediscussIon
now In saying this, he hoped that offence be
derstood intended to the feelings of any gentleman
il was one of those cases which would sometimes &C.
cur when difference Of opinion took place between
the members Of the National Legislature, or part Of
:. them and the body of the People at large.
/ The amen dment having been read
i MIR. CALHOUN said that if he had rightly under
stood the object Of The Senator in proposing tins amend
ment get clear Of certain difficulties and re-
strants imposed upon the Secretary consequence Of
changes which had taken place since the passage oil
The law of 1870 Certain banks which could at that time
be made The repositories of the public money were, III
cons quence Of these changes and OF the prohibitions IN
the law precluded al this time from being so used II
this was his object, he might get at II much more easily
by simply moving to repeal much OF the law a. con
tanned those prohibitions The law had been passed IN
der lhoroug and general conviction that was wrong
To have the entire Treasury under absolute Executive
CONTROL and for the express purpose Of taking the pub
lie money from under that control and placing u
under the guardianship oil the law But now u wa,
proposed undo all this to retrace our steps and repea
the law And on what ground: Why, that IN few
weeks a law would be passed establishing Bank Of
the IT, s.. that if that expectation should iai and
no such law should pass, then the entire public trea
sure would he LETT it before the passage OF the
law of 1896 under the absolute disposal OF The E1ecu
tive
Here Mr.. Clay gave signs of dissent
The gentleman shakes hs head Under what con
troll then viii II br:
Il Mr.. CLAY. Under the law of l7s9.
Mr. CALHOUN. Well, will 30 hack most cheer
fully 10 the law of 1889. lfthat is the meaning OF the
Senator, lei BIN an amendment, Tor # not wal
DO it., declaring that the law Of 80 is hereby revived
II declares that the revenue shall be received IN Soie
and silver only, and shall be kept by the Treasurer Of
the L. $.
Mr. CLAY said he never had alluded TO the subject
Of a metallic medium, or of any manner IN which me
dues of the L. s. to be paid. lie had merely sa'e
TINT should the Sub.Treasury law be repealed the
country would be under the law Of 1c under the re
solutions Of 1916 and under the law of $780, unless
that should be repealed What he meant to say vas
that under principles revived, as to the powers
f of the President the act OF l7S would operate as
compete security TO the Treasury TIL new law shoue
be enacted
Mr. CALHOUN said that as TO that, the law OF l1o'
was as much fuce in 1886, when the law was passed
regulate the deposites as was now and yet fres'
dent jackson himself admitted that the pnbic money
was left absolutely under Executive control, and tia
this state Of things ought not to continue Dd gen
ilcmcn now propose at one blow To undo what II haf
cost such efforts and so much prolonged ah'
excited discussion 10 agree upon: Ana on VIVA
gronnd' Simply. because part OF the law OF io''
:
, RAISING restrictions Well if that the case, why
not simply repeal much Of the law as imposed these
restrictions: If the Senator wanted TO go back to tht
law Of 1889 il was what Mr. {. himself earnestly De
sired. But his object was TO record his objections
to the amendment proposed; and with this view NJ
demanded the yeas and nays
And they were ordered BY the Senate.
/ Mr. CLAY asked the Senator from South Cdron;
10 recall 10 mind what were the assertions of Executive
power advanced by General Jackson and his friends Il
1896 The removal of the drposites in ls: taken II
connection with Gen Jacksons alleged right to remove
any Secretary of the Treasury who Opposed Una. inca
sure went the whole length Of making Secretary
the Treasury the mere creature OF the Executive will
This doctrine MIR c. and those who then acted w'tl
him utterly and strennously denied; and ne denied
still. The power assumed by President Jackson owe
the public money and over the Secretary of The Treasury
was without law and against law, and wholly arbitrary
and tyranncal But he would not now revive that DIS
f cussion Under such principles, the Treasury was
+ the absolute mercy of the Executive. The Whole doc
tne md he Who'll. proceeding against the law: ant