The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1841-09-25

yious question" was speedily called, the bill passed
under its operation, and then heard the exultlng
cry, "We have the President fastened now; he can
not veto the Bank billiard sign the repeal Of the Sub
Treasury that will " the public money underhls
control, and we will cIge him with having in view
that object Well sir, the Bank bill has been We
toed, and The result is az anticipated You now talk
about union Of purse aad sword !" declaH aoou.
monarchia powers and accuse the President of being
the of state of things which your legislation
produced, and purposely aimed. at, -4s.
Think YOU sir, that this shallow harlequinade this
political wire-workng, will deceive the people II
Think you that their good sense cane imposed upon
Rotation Il issr 81 power your weisse Reclamation
your tinse talk about purse and sword all will fali
you before the keen eye of intelligent constituency
So much for this Charge and really sir am faigued
with following the toruous maze ofinconssteneles In
which geltemspinvolve thema elves by their attempts
to prejudice abe public mind by allegations and in
situations and Prescriptions against the Executive
I, have believe, answered the prominenf charges
made ~ the gentleman from Virginia. shall not
notice his remarks about the conversations ~ has had
with the President on steamboats, and atpriyae in
terviews. could make many important developments
il enld repeat what have heard out OF this House
But sir, never refer to private conversations.
consider improper as tending to lower the character
of public debates. a,ttl. u sfg.5s4a5.r B s.I
| Is On a former occasion, sir, / took some pains
to portray correctly the principles of the Wing party,
avowed previous to the late election. traced the
opinions of General Harrison the subject Of bank
from 1922 TO November, 1889 and gave extracts
from his letters, circulars and speeches. all going to
prove that he considered the question Of the eonsiu
| Iionaly Of National Bank as an open question
that his own convictions were that the establishment
of bank Unconstitutional "unless i was neces-
sary the collection saekeepng, and disbursement
Of the public money = and will again quote short
passage Of his letter to Sherrod Williams, when
speaking of bank ..sras. " sg.ssI.srf ,.ll
HThe question, then, for me to answer is whether,
under the circumstances you state if elected TO the Of
fee of President, would sign an act 10 charter ano-
Their bank answer, would If It were clearly as
certainsd that the puBG interest," n'relation to the
collection and disbursement Of the revenue, would
materially suffer Hithout one and there were unequi-
vocal manhestatsnSofapubl opinion in its favoI
think, however the experment should be fairly tried,
to ASCERTAIN whether the financial operations Of the
Government cannot be well carried on without the
aid Of a National Bank If it is, not necessary for
that purpose does not appear to me that one can be
constitutionally chartered There is no construction
arich gioe the Constitution aoch mould autho-
TizSit on the ground Of afording facilities TO con-
merce.. The measure, if adopted, must have for its
object the carrying into effect facilitating, at least
the exercise of some one of the powers positively
granted to the General Government. ~ others flow
from it. producing equal or greater advantages e the
nation, so much the better but these cannot be ntade
the ground for tustyying recourse to u. , .a.g
"The excitement which had been produced by the
bank question: the number and responsibility of those
who deny the right TO Congress to charter one strong
ly recommend the course above suggested" 'i't "
Again, sir, in his Dayton speech, made September
10, 1910, he said: :|. ~ a'.a t~.> III V:
@" My opinion of the power of Congress to charter
a National Bank remains unchanged. There is not
in the Constitution any express grant of power for
such purpose, and it could never be constitutional to
i exercise that power save in the event the powers
granted to Congress could not be carried into effect
without resorting to such an institution Mr. Madi-
son signed the law creating National Bank because
he thought that the revenues of the country could not
be collected or dsbursed to the best advantage with
out the interposition of such establishment said,
in my letter TO Sherrod Williams that if plain
that the revenues ofthe Union could only be collected
and dsbursed inthe most efectual way by of a
bank and if was clearly of opinion that the majority
fthe people of the United States desired such in
sttution, then, and then only Mould sign bill 60
| ing to charter bank :" +''' ..
ask sir, the excuse of the House for again citing
them to these opinions; but really there is such
evident attempt to Smystify and mislead the public
mind that think proper TO place the declarations Of
Sen Harrison, under which he was elected, promi-
having been made by very many prominent and dis
| tnguished gentlemen of the Wing party during the
late contest Since then, sir other evidence has
tolight andl will give you letter written by Mr.
pubiished previous to the election It goes TO prove
that even he did not Wish to make the question Of
bank an open issue atthe late canvass. .'".
From the Marietta Intelligencer Whig) Of July 80
| ,. ... =. "a. 1910. 49,. r.f'...t .:.>
| LANCASTER July Is, 1910.
| My Dear Sir: On my return from Columbus this
evening received your letter informing me that il
asserted at public meeting in Washington coun-
ty that, in a speech at Philadelphia, had said the
true question between the parties Bank of the
United States and that you, from knowledge the
real question and of me- had contradcted the
ton. In this, of course, you were perfectly safet
made no such statement, but the very contrary. l
avowed that the true question I'M is the restris
ton or extension of Erecutire poloer That its en-
croachments open and covert of the most alarm
ing nature and if not resisted must end in the subec
ton of all that is valued in the Republican principles
of our Government; and that gorgeous monarchy,
in effect, if not in name, must rise on its ruins.
said that our opponents Were attempting to make the
/ question of bank the issue between the rsrtes.
lspoke the impuderce and dbsurdiy of the attempt
That bank not, and never had been, considered
| by us any thing more than mere matter of conve-
nience-a useful article of furniture in oui noble
edyfce. That our opponents were gravey raising and
debating the question whether this article Of furniture
was convenient or Observation-Disclosures we should
have table ssttee standing in halls, while
their sappers and miners we've at work tumbling its
walls and columns about our ears This, with am
plifcation and illustration, is the substance of what
said touching that particular object You perceive,
therefore that you did no. mistake my opinions or my
|
- Your sincere friend w.. y. "" 81.
,. . ..... .,l.s 3, T. EWING,
L. D. BARKER, Esq, -, ..........3
/ This, sir shows that the issue was avoided even by
many of the most ultra Wings On the occasion al
ludedto, gave the recorded opinions of John Tyler
in lSl9-hs vote against the bank, in the Senate
in lS32-hs open declaration in the "Henrico letter.
few months previous to the election and his endorse
ment of General Harrison's speech at Dayton the
subject of bank. / merely allude again to these
opinions defence ofthe President from the charge
of having concealed his opinions; and say that
believe the President will yet convince even the gen.
tleman fomrVrgna -thst he is willing to cooperate
with Congress in establishing agent of the Gov
eminent, according to the plan Of General Harrison
which shall have for lis object the collection safe
keeping, and disbursement of the public revenues and
which, it hoped, will incidentally regulate the ex-
! changes and currency of the country"
/ In opposition to the recorded votes and opinions OF
the President curing long life, the gentleman froa,
Virginia gives in evidence a conversation had with
him on steamboat and extract from an editorial
in newspaper, published since the Veto message.
There is however redeemjnu oualitv in the