The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1842-03-31
From the Boston Mercantile Journal.

cal depository of the public money, and the only en-
cient regulator of the currency. II he hau 'ne -
~ To suppose himself wise or more Niuou -
Washington Jefferson Madison, Monroe ana uaiia-
tin, more learned exposition OF ths SohS"'uuo"i
than the Supreme Court OF the ohiteu STATES WIN
Marshall It's head II his duty 10 unueee'e ,ne
peoule They understood and fully believed, that
The he had entertained that subject, In
former wears had yielded to the opinions OF these pure
and wise patriots. But he has not. Under the plea
of conscience he has resisted all efforts OF concia-
tory character and while the people "have asked Tor
a FISH, he has given to them serpent Cincinnati
G6xeue.
The eonstitutionaIity of the establishment by Con-
gress, of a National Bank with power to establish
branches for discount and deposit IN The different
States, has been doubted by some OF our staes
and legislators-and the creation or rechareIhe
of such institution, has always been resisted on
that ground And for this and other causes, iarse
portion of the people of this country nave always
been opposed to the creation by government OIL
large noneyed institution possessing the P00er 10 10
much good, or much epH Ii has been opJeo'eu ~ ~
intelligent men, on the ground that II an energetic
Executive should obtain the cyntro OF such an instl-
tuition would prove powerful and prooapiy an II
resstibe instrument to carry his measures INTO opera
tion although 1t hight be irelghted with me rum OF
the country-and that on the other hand II 1t should
be controlled by the INSCRIPTIONS leaders o. hume
rous party, or by unprinciped cabal, 1t could be
used formidable engine to PROSTATE the existing
administI ation and present an insurmountabe bar
10 the Will OF the people Anu that !" o'tnci
case its direct tendency would be, to introduce that
system of venality and corruption, which has always
heralded the downfall of Republics.
During the Administration OF Andrew Jackson,
this feeling of opposition TO National Bank gam
ed strength And his course In relation to the Bank
then in operation forcibly illustrated the fact, that
bold unscrupulous Executive, could at any time by
INDUCING feelings of hostility to such an insulation,
plunge the whole nation into gloom and emDarrass-
ment! Since then, many circumstances have occurred
To chance the of those. who formerly
tended for the establishment of National Bank
They have seen that the facility for discounts, which
such institution is calculated to promote, tends to
introduce inflated credit SYSTEM destructive to the
real interests and morals of the people They have
also seen the downfall of the Bank of the United
States in Philadelphia, under circumstances, which
reflect shame country and among the oonse-
quences of its downfall is the ruin of thousands Of
worthy and industrious citizens Yet this Bank was
managed by Nicholas BIddle, the President of the
late National Bank, acknowledged once to be an hon
est man, and the mos, able hnancer IN the country
These, and other considerations, throwing the
question of constltutonality entirely aside, created
among people of all conditions, and bsh parties,
strong feeling-prejudice, if you wll-against the
establishment of any great National Institution, i'm
bodying the principles of the Old United States Bank
The Van Buren, party WERE TO a man, opposed 10 the
establishment Of such institution indeed, opposi
ten to a National Bank, was one of the principal
points in their political creed. Many of the Wing
party also opposed to Bank-and 1t is highly
probable That al tue OF III
November, l840 decided majority of the voters in
the United States were opposed TO the establishment
of any institution resembling in Its character the late
United States Bank. The opinions of the lamened
Harrison never explicitly given on this subject
and if his life had been spared to his country 1t Is
BY no means certain what he would have
adopted in his capacity of President of the United
States. This Bank feeling prevailed TO such
extent among the Wings that 1t was deemed erpe-
dent by the delegates the Harrisburg Convention
to nominate candidate for the second office In the
gift of the people, John Tyler, who it was well
known had been in favor of such institution
and who, there reason to suppose would
under any circumsta nces advocate the establishment
of National Bank!
There also many of the Wing party, who be-
lieved that in the abstract" National Bank would
be highly beneficial to the country-and that 1t could
be so managed avoid the objections which
urged against such an institution. But they believed
that could not be useful unless was also popular
unless it enjoyed the confidence Of the People. They
opposed therefore, the principle OF expediency,
the idea of establishing large national moneyed insti
tution which would be surrounded by host of pow
e1ful enemies eager to find mperectons and detect
in its operations ready to msrePresent Its acts,
and assall its credit, from any and every quarter, and
who would leave no untrled to counteract all
the beneficial effects which might, under other clrcun-
stances, have been reasonably expected from its es
Enlistment. For these reasons they were not anx-
ous for the establishment of such an lnstltutionand
these feelings cherished by many Of the once
When the Bank bills passed Congress by small
majority at the session. President Tyler refus
ed sign them, In consequence OF which neither OF
those bills became law. In adopting this line of
CONDUCT which promised to be unpopular with large
portion of the Wing party, the President acted with
that consistency which will always mark the conduct
of an honest But many of the Wings forgot
the sentiments on this SUBJECT which the President
had ever expressed-assailed his motives-iidculed
his conscientious uples-and up to the present
h yah eanea his head unmltlpateu abuse
But if John Tyler had not possessed hrmness
enough to exercise his veto power IN relation to those
bls-if through deficiency OF moral courage he had
SO far abandoned his known principles TO sign either
of those documents-the country would now have been
in a sad condition-worse, far worse than is under
existing circumstances If either of those bills had
been signed it is by no means probable that the Bank
would have gone into operaon-for there was no In
ducemen for capitalists to invest money in that stock
and even If the stock could have been taken up, with
powerful and active opposition to 1t from all parts OF
the country its operations would have been sadly Grip
pied. The Wing party-the party which elected
Harrison and Tyler-and what is of more value, all
their political principles, would have been scattered TO
the Withstand RADICAL party of great numerical
strength, and, in a republic, strength gives poper,
would have been formed on the ruins, which would
have the seeds of Jacobnism, dscord and anar-
chy through the land. Since the close OF the extra
session. many events have occurred to give strength
the hostility against not only National Bank, but
to the whole banking system. The failure of banks
in the West-the detacaons OF bank ottcers-and
the prOstraton Of the Grard, Pennsylvania and other
Banks in Philadelphia all have tended to increase
the deeprooted prejudice which has always existed
against large and powerful moneyed institutions.
We have no hesitation in declaring rs our opinion,
that John Tyler in refusing to sanction Govern
ment Bank on the principles proposed by Congress,
has rendered service to the country which ought to
entitle him to the lasting gratitude of the People
and will be the opinion of ALL when few years
shall have passed away, and his actions will cease to
III pf
Dice
From the Philadelphia Ledger.
MORE TROUBLE.