Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1843-01-14
pENTy-sEvENrH CONGREss--sd Session
House Of Representatives., Jan. ..
THE EXcHEoUER PLAN.

moved nsrncuns tor The COMMITTEE 10 report resnia
tons for the Treasury. Upon this an interesting de-
bate arose
i Mr.. WISE said that the result Of the reference OF
the Presidents message TO the Committee Of Ways and
Means precisely what he had anticipated and pre-
dcled. Indeed, when The motion first made 10
that effect was ntmated by the friends Of the mca.
sure (he Exchequer,) that TO refer the message OF the
President 10 the Committee of Ways and Means would
be less than "rommuere agnnm tupo =
1t was referred there simply to be des,royed-not TO
get some other plan from that Committee, but 10 get
their verdict of condemnation upon this one plan.
But what had the committee reported? glance
through the preamble had enabled him discover some
of the which they based their resolution
The reason was, that for ten years past the money
power of the Government has been in The hands OF the
Federal Executive The report said thai it was now 10
the hands OF the Executives that such state oil things
was dangerous and that the Executive ought TO be
stripped of it, Now the Executive had recommended a
plan by which he would be stripped OF this power and
the committee of Ways and Means, instead Of carry ing
ont their correct views in which he (Alr W. agreed
conte nted themselves with saying that the plan would
not do. There, their wisdom stopped. There, tneir
patriotism stepped They merely SAID 'hat one pan
on, or thousand was Objectionable But did the
committee say that no other plan should lie adopfd:--
That the plan bad rs 20 be unworthy OF repairs:
Did the gentleman Mr. Fillmore say that he could not
report n creature of his BRAN, which would suit
the wants of the country: For years past there
seemed to be but two aernatives-a Bank of the u s.
and Sub Treasury This, however, was now contra
dcted by the exhibition of the Exchequer-a middle
ground between the other two measures. The gentle.
man said this would not do why, them did he not give
the House The model of Bank, which, some sessions
ago, was made TO any Proean shape? The fair
and only construction OF his report was that he wished
10 have "aut Caesar aut nuiius Anything hut a Bank
was unworthy of amendment or consideration Did
the gentleman weigh his words WHEN he SAID That the
Exchequer could not be amended What was the
meaning of amendment Was it mol a common mode
OF anne ndment TO 10 strike out all after the enact
ing clnuse and inserta wholly different proposton:-
Did the gentleman mean TO say that the plan vas so
bad that could not even be cmed'ed 10 that iorn-
Did he that he could not strike out tie plan
of the Secretary of the Treasury and insert one from
The collective wisdom Of the Committee of Ways and
Means: Why not substitute reported
i Mr.. FILLMORE said, if the gentleman desired HIM
10 answer his question, he would say that substitute
had already been reported by the friends Of The Execu
tive, and before the House.
Mr.. WISE said that the friends of the President did
not themselves consider the plan Of the Secretary of
The Treasury TO be perfect, and reported amendments
TO it. Was he TO understand the gentleman as concur
ring in the amendments No-lhe gentleman did
not in the plan Of the Secretary of the Trea
sury the amendments to that plan, by the friends
of the President Why, then, did he not report bet
ter substitute The gentleman had no answer TO that
question The answer was concealed one.
Mr. FILLMORE remarked that The majority Of the
Committee Of Ways and Means hal twice reported
their plan to The House, but i, was, both OCCASIONS
defeated by the Executive.
! MIR. WISE said he had now got the answer he
wanted. lie would go before the people upon it.
Bank of the United States, or nothing He was will.
ling go before jury of the country this
Yes-the gentleman willing to let the President
have the power oil the purse unless lie could get his
National Bank Though there regulations for
the organization of The Treasury Department, ye, The
gentleman very properly thought that something fur
ihe- should be done to limit Executive discre ton
When plan for that purpose proposed, what was
his answer a Bank, or nothing There were no de.
grees-no gradalions of policy expediency.-7ai
Cesar aul nufius, was the gcntlemans ma kun
He (Mr W. differed from his friend Mr.. Cushng1
10 The disposition 10 be made Of this report e did
not agree with him in wishing its reference to the Com
mit;ee Of the Whole the state of the Union. He
wanted II before the House, 10 be decided Ivy yeas and
nays and Thus see whether one party would say that
it would take nothing but the u5-Treasury, whilst
the other declared must have Bank. He wished to
whether these two parties would insist upon extremes
or measure. He willing to sustain the previous
question, and as ready to vote he would be- Two
weeks hence. When the question should be TAKEN
after The previous question sustained he should
vote with the minority of the Committee Of Ways and
Means, who reported an amendment to the resolution
Of the majority he should vote for the resolution OF
the gentleman from New Hampshire, Mr.. Alherton.
and he would ask the Clerk 10 read it aloud for the
| information OF the House.
The resolution read accordingly.
The majority Of the Committee undertook TO say that
4
adopted. The minority did not cbonse TO stop here; but
wisely went further. They wished the majority to pre-
scribe rules 20 the Executive for administering the nan
Of the country In The first place. they said plan
hey did nat say what should be adopted 10 strip the
Executive OF his power the purse Of the country.
In this, they concurrcd with the majority and wh HIM
SELF that The Executive should be deprived Of his present
discretion. In the second place he concurred with the
minority, that the public officers should not be allowed
10 use The money Of the Government.
| MIR ATUERTON SAID the minority went further.
They in favor of prohibiting all persons whatso
ever from using the public money
Mr. WISE said he went the full length with the gen.
llenan. lie would allow none the privilege of trading
upon the public money In The third place, the mino
ry said that they would separate the Government
| from all moneyed corporations. He (hlr. w would
20 that, loo lie went for the doctrine in its full
tent Now all three Of these doctrines which he had
named asserted by the plan Of the friends of the
President. Hc should vote for the amendment of the
gentleman from New Hampshire, mir. Atherton,] al
though he preferred instead Of insIructng the Com
mi:tee of Ways and Means-which had already said it
wonid not concur i'll any plan but that Off Bank which
had been twice presented, and which they knew could
not BE- adoPtedhat the report and resolution should be
referred to the Committee Of the Whole the state Of
the Union When in that Committee, there would be
found bill fully answering IN lis character to the IN.
struc.on proposed He anxious 10 90 into the
Committee OF the Whole to vindcae this measure To
EXHIBIT all It's details, line by line and 10 show that it
conPorted with the instructions reported from The mi
4 noTily OF the COMMITTEE OF Ways and Means. lie
wished to show that it guarded the public funds; that
it separated the Government from moneyed corpora
tons; that 1t devised system of law for The regulation
Of our finances; and that it in all respects agreed with
the true Democratic theories Of the present day and Of
the past time He would show that the modification Of
the sub treasury proposed by the leading periodicals of
the Democratic party, would render it such as that il
would agree with the E1chequer. The only difference
between them was this: The subtreasury provided two
for the Government, and the other for
he Errh ,j,J liz
currency for both He begged that the House might
Of an carly day 70 into committee this measure and
let vote be taken. lie begged this Congress go
awcy without settling the question. He warned both
Of The political parties that was no, their policy
leave it unsettled 1t was too much the policy Of The
leaders Of both 10 keep open They seemed disposed
to 60 before the country with the maxim Caesar aut
nutiuS with extreme -nnd resolved not to
take any middle ground. If they should continue to
pursue this policy he ventured TO preJic, that both
would be defeated, and that that party which had been
most instrumental in keeping this question open would
suffer most from the indignation OF suffering people