Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1848-12-13

v and cApedioncy OF the measure; ana
" hile the bill was before him for his Off +
cial approval or disnpprovai, so grea: were
these doubts, that he required ''the opinion,
in writing" Of the members OF his Cabi- (
net, to aid him in arriving at dccision.-
His Cabinet gave their opinion, and were
divided upon tho subject; General Hamil-
tot. in favor, and Mr.. Jefferson md Mr..
Randolph being opposed TO tho conssiiu
,ionali,y oxpcdlcncy.
4: is we'll known. also. tia. Prcsidcn,
Washington rcloIncu tho bill from Nor
dag, tho l;th, when it wns presented to
him, until FRIDAY, the 2J,h Of February,
Icing tho last moment permitted him by
tic Constitution, when no finally yielded
10 give his Iclucteni assent. and gave it his
signature. II IL certain, TINT Us iato "a
tho 23l Of Februnry-being the nint',day
nstor to bill was present d T. hIm-hc
had arrived IL no satisfactory conclusl' n.
t,r Oh t'mt day 10 addressed IA nj, TO
Gen. Hamilton. IN which he snys that this
Li;l .wos presented To INC by tho joint Com
mi,tco Of Congress Mt IL o'clock, On Mn-
,jav, tho l4,h INST and no requested hi,
opinion a. TO what Prcciso period, by le-
pni Interpretation Of tho Constitution can
tho President retain it in his posse s-ion boz
fore i, becomes law BY tho lapse Of tLe
ton days.
II tho proper construc lion was, that the day
nm Which the bil was secuted To the President,
mud tho dew OH which his action was had upon
H. were both to be counted inclusive, then the
,in,e allowed him, within which IL would be COM
petent for him 10 return II TO The House ~ winch
Il oYieinated, with his objections. would expire
on Thursday, the 9th February. Cen Hanil-
ton on the same day returned an answer, IN
which he states, 81 give il as my opinion that
YOU have ten days exclusive OF that on which me
I'm Vas delivered to Won and Sundays. Hence
Il, The present case, If il is returned Oh Friday
!, will IL, in time" ny this construction, which
the President adopted, he gained another day for
deliboration, and it was not until the 18th Of
February that be signed the bill; thus Offering
conclusive proof that he had at last obtained his
.xn consent to sign it:-not without great aud
almost insupcrablc difficulty Additional light
La. rece ntly been shed upon the scTiou, doubts
which he had Oh tho subject, amounting, at one
time to tho conviction that il was bis duty to
,.i,hhoI! his approval from the bill. This is
fouud among the manuscript papers Of Mr.. Mad
i,on. authorized TO be purchased for the use Of
the government, by the last Session, and now
for tho first time accessible to The public
From these pa ers il appears that President
Washington, while 10 yet held the bank bill in
his hands, actually requested MIR. Madison, at
that time a member of the House OF KePresen-
tatjves to prepare the draft of a Veto Message
w r.
par, tho draft Of such Message. and sent it TO
linn on the 2lst Of February. 1871. a copy Of
this original draft, in Mr.. Madison's own hand
writing. WINS carefully preserved by him, and Is
among the papers lately purchased by the Con
Cress II is preceded by note written Oh the
same sheet, and is also in Mr.. Madison's own
February 2Ist, 1891.
sCopv Of "a paper made out and sent to the
President ut his request, to DO ready IN case ms
iH,.
10, incorporating u National Bank, the bill being
the u he fore him..
Among the objections assigned in this paper to
tho bill, and which wero submitted Tor The con-
alteration Of the Preside nj, are the following:
FL object To the bill, because it is an essential
p,inciple Of this Government that power not del
rpatrd by the Constitution cannot DO riSht'"liy
exercised; because the power proposed ny the
bill to be exercised is not expressly delegated.
and b.cause cannot satisfy myself that 1t results
from any expressed power BY fair and safe rules
Of interpretation
The weight Of the precedent Of the Bank of
1891, and tho sanction Of the great name OF
w ushiupton, which has been SO often invoked IN
its support Ly tho development Of these facts,
should satisfy the country that it ought not to be
continued. 1t would have been fortunate Tor The
country, aud saved thousands from bankruptcy
uuJ ruin, had our public men resisted the tempo
rsry pressure of the times upon our financial and
uecuniary interests. and refused ~ charter the
secoud Bank. The country became abundantiy
satisfied ut the close Of the twenty years du!a-
tom as ia the case Of tho first Bank, and IT also
ceased to exist under the repeated vetoes oil res
Uicnt Jackson; it reeled and fell; and u subse-
Guent alte mpt to charter similar institution was
arrested by the veto of President Tyler.
Mr.. Madison, in yielding his signature to the
charter Of 1916, did SO upon the ground oil re-
suect dine 10 precedcnts, and, as he subsequently
decIarcd, tho bank Of the United States, ,hous'
ON the original question held to be unconstitu-
tionai, received the executive signature.
II il probable that neither the bank OF 1891 J.,
nor that Of 1916 would have been chartered but
for tho arrassn,ent 0f the government IN ITS
finances, in the arrangement Of the currency
the pccuniary pressure which existed-,i,e hrs''
the ouse Guencc Of the war Of the revolution,
the second, tho consequence OF the war oil ioI-
both were resOrtcd TO III the deIusise hope tI'at
they would restore public credit, and afford re-
lief 10 tie yovernmen and to the business OF the
Country.
Those Of our public men who opposed The
whole American system ut its mencen'ent'
and throughout its progress, foresaw and Predic-
ted that il raught with incaiculable mischief,
and must result in serious consequences to The
best interests Of the country. For II series of
years these wise counscls were uni,carj. and the
system was established. Ii WAS soon apparent
that its practical operation was unequal and un-
lust upon iifTcr.nt PORTIONS Of the country. and
Mron the people engaged III different pursuits
All were equally rntitled to the favor and pro
lection Of the government. 1t fostered AMI ell
evated the monird power. ana enric'cu ,'c iNor'
ed few ut the expense Of many. Its ELECTS was
Ito make the rich richer. and the poor poorer
Its Tendency was to create disiin' lions ~ soci-
ETY. based wealth. aud to give the fiv ored class
os un.Iue control and sway III our government
II was an organized money power, which resisted
the popular will. and sought TO shape and control
the public by taxing labor.
Under the perniciuus work lncs OF ta's 'coin-
biurd system" Of measures. the country witne -
ed alternate seasons OF temporary apparent pros
perity; Of undue and disastrous commercial re-
yuisions; Of unprecedented fluctuations Of prices
and the oppression Of III. great interests OF az
ricuitur~, navigation and commerce, and gcner-
al pecuniary suffering. and Of final banhruptcy
Of thousands. After severe struggle Of more
than u quarter Of century the system was over
thrown.
The Bank has been succeeded by practical
system Of finance. conducted and controlled sole
w by the government. The constitutional cur
rency has been restored: the public credit main
aaned unmpaired, even IN period Of foreign
war, and the whole country has becOase satisfied