The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1848-12-15

$ upon the serious doubts which he bad on III
r subject, amounting at one time 70 tie con
) yiction that il was his duty 10 Withhold Iii
approx al from that Till. Thisis found anon,
, the manuscript rarers of Mr.. Madison an
thorized Ia be purchased for the use Of ia,
, Government ly an act of last session, an,
now for the first time accessible 10 the rub
l". From these, itappcars that Prcsdcn
Washington, willie he yet held the bahl, il
, his ownhand>, actually requested Mr.. Mad
i.on, at that time a member Of tie House o
Representatives.. 10 prcrnic the draft cf ,
veto message for him. Mr.. Madison, Of III,
request, did prepare the draft Of such mes.
sage, aud sent il 10 ! i'm On the :l>t Ct Eel.
r.ary, ISL. 4 cory OF this original draft
in Mr.. Madi>on's o"n Handwriting. wa,
carefully preserved ly lin, nrd is amcnc
the letters lately purchased ty Congress. II
Is rrcc cdCh Nv a unie written en- the same
sheet, and is also in Mr.. Madisou's own
Handwriting:
Ee, ruary 2l.', 1851, COPY ofararcr made
out and se,.t TO the President, Of lis request.
to be ready in case his judgment should e.
nally decide against HE til for inccrrora-
ting national bank, the Lin being then be-
fore him: among the objections ASSIGNED in
.
milted for The consolidation Of the President.
are the following:
, Il object TO the iii because II il a necc<.
sary principle Of TIE government. that any
rover. not delegated ty the Constitution.
cannot he ri chtfnlly exercised; because the
power proposed by the I'LL 10 he is rot cx.
! pressly delegated. aud because caurct SAL
isfy myself that ii results from any express
power, by fdir aid safe rules Of in,crpreta.
/ ton
! The weigh, Of the prsccdcn, Of tic Bank
I Of lI9l. and the sanction of The great name
| Of Washington. which has been 50 often in
vckcd in its support 10y DEVELOPMENTS Of
these facts. should satisfy the country that
I IT ought hot 10 be continued. II would have
I been Fortunate for the country. and saved
J thousands from bankruptcy and ruin. nd
ourpuhljc men resisted the Temporary pres
sure Of tho times upon our financial nd pc
cuniary interests, and refused 10 char'erthe
bank. OF the second bank the country lie.
came abnu6antIY satisfied 4, the close Of its
twenty years duration. as in the case cf the
first bank and IT also ceased to exist: under
the repeated vctocs Of President Jack son. il
reelsd ana fsll-nnd a Subsequent attempt
to charter similar institution, was arrested
by the veto ct President Tyler.
Mr.. Madison. in Welding his signature 10
the charter of 1916. did 80 upon the ground
Of respect due 10 rreccdcr,s.-ard as he sub
seQucntly declared. the Bank of tie United
S,aios 'L"..-h 90 Tho o-ioi"~r question hold
to be urcon''tu'ional, received the exCcu-
tive signature.
II is probable tha, neither the Bank &C
1871 nor thatcf ISlG would have been har-
tered hut for the embarrassment Of tho Gov
ernmer, IFS fiHanrrs. by the arrangement
Of the currency. The pressure which cyiS-
'cd-thc first in consequence Of tie war Of
the Revolution. the second the consequences
Of thr war Of lSl2-hoth were resor'cd to.
in the delusivc hope ihaithev wonll restore
public credit aud afford relieftothe Govern.
ment and To the business Of the country.
Those If our public men who opposed the
who'e"A merican system al its commence
mer'. and throughout its progress. fresaw
and predicted that il was fraught with in
calculable mischief, and must result in seri-
ous consequences tothc bcs, Interests of the
rouniry for series Of years. These wise
counselS were unheard. andthe system was
established. II was soon apparcn. that its
Irac 'cal operation was unequal and unjust
upon diilc,c"' portions Of the country. and
upon ,hr people en- ICED in diiIrfcnt Iur-
suits. All were equally cr'I'!'d TO The IA
vor and protoctoE Of Government. II los
tered and elevated the monied power. n,u
enriched the favored Sow al the expense of
the many. Its effect was tomake "thc rich
richer, and the poor poorer;' its tendency
was TO create distinctions in society. based
upon wealth. and TO give the favored class
es undue control and sway in our Govern
men'. II was an organized moued power.
which resisted the popular will. and sought
to shape and control the public policy, by
taxing labor.
Under the perriciaus working Of this
"combined system" of measures. tie coun.
try witnessed alternate seasons Of iempora.
ry apparent prosperity; of undue and disas.
'rous commercial r'vul,ions; Of, unprece-
depted fluc'ua,ion Of prices, and Of the OPP
preston OF the greatest INTERESTS of acri-
culture and commerce. pecuriary suffer
ing, and final bankruptcy Of thousands.
Alter a severe Struggle Of more than
quarter OF century the system was over.
thrown.
The Bank has been succeeded by prac-
,ical system Of finance conducted and con-
trolled solely by the government. The con.
stitu'ional currency has been restored. the
public credit maintained ,mimpa ircd. even
in period Of foreign war, and the whole
country has become satisfied that Banks
National or Sta'c-are not necessary as Gs-
cal agents Of the government. The reve.
me duties have taken the place Of protec.
tive tariff. The distribution derived frnr,
the sale Of the public lands has been a5an.
donea, and the corruptiug system Of internal
Improvements, il il hoped, has been el.ec.
tualy checked.
1ti,not doubted 'ha, il this whole train Of
measures, designed TO take wealth from tie
many and fas'en il on the few were TO prc.
vail, the effect would beio change the entire
character Of the government. One only dan.
erremains: itisthe reduction Of hat branch
ot the system which consists IN internal i'm
provemcnis. Holding on, as il does. in.
ducenents 10 the people Of particular SEC
tons and localities 10 embark The govern
ment in them without stopping 'o calculate
the inevitable consequences. This branch
OF the system is So evidently linked and
combined with the others that as surely as
IN effect is produced by an adequate cause.
II tits resus'aned and firmly established it
requires no saCacity TO furesee that il will
necessarily and speedily draw after II the
establishments Of "a National IA pls tho ro,,;