Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1848-12-07


GU. and sundays; hence, in The present case,
i Is returned on Friday, il will be in time.n
IL this construction, which the President sdopi-
d, he gained another day for deliberation; and
was not until the twenty-tifth of February that
e signed the bill thus s9ording conclusive
,roof that ne had sf last obtained bis own con
ent TO sigu it not without great and almost in
uperahle difficulty Additional hight had been
ecently shed upon the serious doubts which he .
had on the subject, aInoustng at one time 70 /
conviction, that il was his duty 10 withhold has
approval from the bill This is found among l
the manuscript papers OF Nh Madison, author /
lied 10 be purchased for the use Of government
by an act of the last session OF Congress, ana
now for the first time accessible TO the public
From these papers, il appears that President
Washington, while be yet held the bank bill in
his hands actually requested Mr., Madison, al
that time member OF the House of Represen-
iatives, 10 prepare the draught Of veto mes.
sage for him
Mr.. Madison, at his request, did prepare
the draugbt of such message, and sent tito
him on the twenty-first OF February, 1891.
A copy Of this original draught, in Mr.. Mad
ison's own handwriting, was carefully pre-
served by him. and is among the papers late
iy purchased by Congress 1t is preceded by
note, written on the same sheet, which IS
also in Mr.. Madison's handwriting, and II is
as follows;
February 2lst,sl7eI Copy of a paper
made out and sent to the President at his re-
quest, to be ready n case his judgment
should finally decide against the bill for in
cooperating a national bank, the bill being
then before him.
Among the objections assigned in bis pa
per to the bill, and which were submitted for
The consideration OF the President, are the fol-
lowing
II object to the bill, because it is an essen
tial principle of the government that powers
not delegated by the constitution cannot be
rightfully exercised because the power pro-
| posed by the bill TO be exercised is not ex-
prcssly delegated, and because cannot salts
| fy myself that it results from any express
power by fair and safe rules OF Interpretation.
The weight of the precedent of the bank
| of 1871, and the sanction of the great name
| of Washington which has been so often in
voked in its support. are greatly weakened by
| the development of the facts. The expert
ment of that bank satisfied the country that it
ought not TO be continued, and at the end Of
| twenty years Congress refused to rechsrter it,.
| IL would have been fortunate for the country
and saved thousands from bankruptcy and
| ruin, had our public men of 1916 resisted the
temporary pressure of the times upon our
| financial and pecuniary interests, and refused
to charter the second bank. Ofthis the coun-
try became abundantly satisfied, and at the
close OF its twenty years. duration, as in the
case of the first bank, it also ceased to exist.
| Under the repeated blows of President Jack
son, it reeled and fell, and a subsequent at
| tempt to charter similar institution was ar
rested by the veto of President Tyler
| Mr.. Madison in yielding his signature to
the charter Of 1916, did SO upon the ground
of the respect due to precedents; and. as he
subsequently declared, ''the Bank of the
United States, though, on the original ques-
ton, held to be Unconstitutional, received
| the Executive Signature
| 1t is probable that neither the bank Of 1871 4,
| nor that of 1916, would have been chartered
but for the embarrassments of the govern
ment in its finances, the arrangement of the
currency and the pecuniary pressure which
existed, 1.-THE first the consequence of the
war of the revolution, and the second the
consequence of the war of 1912. Both were
resorted to in the delusive hone that they
| would restore public credit, and afford relief
| TO the government, and to the business of the
| country.
Those of our public men who opposed the
| whole american system at its commence
ment, and throughout its progress, foresaw
and predicted that II was fraught with meal
culable mischiefs, and must result in serious
injury to the best interests of the country -
For series of years their wise counsels
wre unheeded, and the system was establish
ed. II was soon apparent that its practical
operation was unequal and unjust upon dill
ferent portions of the country, aud upon the
people engaged in different pursuits All
| were equally entitled to the favor and protec-
ton OF the government. 1t fostered and ele.
waited the money power, and enriched the ia
vored few by taxing labor, and at the expense
| Of the many. Its effect was TO snake the
| rich richer, and the poor. poorer" Its ten
dency was to create distinctions in society
| based on wealth, and TO give TO the favored
| classes undue control and sway in our gov
eminent. 1t was an organized money power,
which resisted the popular will, and sought
to shape aud control the public policy.
Under the pernicions workings Of this com
bined system of measures, the country wit
messed alternate seasons of temporary appar-
ent prosperity; of sudden and disastrous
commercial revulsions; of unprecedented
fluctnation of prices, and depression of the
great interests of agriculture. navigation, and
commerce; of general pecuniary suffering.
and of final bankruptcy of thousands. After
severe struggle of more than quarter of
century the system was overthrown.
The bank has been succeeded by practi.
cal system of finance, conducted and con-
trolled solely by the government. The con-
sututlonal currency has ueen restored the
public credit maintained, even in period of
foreign war and the whole country has be-
come satisfied that banks, national or state.
are not necessary as fiscal agents OF the gov
eminent. Revenue duties have taken the
place of the protective tariff The distribu-
ton OF the money derived from the sale of
the public lands has been abandoned, and the
corrupting system of internal Improvements,
II IS hoped. has been effectually checked
1t is not doubted, that if this whole train of
measures designed to take wealth from the
many, and bestow it upon the few, were to
prevail, the effect would be to change the en-
tire character of the government. One only
danger remains 1t is the seductions of that
branch of the system, which consists in inter-
nal improvements, holding out, as il does, in.
ducements to the people Of particular sections
anc localities to embark the government in
them without stopping to calculate the inevi-
table consequences. This branch of the
system IS so intimately combined and linked
WIN The others, that as surely as an effect is
produced by an adequate cause, if it be resus-
citated and revived, and firmly established, il
requires no sagacity to toresee that il will
necessarily and speedily draw after it the re-
establishment of a national bank, the revival
Of protective tariff, the distribution of the
land money, and not only the postponement
TO the distant future Of the payment of the
present national debt, but its annual increase.
J entertain the solemn conviction, that if
the internal improvement branch of the
g American system" be not firmly resisted at
this time, the whole series of measures COM |
posing 1t will be speedily re-established, and |
NE country be thrown back from its present |
hlgh state of prosperity, which the existing |
policy has produced, and be destined again 10 |
witness all the evils, commercial revnlsions,
depression OF prices, and pecunia-y embar-
assmehis, through which we have passed