Farmers' gazette, and Cheraw advertiser. (Cheraw, S.C.) 1839-1843, September 22, 1841, Page 174, Image 2
?a? i??
powers too hastily or oppressively ; vot it
is a power which ought to he most cau
tiously exerted, and perhaps never, except
In a case eminently involving the public
interest, or one in which the oath of the
President, acting under his convictions,
both mental and moral, imperiously requires
its exercise. In such a case he
has no alternative. He must either exert
the negative power entrusted to him
by the Constitution chiefly for its own
preservation, protection, and defence, or
commit an act of gross moral turpitude.
Mere regard to the will of a majority
must not, in a constitutional republic like
ours, control this sacred and solemn duty
of a sworn officer. The Constitution
itself I regard and cherish as the embodied
end written will of the whole people q,
the United Slates. It is their fixed and
fundamental law, which they unanimously
prescribe to the public functionaries
?- their mere trustees and servants. This.
their will, and the taw which they have I
given us as the rule of our action, has no
guard, no guaranty of preservation, pro- '
lection, and defence, but the oaths which !
it prescribes to the public officers, the
sanctity with which they shall religiously i
observe those oaths, and the patriotism
with which the people shall yield it by their
own sovereign will, which has made the
Constitution supreme. It must he ex*
erted against the will of a mere representative
n ajority, or not at all. It is alone
in pursuance of that will that any meas"ure
can reach the President; and to say
j, mninritv in Congress have
-.? J ?
passed a bill the President should therefore
sanction it, is to abrogate the power
altogether, and to render its insertion in
the Constitution a work of absolute supererogation.
The duty is to guard the
fundamental will of the people themselves
* from (in this ease I admit unintentional)
change or infraction by a majority in Con-1
jjress. And in thai light alone do I re- j
gurd the constitutional duty which I now j
most reluctantly discharge.
Is this bill, now presented for my approval
or disapproval, such a bill as 1 have
already declared could not receive my
sanction ? Is it such u hill as calls for
the exercise of the negative power under
the Constitution? Does it violate the
Constitution by creating a National Bank
to operate per sc over the Union? Its
title, in the first place, descrilws its gene- j
nil character. "It is "an act to provide j
for the better collection, safe keeping, {
and disbursement of the public revenue,
by means of a corporation to be styled the
Fiscal Corporation of the United States." j
In style, theu, it is plainly natif^ial in its\
character. Its powers, functions, and j
duties are those which pertain to the col- j
Jcctiug, keeping and disbursing the public i
revenue. The means by which these are '
to be everted is a corporation, to be styled j
the Fiscal Corporation of the United
States. It is a corporation created by j
the Congress of the United States, in its j
character of a National Legislature for the |
whole Uoion, to perforin the fiscal pur. i
posys, meet the fiscal wants and exigen. !
cies, supply ihe fiscal uses, and exert ihe i
fiscal agencies of the Treasury ot the Uni- j
ted States. Such is its own description i
of itself. Dq its provisions contradict
its title ? They do npt. It is true
that, by its hist section, it provides
that it shall be established in the District
of Columbia ; hut the amount of its capi.
to I?the manner in which its stock is to ,
L ^ LuLI tko iu?rannu
00 MIIPM^riDCU I Wl n llll lll?IU - lliv |/vi awtiw I
and bodies, corporate and politic, by
whom its stock may be held?'he appoint,
tnent of its directors, and their powers and
duties?its fundamental articles, especial,
ly that to establish agencies in any part
of the Union?the corporate powers and ]
business of such agencies?the prohibi* I
Hon of Congress to establish any other !
corporation with similar powers for twen. j
ty years, with express reservation in the !
earae clause to modify or create any bank
for the District of Columbia, so that the I
aggregate capital shall not exceed-five
millions; without enumerating other fea.
turns which are equally distinctive and
characteristic, clearly show that it cannot
be regarded as other than a Bank of the
United S utes, with powers seemingly
more limited than have heretofore been
granted to such an institution. It oper tea
per se over the Union, by virtue of
the unaided and, in my view, assumed
authority of Congress as a National Leg.
islature, as tho local Legislature of the
District, Every United States bank
-? *--- 1?? ? j.,?I
heretofore created nas nnu pu?ci UTVfll
in bills of exchange, as ell as local discount.
Both were trading privileges
conferred, and both were exercised, by
vir.tue of the aforesaid power of Congress,
over the whole Union. The question of
power rt rnaips unchanged, without referenoe
to the extent of privilege granted.
If this proposed Corporal ton is to he regarded
as a focal bank of the District of
Columbia, exist by Congress with general
powers to Operate over the Union, it is
obnoxious to still stronger objections. It
assumes that Congress may invest a local
institution with general or national powera.
VYrith the same propriety that if muv
do this in regard to a bank of the District
of Columbia, it may to a State bank. Yet
.. i n^,
who can 'inouige me iue? umi una v?/?ernment
can rightfully, by making a State
bank its fiscal agent, invest it wjth the
absolute and unqualified powers conferred ]
? by this bill? When I come to look at
^ the detaijM of the bill, they do not recommend
it strongly to my adoption. A
brief notice of some of its provisions will
suffice. '
First. It may justify-substantially a
system of discounts of the most objection- \
able character. It is to dieal in bills of
exchange drawn in one State and payable
in another, wit boat any restraint. The
bill of exchange may have an unlimited
time to run, and its renewabiliiy is no
where guarded against.1 It may. in fact,
usstime. the most objectionable form of
accomodation paper. It is not required
to rest on any actual,- real, or substantial 1
exchange basis ; a drawer in one place
becomes the acceptor in another, and so,
in turn, the acceptor mav become ;he
drawer, upon a mutual understanding.?
It may, at the same lime, indulge in ine.e
local discounts under the name of bills of
exchange. A bill drawn at Philadelphia
on Camden. New Jersey ; at New York
on a border town in New Jersey; at Cincinnati
on Newport, in Kentucky; not
to multiply other examples, might, for any
thing in this bill to restrain it, become a
mere matter of local accommodation.?
Cities thus relatively situated would possess
advantages over cities otherwise situated,
of so decided a character as most
justly to excite dissatisfaction.
Second. There is no limit prescribed
to the premium in the purchase of hills ol
exchange; thereby correcting none ol
the evils under which the community
now labors, and operating most injurious*
- ' l . l_
Iv upon the agricultural States, in wnicn
.he irregularities in the rates of exchange
are most severely felt. Nor are these
the only consequences. A resumption
of specie payments hv the hanks of those
States would be liable to indefinite post,
ponement: for, as the operations of the
agencies in the interior would chiefly
consist in selling bills of exchange, and
the purchases could o ily he made in spe
cie. or the notes of banks paving specie,
the State banks would either have to continue
with their doors closed, or exist at
the mercy of this national monopoly of
brokerage. Nor can it be passed over
without remark, that whilst the District
of Columbia is made the seat of the principal
hank, its citizens are excluded from
all participation in any benefit it might
afford bv a positive prohibition on the
hank from all discounting within the District.
These are some of the objections which
prominently exist against the details of
the bill; others might be urged, of much
force, hut it would be unprofiiahle to dwell
upon them; suffice it to add. that this
charter is designed to continue for twenty
years, without a competitor; that the defects
to which I have alluded, being founded
on the fundamental law of the corporotion,
are irrevocable ; and that if the
objections bo well-founded, it would he
over-hazardous to pass the hill into a
law.
In conclusion, I take leave most respectfully
to say, that I have felt the
anxious solicitude to meet the wishes
of Congress in the adoption of a Fiscal
Agent, which, avoiding all constitutional
objections, should harmonize conflicting
opinions. Actuated by this feeling, I
Kuvo r#?aHv to vield much, in a soirit
of conciliation, to the opinions of others;
and it is with great pain that I now feel
compelled to differ from Congress a sec- j
ond time in the same session. At the'
commencement of this session, inclined J
from choice to differ to the Legislative
will, I submitted to Congress the proprie- j
ty of adopting a Fiscal Agent which. I
without violating the constitution, would '
separate the public money from the Exec- j
utivc control, and perform the operations
of the Treasury, .without being burdensome
to the People or inconvenient orj
expensive to the Government, ft is deep- j
ly to he regretted that this department of
the Government cannot, upop constitutional
and other grounds, concur with the
Legislative Department in this last measure
proposed to attain these desirable objects.
Owing to the brief s|?ace between
the period of the death of mv lamented
predecessor nnd my own installation into (
office, I was. in fact, not left time to pre- ;
pare and submit a definitive recommendation
of my own in mv regular message;
and, since, my mind has been wholly oc.
cupied in a most anxious attempt to conform
my action to the Legislative will.
In this communication, I am confined, bv
the constitution, to my objections simply
- - I . C . L _ l_*_
to this hill, hut me period 01 m? rt^uuir
session will soon arrive, when it will he
mv duly, under snot her clause of the Constitution,
"to give to Congress informa- '
tion of the state of the Union, and re- :
commend to th^ir consideration such
measures as 1 shall judge necessary and I
expedient." And I must respectfully !
submit, in a spirit of harmony, whether i
i the present differences of opinion should i
be pressed further at this tirnff, and whe- !
ther the peculiarity of my situation does j
n??t entitle me to a postponement of this i
subject to a more auspicious period for deliberation.
The two Houses of Congress have dis- j
tinguished themselves at this extraordinm
t*
ary session by the performance 01 <tn
immense mass of labor, at a season very
unfavorable both to health and action,
and have passed many laws which I trust
will prove highly beneficial to the interest
of the country, and fully answer its just
expectations. It has been my good fortune
and pleasure to concur with them in
all measures, except this: and why should
our difference on this alone be pushed to
-eftremets? It is my anxious desire that
it should* not be. I, too, have been burdened
with extraordinary labors of late,
and I sincerely desire time for deep and
deliberate reflection on this, the greatest
difficulty of my administration. May
we not now pause until a more favorable
time, when, with the most anxious hope
that the Executive and Congress may
cordially unite, some measure of finance
may he deliberately adopted, promotive of
the good of our common countiy.
I will take this occasion to declare, that 1
the conclusions to which I have brought
myself are those of a settled conviction.
founded, in my opinion, on a just view ot
the constitution ; that, in arriving at it, I
have been actuated hy r.o other motive or
desire than to uphold the institutions of
the country as they have come down to
us from the hands of our god-Iilte ances.
tors; and that I shall esteem my efforts
to sustain them, even though I perish,
more honorable than to win the applause
of men by a sacrifice of ro* duty and my
coniietf?nce." JOkN TYLER. "
Washington, Sept. 9, 1841.
the letters of resignation.
The following Letters of the Secretary
of the Treasury and the Attornoy.Gener.
al, resigning their respective frusta, have
been placed in our hands for publication:
Wasiiing'^n September 11,1841.
Sin: Circumstances, have occurred in
the course of your Administration, and
chiefly in the exercise by you of the veto
power, which constrain me to believe that
rnv longer continuance in office as a
member of your Cabinet will be neither
agreeable to you, useful to the country,
nor honorable to myself.
Do ine the justice, Mr. President, to
believe that this conclusion has been ad.
opted neither capriciously;/1 no?' in any
spirit of party feeling or personal hostility,
hut from a sense of duty, which, mistaken
though it may be, is yet so sincerely en.
tertained, thnt I cheerfully sacrifice to it
the advantages and distinctions of office.
Be pleasad, therefore, to accept this aa
my resignation of the office " of Attorney
General of the United States.
Very respectfully, vours. die.
J. J. CRITTENDEN.
The President.'f
' t
Treasury Depathknt; Sept. 11, 1841.
Sin : After the-most calm and careful
consideration, and viewing the subject in
all the aspects in which it presents itself
to my mind. I have come to the conclusion
that I ought no longer to remain a
member of vour Cabinet. I therefore resign
the dtice of Secretary of the Treasury,
and beg you to accept this as my
lottor nf rr>?i<rnntion.
"",l" " I",
To avoid misunderstanding, I distinctly
declare that I do not consider a difference
of opinion as to the charter of ft National
Bank a sufficient reason for dissolving
the ties which have existed between us.
Though I look upon that measure as one
of vast importance to the prosperity of
the country, and though I should have
deeply deplored your inability or unwillingness
to accord it to the wishes of the
People and the States, so unequivocally
expressed through their Representatives,
still, upon this and this alone, uneonnected
with other controlling circumstances,
I should not have felt hound to resign the
place which I hold in your Administration.
But those controlling circumstances do
exist, and I will, in mv own justification,
place them in connexion before you.
It is but just to you to sa v that tho hill
which first pnssed the two Houses of Congress,
and which was returned with your
ohjectihns on the 16th of August, did never,
in its progress, as far as I know or believe,
receive at any time either your express
or implied assent. So far as that
hill was known to me. or as I was consulted
upon it. I endeavored to bring its
provisions as nearly as possible in accordance
with what I understood to be your
views, and rather hoprd than expected
your approval. I know thp extent to
which you were committed on the question.
T knew the pertinacity with which
you adhered to vour expressed opinions,
and I dreaded from the first the most disnsfrous
con9eauences, when the project of
* compromise
which I presented at ffn early
day was rejected. . It
is equally a matter of justice to you
nnd to myself to say that the bill which
I rejHjrted to the two Houses of Congress
at the commencement of the session, in
obedience to their ca'l, was modified so
as to meet your approbation. You may
not, it is true, have read the bill through,
out, and examined every pnrt of it; but
the 14lh fuudamenta! article, which bo.
came the contested question of principle,
was freolv discussed between us, and it
was understood and unequivocally sane,
tioned bv yourself. The last clause in
the bill, also which contained a rcserva.
tion of power in Congress, was inserted
on the 9th of June, in your presence, and
with your approbation; though you at one
time told me that, in giving your sanction
to the hill, you would accompany it with
an explanation of your understanding of
that last (?) clause* v
In this condition of thing*, though I
greatly regretted your veto on the bill as
it passed the two Houses of Congress, and
though I foresaw the excitement and agi.
tntion which it would produce among the
People, yet considering tho changes the
hill had undergone in its passage, and its
variance from the one you had agreed to
sanction, I could not find in that act e*
nough to disturb the confidential relations
which existed between u?. I was disposed
to uttrihutc this act, fraught with mis.
chiefs as it was to pure and honorable tno.
tives. and to a conscientious conviction
on your part that the bill, in some of its
provisions, conflicted with the Constitution.
But that opinion of your course on
the hill which ha3 just been returned to
Congress with your second veto, I do not
and cannot entertain. Recur to what
has passed between us with respect to it,
and you will at once perceive that such
opinion is impossible.
On the morning of the 16th of August,
I called at your chamber, and found \ou
preparing the first veto message, to be despa
ched to the Senate. The Secretary
of War came in also, and you read a portion
of the message to us. He observed
that, though the veto would create a great
sensation in Congress, yet he .thought
the minds of our friends better prepared
for it than they were some days ago, and
he hoped it would be calmly received, especially
as it did not shut out all hope of
a bank. To this you replied, that you
reaily thought there ought to be no dilficulty
about, it; that your veto me&sage
what kind ofa bank you would approve,
and that Congress might, if tbey saw fit,
pass such a one in three days.
The 18th being the day for our regular
Cabinet, meeting, we assembled, all exccpt
Messrs. Crittenden and Granger,
andyou toki wthat you had a long conversation
with Messrs. Berrien and Sergeant.
who professed to come in behalf of
the Whigs of the two Houses to endeavor
to strike out some measure which would
be generally acceptable. That you had
your doubts about the propriety of conversing
with them your&.lf, and thought it
more proper that you should commune
with them through your constitutional advisers'.
You expressed a wish that the
whole subject should be postponed till the
next session of Congress. You spoke of
the delay in the Senate of the consideration
of your veto message, and expressed
anxiety as to the tone and temper which
the debate would assume.
Mr. Badger said that on inquiry h? was
happy to find that the best temper prevailed
in the two Houses. He believed
they were perfectly ready to tako up the
bill reported by the Secretary of the Treasury,
and pass it at once. You replied,)
Talk not tome of Mr. Ewing's bill; it
contains that.odious feature of local dis
t v i:.L._ j
luuuia fTiiiv.ii i liuvo rr|iuuiuieu in my
message.' 41 then said, to you I have no
doubt, sir, that the House, having ascertained
your views, will pass a bill in conformity
to them, provided they can be
satisfied that it would answer the purposes
of the Treasury and relieve the country.'
You then said, "Cannot my Cabinet see
thatthi* is brought ab< ut ? You must stand
by me in this emergency. Cannot you
see that a bill passes Congress such as I
can approve without inconsistency?' I
declared again my belief that such a hill
might he passed. And you then said to
mo, 4 What do you understand to be my
opinions ? State them, so that I may see
that there is no misapprehension about
them.'
I then mid that I understood you to be
opinion that Congress might charter n
hank in the District of Columbia, giving
it its localities here. To this you assented.
That they might authorise such
bank to establish offices of discount and
deposite in the several States, with the
assent of the States. To this you replied,
4 Don't name discounts ; they have been
the source of the most abominable corruptions,
and are wholly unnecessary to
enable the bank to discharge its duties to
the conntry and the Government.'
I observed in reply that I was proposing
nothing, hut simply endeavoring to
state what I had understood to be your
opinion as to the powers which Congress
might constitutionally confer on a bank;
that on that point i stood corrected. I
then proceeded to say that I understood
you to be of opinion that Congress might
authorize such bank to establish agencies
in the several States, with power to deal
in bills of exchange, without the assent of
the States, to which you replied, 4 Yes if
they he foreign hills, or bills drawn in one
Slate and payable in another.. That is
ail the power necessary for transmitting
the public funds and regulating exchanges
and the currency.' I
Mr. Webster then expressed, in strong
terms, his opinion that such & chaiter
would answer ail just purposes of Govern*
ment and be satisfactory to the People ;
and declared his preference for it over
any which had been proposed, especially
as it dispensed with the assent of the States
in the creation of nn institution necessary ,
for carrying on the fiscal operations of
Government. He examined it at some
length, both as to its constitutionality and
its influence on the currency and ex*
changes, in all which views you expreased
your concurrence, desired that such a bill
should bo introduced, and especially that
it should go into the hands of your friends
To my inquiry whether Mr. Sergeant
would be agreeable to you, you replied
that he would. You especially requested
Mr, Webster and myself to communicate j
with Messrs. Berrien ind Sergeant on
the subject, to whom .you said you had
promised to. address n note, hut yon doubted
not that this personal communication
would be equally satisfactory. You dosired
us, also, in communicating with
those gentlemen, not to commit you personally,
lest, this being recognised as your
measure, it might be made a subject of
comparison to your prejudice in the
course of discussion. You and Mr. Web'
Kter then conversed about the particular
wording of the 16th fundamental article,
containing the grant of power to deal in
exchanges, and of the connexion in which
1 that grant should be introduced you also
1 spoke of the name of the institution, de'
siring that that should be changed. To '
this I objected, a* it would probably be
1 made a subject of ridicule, but you insis- 1
ted that there was much in a name, and
this institution ought not to be called a
bank. Mr. Webster undertook to adapt
it in this particular to your wishes. Mr.
Bell then observed to Mr. Webster and
myself that we had no time to lose? that if
this were not immediately attended to, a'
nother bill, less acceptable, might be got
< up and reported. We replied that we
would lose no time. Mr. Webater accord,
ingly called on Messrs. Berrien ind Sergeant
immediately,and I waited on them
by his appointment at 5 o'clock on the
same (Jay, and agreed upon the principles
of the bill in accordance with your expressed
wishes. And I am apprised of
U A...t th, limit it A'lA nnt nnnnr in mv !
111^ Iui/VJ Iiixru^n tv Uivi ||??? WVUI
presence, that after the bill was drawn up,
and before it was reported, it was seen
and examined by yourself: that your at- j
* ii? ?II_J i
(eniioo was specialty rnueu to mo iulii
fundamental article: that on full examination
you concured in its provisions : that
at the same time its name was so modified :
as to meet your approbation : and the !
hill was reported and passed, in all essential
particulars, t*s it was when it came
through your hands.
You asked Mr Webster and myself;
each to prepare and present an argument1
touching the constitutionality of the bill; j
and before those arguments couid be j
prepared and read by you, you declared
as, I heard and believe, to gentlemen
*
r .
\ " '
?mmmmrnammmiammmmmammmmm?mmimaKi
Members of the House, that you would
cut off your right hand rather than approve
it. After this nmv resolution was
taken, you asked and earnestly urged
the members of your Cabinet to postpone
the bill, but you would neither give yourself,
nor suffer them to give, any assuanccofyour
future course, in case of
such postponement. By some of U9. and
I was myself one, the effort was made to
gratify your wishes in the only way in
which it could be done with propriety;
that is, by obtaining the general concurrence
of the Wlitg Members of the two
Houses to the postponement. It failed,
as I have reason to believe, because you
would give no assurance thnt the delay was
not sought as a means and occasion for
. ,
hostile movements. During this season
of deep feeling and earnest exertion upon
our part, while we were zealously devoting
our talents and influence to and tosustain
you, the very secrets of our Cabinet councils
made their appearance in an infamous
paper printud in a neighboring
city the columns of which were daily charged
with flattery of yourself and foul abuse
of your Cabinet. All this I bore for
I felt that my services, so long as they
could avail, were du? to the nation?to
that great and magna nimous People whose
suffrages elevated your predecessor to the
station which you now fill, and whose united
voices approved the act when hesumoned
us around him, to he his counsellors;
and I felt that what was due to his memory,
to his injunctions which he left us in
his last dying words, and to the People
whose servants wc wore, had not all been
performed until every means was tried,
and every hope had friled of carrying out
the true principle upon which the mighty
movement was founchid that elevated him
and you to power.
This bill, framed and fashioned according
to your own suggestions, in the
initiation of which I a.jd another member
of your Cabinet were made by you the
agents and the negotiators, was passed by
large majorities through the two House.-'
of Congress and sent to you, and von rejected
it. Important as was the part
which I had taken, at your request, in the
origination of this hill, an 1 deeply as I
was committed for your action upon it,
you never consulted me on the subject ot
the veto messnge. You did not even refer
to it in conversation, and the first
notice I had of its contents was derived
from ruinor.
And to me, at least, you have done nothing
to wipe away the personal indignity
arising out of the act. I gathered, it it
true, from your conversation shortly after
the bill had passed the house that you
had a strong purpose to regect it; but no.
thing was said like softening or apology
tome, either in refereoce to myself or to
those whom I had communicated at your
request, and who had acted themselves
and induced the two Houses to act upon
the faith of that communication. And
? ? man una n ftlA l/l
Sira njju .is 11 IIKI^V ffuuiui mv ? u<w
attack" it in an especial manner the wrv
provisions which were inserted at your
request; nnd even the name of the cor poration,
which was not only agreed to by
you, but especially changed to meet your
expressed wishes, is made the subject ol
| your criticism. Different men might
| view the transaction in different point:
of light, but, under these circumstances,
j as a matter of personal honour, it vtoald
| he hard for me to remain of your counsel
| to seal my lips and leave unexplained and
| undisclosed where lies in this transaction
the departure from straight forwardaes:
and candor. So far indeed from admit,
ting the encouragement which you gave
to this bill in its inception, and explaining
and excusinn your sudden and violent has.
tility towards it, you throw into your Ve|
to Message an interrogatory equivalent to
I an assertion that it was such a bill as you
j had ohendy declared could not receive
your sanction. Such is the obvious effect
of the first interrogatory clause on the
second page. It has all the force of an
assertion without its open fairness. I
have met and refuted this, the necessary
inferrence from your language, in my pre.
ceding statement, the correctness of
which you I am sure will not call in question.
Your veto to the first bill you rested
on constitutional ground and the high
I convictions of conscience; and no man, in
my opinion, had a right to question your
sincerity. I so said, and I so acted, for
through nil the contest and collision that
arose out ofthat act you had my adherence
and support. But how is it with respect
to this? The subject of a Bank is not new to
you; it is more than twenty years that you
have made it r n object of consideration and
of study, especially in its connexion with
the constitutional powers of the General
Government. You, therefore, could not
be, Hnd you were not. taken unprepared
on this question. The bill which I re'
ported to Congress, with your approbation
| at the commencement of the session, had
the clause relating to agencies & the pow.
- - -i- J?1_
; er to deal in exchanges, as sirongiv uoeiw
I ped n9 the one you have now rejected
and equally wuthout the assent of the
States. You refetred specially and with
approbation to that clause, many days
after, in a conversation held in the Department
ofS'ate. You sanctioned it in
this particular bill as detailed above ?
And no doubt was (brown out upon the
subject by you, in my hearing, or within
my knowledge, until the letter of Mr.
Butts came to your hands. Soon after
the reading of that letter you threw out
strong intimations that you would veto
the bill if it were pot postponed. That
letter I did and do most unequivocally
condemn, but it did not affect theconstistutionality
of the biPf or justify you in reje
ting ii on that ground; it r ould effect obly
the expediency of your action; and
whatever you may now believe as io the
scruples existing in your mind, in this and
in a kindred source there is strong ground
to believe they have thoir origin.
If I he right in this, and I doobt not(
am, here is a great public measure de.
inanded by the country, passed upon and
approved by the Representatives of
Siates and the People, rejected by you as
President on grounds having no origin in
conscience, and no reference to the public
good. The rejection of this measure,
loi, continues the purse with the sword in
the hands of the Executive, from which we
strove to wrest it in the contest which elevated
your predecessor and you to power,
I cannot concur in this, your course ofpolicy.
In or out of office my opinions re.
niain unchanged^ I cannot abandon the
principles for which, during nil my political
career, I have struggled; especially I cannot
be one of the instruments by which
the Executive wields these combined, accumulated,
and dangerous powers.
These, sir, are the reasons for the important
steps which I have felt it my duty
to take, and I submit them as'its justification.
I am, very respectfully, yours,
T. EWING,
To the President.
. iii " ,
From th? National Intelligencer
Washington Sir*, 13, 4S41'.
To Messrs. Gales 4* Seaston1
Gentlemen : Lest any, raieappreheneion
should exist, as to the rca^){t ..which hi
led me to differ from the cotuse pursued
by my late colleagues, 1 wish "to say tHst
I remain m mv place. fir*V'bocau*e f
hnvejseen nosufficimtn a-cmPor the deaolution
of the late Cabinet, by the voluntas
ry act of its own members.
I am perfectly persuade^ of the absolute
necessity af an institution, under the authority
of Congress, to aid revenue and
financial operations, and to give the countrv
the blessing of a good currency and
cheap exchanges.
Notwithstanding what has* passed, I
have contidence that the president wilU ^
co-operate with the Legislature in overcoming
all difficulties in the attainment
?>f these objects; and it is to the union of
the Whig party?by which I . mean the
whole party, the Whig ftesidbnt, tho
! VVhig Congress, and the Whig Pbople?1
that I look for a realization of our. wisto* I
' can look no where else.
In * the second place, if I had seen reason
to resign my office, I should not havw
done so wiihout giving the President reasonable
notice, and affording him time o
select the hands to which he should confide
the delicate and important affairs now
pending in this Department.
I am, gentlemen, . respect full, your o?
bedient servant,
1 DANIEL WEBSTER.
The following letter from Mr. Webster to it
friend in New York assignee an additional
i reason for retaining hie seat in ti?c abmct.
Washington, SKIT. II, 1841.
My Dear Sib: I thank you Vor your
kind and friendly letter.
You will have learned that Messrs. Ew
ing, Ile'l, Badger, and CrittemlcV havw
I resigned their respective offices. Proba
- " -te ? . ae
bly Mr. lirangcr win leei oouno io rouow
. thi: example. This occurence can hard*
iy cause you the same degree of'regret
which it has occasioned to mo as the/
are notortlymy friends, but persons with' '
whom I have had for sometime daily ,
official intercourse. I could not partake
' in (hi* movement. It is supposed to be
justified, 1 presume, by the difference*
which have arisen between the President
and Congress upon the means of cstab[
lishing a proper Fiscal Agency and resto^
ring a sound state of the currency, and *
collateral matters growing out of, those
differences. I regret these differences a*
deeply asany man; hut I have not been 4 bio
to see in what manner the resignation oC *
I the Cabinet was likely either to remove
J or mitigate the 'vils produced by the in.
f On the contrary, iny only reliance for*
| remedy for those evils has been, and is*,
j on the union, conciliation, and peraevier|
ancc of the whole Whig party ; and I hy
110 means despair of seeing yet accom*
plished, by these means, all that we dasire.
It may render us morn patient Under
disappointment in regard to one measure
to recollect, as is justly stated by the
President in his last message, how great
a number of important measures has beer*
already successfully carried through. ' 1 hardly
know when such a mass of busk
ness has lieen despatched in a single sts?
| sion of Congress. t:
The annual winter Session is now noes
at hand: the same Congress..be again:
soon to assemble, and feeling deeply jut I?.
ever did the indispensable necessity- >of
some suitable provision for the keeping.ef *
th*? nuhlir. mnncv. for aid to the. opera
*;? i ? ? >
lions of the Treasury, and to the high publie
interests of currency and exchange, [ .
am Dot in haste to believe that the party .
which has now the predominance wiH not,"
in all these respects, yet fuMil' the expectations
of tho country. If it shalrHWi*'
then our condition is foilorn, indeed. But?'
for one, 1 will not give up the hope. '
My particular connexion with the Administration.
however, is in another De- * '
parrment. I think very humbly?none
can think more humbly?of the vidiin of '
the services which I am able to render to
the Public in that post. But as there is,
so far as I know, on all subjects affecting "
our fore gn relations, a concurrence in op
inion between the President and myself
and as there is nothing to disturb the harmony
of our intercourse, I have not felt it
consistent with the duty which I owe the
country to run the risk, by any sudden or
abrupt proceeding, of embarrassing the
Executive in regard to subjects and questions
now immediately pending, and
which intimately atfect the preservation
of the peace of theconnfrv.
1 am, dear, sir, with coMtaat regard,
dec.
DANIEL WEBSTLR.
H. Ketchcm, Esq. New York. *
' -?f *
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