Farmers' gazette, and Cheraw advertiser. (Cheraw, S.C.) 1839-1843, September 22, 1841, Page 174, Image 2
?i i .
powers too hastily or oppressively ; yot i
is a power which ought to he most cau
tiousiy exerted, and perhaps never, excep
In a case eminently involving the puh!i<
interest, or one in which the oath of lh<
President, acting under his convictions
both mental and moral, imperiously re
quires its exercise. In such a case h<
has no alternative. He must either ex
ert the negative power entrusted to bin
by the Constitution chiefly for its owr
preservation, protection, and defence, 01
commit an act of grow moral turpitude,
Mere regard to the will of a majority
tuu*t not, in a constitutional republic like
ours, control this sacred and solemn du>
ty of a sworn officer. The Constitution
I regard and cherish as the emtxMltec
and written will of the whole people oi
the United States. It is their fixed ant
fundamental law, which they unanimous
lv prescribe to the public functionarie:
?their mere trustees and servants. This
their will, and the law which they havt
given us as the rule of our action, haa nt
guard, no guaranty of preservation, pro
taction, and defence, but the oaths wliicl
it prescribes to the public officers, th<
sanctity with which they shall religious!)
observe those oaths, and the patriotisu
with which the people shall yield it by thei
own sovereign will, which has made th<
Constitution supreme. It must be ex
erted a/ainst the will of a mere represen
talive najority, or not at all. It is alon<
in pursuance of that will that any meas
"ure can reach the President; and to sa;
that because a majority in Congress hnvi
passed a hill the President should there
lore saiiciiuu u, is ( > auiu^nn. i.ic |mnv
altogether, and to render it* insertion ii
the Constitution a work of absolute su
pcrerngaiion. The duty is to guard lh<
fundamental will of the people themselve
' from (in this ease I admit unintentional
change or infraction by a majority in Con
gress. And in that light alone do I re
gnrd the constitutional duty which I nuu
most reluctantly discharge.
Is this bill, now presented for my ap
proval or disapproval, such a hill as I hav<
already declared could not receive tn\
sanction ? Is it such a bill as calls foi
the exercise of the negative power undei
the Constitution ? Does it violate the
Constitution by creating a National Bank
to operate per sc over the Union? Itf
JUtle, in the first place, descritas its gene,
nxl character. "It is "au act t<? provide
for the better collection, safe keeping,
and disbursement of the public revenue,
by mcaus of a corporation to be styled the
Fiscal Corporation of the United Stales.'
In style, then, it is plainly nation^ in itc
character. Its powers, functions, anc
duties are those which pertain to the collectings
keeping and disbursing the publit
revenue. The means by which these art
to he exerted is a corporation, to be stylet
the Fiscal Corporation of the Uniter,
States. It is a corporation created b\
the Comrress of the United States, in it.<
character of a National Legislature for tin
whole Union, to perfortn the fiscal pur
posts, meet the fiscal wants and exigcn
ties, supply the fiscal uses, and exert ih?
fiscal agencies of the Treasury of the U nited
States. Such is its own description
of itself. Dq its provisions contradict
its title? They do npt. It is truf
that, by its ti.-st section, it provide*
that if shall be established in the District
of Columbia ; hut the amount of its capitnl?the
manner in which its stock is tc
be subscribed for and held?the persons
and bodies, corporate and politic, by
whom Us stock may be held?fhc appoint,
inent of its directors, and their powers and
duties?its fundamental articles, especialIv
that to establish agencies in any pari
of the Union?the corporate powers am
business of such agencies?the prohibition
of Congress to establish any othei
corporation with similar powers for twen
tv years, with express reservation in the
J . ' r
came clause to modify or create any banl
for the. District of Columbia, so that the
ai?Cresale capital shall not exceed*fiv<
null ions; without enumerating other fea
ture* which are equally distinctive am
characteristic, clearly show that it canno
be regarded as other than a Bank of tlx
United S ates, with powers seemingly
more limited than have heretofore beei
granted to such an institution, ft oper
ates per se over the Union, by virtue o
the unaided and, in tny view, assurne<
authority of Congress as a National Leg
islature, as tho local Legislature of tin
District. Every United States haul
heretofore created has had power to den
in bills of exchange, as ell as local dis
counts. Both were trading privilege:
conferred, and both were exercised, bi
vir.tue of the aforesaid power of Congress
n??r-the whole Union. The question o
power r< maijis uneiiangeu, wunoui reier
tuio.e to the exient of privilege granted
If this proposed Corporation is to he re
garded"n? a Ideal bank of the District o
Columbia, exist by Congress with gene
ral powers to Operate o\er the Union, it i;
obnoxious to still stronger objections. I
assumes that Congress may invest a loca
institution with general or national powers.
VVith the same propriety that if nun
do this in regard to a bank of the Distric
of Columbia, it may to a State bank. Ye
who can indulge the idea that this Gov.
rnment can rightfully, by making a State
bank its fiscal agent, invest it with the
absolute and unqualified powers confcrrer
. by this hi!! ? When I come to look al
^ the details 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 deal in lulls ol
exchange drawn in one State and payable
in another, without any restraint. Th*
hill of exchange may have an unlimited
time to run, and its' renewabiliiy is nr
where guarded against.' It may. in fact
lissumo the n.ost objectionable form ol
accomodation paper. It is net required
v. Vf.
t? .?
* w **>*
: to rest on nnv actual,- real, or substantial
exchange basis; ft drawer in one place
becomes the acceptor in another, and so,
in turn, the acceptor rnav become the
drawer, upon a mutual understanding.?
It may, at the same lime, indulge in ine.c
local discounts under the name of bills of
exchange. A hill drawn at Philadelphia
on Camden. New Jersey ; at New York
on a border town in New Jen-ey; 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 situaled,
of so decided a character as most
justly to excite dissatisfaction.
Second. There is no limit prescribed
I to the premium in the purchase of hills ol
1 Ir #?Afrii/?tln/T nAflP g\i |
CAV.IIOIIg'; j lll?!6iit iiwiiv
the evils under which the community
now labors, and operating most injurious*
ly upon the agricultural States, in which
i .he irregularities in the rates of exchnuge
are most severely felt. Nor are these
the only consequences. A resumption
t of specie payments by the hanks of those
States would be liable to indefinite posti
ponemcnt: for, as the operations of the
agencies in the interior would chiefly
consist in selling bills of exchange, and
. the purchases could o-dy he made in spe
cie. or the notes of banks paving specie,
the State banks would either have to con.
tinue with their doors closed, or exist at
- the mercy of this national monopoly of
i brokerage. Nor can it be passed over
, without remark, that whilst the District
of Columbia is made the seat of the prini
j cipal hank, its citizens are excluded from
, 1 ail participation in any benefit it mignt
! j afford by a positive prohibition on the
; I hank from all discounting within the DisI
j t.'ict.
i These are some of the objections which
; prominently exist against the details of
j the bill; others might be urged, of much
force, hut it would be unprofitable to dwell
upon them; suffice it to add. that this
4 - j - 1 f/vp * * ?/ ? nttf
i dinner is uenigneu iu cdiiuuuc mm
years, without a competitor; that the defects
to which I have alluded, being founded
on the fundamental law of the cr,)orotion,
are irrevocable ; and that if the
! objections bo well-founded, it would be
over-hazardous to pass the bill into a
law.
In conclusion, I take leave most rejspectfullv
to say, that I have felt the
! most anxious solicitude to meet the wishes
I of Congress in the adoption of a Fiscal
j Agent, which, avoiding all constitutional
v objections, should harmonize conflicting
; opinions. Actuated by this feeling, I
have been ready to yield much, in a spirit
of conciliation, to the opinions of others;
' and it is with great pain that I now feel
j compelled to differ from Congress a seeond
time in the same session. At the
i commencement of this session, inclined
j from choice to differ to the Legislative |
j will, I submitted to Congress the proprie- i
i ty of adopting a Fiscal Agent which. !
; without violating the constitution, would '
(separate the public money from the Excc
utive control, and perform the operations
j of the Treasury, .without being burdenj
some to the People or inconvenient or
| expensive to the Government. It is deepj
Iv to he regretted that this department of
: the Government cannot, upop constituj
tional and other grounds, concur with the
j Legislative Department in this last mens- j
j ore proposed io attain these desirable oh- j
\ jects. Owing to the brief space between j
! the period of the death of mv lamented j
{ predecessor and my own installation into
i office, I was in fact, not left time to pre- ;
< pare and submit a definitive recommenda\
tion of my own in mv regular message;
| and. since, my mind has been wholly or!
copied in a most anxious attempt to con|
form my action to the Legislative will.
J In this communication, I arn confined, by
i the constitution, to my objections simply
j to this hill, but the period of the regular ,
' | session will soon arrive, when it will he j
I mvduty, under another clause of the Con- j
' stitution, "to give to Congress inforrna- ,
I tion of the state of the Union, and re- j
i j commend to their consideration such \
measures a? I shall judge necessary and !
i j expedient.'' And I nui?t respectfully |
; submit, in a spirit of harmony, whether I
"j the present differences of opinion should j
11 he pressed further at this tiirnf, and whe- !
. j ther the peculiarity of my situation does j
i j not entitle me to a postponement of this i
;; subject to a more auspicious period for de- j
I j liberation.
j The two Houses ot Congress iiave cus.
s! tinguished themselves at this extraordinary
session by the performance of an
, J 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 i
\ expectations. It has been my good for- I
| tune and pleasure to concur with them in j
11 nil measures, except this: and why should 1
i our difference on this alone be poshed to
[ extremes? It is my anxious desire that
I it should* not be. I, too, have been burj
dened 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 j
tn wliiph I have hroucht !
f I lie: ei'll^iuoiuna *V " o "*
i myself are those of a settled conviction.
I founded, in mv opinion, on a just view of
J 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-like 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 l>v a sacrifice of ro* duty and mv
con??ence.~" JOHN T?LER. '
Wasiiington, Sept. 9, 1841,.
THE LETTERS OF RESIGNATION.
The following Letters of the Secretary
of the Treasury and the Attorney-General,
resigning their respective trusts, have
been placed in our hands flir publication:
Washing^)* September 11,1841.
Sir: 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 at a
member of your Cabinet will be neither
agreeable to you, useful to the country,
nor honorable to myself.
Do me the justice, Mr. President, to
believe that this conclusion has been adopted
neither capriciously,?/1 not in any
spirit of party- feeling <>,* personal hostility,
hut from a sense of duty which* mistaken
.?' _ l __ * . a
inoijon ic may oe, is yei so sincerely en.
tertained, that I cheerfully sacrifice to it
the advantages and distinctions of office.
Be pleasad, therefore, to accept this as
my resignation of the office of Attorney
General of the United States.
Very respectfully, vours. &c.
J. J. CRITTENDEN.
The Prksioext. *.
Treasury Depatmrnt; Sept. 11, 1841.
Sin : After the most calnq and careful
considt ration, 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 tp remain a
member of your Cabinet. I therefore resign
the cilice of Secretary of the Treesury,
and bog you to accept this as my
letter of resignation.
To avoid misunderstanding, I distinctly
declare that I do not consider* difference
of opinion as to the charter of a 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 my own justification,
place them in connexion before you.
It is hut just to you to say that tho hill
which first passed the two Houses of 6'on- j
gress, and which was returned with your
objections 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
bill was known to me. or as I was con-.
suited upon it. I endeavored to bring its
provisions as nearly as possible in accordance
with what I understood to be your'
views, and rather hoped than expected j
your approval. I knew thje extent to
which you were committed on the ques(ion.
I knew the pertinacity with which
von adhered to your expressed opinions,
and I dreaded from the first the most dis.
nstrou* consequences, when the project of
compromise which I presented at an early
day was rejected. It
is equally a matter of justice to you
nnd to myself to say that the bill which
I reported to the two Houses of Congress
at the commencement of the session, in
obedience to their ca'l, was modified so
ns to meet your approbation. You may i
not, it is true, have read the bill through,
out, and examined every part of it; but
the 14lh fuudamental article, which be.
came the contested question of principle, ,
was freely discussed between us, and it
was understood and unequivocally sane, j
tioned by yourself. The last clause in
the bill, also which contained a rc9erva.f
tion of power in Congress, was inserted
on the 9t!i of June, in your presence, and
with your approbation; though you at one
time told oie that, in giving your sanction j
to the bill, you would accompany it with j
an explanation of your understanding of j
that last (?) clause*
In this condition of thin**, though I
greatly regretted your veto on the bill as
it passed the two Houses of Congre&s, 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 Hnd in that act enough
to disturb the confidential relations
which existed between u*. I was disposed
to attribute this act, fraught with mischiefs
as it was to pure and honorable ino.
lives, and to a conscientious conviction
on your part that the bill, in some of its
provisions, conflicted with the Constitu.
tion. But that opinion of vour course on
the hill which has 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 von will at once perceive that such
opinion is impossible.
On the morning of the 16th of August,
I called at your chamber, and found jou
preparing the first veto message, to he de.
spa 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 Con rrcss, 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 message
what kind ofa bank you would approve,
and that Congress might, if they saw fit,
pass such a one in three days.
'fhe 18th being the day for our regular
Cabinet, meeting, we assembled, all exccpt
Messrs. Crittenden and Granger,
ap^ you told m that you' had a long conversation
with Mossrs. Berrien and Ser- i
geaot, who professed to come in behalf of |
the Whigs of the two Houses to endeavor i
to strike out some measure which would
b? generally acceptable. That you had i
your doubt* about the propriety of conver- i
sing with them yoursi If, and thought it i
more proper that you should commune i
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
anxioty as to the tone and temper which i
the debate would assume.
Mr. Badger said that on inquiry he was
happy to find that the best temper prevailed
in the two Houses. He believed i
they were perfectly ready to tako up the
bill reported by th^ Secretary of the Treasury,
and pass it at once. You replied,
Talk not to me of Mr. Ewing's bill; it j
contains that odious feature of local dis
counts which I have repudiated in my <
message.' * I then said, to you I have no ,
doubt, sir, that the House, having ascer- i
tained 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.'
Yoii then said,44 Cannot my Cabinet see
that-this 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 bill
might he passed. And yoti then said to
mo, * What do you understand to be my j
opinions ? S ate them, so that I may see ;
thai: there is no misapprehension about
them.' i
I then said that I understood you to be i
opinion that Congress might charter a
hank in the District of Columbia, giving i
it its localities here. To this you ansen- i
ted, That they might authorise such <
bank to establish offices of discount and i
deposite in the several States, with the
assent of the States. To this you replied, <
4 Don't name discounts ; they have been j
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 propos- I
ing nothing, but simply endeavoring to I
stale what I had understood to be your i
opinion as to the powers which Congress I
might constitutionally confer on a bank;
that on that point I stood corrected. I I
then proceeded to say that I understood i
you to be of opinion that Congress might I
authorize such bank to establish agencies I
in the several States, with power to deal I
in bills of exchange, without the assent of I
the States, to which you replied, * Yes if I
they he foreign hills, or bills drawn in one l
State and payable in another.. That is i
all the power necessary for transmitting i
the public funds and regulating exchanges I
and the currency.' *
iVIr. Webster then expressed, in strong ?
terms, his opinion that such a chaiter |
would answer all just purposes of Govern- i
me qt and be satisfactory to the People; i
; ami declared his preference lor it over
any which had been proposed, especially
as it dispensed with (he assent of the States
in the creation of an 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 ail which views you expressed
your concurrence, desired that such a bill
should be introduced, and especially that
it s hould go into the hands of your friend*
To my inquiry whether Mr. Sergeant
would be agreeable to you, you replied
thr.t-iie would. You especially requested
Mr, Webster and myself to communicate
wilh Messrs. Berrien and Sergeant on
the subject, to whom .you said you had
promised to. adriressa note, but vou doub*
feci not that this personal commnnication
would be equally satisfactory. You de*
I sired us, also, in communicating with
those gentlemen, not to commit you per*
| serially, lost, 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. Webster
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
that grant should be introduced you also
spoke of the name of the institution, desiring
that that should be changed. To r
this I objected, as it would probably be i
made a subject of ridicule, but you insis- t
ted that there was much in a name, and j
this institution ought not to he called a I
bank. Mr. Webster undertook to adapt c
it in this particular to your wishes. Mr. t
n ii .I l 1 ...'\t_ /
Dtll IIIUI1 OUSt'rreu (U Hilt n 5?.11CI mill V
myself that we had no time to lose? that if i
this were not immediately attended to, a- r
nother bill, less acceptable, might be got p
up and reported. We replied that we *
would lose no time. Mr. Webster accord- t
ingly called on Messrs. Berrien ?nd Ser- e
geant immediately,and I waited on them p
by his appointment at 5 o'clock on the a
same day, and agreed upon the principles ?
of the hill in accordance with your ex- a
pressed wishes. And I am apprised of j a
the fact, though it did not occur in my j p
presence, that after the bill was drawn up, t
and before it was reported, it was seen i
and examined by yourself: that your at- s
tentioo was specially railed to tho 16th n
fundamental article: that on full examin- I
ation yon concured in its provisions : that ti
at the same time its name was so modified ; s
as to meet your approbation : and the ! tl
bill was reported and passed, in all essen- l<
rial particulars, hs it was when it came c
ihrough your hands. j s
You asked Mr Webster and myself! j<
each to prepare and present a.n argument j l<
touching the constitutionality of the bill; j *
nrl lif fnr? f hnat? apmimanta pniiiH hp 1 A
WIVI v ^UIUVIII?3 w'
prepared and read by you, you declared ii
a*, I heard and believe, to gentlemen t<
wtmmmmmmmmtmmmmammmmmmmmmmmm
Members of the House, that you would
cut off your right hand rather than ap.
prove it. After this new 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 assuancc
of your future course, in case of
such postponement. By some of us, and
[ 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 Whig Members of the two
Houses to the postponement. It failed, i
as I have reason to believe, because you |
would give no assurance that the delny was j
1 1 ? ? ? ^?rt?oiAn (V>r
noi sougru as a means mm weus?"??? ?" ;
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 printed in a neighboring
city the columns of which were daily charged
with flattery of yourself nnd foul abuse
of your Cabinet. All this I bore for
I felt that inv services, so long a9 they
could avail, were du? to the nation?to
that great nnd mngDa nimous People whose
suffrages elevated yosjr predecessor to the
station which you now fill, and whose united
voict 3 approved the act when be sum- j
oned us nronnd him, to he his counsellors;
and I felt that what was due to his mem- j
ory, to his injunctions which he left us in
his last dying words, and to the People |
whose servants wc *w<;re, had not all been
performed until every means was tried,
and every hope had foiled of carrying out
the true principle upon which the mighty
movement was founded that elevated him
and you to power.
This bill, framed and fashioned according
to your own suggestions, in the
initiation of which I a.id another member
of" your Cabinet wore made by you the
agents and the negotiators, was passed by
large majorities through the two Houses
of Congress and sent to you, aod yon rejected
it. Important as was the part
which I had taken, at your request, in the
origination of this bill, an 1 deeply as I
was committed for your action upon it,
you never consulted me on the subject of
the veto messnge. You did not even rc.
Per to it in conversation, and the first
notice I had of its contents was derived
from rumor.
And to me, at least, you have done no.
thing to wipe away the personal indignity
irising out of the act. I gathered, it w
true, from your conversation shortly a fter
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 reference to myself or to
those whom I had communicated at your
request, arid who had acted themselves
indinduced the two Houses to act upon
the faith of that communication. And
urangeasit may seen, the Veto Message
ittacksit in an especial manner the very
)rovisions which were inserted at your /
"equest; and even the name of the corpo ation.
which was not only agreed to l?y
you, but especially changed to meet your
expressed wishes, is made the subject of
vour criticism. Different men might
new the transaction in different points
af lii?ht. but, under these circumstances.
is a matter of personal honour, it would
t>e hard for me to remain of your counsel,
to seal my lips and leave unexplained aod
undisclosed where lies in this transaction
the departure from straight forwardness !
uncf candor. So far indeed from admitting
the encouragement which you gave
to this bill in its inception, and explaining
and excusinn your sudden and violent hostility
towards it, you throw into your Veto
Message an interrogatory equivalent to
in assertion that it was such a bill as you
and uliendy declared could not receive
four sanction. Such is the obvious ef-'
feet of the first interrogatory clause on the i
jecond page. Tt has all the force of an j
insertion without its open fairness. 11
lave met and refuted this, the necessary r
nferrence from your language, in my pre- i
:eding statement, the correctness ofj
ivhich you 1 am sure will not can in queslion.
Your veto to the first bill you rested
>n constitutional ground and the high
ronvictions of conscience; and no man, in
ny opinion, had a right to question your
linccsritv. I so said, and I so acted, for
hrough all the contest rind collision that
irose out ofthal act you had mv adherence
md support. But how is it with respccf '
o this? Tho subject of a Bank is not new to
fou; it is more than twenty years that you
lavemade it an object of consideration and
>f study, especially in its connexion with
he constitutional powers of the General
government. You, therefore, could not
?e, and you were not, taken unprepared
>n this question. The bill which I re- <
>orted to Congress, with your approbation
it the commencement of tho session, had
he clause relating to agencies & the powir
to deal in exchanges, as strongly develo- 1
- * A ' l-? ?? MiMlf 1-f.lOrttti/l I
ien ns IIIV uiib yuu Iinvo ni??? iujoui'.u
,nd equally without the assent of the
>tates. You refetred specially and with i
pprobation to that clause, many days |
,fter, in a conversation held in the De- <
artment of State. You sanctioned it in I
his particular bill as detailed above ? I
tnd no doubt was thrown out upon the i
ubject by you, in my hearing, or within <
uy knowledge, until the letter of Mr. i
tolts came to your hands. Soon after i
he reading of that letter you threw out i
trong intimations that you would veto <
he bill if it were pot postponed. That <
stter I did and do most unequivocally i
ondemn, but it did not affect theconsti- 1
tutionality of the biP, or justify you in re. i
; ting if on that ground; it could effect on. '
(r the expediency of your action; and t
r hat ever you may now believe as ;o the
cruples existing in your mind, in this and <
1 a kindred source there is strong ground
5 believ? they have thoir origin. 1
IT I be right in this, ?nd I doubt notl
am, here is a great public measure de.
inanded by the country, passed upon and
approved by the Representatives of tht,
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*
too, continues the purse with the sword m
the hands of the Executive, from which we
strove to wrest it in the contest which ele.
vated your predecessor and you to power,
j I cannot concur in this, your course ofpo.
1 licy. In or out of office my opinions re.
main unchanged^ I cannot abandon tha
principles for which, during all my political
career, 1 have struggled; especially I can*
not be one of the instruments bv which
the Executive wields these combined, ac?
cumulated, and dangerous powers^
These, sir, are the reasons for the im*
portant 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 Pibsident.
From Uih National Intelligencer
Washington Sipt, 13, 4841'..
To Messrs, Gules 4* Seaston*.
Gkntlemft* : Lest anv. misapprehension
should exist, as to the rcas^p, ..which h< 9
led me to differ from the course pursued
by my late colleagues, 1 wish' to say (Hat
I remain m my place, first,1 'because f
hnvejseen nosufficu ntrift^Qnfbr the devolution
of the late Cabinet, by the voloatswry
act of its own members.
I am perfectly persuade^ of the absolute
necessity af an institution, under tho authority
of Congress, to aid revenue and
financial operations, and to give the country
the blessing of a good currency and
j cheap exchanges.
Notwithstanding what has* passed, I
have confidence that the president will)
co-operate with the Legislature in over
coming all difficulties in the attainment
<>f these objects; and it is to the union of
the Whig party?by which l.rncan tho
whole party, the Whig ftesiriWnt, tho
Whig Congress, and the Whig Pferjple?
that I look for a realization of our tvishotfil
can look no where else.
In" the second place, if I had seen reason
to resign my office, I should not have
done so without giving the President reasonable
notice, and affording him time ?
select the hands to which he should confide
the delicate and important affair* now
pending in this Department.
I atn, gentlemen, . respectful!, your ebedient
servant,
DANIEL WEBSTER.
The following letter from Mr. Wsbstet to %
, friend in New York assignee an additional
reason for retaining his seal in thcCabtnst.
Washington, Sept. 11, 1841.
My Dear Sib: I thank you tor your
kind and friendly letter.
You will have learned that Messr*. Effing,
Hell, Badger, and CrittcmleV haveresigned
their respective offices. Probn.
li.. vi- /i ?.11 ...-i f- t'-o?
UiV .Vlli UIQII^I will ICTI IHMIMU IU lutww
the example. This occurence can hard.N
ly cause you the same degree of regret
which it has occasioned to me?as they
arc notortlymy friends, but persons with' '
whom I have had for sometime daily ,
official intercourse. I could not partake
in this movement. It is supposed to bw
justified, 1 presume, by (be difference*
which have arisen between the President
and Congress upon the means of catab*
lishing a proper Fiscal Agency and rest*. ^
ring a sound state of the currency, and *
collateral matters growing out of thou#
differences. I regret these differences a*
deeply asany man; but I ha*-* not been able
to see in what manner the resignation of
(he Cabinet was likely either to remove
or mitigate the ^vils produced by them.
On the contrary, my only reliance for*
remedy for those evils has been, and is*
on the union, conciliation, and peraever*
anee of the whole Whig party ; and I by
no means despair of seeing yet acconi*
plished, by these means, all that we da*
sire. It may render us more patient ifh?
dor disappointment in regard to one mea.
sure to recollect, as is justly stated by the
President in his last message, how grtat
a number of important measures has berrv
already successfully carried through. < I
hardly know when such a mass of buafc
ness has been despatched in a single sea*
8ion of Congress. * t:
The annual winter Session is now not*
at hand : the same congress..u> *gawr
soon to assemble, and feeling deeply as I.,
ever did the indispensable necessity* >of
some suitable provision for the keeping.of
the public money, for aid to Ijie opera*
tions of the Treasury, and to the high public
interests of currency and exchange, (.
am not in haste to believe that the party .
which has now the predominance wiH not,'
in all these respects, yet fulfil-the expectations
of the country. If it shalriWtf1
then our condition is foilorn, indeed,
for one, 1 will not give up the hope. '
My particular connexion with the Administration.
however, is in another De* * '
partment. I think very humbly-^-noiie
can think more humbly?of the vitJtie oT
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 inop?
inion between the President and myself,
and as there is nothing to disturb the bartnonyofour
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 ques*
lions now immediately pending, and
which intimately affect the preservation
jf the peace of the country.
lam,dear, sir, with constant regard,
fee.
DANIEL WEBSTLR.
i. KETcnrM, Esq, New York. '
*f *