Vincennes Gazette, Volume 3, Number 30, Vincennes, Knox County, 28 December 1833 — Page 2

VI WC K N iSf E S . sati i ay. in:r. m:w.

We learn from the I. si Imii anipolis pa pcr, t hit a petition praying the incnrpo ratitti of a Company to establish a 11 AIL HOAD, from Evansville, via. Princeton, an I Vincenues to Lafayette, has passed both Houses of the Legislature. In our columns of to-day's paper will be l M.n l i he first part of the response of the. Committee appointed by the United States Bank to that part of the President1?

Message in which that institution has been I onc,!Me(, effiirt waa ma,le hv ,he execunssailed. It is a most luminous, convincing, ir. officers to interfere in the election of and irrefutable paper, scattering the slan-jthe Board of Directors at Portsmouth. dcr- Khifh have been promulgated against A he head of this attempt iyas Mr Levi oc , , , , . (Woodbury, now a member ol the present

"'" u..:.. - .... rpsistlefts power of the hurricane We ------ r Ijope it will be tead with that attention whi h it so well deserves W shall continue to extract from the Bank Eeport until we have published the whole It is tight that both fides of the question should be heard. The poisonou calumnies against the Bank have been read with a greedy eve; we now refer our readers to the antidote. The editor of the Sun has not forgot to rail ut Henry Clay. The thick honors which have of late been showered npon tim. (not by office holders nor expectants of office, but spontaneously rendered by (he voire of the people.) has. we suppose, glirred up his bile. He may be quiet, Mr. Clay if far above the shaft of his invective. Hia patriotic efforts disarm party r.inror and hireling malice of their stinr Mr Clay was righ' (the authority of the Sun to the. contraiy notwithstanding) when he maintained that the Constitution did oot give 'o the Preident ten days for the Consideration of a Bill except in the long session The reason is- obvious . The ehort session expires necessarily on a fixed day in March, and the President knows as well as the whole nation what day that is jVot so in the long sesions, when no specific lime is fixed for the adjournment of Congress, and when the president is very properly allowed ten days to approve or Veto Bills delivered to him by both Nooses of Congress Such has been the invariable practice under all previous adminis trations But it seems we are now to learn a new lesson from the oracles of Kitchen Cabioet sdom. Mr. Clay's Land Bill was handed to the President near the close of the last sesfinn, which was the short One As the President had acknow ledged in his Message to that Congies, that the settlement of the land question was one of the utmost importance, w hy did he not approve or refuse then, and send it back to the tame Congress with his reasons in case of his rejection of it, for their consideration? Why? simply because he was afraid that the actiou of the same (which was emphatically a Jackson Congrts-,) would veto his veto and pass the Bill in pite of him And now the same ground,

most be travelled again by a now Cori-'that

gress, (tor ifie same itiusrrrous statesman 1 ,M" " "J""") jmrv.h introduced anew bill not d.ffe, .ng ma-1 r' ,he K"' f ' iLntteil htates, acknow ledge not the ?dight terially in its features from that of the;PSt resp,(ri?1i,jjtj, o( nuy descrrpli.-n whatlas' session) and thousands of the people's soever to the Secietaiv of the Treasury money must be expended to gratify the t",J' hmg the political conduct of their ofti wh.m and caprice of a superannuated and ! rers' ,h it l,puS a Pu,rrt " rt l,,dl thp . . ... , . ,, , ; never consult, and never desire to know imbecile old man, who, gu.d.-d by ih. pow-, ,hp vjeu,g q. any ;ulmi;n.tr;Ul0I1 ers behind the throne, rho?e to keep the j Again : "Accordingly the Act of ConLand Bill of Mr. Clay in one his "tev en1 gre.s simply declares, 'that lor the man tmrketa" until the meetini? of the present! "foment of the afTans of the saul Corp...

. i it . . 1 Congress. REPORT OF A COMMITTEE OF DIRECTORS OF THE DANK OF Till: UNITED STATES.

The Committee to whom was referred, the President of the United States downro the 21th of September, a paper signed; wards, has the slightest authoiity to in-

' Andrew Jurkaon,1 purporting to have terfere in it; and there can be no mote teen read to a Cabinet on the 18th, arid wairaut for suggesting the views of the also another paper signed "II D Gilpin, administration l. the Bank ot the United J -.hu T Sullivan. Peter Wager, and Hugh Slates than to the Supreme Court of the M'Flderry," bearing date August lOh, United States " 183J-wUh instructions to consider the Finally ; "For the Bank, which has same, and report to the Board -whether specific duties to perlotm, and which be. any, and what steps may be nece-sary on longs to the country not to any party, tiie p .rt of the Board in consequence of there is but one coure of safetv . Whenthe publication of sid letter and report,", ever its duties come in confii't with the beg leave to state jspint of party, n should not compromise That they have carefully ex imined lvith it, nor capitulate to it, but resist it .1 I .'II . ! i i i i i .1

cnose papers, anu winnow proceed lo re - port th? reult ot their reflections in re gird to them. In order, however, to render them more intelligible, it will be proper to recall to the attention of the Board, the wctual relations win h the Bank has for some y ears ast bopne to the Executive. Since the psl-ihlishment of the Instiru tion it has devoted itself anxiously and x clusively to the purpoes of its creation, the restoration of the currency, the maintenance of the general credit, and the accommodation of the internal and foreign tra'ie of he covotry. That it has not

failed in lhe?e obiecU Lv.at it has indeed:

realized more than t .o . - i-pa'ini,- of the most sangui H .U-s ' 1 v ail parts r. (he romn. unity. It the midst of (hi career of inoffensive usefulness, when soon after the acr r-ion t p.w-r of the present Executive, the purpose wns distinrtlv revealed that other mities than thoe to the country were required and that it wan ncrf irv ' r the Hank it) adminitering it aff. iis. to con-n't the political views of th- se wh ha1 now oMaincd the ascendancy m the Executive. It is understand that sunn .ifter that event a meeting wis held it; Washington ol the principal chief, to consider the means of perpetuating their new authot i'v , and the possession of the Hank wis among the Diost prominent oljects of the parties as sernhled. The fit-topeo m .mife-taiion of tUia in limp in.'D. when a Cahinet at viBhins;ton,who did not hesitate to avow in a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, which, though marked "confidential'1 vvas subsequently ordered to be published by the Committee of In vestigalion in 1 832 that he wished the interference of the Government to remove the President of the Branch at Portsmouth, of whom he says: "The new Piesi lent, Jeremiah Mason, is a particular friend of Mr Webster, and his political character is doubtless well known to vou," and he requests the Secretary of the Tre i-uiy "to communicate w ith some of the Directors of the Mother Bank in favor of such a change." This letter of Mt Woodbury was transmitted to the Bank by the Secretary of the Treasury, who stated that "front some expiessious in his letter, it may be inferred that it is partly founded on a supposed application of the influence of the Bank, with a view to political effect" m consequence of which he deemed it his duty to present it to the Bank, "with the views ofthe administration in relation to if.'1 At the same time. Mr Isaar Mill, acting as the Comptroller of the Treasury until rejected hy the Snnat"1. and now a Senator of the United Stales, sent a memorial fmm the members of his poliiical party in the Legislature of New -Hampshire, re uuestinir the removal of Mi Mason. In ,nihpr , ommnniration i,reented to thp

Rank, he gave it as his opinion, that no; again, "the power ot the secretary ot the that hind could be contemplated Ly any permeasurcs -hort of Mr Mas n's removal j Treasury over ths deposites is unquali- son, and none, it is presumed, has been con wool. i tend "to reconcde the people of, tied." tcwplattd"' and they furfherdeclare their New Hampshire to the Punk," ami that! Having thu9 argued (he Secretary of opinion, that in the bonus and the services -the friends of General Jackson in New' the Treasury into an exclusive control ofrenrW ie.l by the Bank, "the United States Hampshire, have Ind but too much reason! the deposites, the President pioceeils to have been aumlu paid fur all the advantages

to complain of the mmageiuent of the i

Branrh at Portsmouth" Finally, the remove them concluding witti this remark the Hank and its branches'1" The same Secretary of War ordered the transfer of! "Far he it from him to expect or re- views are expressed m another report ot the pension fund from the Blanch Bank atjquiie that any member of the Cabinet -the Committee of Finance of the Senate Port-mouth to another Rank m Concord.! should at his requet-t, order, or dictation, ion the i'Oth of Fehiu irv, 1829 "The an act so obvi- u-ly in violation of the' perform any act which he believes un- jCommiltee repeat their opinion lhat the laws, that it was first r esided by the B.icU . ' lawful, or in his conscience condemns." jcharter gives to the Bank (lie use of (he and then retracted by the Se retary Vet notwithstanding these expressions ot public deposits without any other remu It became then manifest to the Bank. ' humility , the moment the Secretary of the j titration than such as are distinctly huthat there was a combined effort to ren-1 Treasury dares to renst this intrusion in-!ihorised in that instrument that the ex

dei the Institution subservient to political purposes; and that it was necessary to; come to some immediate and distinct un demanding of its rights and dunes. This was done in the cor iepondeuce ot the President of the Bank with (he Secretary of the Treasury, of which the following! passages will indicate the general pur port : "Presuming that we have rightly apprehended your views, and fearful that the silence of the Bank might be hereafter misconstrued into an acquiescence in them. I deem it my duty to sinte to you in a manner perfectly respectful to your offi cial nd personal character , yet so clear as t eave possibility of misconception, the Board of Dneclors ot the Bnokl 1 1 r. I . i . i ci t .,..,1 n . . ,i o .r n . r.ill.w. ll.srn ek.ll I.. . . 4". .. f 1 ' ' ' ' 1 , iiicic nimii ic iroiy iyiltl tors. When these are h"en, the whole administration of the Bank is commuted to their exclusive care Their responsibility for the management of it is to Congress, and to Congress alone; but no Executive oflicer of the Government, from i ' esii u openiv anu leanessiv m uiis j'ls inteiest concuis with its duty, for it viii un iounu ui iasi, sucn is ine good sense of the country, tint the best mode of sallying all p n ties is to disregard them all." These extracts reveal the whole secret of the hostility to the Bank of those who. Ii odmg it impossible to bend it to their . . : 1 1 i - . i . . i .i I uriMie. have teolvurl l.. .i. it I,1,,this purp .-e.,!l .he poisoned weanons of political w.iriare have, for the last four years, been unsparingly and unceasingly employed against the Institution. Thus far their efforts have failed -they have

Iccd defeated before Congress, end dra-

countenanced nv uie u'imuui.y. now. being relieved from the presence d Congress, ami the. legal guardian of the public revenue being removed, Ihey have ventured on thi last act of violence. To justify this measure is the purpose of the paper signed "Andrew Jackson " Oflhe paper itself, and of the individual who has signed it, the Committee find it difficult to speak with the plainness by which alone such a document from such a sniirro hno lit be described, without wounding their own self respect, and violating the consideration which all American citizens must feel for the chief magistracy of their country .Subduing however their feeling and their language down to that respectful tone which is due the office, they will proceed to examine the history of the measure, its character and the pretexts offered in palliation of it. Of these in their order. 1st. It would appear from its content and from other sources of information, that the President had a meeting of what is called the Cabinet, on Wednesday, the ICth September, and there read this pa ., . .. . i : I Der r intlinsr mai u uinue uu iuiiieai"n on the majority of persons assembled, the subject was postponed, and in me mean time this document was put into the newspapeis. It was obviously published for two reasons. The nrst was to innuence the members of the Cabinet by bringing

to bear upon their immediate decision Itageous an anticipation too well realized ,ng investigation 'so is lo ar-cenaia the first public impression excited by mis. by the fact that the stockholders haveue-he security of the public money, and t ho repiesentations, which the objects of them ;ver yet received the legal rate of tuterett olvency of the Bank,' neither of which, could not refute in time the second was, Ion the principal subscribed. But the on-jin my opinion, admit ot a doubt." by the same excitement, to affect the ap- ly temptation by which ihey could be in-' 'fhe Hu-e of Bepresentati ves, after an pro iching elections, in Penosylt ania , ;du-ed to unite with the Government was, investigation by the Committee of Ways Maryland, and New Jersey. The first 'that while on the one hand they paid in and Means, resoh cd by a vote of more design i- apparent f rom the fate w Inch advance to the Government a million and Uhan two thirds, has befallen these counsellors Whilst a half of dollars, and performed certain ! '-That the Government Depositee may, something was hoped from their tears, it stipulated duties, they should have the be n the opinion of the House, hesately conwas expedient to flatter them, keeping in 'nelit of the deposit" of public funds until jtinued in the Bank of the United S'ates." reserve behind these blaoishments, the they were wanted in the public disburse-! From thee it is apparent that, in the pover to pomsh disobedience "B the'ments. These were the two essential sti- 'opinion of the Piesident, the Secretary of terms of the Charter," the President says pulationsnay , they were in fact almost the Treasury, and the Committee ot Fi-

"the public money 9 to be deposited in the Bank during the continuance ot its Charter, urde-s the Secret iry of the.

Treasury shall otherwise direct." "Un-jpay

less, therefore, the Secretary ot the Treasury tit st nets. Congress have no 1 power over the subject, and consequently the public money must remain in that institution till the last hour of its existence, unless the Secretary of the treasury shall remove it ut an earlier day :" and ! . .. . ,. . g've his r easons w hy the Secietary should I" his Department, and refuses to do what his conscience condemns, he is immedilately dismissed trom his office, and de

nounced in the official Gazette as a "rf-Jtinctly , that Mhe deposits of the money tractory subordinate" The same offiJof the United Stairs shall be made in the

cral announces to the other two offending!

ministers, "that however he may regretjes 1 This is positive and cannot be misun

the difference of opinion," the President still thinks "that the measure is one upon winch the members may conscientiously differ from the President and from each other;" that is to say, that they are not yet to be dismissed for expressing their opinions, the Piesident being appeased by tfie sacrifice of the most contumacious of the opposition. Its purpose to influence the election is at. tep,0,,,, lhs """"'p'nt exultation ot the vjiiiriai uauf, mai "We hive received intelligence which authorizes the belief, that, in the late! e.ec..o in ieimsy.vau.ct, ie legislature - ,..- :.. r i . i. .

or mar o a,e .m uu .e, gone a cnange Hank j(j ,( COflJlifJered as a rontrar t on which w.ll p.ve the Jackson party a ma-jlhe , of lhe Government-it ,snot now jor.tyof two-th.rds, and the same result ; , lhp power of Congress to disregard its has been accomplished ,n Maryland. We 8ti pUaiions-and by the terms of lhat learn from sources to be relied on, that j contract Uie public money ,s ro be depo.ithe success of the Jackson ticker in some ,e(1 in lhe ,Hok duri thp c,HltlllU;iri(:R ot fit A . I..lnA-ifla.M.-a IT .. 1 ll '

or ine Arm-jm-nfuu nmuur-s in luaryi.ann, was secured by the late expositions of the corruptions of the Bank, read by the President to his Cabinet and we have no doubt that it had its effect on all the recent elections." 2d The indelicacy of the form of these proceedings corresponds well with the sub stance of them, which is equally in viola tion of the rights of the Bank and the Iaw9 of l he country . The Bank of the United States was chartered by Congress for certain nation al purposes; and as it was thought expedient to obtain the skill and vigilance of private interest in managing the institu tion, the citizens generally were invited ... ...... ,...ri. . J . i to unite public cat, charter of lhe Bank is in fact an act of partnership between the Government and the Stockholders, specifying the rights and duties of each party. In the charter of the first Bank of the United States there was on the part of the Bank no pay ment of a bonus no obligation to transfer the public funds no performance of the Loan Office while on the part of the government there was no stipulation to give the use of the depnsiths. This detect was supplied in the charter of (lie present Buik by positive agreement Thus the Bank, in addition to its arduous duty of rlorinS and sustaining the general cur lency, agreed iy ine ibin section, no give 'facilities for tran-fernng the public funds from place to place within the. United States or the territories thereof, and fur distributing the earue d yaytaeot of

the public creditors, without charging rommis-ion, or claiming allowance on account of difference of exchange: and shall .i- i ..nrinrm iiiti several and re-

.:L r ,t, f-A,mis.ioner? of

?! for X;e:erais1a;;crnrvo,,e!Co,1gr,?So,H.,er,urMM;riUrmher,K:3i', o'rlre of ,h,. .vhenever retired hv , hich 1-;; tZ

law.' And arrain. the 20th section declares "That in consideration of the exclusive privileges and benefits conferred hy this act upon the said Batik, the President, Directors, and Company thereof, shall pay to the United Slates out of the corporate funds thereof, the sum of one million and five hundred thousand dollars." Such was the consideration to be given

by the Bank. The consideration to be quaie 10 imsooj i. , - given by the Government, was "that the ject to the attention ol Congress undei deposits of the money of the U. States in j the firm belief that it .s worthy of ser.ou places in which the said branches thereof investigation.1 may be established, shall be made in said Anil the Secretary of the Treasury lu Bank or branches thereof unless the Sec- his leport to the same Cortgiess, ,n lu.-, retary of the Treasury shall otherwise or-'mentions certain thing- which "have sugder and direct; in which case the Secie- igested an enquiry into the security of the tary of the Treasury shall immediately ! as the depository ol the public lav hpfnre Congress, if in session, and if funds 11

not , immediately after the commencement .i : ... . t. i- i. ,oi ine session, uic jeasuns oi bucu uiuur and direction ." Thi-rnntrarf was deemed so nnfavora hie to the citizens generally, that on the opening of the books, the subscription was not filled, from a belief that the invest ment upon such terms could not be ad vanthe only one. This was the opinion of the Committee on i inance of the Senate, when on a proposition to make the Bank for the u-e of (he Deposits, ihey reported on the 21st ot Apri-, 1813, that"lhe 16'h section directs lhat the deposits of the money of the United States siiull e made in the Bank and its branches .'Vu change can be made therein xcitkout a direct viola t ion of the charter, zihich the faith if the nation is bound to sustain , b rina of . ... ... . . . dcriveii from the deposits of their funds in action of any other would, in the opinion of the Committee, be a direct violation of the charter. The ICth section savs dis Bank of the United Sutes aud its branch derstood. The 20th section says, 'that in consideration ot the exclusive privileges and benefits conferred by this act upon the said Bank, the President, Directors, and Company thereof, .hull pay to the United States g 1.500.000 ' The Bank was to iay and has paid the million and a half of jdollars. For whit? For the exclusive privileges and benefits conferred by this act. What are the benefits? The Cornmittee can perceive none except the deposits jor uTatt tnc DanK nas actually paid alrca cy." Th Prp-idont himaeir ;n ohlge,i to allow that "the chdrler to the - ..... ... in ijiuii if u; its charter, unless the Secretary of the Treasury shall otherwise direct. It is then admitted on all hands that this

,8 a contract by which the Bank was to N;,vv ,l0.e ,1(J(y if 8haIJ be (o ,xecu(e pay a sum ol money, and to perform rpr.TOch-ordfW a li(J .ha frrrp f0n lh(J tain services, as a consideration for the use , preH(ent of the Untied States"

of the Government deposits, which (he government stipulated should remiin in the Bank, unless ntherwiie directed by a particular officer, the Secretary of the i'lojciwv Thp unions of o-icmor this " n tvn. ohvion-lv lo nm.Pni ;.r.v l r ' " . J of the revenue, and it was designed exclu sively to enable the Secretary to protect the interests ot the Government if the Bank became unsafe. This was the opi-f

t ,u SprrPiarv ot thp Trpunn looniiuiiieo me i rtasury ueparimem, was rof ormwinlP'lll(irU fr f ho l.r.k i.i !!,.r.kll" UUttl Mil.

17, 1817. declared "that, by the charter,! the public money deposited in places

where the Bank of the United States, or,"': uipartment. its Branche, are established, must be do The runcdislinction pervades the whole

posited in them, except when there are'organiz ition of the several departments, other reasons to the contrary." This wasjThe Secretary of the Navy, ot State, and lso the opinion pronounced hy the Com- of War, are to execute lhe orders of the

mittee ot Finance of the Senate, in their report of the 20th of February, 1329. Alter citing the ICth section, they say: The Committee see, in the power given to the Secretary, a discreet precaution, and the wop's they believe convey only the idea, that if, at any time, the Secretary shall be of opinion lhat there ivill be a danger of loss to the United States, by itmoney remaining in the vaults of the Bank he may remove it for safety, and report his reusoQS to Congress. 2io other con-

f (ruction can, in the opinion of the Com mittee, be given to that part of the ICth

section This too was the opinion expressed by the President himfi-11 in his Message lo uei iw tin ijr -r i - no longer a safe depository ot the money of the people;" and in the same Message he udds: "Such measures as are it h in the reach of the Secretary of the Treasury, have, been taken to enable him to judge whether the public deposites in that institution mav be regarded as entirely safe; but as his limited power may prove- inane- . i i . i ..i ! I he subject ot the safety ot uie ucpo. , ..j tl.iu nr. ntiiprf nt Pnmiirv i)V the 1 lT "" - - 'Secretary of the Tra.-ury, and by Con igiess and what wa9 the result I The Agent ot the I reasury, atier a iuu uivee--ligation, reported -s follows: ! "Thus far I consider my report as com- ' ... r ? 1 1 : , p'ytng with that part of your letter direct juance, the question ol removing me ueposite was a question merely of their safety : That the Government, through its proper channels, eoquiied into their safety ; And that through all these channels their safety was made manifest, aud so declared by !he highest authority. But supposing this to be less evident than it is supposing that causes other lhari the safety of the public funds would i c . l . r . i r. jusiuy their leomvai worn ine ivmu aner it has paid a full equivalent tor them, still one thing is manliest: That the Secretary of the Treasury, and'the Secretary of the Tre.-ury alone, has the power to remove ihem that ofu !ce bting specially designated to perform that specific duty and the President of the United States being, by the clearest implication, forbidden to interfere The whole structore of the Treasury -hows, thai the design of Congress was to make the Secretary as independent, as possible of the President The other Secretaries are merely executive officers; but t lie Serretary of the Treasury, the guardiao of the public revenue, comes into more immediate sympathy with the representatives of the people who pay that revenue; and allhougi according to the general scheme of appointment he is nominated by the President to t lie Senate, yet be is in fact the officer of Congress, not the officer of the President Thus: By the act of Congress, of 1789, it was provided, that "There shall be an Executive Department, to be denominated the Department of War; and there shall be a princrpal officer therein to be railed the Secretary for the Department of War, who shall perform and execute such duties as shall from lime to time be enjoined en, or pin trusted to, him by the President of tho United States." By the same act it was provided, that "There shall be an Executive Department, lo be denominated the Department of Foreign Affairs, afterwards changed by the act of September 15, 17L0, to the Department of State with t tie same provision as to the principal officer." By the act of 30:h of April, 1798, it was declared , that '''here shall be an Executive Department, under the denomination oflhe Department of the Navy , the chief officer of which tihll )p rolled t be Serretn r v ot"tr. Phe bill introduced into the Congress of 1789, prnviled for the establishment of the three Departments those of War, State and Tre isurv under the name cf entire Departments But Congress made a distinction between them. (.): the I'-Mnf Snlv, 1709. as the Journals of Coa- ! . . . ....... . . 8 - -,ro om 1,s,,m- Hn ''.xtcuhve Department, to be de"Besolved. That the said bill do pas-, ar,d 'he title be an Act to establish the TreaPresidenl but the Secretary of the Treasury is not enjoined to execute the orders, of the 'resident. Not a single yvord ia there of performing the orders of the President On the contrary, the act of Congress declares, that it shall be his duty to rmke report and give information to cither branch of the Legislature, in person or in -writing, tas he may be required) respecting all matters lelerred to him by the Senate or House of Representatives, or ivhieU shall apperlaiu ii his oflioe.''