Chapter XX: ――history (16)

_Resolved_, That these proceedings be entered on the minutes of the court, and that the chief justice inclose a copy to the chairman of the committee of the house of representatives.

The above tragical event justly excited the indignation of the nation. From every quarter a demand was made for some law to prevent such “wickedness in high places.” At length, a bill for an act was reported by a committee appointed for that purpose, which passed by a vote of one hundred and ten to twenty-one. The first section provided, that if any person shall, in the District of Columbia, challenge another to fight a duel, or accept a challenge, or shall knowingly carry a challenge to fight a duel in or out of the District of Columbia; and such duel shall be fought in or out of said district, and either of the parties shall be slain or mortally wounded, the surviving party and others connected, shall, on conviction, be punished by imprisonment and hard labor in the penitentiary for a term not exceeding _ten_ years.

A second section provided, that the mere challenge, or aiding and abetting a challenge, which resulted in no duel, should be punished as above, for a term of _five_ years.

A third section provided, that if any person be guilty of assaulting, striking or wounding another, for refusing to accept a challenge, or who shall post or publish any person, or use toward them opprobrious language for refusing to accept a challenge, shall, on conviction, be punished as above for a term not exceeding _three_ years.

In August following (26th, 1839,) an event of a novel and interesting character occurred in the capture of the schooner Amistad, a Spanish vessel, found lying in the waters near Long Island. On board of her were two white men, Spaniards, Jose Ruiz and Pedro Montez, and fifty-four African negroes, under the command of one of their own number, whose name was Cinquez. The Amistad, it appeared from subsequent investigations, had sailed from Havana, in the Island of Cuba, for another port in the West India Islands, with a cargo of merchandise, and the Africans on board, claimed as slaves by the two Spaniards, Ruiz and Montez. After having been four nights at sea, the negroes rose upon the whites, killed the captain and crew, took possession of the schooner, and, in endeavoring to return to Africa, were at length found conveyed to the shores of Long Island.

The Amistad was first discovered by the United States revenue brig Washington, which took possession of her, with her cargo and crew, and brought her into the port of New London. The negroes, after an investigation before the district judge, were committed to take their trial before the circuit court of the United States, to be holden at Hartford, on the 17th of September, on a charge of piracy and murder on the high seas. The grand jury, however, under the charge of the court, found no bill against them, and they were discharged from the complaint, but retained in custody under a claim of property interposed by Ruiz and Montez――of the captors for salvage――and of the United States, made in compliance with a demand of the Spanish minister, that they should be surrendered to Spain, in accordance with a treaty existing between that government and the United States. The district attorney also filed a claim on behalf of the United States, that they should be delivered into the hands of the President to be sent back to Africa. On this state of the case, a writ of _habeas corpus_ was obtained from the circuit court then in session at Hartford, to try their right to their liberty. That court decided, that as the Africans were held in custody under a regular process from the district court, they could not be discharged by _habeas corpus_, but must take their trial on the merits of the case. When the cause came on before the district court, the several claims aforesaid, with a single exception, were declared unfounded, and the Africans were ordered to be delivered to the President to be restored to Africa. From this decree an appeal was taken to the circuit court, which affirming the decree as a matter of form, the case was carried to the Supreme Court of the United States, which adjudged the Africans entitled to their unqualified discharge. The negroes rested their claim on the ground that they were free inhabitants of Africa, had been seized and sold to a slave trader, who had carried them to Cuba in violation of the existing laws of Spain. The conduct of the President of the United States, in making the United States government a party against these Africans, and in appealing from the decree of the district court in their favor, at the instance of the Spanish minister, was regarded by the friends of the Africans as an unwarranted and illegal exercise of power, and was severely reprobated and condemned by many of the public journals. The President was charged with being desirous of delivering up the Africans to the Spanish government, and was said to have ordered a vessel of war to proceed to New Haven, Connecticut, to be ready to take the Africans, for this purpose, from the hands of the district court. The friends of the President, however, claimed that he acted in this matter from a desire merely to ascertain the treaty obligations of the United States, and to preserve them inviolate.

On the 9th of October, 1839, another suspension of specie payments commenced at Philadelphia. It was soon followed on the part of the banks in the interior of Pennsylvania, in Baltimore, in Washington, and in Richmond, until in a short time it became general throughout the south and south-west. In this suspension the banks of New York and New England did not in general participate, but with the exception of the Rhode Island banks, continued to meet the demands made upon them for specie. This suspension was supposed to have for its immediate cause the difficulties and embarrassments of the United States Bank of Pennsylvania, whose drafts on Paris had been protested for non-acceptance. The drafts, however, were, on arriving at maturity, with a single exception, honored by Rothschild.

On the assembling of the twenty-sixth congress, on the 2nd of December, much difficulty was experienced in organizing the house of representatives. Five persons belonging to New Jersey had received certificates of election from the governor, which certificates, it was contended, of right belonged to others. On this question the two political parties in congress were suddenly arrayed against each other, and the state of feeling which followed can scarcely be described. At length the following resolution was offered to the house by Mr. Graves.

_Resolved_, That the acting clerk of the house shall proceed with the call of the members from the different states of the Union in the usual way, calling the names of such members from New Jersey as hold the regular and legal commissions from the Executive of that state. The discussion of the above resolution was continued until it was apparent to the whole house――the clerk refusing to put it――that unless some other and extraordinary measure was adopted, commensurate with the difficulties in which they were involved, no organization could be effected. In this juncture a resolution was offered, appointing Mr. Adams _chairman_ of the house, which being adopted by a large majority, he was conducted to the chair.

Under the guidance of Mr. Adams, the house proceeded on the 12th to ballot for a speaker. Six ballotings were taken, when no choice having been made, an adjournment to the 16th was moved and carried. On this latter day, the balloting was resumed and resulted, on the eleventh balloting, in the choice of Robert M. T. Hunter,――the New Jersey members not voting.

On the 20th, the question was taken on a resolution to administer the oath to the five gentlemen from the State of New Jersey, who had presented credentials to the speaker and demanded to be sworn, and decided in the negative, one hundred and sixteen to one hundred and twelve.

This decision created a great sensation throughout the Union. It was a wide departure from precedent, and deeply wounding to the pride of New Jersey, as well as injurious to her interests.

The subsequent history of this case is interesting, but, in the opinion of the whig party, reflected great discredit on the majority in the house of representatives. An investigation of the subject was ordered, and the committee on elections entered upon the duty assigned them. They were proceeding in their investigations, when, on the 28th of February, the house directed the committee “to report forthwith which five of the ten individuals, claiming seats from the state of New Jersey, received the greatest number of lawful votes from the whole state for representatives in the congress of the United States, at the election of 1838, in said state.”

This committee reported in favor of the five administration candidates. A minority report was at the same time presented, which was ordered to lie on the table.

On the 10th of March, a resolution was introduced by Mr. Petriken, declaring the five persons who had brought no legal certificates, entitled to their seats, and directing the speaker to qualify them.

The previous question being moved by the author of the resolutions, debate was suppressed, and the vote taken, and the resolution adopted by a vote of one hundred and eleven to eighty-one; several whig members refusing to vote.

To a portion of the American people, no act could have appeared more arbitrary and unjust, however right and proper it might have seemed to the party in power; nor could many divest themselves of the impression, that this course was adopted to secure certain objects, which the administration had in view.

The opposition to Mr. Van Buren’s administration, growing out of his views and his course in relation to the currency, and augmented and heightened by the commercial revulsions which the country had experienced, and the pecuniary embarrassments under which it had been laboring for years, was now fast approaching to its crisis. On the 4th of December, 1839, a Whig National Convention, composed of delegates from the different states assembled at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for the purpose of nominating candidates for president and vice-president of the United States. The convention remained in session between two and three days, when having selected William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, as candidate for president, and John Tyler, of Virginia, as candidate for vice-president, and with great unanimity of feeling, resolved to support them, it adjourned.

The nomination thus made was unexpected to a considerable portion of the whig party. For a long time, their attention had been turned towards Henry Clay, and an anxious wish prevailed on the part of his special friends, that he should be put in nomination. They confidently expected it. But antecedently to the meeting of the convention, it had been the general, and even the universal opinion, that when that body should assemble and an interchange of views had been made, the man should be selected, who, it was thought, would concentrate the greatest strength against the existing administration. Preferences were, therefore, to be surrendered at the shrine of the country’s good――while, therefore, it was at first with painful emotions that the friends of Mr. Clay yielded, it was done with great unanimity and even cheerfulness, when it was perceived that by the nomination of Gen. Harrison other influences and interests would be secured, which were likely to result in his election.

From this time, General Harrison was distinctly before the people of the United States, as the candidate of the whig party for the presidency. With unexampled unanimity they rallied about him; and from this time the two great parties took the field, and never since the adoption of the constitution, did political enthusiasm rise higher, or were greater efforts made to elect the candidates, which each party proposed. The powers of the press were called into requisition, conventions, mass-meetings, varying from one thousand to twenty-five thousand, were assembled in various sections of the country; clubs were formed――log cabins erected, and the excitement and enthusiasm rolled up and were prolonged by the long and patriotic appeals of many of the first orators and statesmen in the country. The entire country was moved; the common business of men was visibly neglected and forgotten; the one all-absorbing theme was the approaching election and its issue. On that issue thousands were staked, and as men had thousands depending, their efforts were correspondingly vigorous and varied. Happy would the historian feel, if he could in truth exempt either party from the imputation of unfairness in every political transaction connected with the presidential election. Which party was the most censurable, we shall not attempt to decide. Individuals belonging to both were in some transactions sufficiently wrong.

On the 21st of July, 1840, the twenty-sixth congress adjourned. Two acts only of a public character are worthy of notice. The one providing “for taking the sixth census of the United States,” and the other “for the collection, safe-keeping, transfer, and disbursement of the public revenues.”

The act, viz., that for the collection, &c., of the public revenue, usually denominated the sub-treasury system, may be regarded as the _great financial measure_ of Mr. Van Buren’s administration. It was early proposed by him, and in every subsequent message was urged upon the consideration of congress, as the best scheme which could be devised, by which the public revenue could be collected, safely kept, transferred, and disbursed. The debates on this system, by the supporters and opposers of the administration during the several sessions in which it was agitated, would fill volumes. By the President and his friends, it was eulogized and warmly recommended; by the opposition party, it was pointedly resisted and condemned. On this measure, and others, of a financial character connected with it, perhaps more than any other Mr. Van Buren staked his political fortune. With this, he entered into the election as a candidate for the presidency a second term.

On the 7th of December, 1840, the second session of the twenty-sixth congress commenced. Mr. Van Buren presented his last annual message; in which, after representing the foreign relations of the country as amicable, he proceeded to express his pleasure, that notwithstanding the various embarrassments which the government had to encounter; the great increase of public expenditure by reason of the Florida war; the difficulty of collecting moneys still due from certain banks, and the diminution of the revenue, &c., the business of the government had been carried on _without the creation of a national debt_.

Nominally the government had no such debt, but the foundation of a large debt had been laid, and only a few months from the time Mr. Van Buren left the presidential chair, the disclosure was made, that the country was involved in debt, and congress was called upon to provide means to sustain the waning credit of the government.

On the 10th of February, the ceremony of counting the votes for president and vice-president, took place in the hall of the house of representatives, in the presence of both houses of congress. The result was at length announced by the vice-president, as follows: For president――William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, two hundred and thirty-four; Martin Van Buren, of New York, sixty. For vice-president――John Tyler, of Virginia, two hundred and thirty-four; Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, forty-eight; Littleton W. Tazewell, of Virginia, eleven; James K. Polk, of Tennessee, one.

The majority for General Harrison in the electoral college was one hundred and forty-eight; a greater majority than any president had had, since the days of Washington. And thus a question was officially decided, which had excited the two great political parties of the country for months, and called forth more efforts on either side, than had been made at any previous election, since the formation of the government. The press, daily and weekly, had continued to pour out its political sentiments, and spread abroad its influences for and against the respective candidates; considerations of great interest and importance were urged; much truth was uttered and disseminated, and much calumny, falsehood, and detraction; popular meetings in numbers, character, and enthusiasm, never before known on the American soil, were held towards the conclusion of the political contest in every state, and in almost every county. Statesmen and orators of the highest reputation and ability itinerated the country, urging the freemen of the nation, on the one hand to retain the then president in power, and to carry out the principles and policy of his administration, as they valued the prosperity and perpetuity of the government; and, on the other hand, endeavoring to persuade them to discard a man, who by his selfishness, his disregard of the wants and necessities of the country, his obstinate adherence to measures after they were proscribed by the people, was laying the foundation of the ruin of the country; and to elevate a man to his place, one of the remnants of the “olden time;” a friend and companion of the earlier patriots of the country, who would restore the ancient order of things, and bring back the government to its original principles of action.

ADMINISTRATIONS OF WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON AND JOHN TYLER.

William Henry Harrison was inducted into the office of President of the United States, on the 4th of March, 1841. The ceremony of inauguration was attended by an immense concourse of people from all parts of the Union, who now united in giving an appropriate welcome to the hero, whom they had elevated to this proud distinction. For a period of twelve years, the government had been under the control of a party, whose principles and policy were opposed to those of General Harrison, and his political friends. It was quite natural, therefore, that on the occurrence of a change of administration so grateful to the latter, they should give expression to their feelings in demonstrations of unwonted joy.

The inaugural procession was grand and imposing, comprising several military companies, officers and soldiers, who fought under General Harrison, with a flag displayed at their head, taken from the enemy at the battle of the Thames, the President elect on a beautiful white charger, the committee of the senate, ex-presidents of the United States, the judiciary, foreign ministers, members of congress, members of the Harrisburg convention, governors, and ex-governors of states, members of state legislatures, officers of the army and navy, citizens, Tippecanoe clubs, corporate authorities, &c.

The inaugural address of General Harrison was a clear, plain, comprehensible document, and was delivered in a full, clear, unbroken voice, interrupted occasionally by the shouts of the multitudes responding to the principles and sentiments, which the address contained. The President elect spoke of his political sentiments and of the principles, which should govern him in the administration of the government. He declared himself clearly and explicitly in favor of a single presidential term, recognised the peculiar principles of the party which had chosen him to office in regard to the currency, spoke of the abuse of the veto power, the importance of preserving the elective franchise in its purity, the impropriety of Executive interference with the legislation of congress, the necessity of maintaining the national honor, of keeping the public faith with the aborigines of the country, and pledged himself to preserve the Constitution, so far as in him lay, in its original purity. Just as the President elect came to the concluding paragraph of his address, he paused to receive the oath of office from the hands of the chief justice of the United States; which done, he concluded with the following solemn and impressive declaration. “I deem the present occasion,” he said, “sufficiently important and solemn to justify me in expressing to my fellow-citizens a profound reverence for the Christian religion, and a thorough conviction that sound morals, religious liberty, and a just sense of religious responsibility, are essentially connected with all true and lasting happiness; and to that good Being, who has blessed us by the gifts of civil and religious freedom, who watched over and prospered the labors of our fathers, and who has hitherto preserved to us institutions far exceeding in excellence those of any other people, let us unite in fervently commending every interest of our beloved country in all future time.”

The new senate having been convened, proceeded shortly after the induction of General Harrison into office, to confirm the nominations made by him of gentlemen, whom he wished to constitute his cabinet――viz., Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, secretary of state; Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, secretary of the treasury; John Bell, of Tennessee, secretary of war; George E. Badger, of North Carolina, secretary of the navy; John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky, attorney-general; and Francis Granger, of New York, postmaster-general.

Thus was the government organized under the presidency of General Harrison, and in a manner which the friends of the President regarded as highly auspicious to the best interests of the country. Many great and difficult questions, connected both with the foreign and domestic policy of the government, met the administration at the very threshold of its coming into power, and required all their wisdom, and skill, and patriotism, for a safe and satisfactory adjustment. On the one hand, there were the north-eastern boundary question, still pending with Great Britain, and certain difficulties and delicate matters growing out of the burning of the steamer Caroline, and the subsequent arrest and imprisonment, in the state of New York, of one Alexander M’Leod, a British subject, for the murder of Amos Durfee, one of the crew of that boat; and on the other, the agitating and embarrassing questions relating to the currency and financial condition of the country. The party, however, which had placed General Harrison in power, flattered themselves, that with the aid of the able cabinet he had selected, he would soon be able to adjust and arrange those difficult matters in a manner highly conducive to the national welfare. On the 17th of March, the President issued his proclamation convening congress to assemble in extra session, on the 31st of May following, for the purpose of taking into consideration the condition of the revenue and finances of the country. The great subject which had been the gist of the political controversy just ended, was thus to receive the almost immediate attention of congress; and the friends of the administration indulged the hope that the measures, which they believed the good of the country demanded, would soon be adopted, and on a footing promising the most complete success. What then was their disappointment and their grief, when, in less than a month reports were spread throughout the country, that the President was dangerously sick, and in a few days after, that he was no more! On the 4th of April, 1841, the following circular, signed by the different members of the cabinet, was issued, announcing to the nation the intelligence of his death.

“An all-wise Providence having suddenly removed from this life William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States, we have thought it our duty, in the recess of congress, and in the absence of the vice-president from the seat of government, to make this afflicting bereavement known to the country, by this declaration, under our hands. He died at the President’s house, in this city, this 4th day of April, Anno Domini, 1841, at thirty minutes before one o’clock in the morning.

“The people of the United States, overwhelmed like ourselves, by an event so unexpected and so melancholy, will derive consolation from knowing that his death was calm and resigned, as his life has been patriotic, useful, and distinguished; and that the last utterance of his lips expressed a fervent desire for the perpetuity of the Constitution, and the preservation of its true principles. In death, as in life, the happiness of his country was uppermost in his thoughts.”

A bereavement like this, unprecedented in the annals of the country, excited a universal sentiment of grief; and men of all parties united to do homage to the memory of the illustrious dead. After the performance of appropriate religious service at the presidential mansion, the body, followed by a magnificent cortege, was conveyed to the receiving tomb, in the city of Washington, whence it has been since transferred, at the request of the family friends, to a rural mound on the banks of the Ohio, near the former abode of the deceased.

The sad event was subsequently celebrated in all the principal cities and towns in the nation, by funeral processions, and funeral orations, in honor of the departed President.

On the very night of the melancholy catastrophe, the cabinet despatched a special messenger to the residence of the vice-president, in Virginia, to acquaint him with the national loss, that he might enter on the duties of the presidential office, which were now devolved on him by the Constitution. The vice-president, on receiving the intelligence, hastened to the seat of government, took the oath to discharge the duties of the office of President of the United States, invited the cabinet chosen by General Harrison to remain in their places, and immediately entered on the administration of the government. Thus, for the first time, in the history of the United States, was the vice-president called to discharge the functions of President.

President Tyler, having no public opportunity of presenting to the nation an exposition of the policy, which would guide his administration, in the form of an inaugural address, early after entering upon the duties to which Providence had called him, issued an official address to the people, containing a brief exposition of the principles, which he designed should govern him in the administration of public affairs. These were in general in accordance with those of his predecessor, and of the great political party, which had elevated him to the second office in the nation.

On the 13th of April, President Tyler addressed to the people of the United States, a recommendation of a national fast, to be observed on the 14th of May, with reference to the recent melancholy national bereavement. This recommendation of the President was strictly regarded throughout the country, and the 14th of May, 1841, was solemnly and religiously observed as a day of national fasting, humiliation and prayer.

On the 31st of May, 1841, congress assembled in accordance with the proclamation, which had been issued by President Harrison, and forthwith entered upon the business for which they had been assembled.

The first bill of importance, matured and adopted, was one to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States. As a reason for the adoption of such a system, it was urged with just weight, that owing to the extraordinary revulsions in trade and the pecuniary embarrassments resulting therefrom, which had taken place in the country within the last four years, there were more than five hundred thousand debtors in the United States, insolvent and for ever cut off from the prospect of being able to do any thing, either for themselves or their creditors, unless a bankrupt law should be passed for their relief. Petitions against the passage of this bill were also presented: and it met with strenuous opposition from members of congress of both political parties. The chief exception taken to the bill was its retrospective operation――discharging, as it did, contracts made before its passage. The operation of this measure was doubtless to furnish relief to many honest debtors; but it is needless to say, that the dishonest, in too many instances, took advantage of its provisions, and released themselves from solemn obligations, which they were able, but which they were unwilling, to fulfil.

The sub-treasury law, which Mr. Van Buren had so often and strenuously recommended to congress, and which had been adopted towards the close of his administration, was among the earliest laws repealed at the extra session. The vote on the question of repeal in the senate was twenty-nine to eighteen; in the house, one hundred and thirty-four to eighty-seven.

Another important measure adopted, was a bill providing for the distribution of the net proceeds of the public lands, and to allow to actual settlers certain pre-emption rights.

The main provisions of the bill are, that from and after the thirty-first day of December, 1841, there shall be allowed and paid to the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Michigan, over and above what each of the said states is entitled to by the terms of the compacts entered into between them and the United States upon their admission into the Union, the sum of ten per cent. upon the net proceeds of the sales of the public lands, which subsequent to the thirty-first day of December, 1841, shall be made within the limits of the said states respectively; and that after deducting the said ten per cent. and what by the before-mentioned compacts has been allowed to the states aforesaid, the residue of the net proceeds, after paying the expenses of the General Land Office, the expenses of surveying, and selling the said lands, &c., shall be divided among the twenty-six states of the Union, and the district of Columbia, and the territories of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Florida, according to their respective federal representative population, as ascertained by the last census, to be applied by the legislatures of the said states to such purposes as the said legislatures may direct; the share of the district of Columbia, however, to be applied to free schools, or education in some form, as Congress may direct. The net proceeds of the said sales are to be paid to the agents of the states, at the treasury of the United States, half yearly, that is, on the first day of January, and the first day of July, in each year.

The act grants to each of the states to which the ten per cent. distribution is to be made, five hundred thousand acres of land for purposes of internal improvement; or in cases where such grants have heretofore been made to any state, such number of acres as together with the previous grants, shall amount to five hundred thousand acres.

The provisions of this act in regard to pre-emption, are, substantially, that, with certain limitations, and restrictions provided in the act, every person being the head of a family, or widow, or single man, over the age of twenty-one years, and a citizen of the United States, or having filed a declaration of an intention to become a citizen in accordance with the naturalization laws, who since the first day of June, 1840, has settled, or shall hereafter settle on the public lands, may have the privilege of purchasing such land in which he has settled or shall settle, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, on paying to the United States the minimum price of such land.

The act is to continue in force until it shall be otherwise provided by law, unless the United States shall become involved in war with any foreign power, in which event, it is to be suspended during the war; and if at any time during the existence of the act, there shall be an imposition of duties on imports inconsistent with the provisions of the revenue act of 1832, and other revenue laws, and beyond the twenty per cent. duty on the value of the imports established by that act, in such case, the act is to be suspended until this cause of suspension shall be removed.

The duties on imports, having been constantly decreasing for several years, in accordance with the provisions of the revenue act of 1832, the revenue had at length become insufficient for the purposes of the government. A bill, therefore, was passed by congress for the imposition of duties of twenty per cent. on the value of all articles of import not expressly excepted therein. It was to take effect on the 1st of October, 1841.

But the great measure of the extra session however, was the establishment of a Bank of the United States. Whether there should be such an institution in the country, existing by any law of congress, had, indeed, been a great and exciting question for the twelve previous years. Both General Jackson and Mr. Van Buren, and the party, which they represented, were hostile to any such institution. During the then recent presidential contest this question had been extensively discussed, and the rival candidates, it was very well understood, entertained opposite views on the subject. The election of Gen. Harrison was considered, therefore, as an expression in favor of such an institution, by that majority of the people, which elevated him to the presidency; and the creation of such a bank, it was understood, was among the weighty and important matters on account of which the new President issued his proclamation for an extra session of congress. President Tyler, too, in his message to congress, on the assembling, seemed to join in the intimation before given by President Harrison, that some suitable agency ought forthwith to be established, for the purpose of collecting, keeping, and disbursing the public revenues.

Accordingly, soon after the opening of congress, a bill for the establishment of a National Bank, prepared by the secretary of the treasury, Mr. Ewing, was referred to a committee of the senate. This bill being drawn up by a member of the cabinet, it was generally supposed was in accordance with the views of the President, and if passed, would receive his sanction.――The bill provided for the establishment of a bank in the district of Columbia, to be termed, the “Fiscal Bank of the United States,” with power to establish branches in the states, with the consent of the states.――The committee of the senate to whom the subject had been referred, after due deliberation, reported a bill for the establishment of a Fiscal Bank, concurring in the main with the bill framed by the secretary of the treasury, but differing from it in one important feature, namely, in the power of the parent bank to establish branches in the different states without their assent. The charter of the bank of 1816 was assumed as the basis of the bill. The parent bank was to be located at the city of Washington, and to be under the control of nine directors, to be appointed annually, and to receive an annual stipend for their services, but not to be allowed any accommodation from the bank, in the shape of loans or discounts. The parent bank was to make no loans or discounts except to the United States government, and to that, only such as should be authorized by law. The capital stock of the bank was to be the sum of thirty millions of dollars; congress retaining the power to increase it to fifty millions. The dividends were to be limited to seven per cent. on the capital stock, the excess over that sum to be reserved until it should constitute a fund of two millions of dollars to be appropriated to the purpose of making good any losses which might be sustained, and the excess beyond that sum of two millions to be paid into the United States treasury. The directors were to have power to establish branches in the different states, and to commit the management of them to such persons as they should see fit. Foreigners were prohibited from holding any part of the capital stock. The United States were to subscribe for one-sixth part of the shares, and the individual states were also to be allowed to subscribe. Such were the main features of the bill as reported by the committee of the senate.

This bill, on being reported to the senate, encountered strenuous opposition from the anti-administration senators, who used all their efforts and skill, first to render it a nullity by means of different amendments which they proposed, and finally to destroy it altogether. The great advocate of the bill was the chairman of the committee who reported it, the Hon. Henry Clay. The most serious opposition to it came in the shape of an amendment, prepared by the Hon. Wm. C. Rives, of Virginia. This senator, perceiving in the bill what he deemed an infringement upon the rights of the states, reserved to them by the constitution, moved so to amend it, that no branches should be established in the states without the assent of their legislatures; branches being once established, however, not to be withdrawn without the assent of congress. This amendment was regarded by Mr. Clay and those who acted with him, as calculated to affect the bill in a vital part, and was strenuously resisted. After considerable debate, however, and a calculation of the probable chances of its passage unless some concession were made to the views of the friends of state-rights, Mr. Clay consented to a compromise, and the bill was so modified as to give the parent bank power to establish branches in such states as should not at the first session of their legislature, holden after its passage, express their dissent, and to make it imperative on the directors to establish a branch in any state in which two thousand shares should have been subscribed, or should be holden, whenever upon application of the legislature of such state congress should by law require the same. In case the legislature of any state should express neither assent nor dissent, its assent was to be presumed; and it was to be the duty of the directors to establish branches in the states, at all events, whether with the assent of the states or against their dissent, in case congress should by law so direct, for the purpose of carrying into effect any of their constitutional powers.

With this amendment, and some others of less importance, the bill finally passed the senate, and in a few days thereafter the house of representatives, and was presented to the President for his approval. The President, after retaining the bill in his hands until the constitutional period of ten days, allowed him for the purpose of consideration, had nearly expired, and during which time the whole country was awaiting his decision with the most anxious solicitude, at last, on the 16th of August, returned it to the senate with his veto.

In his assigning his reasons for such a measure, the President says, “the power of congress to create a National Bank to operate _per se_ over the Union has been a question of dispute from the origin of the government. Men most justly and deservedly esteemed for their high intellectual endowments, their virtue, and their patriotism, have in regard to it, entertained different and conflicting opinions. Congresses have differed. The approval of one President has been followed by the disapproval of another. The people at different times have acquiesced in decisions both for and against. The country has been and still is agitated by this unsettled question. It will suffice for me to say, that my own opinion has been uniformly proclaimed to be against the exercise of any such power by this government. On all suitable occasions, during a period of twenty-five years, the opinion thus entertained has been unreservedly expressed.”

This exercise of the veto power by the President, produced a great sensation both in congress and elsewhere throughout the country. With the political friends of the President, that is, with those to whom he owed his elevation to power, it was generally a subject of extreme regret; and it was even rumored that, in consequence of the veto, the cabinet would be dissolved, and an open separation would ensue between the President and the whig party. By the anti-administration party, on the other hand, the veto was hailed with joy, and the President, it was said, had saved his country. The message, however, met with a milder reception from the dominant party in congress than had generally been anticipated. The President seemed to be generally regarded as honest in his convictions and conscientious in his scruples, and a desire was soon manifested, on the part of those whose views differed from his, to have a new bill introduced into congress which should be free from what the President regarded as constitutional objections. The reasoning of the President in regard to the bill which he had returned, seemed to be directed mainly against the power to discount, and the power to establish offices of discount in the different states. In regard to the power to deal in exchanges, he expressed himself with more favor, and it was pretty generally inferred by those who read the message, that he would not disapprove a bill to establish a bank whose object should be to deal in exchanges. Accordingly, in a few days after the reception of the veto, a bill to establish such a bank under the title of the “Fiscal Corporation of the United States,” was introduced into the house of representatives, by the Hon. John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, soon passed, sent to the senate, there confirmed, and transmitted to the President for his signature. This bill, it was supposed, had been drawn up by those well acquainted with the President’s views, and in such a manner that he would surely give it his sanction. It was supposed that the party in power would not hazard a second experiment of the kind without having satisfactorily ascertained that such was the fact. But rumor soon began to whisper, that this bill also was to meet the fate of its predecessor. Nothing, however, was definitely known on the subject, until the 9th of September, when the President fully confirmed all that rumor had said, by returning the bill to the house of representatives with his _veto_.

This was a result sufficiently mortifying to the party, which had contributed to the election of Mr. Tyler as the associate of the lamented Harrison, and tended, in no small degree, to weaken the confidence which that party had reposed in him. From this time, it was obvious, that the President and his former political friends could no longer act in concert.

On the 13th of September, congress adjourned. Two days before, the whig members of the senate and of the house of representatives held a meeting in the city of Washington, at which it was resolved to publish an address to the people of the United States, containing a succinct exposition of the prominent proceedings of the extra session.

In that address, after speaking of the repeal of the sub-treasury law――the enactment of the land bill――and the passage of the bankrupt act――on account of which, considering their importance, they might well congratulate themselves and the country――they proceeded to profess their “profound and poignant regret,” that they had been defeated in two attempts to create a fiscal agent, of the necessity and importance of which they had satisfactory proof. “Twice have we,” said they, “with the utmost diligence and deliberation matured a plan for the collection, safe-keeping, and disbursing of the public moneys through the agency of a corporation adapted to that end, and twice has it been our fate to encounter the opposition of the President, through the application of the veto power. The character of that veto in each case, the circumstances in which it was administered, and the grounds upon which it has met the decided disapprobation of your friends in congress, are sufficiently apparent in the public documents, and the debates relating to it. This subject has acquired a painful interest with us, and will doubtless acquire it with you, from the unhappy developments, with which it is accompanied. We are constrained to say that we find no ground to justify us in the conviction that the veto of the President has been interposed on this question solely upon conscientious and well considered opinions of constitutional scruples as to his duty, in the case presented.” In another part of that address they say, “It is with profound sorrow we look to the course pursued by the President. He has wrested from us one of the best fruits of a long and painful struggle, and the consummation of a glorious victory; he has even, perhaps, thrown us once more upon the field of political strife, not weakened in numbers nor shorn of the support of the country, but stripped of the arms which success had placed in our hands, and left us again to rely upon that high patriotism, which, for twelve years, sustained us in a conflict of unequal asperity, and which finally brought us to the fulfilment of those brilliant hopes which he had done so much to destroy.”

The dissatisfaction thus manifested by the dominant party in congress soon extended itself to the cabinet of the President, which, in less than a week following the second veto of the President, was dissolved; the different members, with the exception of the secretary of state, resigning their places. The reasons for this step were given in detail, in a letter addressed to the President by Mr. Ewing, the secretary of the treasury, and published in the public journals. These reasons mainly referred to the exercise of the veto power by the President, and more especially to the course which Mr. Ewing stated the President had pursued in relation to the bill for the establishment of a fiscal corporation. This bill, Mr. Ewing says, was drawn up at the President’s request, considered and approved by him, and at his instance introduced into congress. On the resignation of his cabinet, the President nominated the following gentlemen to fill their places, viz.: Walter Forward, of Pennsylvania, secretary of the treasury; John M’Lean, of Ohio, secretary of war; Abel P. Upshur, of Virginia, secretary of the navy; Hugh S. Legare, of South Carolina, attorney-general; and Charles A. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, postmaster-general; which nominations the senate confirmed.

It may be here added, that great surprise was manifested, and deep regret expressed, that Mr. Webster, the secretary of state, still continued to occupy his place in the cabinet. His political friends, while they believed he was actuated by pure and patriotic motives, would have been better pleased, had he by resignation borne signal testimony against a course pursued by the President, subversive of some of the most favorite measures of the party, which had elevated him to the high office he held. The continuance of Mr. Webster in office proved, however, of signal advantage to the country, as through his instrumentality, more than that of any other man, that long agitated and most vexatious question, relative to the north-eastern boundary, was settled to the satisfaction of both the governments, interested therein.

On the 6th of December following, the twenty-seventh congress commenced its second session. In his message on the following day, the President adverted to several topics of national interest――the principal of which were our relations with Great Britain――the Florida war――the census――the tariff――and the adoption of some plan for the safe-keeping of the public funds.

Great Britain had made known to this government, the President said, that the expedition, which was fitted out from Canada for the destruction of the steamboat Caroline, in the winter of 1837, and which had resulted in the destruction of said boat, and the death of an American citizen, was undertaken by order from the authorities of the British government; and that if Alexander M’Leod, a British subject, indicted for that murder, was engaged in that expedition, that government demanded his release, on the ground that he was acting under orders of the government. Fortunately for the peace of the two countries, before this demand was made, M’Leod had been tried in the state of New York and acquitted. The affair of the Caroline, however, remained unadjusted; and, having now been publicly sanctioned by the British government, it would become a matter of grave negotiation with that government.

The war with the Indian tribes on the peninsula of Florida during the summer and fall, had been prosecuted with untiring activity and zeal. In despite of the sickness incident to the climate, our troops had penetrated the fastnesses of the Indians, broken up their encampments, and harassed them exceedingly.

The census for 1840, had been completed, and exhibited a grand total of 17,069,453; making an increase over the census of 1830, of 4,202,646, and showing a gain in a ratio exceeding thirty-two and a half per cent., for the last ten years.

Apprehending that a revision of the tariff might be deemed necessary, the President expressed a wish, that in that case, moderate counsels might prevail. In regard to discrimination as to articles, on which a duty might be laid, he admitted that so long as reference was had to revenue to the wants of the treasury, no well founded objection could exist against such discrimination, although by that means incidental protection should be furnished to manufactures. It might, however, he said, be esteemed desirable that no such augmentation of the taxes should take place, as would have the effect of annulling the land proceeds distribution act of the last session, which act is declared to be in operation the moment the duties are increased beyond twenty per cent., the maximum rate established by the compromise act.

Next, he adverted to a pledge, which he had given at a former day, to suggest a plan for the control and safe-keeping of the public funds. “This plan contemplates,” said he, “the establishment of a board of control, at the seat of government, with agencies at prominent commercial points, or wherever else congress shall direct, for the safe-keeping and disbursement of the public moneys; and a substitution, at the option of the public creditors, of treasury notes, in lieu of gold and silver. It proposes to limit the issues to an amount not to exceed 15,000,000 dollars――without the express sanction of the legislative power. It also authorizes the receipt of individual deposits of gold and silver to a limited amount, and the granting of certificates of deposit, divided into such sums, as may be called for by the depositors. It proceeds a step further, and authorizes the purchase and sale of domestic bills, and drafts resting on a real and substantial basis, payable at sight, or having but a short time to run, and drawn on places not less than one hundred miles apart――which authority, except in so far as may be necessary for the government purposes exclusively, is only to be exerted upon express condition, that its exercise shall not be prohibited by the state in which the agency is situated.

“In order to cover the expenses incident to the plan, it will be authorized to receive moderate premiums for certificates issued on deposits, and on bills bought and sold, and thus, as far as its dealings extend, to furnish facilities to commercial intercourse at the lowest possible rates, and to subduct from the earnings of industry, the least possible sum. It uses the state banks at a distance from the agencies as auxiliaries, without imparting any power to trade in its name. It is subjected to such guards and restraints as appear to be necessary. It is the creature of law, and exists only at the pleasure of the legislature. It is made to rest on an actual specie basis, in order to redeem the notes at the places of issue――produces no dangerous redundancy of circulation――affords no temptation to speculation――is attended by no inflation of prices――is equable in its operation――makes the treasury notes, which it may use along with the certificates of deposit, and the notes of specie paying banks――convertible at the place where collected, receivable in payment of government dues――and, without violating any principle of the Constitution, affords the government and the people such facilities as are called for by the wants of both. Such, it has appeared to me, are its recommendations, and in view of them it will be submitted, whenever you require it, to your consideration.”

Among the measures adopted by the second session of the twenty-fifth congress, the first we shall notice was an act for apportioning the representatives, among the several states according to the fourth census. Several different ratios were proposed, but at length the number of one representative for every 50,179 was adopted by the house. This number was changed in the senate for 70,680; and after a long discussion in the house, the amendment was agreed to. A further amendment was also concurred in, viz., that each state having a fraction greater than a moiety of the said ratio should be entitled to an additional representative. This act received the approval and signature of the President on the twenty-fifth of June. But accompanying the message, announcing that approval, was an intimation that he had caused the act to be deposited in the office of the secretary of state, accompanied by an exposition of his reasons for giving it his sanction. Such a course on the part of a president, being unprecedented, a resolution was adopted, calling on the secretary for an authenticated copy of those reasons.

When furnished, it appeared that the chief objection which the President had to the bill, was its mandatory requisition upon the states to form districts for the choice of representatives to congress, in single districts. Of the constitutional power of congress in this respect, as well as in regard to the policy of the act, he had serious doubts; but he had signed the bill “from respect to the declared will of the two houses.”