Vo L . VT. No. 39.] TIIP.MC OF TIIE HUNTDIGDOIV JOURNAL. TIIC " JoURNAL" will be published every ,J Anesday morning, at two dollars a year, paid IN AD V AN CE, and if not paid with six months, two dollars and a half. Eve,ry person who obtains five subscribers, ..tal forwards price of subscription, shall be ..iroished with. sixth copy gratuitously fur Jae year. Nu 4ahscription received for a less period th.ut a c !ninths, nor any paper discontinued until tll :irrearages are paid. j - 3► %Al cwn inwtications mu.it he addressed tho litor, POST YALU, or they will not ha attended to. .. - &ivcTtisein7nts not exceeding one square, will be inserted three times for one dollar, and for every subsequent insertion, twenty live cents per square will be chlrged. lino definite orders are given as to the tune an advertisement is to be combined, it will be 3c , pt ill till ordered out, and charged accor alingly. AG EN TS. FOR The Rhoslingdon Journal. Daniel Teague, Orbisonia; David Blair. Esq. Shade Gap; Benjamin Lease. Shirleyei l burs; Eliel Smith. Esq. Chilcottstown; Jas. Entriken. jr. C'effee Run; Hugh Madden, Esq. Springfield; Dr. S. S. Dewey, Bit— . minghatn; James Morrow. Union Furnace ; John Sisler. Warrior Mark; James Davis, Esq. West township. ; D. H. Moore. Esq. Yrankstown; Eph. Galbreath. Esq. Holli daysburg; Henry Neff. Alexandria; Aaron Burns, Williamsburg; A. J. Stewart, Water Street; Win. Reed. Esq. Morris township; Solom,m Hamer. .heff's Mill; Junes Dysart. Mouth Spruce Creek; Win. Murray, Esq. Graysville; John Crum. Manor I 1111; Jas. E. Stewart. Sinking Valley; L. C. Kessler Mill Creek. VETO ViirASSAG:O FROX THE Prisidend of the Visited Stales lIETUURNING, WITH HIS OBJECTIONS, " he bill io prouide for the better collec tion, sale keeping, and aisbursentent of the public retenue, by means of a Cor• ',oration, to be styled the Fiscal Corpo ration of the United Stales." Szesagneß, 9, 1941 To the House of Representatives of the United States : It is with extreme regret that I feel myself constrained, by the duty faithful ly to execute the office of President of the United States, and to the best of my ability to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, to re turn to that !tense in which it originated, the bill " to provide tor the better collec tion, safe keeping, and disbursement of the public revenue, by means of a corpo ration to be styled the Fiscal Corporation of the United States," with my written objections. In my message sent to the Senate on the 16th day of August last, returning the bill "to incur porate the subscribers to the Fiscal Bank of the United States," I distinctly declared that my own opinion had been uniformly proclaimed against the exercise "of the power of Congress to create a National Bank, to operate per se over the Union;" nil entertaining that opinion, my main objection to that bill was based upon the highest moral and re ligious ohligations of eonscience and the Constitution. I reAl4y admit, that whilst the qualified veto which the Chief Magistrate is invested should be regarded, and was intended by the wise men who made it a part of the Constitution, as a great conservative principle of our system, without the exercise of which, on import ant occasions, a mere representative ma jority might urge the Government in its legislation beyond the limits fixed by far mers, or might exert its just powers too hastily or oppressively; yet it it a power which ought to be most cautiously exert ed, and perhaps never, except in a case immediatly involving the public interest, or one in which the oath of the President, Acting under his convictions, both mental and moral, imperiously require its exer ,cise. In such case he hoe no alternative. He must either exert the negative pow er intrusted to him by the Constitution •chielly for ito own preservation, protec tion, and defence, or commit an act of gross moral turpitude. Mere regard to the will of a majority must nut, in a con stitutional republic like ours, control this sacred and solemn duty of a sworn offic er. The Constitution itself i regard and cherish as the embodied and written will of the whole people of the United States. It their fixed and fundamental law, which they unanimously prescribe to the 'ollie functionaries—their mere trustees sad servants. This, their will, and the law which they have given us as the rule of our action, has no guard, no guarantee of preservation, protection, and defence, but the oath which it prescribes to the pub lic officers, the sanctity with which they shall religiously observe those oaths, and the patriotism with which the people shall shield it by their own eoreroign S; ,A HUNTINGDON, PENNSYLVANIA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1841 which has made the constitution supreme. It must be exerted against the will of a mere representative majority, or not at all. It is alone in pursuance of that will that any measure can ever reach the President; and to say that because a majority in Congress have passed a bill the President should therefore sanction it, is to abrogate the power alto;ether, and to render its in sertion in the Constitution a work of ab• solute superogatiou. The duty is to guard the fundamental will of the people them selves from (iu this case 1 mink uninten tionally) change or infraction by a majori ty in Congress. And in that light alone, do I regard the constitutional duty which 1 pow must reluctantly discharge. Is this bill, now presented for my ap proval or disapproval, such a bill as I have already declared could not receive my sanction ? Is it such a bill as calls for the exercise of the negative power under the Constitution 1 Does it violate the i Constitution, by creating a national bank,l to operate per ac over the Union ? Its tH tie, in the first place describes its general character. It is "An act to provide for the better collection, sate keeping, and disbursement of the public revenue, by means of a corporation, to be styled the Fiscal Corporation of the United States. Lu style then, it is plainly national in its character. Its powers, functions, and duties, are! those which pertain to the collecting, keep ing, and disbursing the public revenue. The means by which these are to be ex erted is a corporation, to be styled the Fiscal Corporation of the United Slates, It is a corporation created by the•'Con gress of the United States, in the charac ter of a National Legislature fur the whole Union, to perform the fiscal purposes, meet the fiscal wants and exigencies, sup ply the fiscal uses, and exert the fiscal a gencies of the Treasury of the United States. Such is its own description of it self. Do its provisions contradict its title I They do not. It is true, that by its first section it provides that it shall be established in the Disttict of Columbia, bit t the amount fits capital—the manner in which its stock is to be subscribed for and held —the persons, bodies, corporate and public, by whom its stoct may be held —the appointment of its directors, and their powers and duties—its fundamental artiolos; especially that to establish agen cies in any part of the Union—the corpo rate powers anil business of such agencies —the prohibition of Congress to establish any other corporation with similar powers far twenty years, with express reservation in the same clause, to modify or create any bank fur the District of Columbia, so that the aggregate capital shall not ex ceed five millions; without enumerating other features which are equally distinc tive and characteristic, clearly show that it cannot be regarded as other than a Bank of the United States, with powers seemingly more limited than have hereto. fore been granted to such an institution. —lt operates per se over the Union. by virtue of the unaided, and, in my view, assumed authority of Congress as a Na tional Legislature, as distinguishable from a bank created by Congress for the Dis trict of Columbia, as the local Legisla ture of the District. Mvery United States Batik heretofore created has had power to deal in bills of exchat.ge, as well as in local discounts. Both were trading pri . viliges conferred, and both exercised by virtue of the aforesaid power of Congress,, over the whole Union.—The question of; power remains unchanged, without refer ence to the extent of privilege granted-- If this proposed Corporation is to be re • graded as a local bank of the District of Columbia, invested by Congress with gen• eral powers to operate over the Union, it • is obooxitma to still stronger objections. It assumes that Congress may invest a • local institution with general, or national • powers. With the same propriety that it may do this in regard to a bank of the Diss , tact of Columbia, it may as the State' , , bank.--Yet who can indulge the idea that this Government can rightfully, by mak ing a State bank its fiscal.agent, invest it with the absolute and unqualified powers conferred by this bill 1 When I coins to look at the details of the bill, they do not recommend it strongly to my adoption. A bref notice of some of its praviatous will suffice. Ist, It may justify substantially a sys tem•of discounts cf the most objectioable character. It is to deal in bills of ex change drawn in one State and payable in au other, without any restraint. The bill of exchange may have an unlinked time to run, and its tenewalnlity is no where guarded against. It may, in fact, assume the most objectionable form of acs cutnmodation paper. It is not required to rest on any actual, real, or substantial exchange basis; a drawer in one place be comes the acceptor in an other, and so on in turn the aczeptortor may become the drawer, upon a mutual understanding. It may at the same time, indulge in mei e local discount under the name of bills of :exchange. A bill desire at Philadelphia "ONE COUNTRY, ONE CONSTITUTION, ONE DESTINY." A. W. BRNEDICT PITIILISFIFIIFt AND PROPRIETOR. on Camden, New Jersey ; at New York on a border town in New Jersey; at Ciu- cinnati on Newport, Kentucky, not to multiply other examples, might fur any.' thing in this bill to restrain it, become a mere matter of local accommodation. Cities thus relatively situated would pos sess advantage over cities otherwise situ ated, of so decided a character as must justly to excite disatisfaction. 2d—There is nu limit prescribed to the premium in the purchase of bills of ex change ; thereby correcting none of the evils under which the community now labors, and operating most injuriously up on the agricultural States, in which the unequality in the rates of exchanges are most severer felt. Nor are these the only consequences. A resumption of specie payments by the banks of these States, would he liable to indefinite post ponement, for as the operation of the agen cies of the interior would chiefly consist ' in settling bills of exchange, and the pur chases could only be made in spcie, or iq notes of banks paying specie, the State banks would either have to continue with their doors closed, or exist at the mercy of this national monopoly of brokerage., Nor can it Le passed over without remark,l that whilst the District of Columbia is made the scat of the principal bank, its citizens are excluded from all patticipas tion in any benefit it might afford, by a positive prohibition of the bank from all discounting within the District. These are some of the objections which prominently exist against the details of the bill ; others might be urged, of much force, but it would be unprofitable to dwell upon them : sullen it to add, that this character is designed to continue for twenty years, without a competitor, that the defects to which 1 have alluded being founded in the fundamental law of the Corporation, are irrecoverable ; and that if the objections be well founded, it would be over hazardous to pass the bill into a In conclusion, I take leave most re spectfully to say, that I have telt the most anxious solicitude to meet the wishes of Congress in the adoption of a fiscal agent which, avoiding all the constitutional ob. jectious, should harmonise conflicting o•inions. Actuated by this feeling, I have been ready to yield much, in a spirit of conciliation, to the opinions ambers; and it is with great pain that I now feel compelled to differ from Congress a sec. nod time in the same session. At the commencement of this session, inclined from chuice to defer the legislative will, Isubinitted to Congress the propriety of adopting a Fiscal Agent which, without violating the Constitution. would separate the public moneys front the Executive control, perform the operations of the Treasury without being burdensome to the People, or inconvenient or expensive to the Government. It is deeply to be regretted that this Department of the Government cannot, upon constitutional and other grounds, concur with the Legis lative Department in this last measure proposed to attain these desirable objects. Owing to the brief space between the pe riod of the death of my lamented prede cessor, and toy own installation into of five. I was, in fact, not left time to pre• pare and submit a definitive recommen dation of my own regular message, and my mind has been wholly occupied in a must usixious attempt to conform my action to the Legislative will. In this communication, I am confined by the Constitution to my objections, sinus ply to this bill, but the regular Session will soon at rive, when it will be my duty under another clause of the Constitution " to give to Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as shall judge necessary and expedient"' And 1 most respectfully sulimit in a spirit of harmony, whether tote present differ ences of opinion should be pressed furth er at this time, and whether the peculiari ty of my situation does not entitle MC to a postponement of this subject to a more auspicious period for deliberation. The two houses of Congress have dis tinguished themselves at this extraordina ry session, by thin performance of an im mense mass of labor at a season very uns favorable 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 ex pectations. It has been toy good fortune and pleasure to concur with then► in all measures, except this, and why should our diffirence on this alone be pushed to ex tremes? It is my anxious desire that they should not be. 1, too, have been burdened with extraordinary labor of late, and I sincerely desire time for deep and deliberate reflection on this, the great est 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 cor dially unite, sorne measure of finance may be deliberately adopted, promotive 'of do good of our common country. I will take this occasion to declare, that the conclusions to which I have brought myself are those of settled conviction, founded in my opinion on a just view of the Constitution, that, in arriving at it, I have been actuated by no other motive or desire than to uphold the institutions of the country as they have come down to us from our god-like ancestors; ani that I shall esteem my efforts to sustain them, even though I perish, more honorable than to win the applause of men, by a sa crifice of my duty and my conscience. JOHN TYLER. Washington, September, 9, 1841. From Ow IVattonal latelligencer. The Letters ad Resignatioh. The following Letters of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attordey Gener al, resigning their respective trusts, have been placed in our hands for publication: WASHINGTON, September 11,1841. Sue: 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 my longer continuance in office as a mem ber of your Cabinet will be neither agree able to you, useful to the country, or hon orable to myself. Do me the justice, Mr. President, to be lieve that this conclusion has been adopted neither capriciously, nor in any spirit of party feeling or personal hostility, but from a some of duly, which, Ini.taken though it may be, is yet so sincerely en tertained, that I cheerfully sacrifice to it the advantage and distinctions of (ace. Be pleased, therefore, to accept this as my resignation of the office of Attorney General of the U. States. Vert• respectfully, yours, 4'c. J. J. CRITTENDEN THE PRESIDENT. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Sept. 11, 1841 Sia: After the most calm and careful consideration, and viewing the subject in all the aspects in which it presents itselt to my mind, I have come to the conclr slim that I ought no longer to remain a member of', our Cabinet. I therefore re sign the office of Secretary of the Treasu. ry, and beg you to accept this as my let ter of resignation. To ave.id misunderstanding, I distinct. ly declare that I du not consider a diHcr ence of opinion as to the charter of a Na tional Bank a sufficient reason for dissol ving 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 unwil lingness to accord it to the wishes of the People and the States, so unequivocally expressed through their Representatives, still upon this and this alone, nuconnect ed with other controlling circumstances, I should not have felt bound to resign the place which I hold in your Administra. tom. But those controlling circumstan ces do exist, and I will, in my own justi fication, place them in connexion before you. . . It is but just to you to say that the bill which first passed the two Houses of Con• gress, and which was returned with your objections on the 16th of August, did ne ver in its progress, as far as I know or believe, receive at any time either your express or implied assent. So far as that 'hilt was known to me, or as I was consul ted upon it, I endeavored to bring its pro visions as nearly as possible in accordance with what I understood to be your views, and rather hoped than expected your ap• proval. I knew the extent to which you were committed on the question. I knew the pertinacity with which you adhered to your expressed opinions, and 1 dread- I ed Irons the first the most disastrous con sequences, when the project of comprom ise which l presented at an early day was rejected. It is equally a matter of justice to you and to myself to say that the bill which I reported to the two Houses of Congress at the commencement of the session, in obe• dience to their call, was modified so as to meet your approbation. You may not, it is true, have read the bill throughout, and examined every part of it; but the 16th fundamental article, which became tho contested question of principle, was free ly discussed between us, and it was tin• derstood and unequivocally sanctioned by yourself. The last clause in the bill, also, which contained a reservation of power in Congress, teas inserted on the 9th of June„ to your presence, and with your ap probation; though you at one time told toe that, in giving your sanction to the bill, you would accompany it with an ex planation of your understanding of the first clause. In this condition of things, though I greeatly regretted your veto on the hill us it passed the two Houses of Congress. and though I foresaw the excitement and agitation which it would produce among the People, vet, considering the changes; which the bill had undergone in its pas- sage, and its variance from the one you had agreed to sanction, 1 could not find in that act enough to disturb the confiden tial relations which existed between us. I was disposed to attribute this act, fraught with mischief us it was, to pure and hon orable motives, and to a conscientious ,conviction on your part that the bill, in some of its provisions, conflicted with the Constitution. But that opinion of your course on the bill which has just been re turned to Congress with your second ve to, Ido not and cannot entertain. Recur to what has passed between us with re• spect to it, and you will at once perceive that such opinion is impossible. The 18th being the day for our regular Cabinet meeting, we assembled, all except Messrs. Crittenden and Granger, and you told us that you had had a lung conversa tion with Messrs. Berrien and Sergeant who professed to conic in behalf of the Whigs of the two Houses to endeavor to strike out some measure which would be generally acceptable. That you had your doubts about the propriety of conversing with them yourself, and thought it more proper that you should commune with them through your constitutional advisers. You expressed a wish that the whole sub ject should be postponed till the next ses sion of Congress. You spoke of the de lay in the Senate of the consideration of your veto message, and expressed anxiety , as to the tone and temper which the de bate would assume. Mr. Badger said that on inquiry he was happy to find that the best temper pre vailed in the two Houses. He believed they were perfect ready to take up the bill reported by the Secretary of the Treasu• ry, and pass it at once. You replied,— Hl'alk nut to me of Mr. swing's bill, it contains that odious feature of local dis counts which I have repudiated in my message' I then said to you, '1 have no doubt, sir, that the House, having ascer tained your views, will pass a bill in con formity to them, provided they can be satisfied that it would answer the purpos see of the Treasury, and relieve the coun try.' You then said, 'Cannot my Caul net see that this is brought about? You must stand by inc in this emergency.— Catena you see that a bill passes Con glees such as I can approve without in consistency?' I declared again my bet lief that such a bill might be passed. And you then said to me, . What do ytiu un derstand to be my opinions? State them, so that I may see that there is no misap prehension about them.' I then said that 1 understood you to be of opinion that Congress might charter a bank in the District of Columbia, giving it its location here. To this you assented. That they might authorize such bank to establish offices of discount and deposite in the several States, with the assent of the States. To this you replied, 'Don't name discounts; they have been the source of the most abominable corruptions, and wholly unnecessary to enable the bank to discharge its duties to the country and the Government' I observed in reply that I was proposing nothing, but simply endeavoring to state what I had understood to he your opinion as to the powers which Congress might ,constitutionally confer on a bank; that on that point I stood corrected. I then proceeded to say that I understood you to be of of opinion that Congress might au thorize such bank to establish agencies in the several States, with power to deal in bills of exchange, without the assent of the States, to which you replied, 'Yes, if they be foreign bills, or bills drawn in one State and payable in another. That is all the power necessary for transmitting the public funds and regulating exchanges and the currency.' Mr. Webster then expressed in strong Jams, his opinion that such a charter would answer all just purposes of Govern ment and be satisfactory to the People; and declared his preference for it over any which hod been proposed, especially as it dispensed with the assent of the States to the creation of an institution necessary for carrying on the fiscal operations of Government. He examined it at some length, boils as to its constitutionality and its influence on the currency and exchan ges, in which views you expressed your concurrence, desired that such a bill should be introduced, and especially that it should 7.n into the hands of some of your friends. Tu my inquiry whether Mr. Sergeant would be agreeable to you, you replied that he would. You especially requested Mr. Webster and myself to communicate with Messrs. Berrien and Sergeant on the subject, to whom you said you had prom ised to address a note, but you doubted not that this personal communication would be equally satisfactory. You de sired us, also, in communicating with those gentlemen, not to commit you per sonally, least, this being recognized as your measure, it might be made a subject of comparison to your prejudice in the course of discussion. You and Mr. Web ster then conversed about the particular wording of the 113th fundamental article, [WnoLE No. 299. containing the grant of power to deal in ex changes, and of the connexion in which that grant should be introduced ; you al so spoke of the name of the institution, desiring that that should be changed. To this I objected, as it would probably be made a subject of ridicule, but you insist• ed that there was much in a name, and this institution ought not to be called a bank. Mr. Webster undertook to ad apt _ lit in this particlur to your wishes. Mr. Bell then observed to Mr. Webster and myself that we had no time to lose ; that if this were not immediately attended to, another bill, less acceptable. might be got up and reported. We replied that we would lose no time. Mr. Webeter accor dingly called on Messrs. Berrien and Sergeant immediately, and I waited on them by his appointment at 5 o'clock on the same day, and agreed upon the prin ciples of the bill in accordance with your expressed wishes. And lam apprised of the fact, though it did not occur in my presence, that after the bill was drawn up, and before it was reported, it was seen and examined by yourself; that your attention was specially called to the 16th fundamental article ; that on full examination you concurred hi its pro visions; that at the same time its name was so modified as to meet your approba tion ; and the bill was reported and pas sed, in all essential particulars, as it was when it came through your hands. You asked Mr. Webster and myself each to prepare and present you an argu ment touching the constitutionality of the bill ; and before those arguments could be prepared and read by you, you declar ed, as I heard and believe, to gentlemen, 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 assurance of your future course, in case of such post ponement. By soine du-, and I was my self 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 in the postponement. It failed, as I have reason to believe, because you would give no as surance that the delay was not sought as a means and occasion for hostile movements. During this season of deep feeling and earnest exertion upon our part, while we were zealously devoting, our talents and influence to serve and to sustain you, the very sect eta 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 and foul abuse of your Cabi net. All this t bore ; for I felt that isy services, so long as they could Ryan, were due to the nation—to that great and mag nanimous people whose suffrages elevated your predecessor to the station which you now fill, and whose united voices appro ved his act when he summoned us around him to be his counsellors; and when I felt that what was due to his memory, to the injunctions which he lett us in his last dying words, and to the people, whose servants we were, had not all been perfor med until every means was tried, and ev ery hope had failed of carrying out the true principles upon which the mighty movement was founded that elevated him and you to power. 'Thin bill, framed and fashioned accord ing to your own suggestions, in the initia tion of which I and another member of your Cabinet were made by you the agents and the negotiators, was passed by large majorities through the two Houses of Con gress, and sent to you and you rejected it. Important as was the part which 1 bad taken at your request, in the organiza tion of this bill, and deeply as /was cam. witted for your action upon it, you never consulted Die on the veto message. You did not even refer to it in conversation, and the first notice I hail of its contests was derived front rumor. And to me, at least, you have done nothing to wipe away the personal indig• nity arising out of the act. I gathered, it is true, from your couversation, shortly atter the bill had passed the House, that you had a strong purpose to reject it ; but nothing was said like softening or apology to me, either in reference to myself or to those with whom 1 had communicated at your request, sad who had acted them selves and iduced 'the two Houses to act upon the fault of that cotnrnunicatioo. And, strange as it may seem, the Van Message attacks in an especial manner the very provisions which were inserted at your request; and even the name of the corporation, which was not only a greed to by you, but especially changed to meet your expressed wishes, is made the object of your criticism. Different men might view this transaction in differ ent points of light, bet, under these cir cumstances, as a matter of personal l'on or, it would be hard for me to remain of your counsel, to seal my lips sad leave
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