=363. Censure of Jackson’s Action.=—Few actions of an American President have been more harshly criticised than that of Jackson toward the Bank of the United States, but it cost him little of his popularity with the masses, because they, like himself, were suspicious of corporate wealth. The wealthy classes, however, denounced him freely, and with some reason. The changes necessitated in his Cabinet in order that his wishes might be carried out suited rather a self-willed sovereign like Louis XIV. than the constitutional executive of a republic. The vindictiveness with which he pursued his policy was appropriate to a small, rather than a great, man. Besides, the whole matter was one for financiers to manage, and Jackson knew more of fighting than he did of finance. Nor was popular acquiescence in his policy a sure indication of its wisdom. On the other hand, the president of the bank, Nicholas Biddle, of Philadelphia, acted with indiscretion and injured his own cause. Clay also was premature in forcing the issue and had a partisan purpose in doing it. The bank had years before been grossly mismanaged (§ 317, note) and might be so again; and when its existence was threatened, it used money in politics. Moreover, after its charter expired, its career under the laws of Pennsylvania was discreditable. Taking all these facts into consideration, we are perhaps justified in concluding that Jackson’s methods of procedure deserve great censure in spite of his integrity, but that what he actually did was not nearly so detrimental to the interests of the country as some persons have considered it. =364. Banks and Speculation.=—But the end was not yet. The funds removed from the Bank of the United States were deposited in state banks, controlled by Democrats, and afterwards known as “Jackson’s Pets.” This governmental favor caused the numbers of such banks to increase, and thus stimulated the universal desire to indulge in financial speculation. The public revenues meanwhile increased through speculation in public lands and through larger imports, and as the national debt had been paid off shortly before, it was hard to decide what to do with the accumulated funds. An outlet for this surplus was found in non-interest-bearing loans to the states in proportion to their representation in Congress. This distribution of the surplus—a favorite project of Clay’s and destined later to complicate the financial situation still more seriously—increased the tendency toward extravagant internal improvements, and thus fed the fever for speculation which, as we have just said, both supported and was supported by a loose system of banking under state control.