Thirty Years' View (Vol. 2 of 2): or, A History of the Working of the American Government for Thirty Years, from 1820 to 1850Benton, Thomas Hart
History
Thirty Years' View (Vol. 2 of 2): or, A History of the Working of the American Government for Thirty Years, from 1820 to 1850
Benton, Thomas Hart
United States -- Politics and government -- 1815-1861
This was explicit, and showed that all attempts to operate upon the
President at that point, and to coerce the revocation of a measure
which he deemed salutary, had totally failed. The next great object
of the party which had contrived the suspension and organized the
distress, was to extort the re-establishment of the Bank of the
United States; and here again was an equal failure to operate upon
the firmness of the President. He reiterated his former objections
to such an institution--not merely to the particular one which had
been tried--but to any one in any form, and declared his former
convictions to be strengthened by recent events. Thus:
"We have seen for nearly half a century, that those who advocate
a national bank, by whatever motive they may be influenced,
constitute a portion of our community too numerous to allow us
to hope for an early abandonment of their favorite plan. On the
other hand, they must indeed form an erroneous estimate of the
intelligence and temper of the American people, who suppose that
they have continued, on slight or insufficient grounds, their
persevering opposition to such an institution; or that they can
be induced by pecuniary pressure, or by any other combination
of circumstances, to surrender principles they have so long
and so inflexibly maintained. My own views of the subject are
unchanged. They have been repeatedly and unreservedly announced
to my fellow-citizens, who, with full knowledge of them,
conferred upon me the two highest offices of the government.
On the last of these occasions, I felt it due to the people
to apprise them distinctly, that, in the event of my election,
I would not be able to co-operate in the re-establishment of a
national bank. To these sentiments, I have now only to add the
expression of an increased conviction, that the re-establishment
of such a bank, in any form, whilst it would not accomplish the
beneficial purpose promised by its advocates, would impair the
rightful supremacy of the popular will; injure the character and
diminish the influence of our political system; and bring once
more into existence a concentrated moneyed power, hostile to
the spirit, and threatening the permanency, of our republican
institutions."
Having noticed these two great points of pressure upon him, and
thrown them off with equal strength and decorum, he went forward
to a new point--the connection of the federal government with any
bank of issue in any form, either as a depository of its moneys,
or in the use of its notes;--and recommended a total and perpetual
dissolution of the connection. This was a new point of policy, long
meditated by some, but now first brought forward for legislative
action, and cogently recommended to Congress for its adoption.
The message, referring to the recent failure of the banks, took
advantage of it to say:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account