Benton, Thomas Hart, 1782-1858; Legislators -- United States -- Biography
All the state banks were of course rabidly in favor of Jackson; and the
presidential election of 1832 was largely fought on the bank issue. In
Pennsylvania, however, the feeling for the Bank was only less strong
than that for Jackson; and accordingly that Boeotian community sapiently
cast its electoral votes for the latter, while instructing its senators
and representatives to support the former. But the complete and hopeless
defeat of Clay by Jackson sealed the fate of the Bank. Jackson was not
even content to let it die naturally by the lapse of its charter. His
attitude towards it so far had been one for which much could be said;
indeed, very good grounds can be shown for thinking his veto proper. But
of the impropriety of his next step there could be no possible question.
Congress had passed a resolution declaring its belief in the safety of
the United States deposits in the Bank; but the president, in the summer
of 1833, removed these deposits and placed them in certain state banks.
He experienced some difficulty in getting a secretary of the treasury
who would take such a step; finally he found one in Taney.
The Bank memorialized Congress at once; and the anti-administration
majority in the Senate forthwith took up the quarrel. They first
rejected Jackson's nominations for bank directors, and then refused to
confirm Taney himself. Two years later Jackson made the latter Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court, in which position he lived to do even more
mischief than he had time or opportunity to accomplish as secretary of
the treasury.
Benton was the administration champion in the Senate. Opposed to him
were Webster and Clay, as leaders of the Whigs, supported for the time
being by Calhoun. The feeling of Clay and Calhoun against the president
was bitterly personal, and was repaid by his rancorous hatred. But
Webster, though he was really on most questions even more antagonistic
to the ideas of the Jacksonian school, always remained personally on
good terms with its leaders.
Clay introduced a resolution directing the return of the deposits;
Benton opposed it; it passed by a vote of twenty-eight to eighteen, but
was lost in the House. Clay then introduced a resolution demanding to
know from the president whether the paper alleged to have been published
by his authority as having been read to the cabinet, in relation to the
removal of the deposits, was genuine or not; and, if it was, asking for
a copy. Benton opposed the motion, which nevertheless passed. But the
president refused to accede to the demand. Meanwhile the new departure
in banking, inaugurated by the president, was working badly. One of the
main grounds for removing the deposits was the allegation that they were
used to debauch politics. This was never proved against the old United
States Bank; but under Jackson's administration, which corrupted the
public service in every way, the deposits became fruitful sources of
political reward and bribery.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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