Reception of the veto message in the Senate, 350;
hisses and applause in the galleries, 350;
Mr. Benton moves that the Sergeant-at-Arms take into custody those who hissed, 351;
debate on the amount of the disorderly proceedings, 351, 352.
See Tyler's Administration.
Bank of the United States.—Changes to a State institution, 23;
history since the expiration of her charter, 23;
the bill reported in the Assembly of Pennsylvania, 24;
the tail to a bill to repeal a tax and make roads and canals, 24;
its reception in the House, 24;
an explanation demanded, 24;
letter of Mr. Biddle to J. Q. Adams, 24;
the first step in the movement, 24;
how managed, 24;
the bonus, 24;
passage of the bill through the legislature, 25;
indignation of the people, 25;
investigation of the next legislature, 25;
remarks, 25.
Refuses to cease its operations after its legal existence had expired, 67;
its proviso charter made no difference in its condition, 67;
its use of the defunct notes of the expired institution, 68;
statement of its conduct by Mr. Buchanan, 68;
remarks of Calhoun on the right of Congress to pass a bill on this subject, 69;
it rests on the general power of legislation, 69;
character of the bill, 69;
this the last question between the bank and the Federal government, 69.
Resumption by the Pennsylvania U. S. Bank.—Effect of resumption by the New York banks, 94;
convention called in Philadelphia, 94;
result of its deliberations, 94;
resumption, 94;
speedy failure again and forever of the U. S. Bank foretold, 94.
Exposition of its affairs, 157;
resignation of Mr. Biddle, 157;
prediction of Senator Benton, 157;
suspension, 157;
its effects, 157;
another statement of her condition, 158.
Silence in Congress on this institution, 365;
her condition, 365;
report of the affairs to the stockholders, 365;
the exhibition of waste and destruction, 365;
proceedings of the bank during the period of the application for a recharter, 366;
its loans, 366;
to whom made, 366;
manner in which they were made, 366;
extract from the report on this point, 366;
its foreign agencies, 367;
business of these stock speculations, 367;
extract, 367;
losses by the cotton agency, 368;
extracts from the report, 368;
the way of the bank in guaranteeing the individual contracts of Mr. Biddle, 369;
unintelligible accounts of large amounts, 369;
parties concerned refuse to give an explanation, 369;
entertainments to members of Congress at immense expense, 369;
losses of stockholders, 369;
statement of the London Bankers' Circular, 370;
the credit of the bank and the prices of its stock kept up by delusive statements of profits, 370;
operations to make the second suspension begin in New York, 370;
extent of the ruin, 371;
the case of London bankers and their punishment, 371;
remarks of the Judge on passing sentence, 372. See Index, vol. 1.
Bankrupt Act against the Banks.—Recommended by the President, 43;
reasons, 43;
framers of the constitution hard-money men, 43;
operation of the constitution had nullified this intention, 44;
a question whether the fault was in the instrument or in the administrators, 44;
remedy now proposed, 44;
all that was wanted was a Congress to back the President, 44;
the array against it, 44;
opposition of Mr. Webster, 44;
right of Congress questioned, 44;
doubtless sanctioned by the whole cabinet, 45;
speech of Mr. Benton, 45;
"a bankrupt law authorized by the constitution," 45;
signification of the word bankruptcy, 45;
what is this grant of power, and does the country require its exercise, 45;
Congress is not confined to English statutory decisions for the construction of phrases used in the constitution, 45;
the term is not of English but Roman origin, 46;
it is said, we must confine our legislation to the usual objects, the usual subjects, and the usual purposes of bankrupt laws in England, 46;
on what act of English legislation can an example be fixed? 46;
the acts passed on this subject, 47;
affirmative definitions of the classes liable to bankruptcy in England, 47;
the negative, 47;
cut off from improvement since the adoption of our constitution, 48;
in this view we must find one of two things—a case in point or a general authority, 48;
these considered, 48;
a case in point, 48;
the general practice of the British Parliament for five hundred years, over the whole subject of bankruptcy, 49;
it is asked if bankrupt laws ordinarily extend to moneyed corporations, 49;
No; Why? 49;
the question of corporation unreliability in England, 49;
do such law ordinarily extend to corporations at all? 50;
history of our first bankrupt law, 51;
the bill of 1827, 51;
it is said, the object of bankrupt laws has no relation to currency, 51;
what says history? 51;
effect of the application of bankrupt laws in England twofold, 51;
recommendation of the President, 51;
the British bankrupt code as it relates to bank notes, 52;
all our acts and bills have applied to bankers, 53;
and why not to banks? 53;
why this distinction? 53;
banks of circulation are the fittest subjects of a bankrupt law, 53;
the opinion that there can be no resumption of specie payments until the Bank of the United States is rechartered, 54;
as bankrupts, the Federal authority extends to all the banks, 54;
other great purposes to be attained by the application of a bankrupt law to banks, 54;
every form of government has something in it to excite the pride and to rouse the devotion of its citizens, 55;
we are called upon to have mercy on the banks, the prayer should be to them to have mercy on the citizens, 55;
Jefferson's legacy is never to suffer the government to fall under the control of unauthorized or self-created institutions, 55;
it is said that bankruptcy is a severe remedy to apply to banks, 56;
three things for which the banks have no excuse, and which should forever weigh against their claims to favor, 56.
Congress convened at the urgent instance of Mr. Clay, 229;
a bankrupt act not in the programme of Mr. Clay or the message of President Tyler, 229;
parties nearly balanced in the Senate, 229;
one member obtains leave to bring in a bill on bankruptcy, 229;
manner of its passage, 229;
the bank bill and the land bill made to pass it through both Houses, 230;
its passage through the House, 230;
amendment, 230;
proceedings in the Senate to get up the amendment, 230, 231;
remark of White, of Indiana, 231;
remark of Senator Benton, 231, remark of Senator Linn, 231;
bankrupt bill reported as passed the House, 232;
remarks of Mr. King, 232;
distribution bill laid on the table and the bankrupt bill taken up, 232;
remarks of Mr. Walker, 232;
the bank distribution and bankrupt bills travel together, 232;
remarks on the amendment to the bankrupt bill, 233;
passed, 233;
remarks on the nature of the bankrupt bill, 233, 234.
Speech of Mr. Benton on the bankrupt bill, 234;
"this is not a bankrupt system but an insolvent law, perverted to a discharge from debts, instead of a discharge from imprisonment," 234;
it is framed from the English insolvent debtor act, 234;
the English acts, 234;
how came such a bill to be introduced here? 235;
it is an insolvent bill, 235;
defended by insisting that insolvency and bankruptcy are the same thing, a mere inability to pay debts, 235;
extracts from Webster's remarks, 235;
no foundation for confounding bankruptcy and insolvency, 235;
Blackstone's definition of a bankrupt, 235;
ability and fraud the basis of the system, 235;
cessio bonorum, 236;
laws of Scotland, 236;
cessio examined, 236;
bankruptcy defined by the laws of Scotland, 237;
the Code Napoleon, 238;
the civil law, 238;
comparison of sections of the bill with the English law, 239;
voluntary and involuntary bankruptcy under the bill, 240.
An attempt to Repeal.—Repeal commenced at the outset of the session, 395;
passed the House and lost in the Senate, 395;
repealed at the next session, 396;
the fate of the confederate bills, 396.
Repeal.—A repeal of a great act of legislation by the same Congress that passed it, 463;
a homage to the will of the people, 463;
remarks of Mr. Benton on offering a petition from the State of Vermont for the repeal of the act, 463;
"the act unconstitutional in abolishing debts with the consent of a given majority of the creditors, 463;
principles of the act of 1800, 464;
forms which the wisdom of the law provided for executing itself, 464;
an invasion of the rights of the States over the ordinary relations of debtor and creditor within their own limits," 465;
the passage of the act has been a reproach to Congress, its repeal should do them honor, and still more the people under whose will it was done, 465;
a bankrupt act has never been favored by the American people, 465;
the system has been nearly intolerable in England, 466;
further remarks, 466.
An act to repeal promptly passed both houses, 503;
a splendid victory for the minority, who had resisted the passage of the original bill, 503;
all the authorities had sustained the act, 503;
sense of the people revolted against it, 503;
former act repealed in two years, 503;
its repeal a bitter mortification to the administration, 503;
Cushing in defence of the act, 504;
extract, 504;
an unparliamentary reference to Mr. Clay, 504;
reply by Mr. Davis, 504;
Cushing upon the impotent attacks on the administration, 504;
extracts, 505;
the seductive arguments of persuasion and enticement used to gain adherents to the new administration, 505;
appeals to the democratic party, 505;
reply of Mr. Thompson, 505;
Cushing states that there are persons connected with the administration who will yet be heard of for the Presidency, 505;
indignant reply of Mr. Thompson, 505;
reproaches cast upon Cushing, 506;
Davis upon the charges of Cushing, 506;
his versatility in defending vetoes, 507.
Banks, Suspension of Payment by.—Deranged finances and broken up treasury awaited the nascent administration, 9;
two parties at work to accomplish it, 9;
condition of the banks, 9;
remarks of Senator Benton on the prospect, 9;
do on rescinding the specie circular, 10;
desperate condition of the deposit banks, 10;
proper amount of specie to be retained by the banks, 10;
amount retained by the Bank of England, 10;
amount retained by the deposit banks, 10;
conference between Senator Benton and Mr. Van Buren, 10;
remark of the latter, 10;
Senator Benton miffed, 10;
silence, 10;
course which might have been taken, 11;
benefits, 11.
Preparations for the Distress and Suspension.—Characteristic letter of Mr. Biddle, 11;
picture of ruin presented, alarm given out, and the Federal government the cause, 11;
extracts, 11;
course followed in and out of Congress, 12;
reception of Mr. Webster in New York, 12;
the public meeting, 12;
cause of this demonstration, 12;
his speech a manifesto against Jackson's administration, a protest against its continuation in the person of his successor, and an invocation to a general combination against it, 13;
the ominous sentence of the speech, 13;
extract relating to the general distress, 13;
conclusion of the speech, 13;
its vehement appeal, 14;
the specie circular, 14;
the original draft, 14;
the rescinding bill, 15;
President Jackson's action, 15;
an experiment on the nerves of the President resolved on, 15.
Consequences of Webster's speech, 16;
an immense meeting, 16;
its resolves, 16;
the word "experiment," 16;
a committee of fifty to wait on the President, 17;
to call another meeting on their return, 17;
co-operation of other cities invited, 17;
state of feeling as characterized by the press, 17;
visit of the committee to the President, 18;
extract from their addresses, 18;
a written answer of complete refusal, 18;
their return, 18;
visit of Mr. Biddle to the President, 19;
a second meeting in New York, 19;
report, 19;
resolutions adopted, 19;
list of grievances, 19;
remarks, 20.
Actual Suspension.—Suspension not recommended at any public meeting, 20;
the suspension, 20;
proceedings, 20;
act of self-defence on the part of the deposit banks, 21;
course of the United States Bank, 21;
letter of Mr. Biddle, 21;
extracts, 21;
Webster's tour at the West and his speeches, 22;
first speech at Wheeling, 22;
extract, 22;
the time when the suspension was to take place, 22;
Bank of the United States to be the remedy, 23;
the contrivance of politicians now exposed, 23.
Effects of the Suspension.—Disturbance in the business of the country, 26;
depreciation of bank notes, 26;
disappearance of small specie, 26;
"better currency," 26;
"the whole hog," 26;
inflammatory publications of the press, 26;
extracts, 26;
government payments, 27;
the medium, 27;
condition of the administration, 27;
payment of the Tennessee volunteers, 27;
its effect, 27;
visit of the agent to Washington, 27;
extra session of Congress necessary, 28.
Attempted Resumption.—Declaration of the Bank of the United States of its ability to continue paying specie, 43;
resumption commenced in New York, 43;
resolution, 43;
committee of correspondence, 43;
opposition of the Philadelphia interest, 43;
the explanation, 43.
Resumption of Specie Payments by the New York Banks.—The proposed convention, 83;
frustrated by the United States Bank, 83;
Philadelphia banks refuse to co-operate, 83;
letter from Mr. Biddle to John Q. Adams, 83;
a characteristic sentence, 83;
his threat against the New York banks, 83;
a general bank convention, 83;
vote on resumption, 83;
reasons for the vote, 84;
resumption by the New York banks, 84;
resumption general, 84;
the United States Bank, 84;
her stock, 84;
her power, 84;
speech of Mr. Webster, expressing her wishes, 84;
her friends come to the rescue for the last time, 85;
Mr. Benton's remarks, 85.
"Two periods working the termination of a national bank charter, each full of lessons, 85;
the two compared, 85;
the quantity of the currency, 86;
its solidity, 86;
it is said, there is no specie, 86;
the cause of the non-resumption is plain and undeniable, 87;
what say the New York City banks? 87;
extract from their report, 87;
the reasons, 87;
it is said there can be no resumption until Congress act on the currency, 88;
conduct of the leading banks, 88;
the honest commercial banks have resumed or mean to resume, 89;
politicians propose to compel the government to receive paper money for its dues, 89;
the pretext is to aid the banks in resuming, 89;
an enemy lies in wait for the banks, 89;
power of the United States Bank over others, 90;
the contrast between former and the present bank stoppages, 90;
justice to the men of this day," 91.
Mr. Clay's Resolution in favor of Resuming Banks.—Proposed to make the notes of resuming banks receivable in payment of all dues to the Federal government, 91;
render assistance to the banks, 92.
No power can prevent the solvent banks from resuming, 92;
every solvent one in the country will resume in a few months, 92;
Congress cannot prevent them if it tried, 92;
the most revolting proposition ever made in Congress, 93;
proposition lost, 93.
Divorce of Bank and State.—The bill is to declare the divorce and the amendment is to exclude their notes from revenue payments, 56;
this change to be made gradually, 56;
it will restore the currency of the constitution and re-establish the great acts of 1789 and 1800, 56;
great evils—pecuniary, political, and moral—have flowed from this departure from our constitution, 57;
loss to the government from the banks, 57;
losses from the local banks, 57;
comparison with steamboats, 57;
the case with the banks, 58;
the epoch of resumption is to be a perilous crisis to many, 58;
they fell in time of peace and prosperity, 58;
banks of circulation are banks of hazard and of failure, 58;
the power of a few banks over the whole presents a new feature in our system, 58;
they have all become links of one chain, 59;
the government and its creditors must continue to sustain losses if they continue to use such depositories and to receive such paper, 59;
in an instant every disbursing officer in the Union was stripped of the money he was going to pay out, 59;
it was tantamount to a disbandment of the entire government, 59;
it is a danger we have just escaped, 60;
the same danger may be seen again if we use them, 60;
what excuse have we for abandoning the precise advantage for which the constitution was formed? 60;
the moral view of this question not examined, 60;
the government required to retrace its steps and to return to first principles, 61;
what is the obstacle to the adoption of this course, 61;
the message recommends four things, 61;
the right and obligation of the government to keep its own moneys in its own hands results from the law of self-preservation, 61;
England trusts none of her banks with the collection, keeping, and disbursement of her public money, 62;
what were the "continental treasurers" of the confederation, 62;
bill reported by the Finance Committee, 62;
taunted with these treasury notes, 62;
the case of France on the occasion of the First Consul, 63;
French currency is the best in the world, 63;
Congress has a sacred duty to perform in reforming the finances and the currency, 64;
this is a measure of reform worthy to be called a reformation, 65.
Destined to be carried into effect at this session, 164;
opposition to it, 164;
remarks of Mr. Clay, 164;
bill passed the Senate, 165;
passed the House under the previous question, 165;
the title of the bill, 165;
form in which opposition appeared, 165;
proceedings in the House, 166;
title passed by the operation of the previous question, 167.
Banks, Specie basis for.—A point of great moment, 128;
well understood in England, 128;
vice of the banking system of this country, 128;
the motion intended to require the bank to keep a certain amount of specie, 128;
testimony of Horsley Palmer, 128;
requirement on the Bank of England, 129;
the proportion in England is one-third, 129;
first object when a bank stops payment, 129;
the issuing of currency is the prerogative of sovereignty, 130;
proportion required of the deposit banks, 130;
effect of the Treasury order of 1836 upon them, 130.
Bank Notes, Tax on.—Motion for leave to bring in a bill to tax the circulation of banks, bankers, and all corporations issuing paper money, 179;
nothing more just than that this interest should contribute to the support of government, 179;
in other countries it was subject to taxation, 179;
has formerly been taxed in our country, 179;
manner of levying the bank tax in Great Britain, 180;