CH. I.] THE GREAT BANK CONTROVERSY. the hard fate of being carried one day, and rescinded the next; forty-seven thousand seven hundred was finally settled upon in May; and the Senate took the subject into immediate consideration. That body undertook to fix the total of the House at two hundred and fifty-one members, leaving the ratio of apportionment to be fixed in accordance therewith. But the House disagreeing, the Senate receded from its amendment, and the arrangement settled by the House was finally adopted. 1832. The president having, in each of his three annual messages to Congress announced, with tolerable distinctness, his hostility to the Bank of the United States, that institution thought it best, at an early day, to apply for a renewal of its charter; and so the great bank controversy began. A memorial was presented in the Senate by Mr. Dallas, on the 9th of January, and referred to a select committee for consideration. The opponents of the bank wished to postpone the subject, but were unsuccessful. On the 13th of March, the committee reported in favor of renewing the charter for fifteen years, with certain modifications, by which it would seem, every reasonable objection would have been obviated. And a bill was brought in, conformable with the report; but in order to secure the harmonious action of Congress, it was not pushed through, because the committee of inquiry appointed by the House had not yet reported. Mr. M'Duffie, of South Carolina, presented the memorial of the bank to the House of Representatives, and it was referred to the committee of ways VOL. III.-49 385 and means. On the 10th of February, this committee reported in favor of a renewal of the charter; the minority, however, presented a counter report. A motion was then made for a committee of inquiry into the affairs of the bank. The majority of this committee was hostile to the bank, and so, having entered into an examination of the whole affairs of the institution, a report was presented, recommending the postponement of the consideration of the renewal of the charter, till the public debt was paid, and the revenue adjusted to the expenditure of the government. The minority also reported (John Quincy Adams sending in a report in his own name alone,) in vindication of the management of the bank, and recommended the renewal of the charter. The conflict was now removed to the Senate, where, in committee of the whole, various amendments to the bill before them were proposed by the friends and by the opponents of the bank. But after a hot debate of three weeks, the bill, without many alterations, passed, on the 11th of June, by a vote of twenty-eight to twenty.* The bill was sent to the House, and taken up there on the 30th of June. Mr. M'Duffie proposed an amendment, to the effect that the provision limiting the number of branches in the several states, should not inter 1832. *Mr. Benton's statements and remarks on this sub ject are well worthy the reader's examination. He was one of the most active, energetic, and uncompro mising opponents of the bank, which have at any time been in public life. See his "Thirty Years' View," vol. i., pp. 158-9, 187-205, 220-265. fere with existing branches; and others proposed other amendments, and a short but sharp contest ensued, ending in the adoption of M'Duffie's amendment, with which the Senate also concurred, and the rejection of all the others; and the bill finally passed by a majority of a hundred and seven against eighty-five. This was on the 3d of July; for the session had been unusually protracted; but Congress arranged its adjourn ment so as to leave ten clear days after the bill was put into the hands of the president, lest it should be retained till the next session, as other bills had been. Mr. Webster and Mr. Clay addressed the Senate earnestly on this subject, when the bill was returned with the veto of the president; and the question of renewing the charter of the bank was again discussed; but the bill not receiving a two-thirds vote, it was of course rejected. The public lands occupied considerable attention in Congress; but, owing to the lateness of the time when they were under discussion, nothing of moment was accomplished. Internal improvements were warmly agitated, and several large appropriations were made and sanctioned by the president, having this object in view. The harbor bill, however, was kept back by the president, and was thus prevented from becoming a law. The tariff also came under the attention of Congress, being distinctly recommended by the president, and the progress of the anti-tariff feeling in the south re 1832. Andrew Jackson was not unready to meet the question. The bill was presented to him on the 4th of July, and on the 10th he returned it with his veto, a document of great length, in which the question is argued in full. The last paragraph is all that we have room to quote. "I have now done my duty to my quiring it. The subject was taken up country. If sustained by my fellow-by the two committees of the House on citizens, I shall be grateful and happy; ways and means, and on manufactures; if not, I shall find in the motives which and reports and bills were presented by impel me, ample grounds for content- both. That from the first committee, ment and peace. In the difficulties of which M'Duffie was chairman, (alwhich surround us, and the dangers though it originated with the secretary which threaten our institutions, there is of the treasury, and so was a governcause for neither dismay nor alarm. ment measure,) was negatived, on the For relief and deliverance let us firmly 1st of June; that of the other, of which rely on that kind Providence which, I John Quincy Adams was chairman and am sure, watches with peculiar care reporter, after some discussion, and a over the destinies of our republic, and few amendments, was carried by a vote on the intelligence and wisdom of our of one hundred and thirty-two to sixty. countrymen. Through His abundant five, some of the opponents of protec goodness, and their patriotic devotion, tion even voting for it. The principle our liberty and union will be pre- of protection was maintained by this served." bill, but the duties on many protected CHAPTER II. 1832-1837. JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION: CONCLUDED. The cholera and its ravages-Indian war in the north-west- Black Hawk-Movements in South Carolina against the tariff law-Congress in session- Abstract of the president's message-Action in Congress on the tariff question-The enforcing bill-Calhoun's speech-Clayton's resolution - Henry Clay's "compromise tariff” bill - The land bill-Question on the deposits of the public money-Jackson's second inauguration - His northern tour. -The president determines to remove the deposits-Duane refuses to give the necessary order — Taney appointed secretary of the treasury Deposits removed - Excitement in the community-Congress in session - Its proceedings-Resolution condemning the president for removing the deposits-Jackson's protest Stormy debate-Commercial distress and embarrassments-Action of the House on re-chartering the bank, etc. -Debate in the Senate-Taney's nomination rejected - The "whig" opposition-Congress in session - Not much accomplished— Claims on France-Jackson determines to have a settlement-The result - Other claims on European powers settled — Texas and its affairs — Democratic convention at Baltimore — Van Buren nomi. nated-The twenty-fourth Congress — The message — Proceedings of Congress in regard to the deposits in the state banks-Distribution of the surplus revenue — Effect of this course-Speculation, gambling, fraud, etc. Slavery discussion-The "specie circular"- Effect upon the country-Van Buren elected president-Johnson elected vice-president by the Senate-Jackson's last message to Congress -The "expunging resolution” – Attempt to rescind the specie circular unsuccessful-Close of Andrew Jackson's administration. DURING the summer of 1832, the more, about six hundred; in Washingwhole country was greatly alarmed and ton, nearly two hundred; and other excited by the appearance of that ter- towns and cities suffered in about the rible scourge, as it proved, the Asiatic same proportion. But in New Orleans cholera. About the close of June, it the cholera proved very malignant; for began its ravages; and partly in con- between the 28th of October and the sequence of terror and fright, and partly 11th of November, sixteen hundred and from ignorance of the nature and mode sixty-eight deaths occurred. The na of the treatment of the disease, it was ture and peculiarities of this fearful extensively fatal in its effect. Over visitation excited universal attention, three thousand died in New York city, and gave rise to various contributions between the 4th of July and the to medical literature, by eminent mem1932. 1st of October. In Philadel-bers of the faculty. Among these, Dr. phia, nearly a thousand died; in Balti- | Francis's letter is especially worthy of note; a brief quotation will not be out of place in the present connection. "Whether the materies morbi of cholera claims a siderial or telluric origin, the atmosphere is the medium through which it operates. It prevails in all climates, and at all seasons; it exists in every variety of soils; on mountains and in valleys, in marshes and on rocks, in dryness, and in humidity. Unlike influenza, and some other specific diseases, its ravages are independent of winds and currents; neither the analysis of the gases of the atmosphere, nor barometrical or thermometrical investigation, solve the difficulty of its birth, and we are baffled in reviewing its progress, to ascertain the peculiar influence of localities in producing it. When this formidable disease shall have disappeared from among us, and its history be recorded by the faithful historian, the skill and humane exertions of the medical profession, the munificence of the affluent, and the disinterested benevolence of all classes, will not be forgotten."* In the north-west fresh troubles broke out in the spring of the present year. The Sacs and Foxes, who, by treaty had agreed to remove, showed much reluctance in doing so, and the governor of Illinois was disposed to hasten their departure. He accordingly ordered the militia to use compulsion in carrying out the measure. Black Hawk was leader of the Indians at the time, and he at * "Letter on the Cholera Asphyxia, now prevailing in the city of New York; addressed to Dr. Read, of Savannah." By John W. Francis, M. D. New York, 1832. Pp. 35. once resorted to the only practicable means of revenge-predatory and hostile ravages in the frontier settlements; whilst he prepared for a more formida ble retaliation. In March, 1832, he assembled his own tribes, the Sacs and Foxes, with Winnebagoes, to the number of about a thousand in all, and crossed the Mississippi into Illinois. All was dismay; the settlers nearest the point of invasion fled, and a brigade of militia, ordered out for their protection, by no means appeased the alarm. By June, however, the United States troops there, together with about three thousand mounted volunteers, took the field, and Black Hawk withdrew his warriors into the swamps, which were their fortresses, and trenches, and ambuscades, at the same time; and he extended his murderous incursions over the whole of the most advanced northwestern settlements. General Scott was thereupon ordered to lead eleven companies of infantry and nine companies of artillery against the savages; and with the utmost promptitude, undeterred by distance, and although his force suffered severely from cholera, he marched to Chicago. The same spirit actuated the army already in the field; for, finding that they could not be reinforced by Scott's troops, they penetrated into the lurking-places of the Indians, on the 21st of July, inflicted a decisive defeat on them on the banks of the Wisconsin, followed them up, and once more, and yet more disastrously, routed them, near the mouth of the Iowa, on the left bank of the Mississippi, on the 2d of August; and Black Hawk and his small band 1832. of survivors having surrendered, on the 15th and 21st of September, treaties were concluded with the Winnebagoes, and the Sacs and Foxes, by which they agreed to the cession of the remainder of their territory, and the federal government to pay $10,000 annually, for twenty-seven years to the Winnebagoes, and $20,000 for thirty years, to the Sacs and Foxes, and to provide them with the means of improvement and civilization. And thus was peace restored again in the north-west. Directly after the passage of the tariff act, mentioned on a previous page, (p. 386,) the representatives of South Carolina addressed their constituents on the subject, and urged upon them to sustain the sovereign rights of that state, which, they said, were invaded by the recent action of Congress. Meetings were accordingly held in South Carolina, and much excitement was manifested against the general government. The legislature was convened by Governor Hamilton, at Columbia, on the 22d of October, and the tariff question was warmly discussed. The result was, the calling of a state convention, which met on the 19th of November, at the same place. This convention proceeded to the length of recommending nullification, in the completest sense of the term. The legislature, which met on the 27th, passed ordinances to carry into effect the recominto effect the recommendations of the state convention, and South Carolina became thus arrayed in opposition to the laws of the United States, refusing to allow the revenue to be collected, and determining to resist by force every attempt to compel 389 obedience. This, of course, brought the question to an issue, and it remained to be seen, whether the executive would take care to have the laws of the United States enforced, and whether South Carolina would be reduced to her proper place as one of the members of the Union. The twenty-second Congress commenced its second session on the 4th of December, 1832. Hugh L. White, Senator from Tennessee, was elected pres ident pro tempore; on the 28th, Mr. Calhoun resigned his post as 1832. vice-president of the United States, and was immediately elected a Senator from South Carolina, in place of Mr. Hayne, who had been chosen governor of the state. In the message of the president, among other things, he pressed upon Congress the necessity for revising the tariff; both for the purpose of adapting the revenue to the expenditure, and to limit the protection afforded by the imposts to the counteraction of the protective laws of other nations, and the securing of "a supply of those articles of manufacture essential to the national independence and safety in time of war." He insisted, that perpetual protection, secured by a tariff of high duties imposed for that object specially, had entered into the minds of but few American statesmen. American statesmen. "The most they have anticipated is a temporary and generally incidental protection, which they maintain has the effect to reduce the price, by domestic competition, below that of the foreign article. Experience, however, our best guide on this as on other subjects, makes it doubtful |