A Book of the United States / Exhibiting its geography, divisions, constitution, and government ... and presenting a view of the republic generally, and of the individual states; together with a condensed history of the land, from its first discovery to the present time. The biography of about two hundred of the leading men: a description of the principal cities and towns; with statistical tables

by Unknown

The main provisions of the bill are, that from and after the thirty-first day of December, 1841, there shall be allowed and paid to the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Michigan, over and above what each of the said states is entitled to by the terms of the compacts entered into between them and the United States upon their admission into the Union, the sum of ten per cent. upon the net proceeds of the sales of the public lands, which subsequent to the thirty-first day of December, 1841, shall be made within the limits of the said states respectively; and that after deducting the said ten per cent. and what by the before-mentioned compacts has been allowed to the states aforesaid, the residue of the net proceeds, after paying the expenses of the General Land Office, the expenses of surveying, and selling the said lands, &c., shall be divided among the twenty-six states of the Union, and the district of Columbia, and the territories of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Florida, according to their respective federal representative population, as ascertained by the last census, to be applied by the legislatures of the said states to such purposes as the said legislatures may direct; the share of the district of Columbia, however, to be applied to free schools, or education in some form, as Congress may direct. The net proceeds of the said sales are to be paid to the agents of the states, at the treasury of the United States, half yearly, that is, on the first day of January, and the first day of July, in each year.

The act grants to each of the states to which the ten per cent. distribution is to be made, five hundred thousand acres of land for purposes of internal improvement; or in cases where such grants have heretofore been made to any state, such number of acres as together with the previous grants, shall amount to five hundred thousand acres.

The provisions of this act in regard to pre-emption, are, substantially, that, with certain limitations, and restrictions provided in the act, every person being the head of a family, or widow, or single man, over the age of twenty-one years, and a citizen of the United States, or having filed a declaration of an intention to become a citizen in accordance with the naturalization laws, who since the first day of June, 1840, has settled, or shall hereafter settle on the public lands, may have the privilege of purchasing such land in which hehas settled or shall settle, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, on paying to the United States the minimum price of such land.

The act is to continue in force until it shall be otherwise provided by law, unless the United States shall become involved in war with any foreign power, in which event, it is to be suspended during the war; and if at any time during the existence of the act, there shall be an imposition of duties on imports inconsistent with the provisions of the revenue act of 1832, and other revenue laws, and beyond the twenty per cent. duty on the value of the imports established by that act, in such case, the act is to be suspended until this cause of suspension shall be removed.

The duties on imports, having been constantly decreasing for several years, in accordance with the provisions of the revenue act of 1832, the revenue had at length become insufficient for the purposes of the government. A bill, therefore, was passed by congress for the imposition of duties of twenty per cent. on the value of all articles of import not expressly excepted therein. It was to take effect on the 1st of October, 1841.

But the great measure of the extra session however, was the establishment of a Bank of the United States. Whether there should be such an institution in the country, existing by any law of congress, had, indeed, been a great and exciting question for the twelve previous years. Both General Jackson and Mr. Van Buren, and the party, which they represented, were hostile to any such institution. During the then recent presidential contest this question had been extensively discussed, and the rival candidates, it was very well understood, entertained opposite views on the subject. The election of Gen. Harrison was considered, therefore, as an expression in favor of such an institution, by that majority of the people, which elevated him to the presidency; and the creation of such a bank, it was understood, was among the weighty and important matters on account of which the new President issued his proclamation for an extra session of congress. President Tyler, too, in his message to congress, on the assembling, seemed to join in the intimation before given by President Harrison, that some suitable agency ought forthwith to be established, for the purpose of collecting, keeping, and disbursing the public revenues.

Accordingly, soon after the opening of congress, a bill for the establishment of a National Bank, prepared by the secretary of the treasury, Mr. Ewing, was referred to a committee of the senate. This bill being drawn up by a member of the cabinet, it was generally supposed was in accordance with the views of the President, and if passed, would receive his sanction.—The bill provided for the establishment of a bank in the district of Columbia, to be termed, the “Fiscal Bank of the United States,” with power to establish branches in the states, with the consent of the states.—The committee of the senate to whom the subject had been referred, after due deliberation, reported a bill for the establishment of a Fiscal Bank, concurring in the main with the bill framed by the secretary of the treasury, but differing from it in one important feature, namely, in the power of the parent bank to establish branches in the different states without their assent. The charter of the bank of 1816 was assumed as the basis of the bill. The parent bank was to be located at the city of Washington, and to be under the control of nine directors, to be appointed annually, and to receive an annual stipend for their services, but not to be allowed any accommodation from the bank, in the shape of loansor discounts. The parent bank was to make no loans or discounts except to the United States government, and to that, only such as should be authorized by law. The capital stock of the bank was to be the sum of thirty millions of dollars; congress retaining the power to increase it to fifty millions. The dividends were to be limited to seven per cent. on the capital stock, the excess over that sum to be reserved until it should constitute a fund of two millions of dollars to be appropriated to the purpose of making good any losses which might be sustained, and the excess beyond that sum of two millions to be paid into the United States treasury. The directors were to have power to establish branches in the different states, and to commit the management of them to such persons as they should see fit. Foreigners were prohibited from holding any part of the capital stock. The United States were to subscribe for one-sixth part of the shares, and the individual states were also to be allowed to subscribe. Such were the main features of the bill as reported by the committee of the senate.

This bill, on being reported to the senate, encountered strenuous opposition from the anti-administration senators, who used all their efforts and skill, first to render it a nullity by means of different amendments which they proposed, and finally to destroy it altogether. The great advocate of the bill was the chairman of the committee who reported it, the Hon. Henry Clay. The most serious opposition to it came in the shape of an amendment, prepared by the Hon. Wm. C. Rives, of Virginia. This senator, perceiving in the bill what he deemed an infringement upon the rights of the states, reserved to them by the constitution, moved so to amend it, that no branches should be established in the states without the assent of their legislatures; branches being once established, however, not to be withdrawn without the assent of congress. This amendment was regarded by Mr. Clay and those who acted with him, as calculated to affect the bill in a vital part, and was strenuously resisted. After considerable debate, however, and a calculation of the probable chances of its passage unless some concession were made to the views of the friends of state-rights, Mr. Clay consented to a compromise, and the bill was so modified as to give the parent bank power to establish branches in such states as should not at the first session of their legislature, holden after its passage, express their dissent, and to make it imperative on the directors to establish a branch in any state in which two thousand shares should have been subscribed, or should be holden, whenever upon application of the legislature of such state congress should by law require the same. In case the legislature of any state should express neither assent nor dissent, its assent was to be presumed; and it was to be the duty of the directors to establish branches in the states, at all events, whether with the assent of the states or against their dissent, in case congress should by law so direct, for the purpose of carrying into effect any of their constitutional powers.

With this amendment, and some others of less importance, the bill finally passed the senate, and in a few days thereafter the house of representatives, and was presented to the President for his approval. The President, after retaining the bill in his hands until the constitutional period of ten days, allowed him for the purpose of consideration, had nearly expired, and during which time the whole country was awaiting his decision with the most anxious solicitude, at last, on the 16th of August, returned it to the senate with his veto.

In his assigning his reasons for such a measure, the President says, “the power of congress to create a National Bank to operate per se over the Union has been a question of dispute from the origin of the government. Men most justly and deservedly esteemed for their high intellectual endowments, their virtue, and their patriotism, have in regard to it, entertained different and conflicting opinions. Congresses have differed. The approval of one President has been followed by the disapproval of another. The people at different times have acquiesced in decisions both for and against. The country has been and still is agitated by this unsettled question. It will suffice for me to say, that my own opinion has been uniformly proclaimed to be against the exercise of any such power by this government. On all suitable occasions, during a period of twenty-five years, the opinion thus entertained has been unreservedly expressed.”