Discussion of the independent Treasury bill - Whig successes in the election of 1838-The "Buckshot War" in Pennsylvania - The "Broad Seal War" in New Jersey - The dispute in Congress over the Atherton gag-The Aroostook war in Maine - The anti-rent war in New York - The panic of 1839 - The suspension of specie payments - - Benton's resolutions against assuming the State debts The contest over the New Jersey members of Congress - The debate on anti-slavery petitions - Passage of Benton's anti-assumption resolutions Establishment of the sub-treasury. In his annual message of December 5, 1837, Van Buren had again urged the sub-treasury plan because he was convinced of its wisdom, and because since their adjournment the members of Congress had had opportunity "not only to test still further the expediency of the measure by the continual practical operation of such parts of it as are now in force, but also to discover what should ever be sought for and regarded with the utmost deference - the opinions and wishes of the people." The remarks in his message were sent by the Senate to the Committee on Finance, of which Silas Wright was chairman, and on January 16, 1838, another sub * Grimké, Life of Garrison, pp. 260–261. See his message in Niles' Register, vol. lii, pp. 233-234; Richardson, Messages and Papers, vol. iii., pp. 380-381. --- treasury bill was reported. The bill that had been rejected at the previous session provided for the total divorce of banks and the Treasury, and in the course of the debate the friends of the specie currency proposed an amendment providing that in time the kind of money to be received should be in specie. Hence, when drafting the new bill, bill, the Committee on Finance profited by this experience and inserted a section which in substance was the old amendment. After December 31, 1838, one-sixth of all duties, taxes, and other sums due the United States were to be paid in the legal currency of the United States. After December 31, 1839, two-sixths * McMaster, vol. vi., p. 493. For text see Niles' Register, vol. liii., pp. 324326. Wright's speech of January 31 is in ibid, pp. 394-400, 413-416. THE INDEPENDENT TREASURY BILL. were to be collected in currency, and thereafter until 1843 the amount was to be increased one-sixth each year, after which time the United States would receive only gold and silver coins, or notes, bills, or paper issued under the authority of the United States. Calhoun urged prompt consideration of the bill so as not to hamper business, for the merchants of the country were unwilling to continue their great transactions before Congress had definitely decided on the currency question. Clay argued that such an important enactment should not be made before the States and the people had expressed their opinion regarding it, since it would place in the hands of the Secretary of the Treasury a power equal to that of 800 or 900 banks scattered over the Union, to which would be added the whole power of the late United States Bank.* Many of the States instructed their Senators and requested their Representatives to oppose the sub-treasury plan and to secure the postponement of its consideration.† Numbers of the members so instructed were sincerely opposed to the sentiments contained in their instructions. Buchanan had been instructed to vote against the bill, and while he believed the State possessed the right to instruct the representative and that it was the duty of the representative to * Niles' Register, vol. liii., p. 363. † Ibid, p. 385, and vol. liv., pp. 21-22, 241. Text of the Pennsylvania resolutions is in ibid, p. 402. 31 obey, still he would rather resign than follow his instructions. On February 6, 1838, Felix Grundy, of Tennessee, wrote a letter to the General Assembly of his State placing the responsibility of his vote following their instructions directly upon them.* Those members who neither favored nor opposed an independent Treasury offered a substitute proposal that not more than 25 banks be used as public depositories, that they pay their notes in specie, and that the Secretary select them subject to the approval of Congress. Revenues were to be collected in gold, silver and treasury notes, or notes of specie-paying banks. One year from the date of the approval of the act notes of banks circulating bills under $5 should not be receivable in payment of debts due the United States, and at the end of the second year bills under $10 were to be refused. The Senate was then to decide between the original bill and the substitute. Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, following his instructions, moved that consideration of the bill be postponed until the next session, but this motion was lost. A little later the substitute bill was lost, and on March 24, by a vote of 37 to 14, the original bill was amended by striking out the section requiring the Government gradually to cease receiving the notes of State banks and after 1843 to take nothing but specie or government paper. Thus amended, the bill passed the Senate on March 26 by a *For text see ibid, vol. liv., pp. 20–21. 32 WHIG ELECTION SUCCESSES. vote of 27 to 25,* but on June 25, by a vote of 125 to 111, the House of Representatives refused to order the bill to its third reading, and it therefore failed.t Congress adjourned a few days later and the members scattered to their homes to take part in the election of members to the Twenty-Sixth Congress. A committee claiming to represent the Republican members of Congress issued a long address to the Republicans in all parts of the country. It said that never before had so many events of such far-reaching importance happened within a few years; the National debt had been extinguished, the charter of the National Bank had expired, the "American System" had been destroyed, specie payments had been suspended, and the anti-slavery agitation become widespread. As public opinion had been. much unsettled by these occurrences, the committee felt it to be its duty fully and explicitly to set forth its views. It reviewed the objections to the Bank, discussed the evils of and the cure for the surplus revenues, reviewed the objections to and advantages of the sub-treasury plan, and denounced abolitionism. Regarding the gag resolution nothing was said. Several of the prominent members of For text see Niles' Register, vol. liv., pp. 6667, 75. Ibid, vol. liv., p. 285; Dewey, Financial History, p. 236; Schouler, United States, vol. iv., P. 293. For text of letter see Niles' Register, vol. lv., pp. 4-8. Congress, however, found it necessary to explain their position regarding this resolution and the attempt to annex Texas, among them being John Quincy Adams,* McDuffie, † Polk, of Tennessee,‡ Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, and Mahlon Dickerson, of New Jersey. When the returns came in, it became certain that the Whigs had gained considerably in Vermont, Ohio, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Georgia, where Whig candidates were elected to office, while in many other States the Democratic majorities were greatly reduced. In New York William H. Seward was elected as the Whig candidate, but in Maine the Democratic candidate was successful. In Pennsylvania and New Jersey the elections of 1838 brought about what is known in the former as the "Buckshot War" and in the latter as the Broad Seal War." As Phila delphia County was then cut off from the city for certain election purposes, Philadelphia as a city was not concerned in this dispute. There were to be chosen two State senators, eight representatives, and a member of Congress. For the election of the member to Congress the county was cut into two districts, the candidates in one of which were Naylor for the Whigs and Charles J. Ingersoll for the Democrats. The county was di * Ibid, pp. 55-58. Ibid, pp. 10-11. Ibid, pp. 71-74. || Ibid, pp. 11-12. THE BUCKSHOT WAR. vided into 17 districts, in each of which was a return judge who delivered the return for his district to a meeting of all the judges at Independence Hall. Of the return judges, 10 were Democrats and 7 Whigs. While the judges were preparing to make one general return of the whole vote, Ingersoll protested against counting the returns of the Northern Liberties district. He charged that there was fraud, but as the judges had no authority to act regarding this, he charged irregularity and claimed that one of the two tally lists required by law had been lost. This list was that of one ward out of seven in the district, yet Ingersoll insisted that the whole seven be rejected. By a vote of 10 to 7 the judges so ordered, and thus gave Ingersoll a majority over Naylor. The judges then prepared duplicate returns, sent one to the prothonotary's office in Philadelphia and sent the other to the secretary of the commonwealth at Harrisburg. But six of the seven Whig judges met privately at night, canvassed the returns of the district represented by the seven Whig judges (as they could secure no others), certified that two Whig senators and eight representatives had been elected, filed a copy in the office of the prothonotary, and sent the duplicate to Harrisburg.* As the opening of the legislature approached, hundreds of men of both parties rushed to Harrisburg, deter *Harris, The Political Conflict in America, p. 45; McMaster, vol vi., pp. 501-502, 33 mined to seat their candidate by force if necessary. The Whigs charged that the Federal Government had sent bullies and legions to overawe the State government, while the Democrats declared that the city swarmed with officeholders prepared to uphold fraud and usurpation.* On December 4, when the legislature convened, the proceedings in the House began, and the clerk read what were stated to be the official returns. When the reading of those from Philadelphia County was finished, a Democratic member asked how many judges had signed the certificate. The clerk replied six. The member then presented a copy of the returns signed by the ten judges and certified by the prothonotary. After the returns from all the counties had been read, it was ascertained that 48 Democrats and 44 Whigs had uncontested seats and that 8 were in dispute. Thaddeus Stevens then appealed to the 52 Whigs to elect a Speaker, moved that tellers be appointed, put the motion, named the tellers, and finally declared Thomas S. Cunningham, the Whig candidate, elected. Cunningham was then sworn into office. After he had administered the oath to the Whigs, the session was adjourned until the next day. In the meantime the clerk finished the rollcall, to which none but the 55 Democrats present answered. The Democrats then elected William Hopkins Speaker, and after he had been sworn into office and administered the oath * McMaster, vol. vi., p. 503; Harris, pp. 47-48. 34 THE BUCKSHOT WAR. to the Democrats, they adjourned until 10 o'clock of the next day.* In the Senate the clerk read the names of the new members, but when the return of the six Whig judges certifying the election of the two Whigs was presented, a senator offered the certified copy of the return of the ten Democratic judges. The chair refused to receive this last return, as none but that offered by the clerk could be accepted. After some debate and in the midst of much excitement, Charles B. Penrose was again elected Speaker, and the two Whigs from Philadelphia, together with the other two members, took the oath of office.t Early on the morning of the next day the Democratic members of the House convened. They were still in session when the Whigs entered the chamber. At the suggestion of their Speaker, a motion was made that the House adjourn, but the mob from the lobbies and the gallery rushed into the chamber, ejected the members, and considerably damaged the room.‡ No session was held on the third day, as the mob then had possession of the chamber. Fearing the consequences of mob rule, Governor Joseph B. Ritner, on December 5, 1838, called on E. V. Sumner, captain of the United States dragoons at Carlisle, for aid, which was refused. He then secured some Harris, p. 49. Ibid, pp. 50-51; McMaster, vol. vi., p. 504. Harris, p. 55. || Ibid, pp. 55-56; Niles' Register, vol. lv., p. 294. ball, buckshot and pistol cartridges from the captain in charge of the United States munitions of war at Frankfort. On December 7 the governor appealed to President Van Buren, stating that the Senate had been forced to adjourn by the violent conduct of a mob, that the Speaker had been driven from his chair, and that the State department was closed, wherefore he requested the National Government to defend the State against domestic evils.† Van Buren referred the matter to Secretary of War Joel R. Poinsett, who, on December 11, replied as follows: "The commotion which now threatens the peace of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, does not appear to arise from any opposition to the laws; but grows out of a political contest between the different members of the Government, most, if not all of them, admitted to be the legal representatives of the people constitutionally elected, about their relative rights, and especially in reference to the organization of the popular branch of the Legislature. To interfere in any commotion growing out of a controversy of so grave and delicate a character, by the Federal authority, armed with the military power of the Government, would be attended with dangerous consequences to our republican institutions. In the opinion of the President, his interference in any political commotion in a State could only be justified by the application for it, being clearly within the meaning of the Fourth Section of the Fourth Article of the Constitution, and of the Act of Congress passed in pursuance thereof, and while the domestic violence brought to his notice, is of such a character that the State authorities, civil and military, after having been duly called upon, have proved inadequate to suppress it." Meanwhile, on the night of Decem The requisition is in Niles' Register, vol. lv., 294. Harris, p. 56; Niles' Register, vol. lv., p. 295. |