Van Buren and the election of Gen. Harrison to the
Presidency. The real issues were not much discussed--certainly not by
the Whigs. In reality the results were due to the general prostration
of business and the utter discredit that had fallen upon General
Jackson's pet bank system. The Independent Treasury System, as it was
termed by Democrats, or the Sub-Treasury System, as it was called by
the Whigs, had not been tested.
The country was tired of experiments and all the evils, which were
many, that then afflicted the people, were attributed to the
experiments of General Jackson in vetoing the bills for the recharter
of the United States Bank and for the institution of the pet bank
system. In truth the country was wedded to the idea that the funds of
the government should be so placed that they could be used to
facilitate business. That idea and the practice arising from it were
full of peril. In the infancy of a country, when the resources are
inadequate, a national bank, assuming that it is managed honestly and
wisely, may be an important aid, but time being given, it will
inevitably become a political machine in a country, like the United
States, where the political aspirations of the people are active and
the temptations to seek the aid of the money power are always great.
Even in modern time, with a surplus of millions in the banks of the
city of New York, for which no proper use could be found, there are
indications of a purpose to return to the pet bank system under
another name.
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