te 4: Judge Spencer.]

THE PRESIDENTIAL VETO OF THE UNITED STATES BANK BILL.

A SPEECH DELIVERED IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, ON THE 11TH OF
JULY, 1832, ON THE PRESIDENT'S VETO OF THE BANK BILL.

Mr. President,--No one will deny the high importance of the subject now
before us. Congress, after full deliberation and discussion, has passed
a bill, by decisive majorities, in both houses, for extending the
duration of the Bank of the United States. It has not adopted this
measure until its attention had been called to the subject, in three
successive annual messages of the President. The bill having been thus
passed by both houses, and having been duly presented to the President,
instead of signing and approving it, he has returned it with objections.
These objections go against the whole substance of the law originally
creating the bank. They deny, in effect, that the bank is
constitutional; they deny that it is expedient; they deny that it is
necessary for the public service.

It is not to be doubted, that the Constitution gives the President the
power which he has now exercised; but while the power is admitted, the
grounds upon which it has been exerted become fit subjects of
examination. The Constitution makes it the duty of Congress, in cases
like this, to reconsider the measure which they have passed, to weigh
the force of the President's objections to that measure, and to take a
new vote upon the question.

Before the Senate proceeds to this second vote, I propose to make some
remarks upon those objections. And, in the first place, it is to be
observed, that they are such as to extinguish all hope that the present
bank, or any bank at all resembling it, or resembling any known similar
institution, can ever receive his approbation. He states no terms, no
qualifications, no conditions, no modifications, which can reconcile him
to the essential provisions of the existing charter. He is against the
bank, and against any bank constituted in a manner known either to this
or any other country. One advantage, therefore, is certainly obtained by
presenting him the bill. It has caused the President's sentiments to be
made known. There is no longer any mystery, no longer a contest between
hope and fear, or between those prophets who predicted a _veto_ and
those who foretold an approval. The bill is negatived; the President has
assumed the responsibility of putting an end to the bank; and the
country must pre