e monopolistic methods of
business had been the cause. The Whigs maintained that the panic and
distress were due to the blunders and crimes of the party in power.
Benton in reply declared that the paper money and stock-jobbing systems
of the last few years had been the cause. Van Buren called Congress
together in extra session in September, 1837, in order, as he said, to
devise means of saving the Government itself from bankruptcy. But he
could not place the blame on the preceding Administration, as his
opponents delighted to do; he only said it was all because of
"over-action in all departments of business." Congress suspended the
distribution of the surplus revenue among the States, issued notes to
the amount of ten million dollars to meet the obligations of the
Government, and took measures for the safety of the public funds in
banks which could not pay their debts. Gradually during the next year
the signs of recovery appeared. Rise of prices in Europe, a good cotton
crop, and the passing of the panicky state of mind enabled the banks to
resume specie payments, and the mills of the East to open their doors.
But the public was in doubt whether the ruin of the National Bank, the
issuing of the specie circular by Jackson, or the lack of ability on the
part of Van Buren had been the cause of the calamities of the year 1837.
And as it took years for men and business houses to regain their former
mutual confidence, there was soreness and hesitation everywhere until
after 1840.

The financial situation was, therefore, the one thing with which Van
Buren had to deal during most of his term. After the emergency measures
had passed, he gave earnest attention to the enacting of a law which
would create responsible agencies in the larger cities for the receipt
and expenditure of the public moneys. The purpose was to avoid
concentration and monopoly such as the National Bank had maintained, and
to keep the control of the finances in the hands of the Government. It
was called the Independent Treasury system. The President pressed the
measure before a divided Congress and without the support of any
concerted or strong public opinion. To the surprise of many, Calhoun,
the bitterest of his enemies, came to his assistance. This meant the
support of most of the cotton and tobacco planters. Yet the measure
failed of passage during the sessions of 1837-38 and 1838-39.

Van Buren did not know how to appeal to the popular heart when powerf