portant service which could be rendered
by the officer who should be placed at the head of the department of
finance. When the circumstances under which the members of that house
were assembled, and the various objects for which they were convened
were considered, it was no imputation upon them to suppose that they
might receive useful information from a person whose peculiar duty it
was to direct his attention to systems of finance, and who would be in
some measure selected on account of his fitness for that object. It
was denied that the privileges of the house would be infringed by the
measure. The plans of the secretary could not be termed bills, nor
would they even be reported in that form. They would only constitute
information which would be valuable, and which could not be received
in a more eligible mode. "Certainly," said Mr. Goodhue, "we carry our
dignity to the extreme, when we refuse to receive information from any
but ourselves."

"If we consider the present situation of our finances," said Mr. Ames,
"owing to a variety of causes, we shall no doubt perceive a great
though unavoidable confusion throughout the whole scene. It presents
to the imagination a deep, dark, and dreary chaos, impossible to be
reduced to order, unless the mind of the architect be clear and
capacious, and his power commensurate to the object. He must not be
the flitting creature of the day; he must have time given him
competent to the successful exercise of his authority. It is with the
intention of letting a little sunshine into the business, that the
present arrangement is proposed."

It was not admitted that the plans of the secretary would possess an
influence to which their intrinsic value would not give them a just
claim. There would always be sufficient intelligence in that house to
detect, and independence to expose any oppressive or injurious scheme
which might be prepared for them. Nor would a plan openly and
officially reported possess more influence on the mind of any member,
than if given privately at the secretary's office.

Mr. Madison said, the words of the bill were precisely those used by
the former congress on two occasions. The same power had been annexed
to the office of superintendent of the finances; and he had never
heard that any inconvenience had been experienced from the regulation.
Perhaps if the power had been more fully and more frequently
exercised, it might have contributed more to the public good. "