As
the president of the bank has not been required to settle his accounts,
no one but himself knows how much more than the sum already mentioned
may have been squandered, and for which a credit may hereafter be
claimed in his account under this most extraordinary resolution. With
these facts before us can we be surprised at the torrent of abuse
incessantly poured out against all who are supposed to stand in the way
of the cupidity or ambition of the Bank of the United States? Can we be
surprised at sudden and unexpected changes of opinion in favor of an
institution which has millions to lavish and avows its determination not
to spare its means when they are necessary to accomplish its purposes?
The refusal to render an account of the manner in which a part of the
money expended has been applied gives just cause for the suspicion that
it has been used for purposes which it is not deemed prudent to expose
to the eyes of an intelligent and virtuous people. Those who act justly
do not shun the light, nor do they refuse explanations when the
propriety of their conduct is brought into question.
With these facts before him in an official report from the Government
directors, the President would feel that he was not only responsible for
all the abuses and corruptions the bank has committed or may commit, but
almost an accomplice in a conspiracy against that Government which he
has sworn honestly to administer, if he did not take every step within
his constitutional and legal power likely to be efficient in putting an
end to these enormities.
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