GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL. 33 



Whig Party whose votes I could command. As a final fact, 

 the political feeling was then so strong that all considerations 

 yielded to the chances and hopes of success. 



My opponent, and the successful candidate, was Mr. John 

 Boynton, afterward, and for a single year, a member of the 

 senate. He was a native of the town, a blacksmith by trade, 

 and the son of a blacksmith. He was a man of quiet ways, 

 upright, and known to every voter. He had been in the 

 office of town clerk for many years, he had been kind to 

 everyone, and he had no enemies. Boynton was elected, 

 but by a moderate majority. But for the excitement of the 

 Presidential election, the contest would have been very close. 



The death of General Harrison and the elevation of John 

 Tyler to the Presidency wrought a great change in the for- 

 tunes of the Whig Party. Soon after the assembling of Con- 

 gress at the extra session, called by President Harrison, a bill 

 for a Fiscal Bank was passed by the two Houses, and vetoed 

 by President Tyler. The veto message was so framed as to 

 encourage the Whig leaders to pass a second bill in a form 

 designed to avoid the objections of the President. 



In the discussion upon the veto of the first bill, Mr. Clay 

 assailed the President in such terms that a reconciliation was 

 impossible. From that moment it was the purpose of the 

 President to co-operate with the Democratic Party. A second 

 bill was passed. That was also vetoed by the President. 

 Early in September all the members of the Cabinet resigned 

 except Mr. Webster. The outgoing members gave reasons 

 to the public, and Mr. Webster gave reasons for not going. 

 Caleb Cushing, Henry A. Wise, and a few other Whigs, 

 called the Omnibus Party chose their part with Webster and 

 Tyler. The Whig Party was divided, hopelessly. 



Previous to the division, a bill had passed, which had been 

 approved by the President, for the repeal of the Independent 

 Treasury System. The ardor of its enemies was such that no 

 substitute was provided. The expectation was that a Fiscal 

 Bank, or Fiscal Agent, would be created. The failure of the 

 bank bills left the Government without any lawful system of 

 finance. The pet bank system was restored, in fact. The 



