AND THE WHIG COALITION 355 



created a bank in the District of Columbia, with 

 branches throughout the states, and it made no proper 

 provision for the consent of the states. The President 

 had admitted that a "fiscal agency" of the United 

 States government, established in Washington for the 

 purpose of collecting, keeping, and disbursing the 

 public revenue, was desirable if not indispensable ; a 

 regular bank of discount, engaged in commercial trans- 

 actions throughout the states, and having the United 

 States government as its principal shareholder and 

 federal officers exerting a controlling influence upon 

 its directorship, was an entirely different affair, some- 

 thing in his opinion neither desirable nor permissible. 

 In the u fiscal corporation " bill an attempt was made 

 to hoodwink the President and the public by a pretence 

 of forbidding discounts and loans, and limiting the 

 operations of the fiscal agency exclusively to exchanges. 

 While this project was maturing, the Whig newspapers 

 fulminated with threats against the President in case 

 he should persist in his course ; private letters warned 

 him of plots to assassinate him ; and Mr. Clay in the 

 Senate referred to his resignation in 1836, and asked 

 why, if constitutional scruples again hindered him 

 from obeying the will of the people, did he not now 

 resign his lofty position and leave it for those who 

 could be more compliant ? To this it was aptly replied 

 by Mr. Rives that "the President was an independent 

 branch of the government as well as Congress, and was 

 not called upon to resign because he differed in opinion 

 with them." Some of the Whigs seem really to have 

 hoped that such a storm could be raised as would 

 browbeat the President into resigning, whereby the 

 government would be temporarily left in the hands of 



