Source: President
Jackson Vetoes the Bank Bill
WASHINGTON, July 10,
1832
To the Senate:
The bill "to modify
and continue" the act entitled "An act to incorporate the subscribers
to the Bank of the United States" was presented to me on the 4th July
instant. Having ... come to the conclusion that it ought not to become a law, I
herewith return it to the Senate, in which it originated, with my objections .
. .
The present corporate
body ... enjoys an exclusive privilege of banking under the authority of the
General Government, a monopoly of its favor and support, and, as a necessary
consequence, almost a monopoly of the foreign and domestic exchange . . .
[But every] monopoly and
all exclusive privileges are granted at the expense of the public, which ought
to receive a fair equivalent. The many millions which this act proposes to
bestow on the stockholders of the existing bank must come directly or
indirectly out of the earnings of the American people . . .
It is not conceivable
how the present stockholders can have any claim to the special favor of the
Government. The present corporation has enjoyed its monopoly during the period
stipulated in the original contract. If we must have such a corporation, why
should not the Government sell out the whole stock and thus secure to the
people the full market value of the privileges granted? Why should not Congress
create and sell twenty-eight millions of stock, incorporating the purchasers
with all the powers and privileges secured in this act and putting the premium
upon the sales into the Treasury? . . .
There are no necessary
evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses. If it would confine
itself to equal protection, it would be an unqualified blessing. In the act
before me there seems to be a wide and unnecessary departure from these just
principles . . .