Page:Life of Henry Clay (Schurz; v. 2).djvu/36

26 But the law provided that the public funds should be deposited in the Bank of the United States or its branches, unless the Secretary of the Treasury should otherwise “order and direct,” and in that case the Secretary should report his reasons for such direction to Congress. A willing Secretary of the Treasury was therefore needed. In May, 1833, Jackson reconstructed his Cabinet for the second time. Livingston, the Secretary of State, was sent as Minister of the United States to France. McLane, the Secretary of the Treasury, the same who in December, 1831, had made a report favorable to the bank, was made Secretary of State. For the Treasury Department Jackson selected William J. Duane of Philadelphia, who was known as an opponent of the bank. Jackson, no doubt, expected him to be ready for any measure necessary to destroy it. In this he was mistaken. Duane earnestly disapproved of the removal of the deposits as unnecessary, and highly dangerous to the business interests of the country. He also believed that so important a change in the fiscal system of the government was a matter of which the Executive should not dispose without the concurrence of Congress. Nor was his opinion without support in the administration. A majority of the members of the Cabinet thought the removal of the deposits unwise. Even one of the members of the Kitchen Cabinet, Colonel Lewis, Jackson's oldest friend, entertained the same opinion. In fact, it was held by almost every public man who