Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. II.djvu/145

JAMES KNOX POLK 109 science, to the glare of official eminence spotted by a sense of moral delinquency!" Regarding the question of internal improve ments, Mr. Folk s administration was signalized by the struggle between the advocates of that policy and the executive. A large majority in both houses of congress, including members of both parties, were in favor of a lavish expenditure of the public money. On July 24, 1846, the senate passed the bill known as the river-and-harbor im provement bill precisely as it had passed the house the previous March, but it was vetoed by the presi dent in a message of unusual power. The au thority of the general government to make internal improvements within the states was thoroughly ex amined, and reference was made to the corruptions of the system that expended money in particular sections, leaving other parts of the country with out government assistance. Undaunted by the op position of the executive, the house of representa tives, on February 20, 1847, passed, by a vote of 89 to 72, a second bill making appropriations amounting to $600,000 for the same purpose. It was carried through the senate on the last day of the second session. Although the president could have defeated the objectionable measure by a "pocket veto," in spite of the denunciations with which he was assailed by the politicians and the press, he again boldly met the question, and sent