Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. II.djvu/34

16 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS radical measure that divorced the treasury from private banking and trade. The measure was formally repealed by the Whig congress of 1842, after which the public moneys were again deposited in selected banks until 1846, when the independent treasury was reinstalled and has ever since held its place under all changes of administration. He signed the independent treasury bill on July 4, 1840, as being a sort of "second Declaration of In dependence," in his own idea and in that of his party. Von Hoist, the sternest of Van Buren s critics, awards to him on "this one question" the credit of "courage, firmness, and statesmanlike insight." It was the chef d ceuvre of his public career. He also deserves credit for the fidelity with which, at the evident sacrifice of popularity with a certain class of voters, he adhered to neutral obligations on the outbreak of the Canada rebellion late in 1837. The administration of Van Buren, beginning and ending with financial panic, went down under the cloud rising on the country in 1840. The enemies and friends of the United States bank had equally sown the wind during Jackson s adminis tration. Van Buren was left to reap the whirlwind, which in the "political hurricane" of 1840 lifted Gen. Harrison into the presidential chair. The Democratic defeat was overwhelming. Harrison received 234 electoral votes, and Van Buren only 60.