"would state a circumstance which might give the committee some small idea
of what the savings under the Superintendent were. The expenditure of hay
at a certain post was one hundred and forty tons; such was the estimate
laid before him; yet twelve tons carried the post through the year, and
the supply was abundant, and the post was as fully and usefully occupied
as it had ever been before." Of course there was an outcry against the
Superintendent of Finance; "he rather wondered that the clamor was not
more loud and tremendous." He remembered that "one hundred and forty-six
supernumerary officers were brushed off in one day, who had long been
sucking the vital blood and spirit of the nation. Was it to be wondered
at, if this swarm should raise a buzz about him?" Gerry fought on almost
singlehanded, but he could not refute the evidence that he had invited. He
lost his temper and resorted to sarcasm. If a single head of the Treasury
was so desirable, why not "have a single legislator; one man to make all
the laws, the revenue laws particularly, because among many there is less
responsibility, system, and energy; consequently a numerous representation
in this House is an odious institution."

The case for the Treasury Board was so hopeless that nothing more was
heard of it; but the battle over the removal question was renewed with
added violence, when the bill for establishing the Department of Foreign
Affairs came up for consideration. White of Virginia now led the attack.
He had been a member of the Continental Congress from 1786 to 1788, and a
member of the ratifying convention of his State. Although he voted for
a provisional acceptance of the Constitution, he had supported an
amendment requiring Congress to collect direct taxes or excises through
State agency, which would have been in effect a return to the plan of
requisitions--the bane of the Confederation. In an elaborate speech he
attacked the clause giving the President power to remove from office, as
an attempt to impart an authority not conferred by the Constitution, and