H. OF R.] Sub-Treasury Bill. checked. Do all this, and the poor man sees his fate rend in the history of Ireland. Their distresses are great beyond description; their means of support the most scanty; and the Irishman said truly, as he said wittily, that the first mouthful of bread he ever ate was a potato; yes, sir, the potato is his meat and his bread, and often he is without it. Carry out your system, and the cheapest food, which is the potato, will be that which the poor of this country will be forced to live upon. They will not be able to buy a barrel of flour or a barrel of pork. Bank credit, individual confidence, and the credit system, have been the chief currency of our nation for fifty years. Never has any nation prospered as this nation has in so short a period. But now the President tells us and the people, that the Government must cut loose from the community; that they have been trading on borrowed capital; and have carried the credit system too far. Such language would be ungenerous from that source, if in all respects true. Who did most to adopt measures which brought about these results? You destroyed the United States Bank, and at least tacitly invited the States to fill the vacuum of that institution. by making banks of their You told these State banks to discount liberally. The people, believing that all was true which you told them, increased their business; the farmer bought more land, the mechanic employed more journeymen. Each went in debt, believing, if your promises of a better currency would be realized, that he could not only meet his liabilities, but enlarge his means. Your promises were not realized; and now he meets with executive denunciation for trusting to that very Executive. Is not this ungenerous? Is it not cruel? It is a very refinement in cruelty, which a fallen angel might envy. own. The President, in his message, has written, as I have spoken, about a great many things; among others, he tells us that England has overtraded, and all Europe felt embarrassments as we feel them. [Oct. 12, 1837. of Germany are small; the line of business is defined. Our nation is as yet new, and immensely expansive. What may be wise in a little State in the centre of Europe, may not be wise in a largo State in an immense hemisphere. He But I deny that any of the Germanic provinces have gained their wealth or their prosperity by the simple gold money system, by excluding the whole foundations of the credit system. And, in support of this opinion, I will read one sentence from the first volume of Lord Broughham's admirable work on the Colonial Policy of European Nations: "Credit has contributed to the astonishing increase of the Dutch settlements, so much wanted in all other colonies." To sustain this opinion, I will read an extract from Thornton on Paper Credit, showing that paper credit has been a great cause of the prosperity of Holland. says "the extent of the circulating medium of Holland is deserving of notice. Besides the great circulation of bank notes and receipts, Government paper and bills of exchange, (which latter are without doubt a part of the circulating paper of every trading country, although they circulate more slowly than the other parts,) the system of colonial credit must have always thrown into the market a very large portion of circulating paper." Then, sir, when it is thus shown that the Germanic States and Holland owe their prosperity to the paper system and to credit, they will no longer be quoted against both. If there is one man on earth who knows when to use the credit system, it is the German, whether he is in Europe or America; because he is a close calculator of number one. If he finds, after making his estimates, that he can easily repay, he will then borrow money at six per cent., when he has convinced his mind that he will make eight, or ten, or twelve, upon its judicious use. They do not want the Executive, or any one else, to tell them how to make their estimates; they are themselves the safest calculators in the world. Some gentlemen here, from the South, have advocated this measure and the views of the Executive-to destroy the banking system of our country, to disconnect Government from the banks, and to restrain the credit policy of the nation. I have, it is true, travelled much through the South, the West, and the North. I have read much of all, and reflected anxiously on their separate and blended interests; still I do not feel sufficient confidence in myself to dissent too rashly from some of the opinions which I have heard of members, who take, with an air of confidence, the interest of their respective regions of the country under their own protection. I cannot, however, restrain the expression of my doubts that the interest of the South will be promoted by these measures. I honestly It is often true, (and the President's message proves it,) as Lord Brougham has well said, that philosophers have been led into an error, not uncommon in many of the departments of science, and in none more frequent than in politics-the mistake of the occasion for the cause, and of a collateral effect for a principle of causation. Sir, it is true that there have been, and are, embarrassments in the moneyed arrangements of Europe; but did it originate there? No, sir. I have an interesting pamphlet before me, written very recently, and translated from the French, which I cannot trespass upon the time of the commit ee to read extracts from. But it shows by the most conclusive demonstration, that the first cause of our distresses was the warfare upon the bank and the currency by General Jack-believe that there is no part of the Union where capital is son in this country; that so clearly allied is the whole commercial world with this nation, that embarrassments in this country are felt, and will be, in a greater or less degree, by every Power of Europe with whom we trade. Civilization and commerce have made the human family, so far as trade is concerned, as one people, and you cannot derange the interest of one without affecting the business of all. This connexion and this dependance have been the result of the credit system, which has been so much denounced, and which has been enlarged upon in the executive message. I have listened to speeches on this floor, in which whole pages of the Gouge plan have been adopted; yes, sir, the whole anti-bank plan. The little States of the Germanic provinces have been alluded to, to show that by individual banks the interest of the people and the nation could be promoted. Sir, statesmen and political economists run into error in receiving the theories of abstract writers. Practical judgment knows how to receive or to eschew maxims of writers which apply to a particular nation in a particular condition. The provinces But in such demand, and credit so much required, as in the sell at least one fourth of the State to make the amount; and that is the most extensive cotton-growing State in the Southern country. Sir, I maintain that this very productive labor, as it has been called the slave labor of the South-is strictly and truly more of capital than labor. I could quote Lord Brougham, and the reasoning of Senator Tracy, to sustain the opinion, but I will not read from either; for I have not time to discuss it before this almost exhausted committee, nor is it important for my present purpose. But, to come to the middle, the grain-growing and agricultural States: how few of the number of their inhabitants have been left farms, and utensils, and money, sufficient to carry on the whole of the paraphernalia of farming operations? Nine out of ten have to purchase farms, and to gain credit for their personal property, in order to carry them on with prosperity. "A farm," says Senator Tracy, "is a real manufactory;" "a field is a real utensil, or, if you please, a store of first materials;" to set it into profitable motion, you must have capital, or credit to gain capital, in order to make it useful or profitable. But if we were, as it is pur duty, to turn our eyes and inquiry farther north, where manufactures and farming go hand in hand together: a manufacturer builds his factory, but finds that his ability will not be sufficient to purchase all of the raw material to be worked up into useful and profitable fabrics. He must either gain credit, or at once dismiss his hands, and abandon his useful enterprise; these hands must work in some other and new employment, for a quarter of a dollar a day, instead of gaining a dollar, if the head of the factory could have obtained credit. Thus, your system will prostrate the man of some capital, and throw out of employment the man who has but a useful trade. [H. OF R. lings," "according to an act of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, passed the thirteenth year of the reign of his Majesty George the Third, dated the first day of October, 1773, signed Thos. Leech, William Criffin, James Stephens ;" and on the back of the note is written, "To counterfeit, is DEATH." I am as much opposed to the circulation of small notes, and as much in favor of a sound and abundant specie basis, and specie circulation, as any gentleman on this floor. Hence it is that I am in favor of such measures as will effect that desirable result-measures that have been tried; not the chimerical schemes of fanciful politicians. From the genius and character of our people, spread as they are from the east many thousand miles west, filling all the intermediate country, of every variety of production, from almost the polar region of the North to the land of the sugar cane and perennial verdure, it is impossible to carry on free interchange and trade, without immense loss to the people, without a better currency than we have at this time. I have no doubt if a United States bank were established, with a capital of thirty or forty millions of dollars, to issue no notes of a less denomination than ten dollars, its notes to be received in payment of Government dues, and the notes of all banks that shall resume specie payments within a given period; that, after a limited period, neither the Government nor the bank should receive notes of any bank that issued notes less than five dollars, and, after a further period, of ten-you would gradually have withdrawn all the small notes; confidence would be restored, and the people would once more see and handle specie. The operation would be gradual, and create no alarm, or embarrassment, or derangement in business. Whatever might be the character of the State banks, they would find it to their interest to conform to these regulations; for the receivability of their notes by the Government and the bank would induce them to call in all their small notes; for those banks could not prosper whose notes would be continually returning upon them as soon as thrown into circulation, as the notes of every bank would that were not received by the Government and the bank and its branches. At any rate, this is the conclusion to which my mind, after anxious research and reflection, has attained. By such a course we would enable the people gradually to extricate themselves from their difficulties, and the nation, now and in future time, would be benefited. But how can you carry on commerce between man and man without a sound convertible currency, without immense loss to both the consumer and producer? Tracy has truly said that "commerce and society are one and the same thing" he has said in another place, "commerce is the whole of society, as labor is the whole of riches." The internal commerce among the States and the people of the States is vastly greater than its foreign commerce, and requires some circulating medium to represent value. There is not gold and silver enough for this purpose: then you are forced to have either a convertible or inconvertible paper currency, or make the productions of labor a curren- But we have been told by a distinguished member from cy. You had a convertible paper currency, the best in the | Virginia, [Mr. ROBERTSON,] that we are not legislating world, and the nation was happy and prosperous. You for posterity, but for ourselves; and that posterity will letaught the people to be dissatisfied with it, and to aid you gislate for itself. This is not the first time that I have in destroying it; and they are now afflicted with an incon-heard of the remark being made in a legislative assembly, vertible depreciating currency. To restore the former though not by Thomas Jefferson. But there is authority, prosperity, you must restore the former currency. and very high authority, for it-the authority of Sir Hugh | Boyle Roch. Barrington, in his Personal Sketches, mentions that a debate arose in the Irish House of Commons, on the vote of a grant which was recommended by Sir John Parnell, Chancellor of the Exchequer, as one not likely to be felt burdensome for many years to come. It was observed, in reply, that the House had no just right to load posterity with a weighty debt, for what could in no degree operate to their advantage. Sir Hugh, eager to defend the measures of Government, immediately rose, and, in a few words, put forward the most unanswerable argument which human ingenuity could possibly devise. "What! Mr. Speaker," said he, "and so we are to beggar ourselves for fear of vexing posterity! Now, I would ask the honorable gentleman, and this still more honorable House, why we should put ourselves out of the way to do any thing for posterity-for what has posterity done for us?" ago. You tell the people to banish from use small notes; and your measures force the people to countenance their existence. We had a good currency in Maryland a few years That State prohibited the circulation of notes under five dollars, and I believe but one bank under their charters could issue notes of a less denomination. Public necessity has been made paramount to the law and the policy of the State, and every corporation, and almost every individual in business, feels himself authorized to become a banker, and to fill the State with notes of the fractional parts of a dollar. This was the case in all the States, as now, when the first Bank of the United States was destroyed. I have in my possession a relic of those days-a note of the denomination of "ten cents," which a friend sent me from Virginia, on the "Farmers, Mechanics, and Merchant's Bank" of "Charlestown, Jefferson county, Virginia;" is sued "November 2d, 1815," and signed "Wm. Brown, cashier." I have another precious relic of past days, when there was no United States Bank. It is printed on coarse stiff paper, and designates "No. 27,418" for "fifteen shil Sir Hugh perceiving, upon taking his seat, that there were many smiling, and not being conscious that he had said any thing out of the way, concluded that the House had mistaken him. He therefore rose and begged leave to H. OF R.] Sub-Treasury Bill. explain, as he apprehended that gentleman had entirely mistaken his words. He assured the House "that by posterity he did not at all mean our ancestors, but those who were to come immediately after them. Such reasoning may have effect on some minds, but it can have none on mine. That an American Congress shall not shape their measures to benefit posterity, is a sentiment I can never subscribe to. There is an instinct in all animated nature, to protect its offspring. The most timid animal that is not endowed with reason will peril its existence to protect its young. What huntsman has not seen the skittish pheasant change its nature, at times, at his sudden approach, and, crying warning to its affrighted brood, flutter before his footsteps, with its rich plumage expanded, as if to challenge his deadly aim! And what generous huntsman has not paused, in harmless admiration, till the fond mother could make an adroit retreat to its secure brood! Is it possible for the day ever to arrive when the House of Representatives will have become so metamorphosed as to forget all instinct of nature, all duty of reason, as to look singly at the selfish interest of themselves, without consulting their duty to posterity? No, sir, it is not possible; the laws of human nature will never be so changed. I cannot but allude to a remark made by the gentleman from South Carolina, [Mr. PICKENS.] Le expatiated, as the message has, upon the banking system of this country and England, and said that England had overtraded and overbanked. I could but picture in my mind that the gentleman from South Carolina was in the British House of Commons, addressing that body with the same earnest and impassioned strain to change its policy, to destroy its bank, and to narrow down its credit system to the standard of his judgment. I could fancy to my mind the whole House giving him profound attention, and admiring his eloquence, if they doubted the wisdom of his views; and that, after he had concluded, some veteran statesman would approach him in terms of friendly gratulation, and privately admonish him, before he made another speech on those subjects, that he should lock himself up in an abundant library, and neither give nor receive a visit until he had thoroughly read the entire history of England in relation to the causes of her prosperity; that then he hoped he would be willing to make a speech on the other side, for he would find ample occasion for that change; he would find it was that policy which quickened into usefulness the hidden coal and embedded ore; it was that system which taxed the watercourses to lessen the taxes of the people, which had before flowed on unobstructed from the mountain side to the ocean; it was that system which makes them now, in tribute to industry, leap on the water-wheel, and labor into motion millions of spindles; it is that policy which has built up factories, and made all England one vast and prosperous workshop, and created her wealth, which all the gold of all the mines of South America could not purchase; and has given her power that half the world could not subdue, and has made almost all of it tributary to her. Another gentleman, in his remarks yesterday, [Mr. HUNTER, of Virginia,] in making a hard-money speech, (and if he will allow me, I will say it was one of the best I have listened to,) wished to demonstrate the evils of the banking system, by referring, in illustration of his position, to the fact that, during the long war in Europe, the French Government adopted the policy of making a run on the Bank of England, whose paper was in circulation on the continent, and consequently the bank had to suspend specie payments. That honorable gentleman is right in his historical fact, but I must differ with him in his conclusion, that the British Government sustained an injury by that bank from this circumstance. | [Oct. 12, 1837. It is true, Mr. Chairman, that the French nation thought that one of the best ways of defeating the British arms was to make an attack upon the means of supply of money to her armies, and did employ Jews to present at the counter of the Bank of England its notes. But did that quicksighted nation bend to the policy of its enemy, and countenance the discredit of its bank? Did the Government of England, when a run was made on the bank, do as our Government has done-denounce and aid to ruin the bank? No, sir. The ministers at once brought in a bill to invite-yes, sir, to request-the Bank of England to suspend specie payments. Did the Government of England do as our Government has done-refuse to take the notes of the bank? No, sir; in that very bill of 1797 they made the notes a legal tender, and stamped the encouraging seal of the nation upon them, by saying that the Government would take them for public dues. It was a consummate policy, and the sequel proved it; for, although the law was limited to six months, I think it was renewed, from time to time, for some twenty years. Did the notes of that bank depreciate as the notes of our banks have, that have been dishonored by the Government? Read the history of English currency, and you will find that they did not. That policy prevented a panic and sustained credit, and enabled England to contract a debt of twenty five hundred millions, in a war of unprecedented consumption and fury. By preserving credit at home, she gained it abroad; and nothing aided her more than the Bank of England. It was this policy which made her victorious in that war; it was because industry was her capital, and credit her currency. Mr. Chairman, I have trespassed much longer upon the time of the committee than I had intended; but a dread of the consequences of this measure upon the farmers and mechanics of the district which I represent has induced me, together with the attention which I have received, to claim so large a portion of your time. I will answer one other remark, whilst up, from my Southern friends, and then hand them over to their constituents. My friend from Virginia [Mr. ROBERTSON] said that he voted for this same scheme in the twenty-third Congress, when General Gordon proposed his "skeleton" of a bil; that, as he went for the "divorce" system then, he will sustain his consistency by going for the bill under debate; and that most of the members of the opposition went for it then. A friend from the Eastern Shore of Vir ginia [Mr. WISE] has informed the House that he and many others voted for it then, in courtesy to his colleague who had moved it, so as to bring the proposition before the House; but never dreamed for a moment of voting for it on its final passage. I wish here to say that I was not in my place-from indisposition-when the vote was taken on General Gordon's proposition; but had I been, I would have voted against it. If my honorable friend is willing to sue out for a "divorce," in order to marry a "skeleton," I should not be, if I were united to the worst shrew in the world. But there is no debating about taste. If I wished to consult a lawyer of profound legal reading and reflection upon an abstract question in that complex science, the first gentleman in this House that I would approach would be the learned gentleman from Richmond, [Mr. ROBERTSON ;] but if I wished to ask advice in selecting "a help meet," I think that he would be the last. I wil candidly admit that my friend has more courage than myself. I do not believe that I could screw my courage up to join in wedlock's embrace a skeleton of dry bones. would have first to see it filled with muscles, flesh and blood, life and animation, fair symmetry and proportion. I must first see the human form and face divine; and then, but not till then, I would venture to-"speak to it." I What assurance can the gentleman have that his skele all diseases, all maladies, Of ghastly spasm, or racking torture, qualms Dropsies, and asthmas, and joint-racking rheums?" The skeleton of the bill before us-for it is but a skeleton-although accompanied with "vaults" and "strong boxes," they are not boxes of ointment--they are but Pandora's boxes, filled with scourges and diseases, without having hope at the bottom, with which the Secretary may afflict with pestiferous evils the body politic on whom you are going to force this unnatural alliance. But, before I exhaust the patience of this committee and myself, I wish to refer to one historical fact, in hopes that the advocates of this measure may find a moral in it; and in the hope that they may pause and profit by it before they consummate this hasty and ill-judged measure. At one period of the English history, corporate privi leges were as unpopular as they have been made in this country; they were unpopular because abuses existed under them-real, not imaginary; and in none did abuses exist to so great an extent as in the East India Company. Mr. Fox, who was made Premier, finding that popular feeling existed strongly against the abuses practised under that company's incorporated privileges, and knowing how strong an influence he could wield if he could bring every interest connected with that company to be dependant upon the ministry, conceived the plan, not of remedying the evils, but the bold scheme of annulling their charter, and appointing commissioners with absolute power to conduct the affairs of that company. He brought forward a bill, and predicated it upon a plausible preamble of the good of the company and the good of the people, for its better regulation and theirs. It was not the skeleton of a bill, like this on your table, but full and ample in its parts and in its details. That the committee may judge of its character, I will request the Clerk to read the preamble and the first section: ["A Bill for vesting the affairs of the East India Company in the hands of certain commissioners, for the benefit of the proprietors and the public. "Whereas disorders of an alarming nature and magnitude have long prevailed, and do still continue and increase, in the management of the territorial possessions, the revenues, and the commerce of this kingdom in the East Indies; by means whereof the prosperity of the natives has been greatly diminished, and the valuable interests of this nation in the said territorial possessions, revenues, and commerce have been materially impaired, and would probably have fallen into utter ruin, if au immediate and fitting remedy were not provided: "Be it therefore enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and the Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the government and management of the temporal possessions, revenue, and commerce of the united company of merchants of England, trading to the East Indies, by the directors and proprietors of the said company, or either of them; and all and singular the powers and authorities of the said directors and proprietors, or of any special or general or other court thereof, in the ordering and managing the said possessions, revenues, and commerce; and all elections of the directors of the said company be, and are hereby, declared to be discontinued for and during the con [H. OF R. tinuance of this act, any charter, usage, law, or statute to the contrary notwithstanding."] The section which you have heard is suflicient for my purpose. "Ex uno disce omnes." For the public good he was for seizing upon its chartered rights and its revenues, making it dependant upon the executive will. Under a tide of strong popular feeling, he carried his bill through one House with an immense majority. His bosom glowed with triumph, and he fancied himself secure in his place. The public mind passed, and judgment had time to counsel its feeling. The people began to reflect upon the consequences of the measure. They saw if that company was to be destroyed, its charter taken from it, and all control placed in the hands of a few, it might be the case of all other institutions; every chartered privilege might be taken the same way, and, finally, all power in the nation might be exercised by the Executive, or surrendered to it by a subservient Parliament. They soon drew a distinction between remedying and destroying; and, by the force of a change in the popular mind, the bill was lost in the other House, and Mr. Fox was no longer minister. What was the great Fox's fate may be the fate of others. Let others, therefore, take warning by the lessons of history. Our institutions are too firmly implanted in our general system, they have taken too deep root in the business and well-being of society, property is too much valued and too equally divided by the laws of our States and the laws of industrious gain, for the people to throw all things into hotch-potch and form a common stock, or ever to induce them to sustain such measures, or measures which lead to such results. The golden bawble will not now even amuse much less captivate, sober, well-thinking men. You cannot even entice children with it. You may, in a few congressional districts, still hold out the delusion to the people, but be assured they will be but few. There is one district north of "Mason and Dixon's line" in which it may succeed-a district represented on this floor by a gentleman who defeated one of the most intelligent and amiable gentleman I have ever known, by telling his constituents enormous witch stories-stories as miraculous as were ever told by the famous "witch king" who figured in the north of England some three centuries ago. But he finally was drowned, and as I know that there are mill ponds in that gentleman's district, more than six feet deep, I beg the member to keep a look out. Sir, since the days of Isaac of Cyprus, no man has been pleased to have golden fetters placed upon him. Hume informs us, that after his treasures were seized upon by Richard the First, and the prince incarcerated and bound in irons, he complained of the cruelty of his conqueror. Richard had the iron fetters taken off, and golden ones placed on in their stead. The Cypriot, pleased with this distinction, expressed his gratitude for the generosity of his conqueror. The people have been restrained in their business by golden fetters, which the executive brain has forged; they want them thrown off, so that they may have elbow room to prosecute their industry as formerly. I ask, I beseech, this House to pause in its course before it sanctions such a ruinous measure. I appeal to the candid of all parties, whether conservatives, administration men, or whigs, to let us cease this "triangular fight," and unite in defeating this measure. If we have differed as widely as the poles on other questions, let us unite in defeating this. Let us say, in the language of another, "Like men we differed, but like men we have agreed." I had rather see the pet bank plan new vamped and tried again. If you will not reject this bill, or will not lay it on the H. OF R.] Sub-Treasury Bill. table never to be called up again, and are resolved to pass it, let the worst come to the worst quickly; and the people, who will suffer, will soon show that they have power as well as the Executive and the two Houses of Congress; and that the constitution has informed them how they can remedy their grievances. But I hope it will be rejected, and that the Executive will do as the Kings of England and of France are forced to do in like cases-change his ministers and his measures. Or, if he will not change his advisers, at least change his measures. Or, if he will not change his measures or his advisers, then, as a republican President, in practice, finding himself in a minority in either House, and that he and his ministers will not alter their views of the constitution and the policy of the nation, they will resign the seals of office to the people, and say to them, elect other agents; we come down from our high places, that other, and abler, and better men may ascend. Or, are the lines of the philosophic poet true? "The age of virtuous politics is past! And we are deep in that of cold pretence; Mr. JOHNSON having concluded, Mr. LEGARE moved that the committee rise, but was solicited to withdraw it by Mr. DAWSON, of Georgia, who wished to offer an amendment; but that gentleman having explained, the motion was still insisted on. Mr. CAMBRELENG hoped the committee would not rise. The vote was taken by tellers, and decided in the negative: Ayes 75, noes 93. So the committee refused to rise. The question was then put on the substitute for the bill moved by Mr. GARLAND, of Virginia, (proposing to continue the deposites in such banks as should resume specie payments, &c.; when it was rejected: Ayes 73, noes 90. Mr. CAMBRELENG now moved that the committtee rise, and report the bill. Mr. DAWSON now offered his amendment, which was the following substitute for the bill: Strike out the whole bill and insert as follows: Sec. 1. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to select, as soon as practicable, and employ as the special depositories of the money of the United States, such of the banks incorporated by the several States, by Congress for the District of Columbia, or by the Legislative Councils of the several Territories, as may be located at, adjacent, or convenient to the points or places at which the revenues may be collected or disbursed; and in those States, Territories, or Districts where there are no bank or banks, and within which the public collections or disbursements require a depository, the said Secretary may make arrangements with a bank or banks in some other State, Territory, or District adjacent, to establish an agency or agencies in the States, Territories, or Districts so destitute of banks, as banks of such special deposite, and to receive through such agencies such special deposites of the public money as may be directed to be made at the points designated, and to make such disbursements as the public service may require at those points: the duties and liabilities of every such bank thus establishing any such agency to be the same, in respect to its agency, as are the duties and liabilities of said banks of special deposite generally under the provisions of this act: Provided, That at least one bank shall be selected in each State, Territory, or District where the collection or disbursements of the public money may require, if any can be found in such State, Territory, or District, willing to be employed as the special depository of the public money upon the terms and conditions prescribed by this act, and shall continue to conform thereto; and that the Secretary of the Treasury shall not [Oct. 12, 1837. suffer to remain in any deposite bank an amount of public moneys more than equal to three-fourths of the amount of its capital stock actually paid in, for a longer time than may be necessary to enable him to make transfers of the same, as required by this act; and the banks so selected as the special depositories shall, in his opinion, be safe depositories of the public moneys, and shall continue to do and perform the several duties and services and to conform to the several conditions prescribed by this act. Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That if at any point or place at which the public revenue may be collected or disbursed, there shall be no bank located, or none there located which, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Treasury, is in a safe condition, or where all the banks at such point or place shall fail or refuse to be employed as special depositories of the public money of the United States, or to comply with the conditions of this act, or where such banks shall not have sufficient capital to become the special depositories of the whole amount of public moneys collected or disbursed at such point or place, he may and shall order and direct the public moneys collected or deposited for disbursement at such point or place to be deposited in some other bank or banks in the same State, Territory, or District, or in some one or more of the States, Territories, or Districts adjacent, upon the same terms and conditions: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to prevent Congress at any time from passing any law for the removal of the public moneys from any or all of said banks, or from changing the terms of deposite; or to prevent the said banks, or any of them, at any time from declining any longer to be the depositories of the public moneys, on hand, according to the terms of agreement with the Secretary of the Treasury. Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That no bank shall hereafter be employed as a special depository of public money until such bank shall have first furnished the Secretary of the Treasury with a satisfactory statement of its condition and business, a list of its directors, the current price of its stock, a copy of its charter, and all such other information as may be necessary to enable him to judge of the safety of its condition. Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That said banks, before they shall be employed as the special depositories of the public moneys, shall agree to receive and keep the same safely, upon the following terms and conditions, to wit: First. Each bank shall receive, as special deposites, all moneys of the United States paid into the same, and the same keep as a special deposite, and as specie, to the credit of the United States, and not use or bank upon the same, Secondly. Each bank shall furnish to the Secretary of the Treasury, from time to time, and as often as he may require, not exceeding once a week, statements setting forth its condition and business, as herein before prescribed, except that such statements need not, unless required by the Secretary, contain a list of directors or copy of the charter. And the said banks shall, respectively, furnish to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Treasurer of the United States a weekly statement of the condition of his account from their books; and the Secretary of the Treasury shall have the right, by himself or an agent appointed for that purpose, to inspect such general accounts in the books of the bank as shall relate to said statements: Provided, This shall not be construed to imply a right to inspect the account of any private individual or individuals with the bank. Thirdly. To credit as specie all sums deposited therein to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States, except such as may be deposited in Treasury notes, or such other notes or scrip as Congress has or may hereafter specially direct to be received in payment of the public dues, not |