Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1824-05-21
ANSWER
QFMe Secretary Of The Treasury, to tie .4ddrese
of.N;niun Ed,cards.

being thus explainel the only uthrr acts. in
-S'nheu IN the charge against the Secretary, ol
having received uncnrrrnt funds, il, payment
from Banks, are the receipt Of 81 900, ia
notes of The State Bank of North Carolina
and SlG,56s, in notes Of the Bank Of Ken.
tucky the former from the Tombeckb-
Bank. and the latter from the Bank of Ed
wards,illc. ,
Although, by rigid construction of th. ar
rangemeni, By which these Banks agreed tn
account furthe public deposit-s, receive by
them, IA cash, the whole amount might, per-
haps, have heen demanded Of them 10 specie,
or Oa't"d States Bank notes (; yet, such was
never The intention Of The parties. The term
cash was used, in opposition To that oi
especial deposite," and was not meant t"
render The banks liable fur the payment Of
sl'er*, for notes, which they might receive,
an behalf ut the Treasury, and which might
Cease 1" he convertible into specie. Such n
construction is opposed hy the Tomb. ckb-
Bank, IN MS letter Of the 18Th of August, 1879,
see NJ No. 5. &C. although the President of
that institutions expresses its Willingness Ia
leave The construction 10 the Justice and
liberal policy" of the Department 1t i. more
emphatiroily discl,imed, however, by the
Bank ut Ed"ardsvi|ie, in IFS letter to The Sc
cre!ary, OF tbe 18Th II April, 1890. Eser G NJ.
., t60 aud IN his letter 10 Mr.. Edwards, IL
the Gun of Jin'iary, 1890, see 4. No. ., [lI3,l
heretofore referred to. la that letter, the
Bank maintains that I" 1t is not suppose q that
any construction of the cunditinns, upon
:" which the drpOsics were received, can
render the Bank the guarantee Of those
banks, because il woud be CONTRARY to every
principle of reason, 10 suppose that thu paper
oi other Banks, who have, or may. suspend
specie payments, shall, NY the Inere;;.act of
deposlte, IN this Institution, by the Receivers,
be converted into specie, or its equivalent,
and this Bank held acc .untabie for il as such.
" We are persuaded this never was the inten-
-" Ton OF the Secretary Of the Treasury, nor
" can be inferred, from the conditions upou
which the d-posites are made" This let
ter, as 1t was written by the President Of the
Bank, 10 one of its Directors, whom Il had
constituted All Agent for negotiating mod
hcati"n at IFS arr angrmeDf, with the Trrassry.
may be naturally supposed tn confirm its real
views. Aud, although Dir. Edwards now
denies the construction then commended for, by
the Bank, yet, from the terms in which he
communicated the letter to the Secretary, il
- presumed that he then gave il his assent
But, although this construction could not
be formally avkavw edsrd by the Secretary
without leading To the evil WHICH The terms
ol these arrangements +" ere partly inieuded To
prevent, that nf Especial drposites" VET, il
was always his intention, " hrDever the cast.
presented itself, To admit such All nrerprrta-
tl"n OF The CONTRACTS, as nigh, he equitable, and
not luxurious To the public interest. The let e.
Of the To.nhe"kbe Bank, uf the 3I of August,
1919, stating thai there were then on hand, in
that Institution, $4,000, in N. Carolina notes,
which had fe"u received, an dcposite, for th,.
treasurer, and which il had not yet lsceu able
10 exchange, although ro care had been spar.
IN 'fie.tinS that object, since sumo Difficult
Ties were understood 10 affect the Bank" pre-
scented "A case Of this kind. AT that tine, IN.
Stale Bank ofNorth Caroliua had not stopped
payment, although it did before the Sccre-
tary's answer Was communicated tn the
ToDbeckbe BaDk. The Secretary. having
called upon the State Bank To Disclose the
means ofpaying such of lis notes AS had been
received, on account of the Treasury and,
having been informed, by the Bank, that il
Ga possess The means, and would speedily APP
ply them 10 that object, consented that these
notes should he transferred, from the credit of
the Treasurer, in the Tombrckbe Bank. Ia tn.
cr1d'' OF the Treasurer in the State Bank of
North Carolina and, Ivy that Bank, they we're
afterwards paid, AS were all the Other claims. of
every Kind, which the Treasury had upon it,
Tae case offhe Edwards lille Bank, added
IN the equitable considerations which were
presented ln that of The Tombeckbe Bank
were considerations Of policy. The rominu.
nicaiion of the Hon. Il. NJ. johnson, made on
heh"ii Of III" bank, aud referred to in the
Secrrtary,s letter of the 2d February, 1891,
tsee u. No. 8. &C., which communication
was made with the concurrence of Mr.. Ell
wards, stated that the hank had on hand nm
wards ut 900 in notes or the Bank If Kan
fucky, which had been received on account of
the Treasurer befi,re the siis,,rnsiop of snrc ri.
payments by the hank. This representation
being corroborat,d by nm examination of I'm.
bank statements and certificates, as apprars
by the Secrcfary's report To the House, Of the
Hth April. 1922 and there being then some
reason 10 apprehend want Of punctuaIiiy or
of good fnith on the part Of The Bank of Ed
wards'ie, the Secretary consented that these
notes should bp Transferred nj The risk Of the
back, from The credit If the Treasurer ~ that
bank, 10 the credit 0f the Treasurer in the
bUk of kentucky. In doing so, the Secretary
considered himself mt only satisfying the
,'tTnands of equity. but promoting The public
interest na5much as thr Bnnk nf Kc,,tnrky,
though IT had suspended ihr payDrnt nf
specie, was Know to he solvent Although
the notes, thus transferred, have not vet been
pad. the most positive and formal assurance
bas been given, thai the DEBT is perfectly SAFE.
and will most certainly bc repaid 1T no very
remote period.
Mr. Edwards has offered an extract from
me Secrt lary's letter Ofilir lllh Of Drce mbrr
l6lV,I" thr President of The Planters and
merchants Dauk # Hunts, lille, as proving that
ne Srcreiary's conduc; ia recriring these
irs,is NJ Ta'iance with his own iptprprefafiou
cithe obligations Of the hanks IN isa, rps,,rcf.
But, by r~frrrIng 10 The letter iis.f. /, viii h,
i0nnd That. m presenting the extrart an i'm
mari fr.f. L.. f.