Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1824-05-07

would we becnlcaded with tho public execratiou.
If efiort to DO made to afford relief, the al
sernatve presented was Ia continue to receive the
notes of few BANKS in the West, which still conti-
nucd to pay specie and enter them W the credit of
the Treasurer, III Offices of the Bank, as special
dcposito or to depoSite them in State Banks, upon
conditions which would make il their interests to
return them into circulation as practicable,
on account of the government. In the first case,
they would have accumulated in those offices, with
out the possibility of being put again into circua-
ton account of the government, as those Offices
would have had no inducement tn make cxcriions
to Convert them into specie, or transfer the amount,
by the purchase of bills of exchange upon New
Orleans, upon the Atlantic cities. To effect ci-
Their of these operatio>i it was manifest that the
employment of the State Banks was indispensable.
The arrangements proposed, were mat,rely consi-
dercd, anti adopted with the appreciation of the
President, vino fully sensible of the Importance
of tho crisis which, had arrived
The Inducements which offered to those
banks TO resume and continue specie payments. and
10 transfer the of the public revenue collect
ed in the Western States, beyond the expenditure,
to places where il could be expended, were believed
To be both justifabe and sufficient to ensure sue
cess; and the result has proven that icthins
necessary to the most complete success, but the
of integrity in those who had the direction of
those ins,tutions.~ Agains, this contingency, the
Department awaited itself of all the within its
REACH and confded in the representations Of Sentlc
men who occupied high and responsible stations i'll
the public councils, whose judgment and integrity
were considered uniucStionahlc, IL whose means
of information excluded almost the possibility of
mistake. Notwithstanding the want OF integrity
which has been manifested by the directors of seve
raj of those banks which have faxed, it is still conf
IDENTIFY believed, that, after making liberal allow
ancc for any loss which possibly may occur by the
Farmers and Mechanics Bank OF Cincinnatt She
Banks of Ninccnnes, Edwardsville, and Missouri.
Tho hpo hay
ments will greatly prepondcratc such loss.
1t is impossible To state whether loss will e.
vcntually be sustained by the government from ci-
'hcr of those banks. No apprehension is entertain
ed of loss from any other. The Farmers and Me-
chanics' Bauk of Cincinnati IS herc.urc, the only
one in which public money has been deposited
where the Bank of the United States Ind establish
ed an Office, from which there is any dagger of loss
That bank, in very short time ate! it resumed
specie payments in conformity with its sreement
with the Treasury Department, stopped payment,
and has never marie any rcturn, or answered any OF
the demands which have been made upon il. for in
formation. The impression in relation to ii, has,
therefore, been very unfavcrabc. a sui. has been
brought against it, in the Federal Court, for the a.
mount of public money i'll its possession, which has
not yet been decided
The arrangements made with the Farmers aud
Mechanics Bank Of CINCINNATI. The Bank of Chilli
cc;hc, and the branch of the Bank of Kentucky, at
Louisville, where Offices of the Bank OF the United
States had b;,'u established, by which the public
money collected at the Land Offices in the vicinity
of those banks deposited IN them, were not
communicated TO Congress at the session after
their date, from inadvcranrc the provision
of the charter To which the resolu ion refers. They
WERE however, matters of general notorety, not
ly in the Western States, but in the other parts of
the Union. Omissions Of this naturc have frequent
ly occurred i'll the Departments, and, it is presumed
will occur hereafter with officers the most attentive.
The notorIctv, however. which attended these ar
rangepits with the banks, it is presumed, will sa-
tisfy the committee that there neither wish OF
intention To withhold from Congress the fact of such
depostes, and the reason upon which the measure
is founded.
The papers which herewith trauSu.:ttcti sop
port the views presented in this letter
remain, with respect, your uhcdicnt servant,
WM. II. CRAWFORD
The Hon. JOHN w. ca sIPBEIL,
Chairman Of lie Select Committee.