Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1824-07-20


epnsites somrw hat qdrslionauS' /
'rh,. ,ru,h. however, Is, that have no mere
uu,,nd-d that the Receivers irt'ef renurrs"
MIR. Cramfo,ds duty Ia discontinue tue
rpusi,.s. and The av"w"l Ut such an "ihnio"
. mos, ,,rnnruusly imputed to me, !"
l;r.r, opuusit.on to th- explanations l nave
;y.n. and nv declared objects IN referring
;, that letter Neither III my publication
i3l9. ayowing my intention ut retiring
rom iii. bank, nor in my correspondence
viii. him in Feb. 1922, nor IN my oath "eiore
IN. cv,n,niti,e in Feb. 1898, nor in my late com.
To the House at Representatives, ot
the 9th April last, IS any such idea snsSest.a;
In fact, owning tn the responsibility, wh'c"i
thought had imrosed upon myself, oy recon-
mrnding the bank ~ depository of public mo
n.y, did not think myself at liberty 10 ret're
(um it until had seen il through all the diihcu'
Ties. and endorsements, with which found
It struggling On my return from Congress-
shortly after il had bren authorized IL receive
the public money. These diilicuil.ss M Mhs,ni
,,,nns,nr could, wiih pr prspre,y announce nv
intentou Of resignins, made the publication
which has been submitted 10 the committee
in which, after explicitly stating that" was
it 1.-THE bank could have nothing to
fear from comparison Of its situation, fas to
soivencyJ with that Of any other bank in the
United StateaI add, Notwithstanding do
verify believe, that neither the Government
nor any individual is in danger of being inten-
tlonaliy Imposed upon by the bank, so long as
1t c4nflnues under the control of its present d.
rectors-yet, Intending to be absent from the
statea and considering the disastrous pressure
OF the present tunes, the hostility which the
bank has to enc1flnter; npda yhr,icularly, the
opposition cfgentiemen ID state, high in
office. who have been ex by anxious to
get other banks into opery with the aid of
= foreign capital" as il q Fined, have de-
TO resign my seat in the directory,
and To Withdraw from all future responsibility,
Of any kind whatever, in relation to this, or
any other bank, without making any further
effort to retain any portion IF the
public dep0stes in this state leaving it to the
directors 10 maintain their credit by their own
good conduct, and to the Secretary of the
Treasury to Judge for himself, upon the re-
turns he requires, how far it may be prudent
10 trust them"
Although, believed at the time, that one of
he papers in which my publication appeared
was regularly sent to Mr. Gs@I ford, Pet Fem
closed iu him paper containing Il and that
he might have as perfect control over the
subject as possible, prevailed upon Colo
mel Benjamin Stephenson, the Receiver
aud tllssP President of the bank, who appre
lendedth HAT i'll consequences would result from
ny Withdrawing from il, to write To the Sc
;retary of the Treasury ON the subject, and
enclose 10 him one Of my publications also !;
md Iadvised him, (the Recovery in the mean
line to withhold the deposites, until he could
eceive further orders from the Secretary.
In my correspondence with Mr.. Crawford
n February, 1892, which is exhibited by him
rafs.r N lsL~
alton of the bank at that time, say in one of
ny letters. this publication was contained ia
he 81. Louis Enquirer, which supposed you
Ouk at the time; il was also contained in a
paper which forwarded to you myself, and
was enclosed, referred to, and commented
Ipon, in a letter of the Pesident of the bank 10
you" In the other letter say, I" that [ was
he cause Ut the depOsites being made there, i'm
he first instance, freely admit but, that
inequv ocsIly declared, that would not he
held responsible for that, or any other hank, IN
my way whatever, after the fall of 1919, that
you were notified thereof in due time that
hr depostes have moi been continued there in
consequence of my recommendation, since
hat period and that the bank was then in
ood situation, may, | think according to my
resent impressions, fairly insist on.
In my oath before the select committee, on
he 18Th February, 1928, when Mr.. Crawford
as thought proper to impeach, after having
estified to Colonel Stephensun's having writ
TN the letter in question, and enclosed nv
ublication, &c. add, IS The bank continued
o pay specie, twithstanding the pressure, |
nd in the Fall Of that year, expect, was ia |
$ good situation as any bank in which the |
ublIc money was then deposited.
In my late communication to the House of
of the 9th April last, Ii not |
my re-asseri the same facts, substantially, i'm
rgard 10 the situation Of the bank, but by its |
monthly Return for November, 1919, have, I'm
lnen'ionably, proved them true TO the fullest
'Xtent. And | expressly sta te in that commu-
'ica!IOb, that, even III the time Of its failure
Is resources were, am well satisfied. more
han amply sufficient to have secured its debt
. the Government"
IL is, therefore, uncomfortable to me. unon
What ground it has been assumed that. in re-
trring To the Receivers letter, my object was
To charge the Secretary with confirming the
'rpostes, after he ought 10 have been alarm
d Tor their safety" especially, while i, is adj
nilted that spoke "in the most decided
ermS of the sui, ency and safety of the bank"
1 llss time the letter was written.
III IS true, cannot consider il very prudent
management in MIR. Crawford, to have contin
rd 1t depository of public money, after he
al, as he says himself, " reason to apprehend
want of punctuality, or good faith on
$ part" especially, without enforcing a
DmpIance with its stipulation to make
lose returns, which he considered ne
,,sary to ensure the fidelity of all the banks
lat were made repositories of the public mo
~. The former is acknowledged in his
to the COMMITTEES, page rs :;
e latter appears by his letter to the Presi-
mt of The Bank of EdwardsyilIe, Of the 10th
ovember, 1921 in which he states, that