Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1832-05-18

1t VIII he readily perceived that the Circc tor.
of the Bank were placed in very peculiar circum
stances 10y this application. ihcy had been acc"
scd in .rious quarters of having brought the pow
OF the institution to bear upon the politics of the
country, and particularly with having taken sides
against the present administration. Having lnva
riub!y pursued course in their transactions whic
rcco razcd no distinction of political parties, il
was very natural that while laborng under the
mputaion Just stated, they should have been
pulous TO avoid giving any color OF foundation for
It.
As the evidence and recommendation produced
satisfied all the directors Of the safety Of the loan.
they could not but feel that, if they refused TO
| grant IT, they would give countcnancc 10 an mru-
tation which they were laudlbly anxious % avoid.
IL is proper To- add, that James Watson Webb i,
Co, in their paper the Courier and Enquirer, hoI
declared themselves IN favor of renewing the
charter ot the bank, months before the nppli-
cation for their first loan and that they stated TO
the directors, ON making application for the first
loan, that the bans OF New York had cut them oil
| from their accustomed facilities, they believed,
in consequence Of their cspousimg the Of the
| Bank of tho United States
1t Is also proper TO add, IN this place, that the
! loan OF !5l1 ,915 which VAS mad, in March, 1881
was not loan to Webb and Noah, or TO either of
| them. The money WAS borrowed by Slis l.. Bl-
rows man of large fOrlunc, upon his own respon.
! sihy, without the knuwicdrc OF either W chb or
Noah. They both testify that they had never
been appraised that Mr.. Burrows had obtained tins
loan from the Bank, until very short time prcvi-
Gus to the visit of this committee To Philadelphia.
They had until that time been under the impress
sion that the money obtained from the father
OF Mr.. Silas T.. Burrows, in Connecticut. The fol-
| lowing extract from The testimony OF Mr. Biddlc,
will exhibit clear view of this transaction
"Thcac notes were discounted by the exchange
committee under the resolutions iust referred TO-
They done the request OF Mr.. Silas l.. Bur
| rows, of New York. Mr. Burrows had, some time
before, brought particular Letter OF iutruuuc
ton from old friend Mr.. Monaco, the En- PrcSi-
dent. Mr. Burrows had been very liberal to Mr.
Monroe IN hiS pccunIury mi>iurIuucs and n had
recently received from the President Of the United
states particular thanks and COMMUNICATIONS for
his generous conduct towards Il Russian ship of
war. | understood him to lac very rich merchant
of kind and benevolent drsp- s,ion, and constantly
engaged III doing acts of libcra!iy. III OF his
visits to Philadelphia, he said, hc was DESTROYS of
hcricnding Mr.. Noah, and assisting him ii the
purchase OF share i'll newspaper, and hu asked
ii the Bank would discount the notes OF these par
| ties adding that, although, merchant, he did
not wish 10 appear as borrower, or pat his name
on paper not mcrcanti yet he would at any
ti:nc do SO whenever IT might be necessary to sc.
cure the bank" - The committee being authoris-
cd To discount any paper, the security of which
they might approve, agreed to do them As Mr..
Burrows gong out of town, | gave him the
money out of my own funds, and the notes were at
forwards put in my possession. They remained
with me for 4 long Inc, as | had no occasion to
use the funds, IT till the cl of tliIycar
that my attention was called to th-'n by the cir
Gu instance that, board of directors, and
! a new committee Of exchange would he APP
pointed, the same committee which made the loan
should conSummatc il. | had seen. asn in the
public prints, many 'rcPronches against tine Bank
for lending money to printers and editors, and
was unwilling that any loan made by the Bank
should seem to be private loan from of its Of
hccrs. Having no for :he money, it would
have been perfectly convenient to let the loan RI.
main it was, bu thought it right that every thing
done by the bank should always be distinctly known
and avowcd, and therefore gave the notes - the
chairman OF the Committee, MIR. Thomas L. Cope,
who entered them on he books. GA the - day of
! March, Mr.. Burrows called at the Bank and paid
the notes. | ought 10 add that the loan was made
at the request of Mr.. Burrows, and that neither |
\ nor any of the Committee had ever seen Mr.. Noah
| or Mr.. Webb, or had any communication with them
direct indirect about the loan. Ii was made on
the credit of Mr.. Burrow. who afterwards paid i. ~
II appears that Messrs. Webb and Noah iivowcd
| themselves in favor of Il renewal of the charter
! of the Bunk of the United STATES the Ssh Of
April, 1881. II is difficult, therefore, to conceive
what possible Influence could have been produced
upon their course by Il tom 10 Ur. BUrrOtcS, of
which they had no knowledge. II is equally diff.
cult to perceive how the loans of August and
December, 1881, could have had any possible a.
gcncy in producing the change which it is alleged
took place in the course Of these editors upwards
Of four months before
Under all the circumstances of this case, the m.
nority ofthc Committee declare, without any reserve
that there is nothing in these transactions calcu.
lated to induce them to doubt the honor and in
tegrity OF the Directors; and this they feel author
lied to say is the opinion of the MAORI: OF
the Committee, from the opinion publicly EXPRESS.
cd by one of its Members, Col. Il. VI. Johnson1
They also deem it due to the occasion and to their
own sense of justice, that they should add that
they do not believe there exists in The United
States Bank Direction composed of more up-
right independent, aud honest men than That
which granted the loans question
Most. if not all Of them, are men of indcpen
dent fortunes, having no connection with politics,
and being entirely independent of banks. Thcy
are generally men who are engaged in sat and
successful business, with fortunes which they have
made, not by adventurous spccuatious bat by
steady industry and moderate but certain proliis-
This is, indeed, the general character of the mor.
chants and capitalists of Philadelphia, circum-
stance which renders the location of tie bank in
that city peculiarly fortunate for the stockholders
and for the country.
The next subject brought to the view Of the
House by tho report of the majority, which it is
now deemed necessary 90 NOTICE, j. that Of the
transactions of the bank with Thomas Biddlc *
Go.
Mr. Thomas Bddlc, the principal member 9th
liru' Is distant relation Of the pr"sldsu, Of the
bank, aud It was owing 10 tins circumstance, pro.
baby that his accounts underwent most pryIug.
not to say luquisitorinl, examination.
Ihc first thing thIt ,tru"k the attention of aI
part OF tho committee, worthy of scrutiny, was
The fact, that this House had obtained from the
bank, III August, 1881, loans to the amount OF up.
w.Ids Of million OF dollars, on It pcoro of
s'ocks,--a SUN which had been gradually rcdu.
ccd, however, to about six hundred thousand dol.
lars.
On examination, it, was found that this loan had
been made at tho special insauc" aud urgent soil.
citation of the Directors OF the Blna and that the
Bunk, and not Thomas Brddlc 4 Co, was the party
accommodated. The Government having then
recently paid oil several millions OF It's stock,
which the bank had owned, the consequence was.