Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1832-06-01

Tor inc use oil money by the Bank the Brokers Cash
taken out oil the Bank by the Brokers for few DAYS up
on deposit oil stock lett in its place Enormous loans TO the
hVkers sometimes even at of interest less than ST
per cent year. Superadded all which the uapo of
the President of the Bank was Bi,llc The nam, NJ tc
supposed accomplicc broker Bldc, and they were
descended from grandfather To the suspicious
OF awakened jealousy here abundant elements Cr
inc most nauscous compound of fraud and corruption So
crct communications accordingly made To- the propoer
OF The resolution for enquiry and with prcdsposion o
uoSuy TO INC bant plausible 'euuncation OF guilt and
disonor on the part OF the President of the Bank
the formidable aspect of public accusation and invoks
uc Sanctcn oi Legislative Investigations Had the re.
neciioaoucc occurred that all these reot
between The Brokers aud the Bank the Government IL
scll was party though unseen, the mystery would have
been explained without needing resort TO the inious
suspicion that amomhenorcd annually by series of ecc
tons to station OF high trust and confidence wa. rcuc
g hnSeH To the l-ve of counte reiter Of c,;ns
The subscriber believes that suspicion though incomes,
ry auxiliary TO the faithful dscbarce OF nnbGc 80,
should itself he trusted with great reserve man con-
scious himSclt OF integrity o purpose should not rcodil
admit into bis mind the belief ot others are reckless and
unpncPled Above all, does he believe that a man of
honest and candl mind, who has been induced nv Clsc
representations To adult ami cOuntcnancc mpuo,inns
upon the honor OF another, him. when disubusrd Inv
me evidence o un1ucsonable testimony, the signal re-
pArhjhpn o candid acknow lcdgcmcnt OF error IL No
ger Tor single instant believed that those ,i,honooLe
mpltauous upon the President of the Bank wore ConnJ
edin Truth; but when he found them embodied i'm The M
ive ccloraons Of witness upon OATH and fortified NV
bold exhibition of a Conempor aneos tnenor,,I,,r, 80,
confident appeal the Books Of the Bank he scarcely
dared TO indulge the expectation that this desperate hnpe
against citizen OF unsucl honor could have met so i'm
mediate and 50 total discontinue.
The exploration OF the accounts of members of Con
gress and officers of the Government with the Bank came
IN he opinion oi the subscriber, under the category
Mmo'c on cuoFS oil newspapers. The resolutions OF the
House of Representatives authorized the examination bv
the Committee of the books, only as evidences NJ , -
oeedings of the corporation.
The questions for the Committee were: Had tbcv yio
led the chorer? Had they violated any law of the nd
To these inquiries they limited and upon these alone
could they with propricty report.
AS AN cxcmpilicaton of the odou nature Of further in
qnsirons the subscriber will only mention the case of the
Congress, the
have received the compensation for their public service
from the Branch Bank al WASHINGTON in ,I,atco r ~ y
passage oil the General Appropriation Act This is one Of
the avors 10 members OF Congress- equivalent to loan
"lhout interest 10 each member of the amount Of mo-
ney which he thus receives from the time of his reccv
II until the Appropriation Act shall have become law
us aggregate amount from the commencement of tlc
session t. this day in payments members of Cougres
ma me Executive officers falls little short of four hun
drcd thousand dollars. The amount of iDcres, r,ot I
nave accrued to the Bank, had interest been paid bv
each individual member, would have exceeded "a ooo
The subscriber himself is without doubts of tho
ProPneiy OF This indulgence, and confidently avorse
mat nothlng which the investigation the COMMITTEES
mas discovered in the proceedings of the M
recors OF the Bank is of questionable cbcracter
The member who receives his paw in advance of ,b ~
propriaon does indeed receive il i'm advance Of ,b
service which entities him TO it, But where i tho ,,
authorizing The Bank to make the payment The member
VINO receives the money is only accessory TO the pavn,e,
by the Bank; and there many member of tbis Homso
who in voting for this investigation, little imagined that his
own name would he returned among the mbers of Con-
gross receivers OF special avOrs from the Bank MANY
smember who, perhaps has received the favor without
10 CHI
the original resolution offered by the Chairman Of the Com
mice quite as obnoxious TO the imputaion of impurc mo-
uvesi the Bank, as the Bank be made by all their
transactions with editors of newspapers or printers a,nc<
Watson Webb and Morlecai NJ. Noah included
One great and insurmountablc objection TO the right and
justice OF entering into scrutiny 1Ofires for
ings not forbidden by any law, was that the Committee
could exercise no censoa power OF that nature over the
President Directors, and officers of tho B,nk mr. =, an
events over individuals having dealings with that nstu
ton, which those individuals had not an equal obt o
erclse over The COMMITTEES and every of its members
hat tlri Two f,rDNr
her oil the Committee to call in all the power Of
Congress to "PrGs7 The publication of essays or spccua
Mons favorable to the Bank in newspapers? Would not the
or oil Newspaper thus upated have the same robt
10 inquire into the motives OF the committee MANI IC
peradventure he should have been the habit of maxine
e use oil the press 10 assail and dscred Bank would
not us struggle TO deprive the Bank defence tro'
,no medium oil The press be attributed the desire of
,u"NiiS me monopoly OF that powerful engine TO HIMSELF
"ouu IL not argue consciousness of weakness in the an
PS'S 70 pubic opinion against the Bank if TO sustain the
charges against il, there should be an attemnt 70 ~
all the means of self-defcnce? The freedom of ,b
III ue language o! party spirit, the unlicensed ,,s
OF mat instrument for itself TO assail and total nteric
uoh oil ITS use 10 the adversary for defence And snov
lar indeed, would be the section of a charter 70 bsnL
Wmch would leave itopcn to every shaft of SANDER and
ueVe IL OF all possible means Of repelng the assault
Among the useless and than useless innuisifor
into which the majority of the committee bourht 1hnn
JuS"ied IN descending, were imputatons political
nI'con'uct IN certain officers OF the Branch Bank at
Norfolk in Virginia. Articles of complaint as eri svom
ana perhaps as numerous those OF the Chairman of This
committee against the President and Directors AT Pbia
depha, had been laid before that Board against the pre-
shient and Cashier at Norfolk bv a person Iybo hal bo
one OF the Directors OF that Branch. A long and patient
investigation OF those charges had been made v the Board
at Philadelphia and OF their Cashiers had been sent
10 maze thorough examination of all the facts the case
upon the spot itself The charges had been found totally
destitute OF ounddon and there among the archives
OF the Bank Voluninous correspondence which was all
submitted to the examination of the committee To rive
the House faint idea OF the extent Of this ing1irv
II may be sufficient TO say that the whole coulro-
Vcrsy respecting the accounts of the late NAVY AGENT
At Norfolk aud the pamphleeering and newspaper war
between taat officer and Of the Auditors of the
Treasury, were among the simplest Of its elements
Alter pinngng tor series OF days into these mysteries all
most deep enough Tor every member of the COMMITTEES In
take Ts side upon two three by-gonc contested cleo
uos AZ Norfolk; alter ploddng manuscript volumes
OF acrimonious bitterness from the pcrinacious of
colnPlauanls; alter examining the long prOraced cores
Pdencc boh oil that complainant and of the inculpated
officers OF the Norfolk Branch with the Board al Pba
dclphiu, and The Cashier who made the investigation
at Norolk alter giving the complainant himself the rou
bic OF repairing TO Philadelphia sustain his CHARGES and
Try over again ordinations and ccrimatiOns which iu
dcfal tribunal, after summoning half the inhabitants of
the borough OF Norfolk and subectng them TO an end.
less list OF HETEROGENEOUS, and examinations would
scarcely have been competent TO solve-alcr the con-
sumption OF several days in these inquiries the last result
OF which, must under any possible termination Of cir
investigation have left them precisely where they beran
bc majority OF the committee concluded to dess from
what e subscriber believed the committee ought never
70 have undertaken, and what the chairman reports thev
have been compelled TO abandon for want of time"
The complaints made against the President of the Bank
at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the summer Of 1929
aud the correspondence between the Board Philadelphia
and the late Secretaries OF the Treasury aud of WAR form
portion OF the documents relating TO the books and pro
ceedngs Of the Bank, called for by the committee and
communicated 10 them. They are not noticed in fe re-