Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1834-01-23

lp,o honI was no longer entitled to the support
and confidence Of the Government. IL coulo
not meet the emergency because IL hau uscu
the funds of the Government IN such manner
as TO disable it, Under these circumstances,
the Secretary of Treasury was compelled to
,nstnone the payment; and what, then, was the
CONSEQUENCE? Notice having been gwen 10
make the payment on the first OF July, 1852, ana
the hank fulfilling its obligation to meet the oe-
mand. there would have been no 1ufther ciaiih
on the Government. But the bank sought, III
another manner, by secret negotalioh IN EI "
rome. to evade the obligation, and throw 1t BACK
ON the Government, because such would nave
been the inevitable effect Of the course Whlch
the bank pursued. 1t appears, that the opJect
of that negotiation, was to induce the holders OF
the three per cent. stock, to Keep up, and NOT
come forward and receive payment. 1t ap-
nears that the bank was not only capable OF
making payment, but it imposed onltself DRAFT,
the great object Of which was to effect the pub
lie policy? What. Sir, would have Deen the
state of the case, if in the interval, the DanK OF
of the United States had become lnsolVentf Ii
it had failed in the payment OF the ceruncates,
and if the bank had become lnsoivent, Woulo
not the United States have been responslble!--
The certificates came in; it was known to the
Government, and the bank now went into It's
negotiations One object of the bank, was to IN
duce foreign holders not to present their certlfl-
Gates In doing this, the bank violated its high
est obligation in relation to its duty as a hscal
agent Of the Government
Sir. there so many details, cannot pursue
them all; but there is one circumstance in rela-
ton to the Bank, by which it utterly forfets ts
claim to the public deposites; the charter was Vi
olated in the transaction of its business. The U.
States was large holder Of capital in the Bank,
to the amount of one fifth Of the whole of its
stock
The charter required that the Government
should be represented by five Directors and at
least seven of the Bank Directors were required
always to be present in the transaction OF its at
fairs But what, Sir, was the conduct of the
Bank2
Have not all these conditions been violated2
In regard to the transaction Of the business of
the Bank, it is in evidence that every thing has
been done, not by Board Of Directors, but by
"a Committee Of three; Committee nominated
by the President of the Bank himself It's in
evidence ALSO that this Committee has been act
ed upon by the President, when they (the Com
nljttee) were in ignorance of what was doing in
their name 1t has been said that the Commit
tee could not admit the Directors 10 their DELHI
erations. But sir, it is known that the Directors
have been admitted and have interfered upon
other occasions. We know, also, that the cur
tailment was confided to Committee of five
persons, and that the proceedings OF that Com
mittee were known to the Directors Further,
Sir in violation of that part OF the charter, winch
PROVIDES IDdI no OtUChIlOutI, IOWcFCi ldl &c
may be his interest in the Institution shall give
more than 80 votes, the President Of the Bank
has named all the Directors and himself. Sir,
every thing which has been done by the Bank,
has been involved in mystery. 1t was the great
object Of Congress to guard against this mystic
ry gentleman whose testimony is entitled TO
implicit credit, has said that this concealment
is productive of the worst effects. This was well
known TO Congress, and Congress oughtto pre-
vent the evil But all these guarantees, sir, have
been lost; have been rendered unavalllng.-
There is another important relation sir, whlch
the Bank was called upon to sustain by the char
ter This institution was created Tor the accom-
mediation ofthe community; II was to give aid
to the country, but not to afford support to gam
bling speculations. or to interfere with the poll
teal affairs ofthe country. What sir, has the
Bank done. No gentleman can explain or sat
sfactoriy account for the extension which has
taken place in its operations. In the short space
of sixteen months, it has increased It's business
from forty two millions to seventy millions. The
Bank has attempted to account for this increase
by saying that it has received back the amount
Of the loans which it had made to the govern
ment and that it has called in its debts from
Europe; there still, however remain Is millions
of dollars unaccounted for, and which there is
every reason to suppose, have been devoted to
political purposes. Sir is it not fact that
great portion of this increased business, has
been effected in the Western States; those States
which formed the debateable ground in the last |
Presidential election?
The Bank has sad sir, that it did not know
that it would have to oppose the election of a |
President till after the passing ofthe ueto. But
how does this agree with the fact2 The Bank, |
sir commenced operations from the first mes
sage Of the President in 1929. 1t adopted res
outon placing all its funds at the disposal of
the President of the Bank for political purpo- |
ses Sir, it seems that nothing can be more
clearly manifest than that the Bank, throughout
the whole of the political controversy, did, as
the Secretary affirms, descend into the political
arena. Sir, it the enormous increase of
business to which have alluded-en Increase !
o.. twenty-eiggG.s. millions in sixteen months !
which nreTrnted the Bank from meeting the de-
mands of Government. 1t has assigned other
reasons; it has said that the year in which these
demands were made was an extraordinary |
year, but the true cause of its inability was that
which have mentioned Whatever has been |
sad sir, by the Bank on this head-all the rea-
sons which it has given, are utterly unsatisfacto-
ry. Sir, authority was given to the President Of
the Bank to expend the money of the Bank for