Vandalia Whig and Illinois intelligencer. [volume] (Vandalia, Ill.) 1832-183?, 1834-06-26

guardian. l may think can better tax
are of my mel ghbor's property than he
Ices himself, but may not therefore tax
1t from him, and administer it, even for hi.
'wn good; far less may take it, wi,hou
warrant OF law, in order to extract from it
inllwful use matter to be used, directly %
by consequence, for his examination. Tn
"oks belong to the stockholders of III
oank, and are, by them, entrusted to tn,
directors. They do not belong to the housr
of representatives, nor to any committee.
of that house; and a right to inspect then,
20 more involves right to take possession
Iof them, than a right to count the moneS
IN the v2ults involves right to take pas
session OF it. 1t Is case OF frequent DC,
|currence in state banks, that committee,
are sent to visit them, and, among othe
things, to coun, the specie in their vaults
Should such committee claim the RICH
,f going into the vaults alone, and count
ing the money, without the presence Of III
directors Of the bank, or their authorize
agents, it would be thought very unwar.
rantabe claim; and no personal conf
ience, reposed in the honor and prob,ty o
he committee, would render such claim
at all the less uuwarrantable.
| But the attempt to fortify the right OF
taking possession of the books, by urging
that, in its exercise, it would not have been
abused, wholly fails, in the apprehension OF
he undersig ,ed, because they deem that
The use which was avowedly to be made OF
'hem, was the greatest possible abuse. l.
was intended TO employ them for the p,r-
Pose of a general search, not only to ascer-
tain, in the most general form, whether the
charter Of the bank had been violated, bu,
also what corruptions, and malDractlces
had taken place in its management; and
this, by way ofinquiry, among other things,
whether criminal prosecution in legal
torn, should be instituted, (see resolution
IT committee of investigation of 7lh Of
May,) in which prosec l.ion the directors
called to submit the books, would have
been The party implicated.
The Undersigned believe, that in a land
of constitutional liberty and law, ii can
need but little argument to shew that
clalm, on the part of committee of either
house OF congress, acting in virtue of the
general parliamentary power of inquiry, i,
demand, as a matter of right, the produc
hon, and to take possession of, the books
and papers belonging to an individual or
C corporation, in order to search therein for
matter ON which to found criminal pro-
cedure against said individual or corpora
ton, is claim at once of the most unbound
ed and pernicious character. They conf
IDENTIFY believe that no court of Justice in
the United States, or any other free coun-
try, has ever claimed such a power as
right, or attempted, in point of fact, to ex-
ecute it. They have never heard of any
statute which gives this power to any court
OF other tribunal. And they would deem
the assumption Of such a power, by either
house Of congress, as an incident of the
general powers Of the house. and, resting
OIL the ler parliamentdria, rs unwarranta-
BILE. aud in the highest degree dangerous.
3. The committee having Withdrawn
from the occupation of the room 10 the
banking house, for the reason stated, adopt
ed Il resolution requiring The president and
directors Of the bank to submit certain of
the books of the bank to the inspection of
The committee, at their room in the N nth
American Hotel. (See Document No. 25.
With this requisition the Committee of the
directors declined complying, for reasons
which appear in their resolutions adopted
May the Sd. Document M. BOY The
undersigned regarded this resolution ofihe
committee as open to the objections already
urged against an er parte inspection of lbe
hooks, and to others peculiar to itself. By
its terms, the president and directors are
required to submit certain Of their books to
the inspection Of the committee at the North
American hotel. Ii, by the term required,
nothing is to be understood but a request,
with which the directors Of the bank were
at liberty to decline a compliance, they
we're Of coure free so to decline, and their
doing so argues no contempt Of The house
But the maj ,rity of the committee evident
ly regarded, as in some way obligatory the
demand for the production, at their hntel,
IF certain Of the books Of the bank. Such
a demand the subscribers deemed to be un-
authorized. If valid, in reference 10 the !
books named In the requisition, it was Of
course valid as to all the books of the bank
and all its branches; which, by parity Of
right, the committee might have req uired to
Ne brought to their lodgings, and there de-
,ained and used at their pleasure. The
question whether (supposing them brought
10 the committees room at the North Amer
ican hote) they should there be submitted
IN nereou hv thu III ract,,r. ar ins,.,.,J IL