Litchfield enquirer., 1834-02-27
PURLIC DEPOslTEs.
Report ct, tks Committss On Finance.

been managed, and its money applied, which ' would have. made # his duty to withdraw the
 deRosltes, at any period of the charter.
 Of these reasons, thus arising from the all
 ieged misconduct of.the hank, the first is, that hmany important money, transactions of the
 bank are. placed under the control of a Com
 Inlttee of Exchange, of which committee no
 one of the public directors as they are called, lis; allpwed 10 he member. instead of being Etransacted by aboard of seven directors.
 This charge consists of two papts first, that 1 the discounts If bills are made by commit!
 tee iuand notby a quorum of the board spc- ond, that the public directors are not allowed
 tyl be of this committee.
 . First, ii is not alleged that, in the discounts sf bills by this committee.any iOdiscreiion has
 hsen .committed, pr any loss incurred, or that in conseqaenca thrreof, any. facility to the
 mercantils community has been withheld, or lAHy duty of ihe bank. .to the Government yio- i.lateds The oi.jectionis, simply. that bills are disepnnttd by a eodnmittee. S,ipposing this
 to bean irregpIariiy. or illegality in the pro- 1ted by withdrawing. the deposites? What lcdnnexiun Is there between; the two thing? 1? Ii is net prclepded that this mode of discoGn- ting bills, endangered the, ,deposites; h is not
 pfetendei that itmade tho bank either less a.
 bls, or less wiling, to perfnrm every one ofits
 duties to Government. How should the with drawaI of lbe dep0sites then De suggested, by the discovery of such an irfegularity. real or supposed The committee are not able to pef- ceiye the least propristy. in apply yi1g the pow CT of removal, tn a proceeding of this kind, even if t were, adnitted to be irregular or il- legal. But is the, practice illcgail It is be- lieved to be notat all unusual. ltis believed to he quite common, in basIks of large business,
 for bills of exchange. which are presented ev- cry day, and almost every hour in the day, to
 bs discounted either by ;. committee of the di-
 rec:ors, or by the president, pr even other of
 fcers; acting under such general. orders and
 instructions as the directors, at their stated
 meetings, prescribe. large board of direc-
 tors. canpot assemble every day, perhaps not
 oftener than twice n week. If bills of ex- change could only be, discounted at these ps-
 riodical- meetings, the business of exchange cpMdnot go on with the promptitnde and dss.
 patch, so iUportant to commercial ms0 ih such transactions. N <. .s5s.s,s sf The committee suppose the truth of these remarks will be at 0nceladmitied by all who have knowledge of business of this kind. .a
 The general management and control, inc authority of examining and supervising, of contracting or cnEarging the amount of daily discounts. according to the state of the hank, and of giving every other order and direction onIils subject, ailI senaaina with the directors, and is constantly exercised by them, They still manage the affairs of the bank, in the lan- guage of the charter, although they may de- pute to committee the authority ofinquiring and, deciding upon the credit Ofpersons whose ,Dsfnrs are on bills Of exchange offered for discount, and on the rate of exchange. current at the day, The legal question would be, whether the directors, by rule or by laws may \ not authorize a small number of their own, board to discount bills. The bank has been advised that it might rightfnlly do this aOd if ii be not clear that this opinion is right 1t is certainly far from clear that it is wrong; and in this state of the questions the general psac- tice of, other banks. under similar prosislons Iinlthcir, ,charters. may well relieve the dlrec- tors from the iinpuiasion of intentional uais-
 management M 583iH n 4sf ss s5ss*3 ssi
 IT, in, all this. the bank has violated it's char ter, what other banks of extensive businsss I,haye not done the same shingi rgI .q96s But the other snbject Vi complaint, and that I which seems to be regarded as, the more Of
 fsusiss part of this regulation, is. that the pulp
 lie directors, as they are called, were not al-
 lnwed tO be on this cOminitiee. It may be
 observed, in she first place. that if the dis
 covniing of bills of exchange, by 2 committee ipstead Vf whole board of directors, be il1e- gal. it would hapdiy be rendered legal.by pla- cipg any or all of these public direct0rsonih cQniniitep as weHbers. But the Secretary seems to suppose that there was some partic-
 ular object in this eAelusionsO Of these direc- tors, asif there had bseu s0neihipg wrong to
 bs done, and therefore sscrets to be kept by this committee. s If is not easy to see what
 founfla ten there can De for this opirlon.-- All these discounts gre matter of recosd.--- They appear every, dsyoin the books Of the -hanlg. Every director, on or Oh the commit
 tee. secs jhems or may see them, at pleasure. There is no secrecy. pVrl any motives Tor se-
 crscy, s0 far as.this'committeeic ican peresise.
 Very proper, causes may have existed. for taught that cah have been kR0wu by the l Senhte, for the omission 0fa these particular directors from this 5 paTiicular eomnittee.
 Their services. mightsibaye been deemed
 m0raI useful in other e0mWittses. Ors how ever respectable in general character or how hnysr, useful in otheEiparts efsthe directi0D, Ithessmay lave beepa aesteen1sd ,nOtlsO well ac- qnainied as others with the business OG lorelKl l and. domestic exchange. And even T there sl were. cr are other capses for the 0snisslvn 4 such s4epd less to prove the existence ef tha
 hafmony and mutual respectlwhichii is % de IsiFable sbOplh prevail in such | b0afdss these
 causes cannot furnish any jvst gr0nndio ss' serting, either that the business of exchange \ was illegally conducted, oR gtIlst the e0iiststu ton Of fhe committee was prOef 0f the exis' Itepce of any motive aot tit oabs avoMsa. '
 innAtE4