Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1837-01-04

- IdA "a
have done, with what he has done.
The distribution law assigned to him
two duties, both simple and both EASY
the division ofthe funds among the
Banks, and the division among the
States. As to the first, he was 10 s'se.
iect as soon as may be practicable and
employ as the repositories of the mo
ney of the United States, such of the
Banks as may be located at, adjacent,
or convenient to the points or places at
which the reyenue may be collected or
disbursed'-sprovided that at leas,
M such Bank shall be located in each
State or Territory" and hat no
Bank shall have On deposit more than
three foufths of its capital"
Here isno authority whatever to dis
tribute the money from the Banks of
one Statet to the Banks Of another State.
On the contrary, by the twelfth section
all transfers for "any other purpose
whatever except to facilitate the public
disbursements and TO comply with the
provisions of this act, are hereby pro-
hibited and declared to be Illegal" and
in cases where transfers shall be re-
CURED for purposes of equalization un-
der the provisions Of this act in conse-
quence of two great an accumulation
of deposites in any Bank-such trans
ters shall be made to the nearest depo-
SIT Banks which are considered safe
and secure; )" and although the supple
ment says that nothing shall prevent
him from making transfers from State
to State, I" aohen required to prevent
large and announcement accumulations in
particular places, or in order to pro.
duce a due equality and just proportion
according to the provisions Of this act"
the general policy of the law to keep
the deposites together, unless under Pc
culiar remains unchanged.
Under this law his duty was as clear
as possible. He was to see that no
Bank should have a deposit of more
than three-fourths of its capital. The
eyenu in the great cities, then, should
be divided among the Banks in those
cities,-there being in each of them
solvent Banks enough TO receive it.
There was M necessity for sending a
dollar of ii out of those cities. In New
York alone, says he, "the operation
will require the transfer Of something
like eight millions of dollars from the
old deposit Banks to new ones, either
in the State or out of IT," But why
out of it at all? Why could not the
evenue already received in New York
and falling due in New York, be divi-
ded among the New York Banks, to
support the trade of New York Why
not let it remain active there up to the
last hour when it was payable to the
States? But the law required that
there should be at least n deposit
Bank in each State.--Be 1t SO. Then
make a deposit Bank in each State, if
there be not one already, and give it a
| deposit, which, while it satisfies the
law, will not carry away into lnactlvi-
ty funds that might be useful in places
of business. There was then no ne
| cessity to send n dollar from N. York,
or the other commercial cities, merely
for the purpose of preventing any one
Bank from having more than three
fourths of IFS capital.--That is clear.
Nor was it more necessary for the pur-
pose of distribution among the States.
The law saws: "'That the money
| which shall be in the Treasury of the
United States, on the LIST Of January,
1887, shall be deposited with such Of
the several States as shall by law au-
thorisc their Treasurer or other com
! petent authorities to receive the same
and the Secretary Of the Treasury
shall deliver the same 10 such Ireasu-
rer or other competent authorities on
receiving certificates of deposit there
for" This is the whole law. Now
what does it contemplate?
The money must be in The Treasury
on the LIST of January, 1887, because
up to that time it is not known whether
the States will take it. Technically
and legally, the Treasury is at WASH
ington-practically the Treasury is
where the deposites of the public mo-
MES are. But the Secretary of the
Treasury is an official person whose
only official residence is Washington.
Accordingly a Treasurer of a State
goes TO the Secretary at Washington,
and presents to him the certificate of
deposit. The Secretary t%hereupon "de-
%livers'' to the Treasurer his States
quota. But how does he deliver IT,
BY an actual manual counting out OF
these dollars Mo. By a check on
the Deposit Bank at Washington p
No. But he delivers to the State Trea-
surer, as he does 10 any other person
receiving money, a draft for the amount
on some one or more ofthe repositories
which compose the Treasury. Is not
such a draft, the usual mode of making
public payments Undoubtedly. And
then we come to the real question:
Was it necessary to make in advance