The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1837-12-19

SUSPENSION, il appears oy the ieoe.' j. s,,,,
.rsary of the Treasury 10 be reduced Gown - oA',
ah,ut three millions and half which all OF any ',
,hem avail OF the Indulgence OF PAYING eAehueu "
Them. BY giving satisfactory security under inc &C.
scan,rsss n October last This is not all. They
have In addition, not only approxima'ed, put nav
raised the credit of their notes, enough sun
hanks, y above that of" the Woodbury. Hoiesi VIM"
pln NOD Al discount, in New York, in exchange
for the former. The surprise Is uhaei a q, -
,.onms,anees. not that they have not accomplished
more, but that they have accomplished so ihucn
Recommending all these extraordinary perform
.ss on the part Of the banks generally, and those
= ne citv Of New York, particularly, having sue
I'D n elevating their credit superior to that OF
~ = ,uernment itself denuncations, deep and loud,
w o,,rsd ont against them for not Immediately re-
suming specie payments.
snd !, stated in the late report Of the Secretary
os,he Treasury, that 1t is a source of some incon-
,,an;erce under the existing laws that none OF the
hanks have resumed specie payments since the late
ss.s;or which are known to be willing and compe-
,on, under all the provisions Of the deposite act to
!. sseced as fiscal agents. Several which are pay
i. snecie have expressly declined taking the pub
~ money under those provisions" This statement
s,,nnssts variety of considerations and some en-
quries ,;,,v snsc;. l;mit such
,n;s,,;on 10 their own notes. The banks which
nave thus resumed specie payments, had previously
withdrawn from circulation nearly the whole OF the
,o,.s which they had outstanding. They previous
i, also had placed the deposites in their hands on
bs nrnciple of special depostes; whereby they could
moi be called on pay them except IN current pahA
n,ner These banks receive no new depos1es' eA-
an, an the same conditions, TO be paid in the same
medum in which the deposite is made Ihey issue
M notes of their own whatever. IL they were 70 40
% they would be returned Immediately, ana specie
demanded for them.
The fact Is, that there Is not at this ihoheh''
single specie, paying bank Gin the lull acceplauon
of,be term) in the United States. There is not
h,nk existing, however willing" that can resume
snecie navments, take the public deposites and com
NV with the provisions of the deposite act, except by
continuing itself to the receipt on deposile from The
Government of specie only. This, any prudent
hank will erpressy decliae"-both from the expense
which i, must incur, without any corresponding ad-
vantage; as we'll as from the odinm trhieh snch aget-
Gu must eventually cast upon IL!
So long as things remain in their present posture,
not single bank in the United States can resume
specie payments unquaiifedly They must from ne
cessi,y, all guard themselves, as those have done
which have partiaHy resumed The moment they
undertake to issue any notes Of their own they will
be Immediately caught up, and paid over to the Go
yernment or the specie drawn on them for that
purpose
The attitude which the Government now main
tains inhicts a penalty on every bank which under
takes to return to its duty Like the eagle, it scars
aloh watching and ever ready to pounce down upon
its prey the moment it ventures to expose itself
The Secretary speaks of the Inconvenience"
which it subjects the Treasury Department to, from
the banks not resuming payments in specie
Let me respectfully inquire of that functionary,
what part he, as the head of that Department, expe-
rencing those inconvenience has taken in unison
with the steps taken by the banks, to bring about that
desirable event. both to the country and the people
Has he ever been applied 10, to take the lead, and
give countenance and encourage so far the accom-
pshment of that measured If he has, on what
principle is it, and for what reason, has he not unit
ed with those banks
Past experience shows that so long as the banks
refrain from specie payments, generally, the Go
vernmen cannot collect the public revenue IN specie
or its equivalent; unless it issues currency itself
for that specific purpose, which, after all would be
mere credit of the Government.
1t was found wholly mpracticable for the Bank
of the United States to commence operations at ALL
even though clothed with the power which the col
lection and keeping of the public revenue placed
within its exercise until the Stale Banks had agreed
on day when they would resume. That resump-
ton and the commencement of the ordinary bank
ing operations by the Bank Of the United States (he
Goth Feb, 1879 were simultaneous. The efforts,
both of Mr. Dallas and of Mr.. Crawford were nnre-
mtedly exerted with the State Banks to induce
them to adopt this all-important measure. In No
vember, 1916, Mr.. Crawford, when adverting to the
efforts made by his predecessor, (Mr. Dallas) spoke
of proposition made by him the 22d July Of that
year, which he denominated one Of "friendly cha
racter." Mr.. Crawford at the same time, on his
authority, said, ait is, however, most ardently de-
sired by the Government, that the necessity of re-
sorting TO the issue of government paper may be
avoided by the resumption of specie payments by the
State Banks or before the 20ih of February next.
As an indHcement TO this measure, The Government
emily aid their operations By withholding from ereua
tton as much of their paper, nop in The Treasury, or
which may hereafter be reeeiped, the demands upon
the Treasury during The ensuing year riH permit. As
THE SUM WHICH IT WILL DE IN THE POWER THE Go
vERNMENT RETAIN THE Treasury WILL BE CON
SIDERABLE IT MAY PRESENT SUFFICIENT INDICTMENT TO
CHANGE THEIR DETERMINATION RESUME SPECIE
PAYMENTS BEFORE THE FIRST or JULY NEXT"
The feeling OF kindness manifested, and the sup
port proffered by the head of the Treasury Depart
ment then, had the desired effect The banks thus
inspired with confidence, and actuated by recipro-
cally good feeling, held convention, decided on
resumng on the 10th of February agreeably with
the wishes expressed by Mr.. Crawford, which they
consummated when that day arrived. With the
same feelings existing at this time, and with the
same frankness, and holiness of action put forth as
at that time, and with the singleness of purpose
in view, far more could be accomplished before the
10Th day of February next, than was accomplished
then.