Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1838-05-04
FRIDAY. MAY 4, 1888.

The reception OF any thlnI out gold and
silver in the payment Of debts and dues to
the Government.
These questions. sir, are questions Of
magnitude. certainly, and. since they have
been raised. ought TO be answered. They
may be considered together. Allow mo in
the first place. however, TO clear them
from some exlraneons matter. The bon.
orable member puts the first question thus:
Have we The right to make dpposl,cs in
the banks, IN order to bcs'ow confidence ~
them, with view TO enable hem 10 resume
specie pavmens' And, bv way Of ,lns-
lra'inn, asks the further question, whether
Government could cnnslItn'ipnny bestow
on individuals, or private ASSOCIATION. the
same advantages. in order to enable them
in pay their deb's But this take not 10
he 'hr question, The true inquiry is, May
not Congress au'hOtlz" the public revenue.
in he intervening time between ,is receipt
and lis expenditure, To BE- deposited IN
banks, for the general purpose Of safe.
Keeping, IN the same way as individuals
d"pcslc Their own money? And if tins
mode Of safe Keeping be attended with
incidental advantages. of considerable i'm.
poflan 10 III" community, Is not that a
reason Which, may properly govern the dIs
crc'lnn Of Congress- in the case To
benefit The banks, or to benefit the com
muHl.v, ~, in this case. not the main
Obj eel it is only the incident and as TO
The ca" pu' for illustration, /, would not
be expected of Congress, certainly, to
make drpos'eS with individuals with n
view. principally. Of enabling such indi>
vidnalS to pay their debts; il might. never
lhnlcsS. be very competent TO Congress. in
some cases. and u very proper exercise OF
rs power. To dcposic money. even with
individuals, in such manner a. that 1t might
b. advantageous 10 the dapnsilarv. This
incidental or consequential advantage re-.
suits. often, from the nature of the trans
acton, and is inseparabn from IL. 1t NAV
always be enjoyed, more or less, bv any
one, who holds pubic money for dlsbnr-c.
mcnt. In order to the necessary exercise
Of any OF It's powers, Government dnnb .
less may make contracts with bnnks or
| other curplratloUI a. well as with lndvid
uns II 1t has occasion to buy bills o
exchange, it may buy them of banks. !
Ii has stock or Treasury notes to sell, il
| may sell to banks. as the Secretary Of the
Treasury has lately proposed, 1t may
empioy banks, therefore. al lis discretion
for the Keeping OF the public moneys. n,
those moneys most be keep, somew here
II can no more need specific gran, o
power IN the CONSTITUTION for such pur-
! pose, than one merchant, becoming agcn'
| Tor auo'her TO ,ccc,ve aud pay out money
| an III bppu ~ n =, Ir n Gilman n hs "a
,hor,;y, enabling h'm To Use banks for thas'
| purposes aS other persons use them. N
uucs ION has rver been raised in thlS Gov
crnment about The power of Congress, II
an h,rjz, such drpo>,tcs. NJ Madison
IN opposing the frs, bank charter IN 1901
! argued srrnurusly that a Bank Of IA,
United Sn'C- was not necessary 10 Gov
erumrGt a. a drpn>ltDry of the pubic mo
news, because. be insisted, lis Use could b
supplied bv other banks. Thls sufficient J.
shnWs his opinion. And in 1900. Compress
maIo 1t the dnty Of the collectors of Gus
toms 10 dcDo-lte bpuds for duties in tn
bank and rs branches tor collection.
Wurn the charter of the fist bank tx
plr"d, IN 1871 aim - every gentleman VIII
opposed rs renewal cnn,cndrd hat It wa
nnt necessary Tor he purpose of ho'dn
dopnSj'rs of rcvcnue. because S'n,e haH,
con'd answer all such purposes cQua |
we'll A strong and prevailing tone {
argument runs through at, the speeches %
! that OCCASION, tending to thus conclusion
: VIZ. that Government may deriye tr
State banks all The benefit which Ban
OF the Unl'ed States could render.
1910 h,n 1 h., OH rtn nF "a last hnu
was granted, II contained, as original
v presented, no provision for making ii
=: public d~posi'es in lhr bank. The bill W;
probably drawn. in This particular, frCm I
model Of the first charter, in which I
. such clause was contained, WI bout advc
ting Ia tho law % 1900; but a section ";
i introduced, On my molion, making il II
# duty of collectors to dcposlte the publ
moneys N the bank aud lis branches.
was this section OF th"'law which some
- Ms thought was violated by the removal
II thu dcposit"s. The man Object of Il
n dPpDsl,c blll of 1886. as we know, was
- regulate dopo-l'rs Of the public mon,
a with the State banks So that. from II
|; commencement ot the Govrrnmen, to Il
n present time, nobody ha> thought of makll
any question of the constitutional power
, Corgrcss to make such arrangements.
: The grnllcmon other proposition, q
, which he lays down with still more con
, dcnce and emphasis, Is, that Congress ca
NJ not. conslltullonaly, authorize the recei
N Of bank notes, though they be notes
If spece-pay'ng banks. IN payment of Diet
4 to Government because he says, III
ID would make them money; and if we ma
o them money, then we are bound to cont,
r, and regulate that money Nos, certain
- sir agree with the honorable memb'
IL that when bank notes become money,
=. are bound to control and regulate the
Ar | thank him for this admission; since
lis goes great way to support that propo
ton, for which have been conrendn
Ihnl lanl unlns hnun hnnnnn mnnnu