Indiana Palladium, Volume 10, Number 23, Lawrenceburg, Dearborn County, 21 June 1834 — Page 1
Tf1 4JL By David V. Cullcy. Terms $'3 PER YEAR 33i PER cext. discount made on advaxce, or igi ox half yearly payments. liAWREWCElBlIJItGH, (IA.) SATHJBDAY, JUNE 31, 1834L.
JJ, Sl Ev
UUi
TSIJE UiVITED , STATES BANK. j thus reserved by the charter to Congress is not on-
Extracts from the minority report, submitted bv jlyone of the conditions of an agreement, but js in
Edward LjVEritt and William W. Ells
vrowtn, from the committee appointed to investigate the affairs of the Bank of the United States. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, May 22. The undersigned arc far from intending to charge their respected colleagues, from whom they differed with pain, with the design consciously to institute a search of tlrs character into the affairs of the Bank, but they felt obliged to dissent from a considerable portion of their measures, deeming them in effect, (though certainly not so intended,) to have all the essential characters of such a general and unlawful search. The justice of tiiis remark will, as the undersigned think, abundantly appear from a review of the principal measures adopted by the committee which will now, for this reason be briefly examined. 1. The first step taken was a call by the com
mittee of Investigation on the Committee of Directors, for "a list of the Books of the Bank, with an explanation of the purposes for which each is designed, and the name of the clerks to whoso care and custody they are respectively committed." This was a step preliminary to the process by which the committee of Investigation, in the judgment of the majority, could call for, and take into their possession, by a precept addressed to the clerks in the Bank, any or all of the Books of the institution, in which the business transactions of the Bank are entered by the said clerks. The list was furnished by the Committee of the Directors with the state-
deiogation of the righls and liberties of the citizen, and could not be claimed at common law, and its exercise at best, and under any circumstances, must be highly incommodious, and create a serious interruption of the business of the bank, it should be construed rather strictly than liberally, and not draw with it, by implication, any thing not necessary for its exercise. The entire confidence which the undersigned feel in the liberality and magnanimity of their colleagues so to conduct the inspection, as to cause the least possible inconvenience to the officers of the Bank, could not authorize an acquiescence in a claim of right wholly to obstruct and bring to a stop the ordinary proceedings of the Bank; in fact, to suspend the charter. It was a claim to take the books out of the possession of the directors into the possession of the committee, to detain them as long aa they pleased, to cany them whithersoever they pleased, (a right afterwards more distinctly asserted and attempted to be enforced,) and to put them to whatever use the Committee, in their uncontrolled
discretion might think proper. The undersigned
ed a resolution that they would repair to the banking house, at one o'clock of that day, to inspect the books specified in the resolution of the 28th, and
books and vouchers for expenses incurred. The undersigned opposed the call, above recit
ed, made on the 7th May, for the production of
such others as they might require to bo produced. ! books. They feel themselves, therefore called up
proper.
again repeat, that it derogates in no
degree
fron
copy of this resolution was sent to the Chairman
of the Committee of the Directors, but reached him at his dwelling house, at a time when the committee of the Directors was not in session, and a short time before the hour named in the resolution of the Committee of Investigation. He immediately informed the Chairman of the Committee of the Hou3C by letter that it would be impracticable to re-assemble the Committee of Direc
tors in season to submit the book3 for inspection that diy, but that they would be reassembled without unnecessary delay. The committee, however, deemed it expedient, for the purposcof making up an issuo to repair to the Banking house at the hour named, and then and there to call on the President and Cashier of the Bank to submit certain ot their books to the Committee. This accordingly took place, first in the large hall of the
uau;iiii' uvjusi-, aim uit u, uy ii'ciuioii, ui me i re
sident's room. The President and Cashier declin-1 latter capacity, thev had
ed a compliance with this request, on the ground books unless voluntarily
,p;
t s or
on to explain brirfly the considerations which intlu
enced them. 1 he undersigned have already stated that they conceived the committee, of which thev have the honor to be member?, to be clothed
with a twofold power, and to be competent, or rather required, by the order of the House, to act in a twofold capacity. They were a committee of visitation, appointed under the twenty-third sec-
! tion of the charter. As such they were authorized
to visit the. Bank, to inspect the books, and to examine into the proceedings of the Bank, and report whether the charter had been violated. They were, also, a committee of inquiry into the causes of the present commercial embarrassment and pecuniary distress, and into the corruption, abuses, and malpractices of the Bank. In the former capacity, they had a right to inspect the books of the Bank. They had this right by the ciiarter, and
would not have had it without the charter. In the ! resort to sources of knowledge net necessarily i:or
no right to inspect the olhcially
The so considerations led tho undersigned in tho. opinion that the Committee of Directors Y t: o Bank were justified in tho courso adopted by th':t:i on this occuson. If, on a question of law so guu and delicate, the Committee of tho Directors should havo come to an erroneous conclusion, (which tho undersigned, however, do not admit to be the cas it would seem an undue severity to consider aud
to treat such error in judgment as a contempt c the authority of the I louse. u. This iefl.;ction leads tho undersigned to
tew observations on tho various calls for o
portions of tho books, statements, documev!
stracts, and other papers, which, zi different tii.u were made on the Bank by resolutions of tho examinee. These resolutions were numerous, ar.ii covered a wide range of inquiry of the most miscellaneous character. A portion of them arc believed to call for document?, in whole or in pa?, already communicated to Congress, and public ; another portion relating to matters which couhl no; be stated without creat labor of compilation, and a
the objectionable character of this claim, to urge
that the Books of the Bank, thus taken from the
charter does not iivc
snbruitted by tho Bank,
them that right
that they had, neither of them, tho control over j because the
the books and papers; the general custody of the I for such purposes. The Bank is obliged, by the
same being with tho Board of Directors, who had i ciiarter, to submit its books to the inspection of a
possession of the directors, could have been put to already apprised tho Committee of the House, that j committee of visitation, authorized to report it the
no unworthy use by the Committee of Investigation.
Such an idea could only suggest itself to be repudiated. It is sufficient objection that they would'
have been put out ol the custody of those responsi
in the possession ot tho liaiiic. come oi
the calls referred to matters with respect to which no desire or concealment could, on any hypothesis, be imputed to tho Bank; others related to concerns (as the undersigned will presently show) in volving the highest confidence of individuals, r.nd
not to be divulged, except under legal compulsion,
iflcnf, however, that the books were not in the cus- ble to the stockholders for theirsafe-keepins. The
tody of the clerks, but in the general custody of the j most improper use to which the books, or any other Board. In consequence of this statement, no at-! property of an individual or a corporation, can be
they had placed them under the direction of a Com- charter has been violated; &. it is not bound to sub
miltce, to be by that Committee submitted for in-1 mit them to a committee of general inquest author- j without the grossest breach of faith.
spection, and that thev (the President and Cashicri i ized to report on malpractices and corruptions.! The answer of tho Committee of tho Director
were therefore unable to comply with the demand
of the Committee of Investigation. This demand.
The right of inspection possessed by tho commit- ; tp those requisitions was in the following terms: tee, as a committee of visitation, cannot be used by Rcr.ohcd. That the Bo nd do not fed ilium-
tempt was made to obtain possession of the
by a demand of the clerks
books j put is to take them away from their rightful owner j this report
and lawful
fTimrlIfin
1 I. Ill UUUJ
I may think I can better take j This proceeding was but a repetition, in a form
2. Of a similar character but more objectionable, ; care of my neighbor's property than ho does him- j a little varied, of the attempts before made to ac- j at the oi cause tending more directly to tho institution of i self, but I may not therefore take it from him, and J quire the means of conducting the insoection of I llcnrese 1 1. t f . . - t 1 f 1 . .. t l . r. . , . 4 I
ciuuuuibiei iijtntm lor ins own gocu; iar less may uie dooks, apart lrom these to whom the directors i mitt
was the right, insisted on bv the
W mi
bee
. 1 I
a penerai searcn
paration tor it,
committee of an exclusive occupation of the room in
the banking-house, ottered by the directors for their accommodation during the inspection of the books. The undersigned refer to the correspondence be
tween the committee ot Investigation and the Com-
I take it, without warrant of law, in order to extract
from its unlawful use matter to be used directly or by consequence for his crimination. The books belong to the stockholders of the Bank, and arc, by them, entrusted to the directors. They do not
belong to the House of Representatives, nor to any
mitteeofthe Bank on this subject. They would i committee of that House; and a right to inspect
only imcily observe, that a committee of seven had l'eni no more involves a right to take possession ot Cashier. It was known to the Committee of the
been appointed by the 'Board of Directors, to re- i them, than aright to count the money in the vaults J House that
and the answer to it, were then reduced to writing, j it in its other capacity ofa committee of general in- selves at liberty to comply with the requirement oi and will bo found among the papers appended to j quest and accusation, as an instrument of search ; the resolutions of tho Committee of Investigation
alter crimes and misdemeanors in general. ot the Uth r.lt.nnd 1st inst. and do not think they
But the directors of the Bank had been apprised ' arc bound to do so, inasmuch as, in respect to n
outset, by the resolution of the House of part of the papers culled for, the effect would be tho
entatives of the 4th of -April, that the com-; same rs tho surrender of their hooks and papers to
e was ota iwoioid cnaracier, as siaicu. a secret ami tjcturlc examination, winch they nave
had confided the duty of submitting them to the That resolution distinctly enumerates, L3 ol-icctsof alrcadv refused to consent to: and as to tho other
committee of the House of Representatives. It inquiry, notonly violations of the charter, fur which i part, tlicy rehto to matteis over which ihc Board
was avowedly intended only to make up, in anoth- the books might b? inspected, but various acts of j have no control; and if they could overcome theso
er lorm, the issue which it was supposed would be created between the Bank and the Committee of Investigation, by the failure of the Committee to
obtain the books thus required of the President and
mismanagement and corruption, for which they i objections, and had the power over all tho papers, 1 I 1 M . . ..iV.Mr.l ' lit a- . .
ceive me ommiiicc or. investigation, and submit! ,rvoives a ngni 10 lane possession ot it. it is a case for their inspection such books and papers of the j of frequent occurrence in State Banks, that cornBanks a3 might be necessary to exhibit its proceed- j mittees are sent to visit them, and, among other ings according to the requirement of tho charier, j things, to count the specie in their vaults. Should A room in the bunking-hcuse was, by this commit-1 such a committee claim the right of going into the
tee offered for the accommodation of the Commit- vaults alone, and counting the money, without the depart from the instructions of the board in this re
m iiuusv uj -ivt- jjiesmiiauves. u appeareu ; i"ok"v. ui uiu unetiuis m me lxwiw, or ineir au-jspeci. ine tommiiicc oi me House were ap
tho directors, by an authentic act, of !
which a copy had been communicated, had placed the books at lire disposal of tho Committee of the Board, to be by them submitted in person for inspection. The said Committee of the Directors had twice positively made known their inability to
rniL'ht not be inspected unless voluntarily offered
for lint purpose, The Committee of Investigation had addressed various calls, by way of resolution, j
to the committee ot Directors, touching matteis concerning which the charier does not require the Bank to submit its books for inspection. The call of the 7th of May, on the last visit to the banking house, is for certain of the books of the Bank to enable tho committee "to examine into the truth of tho statement made by the Government directors to the President of the United States and to ConfTrpa." Tlint Kt.'ilfment prnbr.res matfni ivbirh
till it would lo impossible fur them to comply
mm within any reasonable time, Inving ascertained , by a careful examination, that the copies and statements called for by the rcsolutrons of the 29th ultimo, alone, would require the uninterrupted labor of two clerks for at least ten months, to make them out, and that the remaining resolutions, so far as they concern matters not beyond the reach of tha Board, would require great additional time, which they are not able exactly to compute, without causing, what tlicy fear, would be on inconvenient de
lay to the committee of Investigation; and ihcy
-1
i rj . . .. . ... - .
m a very cany siage oi the proceedings, in a confer- morizea agents, u would be thought a very unwar- prized that the books asked tor, were not under I neither are, nor arc alleged to oe, violations ot the take it lor granted that it would no more compoi tu once between the two committees, that the Com- rantable claim; and no personal confidence, repos- the instructions of the Board, at the voluntary dis- S ciiarter, and consequently in reference to which the j with the views of the Committee of Investigation to mittcc of the directors proposed to exhibit their k C1 in the honor and probity of the committee, pcsal of the President and Cashier, and the demand directors are not required to submit their bocks for I wait till so distant a period, than it would with tho
books
in
I M I 1
person to the Committee of Investigation, 1 would render
rantable.
expressing, at the same time, their expectation and j readiness to "withdraw from the room whenever the i
Committee -of. the House should see fit," in order to furnish the Committee of the House the opportunity to deliberate, without tiie presence of any one, uot required or invited by themselves to attend. . This proposed manner of conducting the examination was regarded by the majority 'of the Committee of the House of Representatives as inadmissible, and formed the subject of a correspondence between them & the Committee of Directors. The Committee of the House adopted two resolutious,by one of which they agreed that their proceedings should be confidential, unless otherwise ordered by the committee; 6c by the other, that no person
should be present al the inspection of tho books
such a claim at all the less unwar-
3, The committee having withdrawn from the occupation of the room in the banking house, for the reason stated, adopted a resolution requiring the President and Directors of the Bank to submit certain of the books of the Bank to the inspection of the com
mittee, at their room in the North American Hotel, which must for the reason stated, prove ineffectual
With this requisition the Committee of the Direc- unnecessary for the making up of the desired istors declined complying, for reasons which appear I sue, and open to the objection of wearing a vcxa-
mauc or inesc omcers oy me committee in person at the Bank, was not of the nature ofa legal process to compel their production, supposing them to have been de facto in the keeping of the said officers. For these considerations the undersigned opposed the personal demand for the production
of tho books now under consideration, nsa measure
inspection. j rights ol tho Bank, to have such a burden imposed For these considerations the undersigned r?ard. upon it.
ed the directors as justified in requiring of tho com- lfthe replication of the Committee of the Housq
mittec of the House a specification of the objects
of their inquiry. Ine ground taken by the Com
be regarded, according to its totms, as a mcro request, it was of course competent to the directors
in their resolutions adopted jYiay 3d. The under
signed regarded this resolution of the committee as open to the objections already urged against an ex parte inspection of the books, 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
and examination of the proceedings of the Bank, j North American Hotel. If, by the term required.
except those whose attendance might be required
or permitted by the Committee of Investigation. The first resolution was regarded merely as an understanding, on the part of the Committee of Investigation, that no publicity would be given by them, until otherwise ordered, to the matters that i "might appear in the course of the examination. 1 The undersigned assented to this resolution, with the understanding of the parliamentary law, that : sittings of every committee are open unless ordered to bo secret by the House; and that it was not in the power of tho present committee, by a vote of their own, either to shut their doors, or impose secrecy on any persons who might attend. But they assented to the injunction of confidence, in conformity with a usage which has prevailed in other commitlcesof inquiry of the House, for their own convenience, as a rule binding on themselves, and with tho express reservation that the adoption of this resolution should, in no degree, involve an assent to the principle asserted in the second. To that principle, viz: that no person should be permitted to attend during the inspection of the books of the Bank, and tho examinations of its proceed
ings, whoso presence was not required nor assented to by the Board, the undersigned were strenuously opposed. It was asserted as a right on the part of the Committee, and (as the undersigned supoossed, and the Committee of the Directors of the Bank appeared also to understand it,) with an intention to. enforce the right. In pursuance of this intention (as the undersigned supposed.) the Committee of Investigation ceased to hold their meetings in the room set apart for them in the bankinghouse, as soon as they understood the Committee
nothing is to be understood but a reauest. with
which the Directors of the Bank were at liberty to decline a compliance, they were of course free so to decline, and their doing so, argues no contempt of the House. But the majority of the committee evidently regarded as in some way obligatory, the demand for the production, at their hotel, of certain books of the Bmk. Such a'demand the subscribers deemed to be unauthorized. If valid, in reference to the books named in the requisition, it was of course valid as to all the book3 of
the Bank and all its branches; which, by parity of
right, me committee might have required to be
brought to their lodgings, and there detained and used at their pleasure. The question whether (supposing them brought to the committee's room at the North American Hotel) they should there be submitted in person by tho Directors or inspected ex parte by the Committee of Investigation, was not distinctly raised. But considering that the committee ceased to hold theirmeetingat the banking house, precisely because the Directors insisted on their submitting the books for inspection in person, it appeared to the undersigned that, whether exercised or not, the right of an ex parte inspection was designed to ba reserved, and that the inspection was required to be had at the private room
of the committee, to enable the committee, if they
tious appearance. 1 o make a third application for a voluntary submission of the books in a manner which it was known was deemed inadmissible, at the same time no recourse was had to compulsory process, could not but have the effect, though certainly not so intended, of gratuitously throwing upon the directors the odium of repeated refusals of tho requests of the Committee of tho House. However this may be, as the fact is undoubted that the directors had placed the books under the control of the Committee of the Board: as their
mittec of the Board is. as the House perceives, a ' respectfully to decline a compliance with it. It
ground of legal right. Resumed by tho directors, : n be no contemplof the House, nor even matter
oi compiami or ground oi prejudice, that any request, which i3 merely such, i3 respectfully declined by the pr.rty to which U is addrrsscd. But tho Committee of tho Directors nppenrjto have regarded it as a matter of duty, not to return a inked rc-
j fusal to the requisition of the Committee of Inves
tigation. J be reasons ol tins relusal are stated, and
under tho circumstances of the c&se. This is the
third occasion on which the Bank his been visited by committees of the House. In the year 1819, a committee w as appointed to examine the sffairsof the Bank, then in disorder. The committee thus appointed was, by the terms of the resolution, directed to report whether the charter had been viola-
tea, and ine resoiuuon consisted mamiyot a spc
right to do is unquestionable; as the chairman of j undersigned are not aware that any resistance was the Committee of the Directors had apprised the ; mnde to the demands of the Committee. On the
they appear to the undersigned to be valid. Re-
cification of alleged violations. In executing their lercnce to the resolutions in the appendix will en
trust, however, the comrnitteo extended their in. able the House to judge of this matter. The rea-
" i i
quiries to the general
and examined its Tres.
or abstract an essential partofsoinc of the books of
the Bank, in order to their being made the subjects ofa private and cx vnrtc examination; a mcLStiro
management cf the Bank, j sons, as lias bet n seen, are, that to comply with a ident, other officers, and di-' prt of these resolutions would be, in effect, to copy
rectors, on oath. To this courso cf inquiry, the Bank deemed it for its interest to submit. The
j so much the moru objectionable, as it would add
the tormer could not not bo reasscmb ed. at the thai "it i dno to the ofiirpr nf tbe RnnL- n Piiil.
very short notice given, but should be so, without delphia to state that every facility in their power unnecessary delay, to submit the books for inspec- was rendered in explaining the books and assisting tion; as the books were not in point of fact, in the researches of the committee." In one instance
possession of the officers called on: the undersign
ed feel confident that, in respectfully declining to produce them those officers were guilty of no contempt of the authority of the House. 5. But whatever difference of opinion might at the first have existed between the Committee of the House and the Committee of the Directors, as to the propriety of permitting the latter to retain the custody of the books, and submit them in person to tho Committee of the House, further consideration appears to have led the Committee of the House to admit the reasonableness of ibis mode of conducting the investigation, so far at least as to acquiesce in it, a consideration, which exonerates the directors from any charge of contempt in the course hitherto pursued by them. Accordingly, without waiving their right to require
the production ot the books at their lodgings, they
chairman of the committee of Investigation that contrary, their report closes with the observation. 1n0 inconvenience of preparing the copy to til tho
I I 11 . 1 1 I .. .. . - - ..'1.1 1 1 . . A .1
oincr evils incident to such inspection. Anoilici portion of the calls related to matters of fact, in no way appearing on the books of the Bank, und not to be ascertained but from sotiiccs of information no more accessible to tho dircclois than nny other individual. These objections were of themselves, particularly the first, decisive. In oddition to lhi, it appeared, from a careful examination instituted for that purpose, that ihc answers Jo the first scries of calls could not be prepared without tho uninterrupted labor cf two clerks for ut least ten month. The undersigned ore unwilling lo take up tho time of the House by a particular examination of each of tho resolutions, but they feel themse lves required to express their opinion of a fw rtion of them. They will refer fnt to theso which call for
information touching ihc transactions of members 1 Cif Congress with the Bank of the United States, land the correspondence of members ofCongrcfs with ofliccrs of the B ink. One cf tho resolutions alluded to is in the fol-
deemed it expedient, to act on that reservation, repaired again to the banking house, to the room
All the objections, therefore, which he to an exparte inspection in the banking house, hold with equal force to an ex parte inspection out of it. In addition to this, the requisition of tho books, to be carried away from the Banking house, ap
peared to the undersigned, for other reasons, of an
ot the Directors ot the liank to claim the right of! inadmissible character. It was to take them away
being there present with their books during the in-1 from the place where the important interests of the speclion of the same. It is true that, by a subse- Bank require them to bo, and to bo used. It was
qucnt resolution, the Committee of the House of to expose them to the risks of transportation through
ilepresentatives disclaimed having decided that they should, in point of fact, exclude the directors
nun ...v- uispeuiion or me dooks
the streets, and detention in private rooms, not constructed for the safe preservation of valuable pa-
pers. While it is the constant practice ot inuivio-
but they persevered in the assertion of the right I uals to deposite for safe keeping valuable books and to Jo so, as appears from the documents appended i papers in the vaults of the Bank, the Bank was re-
con-
iu ujio ivpviu nniren to rpmnvn ita nwn hnoL-a and nnners
fhis claim was regarded by ibe undersigned, as taining the evidence of pecuniary transactions to
oujecuonaoie. In j the amount ot several hundreds of millions ot do!
hein" without foundation and 5
the first place, as his been obseryed, they believed
ii to re contrary loiex pauiameniaira lora committee of inquiry on its own authority, to claim the right of holding its sittings, except when deliberating and voting, in secret. It can only be constituted a secret committee by express order of the House. Secondly, this principle involved the right of withdrawing the books of the Bank from tho custody of the directors, and taking them into the possession of the committee of Investigation. This is a power not given by the charter, which as far as the books are concerned, authorizes a com
mittee only to "inspect the books' As the right)
lars annually, to the committee's room in the North American Hotel, a public house of great resort in Philadelphia. The undersigned opposed this requisition, from the belief that it was totally beyond the authority of the House and they should have deeply regretted a compliance with it by the Bank, which would have devolved on the committee the care and responsibility of a deposite so delicate and valuable. 4. After the Directors of the Bank had declined a compliance with the requisition of their books to be produced at the North American hotel, the corn mittec of Investigation, on the 5th of May, adopt-
set apart for their accommodation, and required
the production of certain of the books of the Bank. It will be observed that, up to this lime, nothing had been arranged as to tho mode of conducting the inspection beyond the single point, settled by the acquiescence of the Committee of the House of Representatives, that the books should be submitted in person by the committee of the Directors. No objects of inquiry had been announced by the Committee of Investigation, further than they appear in the resolution of the House under which the committee was raised, and in the calls made for information, as to a great amount and variety of matters, as appears from tho resolutions in the appendix. The correspondence which had taken place between the committees, had been confined
almost exclusively to the single ground of the course deemed proper to be pursued by the committee, lo obtafn possession of the books of the Bank. On the arrival of the committee at tho banking house on the 7th of May, a call was made on the Committee of the Board, in pursuance of the following resolution : May 7 1834. Resohed, That the Committee will proceed to examine into the truth of the statement made by the Government directors to the President of the United States and to Congress, and for that purpose will this day call for the production, for inspection, of the minute books containing tho proceedings of the directors of the Bankand expense
in which an individual, a director of ono of the offices, charged with malpractices, refused to testify, the committee observe, that they did not insist on his answering, and that they examined him chiefly to enable him, if ho pleased, to exculpate himself. This committee did not confine their examination to the ofliccrs of the Bank. They examined the Teller of the Bank of North America, and perhaps other persons. This circumstance, and others mentioned, sufficiently show that no question as to the extent of the powers of the committee was raised during the visitation; that the witnesses appeared voluntarily; that the Bank deemed it for its interest to submit to the examination of tho committee, in any form in which the committee thou-jht
proper to conduct it; and that consequently the j whole investigation assumed the form ofa parlia-1 mentary inquiry conducted bv tho assert of the i
parties, and without any appeal to their rights. j lowing terms: "Resolved, That ihc President :nd It is also to be recollected that two years had Directors cf the Bmk bo requested to furnish tho scarcely elapsed since the former inquiry, on which j committee with copies of nil coircspondcr.ee bethe directors of the Bank had not attempted to im- j twecn the President of the Bank or any of its efiipeso any limitations; and that inquiry had resulted j ccr3 n,,(l members of Congress, or of unanswered
sucuuici) iu im; suiismcuou oi ooui uousvs, tuai
they passed a bill for renewing tho charter of the
Bank. It requires no words to show that euch an examination must be highly inconvenient to tho officers of the Bank, and incommode them in the orderly discharge of their duties. Still graver inconvenience may he expected to result from the effect on the public mind, in reference to the Bank, which may be produced by the recurrence of such visitations. In the progress of the controversy waged with the Bank, a few new matters of detail may perhaps have been alleged 3gainst it since tho report of the former committee, but many of the matters of general inculpation now brought forward, are those sifted to the bottom by that committee, and none of them possesses the novelty and importance furnishing, in the judgmenfof the undersigned, an equitable ground for a new investigation. 13 there to be no end to visitations? The House has tha undoubted right to institute them a3 often as it pleases every year, and every month; but if they are multiplied unreasonably, the directors of the Bank, tis it seems to the undersigned, are not to be blamed if at length they put themselves upon their rights, decline to become voluntary parlies to these investigations, and submit to theoj only as far as the charter requires.
letters received from any one of them since the first
day of July, 18.12, touching tho renewal of tho charter of the Bank, ll.c removal or restoration of tho public dcpo3ites, or touching the businC3 transaction? of such members with said banks.' Another of tho resolutions alluded to is in the following terms: "Rcsohcd, That tho President and Directors of the Bank be requested to furnish ibis comrnitteo with a detailed statement of all loans made smco the 1st of January, IS-".), to individuals, who then were, who have been since, and who now arc, members of Congress, stnting the amount of each loan, when the same was made, for what term tho scpurity was given, and the time when such security was received; and also tho security which the bank now holds, and the amount row owing by ony nmj each of such borrowers, or other persons for the benefit of such borrowers, at the Bank, or either of its branches; and stating, also, tho particulars of any such loans which have been protested, or which ate now under protest, and the names of tho parties to any such debts; also, tho names (if any) of nny such persons, whoso notes have been renewed after tho same had become duo and not protested or renewed, with tho names of individuals, parties to said renewals, whoio notes wera under protest rt