Indiana Republican, Volume 3, Number 114, Madison, Jefferson County, 13 February 1819 — Page 2

hrge and much more than the balance of trade required. In a letter of the President, dated June 27, iSi;,he observes, thc Directors considering (among other things mentioned) the low state of the specie and individual deposits at vour office, and the tnanitudc of our discounts and those at this Bank, as well for Baltimore as this place, and the very inadequate and disproportionate amount of discounts to which the cilice at New-York has been restricted in consequence of the daily and excessive drafts from your office and this Bank, which has become the subject of great animadversion, direct that the then arnou n t o fdlscou n t s sho u J d not be exceeded. The sitr.c Iinu ve is held in other letters, XII, XIV, but it terminated in unavailing remonstrance.;, the Baltimore oiace continued its drafts and its discounts, and drained the specie from the .Nothcrn oilices. And such was the want of firmness or of foresight in the parent Board, that after finding its 1 created renumitrancfs disregarded, it never removed one nt the offending directors, end teok no effectual step to control them, until the adpotion ot the general resolutions of August 2'Sih 1S1S, forbidding t he offices to draw on each othu. lheciilct of these excessive drafts on the Nothcrn ohkes, was to compel the constant rcmittar.ee of specie there, to cripple them in all their operations, to limit their discounts to a trifling amount, to cause the revenue paid there, and which" would itzt have, been a capital for bniness, to be drawn Southward, thus ccnre-elHna: them to deny to the debtors of the government any indulgence or accommodation in their payments, to bring those ofiiccs into debt with the State B inks to produce a general depression nf credit, and a severe preurc for money. Those places were in fact made tributary to Baitimoje, and all their means and energies were required to supply its extravagant ismcs. A sudden reduction of the Baltimore debt to the Nothcrn cakes appears to have taken place in .March and April last, and within a few months pas: those o fiices have been brought in debt to it. This is accounted for by the Cashier of that oflice, by savimr that it arose principally from Treasury drafts, and by the sale of foreign Bills of Exchange. Drafts were given by the Treasury in tome instances, and to considerable amounts directly to Baltimore, on the Nothern oilices, and in other instances such drafts went through the cflice in this city. It is not to be presumed that these drafts were given by the treasury with a knowledge of all the circumstances, or with a view to draw the revenue collected at the north to Baltimore, merely to aid that olliec in paying its debts. Yet such was the effect, and although it enabled Baltimore to continue its large discounts, it impoverished the mat hern oilices, and the cities waere they were established wer-i made to feel the pressure. The Biltimore debt to the parent bank, will be found to have regularly increased with the reduction of its debts to the other oilices, until it I emitted 1,007,000 dollars in bills of ex

change on London; which remittancc is connected, by the testimony of J. W. M'Culloch, Esq. with the ncgoctation explained in the letter of the president XV. The loan which resulted from that negociation was on pledge of stock that had been pledged at Baltimore, the Bank assumed it, and received the bills of exchange, ec paid for them by giving a check on t he New-York oflice for the amount, at the umc the Baltimore oflice was indebted to the parent bank more than six millions of dollars. It might have been supposed that the pressure of the Baltimore cilice open those more nor tli, was owing to its being pressed by the southern and western oilices. The fact will however, appear from the table XI, tint until September last ' it was indebted to the oflice at Lexington, that the debts of Cincinnati, Chilieothe and Louisville to it, were small in amount, and that the only oflice which has constantly owed it, is New-Orleans, and that oflice not to a I irere amount until lately. From these facts it would seem to result that the embarrassments of tin. Bank of the U. S. in recieving the notes of ;dl its oilices, did not arise so much from the fair and ordinirv baiance of traJe winch might have been cdculited and provided for, as. from the excessive discounts granted at some of the oflices, particularly Baltimore and Philadelphia, and the drafts consequent upon tho discounts which were made upon the other oilices. Fiomtiu correspondence ot the bank wuh its o.iices, it is ohvious that this was the opinion of die directors and the olliccrs; it is distinctly assigned a; one of the grounds for refusing the notes of the. ofiiccs in the report ot the committee X, and it is more strongly urged in the letter of the Boston olliee submitted and adoptedby the Prcsident IX, and is eloquently enforced in several ot hi letters. This committee is not prepared to say that an unitomly equal currencv could have been maintained under the mo-t auspicious circumstances ; they are inclined to the opinion that such an attempt would be hopeless, but they consider its abandonment at the time as having been produced bv the causes before stated. The efforts of the bank to meet the paymentof its notes at all itsoflices north of Cha'eston, were certainly great, and particuiary at New-York and Boston, as wilt apnear from the resolutions marked XVI, and the account of specie remitted XVIL The relinquishment of the attempt was involuntary and reluctant. From the testimony of the Cashier and Teller of the bank, the teller of the bank of North America, and of the cashier and teller of the oflice at Baltimore, it will appear very satistorily that the conduct of the bank and that oflice in adoptin cr the new system of refusing the notes of the branches, was perfectly fair and equitable; that the bank and the Baltimore oflice promptly paid and recieved all the notes of the other offices which they had paid out previous to the change of the system whenever application was made for the purpose,

and that in no instance have they refused jo do so. Injury probably wa; suffered by those who had rcclvcJ the depreciated notes in he usual course of business, bit the committee cannot pcrcitve hov the bank could have changed its system in any mauler less injurious to itself and less inconvenient to the public, than that which was adopted From thhehange of system, which placec the notes of the oilices on he same footing with those (f the local banks in their vanities resulted a greater difcrence in the exchange betvecn the different parts of the Union. The oilices at Scw-Orlcans, Savannah and Charleston, had never been included in she plan of equalizing the orrency. They had always been left to their own discretion it receiving or refusine: the notrs of the other ollic?. In Mav, i S i 7, the ofliccs at Charleston and Savannah were authorized to draw on those at the iortlr.it a premium. In April, Hose at Lexington and Cincinnati were authorised to purchase bills on the eastern and northern cities. In December, i 3 1 7, the southern ofliccs were authorised to drav at a premium o those at the north.. In October and November 1 817, the ttvern oft; cos were authorised todriw at a premium onPhihdclpblruV the ofiiccs south of ir. and it appeals th.t the ofliccs at l.exing'on .m i Cincinnati, be tore February 1818 were in the practice ot drawing on thr eastern tide. These tact show that the bank and most :f its ofiiccs, sold drafts upon ca h other long before the ad iption of the resolution of die eSih August iSiS, refusing the notes ot the oilices; and establish that uhile ;the bank was attempting to equallytin- currency, y die payment ot it notes, r.t all oliices north of Cha? lestin. it was ataiie same time selling drafts between those two odices at a premium. A system o domestic exchange was adopted by the bald; on the 18th of July iS 1 7, marked XVIII. It contains some provisions which appear exceptionable ; but as the plan never was acted upon, it is deemed net necessary to notice them. It has teen impracticab'c for the committee to ascertain the amount, or the rates ot the dratts, sold by and upon the offices. On examination of the books of the parent bank it appears that dratts were sold by it on Charleston, New-Orleans, and Savannah, within a few days of each other at very different rates ; on one day at' one per cent, and on another day at five per cent, on the same oflice. It would be in vain to attempt to account for these fluctuations. However dangerous to the community may be t lie power of selling drafts, in the hands of an institution whose resources may be adequate to the control of domestic exchange, according to its interest or its caprice, yet the committee cannot entertain a doubt that the bank possesses the power. Excepting the fluctuations before noticed, the rate of premium has not hitherto been extortionate, in any instance which lias come to the knowledge of the committee. The proceedings of the bank and its oilices, and the reasons and views entertained bv them, arc ex

hibited by the report XVIII, in the letter of the president XIX, and in the extracts from his correspondence XX. Various opinions arc entertained on the expediency of the bank's selling its drafts. While many suppose that it would

consult its own dignity and interest, in refraining from the practice, and would receive an equivalent for the loss of premium, in the confidence and support of the commercial community, by delivering its drafts gratuitously, when it was ccnveniehtno draw at nil ; others contend that the system of gratuitous drafts, would open an avenue to favoritism, and, .at all events, would expose the bank to the charge, in a greater degree, than if it sold its drafts. Without oppressing any opinion upon those subjects, upon which the community is much divided, and to which the attention of the committee has not been particularly directed, they content themselves wiadi observing that if drafts arorld, they ought to be at fixed, lllibvvn, and permanent prices, not exceeding the price of transportation of specie, on the fair agio of business the wmt of these fixed prices, in the bank and its ofiiccs appear to vour committee censurable. Connected with the subject of exchange, is that of dealing in the notes of the state banks. In a letter of the president, to the Chai Ieston oflice, which received the sanction of the board of directors marked XXI, an opinion in favor of the Icgdity and propriety of such purchases is expressedNo evidence, however has been obtained, that they have actually been made. Ihc practice, in the opinion of the committee would be highly improper, and dangerous and contrary to the spirit, if not the words of the 9th fundamental article. Among the resolutions of the directors are two on the subject of discounts, on a pledge of stock, marked XXllec XXIII, passed the 1 8th and e;th Dec. 1816. These resolutions obviously contemplate, only discounts to the stockholders, and one avowed object was to faciltate the p rement of the specie part of the second instalment, which was ten dollars on a share, and to be paid by the z ;d January 1 S 1 7. The loans were to be confined to the proportions of tiie coin part of the second instalment, on the shares which had been subscribed at the places where oilices were then in operation, New York, Boston and Baltimore. The total amount of these loans, to pay the specie part of the said instalment, on the 20th of Feb. 1S17, Philadelphia, was 199,921 37 dollars and at Baltimore, at that date was 138,320 00 dollars. The committee have not obtained information of the amount at New-York and Boston, but they arc informed by the officers of the bank, that the discounts at those places were to a very trifling amount, if any. The committee can see no reason to justify these premature efforts, to aid the payment of the second instalment, before it fell due, and before the experiment was made to ascertain how much could be paid in specie. Those efforts do not appear to have been very successful, for 839,85 dollars only, were paid

during the month of January 1 8 17, while 1078,3 19 was paid after that period, thc greatest proportion in May and June, as will appear from aij sbstract prepared by the corn, mittce, and now submitted

marked XXIV. (To to he continued.) ' 1 " 1 " 1 1 " 1 Fbjsiiuap.y 13, 1U19. -I I" We understand that Mr. Mari'Le, the cashier of the Muskingum bank, was over ; taken at Louisville and has re-V I I ..-!.. ' LUi ntu yjt tnii lilt n i iv j ville, where he is now at large, , and iias given security for any J deficiency that may be disco v. crcd in the funds of the bank. It was found that he had charg. ed himself with Urge sums on V tyn hnnhs of the bank, sufti. . ' W V - - ' -' - - w ; cicnt, it is supposed, to cover all deficiencies. Cin. Gaz. CONGRESS. is sr..Ar;;. . MONDAY, JANUARY, lo. The hill to provide lor the msfc c envenient organization of the j courts of the courts of uV Unltrd States, was read a third time; and 7 on the question of its. passage, it was decided in the a III nr. at i e. IfOL'Sr Of ZK T. i' R V. S ZS T A T I V I.S. Tu -!-day, J ;m. 1 9. The hill from the senate to provide for the more com erii.nt orogaahzation of the I 'n;t d States, and the appointment t Circuit judges, was tw :c- ivad and committed. BANK OF THE V. ST IT?. Ji 1 . Tfimhk- oLn ed f;r (j :;. deration th I i!o. i-.r re sohiti 'v. AVv;.v, in.- '::!r nnd .ou. f.f rciy t'scnJuiivts ',; t'ic U.-iiiCu .S frtf s of A Tn r i 1 1 congress ;.- ..' .: Vr, That th attorney g-.nvr.il of tin; United States, in conjunction v. 'it'i the D;strict attorney of Pv-nns ivania, .shall immediate cauee a scire facias to he issued, aeccrdme;to the 23d section ot tbact 'in incorporate the subscribers to the Hank of the United Stales.-'' calling on the corporation c reatecl bv the said act to shew can f wherefore the charter thereby grant d shall not he declared forfeited; and that it shall he the dutv of the said officers to cause such proceedings to he had in the pimi-.es as shall be neces-arv to obtain a final j 'dgmcnt thereon ; tor the expenses ot which Congress will hereafter provide. Mr. T. then said that he tvou'd briefly state the reas ons which induced him to offer the resolution which he had submitted. He. ought first, however, to rnalct' an apology to the committee who had made th able, and, he "hoped, useful report upon this subject. From that report, he had inferred that the committee did not intend to o.Ter any propositionleading to an enquiry into the question of forfeiture. It was possible that the committee might, from motives of delicacy, dedi"' T suhmcmo' ot ;mv lire involving the enquire. Thit he might commit no mistake in that respect, he said he had thought ic his duty to wait on the honorable chairman of that committee ; by whom he was authorised to state, that the committee did not intend to report a proposition to that eff ect; and that anv proposition of that ten dency would come with equal proj.uiei in'. 11 au vjutci memoei en the house. It is manifest, said he, that pub j lie confidence in the Hank is shaken j to its foundation, and that it ha ' b ecome the imperious duty of thi House to act carefully and promptly on the subject : That when the bank was established, it was expected it would coerce the resumption of specie payments: That it wouU curtail the emanation of paper issu- - ing from fugitive country banks, . and, by every means in its power assist in restoring the par of cxchanrre between the states: Tlut the Treasury f the Vnitcd State