Office of Discount and Deposite, Petersburg, 23rd June, 1817. SIR: I have the honor of acknowledging the receipt of your circular, of the 29th of April last, addressed to the President of this Branch of the Virginia Bank; and also your two letters dated the 18th and 21st of the present month. I have only to observe that, in conformity with your circular, all deposites of public moneys, made at this Bank, subsequent to the receipt of it, has been carried to the credit of the United States' Bank, for the use of the Treasury of the United States, and, of course, all drafts that has yet appeared, drawn on the Cashier of that Bank, and payable here, is at the debit of that account. Having been in the habit of furnishing you with quarterly statements, I did not think it material, until the end of the present month, at which time it will be forwarded, as also a copy of the statement to be exhibited to Mr. Smith. If, upon comparing the two accounts, they should not be found in strict conformity with your instructions, be good enough to point out the error, and it shall be corrected. Your request, in regard to the Treasury notes received at this Bank, as special deposite, shall be attended to without delay. I must, however, remark, that, by some accident or other, your circular of the 31st of January, has never come to hand. Very respectfully, I am, sir, WM. H. CRAWFORD, Esq. Your obedient servant, JOHN WILDER, Cashier. Office of Discount and Deposite, Petersburg, 24th June, 1817. SIR: In compliance with your instructions, of the 21st. instant, I herewith transmit you all the Treasury warrants that have been received at this Bank, as a special deposite. The amount, you will perceive, by including 8229 72, which was chargeable on the warrants when deposited, precisely agrees with our statements. I am, very respectfully, sir, Your obedient servant, JOHN WILDER, Cashier. WM. H. CRAWFORD, Esq. Bunk of the United States, June 24th, 1817. SIR: I have had the honor to receive, and submit to the Board of Directors, your letter of the 18th instant, upon which the most re spectful consideration has been bestowed, the result of which is contained in the enclosed extract from the minutes of the proceedings of the Board at a meeting held this day. Permit me, sir, to ask you the favor to recognize the terms of your proposition, as accepted by the board to be correctly stated in the extract, if it shall prove to be so; and to withhold the promulgation of it until the purchase of the stock shall be made, to effect which, will require every precaution to guard against such a rise in the price as would defeat the object. Your proposition to forego the redemption of such an amount of stock in the hands of the bank, until the year 1821, as the bank may enable the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund to purchase of other stock than that which has been subscribed to the bank, the difference between the current price and the rate to which they are limited, to be paid by the bank, will be acted upon at the next meeting of the board, and the result shall be made known to you as soon as possible. In reference to your view of the statement of the case submitted to counsel by the bank, I beg leave to observe, that nothing could be further from the contemplation of the board, than the idea of negligence on the part of the Treasury. The board has abundant proof of the vigilance of that Department, in all its transactions with the bank, and the case alluded to, the board referred to the want of power, not of foresight, I have the honor to be, with the highest respect, The Hon. WM. H. CRAWFORD, W. JONES, Pres't. EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES. Bank of the United States, June 24th, 1817. At a meeting of the President and Directors, held this day, the Board, having under consideration the arguments and conclusion of the honorable the Secretary of the Treasury, exhibited in his letter of the 18th instant, in opposition to the arguments of the board, and the opinion of the counsel, submitted to him in support of the right of the bank to sell the two millions of war 6 per cent, stock, in London, upon the terms of redemption, expressed on the face of the certificates, came to the following determination, to wit: That, deprecating the ungracious aspect of a litigation with the Government, whose rights and authority it is equally the disposition and the duty of the Board to respect and support; and although the reasoning upon which the Secretary rests the right of the Government, in the case in question, has failed to produce conviction in the Board, yet, preferring a partial loss to the unpleasant and unprofitable collision which further controversy would produce, be it therefore resolved, That the Board accepts the alternative offered by the Secretary of the Treasury in behalf of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, and will purchase, as the agents of the Commissioners, two millions of war six per cent. stock of the United States, in lieu of that ordered to be sold in London, on account of the banks, and will deliver the stock so purchased to the commissioners aforesaid, at the par value thereof, upon condition, that the two millions ordered to be sold on account of the bank, shall be redeemable only at the periods and upon the terms specified in the certificates thereof. JON. SMITH, Cashier. Trenton Bank, June 24, 1817. SIR: I have the honor to enclose a statement of the situation of this bank. Until the receipt of your duplicate instructions, I had supposed you required monthly statements, and was waiting for the month to com round. I am, with the greatest respect, Hon. WM. H. CRAWFORD, Secretary of the Treasury. PEARSON HUNT, Cashier. Office of Discount and Deposite, New York, June 24, 1817. SIR: I have received your printed letter of the 18th, advising the arrangement made with the Bank of the United States, respecting the Public Moneys; and directing the Treasurer's account with this office, to be so corrected, as to conform thereto; all of which shall be strictly attended to. Your's of the 21st inst. is also received, directing the transmission of certain Treasury notes to the Treasurer. In conformity thereto, I have, this day, enclosed to that officer $150 38, being all which have been received by this office for his account. No purchases of Funded Debt have yet been made for the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. I am, most respectfully, The Hon. WM. H. CRAWFORD, Secretary of the Treasury. LYNDE CATLIN, Cashier. Office of Discount and Deposite, New York, June 27, 1817, SIR: I have the honor to enclose correct statements of the Treasurer's account with this office, conformably to the arrangements entered into between the Treasury Department and the Bauk of the United States, relative to the deposites of Public Moneys. I am, most respectfully, your's, &c. Hon. WM. H. CRAWFORD, LYNDE CATLIN, Cashier. Office of Discount and Deposite, Petersburg, 27th June, 1817. SIR: On the evening of the 25th, I put into the Post Office, at this place, a package addressed to you, containing the Treasury notes received at this Bank, on special deposite, to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States. They were cancelled, and a descriptive list accompanied them. I hope they have got safe to hand. Very respectfully, I am, your obedient servant, W. H. CRAWFORD, Esq. Bunk of the United States, June 28, 1817. SIR: I have the honor to transmit the enclosed extract from the minutes of the proceeding of the Board of Directors of the Bank of the United States, at a meeting held yesterday, and to be, With the highest respect, Sir, your obedient servant, W. JONES, President. WM. H. CRAWFORD, Esq. Secretary of the Treasury. Bank of the United States, June 27, 1817. At a meeting of the President and Directors, held this dayThe President submitted the letter of the Secretary of the Treasury, of the 23d instant, in relation to the balances of the Public Money, now in the hands of the Banks in the District of Columbia, of which he had required payment to be made on the 1st of July, which the Board took into consideration, and, after mature deliberation thereon, the President was directed to transmit to the Secretary, the following representations of facts and circumstances, in reply to his inquiry. That, as it is the province of the Secretary of the Treasury to determine, whether the public interest will admit of the balances of Public Money now in the hands of the Banks in the District of Columbia, remaining with them on interest, or otherwise, the Bank can have no objection to any course he may think proper to adopt on the occasion; but if those balances are to be transferred to the Bank of the United States for the use of the Treasury, and applied forthwith to the public service, as the repeated intimations of the Secretary of the Treasury indicate; the loan required by the Banks will no longer be the money of the public, but the money of the Bank, which it is the duty of the Board to employ, with a view to the equitable participation of all, and a prompt command of its resources, in order to supply the demands for exchange, and preserve a uniformity in the currency of the country; that these objects cannot be attained, if the immense sums due to the Bank of the United States, by the Banks from the Delaware to the Potomac, inclusive, are withheld; that these debts have arisen out of the assumption by the Bank of the United States, of the debts due to the Treasury by the State Banks, and have been concentrated in the Districts aforesaid, by the operations of exchange; that in consequence thereof, the Bank of the United States is largely indebted to New York, where an adverse balance is daily and rapidly increasing, which has limited the operations of the Bank in that city, to an amount so inadequate and disproportioned, as to excite just discontent, but which the Bank of the United States will not have the power to remedy, unless the debtor Banks discharge. a reasonable proportion of their debts. in a medium current, at places where the debts of the Bank, and the demands for exchange may exist; that the Board perceives nothing peculiar in the case of the Banks in the District of Columbia, unless it is, that they have Contributed less in the general effort, and demand more than the Banks of other cities; that the Bank of the United States will be compelled, however reluctantly and inconveniently, to part with its funded debt, and the Board perceives no good reason, why the local Banks should hesitate to dispose of theirs, at the present enhanced value, in an available currency, and apply the proceeds to the discharge of their just debts; and, moreover, the reason assigned by the Banks for wishing to retain their stock, does not appear to be solid: for their inability to pay their debts, without selling their stock, is a proof, that they have sufficiently extended their business, independent of that resource. The Board respectfully submits these facts and observations to the Secretary of the Treasury, with an assurance, that the Bank of the United States has neither exercised, nor desires to exercise, any other control over other Banks, than that of reasonable demand for |
