bullion? and, under such a seiniorage, would not the United States have possessed, at this time, a more copi ous metallic currency? The solution of this question, es pecially the latter branch of it, is vital to the whole inquiry, It may, in the first place, be incidentally observed that the shipment of the national coins is not the real evil un der which the country, in the case supposed, actually suffers. It is the one complained of generally, because it is a visible fact associated with that commercial distress which results from importing too freely, in proportion to the amount of exports. It may, however, be more cor rectly regarded as a remedy for the real evil, and a re Under the first supposed modification of our coinage, viz. by a seiniorage, the depositor receives $1,500, with which he can discharge a previous contract of that amount; under the latter, he receives from the same deposite $1,485, with which he can discharge only that amount of a previous contract. It is manifest, in this latter instance, that the depositor pays the charge of coinage; but who pays it in the formei? The depositor, in the case supposed, escapes. The first creditor, who receives the new coins in payment of a previous contract, and has no debt to discharge with them, it would appear, must pay it. All who receive more of these coins than they can ap. ply on account of previous contracts, sustain a propor-straint on its progress. It is, perhaps, the only remedy tional share. All creditors under previous engagements, therefore, are liable to be affected injuriously by the change. The Government is a creditor to the amount of the public revenue, which is generally receivable in coins by tale. Its expenditures are also disbursed, to a certain extent, by a tale of coins previously settled, and so far the effect on the public Treasury is neutralized, by transferring it to other receiving parties; but so far as its expenditures embrace objects liable to the vibrations of price, the public Treasury pays, in the consequential advance on all supplies, a share of the seiniorage on coinage. The Government can do its creditors justice by a change of the tale they are to receive, and can reinstate the public Treasury in the available amount of its receipts, by a proportional advance on the contributions to the revenue. When all these adjustments have been made, and prices have become conformed to the new measure of value, the condition of things will be the same as if, instead of the dollar of 416 grains of standard silver, it had been declared, in the original institution of the mint, that 411.84 grains should constitute the dollar, so that 1,309 ounces should be coined into $1,515 15, and that one per cent. of the number of coins, viz. $15 15, should be retained by the Government. A small seiniorage would involve, indeed, a derangement of existing relations nearly inappreciable in its ef. fec's. It does not, however, appear to be recommended by any advantage, as a device for supporting the mint, which should entitle it to a preference over the more direct mode of retaining an equal proportion of the coins of full weight. It is liable to specific objections, and its aspects moreover, are wholly inauspicious. A high seiniorage must produce a corresponding dis. turbance of existing relations, with obvious inequity in its first effects, and an eventual equivalent advance in all prices. The results of this policy, when it has been tried by an embarrassed Government as a source of revenue, or a relief from instant debts, are in confirmation of the above views. I am aware, however, that the inquiry does not extend thus far. But may not a seiniorage produce a decided tendency in the national coins thus minted, to remain in the circulation of the country? If the above principles be true, the coins thus minted will remain in the circulation until all coins containing more bullion, under a given legal value, have been expelled; or until such coins, and all other forms of bullion, together with bills of exchange, and all production estimated by the new measure of value, shall have so advanced in price, that the bullion contained in the national coin will be considered as not less available in the foreign market than the coin is at home. When this state of our commercial relations has arrived, the national coins constituting the measure of value will be shipped, as convenience shall suggest, to the party interested. But would not this evil of an exportation of the national coin be deferred and restrained, if not wholly obviated, under a seiniorage which should make the legal value of our coins more conspicuously higher than their value as that can be steadily relied on; it grows spontaneously out of the exigence, and is proportioned thereto. The effect of diminishing the amount of bullion in that coin which constitutes the measure of value, it appears manifestly, is to advance the price of foreign coins; the premium on which, in the market, exposes, the most immediately, the deterioration of a measure of value. Bills of exchange will be, in like manner; advanced in price, estimated on the previous par. It must be equally plain that its effects will extend to every article between the shipment of which, and the exportation of the national coin, a merchant may be balancing to make his choice, when a remittance abroad is to be effected under a dis advantageous state of foreign commerce. If the national coin, constituting the measure of value, had been made in any assignable proportion, say ten per cent. inferior in its weight of fine silver to our present coinage, the advance on foreign coins, bills, and pro duce, would have been in proportion, and all the rela tions of the question as to preference in making a remit tance, would have been the same; the national coins would only have been, as they now are, among the last means resorted to in foreign remittances. They tend however to be employed, as they can be most efficient, and will be exported to some extent, when it is perceiv ed that the bullion they contain, however small in propor tion to that of other coins of which they are the measure, will pay more debt abroad than can be effected with those coins, with bills of exchange, or produce purchased, at existing rates, by the national coin at home. The national coins, therefore, it appears, will expel the foreign under a seiniorage, and more promptly, perhaps to some extent, if the seiniorage be high; but when these have been expelled, our own coins must, in some propor tion, follow them, if the exigence continue, and no sein iorage can protect them further. The question sil, however, occurs, Would not the amount of silver in our currency, at this time, hav been greater under a seiniorage than according to cu present system, and greater under a high seiniorage tha a low one? It is all but certain that the amount would have bee no greater under a seiniorage of one per cent., operatin from the commencement of the mint, and it can be re dered not a little probable that it would have been le by a higher seiniorage. To possess a full metallic currency, consisting of a co which constitutes the measure of value, and is of cour a universal tender for all payments, requires not mere that the national coins should not be exported on slig emergencies, but that the bullion from which they are be supplied shall come freely to the mint. The mint was established in the year 1792. Duri the first twenty years of the intervening period, endi with 1811, foreign exchange was below the real par, that no inducement existed to export specie in perferen to buying bills. During nearly all that period, Spar dollars commanded a premium of one to five per ce for the purpose of the China trade; so that, in referer to Spanish dollars, which formed the efficient excess Gold and Silver Coins. the metallic currency, the national coins were under the During the first ten years from the institution of the mint, ending with the year 1801, the amount of silver coined was, in round numbers, $1,574,000. Within the second period of ten years, ending with 1811, the amount was $4,858,000. In the third period, ending with 1821, the amount was $6,180,000. And within the last period of ten years, ending December 31, 1831, the amount was $18,325,009. During the last year alone it exceeded three millions of dollars. Within the first two periods, the exportation of our national coins must have been very inconsiderable, for reasons before suggested. But the ten years ending with 1821, including the war, and the subsequent years of extreme disturbance in the currency, present a different aspect. An exhausting exportation of specie marked this period, the result of causes surmounting all imaginable control of any seiniorage, or other system of legisla. Live restraint. The exportation of our silver coins within the last period was not very important in amount. ring the greater part of that interval, been protected by They have, duforeign coins, which were preferred for exportation even at a small premium. Besides supplying this demand for remittance abroad, a large surplus of foreign coins has ually been sent to the mint for coinage. It is, on the whole, rendered exceedingly probable, on adequate data, that the residue of previous issues, which remained at the commencement of 1822, was greater than the amount which has been exported within the subsequent years, and that the silver coins of the United States, now Collars. remaining in our currency, exceed twenty-one millions of 279 [23d CONG. 1st SESS. purpose, in regard to which our coins were deemed inferior, a consideration having precisely the effect of a seiniorage in its influence to restrain Spanish dollars from coming to the mint, few of those dollars were offered for coinage. rose for this particular application of them to 4 per cent., It is also observable that when Spanish dollars it became equal to the shipper whether he should ship our own dollars, or buy Spanish dollars with them at that disproportion. If, at that moment, a seiniorage of 1 per the premium on Spanish dollars would immediately have cent. had been directed to be taken from our silver coins, advanced to five; the new emissions would have been just as liable to be shipped along with Spanish dollars under this premium, as the previous issues were at four per cent., and the dollars previously coined would have President, in 1805, interposed more efficiently, by directaccompanied them at a premium of 1 per cent. The ing that the coinage of dollars should be suspended at the mint: this remedy met the particular exigence. The Chinese, through prejudice, undervalued the dollar; the lower denominations they refused. that when Spanish dollars are at a premium of about Adverting to the facts of the last ten years, it appears per cent. for exportation to Europe, the general bullion shall be shipped at this rate, or our silver coins substitumarket, it is about equal to the exporter whether these ted for them; the preference would probably depend on the circumstance of finding either class in convenient quantities, without trouble, or of a late emission, and therefore to be relied on as free from impurities. If at such a moment a seiniorage of one per cent. were ordered to be exacted, the premium estimated by the new emission, which will be the measure of value, instantly mains the same; the inefficiency of the procedure berises to 1 per cent., and the question of preference recomes apparent as to a protection of our own coins. The conclusion from these views, which seems consothat even a small premium on foreign coin, or seiniorage nant to reason, and sustained by abundant analogies, is, on that national coin which is the measure of value, restrains deposites in a proportional degree from coming to the mint, and that a higher seiniorage exerts no adequate influence to retain them in circulation. gregate of the silver coins of the United States, now in It may therefore be reasonably inferred that the agif a seiniorage equal only to the expense of coinage had our currency, is probably greater than it would have been been, from the first establishment of the institution, ex One fact meriting notice, which is presented by this acted at the mint. The premium on foreign silver within comparative view, is, that, previous to 1812, when there the periods examined, it appears, has very sensibly remost constantly below the true par, the issues from the made the premium higher. moso inducement to export our coins, bills being al- stricted the amount of coinage; a sciniorage would have mint were very trivial in amount: less than half a million In the preceding illustrations, the Spanish dollar, unCurrency in our own coins, even within the last half of constitute a large proportion of our der its various forms, has borne a prominent share. They is period, although the mint had been in action, and soning is in no way less applicable to bars of silver, or deposites. The reawriting deposites, during a previous period of ten years. bullion in any other form. If foreign coins become the Another fact couraging. During the last period of ten years, be- bullion. When a merchant is hesitating whether he shall ning with 1822, and ending with 1831, foreign ex- send to the mint his importation of silver, consisting partad frequently to such an extent as to make a remittance port them to Europe, and draw bills for the value, he nge has been almost invariably above the true par, ly of Spanish dollars, and partly of silver in bars, or exsilver preferable to that by bills. Spanish dollars, in- knows that, in exporting them, they are alike available uding Spanish American, have very frequently borne a by weight as bullion. And, universally, it may be stated, Within this period, however, the exportation has fallen eign silver coins are al premium, for this purpose, of 1 to 4 per cent. that when, under any given regulation of our mint, for. ghtly on our silver coins, and the supply of silver for disposed of by weight, bars of silver of the same standard, li object, therefore, desired to be secured by a seinior- estimate per ounce, will be equally disposed to leave us. inage has been nearly all the time copious. The two- being equally available in the same ge, seems to have been attained by our present system | der existing circumstances. repelled to a market where they are market, at the same ere at a premium of to 5 per cent. for a particular the coin proposed to be acted on is the measure of value, But it has just been seen that when Spanish dollars chiefly in order to retain the idea steadily in view that It will also occur that the remarks apply specifically to silver. This is for directness of illustration in part, but according to which premium and price are regulated. Whenever this conception is neglected, all deductions from other premises are to be viewed with some distrust. It seems, therefore, that no advantage is to be derived from a seiniorage on our silver coins which constitute the measure of value. A coin which is intended to perform a subordinate office in the currency, as the silver coinage of England, from which a seiniorage is exacted of 6 per cent., and which has no pretensions to be a measure of value, can be thus retained in the country. It is not liable to be exported, but imitations of it, of the same intrinsic value, are liable to be manufactured abroad, and added to the circulation. The accruing emolument is a consideration rendering the occurrence probable, and it is understood that it has, to a large extent, taken place. If the seiniorage, therefore, be intended to sustain the expense of the mint, it appears liable to defeat from this quarter, and in a manner subject to much irregularity. To make spurious imitations of the legal coin, exposes to the danger of detection; but when the character of any coinage is such that it offers an adequate profit on manufacturing the genuine coin, the control of the nation over its currency is thus liable to be interfered with, and, at all events, the intended profit to the public Treasury defeated. On reveiwing the preceding remarks, it seems manifest that whatever charge is made on coinage should be made by a direct deduction of the proper per centage from the coins themselves, and that in relation to our silver coins, which are the measure of value, whatever may be the charge to be deducted, and whatever proportion of alloy shall be preferred, the quantity of fine silver should remain rigorously the same. If this principle be assumed and maintained, that the quantity of fine silver in our silver coin shall remain unchanged, a charge for coinage will have no influence on the measure of value. We may experiment on our gold coins without fear and with some resulting convenience: though a legal tender, they have never been a measure of value; and while kept from interfering with the measure in silver, there is no danger: but it is a grave question to disturb the quantity of fine metal in the silver coin. The propriety of some charge, when the mint shall be in operation with a force competent to effect the payment of deposites, with a delay merely nominal, seems recom. mended by considerations of adequate weight, independently of the question as respects the public treasury. silver, which is about per cent. below the average pro duct of the Spanish and Spanish American dollars when deposited at the mint for coinage; so that the depositor of $100 of those coins will receive in return about $100 50 in coins of the United States. This gain is not fully equivalent to the delay of coinage, which has generally, within recent years, been from forty to fifty days, and therefore individuals rarely bring those dollars to the mint: the principal depositors of silver in this form are the banks, and chiefly the Bank of the United States. confi The effect of this small difference between our dollar and those foreign coins familiar to us by that name, which are the principal forms under which deposites of silver can be relied on, has been the chief cause, as it dently believed, of that auspicious promise which the re sult of the last few years and the aspects of the present time afford of filling our circulation with an abundant metallic currency from deposites spontaneously offered. This proportion was the result perhaps of inadvertence, through the want of skilful assayers; it is, however, singularly well fitted, under existing circumstances, to invite supplies of silver for coinage without the direct action of the Government. During the period when our commerce with China exerted its peculiar influence in the case, the difference between our dollar and that of Spain had little effect to induce deposites of the latter at the mint; but that dis turbing force appears to have been subjected effectually to the control of other influences and new equivalents so that the various forms of the Spanish dollar, which, in the preceding remarks, are regarded as one family, have rarely, within recent years, commanded a premium above that which is due to the occasional irregularities of ou commerce with Europe. In two instances within the tw last years, deposites of Spanish dollars have been receive at the mint direct from Canton, exceeding in amoun $20,000: these, indeed, are special occurrences, but th indication coincides with other known facts and obviou tendencies. This difference of about per cent. between our do lar and that of Spain, as the honorable Mr. Wilde observe in his remarks on introducing his resolution, has had the effect of a seiniorage to that extent, of which the Go ernment does not receive the benefit: certainly the dire and immediate benefit accrues to the depositor. It was fact establishing a measure of value not precisely th which Mr. Hamilton had in view, but it could, under t circumstances, have had no effect as a new measure; was for some years neither known nor suspected to so; it was not, as you have noticed, observed instantly the mint. If coinage were free from charge, and payment of the amount made without delay, artists would send their bullion to the mint for coinage, merely to procure its division into convenient portions of known fineness and weight. The merchant, also, while hesitating in regard to the exportation of his bullion, would find a convenience in sendThe peculiar value of this constitution of our dollar ing it to the mint for the purpose of receiving it divested pears to rest on this very fact, that it is almost insensit of all extraneous matter, and its weight and fineness veri-inferior to the Spanish dollar; so that those coins, fied; after which he would export it as before intended ordinary purposes, may be employed indiscriminately It consists, therefore, with a judicious regulation of the is only when their relation happens to be tested as for mint, that coinage should not be holly free: a charge of bullion, to be exported, or applied in the arts, t tends to protect the mint from deposites not designed to the difference becomes appreciable. The national co enter into the currency; the charge should, however, be then assume their rank as the controlling measure of reasonable, or deposites will be repelled from the mint. others, determine their premium, and, when this ad It is important also that bullion, in our national coins, ces to about per cent., accompany them relucta should be valued a little higher than in foreign coins, abroad, diminishing at the same time their own tende which constitute our principal deposite at the mint; if to withdraw from us, by arresting the advance of not, the national coins will be exported as freely as the premium thereon, and prices of other substitutes, as foreign, for the bullion they contain: the difference, how-currency, in which resides the measure of value, is ever, should not be inequitable, or bullion of that character will not be offered freely for coinage. In relation to the latter principle, our existing mint regulations have effected all that seems necessary in that regard, by the proportion which the fine metal in our coins bears to that of the Spanish dollar. The dollar of our coinage contains 3714 grains of fine tracted. At this point ordinarily the state of commer exchange begins to recede, the national coins remain disturbed, the foreign gradually reappear through o avenues, mingled to some extent in the circles of currency, in company with our own coins, and the forward come freely to the mint, and assume the nat costume. Gold and Silver Coins. One important characteristic of this nominal seiniorage, it appears, therefore, is, that it is too small to be obvious; our dol'ar, therefore, may associate with other coins of the same denomination in ordinary pursuits. Another characteristic of it is, the one before alluded to, that it accrues to the depositor, and therefore does not repel him from the mint. On full reflection, it appears to me manifest that this last condition is essential, and that, if any further diminution of the coin should be adopted, with a hope of thereby increasing the permanent mass of metallic currency, in Ike manner it should accrue to the depositor; if otherwise, bullion will not come spontaneously to the mint. On the whole subject, it would seem that, having our unt of money and standard of value constituted with so much felicity of effect as to offer, under existing circumstances, a direct, sensible, and, as it appears, efficient inducement to bring to the mint that form of silver bullion which is most abundant and accessible, and to exert, also, a gentle but cons'ant and controlling restraint on the export of the national coins, it must be wise to leave this feature of our system undisturbed. Our dollar remaining undisturbed in its weight of fine silver, and a small charge being made at the mint for prompt payment, will, I apprehend, do all that would be expedient now in regard to our silver coins. The charge is light, and will be felt by individual depositors as being for a consideration altogether favorable. It will not in any sensible degree, it is presumed, cause deposites to be withheld, though the banks, our chief depositors, would find an interest in bearing the delay, rather than paying the discount for coinage. [23d CONG. 1st Sess. Esti circulation. These estimates proceed on the assumption The occasion seems opportune to express, very respectfully, again, my perfect conviction that it is of the most grave public concern that we abide by our silver coinage of its present intrinsic value as a tender in all payments, and ruling measure of value. Steadfast to this principle, gold may continue a general legal tender also, with perfect safety, and with probable convenience, its ratio to silver being so regulated as not to displace the latter. When i's market demand is above the ratio it will bear a premium, and all parties interested will be secure of its equitable value. The letter of Mr. Gallatin, given in Mr. Ingham's report, is highly instructive in regard to the effects of such an adjustment in France. There is, ho vever, one point meriting consideration in regard to the foreign silver coins, in aid of the design of securing a copious metallic currency in coins of the United States. It is, that the former be not made a legal tender at a rate which would forbid their coming to the mint without loss. This has been adverted to before. The act of Congress of April 2, 1792, establishing the Tint, contemplated a charge, for prompt payment, of er cent, leaving it, however, optional with the depositor decline. The banks having generally been the sources rom which bullion was received, this provision has rarely been carried into effect; and, in no instance, within reent years. The provision of the fourteenth section of he above act, which relates to this subject, would there re require to be made positive. The same allowance for prompt payment, it is preamel, would be applied to both gold and silver. It ould be advisable that this new regulation should not ke effect until sixty days from the passage of the act, s large deposites now occupy our vaults. The sum of 150,000 to $200,000, made available in the Bank of the nited States for the purposes intended, would be suffident even at first, and subsequently, perhaps, a less sum. quantity of gold must, in the first insance, be procured public account; but this, if the change of raio takes ace, will be accomplished at a trivial premium, or at Prompt payment out of the dormant funds of the Govment would be insensible to the public treasury. The Fictions would, however, bear a very considerable proe gain on the copper coinage, would, it is believed, several denominations now familiar to us. ion of the expense of them a very considerable po That the divisions of our silver coin, less than the half dollar, should be a tender to a limited amount only, would be liable, it is conceived, to no exception, but might be regarded as improving our monetary system. This ques tion, however, with some others, belongs to the revision of the general regulations of the mint, which have been alluded to before. r. the effective annual disbursement for the mint to a In regard to the expediency of a coinage of gold which shall be a legal tender only to the Government, and at rates fixed from time to time, it is not apparent that any special efficacy can be derived to this system by making the proposed coins different in weight or fineness from our present ordinary issues. The peculiarity relied on is, that the value at which these are received by the Govcrament shall be publicly announced for the assurance of the otherwise uninformed, in regard to the rate at which they may safely receive the gold pieces. The object is to promote the diffusion of gold through the circulation; and it is probable that no gold pieces could be devised), more acceptable by their convenience, than the Information is given, weekly, through the public prints, exceeding $20,000; so that, if the appropriation of the rates paid for gold in our commercial cities, with Ere $30,000, the sum of $10,000, refunded out of the out the effect contemplated by this proposition; and it is per coinage on an average, would reduce the effective derived 'rom the same authority on which the Govern pense to the sum above mentioned. Any charg for ment would determine its periodical rates, viz., the deal Fect to lessen the supply of bullion, and thus defeat the efficacy, which the new regulation appears to contain. age, which could be devised to devolve further the ers in coins, bullon, and exchange. The official confirmDense of the mint on the deposi'or, would have the avion of these rates, at given periods, is all of superior ect, now so much desired, of expanding the metallic It is not, however, my object to inquire into the extent VOL. X.-LI of its probable success, but to recommend a mode of effecting the experiment, without disturbing the ordinary arrangements of the mint. It is suggested, therefore, that the gold coinage remain as at present, or be modified by the change contemplated by the committee. By a distinct regulation, to be adopted when the occasion shall arise, the proper officer may be authorized to declare, periodically, the rate at which the coins designated are received in payments due to the Government. The experiment can thus be made without defeating any other object, and may be suspended if it prove ineffectual. It may be that the readjustment of the relative value will render a resort to this expedient unnecessary, or other considerations may occur to induce a distrust of its success. The en A few enactments, embraced within the scope of the original resolution on which the committee was raised, to be followed by a systematic code of regulations, which might be submitted early next session, would, it is believed, be the most beneficial procedure now. actments in view relate to the following subjects: The relative ratio of gold and silver; prompt payment of deposites at a charge of one-half per cent.; and the legal tender of certain foreign coins regulated, and the limitation thereof, in regard to all foreign coins, defined. The above provisions would be somewhat experimental, and might bear very instructively on the legislation contemplated hereafter, when the effects may have been so far developed as to afford a safe guide in establishing a permanent system for the mint. I have thus, conformably to your request, communica ted freely the suggestions which occur to me on the subjects referred to the committee, having specially in view their relation to the mint. You will please accept them as intended to promote the interests confided to this stitution. SAM. MOORE. With great respect, your obedient servant, Hon. C. P. WHITE, House of Reps. IN SENATE, June 27, 1834. otherwise order and direct; in which case, the Secretary of the Treasury shall immediately lay before Congress, if in session, and if not, immediately after the commencement of the next session, the reasons of such order or direction." By the twentieth section of the same act it is provided that, in consideration of the exclusive privileges and ben efits conferred by the act, the bank should pay to the United States one mill on five hundred thousand dollars. This sum has been paid in the instalments required, and the Government of the United States has received and enjoyed its full benefit. The committee have expressed the opinion, on a former occasion, that the custody or keeping of the public moneys was one of the benefits in consideration of which the bank paid the million and a half of dollars; and, also, undertook to render facilities of exchange to the Treas ury. The correctness of this opinion, they suppose, cannot be reasonably doubted. On the 1st of October last, the deposites of the public moneys were removed from the Bank of the United States, and the reasons for this removal were reported to Corgress by the Secretary of the Treasury at the commercement of the present session. Those reasons have been considered by the Senate, and, after a discussion of almost unprecedented length, the Senate has decided, by a clear and unequivocal majority, that they are unsatisfac tory and insufficient. It has reaffirmed this opinion, or a second occasion, by a majority of twenty-nine votes to sixteen; and it has passed a joint resolution directing the deposites to be made in the Bank of the United Stat and its branches, as heretofore, by a majority of twenty eight votes to sixteen. If it be true that the deposi'es have been removed with in-out sufficient reason, it certainly is true that injustice ha been done to the bank in a matter of private right an private property; and any bill which, like the present disregarding the chartered rights of the bank, proposes new custody for the public treasures, appears to the com mittee in the light of a sanction to injustice and illegaly The bank purchased the privilege of the public deposit for the whole term of its charter, and paid for the pri lege a valuable consideration, both in money and stipula tion for services. This right has not been surrendere it has not been declared forfeited; and the charter of th bank has not yet expired. Until the charter shall expir or until the right be surrendered or forfeited, the ba in the opinion of the committee, is entitled to the enj ment of the benefits secured to it by plain and sulen provisions in the law which gave it existence. moval of the deposites, therefore, was a wrong done the bank; the withholding them is a continuance of the wrong; and any confirmation either of the removal, er further withholding, is, as it seems to the committee sanction of that wrong. This objection to the propos bill appears to the committee to be insurmountable. Mr. WEBSTER made the following report: The Committee on Finance, to whom was referred, on the 25th instant, the bill from the House of Representatives entitled "A bill regulating the deposite of the money of the United States in certain local banks," have had the same under consideration, and are of opinion that, in its present form, the bill ought not to pass. Its leading provisions are, that the Secretary of the Treasury shall employ State banks as depositories of the money of the United States, and that the banks at present employed shall continue to be depositories of the public money until new selections shall be made under the provisions of this bill. It is proposed that the bill, should it become a law, shall go into immediate operation, nor is there any limit to its duration. It cannot fail to be seen that the passage of this bill, if not a legislative adoption of the act of removing the public moneys from the Bank of the United States by the Executive, and the disposi ion made of them by him in State banks, would be at least an acquiescence in that state of things which these proceedings of the Executive have produced. The committee are not prepared to recommend the adoption of any such measure to the Senate. By the sixteenth section of the "Act to incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of the United States," it is solemnly enacted and declared, in express terms, "that the deposites of the money of the United States, in places in which the said bank and branches thereof may be es tablished, shall be made in said bank or branches thereof, unless the Secretary of the Treasury shall at any time The But there is another consideration of still higher i portance to the country, if any thing can be of g importance than the preservation of the plighted fan the nation. In the judgment of the Senate, darger liberties have been taken with the constitution and laws. On the 28th day of March, the Senate form and solemnly resolved that, "in the late executive p ceedings in relation to the public revenue, the Presi had assumed a power not conferred by the constitut and laws, but in derogation of both." These proce ings were the removal of the deposites, and the plac of the public moneys in those State banks where t now are, and where this bill proposes to continue and galize their custody. It is not to be concealed that a great question of s'itutional power has arisen between the President the Senate. That question has deeply agitated, and d |