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’THE FRIEND AND MONITOR.
Three dollars per annum.']
Volume I.J
BANK OF AUGUSTA,
3 and October, 1815.
At a meeting of the Board of direct
ors Ordered ,
THAT a statement of the fa&s
and circumstances connected with
Mr. Secretary Dallas's proposition
of 24th June, 1815, refpe&ing
Treasury Notes, be prepared and
laid before this boat'd, on Tuesday
next,with a view to the publication
thereof.
October 10, 1815.
In compliance with the above
recited order, a Report was laid
before the Board, in the words fol
lowing, which being duly confider
ed, and compared with the files &
records of the Bank, was ordered
to be signed by the President and
published.
TO THE PUBLIC.
THE directors of this Bank have
waited patiently several weeks, with
the hope that Mr Secretary Dallas,
would do us the justice by order
ing a publication of the real state of
the case , and correcting the errone
ous impreifaons made by his noti
fication of the 15th August, as far,
at least, as regards the two Banks
in Georgia, and render it unneces
sary on our part to appeal to the
public—And, as it is to the State of
Georgia, and not to the Secretary
of the Treasury, that we (land ac
countable, in regard to our Char
ter, this appeal is the more cheer
fully made, and it is with confi
dence we anticipate, that a careful
examination of the following fads,
will fully juffify us in the public
mind.
ExpeCting that Mr. Dallas would
weigh the force of our objections,
when they should be refpectfully
submitted to his view, and be in
dined to accept such a fubffitute
as we could fafely offer, in lieu of
his propositions, which the reltiact
ions of our Charter would not al
low us to accept: and after it was
ascertained, that the Planter’s Bank
at Savannah would decline, we ad
drefied a letter to Mr. Dallas, of
which the following is a copy, but
received no answer.
“Bank of Augusta, 22djuly , 1815.
SIR,
“ I have the honor to acknow
ledge receipt of your letter of the
24th June, 1815, which has been
laid before our Board of Directors
and duly considered.
It is true that we fupended pay
ments in specie, and it is equally
true we were among thelaft, if not
the very last in the United Stares.
We are anxious and prepared to
resume it as fooi> as a lufficient i
number of banks (hall unite to ren
der the measure in any degree fafe
for us. And as our Notes are in
good standing in the public opin
ion, we should regret to fee them |
discredited, by an exclusion in the
receipt of United States* taxes.—
We therefore hope you will on fur
ther consideration, fee no objection
to permitting the Colle&ors to re
ceive them, upon the engagement
hereby offered on our part, that for
£ny amount of the Notes of this
PUBLISHED (weekly) BY JOHN K- M. CHARLTON,
WASHINGTON, (Geo.) FRIDAY, >. v*V E M BER 3, 1815.
Bank received in payment of inter
nal duties and taxes, and not want
ed here by government, she whole
or any part To received and paid in
to this Bank, shall be placed at our
expense and rilque to the credit of
the treaiurer or the United States in
any Banks required, in'Savannah,
Charleston, Baltimore, Philadel
phia or New-York.
“On the fubjeCt of receiving,
re-issuing arid circulating Treasury
Notes, we are under the necellity of
dating, that to do so, would em
barrass if not totally ruin the credit
of our institution—the obligation
to receive them without limitation
from all who should offer, and to
pay them out, only to such as
should choose to receive them , would
very soon produce such an accu
mulation in our hands as would re
quire an issue of our own paper
transcending our Charter limits,
and thus, (independent of other ob
vious r|afons) fubjeCt the directors,
individually, to Ihe penalties incur
red by a violation of our charter.
Hie large sums sent hither from
the North for inveffment in our
staple articles, will at one luggeft
Welt to your mind, as alone fuffi
cient to juftify apprehensions on
this ground, supposing Treasury
Notes to be chiefly employed for
this purpose ; and our remote fix
ation also throws us much out of
the way of negotiating them w ith
that facility which the frequent &
extensive operations in large cities
aflord.
“We would not trespass on your
time by soliciting a recolledipn of
the various tokens we have given,
during the war, of a desire to pro
mote and aflift the public credit;
evidences of the fruits of that dispo
sition are on the files of your pre
decessors—without knowing w'hat
was done by others, I think we may
fay that our efforts, in proportion
t 6 our means, would not fuffer by
a comparison with other Banks.
Theferemarks lam aware Sir, are
not ftridly conneded with the fub
jed of your letter; they are offered
to shew that as we freely encoun
tered the rifque of Government se
curities in the dark days of the war,
our obejedions cannot (now that
the public credit is so well revived)
be from any distrust of their perfed
fafety.
“ I have the honor to be, refped
fully, fir, your obt. fervrt.
(Signed) THOrCUMMING,
Brest.
“ Hon. A. y. Dallas ,
Secy. Tr. United States.”
Thus the matter remained, until
the Treasury Notice of the 15th
August came out, bv which it ap
peared, that the bills of this Bank
would be refnfed in payment of
United States’ taxes, while the Sa
vannah Bank was passed over in si
lence, as if they had really agreed to
the Treasury terms!—And as we
had from the fir ft, understood their
purpose, not to accede to the con
ditions, as they flood, (and for the
very fame reasons which compelled
us to decline) w$ naturally enqui
VIRTUE, LIBERTY, jf.ND SCIENCE.
fed of their Board of Diredors up
on w'hat grounds they had been ex
empted—to this enquiry, it was
promptly and candidly replied, that
they had made no arrangement what
ever with the 1 reaiury on the lub
jed. It is of this unfounded dis
crimination between the two Banks
that we chiefly complain, because,
on feeing the bills of only one of
the banks in the State, receivable,
for United States* taxes, the people
would naturally suppose, until they
should examine the whole slate of
the case, that there was fome fplid
realon lor the. preference— eipe
cially when they fee, that the Col
ledors, hot only fay, in the \vords
of the Treasury Notice, which are
to be received} but earetuUy men
tion also, which are to be refufed.
It is not supposed that Mr. Secre
tary Dallas can feel any special en
mity towards this Buck ; but we
do contend, that the comic pursu
ed, in authorizing the receipt of
the bills of fome Banks, which
made conditional offers , and of fome
, others, w hich made no offers (cases
which are well underllood to exist
in a neighboring State, as welt as
in this) is, upon his own grounds,
utterly unjultifiable.
The plan offered to the Banks,
24th June, 10 1 5, admitted of no
condition or modification , as to Trea
sury Notes, or wefhuuid cheerfully
have assented, and undertaken as
far as we could, and within the li
mits of cur Charter—hwasrhere
: fore, that we off ered the filbflitution
contained in the letter of 22 July,
of which, however, as already men
tioned, no noticeihas been taken.
On the fubjecl of receiving l rea
: fury Notes to an unlimited amount,
we had Hated in that letter, and
now repeat, for more full informa
tion, on a fubjecl not yet generally
understood by the public, an insur
mountable .obstacle in our Charter,
which prohibits the Bank, under
heavy penalties, from ever owing
more than three times the amount
of its capital. We have always ri
gidly adhered, and mult adhere to
this prudent reftriCtion. Now, if
we were bound to receive Treaiu
ry Notes without limitation, as re
quired by the words of the propo
sition j “ for all payments to the
Bank, and re-issue them in pay
ment of all demands on the Bank,
to such persons as choose to receive
them,”it is plain, to the undemand
ing of every man, that so soon as we
had issued our bills to those who
w'ould not choose Treasury Notes for
those left in Bank, & to an amount,
which, being added to our paper, .
already in circulation, would exceed
three times our capital-flock, we
should thereby violate the chatter,
and incur its penalties —and over
and above this obje&ion if it could
be disregarded—the profpeCt of re
suming specie payments would be
shut out, during the continuance of
such a fyflem.
We have heard lately, and with
f irprife and regret, of an opinion
entertained by fome individuals,
’ that we exhibited unwillingness to
[Payable half yearly.
aid government, during the late
war : this is a complaint, for which
of all others there is the least foun
dation. Let the following fails
speak for us ■ ln September, 1813,
this Bank fubferibed and took, and
yet hold, one hundred and thirteen
thousand dollars in the fix per cent,
loan of that year. In the y ear fol
lowing we paid in money, and at
par, for an hundred thousand dol
lars of Treafuary notes On the
111 day of May, 18(4, we received
immediately from the secretary of
the Ireafury, by agreement, feven
ty-five thousand dollars more, and
paid him for them, in money, and
at par ; besides various other ad
vances to public agents ; and such
loans to the State also, as it deft
red, amounting in the whole, in
loans and advances, to upwards of
four hundred thousand dollars, the
greater part in times of peril, and
expended by government in defence
of the in the prosecution
of the Indian War. And, not
withstanding the large sums repaid,
we flill hold nearly two hundred
thouland dollars in public Securities
of the United States, for money ad
vanced, of which, seventy five
thouland dollars in Treafuary
notes, due’ (and unpaid) ill May
last, laid over by the public ’till
111 September 1815, when, as it
had been notified by Mr. Dallas in
the public prints,,they & all others,
due in Georgia, should be paid off,
in current money; but when the
day arrived, there was no means
provided} unless a confiderablefum
in the New I reaiury Note?, which
cary no interest in their prefentform
(and which Mr. Dallas admits, in
his advertifenient of 15th June,
1815, it “afcertained” would
not then aniwer the purpose of a
circulating medium) were intended
for that purpose.
Informed that all the new Trea
sury notes were small, and judging
that our having poffeflion of luch,
would afford agood opportunity of
aicertaining, whether the people
were willing to aid in giving them
circulation, we sent two hundred
thouland dollars to Savannah, the
sth of last month, to pay for the
fame amount of those Treasury
Notes; but, our agent upon feeing
they were ail of a defeription, we
had not expe&edL- ai )d bearing no
interest, they were riot taker.—an
application was made on the 12th
September for a part of those small
Treasury Notes, that we might be
enabled to furnifh tax money to
the public, in this application, w r e
were likewise disappointed; the
Commiflioner of loans flaring he
could do nothing with them, until
he should hear further from Mr.
Dallas.
The foregoing fads are submit.
ted to the consideration of the pub
lic, for the purpose gs ffitvving, Ilf,
the grounds on which we felt com
pelled to decline the Treasury pro
posal as it flood—2d, that the non
acceding Banks have not all been
placed upon the fame footing
3dly, that this inflituucn has done-
[Number 43.
