> HISTORY, AND SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCE. Handbook of Dates. By HENRY CLINTON BROWN. 12 mo. Cloth. .... Arranged alphabetically and chronologically, comprising all the important events The Honors of the Empire State in the War of the Rebellion. ......I 00 It advocates the adoption and maintenance of an economic system suited to American conditions, while at the same time recognizing at their full value commercial and industrial relations with foreign nations. The principles advanced are re-enforced by citations from our national history. The Eight Hours Day. By SIDNEY WEBB and HAROLD COX. .......... 12 mo. viii+280 pp. Paper covers. Civics for Young Americans. By Wм. M. GIFFIN. Large 12 mo. .... The author shows in a strikingly novel and interesting way, and in language intelligible to a ten-year-old boy, the necessity of government, the different forms of government and the advantages of our government over all others. Civil Government. By R. E. Clement. 12 mo. Cloth. xiv+ A brief and lucid treatise on the Federal Constitution, and the Colonial, 50 50 84 English Political Orations from Wentworth to Macaulay. For sale by all booksellers, or sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of the price. 521 Wabash Ave., Chicago. 3 East 14th Street, New York. PUBLICLIBRARY p ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS. 1897. American History Leaflets. COLONIAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL. No. 24-NOVEMBER, 1895. DOCUMENTS RELATIVE TO THE BANK CONTROVERSY, 1816-1833. Of the financial controversies upon which parties have been formed and Congress rent by dissensions, the national bank question ranks next to the tariff question in importance and in bitterness. The first Bank of the United States, founded in 1791, was the object of the first great controversy over implied powers; and expired in 1811, for lack of two votes in each house. The second United States Bank, of 1816, led to the famous Supreme Court decision of McCullough vs. Maryland in 1819, and continued till it was destroyed in 1836 by the relentless hostility of Andrew Jackson. The third system of national banks, established in 1862, has been more successful, but is still an object of contention. The papers printed below constitute a brief documentary history of the extraordinary controversy which was at its height from the spring of 1832 to the winter of 1833-34. The reason for Jackson's hatred of the Bank seems to have been that he was led to believe it corrupt and dangerous by people who had a prejudice against it; and he used his veto, his power of removal, and his influence among his friends to break up that connection with the government which gave it its prestige. The documents are drawn from their official publication in the Statutes at Large; Senate Documents; Congressional Globe; and in Niles's Register, XXXIII. Discussions in H. Von Holst, Constitutional History of the United States, II, Ch., i.; James Schouler, History of the United States, IV., Ch. xiii., Sect. iii.; Ch. xiv., Sect. i.'; W. G. Šumner, Andrew Jackson, Chs. ii-xi, xiii; James Parton, Life of Andre Jackson, III., Chs. xxix, xxxi, xxxvi., xxxix; Carl Schurz, Henry Cla Chs. xiii, xv, xvii. Bibliography may be found in Justin Winsor, Narrative and Crit History, VII. 351; Channing and Hart, Guide to the Study of Amer History,§§ 182, 184. I APRIL 10, 1816. EXTRACTS FROM THE BANK ACT. An Act to incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of the United States. Be it enacted..... That a bank of the United States of America shall be established, with a capital of thirty-five millions of dollars, divided into three hundred and fifty thousand shares, of one hundred dollars each share.......... SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the subscribers to the said bank of the United States of America, their successors and assigns, shall be, and are hereby, created a corporation and body politic, by the name and style of "The president, directors, and company, of the bank of the United States," and shall so continue until the third day of March, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, and by that name shall be, and are hereby, made able and capable, in law, to have, purchase, receive, possess, enjoy, and retain, to them and their successors, lands, rents, tenements, hereditaments, goods, chattels and effects, of whatsoever kind, nature, and quality, to an amount not exceeding, in the whole, fifty-five millions of dollars, including the amount of the capital stock aforesaid; and the same to sell, grant, demise, alien or dispose of; to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered, defend and be defended, in all state courts having competent jurisdiction, and in any circuit court of the United States: and also to make, have, and use, a common seal, and the same to break, alter, and renew, at their pleasure: and also to ordain, establish, and put in execution, such by-laws, and ordinances, and regulations, as they shall deem necessary and convenient for the government of the said corporation, not being contrary to the Constitution thereof, or to the laws of the United States; and enerally to do and execute all and singular the acts, mats, and things, which to them it shall or may appertain to subject, nevertheless, to the rules, regulations, restric, limitations, and provisions, hereinafter prescribed and red..... SEC. 11.....Twelfth. The bills, obligatory and of credit, under the seal of the said corporation, which shall be made to any person or persons, shall be assignable by endorsement thereupon, under the hand or hands of such person or persons, and his, her or their executors or administrators, and his, her or their assignee or assignees, and so as absolutely to transfer and vest the property thereof in each and every assignee or assignees successively, and to enable such assignee or assignees, and his, her or their executors or administrators, to maintain an action thereupon in his, her, or their own name or names: Provided, That said corporation shall not make any bill obligatory, or of credit, or other obligation under its seal for the payment of a sum less than five thousand dollars. And the bills or notes which may be issued by order of the said corporation, signed by the president, and countersigned by the principal cashier or treasurer thereof, promising the payment of money to any person or persons, his, her or their order, or to bearer, although not under the seal of the said corporation, shall be binding and obligatory upon the same, in like manner, and with like force and effect, as upon any private person or persons, if issued by him, her or them, in his, her, or their private or natural capacity or capacities, and shall be assignable and negotiable in like manner as if they were so issued by such private person or persons; that is to say, those which shall be payable to any person or persons, his, her or their order, shall be assignable by endorsement, in like manner, and with the like effect as foreign bills of exchange now are; and those which are payable to bearer shall be assignable and negotiable by delivery only: Provided, That all bills or notes, so to be issued by said corporation, shall be made payable on demand, other than bills or notes for the payment of a sum not less than one hundred dollars each, and payable to the order of some person or persons, which bills or notes it shall be lawful for said corporation to make payable at any time not exceeding sixty days from the date thereof.... Fifteenth. The officer at the head of the Treasury Department of the United States shall be furnished, from time to time, as often as he may require, not exceeding once a week, with statements of the amount of the capital stock of the said corporation and of the debts due to the same; of the moneys deposited therein; of the notes in circulation, and of the specie in hand; and shall have a right to inspect such general accounts in the books of the bank as shall relate to the said statement: Provided, That this shall not be construed to imply a right of inspecting the account of any private individual or individuals with the bank. SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That the bills or notes of the said corporation originally made payable, or which shall have become payable on demand, shall be receivable in all payments to the United States, unless otherwise directed by act of Congress. SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That during the continuance of this act, and whenever required by the Secretary of the Treasury, the said corporation shall give the necessary facilities for transferring the public funds from place to place, within the United States, or the territories thereof, and for distributing the same in payment of the public creditors, without charging commissions or claiming allowance on account of difference of exchange, and shall also do and perform the several and respective duties of the commissioners of loans for the several states, or of any one or more of them, whenever required by law. SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That the deposits of the money of the United States, in places in which the said bank and branches thereof may be established, shall be made in said bank or branches thereof, unless the Secretary of the Treasury shall at any time 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. SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That the said corporation shall not at any time suspend or refuse payment in gold and silver, of any of its notes, bills or obligations; nor of any moneys received upon deposit in said bank, or in any of its offices of discount and deposit.... |