Newspapers / The North-Carolina Star (Raleigh, … / June 12, 1834, edition 1 / Page 1
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XIO. 25 RALEIGH, N. O. THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 103 VOL. EBB Mr And AortA Carolina Mate Gaattte, ,.. LAWRENCE & LEMAT. Soescnirrioi.. three Ld" h,f in advance. Subscribers m fe ,ot b. allowed to remain than m rear, and persons resident without this - State, who may rteir o beootne subscribers, will be strictly rcir to pay the whole a- noun of the year's subscrir4ioa In advance. , : otaMnlina- fifteen line. inserted three times for one dollar, u.l twen c -.... fnv li continuance. LiTTtKt to the Editor! matt be port-paid; f REPORT Of the Minority of the Committee of of the House of Representatives ap pointed to investigate the affairs of tne J) ante oi ine oiiu". concluded."! The first resolution was -regarded merely as an understanding on the part of the Committee of investigation, that no publicity would be given by them, until otherwise ordered, to the mat- . ters that might appear in the course of the eiam inatwtv 1 Jie ,u nUersignea as? "sente'd to this resolution, with the un--dcrs'tandinsr of the parliamentary law that the sittings of every committee are open, unless ordered to be secret by ttr1 rmraer and"thattt-ws mit-in-the- power of the present committee, by a . J aI 1 i.... .l.:. .TqteoftheArown doorforimposeecrecya vrtro might attend.- ;But they assented to the injunction of confidence, in cbn fortnity with a usage wliich has prevail '""icf :aTtr '"othw TO0Hmtteep0Hnfutfuf tlie House, for their Own convenience, 'ts-saTule binding on themselves, and with "the eipress reaeritionT"ln'at"lhe' . adoption of this resolution should, in no decree.1 -involve -an assent -t- the .iinle:uterte44ii::the-.fen4.T' that principle, viz., tliat no person houltf be permitted to attend during the inspection of the books of the Bank, aad the examination of its proceedings, whose presence was not required nor assented to by the board, the under- signed .were tf enuously opposed. . It was asserted as a right on, the part of thexommittee, and (as the under this intention, (as the undersigned sup pose,) the committee of investigation ceased to hold their meetings in the room set apart for them in the banking house, s toon as they understood the committee of the directors of the Bank to class tho right of being tKere pre ent with their books, during the in pcttion f the same. It is true that, by a subsequent resolution, the com mittee of the House of Representatives disclaimed having decided that they should, in point of fact, exclude the .directors from the room, durinc the inspection of .the books but they per severed in the assertion of the right to do so, as appears from the documeuts -paendedao.JJiiftje4)ort, '" This claim was regarded by the un dersigned, as being without foundation ai.d objectionable. In the first place, as has been observed, they believed it toGHtra-ry-toihc-lerpartiamenta' ria for a committee of inquiry, on its own authority," to claim the right of . . i. ...I .i-i: noiciing its siuings, except, wueu uuii beratiug and voting, in secret. It can only be constituted a secret committee by express order of the House. Se- condly, this principle ..involved ,the. right of withtlrawmg tne dooksoi tne Bank from the custody of the directors, and taking them into the possession of m -jjjljj ; Climm,t(e :'jf HriYestiKatiori.' "TTiis ir'l nnwrr nf 7 o-itmi 1v ih tliai ter" wmcn, as lar as the dooks are concern ed, authorises a committee only 'to inspect the books.' As the right thus reserved by the charter to Congress is hot only one of the conditions of an -agreement, but is in derogation of the Jl 1 . 1 Z: ZTT tnd lt, exercise at best, and under any -rights and liberties ot the citizen, and , circumstances, must be highly incom niouious, and create a serious interrup tion of the business of the Bank, -it aheuld be constrMed rather strictly than liberally, and not draw with it, by rm plication, any thing hot necessary for its exercise. The entire confidence, which the undersigned feel, in the libe t -rafity ami magnanimity of thei r col -sletgae,"tKii to CofidocttheHriiipectioni M to cause the least possible ioconve 7 nience to tlie officers of the Bank, 0&ld not authorise an acquiescence in . claim of right wholly to obstruct and bring to a stop the ordinary proceed "g of the Bank;, in fact, to suspend tlie cHarten ;.. : :f- i ...rj, It ag a claim to take the. books out ""of the possession of the directors into the possession of the committee', to dc- tam them'ai lonj as thej phased, to rry them whithersoever thejr pleased, ( right afterwards more distinctly as erted and attempted to be enforced,) nd to put( them to whatever use the committee, in their uncontrolled dis cretion, might think proper.-The n ?rsined agaia repeat, that it. dero- . tja in no degree from the obiectlon t character .of this claim, to nrge jt ft booki of theBank, thus taken posaesalbu Tf the director, -ji?HUneea put u no saworthv , tgndrP sylvania, it" sl.alTbe -lawful for the the directors of the Bank appeared also in i(8 m ment. and this,, by way court, in examining into the truth ol to understand it I wit i an intention to of in uirvmonother thil)s;9 ;vheth. the alleged violation of the charter, to enforce the right In pursuance ol 1 i ......; ; tt ,. mm.; iu nrndnrrirm f an eh f ih use by the committee of investigation..! mittee's room at the North American Such an idea could only suggest itself Hotel) they should there be submitted to be. repudiated. It is suthcientob- in person by the directors, or inspected jection that they would have been put ex partt by the committee of investiga out of the custody of those responsi- jtion, was not, distinctly raised. But ble to the stockholders for their sale-1 considering that the committee ceased keepingT The which the books, or any other property j house, precisely because the directors of an individual or a corporation can 'insisted on their submitting the books be putt is to take them away from their j for inspection in person, it appeared to rightful owner and lawful guardian. 1 f the undersigned that, whether exercis may think I can better take care of ed or' not; the right of an ear parte in my neighbor's property than he does j spection was designed to be' reserved, himself, but I mav not therefore take fit4wwiMrrtffltmter his" own good;' far less may I take it, without warrant of law, in order to ex tract from its unlawful use matter to be used, directly or by consequence, for his crimination. The books belong to the stockholders of the Bank, and are, by them, entrusted to the directors They do not. belona to the House of Representatives, nor to any committee of that House; and aright to inspect them no more involves a right to take possession of them, than a right to count the m one y i Jl the vaults inyolye j), light to'lake" possession of it. It is a case of frequent occurrence in State Banks, Jhat committees are sent to visit them, and, among Other tilings, to count the specie in their vaults. Should such a committee claim tlie righTol going In- to the vaults alone, and counting the eir aui ijht a iseu ajents, it woulu ne tnousnt a very .... . . . . , w., unwarrantable claim; and no personal pr"obitv of the committee, would ren tier such a claim atall the less unwar- rantable. - I I But the attempt to fortify the right of taking possession of tlipj; book,s, by urging that, in its exercise, " it woul J not have been abused, whqHy fails, in the apprehension of the undersigned, because they deem that the use which was avowedly to be made of them, was the greatest possible abuse. It was in tended to employ them for the purpose of a general search, not orilr W ascer tain, in the mostgeneraV fornr, wheth' cr the. charter of the Bank has been prosecution should be instituied, (see resolution of committee of investigation of 7th ot May,) in which prosecution the direc tors, called to submit the books, would have been the party implicated. The undersigned believe, that, in a land of constitutional liberty and law, it can ueeel but little argument to show that a claim, on the part of a commit tee of either House of Congress, act ing in virtue of the general parliamen tary power of inquirv. to demand as a matter of right, the production, and to take possession of, the books and pa pers belonsin; to an individual or a corporation, in order to Rearch there in for matter on which to found a cri ntmai -procedure against aid in4ivid al or corporation, is a claim at once of .1 . , I i a me, most uniounaeu ana pernicious character. They cojifioVentlw believe that no.court of justice IrOhft LInLtcd States, or any other free country, has e ver claimed such a power as a right, ox attempted, in point of fact, to execute it. They have never heard of any statute which gives this power to any cOurt or other trjbunal. And they would deem the assumption of such a power, by either House of Congressl as an incident of the general powers of the House, and, resting on the lex par- Jiamtnturioi as u n warrantable, anil in ith WghesJbdejg 3. The committee having; withdrawn from the occupation of the room in the banking house, for the reason stated, adopted a resolution requiring the pre sident and directors of the Bank to submit certain of the books of the Baak to the inspection of the commit- tcvattheiiLrojw in th? N.-rth Ameri thig requi8;ton the committei of th th requisition the committee of the directors declined complying, for rea sons which appear in their resolutions adopted May the 3d. (Doc. ffo. SO.) The undersigned regarded this resolu tion of the.conunitteeas open to the ob jections already urged against an ex parte inspection ot the books, and to others peculiar to itseit.- By its terms the president and directors are requir ed to submit certain of their books to the inspection of the committee at the piorth American Hotel. It, by tne term required, nothing is tftbe-rUflder-J stood but a request, with which the di rectors, of the Bank were at liberty to decline a compliance, they were of course tree to to decline, and their doing so argues no contempt of the House. But the majority ot the com mittee evidently regarded, as in some way obligatory the demand ror tne production, at their hotel, of certain of the books of the Bank. Such a demand the subscribers deemed to be unautho rised. If valid, in reference to the books named in the requisition, it was of course valid as to all , the books of the Bank and all its branches) which. by parity of right, the committee might have required to be brought to their lodgincs. and there detained and used attheir plea8ure.TThi questiojuwheta- 'linJntJ ... Kt liv u.Uat firrutUuina ...iis fiiied.natiitVtliiircjiitciilirtijf J-'enn-ti j CI I : r 1111 lillil Ul UBri U11U1I, III ireai iui ill , v. m.. v. y " - " cr supposing incm roa(Qa so p camp land that "the inspection wa. requitd-l committee, to enable the committee, il they deemed it expedient, to act on that reservation. All the objections, therefore, which lie to an ex parte in spection in tlie banking house, hold with equal force to an ex parte inspec tion out of it In addition to this, the requisition of the books, to be carried away from the banking house, appeared to the under signed, for other reasons, of an inad missible character, lt was to take them a way- fcotn la plate-whore the- i m nor tant interests of the Bank require them to be, ami to be tised. It was to ex pose them to the risks of transportation thro' the streets, & detention in private rooms, not constructed for the safe prevWlofl"Vaitra1rtf : tu ... ..r paper tKe,ahTiTfli?,Ba,nk'asr recraired to re move its own books arid papers contain- tions to the amount of several hundreds of millions of dollars annually, to the committee'i room in the North Ameri can Hotel, a public house of great- re sort in Philadelphia. The undersign ed opposed this requisition, from the belief that it was totally beyond the authority of the House; and they should have deeply regretted 'a compliance w ith it by the Bank, which would have devolved on the committee the care and responsibility of a deposite so de licate and valuable - -By the 2Sd section-of the charter, whenever a scire fadis against the Bank books of the Hank as it may deem tie cessary to the ascertainment of the controverted facts." This is the only case in which the contract between the Government and the stockholders au thorises a requisition of the books; and this cautious aulhonty, "granted by law to one of the high judicial tribunals of uie country, on an examination iniuiu alleged violation of the charter, to re-i quire the production of the books which it may deem necessary to the ascertain ment of controverted facts, sufficient ly disproves by exclusion, the grant of any similar or additional power, ol the same kind, to any other tribunal. That the House of Representatives, inde p ndeot. of- the charter, lias a right,, by one of its committees, to require the production of any or all of the books of the Bank at the lodgings of said committee, or any where else, the un d ersignd cannot bring themselves' to admit. At all events, as no authorita tive form Mas given to the requisition, the directors, in respectfully declining to comply, are of course guilty of no contempt of the House. 4. After the directors of the Bank hatl t!eclind a compliance with the re quisition oi their books to be produced at the North American Hotel, the com- mittee of investigation, on the Sth of May-Adonted. a resolution. ( sec . Hot banking house, at one o'clock that day, to inspect the books specified in tlie resolution of the 28th, and such others as they might require to be produced. A copy of this resolution was sent to the chairman of the committee of the directors, buUacjwdJijmALh Tina: house, at a time when the commit tee of the directors was not in session, and a short time before the hour named in the resolution of the committee of investigation. He immediately inform ed thaxhairman of the; committee of the Hpiise by letter, that it would be impracticable to reassemble the com mittee of the directors in season to submit the books -for -inspection- that day, bu t that they, would be reassem bled without unnecessary delay. " The committee, however, deemed it expe dient, for the purpose oi making up an issue, to repair to th& banking liouse at the hour named, and then and there to call on the president and cashier ot the Bank to submit certain of their books to the committee. This accordingly took, place, first in the large hall of the banking house, and then, by repetition, in the president's room. The presi dent ami cashier declined a compliance with this request, on the ground that they had, neither of them, the custody of nor control over the books and pa Dersi the reneral custody of the same beine with the board of directors, who had already apprised the committee of j the House, that they nao piacca them Ujsder the direction of a committee, i aa I J t to be by that committee submitted for'p.1 .h purpoae wilt this day call in.pecuon.and ami wturr, , were uicreiore oboimo w COmpy .Wllae dtmana of. the com - mittee of investigation. - This demand, and the answer to it; were then reduc ed to writing, and will be found anions the papers, Nos.-35$ti7S6, appended to this report, f This proceeding was but a repetition in a form a little varied tf the attempts before made to acquire the means of conducting the inspection of the books, apart from those to vhom the directors had confided the duty of subnitting them to the committee of the House of iiepreseniauves. n was avoweuiv in- iorm, uie issue wmcn u w as supposed would be created between the Bank and tlie committee of investigation by the failure of the committee to ob tain the books thus required of the president and cashier. It was known to the committee of the House that the directors, by an authentic act, of which a copy had been commu nicated, had placed the books at it. . .1 I 'a 1 me uisposai oi me committee oi uie board, to be by them submitted in per son for inspection. The said commit -tee-4rierWfetoT"wlf'yi-tively made'known their inability to depart from the instructMUis of tlie board in this. respect. The committee of the House were apprized that the books asked for were not. under the Hr-mlml, T)in' ilir nnmmjttee tif invci'i tary disposal of the presidentand cas 4efratrdMlre-detmrnrmarre-rjf tliesf ulf!"lt f". t Ppe"w'&callJ'- ficers by the cominitteein" perstn at the - Bank, was - not of -th . naturei of a leffal process to compel their pro .1 .. . i u ...i i. i t 1 de facto in Tthe keeJinff of the said I officers. For these consideratiohs, the .8.ye'ffeiDe.d-oppo.dheLpei.90.nat-de'. mand for the production of the books now under consideration, as a measure which 'must, for . the xeisorL. staled. prove ineffectual, unnecessary for the making up ot the desired issue, and open to the objection of weiiringa vexa tious appearance. To make a third application-for a voluntary submission of the books in a manner which it was known Was deemed inadmissible, 3t the saTnetTTrre-tmttTio recotrrse wat h d to compulsory process, could not but have ihftj;ffet! .ftjcttet jhMhfsrjajniyry dVdV ot irraTur so inteiiileu, ot irt upon the directors the odium of re peated refusal of the requests of the committee of the House. However this maybe, as the fact is undoubted that the directors had placed the books under th control of the committee of the Board; as their right to do so is unquestionable; at the chairman of the coiiimitfee ot the the chairman of the 'committee of inves tigation that the foimer could not be reassembled at the very short notice given, but should be so, without un necessary delay, to submit the books tor inspection; as the books were not in point of fact in possession of the officers called on; tlie undersigned feel confident that, in respectfully declin ing to produce them, those officers were rudty of no contempt of the authority i-the House. - 5. But whatever difference ' of opin ion might St the first have existed be tween the committee of the House and the committee of the directors as to tlie prbprTety oii'finiFlnerater to retain the custody of the bookr, and suutnti uiem in person to tne commit tee of the House, further consideration appears to have led the committee of the. House to admit the reasonableness uf.thia.aujdeafwmdacttngthe-investi gation, -so far at least'as to acquiesce in it a consideration which exonerates the directors fronVany chars-e W eon Ltempt iu the course hitherto purfiueii by ..thenv Accordingly without waivij nig ineir rtgni 10 requtre "ine "prouue tion of the boks at their lodgings; they repaired again to the banking-house, to the room set apart, fur their accom modation, and required the production of certain of the books nf the Bank. It will be observed that, up tovth1s beOTaTnnrScdilf ToTtff motle of condiictin'' tne inspection be n - - yond tho single point, settled by the acquiescence of the committee of the House ot Represntatives, that the books should be'fiubinitted in person by the committee of the directors. No ob jects of inquiry had been annouced by the committee of investigation, further than they appear in the resolution of the Housennder which the committee was raised, and in the calls made for informationras to a great ' amount and variety of matters, as appear from the resolutions "in the appendix. The correspondence which bad taken p!ac$ between the ' committees had been confind almost exclusively to the sin gle ground of the course" deemed pro per to be pursued by the eommitteeto obtain possession of the books of the Bank. ' " - On the arrival of the committee at th banking house on the 7th of May a call was made on the committee of the Board, in pursuance of the follow ing resolution: i Uv 7. 1834. Reaolved, That the committee will proceed to examine Into the truth of the statements made by lb Government director to the President of the United States and to Con . nyt a Shaft nilrhfMA will tklMl direekws of lheBank,andlheipeoi aaui youxiiur for tipeases Incurred. At preliminary t reply- to tlx's demand, the following ptper wts read by the chair man of the committee of the board:. ' " ' - Mur, 183. Wherett it appears, from the resolution of the Houee of Uepretentatives of the U. States, appointing the committee of inveiiU ffilien, that two ditinct inquiriet were eon tempUted, one of them directed lo aaoertain whether the charter had been viola ed. and limited to the acta of the corporation, and the other very jrenera! and indrfimte, at to m.ke it difficult, if not imnoisiblr. to nit whetherit Wany limita at alV either a. .,;iira committee r vi.ilailon maybeelothed ; . the matters to be inquired into, or the modejrj'lJHSJSt?- SWJWUOT lnl-m :WHrtr4npttitrtnCtt I . . . . ' 1 pears, irom cant maae bt ttu commttiea of investigation, that luey have propowd a very wide ranjre, embracinc', anioiie other thine. an extensive examination of the acii, trana actions, accounts and letter of InJiviilnals, and thus inatituting a kind of general learcli, which i the more objectionable, because if it has any purpose at all it must be to crimi naie thove individuals as well at the R.inV and if it have not this purpose, it is without any assignable obiect, and would be an wim riou invasion of private interests add where av under tlirae circumstances, it is the duty t tne cnmrnittee.t oy aliJawtul meant, to protect tlie rights and xacred oonlidence en trusted to their keepintf, arid t yield noth- JP1T hy consent whieh cannot be legally de iii.i iirti ii:ii uieiii; aitit 1, iictcjis, arTcr care O'l audanxiouacoimideratttm, Uiy re-f t. pinion that the inquiry can only be rightful ly extended tQ alleged violations of the charter, and this inquiry ought to be conduct, cd according to some certain principles and rules: theretore, gition be rrapectfully required, v. lien llny in writing,, the purpunea fur winch lliey arc- proposed to be inspected, and, il it be to es-t-Alisd a vwlaiiun jf the eltrtr iben t stale specifically in writing what are the alle ged . ,i -'...i- ..c i.... i u t. ; i. "ierVMn t JPPT iL:ii;- ,Z. -I'i""""'-" Kesolved, That, In th opinion of this committee, -it would very much conduce to the purposes of justice, as well at the con-j venience of all concerned, if the committee of investigation would furnish a tpeeifieettofi of all Uie charget imeniled to be Inquii'ed into, and proceed with tiiem in order at atated. . , . ; The unJersignctT opposcd the call above recited, made on the 7th May, for the production of books. They feel themselves, therefore called up on ta explain briefly the considerations whrch Mnfluentred : th.-' Trre under signed, have already stated that they conceived th committee, of which TiavTtWliWr?WWm to be clothed with a two fold power, and t be competent, or rather requi red, by the order of the House, to act in a two fold capacity.. They were a committee of visitation, appointed under the 25tl section of the charter. As such, they were authorized to visjt the Bank, to inspect the books, and to examine into the proceedings of tli Bank, and report whether' the charter had been violated. They were, ol so, a committee of inquiry into the caus&s of the present Commercial embarrass ment and pecuniary distress, and into the coiTupumis, abuses, and malprac tices of the Bank. In the foi mer ca pacity, they had a right to inspect the li'ioks of the Bank. They had this fight by the charter, and would not have had 'it without the charter. In the 4attrcapaityT-tliey..had-naj:ightl. to inspect the books, unless voluntari ly submitted by the Bank, because the charter does not give them'that right , ftrauch purposes. ' ' The Bank- .itc bilged, by the charter, to submit its books to the inspection of a committee of visitation, authorized1 to report if the charter has been violated and it is not bound to submit them to i commit tee of general inquest authorized to I rcpurc on uiai practices sou coirup- tions."" The right of thspection ' pos sessed by the comtuittee,' as a com mittee or vJgitationi cannot be used by it in jMpther capacity 'of a.ym mittee ot general inquest and accusational arr-instrflieht "o and misdemeanors ijf general. . But the directors of the Bank had been ' apprized, at the outset, by the resolution Of the House of Iiepresenta- lfilL UL if A .1 j.ivea oitine.iui oi April, tuai inecoui niittee was of a two fold character, as sTaTcoT That resorufion distinctly e- irumerateis, as objects of inquiry, not ohly'Wolations of the charter, for which the books might be inspected, but va rious acts of mismanagement & corrup tion, for which they might not be in spected, unless voluntarily tillered for j it. t inai purpiiHC. i nc tuuiiiiiuei: vi in ventilation had addressed various calls. Iiv wa v of rrsolution. to the cum -.n."lr .1.1 t:. "..v.ui.. ..ih'Hiiran!l examine into the' protaedinci ol the it-ia v.uiicciiuug wiiitu mc viiiiiici uuc not require the Bank to submit its books for inspection. ..The call of the 7th May, on the last visit to the bank ing hounef is forct,rtaitrf the bottks of the Bank, to enabfe the committee "to examine into the truth xf the statement made by the Government directors to the President oi the United States and to Congress." That statement eui braces matters which neither are, nor' are alleged to be, violations of the charter! nd.?' consequently, jn prefer ence to which the directors tie not required t submit their books for inspection. : -!"'. Had it pleased the House of Rep resentatives to creste two committees, one of visitation, tinder the twenty- third' section of the charter, and one of general j inquiry," under the power or the House to send lor persons and naners. these committers would not have been authorized to 'amalgamate nor i0te,ntaaas each other's luntUona. The committee of charter visitation, would not have been suthorzed to en gage in general inquisition, nor would the committee ?ofJinauiry have been, authorized to demand the books for inspection. t ' But to what avail has the charter United the objects for which the books may be in apected, and protected the corporation, and V theae ho trannct bnimeu with it, from th annoyance ana niaenieis or s general searcB, h.nii, flip nil nnriiM. nllikii-rf k.ik. . '. " . " J "" may use them for another purpose not au thorised by law? . It it plain that if this could he done, the limitation, of the right of in, tpection would be illusory and worthless. In order to render the limitation efficient,, tho committee of directors required of tho com mittee of Inveatigation to specify the objecta for which they demanded tho booka. Foe some oh j celt the demand of the books was according to law for other objects, not be. ing hound by law to yield them, the dircctort were at liberty to withhold them or submit them according to their discretion. The therefore needed a specification .to entblo Them to discharge their duty under the char, ter,at well st tu protect' them in their rightst si.Uona ...ot .. llta . cumiuUito-'ot invesugatton," ' how much was authoritative,, under the tlaV. lute commanding obedience, and how much, not being authoritative, they were at liberty lo concede or withhold. . There 'wat the more reason in insisting on . this right to make the limitation on the in- a has heretofore been observed, the inspec- Tiori iweir rrin : afrojranotrtir tne'riiiartr 'fSghrt'ornbe eiilseiirwiieistirnor'a'iMler'' any circiiuistsncrs, to be obliged to crimi- - hate himself. 'It pleased tWtegVaTuieriNf garding the corporation aa Iheir own legal violating the fundamental laws of their exit tence the provisions uf the charter -to aub mit their -booka a committee authorised to- renort on that fact alone. But to transfer this limited light of inspection to other cotn mitteei for general powers ot Inquisition, and for a general purpose of enforcing telf-crim-: piation, it tllegal and inequitable. To do this by indirection to clothe a committee of rntniiTjrwiih-the povmTif a committee of visitation, and thut to acquire a right to open the booki for one object, and then lo inspect tiiem tor another, woird be to attempt to ac complish an end, in. itself unauthorised, by mana pculiarly uiiwarramabla, " ? , .. w thete .cortderUnt the undcraigned..,, regarded tho directors ts justified in requir ing of the committee of the House a eprei. ficauon of the bjecta ojf their iiHiuiry . The it, as the House perceives, a ground ot leral right, assumed by the directors,' tinder the circumstances of the c see. This is the third occasion nn which the Dank hat been visited by committers of the House. In the year 1818, acommitiee ws appointed to examine the affairs of the Hank then in disorder. Tho committee thus appointed waa, by the terms' of lUe resolution, directed to report whether the chatter had been violated, and the reto i'it ion consisted muinly of a tnecifieutioa of alleged violationa. in eiecuting their truit. mwever, the committee extended, their ln qmriea to the general njantgrment of tho liana, and esanuned itt president, other ofhV cert and directors on oath. . To this course of inquiry the Hank deemed it for ile inter- est to submit. 1 he underaigned are not a ware that any rrt'statice wat made to the de, mandt of the committee. V On tbe contrary, their report closet with the observation, that "it it due to the officert of tbe Bank at Philadelphia to state that every facility in their power wat rendered U captaining the booka and staining the researches of the mnTOgerr onciriataTiccr in which -ew iivdividual, a director of one or the otTiceti charged with raalpraciicea, refuted to tcsti ry, tbe committee observe, that they did not insist on bis answering, and that they ei-', amined him due fly to enable him if he pleas- d to eiculpate himaelf. This committee did oot confine their examinations to the of- ficert of the Bank. They examined the tcK . lerof the Bank of North Ametlca. and per-1 haps other persona This circumirtance,end ' the others mentioned, sufficiently show that ' n question oe to the eetent of thepowtrt ot the committee wat raited during the visi-1 tation; that the witnesaet appear voluntas , ruyi inai uc nana usenieu 11 lor 11a lnieren to submit to the examination pf the comnit. tee, in any Iorm in which the committee thought proper conduct it, and that conri, the fOTfcoTi' pii'rlitmefilaryinq'm ed by tbe atsent of the parties, and without ' f any appeal to their rights. : ' ; ,; ' 1 Tbe examination of 1131, atsqmed sohstaiwV tially tlie saroa euaracter. .1 he resolution, un- ' cler which tbe ornmiltee aasraiki'n, connsteil, as originally atoved, of a large detail ot alleged ' aiiaHt, acvwmi oi wnicn uoportee no violation r .l . I . , .1 . . . l . Oi in snincr. . t lie iiuhi, suuiiitHj ma amrnu- ment iiroiwscTT6 tiiTi reKiTulion Ti a muni tier from Matsachosetts, t Mr. Arisms,) in the lol- lowing ternsi , Hssulvtd, I'hat a selest om- , mittee be tpfiointed to Inspect the books tml rx- , amine iato the pmeeethnesoi' the Sank, and r- ptrt therein, nd to report whrther the' provi-,' ions ot ine enarier naa aren violated or nor."' ; 't'hif phraseology appears to hive been derived -from the tnnimencmjr wouls of the report of the eommittee ot 1 SIS, which is In the tame terms, ' and not from the resoluiipn by Vhich thai tom mittea was created, ami hit h lrov ides that a , select tomioitveebs appuinled, ' to inspect tho "'".iBaBaTand: rejwa whtllier the provitlont of ke jcbarter nave been, vlolatea or not, ana put inn Ii arlr to renort" aa la ,sev rhl ater., all. or nearly all, ul wh'mb were alleged io!atione of iht rhaiier.' The smeumnent nffetrd by tbe ' membei Irnra Matsachuselts.(Mr. Adams, and ' btrie4 by tha-House, was nflVred "Ootho- : -ar - groonq rtuit tne oiigmsi resmMien prsie objecti ot inquiry not authorise ay tne .charter - , of the Dank, nor within die. legitimate powers - of the House." Hut at it directed Iba eocomittee to report generalli on the proeeedtage of the Hank at well at on viqiauoat W inn eatnerit ' i- waa aonsidered by it mover, and by - man of . those who supported the amendment, kt author-' sing an inquiry extending beyond viohuiens of ' . iha charter. : Tbe tight to aonstitate an inquiry . . . n ihit kind t pot wot0 ' the grond that the ' Hana was apply ing tor a recnarier, , aim count not reasonably decline K, At thai time, as in - ISIS, neither House of Congress had SMumed a - nottila position to the Banit. Ita mVeetort, aa the evunt proved, felt that they tould rely upon the National Legislature lo do them justice a- gaiatt any clforte wkich migM be aaada to peach their aharaatar or arraign ttwtr toiuhKi Applicants fer a reeharter, they tfcrl that Key fc. aouldnolwhb propriety objt Iom lMitud " Oi mqniry wsuaa stigm aa acQaaAMX ay a uoeac i of Coagrctt wlllinf to grtcA. a reabarter, pro-i , ded the ruult of the eaatioaiio aboetd bo tat T nfaaion. Aaeerelagly, the rcaoJeuoe at a- avcadte, waa baderaiooa) to extend, oot ter -. - (Cmntmmt wfiunh tgt.) - TSr ; J f ) II, ) li P . V1 1 "1 A r. " - 1 !l ii -
The North-Carolina Star (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 12, 1834, edition 1
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